committed treason against the reigning figurehead Emperor Xian by declaring himself emperor. Sun Ce officially broke ties with him. The Han central government, then under Cao Cao's control, issued imperial edicts to the warlords Lü Bu and Sun Ce and ordered them to lead their forces to eliminate Yuan Shu's regime. Conquest of Lujiang In the winter of 199, Han imperial forces defeated Yuan Shu and eliminated his Zhong dynasty. Yuan Shu himself died of illness while attempting to flee to northern to join his half-brother, Yuan Shao. Yuan Shu's former subordinates, Yang Hong (楊弘) and Zhang Xun (張勳), planned to surrender to Sun Ce, along with their followers and Yuan Shu's family. However, Liu Xun, the Administrator of Lujiang Commandery, attacked them, took them captive and looted their possessions. When Sun Ce heard about the incident, he pretended to ally with Liu Xun by sending Liu Xun expensive gifts and showering him with praises. Sun Ce then sought help from Liu Xun in attacking Shangliao County (in present-day Jiangxi), which Liu Xun had already been eyeing for some time. Liu Xun's adviser Liu Ye attempted to dissuade him from attacking Shangliao County, but Liu Xun ignored him. After Liu Xun's army left, Sun Ce split his army into two groups to attack Lujiang Commandery: Sun Ben and Sun Fu led a contingent to Pengze County to cut off Liu Xun's return route; Sun Ce and Zhou Yu led 20,000 troops to assault Lujiang Commandery's capital, Wancheng (皖城; present-day Qianshan County, Anhui), conquered it quickly, and captured Liu Xun's family and subordinates and rescued Yuan Shu's family. Sun Ce then relocated the residents of Lujiang Commandery back to his territories across the Yangtze River. After leaving Li Shu (李術) behind with a garrison of soldiers to guard Lujiang Commandery, Sun Ce returned to join his cousins at Pengze County. Liu Xun attempted to take Haihun by surprise but the people were forewarned about his attack and he was unsuccessful. When Liu Xun learnt of Sun Ce's attack on Wancheng, he wanted to head back but was cut off by Sun Ben's army at Pengze County and forced to head further west up the Yangtze River. Liu Xun then halted to fortify defensive positions near Mount Xisai, where he requested reinforcements from Liu Biao and Huang Zu. Huang Zu's son, Huang She (黃射), led 5,000 men and a fleet of ships