Kuizhou.
Duncan mobilized fifty thousand troops from Guizhou, advancing upstream along the Yangtze River, entering the Three Gorges, and successively capturing Sihui (northeast of present-day Wushan, Sichuan), Wushan, and other strongholds. He captured the commanding officer Yuan Dehong and others, annihilated more than twenty thousand water and infantry troops, seized over two hundred warships, and, riding the victory, rapidly advanced towards Kuizhou.
Kuizhou, a throat of Badong, had Shu troops set up a floating bridge east of the city with three layers of wooden stakes, and cannons lined the river, making the defense very rigorous.
Kui Gate, as the western entrance of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, is a crucial military point. The river is narrow, and the water flows rapidly. The Shu army concentrated almost all of its elite navy here, hoping to use the natural barrier to block the Red Army's offensive.
Three days later.
