Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1069 Fight to the Death
The soldiers of the Wu State held short swords in one hand and wooden shields in the other. Most of them came from the Shanyue area. The best were the Danyang soldiers. They had lived in the mountains since childhood and were extremely agile. They had unique skills in fighting in dangerous environments.

Most of them had fought against Yuan Xi's army before and knew that the other side preferred to fight at the side of the ship and used long spears and halberds. Although this gave them an advantage in distance, as long as they succeeded in boarding the ship, the other side would have to give up their long weapons and switch to short weapons, and the Jiangdong soldiers had an advantage in this regard.

Therefore, the soldiers of Wu State were full of confidence. As long as they could avoid the first stab of the spear and jump into the enemy's formation, they would be halfway to victory!
So when they jumped onto the side of the ship with their shields raised and were about to board, the scene before them made them all pause.

The weapon the other side was holding was not a spear!

The Wu soldiers looked at the weapon they had never seen before and could not help but take a few steps back, with most of their courage gone.

There is no other reason, this weapon is too disgusting, so disgusting that people don’t even want to face it.

To be fair, this weapon is quite crude, with a total length of 15 feet and a gun head, but the difference is that it has dozens of gun heads.

This oddly shaped weapon has a bamboo pole with a wooden handle at the back, and three feet in front are layers of iron branches, each with barbs on it. At first glance, it looks like a large broom for sweeping the floor.

But this thing was extremely disgusting. The Wu soldiers saw with their own eyes that someone could not stop and jumped onto the enemy ship. He was hit by two weapons of the enemy in mid-air, and immediately his body and head were covered with blood, and there were dozens of bloody wounds with rolled skin and flesh.

The soldier screamed miserably and fell headfirst, falling between the two boats, where he was crushed into a pulp.

People died so tragically that it discouraged others from trying, and they wondered why the Tiger Army always came up with something so crazy?
But the Wu soldiers had to admit that this weapon looked several times heavier than a spear, weighing as much as seven or eight kilograms, and was extremely difficult to wield on flat ground. However, it was extremely suitable for boarding battles. Soldiers only had to place the middle section on the side of the ship and could hold the tail and sweep it at will, which was very convenient.

This strange-looking weapon was the wolf-whip used by Qi Jiguang in later generations to fight against the Japanese pirates.

It was created early by Yuan Xi specifically to deal with the Jiangdong navy, who were short in stature and whose fighting style was somewhat similar to that of the Japanese.

Seeing dozens of wolf-toothed spears swinging vigorously, smashing the heads of the Wu navy who tried to rush over and making them bleed, no one dared to go forward for a while.

Ding Feng, who came from behind, saw this and cursed, "You bastard, you are so cowardly!"

"Go ahead! If we don't win this battle today, none of us can go back!"

Holding a spear in hand, he ordered his men to ram the boats, shouting, "Three boats attacking one. I don't believe they can stop us!"

When the Wu soldiers saw this, they had to shout in unison and rushed forward. After paying a heavy price, they finally forced back the wolf-whip soldiers on the opposite side and climbed onto the side of the ship.

As a result, after they boarded the ship, everyone including Ding Feng was stunned. Yuan Xi's army actually retreated leisurely to the boat at the back and formed a formation again!

When Ding Feng looked carefully, he found that the opponent was still using the same iron chain trick as last time, and it was even improved!

These iron chains connected all the ships anchored around the dock. Wooden planks were laid on the iron chains between the ships to create passages, allowing the soldiers to advance and retreat between the ships. This essentially connected the independent warships into a large battlefield, completely thwarting the idea of ​​the Jiangdong generals to concentrate their superior forces to defeat them one by one!

Although Ding Feng is brave, he is not stupid. He smelled a hint of ominous smell. The other party responded so calmly, obviously they had prepared for the sudden attack from Jiangdong. There must be something wrong here!

But now he was in a dilemma and had to bite the bullet and fight back with his boats. The naval battle completely turned into a land battle. Looking at the continuous casualties of Jiangdong soldiers, Ding Feng's heart was bleeding.

The best way to break up the linked ships is of course to attack with fire, but now both sides are on the ship, we can't just burn everyone to death with one fire, right?

Their understanding of how to deal with fire attacks is obviously better than ours, let alone the others. This is trouble!

As Ding Feng was trying to fill the room with people, Jiang Qin and Xu Sheng also arrived. Jiang Qin looked for a while and said, "There is a chance."

"There is no naval commander on the other side!"

"In other words, the enemy can't restrict us. As long as we attack the shore, we can establish victory!"

Xu Sheng hesitated for a moment and said, "That's true, but I don't think it's that simple."

"Do you think they will burn their own warships to stop us like they did before?"

Jiang Qin was stunned, and subconsciously said: "That shouldn't be the case. How can they go back without a boat?"

Xu Sheng looked at Pan Zhang still struggling on the reef in the distance, frowned, and said, "There's something wrong."

"We have already taken action. Where are the defenders of Weili City and the navy of the Gongsun family?"

"If the defenders of Weili City haven't reacted yet, then what are the navy of the Gongsun family still waiting and watching?"

Jiang Qin hesitated and said, "It should be okay. The price the king offered to the Gongsun family is high enough. Moreover, these navy troops were sent by the Gongsun family several years ago, long before Xionghu intervened in Liaodong. We have spies among them, so there is no doubt about it."

Xu Sheng gritted his teeth and said, "This time the expedition has not been successful. I have a bad feeling. If the Gongsun family fleet is less than an hour away, I suggest that we retreat and reorganize the army first."

Jiang Qin hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay!" "I'll have someone tell Cheng Yuan not to be too aggressive, and to advance steadily one ship at a time. Once we capture a ship, we'll send someone to check the cabin to see if there's anything flammable, so we don't get tricked by the other side!"

Jiang Qin found Ding Feng on the frontline ship and told him what he was thinking. Ding Feng said, "I have checked the dozens of ships we have captured. There is nothing under the cabin that can start a fire."

"Unless the enemy's catapult throws a fire pot at me, I have prepared my soldiers to use long weapons to push the fire pot down at any time, so that we won't make the same mistake again."

Jiang Qin was relieved after hearing this and said, "I'll let Wen Xiang take charge of the central army. If the Gongsun family navy doesn't come again, we will retreat first!"

Yuan Xi stood on the shore and looked at the coastline of more than ten miles in radius. There were broken ships and corpses everywhere. Tens of thousands of people were being minced here, turning the entire seashore into a huge meat grinder.

He looked back at the top of Weili City and thought that the time was about up.

Inside Weili City, the county governor heard the news coming from outside, stood up and shouted to his subordinates: "Everyone, our allies are here!"

"The King of Wu sent a thousand warships to help us resist the ferocious tiger from afar. What kind of noble character is this? Can we let down our allies who have come from afar?"

The crowd was excited and asked to lead the troops to fight. The county magistrate listened, but glanced at Jia Xu who was sitting below and had not spoken.

When Jia Xu saw the county governor looking at him, he spoke up, "This is what happened. I always feel like something is not right."

"The fierce tiger is attacking the city at a critical moment. How can we know if the Jiangdong navy is here for a conspiracy?"

The person who went out of the city to inquire hurriedly said, "How can this be a trick? The other side has been fighting for the whole morning, and thousands of people have died. The bodies have filled the sea surface!"

"If this were a play, how could there be such a death?"

Jia Xu still shook his head and said, "That being said, what can we do with just over a thousand defenders in this battle of tens of thousands of people?"

"Even if we join the battlefield, it will be a drop in the bucket. Whether the two sides win or lose, we still have so few people. I still suggest waiting and watching the situation."

The county magistrate was a little unhappy when he heard this, and asked Jia Xu, "Sir, are you reluctant to see your soldiers killed or wounded?"

"Assisting our allies will bring honor to our Baekje and even more so to the king. Since you have pledged your loyalty to our king, you must stand on the side of Baekje!"

Everyone agreed after hearing this. Jia Xu saw this and said helplessly, "It's not impossible to go out of the city and attack the fierce tiger, but you have to do one thing for me."

The county magistrate said in a casual tone, "Please speak, sir."

Jia Xu said, "If I go out of the city and lose, I will have to retreat, but the enemy will surely follow me and chase me. At that time, I cannot open the city gate, so I can only retreat towards the capital."

"At the same time, the county magistrate must keep a good retreat route and be prepared for the city to be breached, so as to save his life."

The county magistrate heard this and said, "Don't worry, I will personally go up to the top of the city wall to cheer you on!"

Jia Xu thought to himself that it was obvious that this person still didn't trust him. Was he probably monitoring him from the top of the city wall?

He didn't point it out, and said calmly: "Then I will lead the troops out of the city."

Soon, thousands of soldiers from Weili City rushed out and formed a battle array towards the dock. Most of them were from Youzhou and were good at riding and shooting. They immediately bent their bows and shot arrows at Yuan Xi's army.

This sudden attack caused chaos in Yuan Xi's army, which was defending against the Jiangdong navy. Seeing this, Ding Feng, who was about to reach the shore, attacked even harder and said to Jiang Qin, "Okay, now Xionghu is finished. Even if Gongsun's navy doesn't come, we can still win!"

Jiang Qin hesitated. Before he left, he had agreed with Xu Sheng that if the navy of Gongsun Army did not arrive, they would retreat. Now Ding Feng was obviously getting too excited. Should he advance or retreat?

Just as he was hesitating, a series of horn sounds suddenly came from behind, and then more than a hundred warships appeared on the sea, heading towards the dock at full speed!
For a moment, everyone present watched intently, waiting for the news sent by Xu Sheng in the central army. They confirmed that the Gongsun navy had arrived, and sent someone to inform Xu Sheng, preparing to attack Yuan Xi together.

After hearing this, Ding Feng laughed and said, "I was wondering how the Gongsun family could resist the temptation of being crowned king!"

"Today the fierce tiger must die. If you take his head, the king will promise to make him a governor and a marquis!"

After hearing this, the Jiangdong Army soldiers were immediately excited as if they were injected with chicken blood, and they rushed towards the dock shouting wildly.

Yuan Xi stood high on the dock, looking at the three enemies rushing towards him, with a faint smile on his face.

Jiang Dong felt that he had many friends, and perhaps only when the tide receded would they be able to see who was swimming naked.

If it were someone else, they would have to consider the possibility that the Gongsun family might betray them, but Yuan Xi didn't need to.

(End of this chapter)