Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 774 Bu Bu Trap

When the two armies suddenly encountered each other at first, Dong Xi's response was very appropriate. On the one hand, he asked the front army to form a formation to block the archers on the opposite side, allowing the archers to counterattack, and then asked the rear army to move towards the river bank and open up a retreat. At the same time, Notify the Jiangdong warships in the lake to come to help.

His idea was good, but the ferocity of the opponent's offensive far exceeded his expectations. After several waves of intensive arrow rain, Jiangdong Army's archers were obviously far behind in terms of number and proficiency, resulting in A lot of attrition.

The most terrifying thing was that the whistling sound of stones sounded, and stones as big as a person's head poured down along with the rain of arrows, and there were a lot of them!

Stones fell into the Jiangdong army formation. Many people were hit and fell to the ground screaming, causing a lot of commotion. Dong Xi shouted: "Hold on!"

"Get in line and march forward in formation!"

The reason why he advanced instead of retreating was because the trebuchet on the opposite side was far away and would cause greater damage to his own side. As long as he took the opportunity to rush forward and engage the opposite side, the other side couldn't even hit his own people, right?

And there are more than 5,000 people on his side. It stands to reason that Shouchun sent a large army to attack Yuzhou, and the defenders left in Hefei are only about 10,000 people. The other side can't go on his own path, right?

He pulled out his long sword and personally led the soldiers to rush forward despite the arrows and rocks. Thousands of soldiers continued to fall. As they continued to move forward, the forest in front of them gradually became sparse. Along the way, you will burst into the open area beyond the pier.

But what makes Dong Xi strange is that the number of stones thrown by the trebuchet on the opposite side does not seem to be significantly reduced?

And it stands to reason that he has already advanced several miles. This is already the maximum range of this small catapult. Why haven't he seen anyone yet?

Not to mention the catapult, what about the archers? Are they all fighting and retreating at the same time?

He felt uneasy in his heart. The only good thing was that the other side might only have brought small trebuchets instead of large trebuchets, otherwise it would be more troublesome for him.

Full of suspicion, he broke out of the blocking forest first, and the resulting scene made him shiver all over.

The other party has indeed been moving!

The archers on the opposite side were not only hundreds of horse archers, but others were riding on donkeys and mules. Every time they shot an arrow, they urged the dismounted animals to retreat.

Not only that, the trebuchet on the opposite side is also moving!

The trebuchets at that time were mostly used for sieges. Because the center of gravity was extremely high, piles had to be fixed on the ground in advance. When the trebuchet fired the stone, it could remain stable and avoid overturning.

And Dong Xi saw that a dozen trebuchets several miles away were fixed on a chassis with several pairs of huge wheels!

After the catapult on the ground fired the stone, there were soldiers behind, driving several oxen and horses to pull the trebuchet back. This was the reason why Dong Xi had not caught up after chasing him for so long!

Only then did Dong Xi understand why the catapult stone was not big, because no matter how tall it was, it would be difficult to drag. It was specially made to target his infantry!

He knew that he had to make a decision at this time. After calculating the number of infantry near the trebuchet on the opposite side, he felt that the opponent's number was smaller than his own, so he subconsciously wanted to launch a charge. He just raised the ring knife high, but suddenly hesitated.

The open space in front of me is perfect for soldiers to attack, as if it was tailor-made for me!

But if this is true for oneself, how is it true for the enemy?

Dong Xi narrowed his eyes and stared at the formation on the opposite side for a moment, then shouted decisively: "Retreat to the dense forest!"

"full speed!"

When Dong Xijun heard this, he immediately changed his formation and Sayazi ran back.

As a result, Yuan Xijun's retreating catapult failed to calculate the distance and knocked Jiangdong Army out of the attack range.

His sense of smell allowed him to escape. In the dense forest behind the flat land opposite, there were Yuan Xi and Zhuge Liang.

Yuan Xi put down the telescope and said to Zhuge Liang: "Jiangdong Army is indeed capable of many people."

Zhuge Liang looked a little solemn and said: "Throwing stones like this didn't make their formation collapse. It shouldn't be underestimated."

"General Zhang was left waiting in vain."

He thought that although he had figured out how to use this trebuchet to move on its own, this single method alone still could not determine the outcome of the battle.

Yuan Xi said: "What should we do next?"

Zhuge Liang said decisively: "The whole army attacks!"

Dong Xi heard the sound of Yuan Xijun's marching drums, and then the sound of horse hooves galloping, and his heart suddenly tightened. The opponent was indeed waiting for him. If he were to rush in rashly, he would definitely be surrounded!

He still hasn't figured out how many people there are on the other side, but it seems that they are indispensable. The crisis is lingering in his mind, and he immediately urges the soldiers to retreat to the lake.

Thousands of soldiers braved Yuan Xijun's arrows and trudged through the dense forest. They were about to reach the river when bursts of pungent smoke dispersed. Dong Xi looked into the distance and his heart sank. Was it because he set fire to the other side in advance so that he could not compete with the fleet in the lake?

He immediately shouted: "Look for a place without fire and break out to the lake!"

At this time, Cheng Pu's warship had already rushed to the east bank of the lake. He saw that there were continuous fires everywhere, but there was only one gap that was not yet on fire. He was ready to let the fleet move over and prepare to land to respond.

As a result, when he took a closer look at the sober side of the bank, his expression suddenly changed, and he lost his voice and said, "It's broken!"

At this time, the rear troops sent by Dong Xi to clear the passage in advance had also found the gap. They rushed to the lake and saw the lake in front of them. They were all overjoyed and prepared to notify Dong Xi immediately.

But the general in front took a closer look and immediately shouted: "It's broken!"

This gap was indeed not affected by the fire, but it was indeed one of the few swamps along the Chao Lake!

This swamp is not big, with a radius of less than ten miles, but it is stuck in this extremely critical place. Let alone the warship docking, I am afraid that it will run aground halfway through!

If the warship runs aground, not only can no one be saved, but you can't even save yourself. If you get stuck in the swamp, you will only become a target for the enemy!

Cheng Pu on the bow of the boat groaned secretly. He didn't know yet that this was a trap deliberately set by the other side!

Not long after, Dong Xi also led his troops to the shore. Seeing this scene, he almost vomited blood. He understood that the opponent not only wanted to wipe out himself, but also used it to contain Cheng Pu's fleet in the lake!

Seeing that there was no way out, he turned around and shouted, "Get in formation and fight them, only then can you survive!"

After hearing this, Jiang Dongbing also became ferocious, and he collided with Yuan Xijun who was chasing him and started fighting.

As soon as they engaged in the battle, Dong Xi felt a huge pressure. The opposite side was filled with elite soldiers who had fought a hundred battles. Their swords were very fierce, and he could not resist for long. However, after only half a quarter of an hour of fighting, Jiang Dongbing was like wheat under the all-round attack of Yuan Xijun. One after another fell down, let alone counterattack, the defensive formation was about to collapse!

Cheng Pu from the fleet in the lake saw him and knew that if he hesitated any longer, Dong Xi's army would be wiped out. He immediately shouted: "Yang Fan, the big ship in the front, aims at the shore and rushes over, as far as we can!" "

The two warships raised their sails and sailed at full speed under the wind, facing the direction of Dong Xi and heading towards the swamp!

After traveling less than a few miles, the bottom of the boat began to hit the mud at the bottom of the lake and began to bump. The captain on the boat knew that it was entering a swamp, so he gritted his teeth and continued to bump into it. After another three or four miles, the big boat finally stopped. , completely stranded in the swamp.

However, the big ship was still several miles away from the lake shore at this time!

When Cheng Pu saw it, he ordered more than a dozen medium-sized ships and shouted: "Go around the big ships and rush over!"

Several medium-sized ships acted in accordance with the law and passed the large ship for more than a mile before running aground again.

Cheng Pu mobilized dozens of small boats and rushed over. Then he began to fill the gaps in the boats and connected them with ropes.

Only then did the generals watching the battle realize that they were trying to build a boat bridge to rescue Dong Xijun on the shore!

When Dong Xi saw it, he quickly ordered his soldiers to pick up the boat that was rowing over, and organized the soldiers to board the boat and retreat.

Ling Cao, who was on board the Chinese army's ship, saw this and sighed: "Captain Cheng is both wise and brave. He is worthy of being the leader of all the generals in Jiangdong."

As soon as he finished speaking, he glanced at Zhou Yu secretly, but found that there was no displeasure on the other person's face, but rather a serious look on his face.

Zhou Yu said aloud: "I'm afraid Fierce Tiger has already responded."

Before he finished speaking, Zhuge Liang had already commanded the catapult to prepare the response. What the soldiers placed on the catapult were no longer stones, but barrels filled with sesame oil and tung oil.

The sergeants ignited the oilcloth on the barrels, and the oil barrels burned. Then with an order, a dozen flaming barrels smashed against the bridge of the stringed ship!

In fact, the trebuchet was very inaccurate. Only one or two of the dozen barrels could hit the bridge of the ship. However, this was enough. After a few rounds, the decks of several large and small ships were hit, and the fire broke out.

If they were on the river, these ships could still get out of the way and other ships could take over, but now the ships in front are stuck in the swamp and there is no way to respond effectively!

Zhou Yu saw it and knew that Cheng Pu's plan had been frustrated. The key question was, how should he deal with it now?

At this time, news came that Jiang Qin, who was on the left side of the case, was also entangled by Yuan Xijun. The opposite party repeated the same trick and burned the woods on the shore. Although there was no swamp there and there was no gap, Han Dang in the lake could not get ashore. To save him, Jiang Qin was forced to face the enemy alone!

Zhou Yu's face was gloomy, and the opponent was obviously preparing to eat Dong Xi first!

That means…..

He suddenly raised his head, "Beat the drum, let Lu Meng advance quickly and break into the Chaohu Pier!"

Now it's a race against time. As long as Lu Meng can capture the dock in time, he can land here and take the retreat on the other side!

Ling Cao hesitated for a moment and said: "In case there is an ambush on the other side, or just light a fire..."

Zhou Yu looked fierce, "I want to take it down before the other side lights up!"

He guessed that those hundred and ten ships were all fire starters. As long as he had a favorable wind and sails and rushed into the enemy's interior, he could prevent most of the ships from lighting fires!

When Lu Meng received the military order, he quickly ordered the full sail to be hoisted. In an instant, the fleet accelerated, and hundreds of warships rushed towards the opponent's silent fleet like hungry wolves!

In less than half a moment, Lu Meng's fleet had traveled seven or eight miles. Seeing that it was only five or six miles away from the fleet near the dock, he heard a drum and the ships near the dock started to move at the same time!

(End of this chapter)