Wei Ni

Chapter 186 Chest Piercing
A fire in Chibi made Cao Cao's ambition to bring peace to all the rebels in the world aborted; a fire in Yiling made the fertile Yizhou exhausted and weak.

Jiangdong's fire attack deeply hated both Wei and Shu.

But today they also experienced the feeling of being burned by fire, and they were still on the ship they relied on to rule the roost!
On the Zhongdu River, dozens of lit walking boats floated down the river.

Like a fire dragon that lit up the night sky, with a stern and all-devouring anger, it slammed into the Wu Bing fleet docked on the water.

There is no shelter on both sides of the waterway, which allows the strong winds of early spring to rage.

The fire took advantage of the wind, and the tongues of fire continued to stretch and spread, trying to devour more; the wind took advantage of the fire, and countless sparks were gathered in the air and took on a real shape, slamming hard on the boat that had not yet been ignited.

The already sparse snowflakes fell sporadically from the sky, and were directly evaporated before they got close to the area covered by the fire. They turned into rising blue flames, becoming the forerunner of Zhu Rong's coming to the world, constantly burning the desperate people. people. The boat, which was floating on the water but was not completely burned, continued to billow with thick ink-colored smoke, rushing toward the panicked Wu soldiers, choking them until they could not breathe and burst into tears.

The road ahead was blocked and hundreds of walking boats were crowded together, with no room to move to avoid the fire.

One ship after another was engulfed in flames, causing the fire to spread faster and faster.

Some of the Wu soldiers who were the first to come into contact with the fire were choked to death by the thick smoke, some were burned to death by the fire, and some were roasted alive by the heat. More people jumped into the water and drowned.

He felt that if his troops were arrayed ashore like this, no one would have a chance to enter the dense forest of Jiangshui Temple under the attack of Wei cavalry.

The Eight Hundred Marines, whose morale was originally very low, collapsed.

At this moment, Jiangdu's waterways were like purgatory.

After being favored for many years, he did not hesitate to die for Sun Shao.

The personal guard standing next to Sun Shao, just when Sun Shao wanted to refuse, pulled him and rushed in another direction. The other forty or fifty personal guards also spontaneously followed Wu Can.

After saying this, he turned around and went ashore, drew his sword and raised it high, shouting, "The situation is urgent! Children of Jiangdong, please stay and cut off the latter, come with me!"

He also knew that if he could not return to Dantu, that would be the biggest let down to Sun Yi who was fearless to die.

The thick winter clothes on their bodies made it difficult for them, who were good at water, to move in the water; the icy cold river water kept taking away the strength of them who were already hungry; and the robes jumped into the water one after another, pulling and pushing according to the instinct of survival. After consuming each other, they eventually sank to the bottom of the water to feed the fish and turtles.

At this moment, Sun Shao's face was full of determination, and he loudly ordered the private soldiers who were not affected by the fire to abandon their boats and go ashore.

Sun Shao had no chance to refuse such an approach.

This shout for people to die voluntarily made many Wu soldiers silently look back and take a deep look at Sun Shao, and then decisively followed him.

Fortunately, Wu Bing had time to organize the array.

Sun Shao did not consider how long the human array, which faced the cavalry charge with spears and ring-shou knives, could last without the Wuhan Iron and Steel chariots with strong crossbows in front and behind them to block the cavalry charge.

Running with all his strength, the distance of three or four miles is no more than a stone's throw away.

This also made Wu Bing unable to stop the approach of the fire ship, and watched helplessly as the fire approached and engulfed him.

Under the cover of night, even if the Wei cavalry realized it later, it was too late to divide their forces and pursue them.

After disembarking from the Zhongdu Waterway and entering the dense forest of Jiangshui Temple, you still need to pass through an open space of about three or four miles.

He never expected that it would be in such an embarrassing way - originally, in his and Wu Can's deduction, he thought that the Wei army would abandon their horses and wade into the water to attack after nightfall! Arrangements were also made for the governor of Buqu and Sun Yi, the general of Jiangdu, to lead some elites to prevent night attacks, intending to use this to consume some of Wei's troops, so as to increase vitality after landing!
Who would have expected that the Wei army would also attack with fire on the water!
If the Wei army attacks at night and the enemy and we are in close combat, he can still command the courage of his soldiers to risk their lives and survive; but in the face of fire that cannot be resisted by manpower, he is powerless.

A large section of the soft river bed was exposed after the water level dropped, making it impossible for the Wei cavalry to rush in and kill the Wu soldiers just as they abandoned their boats.

Before the emotions of his private army were infected by the navy soldiers, he quickly abandoned the boat and went ashore, seeking a life in death.

"General, leave quickly!"

Looking back at the backs of Sun Yi and the many Wu soldiers who were drifting away, the sound of horse hooves became increasingly clear in my ears, making Wu Can sigh and Sun Shao choke after running smoothly into the dense forest.

As the commander-in-chief of Jiangdu Wubao, he felt very guilty and remorseful for his rash follow-up to the north with Sun Shao, which resulted in the fall of Wubao and the interruption of his return route. He also hoped to have a chance to atone for his sins.

Those who hide their faces and cry, those who curse angrily, those who abandon their boats and dive into the water, those who draw their swords and swing at the superiors, no one is afraid of military law anymore, and no one is willing to obey orders.

After talking about his plan, Sun Yi ended with these words.

They are all Sun Shao's private army.

Although he had expected this moment to come so early.

In this situation, all Sun Shao could do was make a decisive decision.

As the fire ship went down the river, the Wei cavalry on both sides began to throw arrows.

At this moment, there is no need to think about it, right?
But Sun Yi considered this.

Unless, cut off the tail to survive!
In other words, it is Li Daitaojiang.

"I also hope that when the general comes to Jiangdu again in the future, he will not forget to collect our bones and bury the alchemy disciples."

And they know that even if they die, as long as Sun Shao returns to Nan'an Dantu alive, their family will have enough food and clothing, and no worries about food and clothing.

Really helpless.

He wanted to lead 600 of them ashore in formation to attract the attention of the Wei cavalry and contain the offensive, while Sun Shao and Wu Can took the opportunity to run into the dense forest.

They all knew that Sun Yi would definitely die.

Yes, it's time to fight to the death.

It’s just that the chances of survival are very slim.

Within this not-too-distant distance, it was enough for the nearly thousand Wei cavalry who had been lingering on the east side of the waterway to kill them and trample them into the dust with their horse hooves.

There are still nearly 700 Wu soldiers gathered on the exposed river bed.

The despair was maddening.

"Accelerate! Accelerate!"

On the east bank of the waterway, Leliang, who saw Wu soldiers abandoning their boats and ashore, let his horses trot. He leveled the spear in his hand and led the Huainan cavalry Qu to charge towards Sun Yi's formation, "Break through the enemy's formation!"

"kill!"

Accompanied by a brief and powerful response, the Wei cavalry swept towards Sun Yi and other Wu soldiers with the force of a landslide.

"puff!"

"Boom!"

"Crack!"

The sound of spears piercing flesh could be heard one after another, the sound of war horses knocking people into the air could be heard continuously, and the muffled sounds of horse hoofs trampling on corpses could be heard continuously.

Determined courage and determination to die cannot make up for the merits of riding on foot.

The Huainan cavalry Qu only used one charge, at the cost of dozens of cavalry being dismounted, to pierce through Sun Yi and the Wu soldiers who had hurriedly formed a formation to stop the cavalry. And after charging into the formation, the horse's speed did not slow down. He turned the horse's head with good training and split it in the middle, and then surrounded and killed the remaining Wu soldiers.

A horse's hoof fell heavily on Sun Yi, denting his chest.

As he was at the forefront, when the Wei cavalry charged for the first time, he was stabbed by an overwhelming number of spears and fell to the ground helplessly.

He, who was already on his deathbed, did not feel much pain when he was trampled by the horse's hooves.

On the contrary, when his body bowed under the force, he was able to look sideways at the dense forest on the other side of the Jiangshui Temple - there were no Wei cavalry there, and there were no figures of forty or fifty people such as Sun Shao and Wu Can.

Therefore, before he died, he grinned and smiled silently without any regrets.

The light snow had already stopped by this time.

The silver moon, which had been hidden for many days, hung in the night sky. The moonlight burst out like mercury and spread all over the earth. It also fell on the river rushing into the sea, causing the water splashes to ripple like silk waves, like silver threads. Chasing and playing with each other.

It takes away the regrets of the dead and also retains the expectations of the living.

Leliang had long seen the small group of Wu soldiers escaping into the dense forest.

The reason why he did not divide his troops to stop it was because he had asked Jiang Ban to meet Xiahou Hui early.

In the middle of the river mouth where the sunken ship blocked the Zhongdu River, there was a pontoon bridge that he led across the water. Jiang Ban knew about it, so he didn't need to worry about Sun Shao escaping. In fact, this is also true.

After seeing Wu soldiers abandoning their boats and landing on the east side of Zhongdu River, Xia Houhui asked his five hundred cavalry to continue suppressing them with arrows, while he and Jiang Ban led nearly two hundred scouts to the pontoon.

His original plan was to surround and kill him with Leliang.

But after seeing a small group of Wu soldiers rushing toward the dense forest, he left dozens of people to guard the horses, and led more than a hundred people to dismount and rush into the dense forest.

Three armies are easy to obtain, but one general is difficult to find.

After trying so hard to get Sun Shao into trouble, how could he allow him to survive!

Moreover, the combined achievements of conquering Jiangdu Wubao, Kuangqi City, and Guangwu Lake garrison were not as beneficial to the situation of Wei and Wu on the Eastern Front as killing Sun Shao~
Therefore, in the dense forest that cannot be illuminated by the silver moon, two groups of soldiers and horses are rushing towards Jiangshui Temple from different directions.

The difference is that Wu Bing looked back frequently, always paying attention to the danger coming from behind, while Wei Bing paid attention to the possibility of encounters on the road ahead.

Sometimes, it is such a subtle difference that can determine life or death.

About half an hour later.

Xia Houhui, who was rushing forward with more than a hundred scouts, clearly felt that the trees passing by were getting sparser and thinner, and he could vaguely hear the sound of the river flowing more and more clearly, so he asked everyone to slow down and move forward cautiously to reduce the noise made by their footsteps.

He knew that he was very close to Jiangshui Temple.

He even knew that Wu Bing had not arrived yet.

Because the Jiangshui Temple was originally built by the Jiangdu Wubao garrison to pray for peace in the four seasons, it is not far away from the direction of the river mouth and can be accessed by forest trails. However, the Wu soldiers who entered the dense forest from the north had to break through obstacles such as vines or horizontal branches and leaves from time to time, and their speed was naturally much slower than that of the Wei soldiers.

However, their escape was not as hasty as before.

The personal guard governor, who left one person to keep an eye on him every section of the journey, suggested that Sun Shao ask his troops to slow down a bit after learning that the Wei army was not chasing them.

There was no way, they were too tired.

Not only were they hungry for a long time, but they were also attacked by fire on the water, which made them feel physically and mentally exhausted.

Sun Shao did not refuse.

At this moment, he could also faintly hear the sound of water flowing in the river, so all he could think of was the back figure of Sun Yi and the more than 600 private soldiers turning around decisively.

Guilt, sentimentality, grief, unwillingness.
He had mixed feelings at this moment.

For the first time in his life, he had doubts about his general strategy——

Guang usually sent scouts deep into the enemy's territory and knew all the military units and generals in Qingzhou, Xuzhou and Huainan of Wei State, but he was actually lured out of the cave by the Wei army! They were trapped on the proud water surface of Jiangdong and faced a fire attack! And it was only by relying on Sun Yi and the private soldiers to fight for their lives that they escaped into the dense forest like a bereaved dog!

After such experience, what kind of good general can he be? !

After such a tragic defeat, what qualifications does he have to make suggestions on national policies and persuade Sun Quan to use troops against Qingxu Province? !
Perhaps, I stayed in Jingkou for too long, where the Wei army did not invade, so I became arrogant and arrogant like Yelang, and I was like a frog in the well without even realizing it.

Ugh.
After returning this time, I went up to apologize.

However, I beg your Majesty to allow me to step down from the post of guarding one side and instead send troops out to Huainan to advance and kill Wei soldiers with my own hands to comfort Sun Yi and the spirits of other tribes in heaven.

Sun Shao, who looked a little lonely, and was preoccupied with the sadness of being tricked, lowered his head and followed the crowd like a puppet on strings.

But while walking absent-mindedly like this, he suddenly felt as if he was being stared at by a poisonous snake.

He stopped suddenly, followed his intuition and looked up at the trees not far ahead.

But he found that a starlight was dimmed by the silver moon, walking quietly through the night, running towards him so fast that even the wind had no time to moan.

His pupils instantly condensed, his body instinctively leaned to the side, and he shouted sharply.

"Have"

But as soon as he shouted a word, his voice was cut off by a sharp pain.

The arrow still hit his ribs.

Not only did it ignore the leather armor on his body, it also penetrated his body and a large section emerged from the lower back.

This sudden pain and the surging red color made his consciousness suddenly become trance-like. He seemed to hear a few people shouting something with obvious crying voices.

But he didn't want to tell.

He just tried his best to suppress the salty smell that kept rising in his throat, and struggled to squeeze out a few words, "There is an ambush. Go! Go quickly!"

Then his head tilted and he fell into coma.

At this moment, Jiang Ban was already leading his scouts to fight with his private army.

Xia Houhui, who hit him with an arrow, continued to hold the bow, sidestepped the enemies and enemies who were fighting in a group, attached the arrow and continued to snipe.

In order to ensure that Sun Shao would die, he wanted to add another shot.

It's just a pity.

At this moment, Sun Shao was surrounded by four or five personal guards.

After someone tore off the lining to cover the wound, he was carried by a strong tribe and rushed deep into the dense forest under the protection of more than 20 people.

Therefore, Xia Houhui's second arrow only shot down one of the soldiers surrounding Sun Shao.

If the target he aimed at was Wu Can, he would be able to achieve success.

But he didn't bother to do it.

It happened that Wu Can came to Guangling with him, and E Guanbo still wore the official uniform of a guest, which made Xia Houhui mistakenly think that he was just an aide or a clerk, so he escaped smoothly.

"Revenge for the general!"

"Cut off the queen for the general!"

Miscellaneous slogans rang out from the mouths of the more than thirty Wu soldiers who stayed here spontaneously, and their voices were as miserable as a she-wolf that had just lost its cubs.

Seeing Sun Shao hit by an arrow and being carried away with his arms hanging down and his head tilted, the sadness in their eyes condensed and the will to die spread in their hearts, all of which turned into determination to face the blade.

He was so stunned that he attacked more with less and killed more than a hundred scouts of Jiang Ban until they retreated step by step.

It also surprised Xia Houhui, who kept drawing his bow.

He has been in Huainan for so long, and he has never seen such a stubborn Wu Bing!
The blades in the hands of these Wu soldiers were broken, and they used their fists and teeth; their bodies were severely injured, so they used their last strength to hug the enemy so that Pao Ze could kill him.

Each of them was trading their lives for lives.

Everyone is a mourning soldier with a death wish. In order for Paoze, who left with Sun Shao, to escape the pursuit, they would not allow the Wei army to cross here even half a step.

Inevitably, after all the more than thirty Wu soldiers were killed, the Wei army also lost the opportunity to continue the pursuit.

This dense forest is too big, and the remaining Wu soldiers will not go to Jiangshui Temple again.

The most important thing is that at this time, the sound of water flowing in the river is faintly accompanied by the sound of golden drums.

If nothing unexpected happens, reinforcements from Dantu, Jiangdong, will arrive.

Therefore, Xia Houhui gave up the thought of taking Sun Shao's head back and asked the soldiers to carry the corpses of more than 20 people who died in the battle and quickly walked out of the dense forest.

I can't go anymore.

The sunken ships blocking the entrance of the Zhongdu River were all small or medium-sized warships. The Wu reinforcements only needed to be towed by large ships, and they could easily clear all the obstacles with water power.

This also means that if Wei Jun does not move faster, he may change from a hunter to a prey.

Not to mention that this place is Guangling County with dense rivers and lakes. With the troops stationed in Hengjiangpu and Niuzhuwu, it is easy to cooperate with Dantu reinforcements to treat the Wei army as a turtle in the urn.

Besides, that arrow should have killed off Sun Shao's life, right?
After all, it penetrated the chest and ribs.
(End of this chapter)