Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1478: Chapter 1423: This Is Simply a Tragedy (Part 2)

This layered encirclement structure, coupled with Liu Bei’s Army never being the same group of horses each time, gave Zhou Yu the impression that Guo Jia was playing a game of impact. However, due to its poor execution, it had turned into a piecemeal tactic, completely unaware that Liu Bei’s Army, changing direction with each attack, had them completely surrounded.

At the water village downstream of the Huai River, Lyu Dai vaguely saw firelight upstream and felt a shock in his heart. The sound of distant fighting made Lyu Dai feel even more uneasy. When firelight appeared from the direction of Sunx Ce’s main camp, Lyu Dai finally confirmed that something was amiss.

”Ding Gong, you lead a part of the troops on land, I will lead a part on water, and we will advance both by land and water to avoid any problems.” Before Lyu Dai could find Lyu Fan, Lyu Fan had already ordered someone to notify Lyu Dai.

Lyu Dai, hearing Lyu Fan’s arrangements, did not say much more, and immediately assembled three thousand troops to set off from the water village towards Sunx Ce’s military camp, while Lyu Fan dismantled the water village after Lyu Dai’s departure, leading all the ships upstream.

At this time, Guann Cheng was leading a part of the troops downstream, and it didn’t take long before they met unexpectedly. Guann Cheng was one of the few in the Yellow Turbans who understood naval battle, but unfortunately, he still fell short compared to an adept like Lyu Fan with years of advanced cultivation.

In addition to the disparity in strength, troop numbers, and number of ships, Guann Cheng was soon forced into a rout and retreat. Naval battles have always been an insurmountable obstacle for most Feudal Lords of the North.

After repelling Guann Cheng, Lyu Fan’s expression was evidently grim. Guann Cheng’s previous performance clearly indicated he was stalling for time, which meant the original situation of advancing by both land and water was completely blocked, suggesting Lyu Dai might have already encountered an ambush.

Unlike ground battles, in naval battles, if you want to run, small boats and light ships can escape quickly. For Guann Cheng, there was no danger, but on land, if Lyu Dai truly encountered an ambush, it would be extremely difficult for him to escape.

”Continue advancing!” Lyu Fan quickly made a decision. Lyu Dai’s situation could be set aside for now. Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce were the most important. If Guan Yu could act like this, it meant that there would definitely be a conclusion tonight, which left Lyu Fan no time for further thought.

As Lyu Fan anticipated, not long after he was blocked by Guann Cheng, Lyu Dai encountered an ambush from Jiang Gong and Sima Ju. After a fierce battle between the two sides, Chen Chi’s large army suddenly appeared. The quality of soldiers on Guan Yu’s side overwhelmed Lyu Dai’s troops in both skill and numbers, and Lyu Dai’s forces soon showed a noticeable decline.

”Advisor, our army was blocked en route to the downstream water village, Lyu Fan has already headed up the Huai River.” After approaching the shore quickly on a small boat, Guann Cheng reported to Guo Jia, who had been waiting.

”There was no way around it.” Guo Jia was completely unconcerned, a minor mishap was nothing; he still had the bulk of his troops here, and tonight would decide victory or defeat, ”Take your men and move with the main army.”

As Lyu Fan came up along the Huai River, his expression visibly grew more solemn. He could already see Guan Yu’s Army arrayed along the Huai River’s edge with thousands of crossbows waiting for him to dock, evidently well-prepared by Guan Yu for today.

”Ha!” Lyu Fan said coldly watching this scene unfold, already having suspicions in his heart. Knowing that Zhou Yu and Sunx Ce probably had no immediate issues, yet seeing the stance, if they continued, Guo Jia’s reserves might emerge to turn the tide today.

”Dock!” Lyu Fan said with a cold smile. The oarsmen, hearing this, slowly began to row towards the south bank of the Huai River, and as they neared fifty steps, a rain of arrows from Guan Yu’s side wildly covered the area, preventing Lyu Fan from docking.

Guo Jia watched Lyu Fan struggling from afar, regretting that he didn’t have time to bring over the bed crossbows and stone throwers. But it didn’t matter, Zhou Yu’s navy would not be able to dock today. He’d deal with Zhou Yu himself later, Sunx Ce without Zhou Yu’s intelligence was of little concern.

Seeing Lyu Fan struggling without making any new moves, Guo Jia decided to leave it be and let chaos take root, allowing Zhou Yu to seize the opportunity to attack, causing chaos after which the main force could move in to determine victory or defeat.

In the formation, Zhou Yu had completely stabilized the situation by now. Taking advantage of the chaos, he had already forced the supposedly experienced soldiers of the Yellow Turbans to barely hold on, but until now, Zhou Yu was not at ease; instead, he inexplicably grew more and more restless.

[What did I miscalculate? Even if Guo Jia’s target wasn’t me but my navy, with Lyu Fan and Lyu Dai plus my prior arrangements, it should never have been taken down, and personally I have no issues right now...] Zhou Yu thought restlessly.

At that moment, unintentionally during the moonlit night, a basket-like object blocked the moonlight, then several small round objects began to roll out of it.

”What is this?” Zhou Yu muttered, puzzled, looking at the objects rolling out from the round basket. ”It looks like peaches, a basket of peaches thrown by a stone thrower?”

Zhou Yu was slightly taken aback, watching the Guan Yu Army around him suddenly become somewhat disorganized, feeling a chill to the bone, and he immediately shouted, ”Everyone hold the formation, don’t scatter for pursuit, charge right at General Wen from the front!”

”Now I can only hope Gongjin understands my meaning.” Lyu Fan wiped the peach in his hand, then took a bite. Earlier, a basket of peaches had been thrown using a boat-mounted stone thrower, luckily in May and June, otherwise such a clear signal couldn’t have been sent.

Compared to Guo Jia, Zhou Yu’s greatest advantage isn’t strategy but military tactics. Zhou Yu understands formations and military strategies, and only a few in the world can surpass his ability to command troops, comparable to the likes of Li Ru, both being all-rounded with high achievements.

However, the difference is Zhou Yu leans towards being a military strategist while Li Ru leans towards political strategy. Both belong to the top echelon, capable of attacking, defending, and breaking out of encirclement. With the reminder of a basket of peaches, Zhou Yu instantly understood he was at the center of that peach basket; he must escape from it!

Deriving from this, Zhou Yu understood his situation; he was already surrounded, and if his forces were scattered, they would definitely be overwhelmed by Guo Jia’s reserve forces, capturing him. Compared to Guan Yu’s side, Huainan’s forces had no advantage.

After being on guard, Zhou Yu immediately began adjusting formations. The original round formation that was about to disperse quickly turned into a long spindle shape under Zhou Yu’s swift adjustments, and he promptly commanded the soldiers to tear their way out from the front.

At this moment, Zhou Yu’s mind was extraordinarily calm. He knew there were definitely more of Guo Jia’s ambushers outside, but fortunately, he had his doubts earlier and had not acted rashly when Guan Yu’s Army fell into chaos, otherwise his forces dispersing now would surely lead to his death at Guo Jia’s hands.

After all, Zhou Yu was an excellent commander. Once he understood the situation, he suddenly exerted full force, and soon tore open a gap in the formation, immediately merging with Wen Pin’s forces.

Guo Jia was directly stunned, according to his assumptions, Zhou Yu with such a state of mind was not expected to perceive the situation, yet now Zhou Yu was breaking out just before Guo Jia intended to act.

”All units, attack. Capture Zhou Yu, rewards of a hundred gold for beheading him, a thousand for capturing him alive! And a position of General!” Guo Jia immediately issued a reward, though he hadn’t intended to eliminate Zhou Yu, as things progressed so smoothly to this point, the hope of slaying Zhou Yu emerged, causing other thoughts to arise in Guo Jia’s mind.

Amidst the chaotic battlefield, Zhou Yu’s dispatching remained impeccably orderly. Setting aside military strategy, Zhou Yu’s command ability wasn’t something to joke about, far surpassing Guo Jia by tenfold. As for those mid-level military officers managing a thousand men, they were doing fairly well but lacked Guan Yu’s unified command. After a few maneuvered retreats by Zhou Yu, they were quickly fighting separately.

”Guo Fengxiao, if you wish to overcome me next time, remember that I can command an army, while you are merely a strategist, hahaha!” Zhou Yu quickly realized this issue, and after merging with Wen Pin’s forces, continued fighting while retreating, quickly breaking out and laughing at Guo Jia standing on the high hill.

[Fortunately, fortunately, I was always letting Bofu command the troops before, pretending to be a strategist. If I wasn’t competent in commanding troops this time, I would’ve truly died.] Zhou Yu thought with great emotion.

After breaking out with his forces, Zhou Yu watched as Guan Yu’s army, biting at their heels, headed for the front of the Huai River. He was well aware that at this distance, there could only be two more ambushers, but without unified command within Guan Yu’s Army, he was not afraid. Guo Jia was only a strategist and could not command troops.