Chapter 184 Unexpected
Cao Cao never expected that Wu Jun would take such a big risk and sail the fire ship directly into the water stronghold.
It turns out that there was a seed ship in the Soochow Navy. There were small boats hidden under the big ship. The big ship was loaded with fire starters and had an iron cone barb at the front. Once it collided with an enemy ship, it would be connected together.
There are sailors hidden in the small boats, who can ignite the fuse and burn the big boat, then they can escape from the belly of the boat and leave the battlefield easily.
The ships of Cao's army were connected together and there was no time to evacuate. Once the warships collided with each other, they burned together and there was no time to save them.
In addition, the straw boat used by Liu Qi last time was pushed by a big boat from behind. It caught fire and crashed into the water village with the grass and the boat. The fireball rolled and Cao Jun had no chance to rush to the shore and had to retreat.
Everyone retreated to the back camp and scrambled to get on the pontoon bridge. However, Lejin's reinforcements arrived at this time and were urging their horses. They were huddled together and unable to advance or retreat.
The cavalry led by Le Jin were all Xianbei troops. They had always fought independently. The training time was short and they could not fully obey the orders. In addition, the ship was shaking, flames were flying, and they were shocked and bumped everywhere. Many people fell.
Enter the water.
Xu Chu led the armored army to clear the way forward, forced a passage, and escorted Cao Cao onto the pontoon. Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard cavalry to protect him.
At this time, the morning wind suddenly started blowing from the river into the canyon. Heavy fog and smoke rolled in one place, and no one could be seen clearly. The Dongwu ship sailed down the wind and rushed directly to the pontoon ship.
Amidst the violent impact, the entire pontoon was shaking, and the Xianbei cavalry became increasingly nervous. They had never seen such a deep river on the grassland. They were completely panicked, some moved forward, some retreated, crowded and trampled on each other, causing numerous casualties.
"Everyone, get out of the way!" Seeing that the ship was also on fire, Xu Chu yelled and got off his horse, took off his armor, and strode forward with a big sword to clear the way.
Under the protection of his own soldiers, Cao Cao stumbled on the bridge and saw that the water village had formed a sea of fire, the river wind blew away the thick fog, and the Soochow fleet was slowly approaching.
On a tall ship in the middle, Zhou Yu's flag was fluttering in the wind, and the entire Wu army was dispatched to seize the camp.
Boom——
At this moment, there was a muffled sound in front, and the big ship was knocked over and fell across the water. The whole pontoon was stirred and shook violently. Cao Jun and his horses rolled and fell.
Cao Cao grabbed an iron chain with all his strength and shouted: "Save me, save me quickly!"
Xiahou Dun hurriedly stepped forward, hugged Cao Cao by the waist, and placed him on a wooden board. However, the Wu fleet continued to collide with each other, and the two large ships in the middle caught fire, cutting off the way.
Xu Chu braved the fireworks and rushed forward, but he couldn't fight. He had to turn back and said in a buzzing voice: "Prime Minister, the pontoon bridge has been broken. Return to the water village quickly."
Cao Cao was in a hurry, and turning back would be a dead end. When everyone was anxious, they saw Cao Xiu coming from upstream in a boat and shouting loudly.
It turned out that after Cao Xiu was attacked, he immediately led a navy to the upper reaches, preparing to use the heavy fog to ambush the Wu soldiers. Unexpectedly, the Wu soldiers did not attack at all, but only set fire and rushed to the rescue.
Everyone was busy helping Cao Cao jump into the boat. Xiahou Dun, Xu Chu and others also boarded the boat one after another. When the soldiers saw this, they jumped on the boat one after another and lay on the side of the boat like ants.
The two ships were overturned in the blink of an eye. Xu Chu saw that many people jumped off the ship and swung their swords to kill the soldiers lying beside the ship.
Xiahou Dun grabbed an oar and flew the jumping soldiers away. Cao Xiu ordered the boat to be rowed immediately, away from the pontoon as quickly as possible, and headed towards the Western Mountains.
Le Jin led his troops into the water stronghold, but did not want to put himself in danger. He finally escorted Cao Cao to retreat, but the cavalry could not escape.
In the chaos, they saw Xun You and others coming in confusion, and hurriedly said: "The pontoon was broken, and the prime minister left in a boat. What should we do?"
Xun You said: "There is a small road in the back mountain. General Cao Ren is coming to meet him. You can abandon your horse and enter the mountain to meet east."
Le Jin immediately dismounted, summoned his followers, and protected Xun You and others up the mountain. Cao's army in the camp was in chaos and there was no way to control it.
Seeing Le Jin give up his mount, the Xianbei troops were very hesitant. They dismounted and walked bow-legged. They also had a deep relationship with their mounts and could not bear to give up. They scolded Cao Jun for being unloyal.
When he first came to the Central Plains, Cao Cao promised to be well rewarded for his meritorious service, and entertained by fine wines and beauties. But now it was much better. In addition to being trained all day long, he left without even saying hello in times of crisis.
Cao Cao took a chain boat composed of three ships and was far away from the battlefield. When he saw a fire burning on the pontoon bridge and the sound of killing in Ruxu Village, he suddenly looked up to the sky and laughed.
Xiahou Dun said in astonishment: "Why is the Prime Minister laughing?"
Cao Cao laughed and said: "I laugh at Zhou Yu's lack of plans, and Liu Qi's great wisdom, who came out with all his troops for the Ruxu Water Village, but he didn't know that I had already made arrangements. Zixiao had already marched along the river to seize the Jiangdong Camp, and quickly went to the West Camp to gather troops and go around.
The mountain road leads directly behind it."
Cao Xiu ordered his men to row to the shore. When they were about to reach the shore, there was a sudden sound of drums and a volley of arrows. The sailors who came ashore in front fell to the ground one after another, and countless arrows flew onto the bow of the boat.
Xu Chu quickly stood up, waved his sword to block the arrow, and roared: "Who is so bold as to shoot an arrow at the Prime Minister?"
"Hahaha, Thief Cao, we have captured Qibao Mountain for a long time, why don't we just capture him without any help?"
Amidst the laughter, a general stood up from behind the tree, it was Liu Pan, and ordered the archers to aim at Cao Cao's ship and shoot.
"It's Liu Qi again!" Cao Cao was shocked and angry.
The Western Stronghold was all about cavalry, and that was his foundation, so he didn't feel bad about losing the water stronghold. But at this time, the Qibaoshan Stronghold was breached, and he lost the power to resist.
More than a dozen soldiers were shot to death by random arrows, and Xu Chu was also hit by several arrows. When the boat reached the middle of the river, the Jingzhou soldiers stood helpless on the shore.
Cao Cao escaped another disaster. When he saw the Jingzhou soldiers chasing him along the river, he stood on the bow of the boat with his arms akimbo and laughed: "Liu Qi, did you ever think that even I, Cao Mengde, could walk on flat ground in this serial boat and have the ability to chase me?
Haha...uh——"
The laughter didn't stop when suddenly an arrow flew like a meteor, and he fell down on his back with a loud cry.
Cao Chun was shocked and rushed to protect Cao Cao. When he saw that the arrow was hitting his front teeth, he quickly carried him back to the cabin.
Cao Cao sat up suddenly, bared his teeth and shouted: "A dog's life must be overturned (is my life still there)..."
Xia Houen drew his sword, cut off the arrow branch, and removed the arrow. A large hole was exposed between Cao Cao's front teeth, and he was bleeding.
Cao Chun brought water to rinse his mouth, and everyone was so frightened that they collapsed on the ground. If they hadn't laughed to the sky just now, the arrow would have hit the center of the eyebrow, and the consequences would have been disastrous.
After Cao Cao rinsed his mouth, he only felt a slight pain in his gums, but nothing else serious. He wiped his hands with cold sweat and said, "Who hurt someone in the dark just now?"
Cao Chun sighed: "It's the veteran Huang Zhong!"
The last time Huang Zhong shot Xu Chu's horse in the eye with an arrow was still fresh in everyone's memory. Today another arrow almost killed Cao Cao.
Cao Cao said with emotion: "Both Guan and Zhang are capable of decapitating generals among thousands of armies. This old soldier from Jingzhou has exquisite archery skills and can injure someone with an arrow from hundreds of steps away. Why is it that Liu Qi can use this strange man?"
Chapter completed!