Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3305: Gradually Going Away and Silently

In fact, the two tower ships of Xu Huang's front army, including one tower ship of the central army, should not have been lost. Because Jiangdong's attack methods were not very outrageous, nor were they necessarily very novel. Even the Sichuan Army had conducted relevant drills against the enemy's means of collision and burning in previous combat training, but they were lost one after another in the battle.

It is just like the losses faced by later generations in the combination of infantry and artillery, or the seven-day offensive.

I knew it was simple, but I still suffered losses. Whose fault is it?

  Is it the soldier's fault?

How long has the Sichuan Navy been in existence? Are there really some simple-minded people who think that once an army is in existence, it is equivalent to being an elite force? Just like those people in the later KMT, who thought that having American and German weapons meant they were the strongest army in the world.

So is it Xu Huang's fault?

If all the merits cannot be attributed to the generals, then all the blame cannot be attributed to the generals either. Otherwise it would be double standards.

Everything in the world has many sides.

Jiangdong's tactics were not good-looking at all, nor were they as elegant as the ones wearing feather fans and green scarves. Many Jiangdong soldiers even lost their lives in the charge. However, they caught the less skilled Sichuan navy off guard and exposed the fact that the Sichuan navy lacked solid foundation.

Xu Huang's problem was that he did not make a calm assessment, but was instead held hostage by the Sichuan navy's impatience and arrogance.

He once thought he could win, but in fact he was not as clear-headed and calm as the bystander Zhuge Liang, who knew that the Jiangdong navy had not completely collapsed and still had the power to resist.

No matter which dynasty or generation, there are inevitably some people who, after winning a few battles, think they are the best in the world and shout out to everyone else; after losing a few battles, they immediately start cursing, as if they have been beaten up by big men over and over again. In the final analysis, they are still not mature enough and not calm enough.

Everyone knows that one should not be arrogant when winning and not be discouraged when losing. Unfortunately, only a few people can really do it.

It is impossible for a large and powerful army to have only one powerful leader, nor can it be invincible relying solely on this leader.

Xu Huang was undoubtedly a lion, but the Sichuan sailors had not yet fully evolved from sheep to lions.

A group of sheep led by a lion may have some changes in momentum, but they are still sheep in the final analysis. Once blood is shed, the unevolved sheep will still show their sheep characteristics.

The Sichuan navy led by Xu Huang was, to some extent, a hybrid of a lion and a sheep. When the Jiangdong soldiers fought back desperately, the lion was not afraid at all, but the sheep around them held them back. When retreating, the lion was still fighting, ready to fight and retreat, but the sheep ran away first.

This lack of coordination was magnified when the Jiangdong soldiers launched a desperate counterattack, and even affected other semi-finished products, which began to become sheep-like.

They only knew how to bleat, and completely forgot the exercises and cooperation in previous training.

It was not until Xu Huang stepped forward and used his calmness and command that the Sichuan navy stopped its retreat and retreated in an orderly manner.

When Xu Huang withdrew, the sun had already tilted to the west, so for the Jiangdong army, they were chasing under the glaring sunlight. The sunlight not only shone on their faces and bodies, but also splashed on the water surface, and the sparkling light reflected by it also swayed in the eyes of the Jiangdong pursuers.

The Jiangdong soldiers on the Zouke paddled hard, making what might be the last sprint in their lives. The boats glided flexibly across the water, cutting through the waves like flying fish.

Under the reward, there must be a brave man.

Jiang Qin and Lu Xun's reward and punishment strategy was undoubtedly relatively successful. They were lucky because Jiangdong's credit, or the credit of Jiang Qin and Lu Xun had not been corrupted, so these Jiangdong soldiers "believed" it.

Of course, if the generous reward promised this time cannot be fulfilled, then there will naturally be no next time.

As the distance between the two sides shortened, a rain of arrows began to intertwine between the two armies, and the sharp arrows whizzed past with deadly threats.

Suddenly, a Jiangdong soldier on a Zou Ke discovered that someone seemed to be operating something on the Sichuan Army's warship, and seemed to be aiming at them...

Before the Jiangdong soldiers on Zou Ke could react, they saw a black object drawing an arc in the air and then nailed to the top plate of Zou Ke with a "dong" sound.

"What is that?!" Jiang Dongbing shouted, instinctively sensing something was wrong, "Take it down!"

A Jiangdong soldier stood up, stretched out his oar, and hit the caltrop fire bomb nailed to the top board, but surprisingly found that it did not move at all!

Jiang Dongbing wanted to slap it harder to knock it down, but it was too late...

"boom! 』

The flames produced by the explosion flashed suddenly, even overshadowing the sun in the sky.

  Broken iron pieces and wood chips flew everywhere, and the instantaneous high temperature ignited the kerosene accumulated in the Zouke's cabin. Then the secondary explosion that occurred in the next moment swept around, sweeping in several Zoukes nearby, and they were all buried in the flames, forming a larger-scale splashing and burning, which instantly covered almost half of the river surface!

The flames rose into the sky along with the black smoke. The blinding light and scorching heat swept over the surrounding waters. The thick smoke billowed and blocked out the sun. It even distorted part of the air on the river surface, swaying with the black smoke, as if the god of death was grinning in it.

"What's this? ! 』

Jiang Qin, who was in the back, asked a similar question almost at the same time as Lu Xun.

At the beginning, Jiang Qin and Lu Xun could not help but think that it was the power of Sichuan's new weapons, but they soon realized that the bigger reason was not the single caltrop fire bomb, but the kerosene carried by Zou Ke, which was originally intended to burn the Sichuan navy's ships.

On the ship engulfed by flames, no Jiangdong soldier was spared. Even if someone jumped into the water with flames on their bodies, they could not get the attention of the God of Luck.

Under the scorching flames, the structure of the ship began to be damaged, the wooden boards crackled in the high temperature, and the hull gradually lost stability, deformed, damaged, and collapsed.

The Jiangdong Zoukes who were lucky enough not to be engulfed by the flames subconsciously either turned the boat to avoid the flames or stopped chasing. Regardless of what they chose, they lost the opportunity to continue the pursuit...

Zou Ke is like a dagger. He is very flexible and his attacks are sharp in close combat.

But after a certain distance, Zou Ke lost his greatest attack power.

The explosion spread flames everywhere, basically cutting off Jiang Dong's pursuit route.

As the river flowed, the kerosene continued to spread and drift. The only option was to go around to the north bank of the river, or give up the pursuit.

Jiang Qin had no choice but to order his troops to withdraw and send troops to intercept the boats, and to use bamboo nets to catch the burning debris such as kerosene to prevent it from igniting the water fort.

Xu Huang's side also had difficulty crossing the large area of ​​kerosene flames on the river to attack the Jiangdong Army. Moreover, the defects shown by the Sichuan Navy in this battle also made Xu Huang realize that these guys still had many shortcomings, and forcible attack was not a good choice. The so-called war to support the war, the key is to "support", if you can't "support", you naturally can't "fight".

"Withdraw the troops." When Lu Xun saw Jiang Qin, his first words were so direct and calm.

Jiang Qin's face was not very good, "Withdraw? We won the battle!"

Lu Xun nodded, "That's right, that's why we can withdraw our troops."

Jiang Qin was not angry because he knew what Lu Xun said was true.

Even if Jiang Qin was unwilling, he could not change this fact.

Xu Huang injured most of the front army and a small part of the central army, which reduced his strength by more than a quarter, but the overall combat power was still there. The blind optimism among the Sichuan navy dissipated, which was not necessarily a bad thing from this perspective.

On the other hand, Jiang Qin paid the price of being seriously injured, his troops being greatly damaged, and receiving a high reward, and achieved a certain effect. However, it was still a long way from the damage line of the Sichuan Navy that he and Lu Xun had planned to achieve, which was also not necessarily a good thing.

It can be said that he succeeded, and he was indeed successful. After all, he became one of the few generals in the Jiangdong Army who successfully intercepted the approaching Sichuan Navy. But in another way, he also failed, because he lost the power to stop the Sichuan Navy again during this battle, both personally and in terms of his troops.

"If we withdraw our troops now," Lu Xun said calmly, "we can still avoid blame on you and me. If we wait... I'm afraid it will be difficult to resolve the matter peacefully."

Jiang Qin frowned and said, "Will the Sichuan Army come again?"

Lu Xun looked far to the west of the Yangtze River and sighed slightly, "If Sun and Cao can still join forces, then... and now, Commander Zhu... Fei Huqi has the opportunity to sweep the world, so why would he stop at Yidao?"

Jiang Qin took a deep breath, which seemed to have aroused the wound. He could not help but press it slightly with his hand, "So, there is no hope for recovery?"

Lu Xun whispered: "It's groundless."

After a pause, he continued, "Even so, the turning point is not here, but in Jiangling. So, Mr. Jiang, please order the troops to withdraw. Burn all the supplies that cannot be taken away and raze this place to the ground, which can be regarded as clearing the land for Jiangdong..."

Jiang Qin turned around and looked at the remaining flames and warship wreckage on the river, as well as the corpses rising and falling on the river surface. He was silent for a long time.

Lu Xun stood quietly beside Jiang Qin and did not urge him.

After a long time, Jiang Qin said hoarsely: "Send the order, withdraw the troops."

After uttering the last word, Jiang Qin seemed to have lost all his strength. Even his body hunched over. He lowered his head and turned away.

Lu Xun bowed deeply to the ground in front of Jiang Qin's back.

……

……

Jiang Qin used most of his troops to exchange for a brief victory.

A victory filled with human lives is also a kind of victory.

If anyone still remembers these sacrificed soldiers, then these sacrifices are naturally valuable.

It is a pity that in most feudal dynasties, the memory of the sacrifice of soldiers or the casualties of the lower-class people was extremely short, or even intentionally erased and forgotten, with only a few words left in the history books.

The same is true for Jiangdong. According to the usual custom, summer should be the time for Jiangdong nobles to enjoy the cool air, appreciate the moon, watch singing and dancing, and drink fine wine. However, now, or in this year, Jiangdong Wu County has shown some heaviness and desolation inside and out.

Because there were fewer lights, the mosses in front of the doors and on the walls of the large mansions in the deep alleys looked like moldy scars in the dark, or like torn wounds, bleeding in the darkness.

Some of the bluestone slabs on the main streets of Wujun City were already worn out, but no one came to repair them. As a result, they became more and more sunken. Local people who were familiar with the situation knew there was a pit there, so they jumped in advance to avoid it, but those outsiders would inevitably suffer in the pit and get covered in dirt and mud.

The drainage outlets in the culverts were also blocked because no one cleared them in time. As long as it rained a little, the mud and dirty water in the culverts would surge out and flow freely on the streets. After the weather cleared up, they would turn into inclement filth and stench under the scorching sun, spreading everywhere, making people stink wherever they went.

In fact, ever since Sun Quan insisted on marching westward and opening up the battlefield, no one cared about the people's livelihood affairs that should have been dealt with.

On the one hand, it was for military affairs, mobilizing soldiers to work and transporting food and supplies. There were countless things to deal with every day. Officials who belonged to Sun Quan's faction or were close to the Sun family were all busy and naturally had no time to take care of these smaller affairs of the people's livelihood.

On the other hand, the faction that opposed the war was also very busy. They were busy secretly colluding, busy colluding privately, busy hiding and transferring assets, and also busy pretending to be busy...

"Everything is based on the overall situation of Jiangdong!"

The two groups shouted the same slogans every day and were in the same government office.

"Everything is subject to the Lord's will!"

Both groups looked like they were trying their best to pull the Jiangdong Jiye car.

"Everything is for the future of Jiangdong!"

The two groups spoke in unison, and even the height to which they raised their arms seemed to be the same, without the slightest difference.

Only he himself knows clearly who he belongs to. On the surface, they are all the same, all from the Jiangdong lineage, ministers of the Sun family, and subjects of the Han Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, these two groups no longer care about minor potholes and dirt. As for the lives of ordinary people affected by these potholes and dirt, that is naturally not a problem at all.

At least it's not the "big thing" they want to solve now...

As long as the people of Jiangdong have not yet become unable to survive, have not besieged government offices, and have not rebelled in groups to kill officials, then it is not a big deal.

In fact, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the Han Dynasty, many people fled to the Jiangdong area because of the relatively safe environment and fled there to avoid disaster. Naturally, they brought some flowers, plants, gold, silver and jewelry with them.

At that time, Jiangdong was prosperous with lights and wine.

Later, Jiangdong also traded with Fei Qian's caravans along the Yangtze River. The silk from Sichuan and the spices from the Western Regions greatly enriched the poor luxury goods market of the Jiangdong gentry, making their lives truly colorful.

All this prosperity has nothing to do with the original indigenous people of Jiangdong.

But no matter how bad a place is, there are always people working hard to make it better.

Throughout history, there are always some people who are like stars in the night sky. Although they are in the dark, they still try their best to shine and dispel the haze around them. They may be misunderstood, ridiculed, or even labeled as "good guys" or "fake saints", but in their hearts, they always have a persistent pursuit of beauty.

Lu Su and Zhou Yu are such people.

Lu Su went north to Jiangling to save the broken alliance between Sun and Cao. His action was to light a weak lamp in the coming storm, trying to illuminate the way forward for Jiangdong. Facing the doubts and ridicules from the outside world, Lu Su always maintained a firm belief. He believed that his choice could bring a little breathing space to Jiangdong and finally bring the dawn of victory.

In order to save the Jiangdong regime that was on the verge of destruction, Zhou Yu vowed to protect the Sun family foundation for Sun Ce.

This promise, like a heavy mountain, weighed on his shoulders.

In order to save Jiangdong from the impending disaster, Zhou Yu had to drag his sick body and force himself to make this journey, taking up again the burden that he should have put down, just like a remaining wax that had lit a fire on his own head with his own hands.

Although the Jiangdong government has blocked specific information related to the war, and the news released to the public is always filled with words such as cautious optimism, the people of Jiangdong have seen the real side of the war from the scarce and scarce market during the day.

The war was not over yet, so those Jiangdong soldiers who went to the battle, even those who had died in battle, were not considered "real" deaths, and it was not time to pay them pensions.

It is said that Sun has already been making the coin template of "Daquan Danger", oh, it is "Daquan Danger".

Of course, when it is actually issued, it may become "Daquan Dangsi", or even "Dangxu", "Dangbai"...

Not only that, there are also rumors that Sun Quan has once again fallen out with the aristocratic families of Jiangdong. This time, the additional ships and food supplies were openly "robbed" by Sun Quan from these aristocratic families...

"I will enter the camp tomorrow and set out on the march the day after tomorrow."

Zhou Yu whispered, his voice steady.

But Xiao Qiao on the opposite side trembled and broke the strings of the zither.

Xiao Qiao raised her head and looked at her husband in front of her. Although she had already had this premonition, when Zhou Yu said it in person, she still felt a wave of palpitations and her face turned pale.

Zhou Yu sat there, looking up at the sky, then sighed, "Ever since I met you, you've always played this song wrong... Shang Wei should be played as Jiao, not Yu..."

"Why? My husband, your health has not recovered yet..." Xiao Qiao said blankly, "Why? Can't we let someone else go? Governor Huang, Governor Zhu, Governor Cheng..."

Zhou Yu said calmly, "There is a detailed score of this piece on the second shelf on the left hand side of my study. You can take a look at it when you have time."

"My dear, you got sick last time after being exposed to the wind from the river, and you haven't recovered yet. If I go now..." Xiao Qiao looked worried, "If it really doesn't work, I have to wait until my husband is fully recovered... I'll go find a doctor, I'll find the best doctor now!"

Zhou Yu grabbed Xiao Qiao.

Xiao Qiao finally shed tears, fell to her knees on the ground, hugged Zhou Yu's waist and cried inconsolably.

After a while, Zhou Yu patted Xiao Qiao on the shoulder and said, "Play another song for me."

Xiao Qiao stood up and looked at Zhou Yu with tears in her eyes. Suddenly she realized that Zhou Yu's hair had turned gray and wrinkles had crept up on his handsome face. She had always beautified Zhou Yu in her memory, but now she realized that Zhou Yu was no longer the same as he used to be.

"Husband..." Xiao Qiao couldn't help but shed tears again.

Zhou Yu smiled, his gentle demeanor still the same as before, "Just play the phoenix to ask for the phoenix."

"good."

Xiao Qiao wiped her tears, re-hung the strings, tuned them, took a breath, calmed down a little, and slid her hands over the strings. The soft and gentle sound of the piano floated with the wind...

Zhou Yu listened quietly and watched attentively, as if he wanted to keep all the colors and sounds before his eyes in his heart and in the depths of his life. Even when Xiao Qiao played the wrong notes due to her emotional instability, he did not speak, but just listened and watched with a gentle smile.

Zhou Yu recalled the first time he saw Xiao Qiao playing the zither. She played it so well that it was outrageous. The word "outrageous" is not an adjective, but a verb. Zhou Yu couldn't help it. How could such a lovely girl destroy the poor zither like this?

So, he went up to teach...

So, so many years passed.

Time flies like an arrow, and every arrow pierces the heart.

Time flies like an arrow, and even the saxaul leaves pierce through the liver and intestines.

When the song ended, Zhou Yu clapped his hands and praised, "You played well."

Zhou Yu's eyes were gentle and he smiled. I can't teach you anymore after all...

Xiao Qiao was happy, then sad, "Husband!"

Zhou Yu stood up and held Xiao Qiao's shoulders. "Well, it's time for me to leave... Tomorrow my lord will appoint generals and assign troops, so I won't be late..."

"My husband!" Xiao Qiao held Zhou Yu's hand tightly.

"Don't worry," Zhou Yu said with a smile, "I have arranged everything. Everything is arranged."

Xiao Qiao stared at Zhou Yu tightly, as if Zhou Yu would disappear at any moment. "Husband! You have to come back...Husband, you must come back! Promise me, you must come back!"

"Hmm..." Zhou Yu blinked, smiled and nodded, "Okay, come back. I'll listen to you play the piano again when I come back."

Xiao Qiao seemed to feel relieved and slowly let go of her hand.

Zhou Yu slowly pulled his hand away, "No need to send me off... Look at your face, it's all red from crying. It won't be nice for others to see it. After I leave, you should take care of yourself."

"My husband!" Xiao Qiao burst into tears again.

Zhou Yu waved his hand and turned to leave.

"Husband!" Xiao Qiao followed closely, leaning against the gate, and looking at Zhou Yu's departing back, "Husband, you must come back! I will never make a mistake next time!"

Zhou Yu seemed to have heard it, so he raised his hand, waved it in the air, and then walked away.