Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1146: Sun and Liu Fight Again
Three days later, at the gate of West City.

Zhou Yu looked at Sun Ce helplessly: "My Lord, why do you have to go there in person? Intercepting the grain carts is just a cover, just send a general to go."

Sun Ce laughed heartily and said, "Gongjin Demon, please persuade me again. If I don't go there in person, how can they believe that our army is really going there to intercept the grain? Don't worry, even if that little Liu Zheng comes in person, he is no match for me, so why worry about me?"

Zhou Yu wanted to say a few more words, but Sun Ce interrupted him directly.

"Okay, okay, according to the scouts, the grain convoy will arrive at Shuangmengou in three or four hours at most. If we don't go now, we will be late."

After saying this, Sun Ce spurred his horse and left the city with thousands of soldiers.

The road from Nanzheng to Xi County is a pipeline built along the Mian River. However, due to the unrest at the end of the Han Dynasty, the pipeline has fallen into disrepair for many years and its shape is no longer recognizable. The roadside is overgrown with weeds and looks quite desolate.

However, if grain is to be transported to Xi County, this road cannot be taken, otherwise it will pass directly through the gate of the West City, which would be tantamount to committing suicide.

Fortunately, there is a river in the mountains about 20 miles away from Xicheng, which runs through the mountains and merges into the Mianshui River. The people in the mountains often walk along the river bank when they chop wood and hunt. Over the years, they have also walked out a small path that goes around the mountains for seventy or eighty miles and ends at the east of Xicheng.

At this time, not far from the exit of the mountain path, a young general stopped, looked ahead, turned back to look at the grain convoy, and called over a young general.

"After we get out of the mountain road ahead, we should be in Shuangmengou, right? How far is it to Xi County?"

The young general replied, "After leaving this mountain road, there is a river valley. There used to be a village in the valley, with thirty or forty families living there, but they all fled to escape famine in the early years. On both sides of the river valley, there are two mountains that look like two doors, with the river and the pipeline in between, so it is called Shuangmengou. After leaving this ditch, it is about 130 miles to reach Xi County."

The young general nodded and said, "Give the order to hurry up and rest and have a meal after leaving Shuangmengou."

The young general took the order and left. The young general hurriedly drank a sip of water and continued on his way.

This young general was none other than Deng Zhi and Deng Bomiao, who had left Shangyong and were about to go to Mianyang to serve as county magistrate.

On the way to Mianyang, he noticed that the Shen brothers in Shangyong City had the intention of rebellion, so he rushed to Hanzhong to report the news. With this achievement and his skill in archery and horse riding, he was intercepted by Wu Yi, who reported to the emperor, who changed his title to military Sima and kept him in the army. When Wu Yi led his troops to Nanzheng some days ago, he brought him with him. This time, he led the team to escort food and grass to Yan County.

The Shuangmen ditch seemed to be right in front of everyone, but it still took them an hour and a half to get there.

"Huh... the ancients were right in saying that a horse will die if it runs too fast."

Deng Zhi let out a long breath and sighed.

He placed his hand-made awning over his forehead and glanced forward.

"This river valley is only two or three miles long. After leaving this valley, rest for half an hour on the riverbank ahead before setting off again."

Just as everyone was about to rush forward, a flock of birds suddenly flew away not far away, causing the soldiers and civilians to turn around and look.

Immediately afterwards, the sounds of shouting and horse hooves became clearer and clearer, and Deng Zhi immediately came to his senses.

"There are ambushes. Quick, protect the grain carts!"

He rode forward, took out his bow and arrow, and aimed in the direction where the sound came from.

Not long after, a group of soldiers appeared on the winding mountain road, led by Sun Ce.

"Haha, please leave the food and fodder. I, Sun Ce, will accept it with pleasure."

The thousands of civilians who had barely been able to stand just now were so frightened when they saw the enemy coming that they no longer cared about food and fled in all directions.

Deng Zhi shouted: "Bows and crossbows ready!"

There were hundreds of archers in the grain protection team. In just a few breaths, they lined up in a complete formation and aimed their crossbows at Sun Ce's army.

Sun Ce was a little surprised: "I didn't expect that a grain protection team would have such fine grain. It seems that Liu Zheng had expected that they would come to intercept the grain. Gongjin really has a plan for everything."

When the Jiangdong troops were within a hundred steps of Deng Zhi and the archers on the mountain road, Deng Zhi immediately shouted, "Shoot!"

Among the hundreds of archers and crossbowmen, half used bows and half used crossbows. Bows and arrows have a longer range, so Deng Zhi led the archers to take the first action in this round.

The mountain path was narrow, and many soldiers behind Sun Ce fell into the Mian River while trying to avoid the rain of arrows, and were swept away by the surging river.

But even so, several consecutive waves of arrows failed to stop Sun Ce's progress. After losing hundreds of lives, the distance between the two armies was less than fifty steps.

"Crossbow launch!"

Although the Shenji crossbow has a short range, it can fire ten arrows in a row, and its power is far greater than that of a bow and arrow. One round of continuous shooting can produce thousands of crossbow arrows. Even Sun Ce finds it difficult to dodge and block.

After several rounds of crossbow shooting, another six or seven hundred lives of the Jiangdong soldiers were taken away. Only then did Sun Ce come to Deng Zhi.

"Little thief, prepare to die!" Sun Ce swept his spear across, heading towards Deng Zhi's mount.

Deng Zhi was shocked when he heard the whistling sound of the spear. He knew that the opponent's spear skills were far superior to his own, so he did not dare to fight head-on and had to jump off the horse in a hurry.

The warhorse was hit by the spear and only had time to let out a mournful cry before being swept into the Mian River. After struggling for a few times, it was drowned in the river.

Before Deng Zhi could stand up, Sun Ce's second spear had already stabbed in front of him, and Deng Zhi hurriedly blocked it with his spear.

The shaft of the spear used by Deng Zhi was made of wax wood, which was considered top quality, but it could not withstand Sun Ce's attack and broke into two immediately. The residual power of the spear hit Deng Zhi's shoulder and swept him away. If it were not for the protection of armor, which also reduced some of the force, his shoulder would have been dislocated at that time.

"Quick, retreat! Abandon all food and supplies, retreat!"

Deng Zhi leaped onto the hillside nearby and, enduring the severe pain in his shoulder, fired two arrows at Sun Ce, forcing him to retreat. Then, with the help of a general, he jumped onto a spare warhorse and led the soldiers of the grain-guarding team, fighting and retreating.

Sun Ce was stunned for a moment when he saw them retreating so easily. This seemed a little different from what he had expected.

Zhou Tai came over and asked, "My lord, do you want to give chase?"

Sun Ce looked at the direction Deng Zhi and others were retreating, which was a mountain path that was even narrower and more dangerous than the one he was walking on, and doubts arose in his mind.

"They retreated so quickly, it must be to lure our army to pursue them, so that they can ambush and kill us."

Zhou Tai looked as if he understood: "Then why don't we take these food and return to the city first?"

Sun Ce looked at the thousands of grain carts and said, "Let's open them first to see if there is any fraud."

Zhou Tai immediately used his sword to pry open a few bags. When everyone saw what was inside, they were immediately delighted.

"This is rice, this is flour, and there is refined salt, a lot of refined salt..."

"Look, this is beef jerky. I've heard that the enemy army often prepares beef jerky for use during forced marches. I didn't believe it before, but today I've learned something new."

"There is also..."

“There’s also beef jerky here…”

"It seems that the four large bags on each cart are two bags of rice, one bag of flour, one bag of beef jerky, and a small bag of refined salt. If these things are brought back to Wu County, this cart alone can be exchanged for a house."

"Look at what the enemy eats on a daily basis, and then look at the food in our army. No wonder they are so tall and strong, and can move so fast even wearing armor weighing dozens of kilograms."

The soldiers' eyes were shining and their mouths were drooling.

Zhou Tai came to Sun Ce with excitement on his face.

"My lord, those offal are delicious. I have tried them and found that they are not poisonous. Especially the beef jerky, it is so fragrant and tempting. My lord, please try it too."

When Sun Ce smelled the aroma, his appetite was aroused. With his status, he would naturally have no shortage of meat on a daily basis. However, the cooking method was too simple and crude, and it was far less fragrant than this beef jerky.

He grabbed a piece of beef jerky, took a big bite, and his mouth was full of fragrance.

"It's a second, a second. Just for these more than a thousand truckloads of supplies, this trip is a profit."

After he finished speaking, he realized that the 5,000 soldiers under his command were all looking at him eagerly, and they immediately understood what he meant.

"Hahaha, look how greedy you are. Each bag of beef jerky weighs about 20 kilograms, and 1,000 bags weigh more than 20,000 kilograms. How about this? Take out more than 200 bags and give each of the brothers one kilogram. Take the rest back to the city and let the brothers who stayed behind have a taste."

"Great, thank you, my lord!"

The soldiers were delighted and came forward to share the meat.

"Alright, alright, everyone, hurry back to the city to avoid any more trouble."

Sun Ce urged him, looking around, thinking to himself, "Little Liu Zheng, if you don't come out, I'll leave now."

Just as he had this thought, a burst of shouting and killing came from the mountain path where Deng Zhi and others were retreating.

"Sun Ce, don't run away. Fight with me for another three hundred rounds!"

Sun Ce was overjoyed and quickly picked up his spear and mounted his horse: "Ha, I'm waiting for you, soldiers. If you help me capture Liu Zheng alive, it will be a great achievement!"

(End of this chapter)