Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 198 Step by Step: A Plan to Set Oneself on Fire

Under Gao Xiang's command, generals Yang Qun, Yan Zhi, and Deng Tong led 6,000 Han soldiers like sharp arrows and cones, fiercely piercing into the inner circle of the Wu army.

Wu Jun's first line of defense was thus breached.

More than ten watchtowers and arrow towers at the front line were all taken control of and destroyed by the Han army.

Zhao Yun, who was in charge of the central army and commanding the troops, left the command platform built on the hills of the north and came to the front line of the Wu army under the protection of his personal guards.

Upon climbing a watchtower, the first thing to do was to look towards the Han River, which had been difficult to see clearly from the mountain earlier.

A medium-sized warship, significantly larger than the other warships, lay quietly about two miles away on the lower reaches of the Han River.

Judging from its shape, it can support nearly two thousand people in battle.

Surrounding the large multi-span ship were linked boats, which were composed of multiple warships and fighting vessels connected together, also known as iron-chained boats.

It was about fifty or sixty paces wide, and the ground was flat.

It occupies almost half of the surface of the Han River.

As far as the eye could see, there were seven or eight boats in a row.

It is estimated that five or six thousand naval troops can be stationed on it.

The remaining mongooses and fighting ships stretched as far as the eye could see.

Painted red and shaped like a horse, the Red Horse Boat shuttled back and forth between the Wu army's naval forces and the north and south banks.

The ship moved at breakneck speed, like a crimson warhorse galloping across land, conveying the orders issued by the Wu army generals.

On the not-so-wide Han River, how could one command a naval force of mixed composition and not particularly elite troops and still maintain such order?

Zhao Yun did indeed give Bu Zhi a second glance.

As the last pillar of the Huai-Si faction, or rather the Southern Crossing faction, in Sun Wu's army, he was quite capable.

Shortly after, Gao Xiang's personal guards came to report.

"General of Chariots and Cavalry, my General Who Conquers the East asks: Should we continue to lead the army deeper into enemy territory, or seize the high ground and hills on the left flank?!"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhao Yun looked towards the left flank and pondered for a moment.

That area was a hilly region, and when the war began, his command post was located there, facing the Wu army across two or three not-too-high hills.

However, due to the crisscrossing hills and ravines, and the abundance of thorns and vegetation, they could not see each other.

Gao Xiang's vanguard of over 6,000 men had already torn through Wu's front line of defense from the middle, but the left and right flanks were still helpless for the time being.

Needless to say, the right flank was heavily fortified with Wu's naval fleet, and it was certain that Wu's elite navy was located there, not in the middle of the Han River or the southern section controlled by Zhuge Jin.

There was no need for a direct confrontation before the naval forces under the command of Fu Qian and Liao Hua arrived.

It's one thing to inflict 800 damage on yourself while injuring 1,000 on the enemy, but if you inflict more than 800 damage on yourself while injuring 1,000 on the enemy, then it's a losing proposition.

Moreover, none of the soldiers he brought were skilled in naval warfare. Even if they successfully boarded and seized a ship, without a naval commander, it would be difficult to expand their gains.

As for the left flank, it was a hilly and mountainous area. Long before the Han army arrived, the Wu army had occupied the high ground and built considerable fortifications.

When he came down the mountain, the wind was blowing from top to bottom, which not only helped the Wu's arrows, but also made the fire attack ineffective.

However, based on his years of experience, the wind between the two mountain valleys blows from top to bottom at night, from the mountain peaks to the valleys, and from bottom to top during the day, from the valleys to the mountain peaks.

"Tell the General Who Conquers the East to continue deeper into the territory!"

"I'll cover his rear, there's no need to worry!"

"Yes, sir!" Gao Xiang's personal guards accepted the order and left, clearly more excited than when they arrived.

...

"General, General Zhao has given orders!"

"Let's go deeper; he'll cover our retreat!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Xiang looked to the left and right flanks, then turned to the north after a moment, waving his hand and shouting, "Brothers, kill Wu the dog!"

"—Kill Wu the dog!"

"--kill!"

The Han general pointed his banner forward as he led the expedition to the east.

Gao Xiang strode onto the drum cart, snatched the wooden mallet from the drummer's hand, and in an instant, the extremely dense and exciting sound of the drums began to shake the heavens and the earth.

Those soldiers familiar with Gao Xiang knew immediately upon hearing the drums that it was General Zheng Dong cheering them on, and thus they became even more courageous and spirited.

Spurred on by the clarion call of the flags and drums, the Han soldiers, who had not stopped their advance, began to fight even more vigorously towards the northeast.

With the defensive fortifications gone, the battle line advanced more than half a mile into the heart of Wu's territory in the time it takes for a single drumbeat to sound.

Zhao Yun calmly directed the operation from the watchtower, ordering a squad of over two thousand soldiers to advance and cover the rear of Gao Xiang's army.

Even with enemies on both sides and Wu's army surrounding their flanks, the soldiers showed no fear, and after forming their battle lines, they stood firm and unmoved.

By this time, the Han army's ranks had stretched for three or four miles.

One cannot know what will happen next, nor can one look ahead to what will happen next.

It was entirely thanks to Zhao Yun and his officers and subordinates who had a comprehensive view of the situation from the watchtower and were able to coordinate operations from the center.

The sun rises.

Wu's warships were bathed in the glow of the rising sun.

Sunlight is also a kind of weather. Since the sun rises from the east, if the Han army attacks the ships from the west to the east, they will be dazzled and lose part of their vision.

"Does Zhao Yun treat my Wu army as nothing?!"

On the three-story dragon-headed warship, Liu Zan, disheveled and limping, walked to Bu Zhi's side, his expression indignant:

"General Right, please grant me command of two thousand troops!"

"I will cut the Shu traitor in half from the middle!"
"At that time, the Right General will command the left and right wings to press forward simultaneously, encircling and attacking the Shu bandits from all sides. Then Shu will surely be defeated!"

"It's not time yet," Bu Zhi said calmly, watching the Han army advance further north.

After speaking, Bu Zhi looked at the flags on the warship.

This place is surrounded by canyons to the north and south, and is also surrounded by mountains.

Therefore, the wind direction on the Han River is not the southeast wind, which is most common in summer and autumn, but the northeast wind.

It has been like this since he arrived, and more than a month has passed, and it is still like this. The naval flag is now being rolled back from the northeast to the southwest.

"Zhengming, Zizhi, in your opinion, will the Shu army launch a fire attack downstream to burn our Great Wu's naval forces?"

Bu Zhi looked at Liu Zan and Huang Gai's son Huang Bing, his expression solemn yet with a hint of a smile, as if he had everything under control.

"That's for sure!" Liu Zan replied without hesitation, without interpreting Bu Zhi's expression.

"Otherwise, I don't believe Zhao Yun would dare to let the Shu bandits continue to penetrate deeper into the heart of my Great Wu territory!"

"If we do not have a navy, even if the Shu bandits were to win this land battle today and occupy the key passage to the north of the Han River, our Great Wu navy would only need to cut off the Han and Yue rivers, and the Shu army would have no food to continue. Therefore, we must have a navy!"

"Since we have a naval force to sail downstream, why not use fire to attack?!"

After speaking, Liu Zan paused for a moment, then asked:

"Why does the Right General ask this question?"

"Should we send another naval force stationed in the middle section to intercept the Shu army's ships?"

Liu Zan was very confident in the Wu navy. Even if the Han army sailed downstream and set fire to their ships, the Wu army would not be without a way to stop them.

After all, the Han army could not possibly have many naval forces in Hanzhong, and at most, there would be no more than a hundred ships.

The southern mouth of the Han River is not wide, only a little over a hundred paces, and cannot accommodate too many boats. As long as a few mud boats are used to block the southern mouth, preventing the Shu army from having any room to move, even fire ships can be broken by naval weapons such as hooks and slings.

Once the fire ships are dealt with, the next step will be ship against ship, navy against navy. What is there to fear?

Therefore, Liu Zan always believed that Bu Zhi's purpose in arranging more than a hundred boats in the middle of the Han River was not only to monitor the Shu army that was stuck in the middle, but also to wait for the Shu army's navy to go downstream so that he could join forces with Zhuge Jin's Nankou navy to deal with the Shu army.

Bu Zhi did not answer immediately, but instead looked at Huang Gai's son, Huang Bing:

"What do you think, Zizhi?" Huang Bing, though a junior, was more composed than Liu Zan and said:
"Reporting to the Right General, I believe that the Shu army will indeed launch a fire attack downstream."

"But from the perspective of the handle, not only is it unnecessary to send the mid-section navy to the south mouth, but it is also necessary to send the mid-section navy to the downstream."

Liu Zan paused upon hearing this, then looked at Huang Bing: "What do you mean by this?"

Huang Bing glanced at Bu Zhi, who was always on good terms with him, and seeing a hint of approval and encouragement in Bu Zhi's serious gaze, he took a deep breath and said:

"The Shu army was unaware of the feng shui and geography of the western city."

"Or they thought that they could launch a fire attack by going downstream."

"But what is unknown is that although the wind at the southern mouth of the Han River flows in the same direction as the water, it blows from the southwest to the northeast."

"But the wind at the northern mouth of the Han River flows against the current."

"The Right General deployed his navy here to lure the Shu navy over, didn't he?"

Liu Zan was taken aback again upon hearing this.

He was so angry just now that he forgot many details.

Looking now at the military flags fluttering loudly on the naval ships, one can see that, just as Huang Bing had said, the river wind here is blowing from the northeast to the southwest.

The man was finally overjoyed:
"In that case, if the Shu navy dares to sail downstream and set fire to our ships, it will not be our Wu ships that are burned, but their own!"

That makes perfect sense.

No wonder Bu Zhi repeatedly asked him to lead the army to intercept the Shu army.

It's no wonder that the naval forces here, apart from the dozen or so warships at the very top coated with mud for fire prevention, did not seem to be prepared for a fire attack by the Shu army, and were arranged relatively densely.

It turns out they were deliberately luring the enemy deep into their territory!

Bu Zhi finally spoke up: "Just as Zhengming and Zizhi said, what I desire is for the Shu army to set themselves on fire."

"Before the battle, I told General Zuo that fighting the Shu army on land would be like using the weaknesses of our Great Wu to attack their strengths, making it difficult to defeat them."

"Looking at the situation on land now, this is indeed the case."

"Therefore, what our Great Wu must do now is to feign defeat on land, or rather... a real defeat, to lure the Shu infantry deeper and deeper into the territory."

"When the Shu navy sailed downstream, they set themselves on fire."

"Firstly, they are blocked by me and cannot advance."

"Secondly, they are pushed by the water and cannot retreat."

"The only way out is to escape by jumping into the water. At that time, our Great Wu will force them to charge into the main camp of the Shu army, and the Shu army on land will inevitably be thrown into chaos."

"At that time, our Great Wu will cut the Shu army's long snake formation in half, surround them from all sides, and then divide and conquer them."

Upon hearing this, Liu Zan nodded deeply.

He then looked at the Han army, observed for a moment, and said:
"General Right's plan is brilliant!"

According to Zan's observation, the number of Shu soldiers here is less than 20,000.

"This valley is extremely narrow. If the Shu army dares to penetrate two or three miles into our territory, their formation will be as long as a snake and as thin as paper."

"Once their navy is thrown into chaos by self-immolation, our Great Wu will surely defeat them!"

Seeing that he had finally calmed Liu Zan down, Bu Zhi felt somewhat relieved.

In fact, Bu Zhi was not as confident as Liu Zan and Huang Bing thought.

He wasn't sure if the Han army would actually send a navy to launch a fire attack.

If not, but if he fell for Zhao Yun and Gao Xiang's strategy of dividing his forces, splitting the Wu army, which was nearly twice the size of the Han army, into three groups, and watched the Wu army on the shore suffer defeat in the name of luring the enemy deep into their territory, then he would be a sinner of the Great Wu.

But... there was no other way.

The Han army arrived too suddenly and too fiercely. He could only hope that the Han army would have a navy that would sail downstream to carry out a fire attack.

The hills on the left flank of the Han army were occupied by Wu, giving them a commanding advantage and making them difficult to capture.

The right wing of the Han army was the Wu navy.

If you advance a few miles further north, you will encounter a narrow passage that is no more than ten paces wide, so narrow that it is impossible for one man to pass through.

If the situation is as he predicted, then it is a blessing from heaven for Great Wu.

Liu Zan suddenly thought of something and said again:

"General Right, since that's the case, should we ask General Left to clear the waterway?"

"The Shu bandits are cunning and must have anticipated that our Great Wu would use its navy to block the southern pass."

"To dredge the waterways, the leader must be their elite naval force."

“They are going downstream, and the water flow is advantageous to them but disadvantageous to us. Moreover, the mountain winds there are from the southwest. If the Shu army launches a fire attack at the southern entrance upstream, General Zuo may not be their match.”

For this siege of Xicheng, the Supreme King of Wu deployed a navy of over 10,000 men and more than 300 warships.

The elite troops among these 10,000-plus naval forces were mostly under Bu Zhi's command.

The southern entrance was even narrower than the northern entrance. The Shu army sailed downstream at a very fast speed. Zhuge Jin only had a thousand elite soldiers, and the rest were mediocre. They were very likely no match for the Shu army.

Bu Zhi shook his head and said:

“If no one blocks the way, the Shu army will surely become suspicious.”

"The navy under General Zuo's command is not elite, and the Shu navy will not be able to entangle with General Zuo for long."

"As long as a passage is opened, an elite navy and fire ships will sail down the river."

"When the time comes... General Zuo will know what to do."

Liu Zan nodded upon hearing this.

They all looked towards the land.

However, at that moment, a burst of firelight almost simultaneously ignited in the dark eyes of the group.

"What happened?" Liu Zan asked in astonishment.

Suddenly, a large wildfire broke out on the hills and ridges to the north, starting from the mountainside and burning towards the Wu army with the help of the mountain winds and the terrain.

Moreover... the wildfire burned extremely fast and fiercely, and in just a few breaths, it had ignited a large area of ​​mountain land where the vegetation was not dry.

On a warship on the Han River.

As flames suddenly rose on the mountain.

Bu Zhi froze for a moment, then turned to Liu Zan and they stared at each other in silence.

Huang Bing stared in astonishment at the sudden burst of the wildfire:

"Did the Shu army bring fish oil or other flammable materials up the mountain?"

"But... even fish oil or tung oil couldn't possibly burn that fast, could they?"

The firelight was reflected in Bu Zhi's eyes.

Bu Zhi looked astonished and nodded involuntarily.

The fire on the mountainside in the distance spread over a large area in just a few breaths.

As Huang Bing said, even if it were something flammable like fish oil, tung oil, or sesame oil, it could not burn so quickly, and the flames could not possibly be so intense.

What is it?
Bu Zhi began to feel a little flustered.

……

P.S.: I'm being discharged tomorrow. I've been getting injections and medication for the past few days, so I'm not feeling well. My hands and mind aren't working properly. I hope you can forgive me.

Moreover, I must say that typing on a mobile phone is a bit of a torture. On my computer, I use Xiaohe Pinyinxing, which doesn't require selecting characters. But selecting characters using Pinyin on a mobile phone is really too torturous and tests one's patience.

The pathology slides for the tumor came back today. The doctor said it wasn't chondrosarcoma, but the possibility of recurrence cannot be ruled out. We can only have regular follow-up scans in the future.

I asked my boss for ten days off, and I will definitely make up for the missed updates in a couple of days. I owe a total of nine updates since the book started, and I'll see if I can take this opportunity to finish them all. If you've read this far, it means you haven't given up on the book yet. Thank you for your understanding.

(End of this chapter)