Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 245 The Han Army Has Arrived
A thick morning fog rolled in.

Whether it's the thousands of mountains across the north and south of the country or the ever-flowing rivers, they are all shrouded in a thick, persistent, damp fog.

The water lost its waves.

The mountain conceals its form.

The world was a vast expanse of white.

Eight miles north of Shenjian Pass lies Tiger Leap Gorge.

The mountain fog was so thick that you could squeeze water out of it.

On the rock walls on both sides of the stream, moss drips water, and pine roots are exposed, like countless cold iron chains hanging in mid-air.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind swept by.

A crack was torn open in the mountain mist.

What tore open this rift was a spear tip gleaming with silver light, followed by a red tassel that seemed to be stained with blood, emerging from the mist behind the spear tip.

In an instant, the silver spear with the red tassel brought forth a tall and imposing general, who stood by the stream.

A military flag with the Chinese character "汉" (Han) appeared behind it.

In just a few breaths, one after another, mountain spirits and demons covered in armor, wielding swords and spears, and carrying bows and crossbows emerged from the mountain mist and lined up in formation behind the front-line commander, Fu Qian.

A mountain breeze carrying cold mist blew in.

Fu Qian took out the bronze mask of the Suanni from his waist and covered his cold and handsome face with its distinct jawline. The cold mountain mist caused water droplets to condense on his armor and weapons, but he did not feel cold. Instead, his blood was boiling.

Give an order.

The character '傅' is depicted with its banner raised high.

This banner of the General Who Subdues Barbarians was bestowed by the Emperor.

Red background with gold lettering.

Furthermore, a Taotie with its mouth open was embroidered with black and gold Shu silk.

The mountain mist dampened the banner, and water droplets dripped down the fangs of the Taotie, as if it were craving the blood of its enemy, how domineering!

Fu Qian stared at the opposite bank of the stream for a moment, then turned back to look.

The mountain fog was thick, and visibility was poor. Fu Qian could only vaguely see the situation of the troops within a hundred paces. As for areas further away, signals could only be transmitted by voices and drumbeats.

However, even he himself could not see the situation of the soldiers behind him, so the Wu army on the other side of the stream must also be completely unaware of the situation here.

Now is the time to take action. Within a range of more than ten miles from Shenjian Pass to Yingchoujian, we have truly achieved a sentry every five steps and a guard every ten steps.

Even if Wu Jun still had spies lurking in Jianxi, it was impossible for them to have another chance to bring the news back to the other side.

Fu Qian has delegated command to Generals Zhang Gu and Lei Bu, ordering them to take full charge of the attack and defense of the more than 10,000 Han troops west of Shenjian Pass, and to cooperate with his own 2,000 elite troops and the 3,000 Cong warriors in front of Yingchoujian to cross the river to the east.

Dozens of bamboo bridges were continuously passed from the rear guard to the front guard, and finally lined up in front of the battle formation.

Fu Qian walked to a protruding eagle beak rock and brushed off the leeches from his shoulder armor.

First, he placed his palm on his chest, then suddenly raised his hand forward, clenching his five fingers tightly in the mist as if trying to squeeze water out of the mountain fog: "Release the bridge!"

At the command of the former commander, the soldiers, who were excellent swimmers, began to tie ropes around their bodies and then jumped into the icy stream one after another.

The splashing of water came one after another, but it was drowned out by the rushing sound of the stream hitting the rocky cliffs. The creaking of bamboo beams could also be heard in succession. Dozens of bamboo bridges were carried on the shoulders of strong soldiers and finally plunged into the stream.

At the very front is a bamboo cart bridge covered with steel, with black hooks more than a foot long, like an inverted eagle claw.

The claws have three blades at the tips and barbs on the back.

To prevent enemies from grabbing or slashing.

Once it bites the soil on the opposite bank, it's like a leech sucking blood, impossible to pull out easily.

Tiger Leaps East.

On top of the watchtower.

Sun Gui, a member of the imperial clan who had helped Lü Meng seize the four commanderies of Jingnan, seemed to have heard something and looked at Xu Zhong, who was also on guard duty in the watchtower:
"General Yijun, have you heard anything?"

This General Xu Zhong was a relative of Sun Quan's wife, the uncle of Lady Xu, and he also joined Lü Meng in capturing the four commanderies of Jingnan.

Lady Xu was first married to Lu Shang, but later became a widow. After Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan, in order to consolidate his position and win over the powerful Xu clan, disregarded public opinion and married Lady Xu, the granddaughter of his aunt and the daughter of his cousin, "strengthening kinship."

At that time, Sun Quan already had a favorite wife, Lady Xie. After marrying his cousin, Lady Xu, he made Lady Xie subservient to Lady Xu. Lady Xie disagreed and eventually died young, feeling disheartened.

Later, after Sun Quan consolidated his position, he took a liking to the beautiful Bu Lianshi. Lady Xu was deposed because of her jealousy. Even after being deposed, she often sent messengers to give Sun Deng clothes as a gift, acting as his foster mother.

Every time Sun Deng received clothes, he would bathe before putting on the clothes bestowed by his foster mother, so that all the officials and ministers would know his intentions.

When Sun Quan was the King of Wu of Wei and the Supreme King of Wu, he always wanted to make Bu Lianshi his queen. However, Sun Deng said that according to etiquette, a queen must be made first before a crown prince can be made. He advised Sun Quan to make Xu Shi his queen, but Sun Quan disagreed, and the position of queen remained vacant.

When Sun Quan declared himself emperor, he appointed Sun Deng as crown prince. The crown prince and the officials all believed that Xu should be made empress.

Sun Quan was initially furious about this.

However, perhaps because of Bu Zhi's surrender to the Han, Sun Quan did not agree to the request of the Crown Prince and the officials to make Xu the Empress. Instead, he brought Xu, who had been deposed for many years, from Wu Commandery to Wuchang and allowed her to live in the same palace as the Crown Prince Sun Deng, so that mother and son could be reunited.

As for Bu Lianshi, who was originally his most favored concubine, she is now old and her beauty has faded. As her beauty fades, his love has also waned, so she was sent back to Moling, which is the later Jinling.

In this way, Xu's family actually succeeded.

A group of martial artists, led by Bu Zhi, were disillusioned.

However, because Bu Chan became one of the Crown Prince's Four Friends, and Wei Jing, the second-in-command of the Bu Clan, recently accused Pan Jun of having the intention to betray Wu and surrender to Han.

Sun Quan expressed extreme trust in Pan Jun and extreme dissatisfaction with Wei Jing, but did not severely punish Wei Jing. Instead, he transferred Wei Jing from the front line in Zigui to Lingling as the prefect.

Therefore, the Bu Group dared not raise any further objections for a time.

As a result, the trend of the Bu Group being suppressed is already very obvious.

Sun Deng, the crown prince who had never been favored by Sun Quan, was thus elevated in status. As a result, important ministers such as Lu Xun, Gu Yong, Zhu Ran, Pan Jun, and Xu Zhong, who were part of the crown prince's faction, were pleased with this and became even more loyal to the emperor of Wu than before.

Because Pan Jun, who was in charge of supervising the army, had discovered the day before that the Han army might launch a feigned attack at Tiger Leap Gorge, Xu Zhong, a general of the Imperial Guard who was also a member of the Crown Prince's faction, was sent to guard the area, and the imperial clansman Sun Guigui obeyed Xu Zhong's orders.

Both men had distinguished military achievements and were members of the imperial family. They led three thousand armored soldiers and defended the strategic location by relying on the mountain stream.

This arrangement clearly shows that although Pan Jun believed that the Han army under Fu Qian's command would launch a feint attack at Tiger Leaping Gorge to cover the main force of the navy, he did not actually become careless or relaxed because of this.

Once war breaks out, as soon as the beacon fires are lit and the bugles and drums sound, reinforcements will arrive continuously from the passes along the frontier.

"You must have misheard again?" Xu Zhong listened intently for a long time but heard nothing unusual, and his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

Upon hearing this, Sun Gui listened carefully for a while longer and found that there was indeed only the sound of the waves crashing in the forest. He then stretched, yawned, and said dejectedly, "Perhaps."

Although Pan Jun said that the Han army might launch a feigned attack, Sun Gui did not dare to relax for the past two nights. He was on tenterhooks all night long and slept very little, fearing that the Han army would take advantage of the darkness and the rising morning fog to cross the stream and attack the camp.

He didn't want to end up like Sun Xiu at Xilin Pass, who carelessly lost two passes and truly disgraced the imperial clan.

Xu Zhong straightened his helmet and continued to stand guard.

Similar sounds, similar conversations.

This has happened more than three or five times in the past two days.

However, Xu Zhong did not become impatient with Sun Gui's excessive vigilance.

They were all princelings, all members of the Wu royal family. The kingdom of Sun Quan and Sun Deng was the kingdom of these relatives, and the interests of Sun Quan were the interests of these relatives.

How can you be tired when you're working for yourself?
"No, what's that?!" Sun Gui suddenly pointed upstream.

Xu Zhong was so frightened by Sun Gui's shout and gesture that his heart jumped into his throat.

Looking in the direction Sun Gui pointed, they saw something moving horizontally from west to east in the misty mountain stream just a few dozen steps away!
"Not good, enemy attack!" Xu Zhong shouted.

However, after a short while, Sun Gui finally saw clearly that there were indeed people wading through the stream. He was immediately on high alert and instinctively gripped his waist knife tightly: "Beat the drums and prepare for battle!"

"—Knock knock knock!"

"—Knock knock knock!"

Almost at the same moment Sun Gui gave the order, the Wu army's war drums began to beat wildly, the sound dense and rapid.

The fully armed Wu soldiers on guard duty were already prepared for an enemy attack, standing ready at a moment's notice. Upon hearing the war drums, they instantly became extremely alert. "Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

Behind the warning line, the Wu soldiers who were still resting in the camp heard the urgent drumbeats and shouted that the enemy was attacking. They put on their helmets and armor and, urged on by the flags and drums, went out of the camp to prepare for battle.

"Should we light the beacon fires?!" Sun Gui asked anxiously.

Xu Zhong suppressed his panic and said to Sun Gui:
"Don't be too nervous. As Pan Taichang said, the Shu bandits here are only making a feint attack."

"Since they can cross water without wearing armor, they are most likely the fearless 'Ban Dun' barbarians that Pan Taichang mentioned."

Sun Gui took a deep breath, watching the dark figure still floating eastward across the stream, and let out a long sigh:
"That's right, that's right."

"Perhaps the main force of the Shu bandits is not here. If we light the beacon fire now to draw soldiers from other passes, we will fall into the trap of the Shu bandits."

They had received word that two or three thousand Bantun barbarians, armed only, were heading north with torches, and were most likely planning to sneak across the border.

They couldn't be sure whether they would force their way across Tiger Leap Gorge, the narrowest part of the waterway, or sneak across Eagle Sorrow Gorge, which is further upstream and even more treacherous.

Therefore, about three thousand people were stationed at each checkpoint to guard and control the area, forming a defensive perimeter.

If things go wrong, they will light beacon fires and help each other.

Xu Zhongdao said, "Now that there is no movement in Yingchoujian upstream, it is highly likely that the Shu bandits have appeared here. Their main force is feigning an attack in Yingchoujian. This is a strategy of feinting to the east while attacking in the west."

“Hmm!” Sun Gui nodded.

Although we already know that the Shu army is only launching a feint attack, they are still a detachment, so even if it is a feint attack, we must be extremely cautious.

West bank of the stream.

Fu Qian frowned slightly upon hearing the urgent sound of the Wu drums.

"Before the soldiers who were crossing the river could even sound their horns, the Wu bandits had already started beating their war drums. It seems that the general guarding the other side is not an incompetent or mediocre person and has been on high alert. Today is likely to be a tough battle."

Li Qiu, a subordinate general under Fu Qian and nephew of Li Hui, the governor of Yijiang, also nodded.

"Beat the drums, charge across!" The former commander, whose face was covered with a bronze lion mask and who looked like a god or a ghost, waved his hand.

"Boom-"

A drumbeat sounded like a sudden, muffled thunderclap.

The dense fog was shattered.

Suddenly.

The elite Han army, which was crossing the stream by building bamboo cart bridges, suddenly quickened their pace!
More than a dozen bamboo cart bridges appeared in Wu Jun's sight almost at the same time.

Just as Wu Jun was in shock, Han soldiers with bows and crossbows appeared on more than a dozen pontoon bridges almost simultaneously.

"—Whoosh!"

"——Qiang!"

The sounds of arrows piercing the air and striking armor rang out one after the other, followed by the screams of the Wu soldiers on the ravine.

"Form ranks! Move upstream and form ranks!" Xu Zhong shouted the order from the watchtower.

Wu Jun hastily formed his ranks.

The archers crouched behind the deer antlers.

Sun Gui roared an order to fire arrows.

The bowstring hums.

However, the Wu people were not skilled with bows and crossbows, and due to the heavy mountain fog, the bowstrings were stretched and the arrows they shot were not very powerful, far inferior to the strong bows and crossbows of the Han army and the horn crossbows captured from the Wei army. They were quickly defeated in the bow and crossbow confrontation.

"Boom boom boom!"

From the west bank of the stream, another drumbeat rang out.

Fu Qian's elite troops were mobilized.

There were no shouts, only the gentle tapping of the leaf blades.

Those who were the first to ascend were all clad in black scale armor.

He wore a short axe at his waist and a round shield on his back.

They carried the bamboo bridge and rushed to the ravine.

With a low shout, the entire bridge slid into the cold stream with a "whoosh," its front grappling hooks snapping into the crevice in the opposite bank.

The strongmen in the rear rushed forward, swung their mallets, and drove the iron wedges into the bridgehead.

"Go!" The first assassin stepped onto the bridge.

He held a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right, and walked quickly across the bridge.

Wu's crossbowmen panicked and fired again.

The assassin grinned and drew his sword with a backhand motion.

Finally, using the bridge's springy momentum, he leaped and engaged in battle with Wu's frontline soldiers.

"Wow!"

Almost simultaneously, fifty paces upstream, dozens of dark heads quietly surfaced in the water.

Those were highly skilled diving daredevils, breathing through reed tubes in their mouths, silently climbing onto the rocky beach like a pack of otters.

Once they reached the shore, it became clear that they were wearing light rhinoceros-hide armor, carrying large swords on their backs, and short daggers at their waists.

The leader untied the hemp rope from his waist.

A three-pronged iron anchor was attached to the end of the rope, which was then swung around and thrown onto the watchtower railing.

"Kill!" Only now did the Han soldiers utter their first roar.

The roar crashed against the ravine wall, the echo rolling like muffled thunder, shaking the thick fog into surging waves.

Soldiers followed in single file across the bridge, their leather and iron armor clashing, and their spears and short axes wielded side by side.

Upstream on the shore, the diving team had quickly circled around to the rear of the Wu army. After only a few rounds of fighting, dozens of Wu soldiers were killed or wounded.

The Wu army's forward positions were quickly cleared out by the Han army's vanguard, creating a foothold.

"Charge!" Fu Qian gave the order, leading his elite armored soldiers across the bridge eastward, and in an instant they reached the eastern bank.

Knowing that the opportunity to fight had arrived, Fu Qian, whose face was covered by a bronze lion mask, took the lead and charged ahead.

Before long, his body was covered in intestines and brains, and enemy blood flowed from the gaps in his helmet and armor, making him look like a god or a demon.

Two junior officers from Wu's army brandished their spears and thrust them at him.

He spun around and with a single thrust of his spear, deflecting both spears at the same time. Then he turned around and thrust back with his other hand, and with another counter-attack, he repelled two junior officers of the Wu army.

Then, several more shots pierced the breastplates of the two junior officers, and in an instant, the two scoundrels were killed.

Because of his strong armor and sharp weapons, Fu Qian seemed to have been given an invincible buff, moving freely through the Wu army's ranks as if they were empty.

"Raise the flag!" Fu Qian shouted.

Upon receiving the order, the flag bearer immediately inserted the large banner bearing the inscription "Han Expedition Against the Barbarians" into the crevice in the stone.

The blood-stained Taotie danced menacingly in the mist.

Upon seeing this, the morale of the Han army soared.

On the watchtower of Wu Jun.

Looking at the vast, black-armored Han army approaching, and then at the Wu soldiers who were almost no match for the Han army in just a few exchanges, Xu Zhong was filled with horror:

"This is bad! These are not the Bantun barbarians at all, but undoubtedly the main force of the Shu bandits! Quickly light the beacon fires to summon reinforcements!"

(End of this chapter)