Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 249 Using Oneself as Bait? Who exactly used themselves as bait?!

Before Yanyu Pass.

The Han archers had already taken turns firing four or five times, shooting tens of thousands of arrows.

More than a thousand Han soldiers, known as the Tiger Warriors, also went into battle one after another, forming a wall of shields and advancing slowly, but they still failed to break through the Wu army's first line of defense on the mudflats.

Pan Jun secretly planted many iron and wooden caltrops in the mudflats, with their pointed ends embedded in the mud, making them impossible to guard against.

Many of the shield-wielding Tiger Warriors were hit, but they continued to push the front line forward. At one point, the closest they came to the Wu army's front line was less than thirty paces. However, Pan Jun brought in a large number of archers and crossbowmen, who fired arrows directly at the Han army's shields.

The shields could not withstand the dense barrage of arrows; some shattered, while others were so powerful that the shield bearers lost their footing and fell into the mud.

Fortunately, the Han army's powerful bows had a longer range and greater killing power. While the Wu army's Tiger Warriors were firing arrows in quick succession, the Han army's powerful archers, under Guan Xing's command, were also venturing into the quagmire.

Finally, just grazing the edge of the Wu army archers' range, they unleashed an even denser and wider rain of arrows towards the Wu army's front line.

Both sides suffered roughly equal casualties.

However, the Han army's elite troops, bogged down in the quagmire, were unable to break through to the Wu army's front line.

Generally speaking, when the Han army, as the attacking side, encounters such a war of attrition where they have no way to use their strength, they can consider temporarily retreating, first thinking about how to break through the quagmire and treacherous shoals, and then trying again.

After all, a battle that consumes a large number of arrows but fails to cause much damage or achieve its intended strategic objectives is extremely uneconomical.

Because the position belonged to Wu's army.

The Han army could not possibly set up camp on the mudflats, while the Wu army was able to clean up the battlefield and collect the arrows scattered by both sides after the Han army withdrew.

With each inflow and outflow, each increase and decrease, the disparity in offensive and defensive strength between the two sides will become even more pronounced.

But the Han army still did not stop trying.

One shieldman falls, another takes his place; one archer falls, another takes his place.

They seem determined not to give up until they have conquered this pass.

In this way, the competition between the Han and Wu armies became a contest of who had prepared more arrows, who had more archers and crossbowmen, and who had greater stamina.

Wu Jun had prepared over 100,000 arrows, enough to keep firing at such a high intensity for two or three days without any problem. However, the archers' stamina was limited. It was already quite an achievement to fill a quiver of arrows in a day, and after that, it would be a pipe dream to draw the bow to its fullest extent.

In the current situation, Wu archers must draw their bows to their fullest extent to barely hold their own against Han archers.

"Tai Chang, there are only a little over a thousand archers here, and they have all been deployed for a round now, but the Shu archers have not shown any signs of weakness."

"If this continues, I'm afraid that in another half hour, my Great Wu will be at a disadvantage."

"Now that the Shu navy is sailing east downstream, we need to redeploy our forces to the downstream area to defend against them. We also need skilled archers and crossbowmen downstream."

Pan Jun's military advisor, Deng Xuanzhi, frowned as he watched the Han soldiers carrying shields slowly advancing through the swamp.

"Why not send the Shu army's shield bearers to the front of the battle first?"

"We already have a large number of troops and the deer antler trenches to rely on. They also have mud pits behind them. Once they engage our vanguard, the Shu army's reinforcements will definitely not be as fast as ours!"

From the watchtower, Pan Jun did not reply, but instead looked up at the great river.

On the river, dozens of Han army junks had already bypassed the huge reef that suddenly rose up in the middle of the river and entered the river channel filled with sinkholes.

Looking upstream again, one can see that the ship with the character "关" (Guan) on its flag has also moved downstream.

He turned his head left and right, scanning the river surface, which was packed with boats.

Ships kept docking and ships kept leaving the shore.

You can vaguely see that the Shu soldiers who have come ashore seem to be carrying something from the boat to the edge of the mudflat.

"We cannot let the soldiers with shields come over!" Pan Jun said solemnly.

Deng Xuanzhi, who had just joined the army, was taken aback and didn't understand.

Sun Shao, the General Who Guards the West and the garrison commander of Yanyu Pass who had been urgently transferred from Wu County to the front lines by Pan Jun two days prior, also paused slightly, his face showing indignation:

"What does the Grand Master of Ceremonies mean?!"

His thoughts were exactly the same as Deng Xuanzhi's.

"These hundreds of Shu soldiers who were the vanguard have lost their fighting spirit and should have little strength left!"
"Let them come over. Our Great Wu has defensive fortifications such as mud pits, antler embankments, and earthen walls, as well as the advantage of numbers. What are a few hundred daredevils worth?!"

Sun Shao was the son of Sun He, a member of the imperial family, and had just obtained the high position of General Who Guards the West. It was understandable that he obeyed Lu Xun's orders, since Lu Xun had made great contributions to Wu. However, he had always been somewhat dissatisfied with Pan Jun, a surrendered official from Jingzhou.

Some time ago, Wei Jing exposed that Pan Jun and Jiang Wan were secretly communicating and had the intention of betraying Wu and surrendering to Shu. He thought that Pan Jun was going to be removed from office, but he never expected that Sun Quan would trust Pan Jun so much.

Pan Jun first glanced at Sun Shao, then pointed to the riverbank: "General Zhenxi, what do you think the Shu people are carrying ashore?"

Sun Shao frowned upon hearing the sound, and then looked over.

His attention had been focused on the mudflats, and although he had seen the Shu people carrying something from the boat to the riverbank, he hadn't paid much attention to it.

Looking in the direction Pan Jun was pointing, they discovered that the Shu army had already built dozens of small hills of varying sizes on the riverbank, at the edge of the mudflats.

"Could it be that black oil?" He instantly thought of the black oil that had appeared in the West City.

On his way back to Xiangfan from Xicheng, Pan Zhang scooped up a small bucket of black oil that had flowed downstream from the Han River and brought it to Sun Quan.

Wu Jun's core members have already witnessed the power of that black oil firsthand.

Once it encounters fire, it bursts into flames instantly. Using water to extinguish it will not only fail to put it out, but will also make the strange fire burn even more fiercely.

Seeing that Pan Jun remained silent, he observed the flags and said:

"So what if it's black oil? The terrain here is high in the north and low in the south, and the wind direction is favorable to Wu and unfavorable to Shu. Even if there is black oil, the Shu bandits can do nothing!"

Pan Jun immediately shook his head: "Most likely, it's not black oil."

Deng Xuanzhi and Sun Shao looked at each other, then said in unison, "It's not black oil?"

Deng Xuanzhi pondered.

Sun Shao's face showed anger: "Taichang, there's no need to keep making things mysterious. What do you think it is?"

Pan Jun glanced sideways at Sun Shao:

"If I am not mistaken, the people of Shu should have already learned from their spies that this place has been treacherous with mud pits and shoals, and they already have a way to get through it."

"What?" Sun Shao was immediately taken aback.

Deng Xuanzhi also looked puzzled:
"How could this be?"
"Is Your Excellency overthinking this?"
"If the Shu people already had a way to break this, why didn't they use it sooner and catch us off guard in one fell swoop? Instead, they made this group of daredevils unable to advance and lost all their momentum."

Seeing the expressions on their faces, Pan Jun became even more confident and stroked his beard as he spoke:

This is what military strategy calls "controlling the enemy without being controlled by them".

"The Shu people clearly have a way to break through the swamp, but they are slow to use it. Instead, they send the vanguard forward with shields raised, partly to deplete our arrows."

"Secondly, I anticipated the plan that you two just devised."

"Once we send these shield bearers over and concentrate our superior forces to confront them, while our elite troops are entangled with them and unable to easily break free, the Shu army on the riverbank will launch a full-scale attack. What will we use to defend ourselves then?"

After listening, Sun Shao recovered from his astonishment:
"Then tell me, what do we do now?!"

“They will lose their composure first,” Pan Jun said confidently. “We just need to remain calm and wait for the right opportunity.”

After a pause, he continued:
"Let's move all the more than three thousand men who were left behind in the rear village to the front line to prepare for battle. There will definitely be a tough battle today."

After speaking, Pan Jun ignored Sun Shao and the others, and his gaze shifted from the mudflat battlefield to the Han army warships sailing downstream. By this time, more than two hundred junks and small warships had passed the giant reef in the middle of the river and entered the channel where the sinkhole was located.

However, dozens of medium and large warships upstream, as well as the flagship bearing the banner of the general Guan, began to remain stationary on the river.

Pan Jun was somewhat disappointed.

He dared not imagine the enormous blow it would have on the morale of the Shu army if this warship had sailed down the river and ended up sinking after striking a cone.

If that is the case, then in today's battle, Great Wu will surely prevail.

"My lord...my lord, look!" The surprised voice of the military advisor Deng Xuanzhi pulled Pan Jun back to reality from his reverie.

He followed Deng Xuanzhi's hand and looked upstream along the river, then suddenly froze.

However, three or four miles upstream, Shu army ships were seen constantly making way for each other.

A tall ship, whose decks were indistinguishable as to whether it had four or five stories, was slowly drifting downstream.

On the river, the drums of the Shu army suddenly rose, much more urgent than before, conveying a more exhilarating mood.

"Could it be... that the Shu ruler has arrived?" Sun Shao suddenly thought of something.

Deng Xuanzhi was also taken aback: "What? That's impossible!"

Sun Shao was both surprised and delighted, his heart and mind trembling:
"How is that impossible?!"

"Since Liu Shan personally led the expedition last year, he has personally commanded every major battle, and now everyone knows this!"

On the other side, Pan Jun stared at the warship, his heart pounding in his throat.

Sun Shao is right.

After Bu Zhi's defeat and capture in the Battle of Xicheng, the Wu Kingdom spent countless resources to learn many details of the battles in Guanzhong between Shu and Wei from within the two kingdoms, thus learning about the many outstanding performances of Shu ruler Liu Shan on the battlefield in the past year.

The most impressive feat was undoubtedly the first battle in which he devised a water attack strategy and used himself as bait to finally kill Cao Zhen.

The battle to recapture Chang'an involved Liu Shan personally presenting Liu Bei with the banners of the King of Hanzhong, the former emperor, and Liu Shan's own Han emperor banner, all three banners, and drawing his sword to oversee the army.

They even heard exaggerated claims that Liu Shan actually shot and killed a Wei general named Wang Shuang amidst a vast army.

Compared to Sun Quan's heavy price for covering the rear of the army at the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, and Cao Pi's near-capsizing and death before the battle even began, both became laughingstocks. What brilliant achievements did Liu Shan accomplish?

Although there is much exaggeration involved, the fact that he used himself as bait to supervise the army in battle demonstrates the fierce nature of the Shu ruler.

If Liu Shan hadn't been so shrewd, based on his understanding of Kongming, Kongming would never have broken the alliance with Wu at such a crucial juncture in Xicheng. Instead, he would have taken a steady and methodical approach, first seizing Liangzhou, then gradually expanding into the Central Plains, and only choosing to fight Wu after Cao Wei had been destroyed.

However, the alliance between Wu and Shu had already broken down.

Liu Shan even appeared in Xicheng and met with Liao Shi.

Considering this, what doubt is there that Liu Shan would return with his imperial banner, personally overseeing the first battle between Wu and Shu on the Yangtze River, to avenge Liu Bei and Guan Yu?
This is no ordinary person!

Before long, the warship arrived next to the one with the banner bearing the character "关" (Guan).

Anyone with eyes could see that this ship was significantly taller and larger than the one Guan Xing was on.

"Is there the Shu emperor's dragon banner above?!" Pan Jun gazed into the distance, but failed to spot the golden banner belonging to the Shu Han emperor.

"No." Sun Shao was somewhat disappointed.

Deng Xuanzhi also said, "There is only one banner with the character 'Chen' on it."

“Commander Chen of Yong’an has arrived.” At this moment, Pan Jun also saw the character “Chen” on the tall banner and the image of the man who had served Liu Bei day and night came to mind.

Looking around, one could see that the lower reaches of the Yangtze River were filled with the Shu army's warships, which were ready to be deployed at every shallow shoal where one could land.

Many Shu soldiers have already abandoned their ships and landed.

"—Thump!!!"

Just now.

The deep, resonant sound of the Han army's drums echoed throughout the great river!

Immediately afterwards, hundreds and thousands of drums sounded at once!
"—Knock knock knock!"

"—Knock knock knock!"

"Look... my lord, what are the Shu troops doing?"

Deng Xuanzhi suddenly noticed that after the drums sounded, thousands of Shu soldiers on the riverbank lined up and carried the mountain of goods onto the mudflats.

"They...they seem to be filling in the mudflats?" Sun Shao asked in astonishment.

Pan Jun's prediction came true; the Shu army did indeed know there were mudflats here and had already prepared a way to overcome them.

It only took a little over fifteen minutes.

The Shu army then used what they had prepared to fill in the mudflats and create a road that was almost a mile wide, bringing them within a hundred paces of the Wu army's position.

Sun Shao felt a wave of fear wash over him.

With such speed, if the Shu army had been allowed to advance first and fight to the death, using their superior numbers to entangle with them, the Shu army could have easily opened a path through the weak points in their defenses, and then used their elite troops to fight their way through.

If that's the case, how can this pass be defended?!

The elite warriors continued to advance in shifts, shields in hand, to draw the long-range fire of the Wu army's archers and crossbowmen from the rear.

The rear guard continued forward along the road paved with sandbags and hay.

Pan Jun and Sun Shao repeatedly ordered the deployment of reinforcements to all the weak points in the defenses.

After doing everything he could, Sun Shao returned to Pan Jun's side and said, "Just as Tai Chang said, the Shu army still couldn't hold their temper."

Sun Shao finally put aside his prejudice against Pan Jun and marveled at his foresight: "Grand Master of Ceremonies, what should we do now?"

At this time, a vanguard of the Han army had already advanced along the wide road that had been laid out for a mile and reached the front of the Wu army's lines.

However, the Han army still had a lot of supplies on the banks of the Yangtze River, and the rear guard began to lay another road for the army to march on not far away.

Pan Jun looked at the river, a thought forming in his mind.

Although the Shu ruler's golden banner was not on the ship, Liu Shan might still be on board.

“Sun Zhenxi, I entrust the entire war effort here to you!” Pan Jun’s words were firm and resolute.

He then looked at his personal guards and ordered, "Bring out my banner! Lure that Shu army warship to the downstream riverbank!"
"Once the commander's ship strikes a cone and sinks into the river, the Shu army will inevitably be thrown into chaos!"
"If this plan succeeds, we will surely utterly defeat the Shu army here!!!"

Pan Jun knew better than anyone what he had done, and he was well aware of how much Liu Shan, Chen Dao, Guan Xing, and others hated him.

By offering myself as bait, I have no fear that the Shu army will not come!
In Wuying, a loud drum sounded.

Former General Pan Jun raised the flag.

Thousands of soldiers followed Pan Jun downstream to fight.

Upon hearing the drums and seeing the flags, the morale of Wu's soldiers soared!
As Pan Jun walked eastward along the path, his eyes were fixed on the warship where Chen Dao's flag was located. After jogging for about half a mile, his spirits suddenly lifted.

Chen arrived at the ship and it began to move.

(End of this chapter)