Tiger Owl

Chapter 99 The oriole is behind
Sun He led over a hundred personal guards in a flight along a small river. The river meandered through the woods, with its upper reaches located in the northwest of Qianshan Mountain. Sun He led his men to an open space when suddenly a gong sounded, and over a thousand men charged out from all sides, surrounding Sun He and his hundred-plus men.

Leading the group was a very robust general, none other than Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun raised his spear and laughed loudly, "I know you! You are Sun He, the younger brother of Sun Ben!"

A guard whispered to Sun He, "General, they look like the bandits from Qianshan!"

After Sun He calmed down a bit, he realized that these were the bandits who had stolen his grain cart. No longer afraid, he pointed at Zhao Yun and shouted, "If you know what's good for you, get out of the way right now, or I'll send you to the Western Paradise with one spear!"

Zhao Yun laughed loudly: "You pretty boy, you know martial arts too?"

The men sneered. Enraged, Sun He thrust his spear at Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun, unperturbed, dodged the thrust, grabbed Sun He's shoulder, and pulled him off his horse. A dozen men rushed forward, pinned Sun He down, and tied him up.

Sun He's men were terrified and fled in all directions, but they were all captured by Zhao Yun's soldiers, tied up, and taken away.

Zhao Yun knew very well that by capturing Sun He, he could at least demand several thousand shi of grain from Gan Ning or Sun Ben.

At this moment, a soldier came to report, "General, the Yuzhang Army is coming after us."

Zhao Yun waved his hand, "Let's go!"

He led his men and prisoners of war to retreat quickly. Before long, Taishi Ci led his army to catch up. They saw that the open ground was littered with soldiers' weapons, and it seemed that a fierce battle had taken place there.

Taishi Ci was genuinely puzzled and ordered, "Search everywhere!"

The soldiers searched the surrounding area, and soon they captured two of Sun He's personal guards. They were the ones who had escaped and were captured by Taishi Ci.

The two men knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately, "General, spare our lives! Spare our lives!"

Taishi Ci asked coldly, "Where did Sun He go?"

"Reporting to the general, General Sun has been captured by bandits from Qianshan."

The two pointed northwest, and Taishi Ci flew into a rage, shouting, "Follow me!"

A few men were left behind to take the prisoners away, while the remaining two thousand followed Taishi Ci in pursuit to the northwest.

After chasing for several miles, they saw a general standing with his spear held high, coldly staring at them from the front of a grove of trees.

Taishi Ci shouted last time, "Hand over Sun He now, or I'll spare your life!"

Zhao Yun sized him up, nodded, and said, "You must be Taishi Ci from Donglai!"

Taishi Ci was surprised and suspicious. This bandit leader actually knew him. "And who are you?"

"I am Zhao Zilong of Changshan!"

"what!"

Taishi Ci was taken aback. "Aren't you Gongsun Zan's subordinate? What are you doing here?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I'll release Sun He, but you have to defeat the spear in my hand first!"

Taishi Ci laughed loudly: "I have long heard that General Zhao is the fiercest general under Gongsun Zan. I, Taishi Ci, would like to have a go at him."

He spurred his horse forward and thrust, but Zhao Yun brandished his spear and charged to meet him, and the two engaged in fierce combat.

The two were of similar age and were at the peak of their physical strength and martial arts skills. They fought for more than fifty rounds in one go, and the battle was so fierce that the surrounding soldiers were stunned.

After fighting for more than ten rounds, Taishi Ci gradually became exhausted. Zhao Yun suddenly sheathed his spear, withdrew from the battle, and laughed, "General Taishi is indeed highly skilled in martial arts, but I will not continue. If you want Sunhe, you can exchange it for three thousand shi of grain!"

Zhao Yun turned his horse around and rode away. The soldiers wanted to give chase, but Taishi Ci stopped them, saying, "Don't chase him, let him go!"

General Gao Lian asked in confusion, "General, why did you stop when you were only halfway through the battle?" Taishi Ci sighed, "I am no match for him. If we continued, I would surely be defeated. He gave me face."

"Should we try to win him over?" Gao Lian asked again.

"of course yes!"

Taishi Ci said without hesitation, "Such a fierce general is rare in the world. Since he has appeared in Lujiang, we must win him over."

Taishi Ci couldn't worry about Zhao Yun for the time being; his immediate priority was to capture Wan County.

He led his men back to the main road.

The fierce battle on the official road had ended, and the prisoners of war had been taken away. Xu Shu, seeing that Taishi Ci had not brought Sun He back, laughed and said, "Did Sun He escape?"

"Don't even mention it, I met a formidable person today!"

Taishi Ci then recounted his encounter with Zhao Yun. Xu Shu was quite surprised that Zhao Yun, a fierce general from Hebei, had actually appeared in Lujiang County. He thought for a moment and then smiled, saying, "I estimate that they came with the immigrants from Xuzhou. Our lord is eager to find talented people, and we cannot let such a fierce general get away."

"That's what I'm thinking too. I'll go and talk to them about Sunhe's matter again in a couple of days."

Xu Shu laughed and said, "Why don't I go? I'll go and talk to Zhao Yun."

Taishi Ci nodded. "Let's take Wan County first, and then pay attention to this matter later."

At this moment, Xu Sheng's men arrived with encouraging news: Xu Qian's oil battalion had been completely annihilated, and there were no more oil bottles in the city.

Leaving 2,000 soldiers to guard the prisoners of war, Taishi Ci and Xu Shu immediately led the remaining 13,000 troops to attack Wan County. At the same time, Xu Sheng's 10,000 naval troops also arrived in Wan County, and the two armies met under the city walls.

At this time, the town of Wan County was unusually quiet, which was quite suspicious.

"Strategist, could it be that the enemy has already retreated?" Xu Sheng asked in a low voice.

Xu Shu was also undecided. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "We can try a probing attack, using assault ships to attack the water gate!"

This was also Gan Ning's advice to them. Shuimen had always been a weak point in Wan County's defenses, and even when Sun Ben occupied Lujiang, he did not realize this problem.

Xu Sheng immediately made arrangements, and soon a rumbling sound came, and the sudden appearance of the ship followed by three hundred small sampans, each with a dozen or so soldiers. Xu Sheng, wearing armor and an iron helmet and carrying an iron spear, stood at the bow of the foremost ship.

The ship that suddenly broke through the city gate was the same one that had done so before. Its oars turned, stirring up waves and making a huge noise, but it was very fast and sped toward the city gate.

Tens of thousands of soldiers were focused on the sudden-dive ship, but Taishi Ci was staring at the city wall above the water gate. The sudden-dive ship was only 150 paces from the water, but no guards appeared on the city wall.

The sudden boat was getting closer and closer to the water gate, one hundred and fifty paces, one hundred and fifty paces.
We've already come to fifty paces, but there's still no sign of the defenders. At this point, it's safe to assume they've escaped.

The paddlewheel continued to spin rapidly, getting closer and closer, before suddenly accelerating and crashing into the water gate.

Despite being a gate as thick as an arm, the water gate was completely vulnerable to the powerful impact of the rammed boat.

With a loud crash, the gate was smashed to pieces, and the ship burst into the city.

One sampan after another followed and stormed into the city.
Soon, the city gates opened, and Taishi Ci led his army into the city. Sure enough, there wasn't a single soldier left in the city, and even the county magistrate had fled.

Although Xu Qian came from humble origins, he was extremely cunning. When he learned that Sunhe was being attacked from both sides by the Yuzhang Army, he realized that something was wrong and immediately led his troops to retreat.

Xu Qian had been operating in Lujiang County for so many years without ever being wiped out, all thanks to his keen sense of smell. He would flee immediately if he sensed something was wrong, and this time was no exception.

(End of this chapter)