Chapter 181. Reunion.
The fires of war raged.
Stones weighing over a hundred catties were hurled by catapults, piercing through wooden ships, causing more and more debris to litter the sea.
Both Prince Chen and Yuan Li possessed catapults. Through improvements in weaponry, Yuan Li's catapults could launch heavier stones than Prince Chen's.
Ironclad warships led the way, with the most common forms of combat on the sea being stone throwing and fire attacks. Soldiers dipped their arrows and torches in linseed oil, igniting them before launching them towards the enemy.
The torches set the canvas and decks of the warships ablaze as the two sides drew closer, resulting in more and more damaged ships.
Amidst the smoke and the burning flames on the sea, the sky grew darker, with dark clouds overhead.
On the main ship, Yuan Li raised his head sharply to look at the sky. The untamed strands of hair around his ears shifted from blowing forward to being swept back.
The wind had changed direction.
During a naval battle, a shift in the wind could often bring about a surprising turnaround.
Squinting his eyes, Yuan Li nodded, and Gu Yue quickly said, "My Lord, the wind has changed! We are now downwind!"
Those well-versed in naval warfare understood the implications.
Being downwind meant that the arrows and torches they shot towards the enemy ship would be hindered by the wind, making it difficult to advance. Additionally, their own flames would burn faster, putting them at a clear disadvantage.
The enemy general, He Jiwen, also saw the shift in the wind. Elated, he declared to his officers, "Escort the lord back to Yangzhou with twenty thousand men! I will lead the remaining troops in an assault on Yuan Lejun!"
He Jiwen then redoubled his offensive against Yuan Li's forces.
In stark contrast, Yuan Li remained remarkably composed. With a single word, he commanded, "Retreat!"
Wen Naval Army did not hesitate to fight and fled downstream.
He Jiwens tightened his chase, but when he pursued downstream following the flow, he discovered iron chains and iron spikes buried at the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there was an ambush here!
The iron chain blocked the waterway, with cliffs on both sides, the river water flowing rapidly, when the warships chased swiftly, if they did not hit the iron chain and sink, they would be pierced by the iron spikes hidden under the water surface.
Chen Jun lost dozens of warships before barely stopping the ships outside the ambush. He Jiwen felt uneasy, turned his head and saw Duke Wen and another ambush of the Wen naval army had surrounded them front and back!
He Jiwen remained calm, not afraid, "Prepare the catapult, we can't confront the Wen naval army head-on."
Yuan Li and Zhou Gongdan each led their fleets, starting to attack the enemy forces from a distance, collectively.
To eliminate Prince Chen in one fell swoop, Yuan Li and Yang Zhongfa decided to divide the troops into five routes. Two routes on land, one each on the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Yuan Li as the "main force" seemed grand, but it was only a feint to attract the enemy's fire and bait Prince Chen's forces to come out and face him.
Yang Zhongfa led Kongran, a naval general, guarding the upper reaches, while Zhou Gongdan guarded the lower reaches. Ambushes were set up on both upper and lower reaches, with iron chains blocking the river to cut off the enemy's support routes.
Even without the shifting winds, Yuan Li would pretend to be defeated within the agreed time, fleeing upstream or downstream with the wind. At the same time, the other side's naval forces guarding upstream or downstream would take advantage of Yuan Li's absence, crossing the river and entering the Yangzhou blockade line directly, attacking on land.
Guan Zhihuai and He Lang would each lead a hundred thousand troops to advance from the east and north into the rear of Prince Chen's forces in Jiangkang and Guangling, cutting off the enemy's support from the rear, isolating the navy and ground forces in Yangzhou from each other.
With the combined efforts of the naval and ground forces, Prince Chen would be attacked from five directions! This plan had to succeed, failure was not an option.
At this moment, Yang Zhongfa and Kongran must have taken their troops and crossed the river to Yangzhou and the land forces.
Prince Chen woke up before returning to shore.
People surrounded him, anxiously and worriedly calling out, "Your Highness!"
Prince Chen's eyes scanned them lifelessly, and he began to cough violently.
The blood he spat out seemed to have drained all of Prince Chen's strength, rapidly aging him. His trembling hands held his supporters, weakly asking, "How is the battle going?"
People around him quickly responded, "General He saw you faint and sent twenty thousand men to escort you back to shore. Before returning, our forces were evenly matched with the Wen army, and even gaining the upper hand. With the south wind blowing, the tide turned in our favor, and Wen's losses were heavy. Lord Yuan Lejun led the army down the river, and General He is already in hot pursuit. Please rest assured, victory is certain in this battle."
Prince Chen's fainting episode not only panicked the others but also left him groggy and slow to think.
He nodded slowly until a quarter of an hour later when he abruptly opened his eyes, grabbing his subordinate's hand firmly, and said firmly, "Something's not right!"
His subordinates were taken aback, "Your Highness, are you feeling unwell?"
A wave of blood surged up his throat, "Lord Yuan Lejun will not easily escape defeat, this is a trap, an ambush! Where are the reinforcements, haven't they arrived at the rear yet?"
It was then realized by all that the naval forces that were supposed to arrive in the second and third batches to the battlefield as arranged by Prince Chen had not yet arrived.
Someone went out to take a look, the river was vast, not a boat or a flag could be seen.
At this moment, without Prince Chen needing to say anything, the others also realized something was wrong. Regardless of the situation ahead, the fact that there was no news from the large army behind was unusual.
They had not received any military intelligence indicating a change in the situation.
With uncertainty ahead and trouble behind, they felt anxious. "My lord, this..."
It was very likely that something had happened to their rear forces— they had been attacked!
"Hurry back to Yangzhou!" Prince Chen ordered, his vision started to darken. "Send a ship to deliver a message to He Jiwen, telling him not to engage in battle and to hurry back to Yangzhou for support!"
*
In contrast to Prince Chen, whose military intelligence was intercepted, the information being sent to Yuan Li was coming in one after another.
Combining the intelligence from their own side and what had been intercepted and sent to Prince Chen, Yuan Li had a clear understanding of the current situation.
Soon after, a ship arrived to deliver a message to He Jiwen. Yuan Li guessed it was the intelligence from Prince Chen instructing He Jiwen to retreat, so he deliberately ordered his troops to ignore the ship.
As expected, as the ship approached, He Jiwen quickly switched from fighting courageously to finding an opportunity to retreat.
Yuan Li smirked and issued another order.
He ordered his troops to pretend to have a gap in their defense, allowing He Jiwen to lead the army to escape through that gap and head upstream.
An hour later, as expected, He Jiwen seized the opportunity to escape through the gap they had shown and desperately raised the sails to sail upstream.
The sailors on Yuan Li's flagship interacted with white and red flags, conveying the message "do not pursue" to the group led by Zhou Gongdan.
The ships led by Zhou Gongdan gradually came to a halt.
Once He Jiwen's army was far enough away, Yuan Li withdrew his gaze and looked towards the south, "Let's go ashore. It's time."
Despite having a water navy for four years, it was no match for the elite and skilled Yangzhou navy. Even though their ships were superior and their weapons more threatening, even if He Jiwen fell into an ambush, the two sides would still be evenly matched.
Continuing in this manner, even if Yuan Li could win, it would come at a huge cost of causing more harm than good- losing half of the ships built over four years, and more than half of the 45,000 water navy and 50,000 soldiers from Youzhou would be killed or injured.
The losses were too great, and even if they won, it would be a Pyrrhic victory. In Yuan Li's eyes, it was not worth it.
He couldn't beat Prince Chen with the navy, so from the very beginning, Yuan Li's strategy was to move the battlefield towards the land.
In terms of the navy, he was no match for Prince Chen. But in terms of cavalry and infantry, Prince Chen's army was far behind, trailing in the dust.
Yuan Li fought with He Jiwen in the Yangtze River, but it was better to let He Jiwen escape.
He Jiwen was already fighting the upstream current and would take more time to reach Yangzhou for support, especially with iron chains blocking their waterway. By the time they finally returned to Yangzhou, Yuan Li had already landed.
By fighting on land, his soldiers could avoid many unnecessary casualties, wouldn't it be better than fighting in the Yangtze River?
When Yuan Li arrived at the Yangzhou bank, he saw that the soldiers of Wen Army and Yangzhou Army were locked in a fierce battle, and the river water was stained crimson with blood.
The Wen Army had the upper hand.
The Yangzhou navy escorting Prince Chen back into battle was also in action, not expecting the situation on land to be so severe. They quickly abandoned the shore and escorted Prince Chen back onto the ship, preparing to move troops and ships to the military point of Luling.
Directly, Yuan Li said, "Follow me."
Luling was to the south of Yangzhou, and as Prince Chen fled, Yuan Li chased him, finally arriving in Luling at dusk.
With the Wen Army yet to arrive, Prince Chen ordered everyone ashore, ready to go to the barracks and mobilize the army before Yuan Li arrived.
Half an hour later, Yuan Li's fleet stopped at a distant shore. He left ten thousand men to guard the ships, while the rest finally disembarked.
Once the elite soldiers who had fought across the north set foot on solid ground, they immediately became invigorated, eyes gleaming with anticipation, eager to do battle.
Yuan Li did not disappoint their expectations, "Guyue, take ten thousand men to destroy the warships left by Chen Wang on the shore. The rest, follow my orders, sneak into Luling and destroy the military camp and shipyard of the Yangzhou navy, and capture Prince Chen here!"
"Jia Qing, lead the way."
Jia Qing saluted and divided the army into four routes to pursue the Prince Chen army, blocking all possible escape routes for Prince Chen.
This was the south, covered with dense forests, and with spring bringing new life, the jungles were filled with miasma, swamps, and mosquitoes.
They covered their mouths with cloth and carried herbs to ward off insects, their eyes attentive, wary of any dangers that might arise in the environment.
Many of them silently prayed to the gods.
Their lord was truly extraordinary. They had once questioned why they needed to train for outdoor survival and how to deal with miasma and swamps, but now, in the southern jungle, they realized the importance of those lessons.
Their lord had seen this day coming when he had them train for outdoor survival.
Yuan Li's personal guards exchanged glances, more admiring of their lord, and Guyue's eyes were filled with reverence as he looked at Yuan Li's back, shining with admiration.
Just when they thought they couldn't admire their lord any more, they realized they would be even more amazed by him tomorrow.
As victory seemed within reach, Yuan Li, Jia Qing, and the others did not relax. Instead, their nerves were taut, wary of any potential traps.
This was Prince Chen's stronghold Yangzhou, and Luling was one of Prince Chen's military bases. Yuan Li's forces could not penetrate this area, unaware of how many of Prince Chen's troops and weapons were hidden here.
Unfamiliar with the terrain, they knew that any lapse in vigilance could lead to Prince Chen turning the tables on them.
They were cautious but not slow. Climbing over the last hill, Yuan Li looked towards Luling City and froze in place.
The arrogance of Luling City was overwhelming, the firelight reflecting off the red sunset sky, flames burning brightly.
Someone had already captured Luling.
Who did it?
Yuan Li, Jia Qing, and Guo Mao exchanged glances and quickened their pace towards Luling.
As they got closer, they could feel the intense heat of the towering flames, sweating from the heat. Soldiers were fleeing in panic from the city gates, their cries echoing within the walls, interspersed with cries for help and surrender.
Yuan Li wiped the sweat from his forehead and suddenly felt his heart racing.
He licked his cracked lips and glanced at Jia Qing.
Jia Qing quickly had a personal guard grab a fleeing Yangzhou soldier and interrogated him, "Where is Prince Chen? What has happened in Luling City?"
The Yangzhou soldier collapsed to the ground and cried, "Someone attacked from the rear! They burned down the shipyard and five hundred warships, they also invaded the camp, destroying all of Luling City's military equipment!"
Five hundred warships?!
Everyone gasped.
On one hand, Yuan Li was shocked by the amount of warships and military equipment hidden in Luling, but on the other hand, he was relieved that it had been destroyed.
Feeling the heat around him, his breathing slightly hastened, Yuan Li glanced around and asked, "Who attacked you?"
The Yangzhou soldier, clearly frightened by the attackers, shook his head frantically, glimpsing the city gate and suddenly collapsed to the ground, scrambling back in fear, trembling, "They're here! They're here!"
Yuan Li's eyelid twitched, as if sensing something, he looked up.
A group of people emerged from the blazing Luling City.
The leader was tall and handsome, brandishing a blood-stained sword. In the flickering firelight, amidst the chaos of the fleeing soldiers and the panic-stricken Yuan Li, their eyes met unexpectedly.
As the sky was bathed in hues of red, with black smoke billowing and the smell of burning lingering in the air.
They stood there, both frozen.