Chapter 488 The King of Chu in a Furious State
On the third day, the King of Chu led his army directly to the Zhanghe ferry. This time, there were no detours; the King of Chu planned to lead his army directly to the ferry.
After two days of preparation on the riverbank, with the sheepskin rafts and chain bridge ready, the King of Chu stood at the ferry crossing, looking at the surging river and his gaze toward the opposite camp turned somewhat ruthless.
After resting for two days, Li Mingxiu was in much better condition, but his eyes were still a little red. For the past two days since arriving at the ferry, every time he closed his eyes, he saw the image of the second brother and the sixth brother falling into the river.
He would even occasionally wake up from nightmares while he was asleep, dreaming that his second and sixth children would question him about why he had acted so recklessly.
After standing on the riverbank with the King of Chu for a while, the King of Chu suddenly turned around, looked at his eldest son who still looked somewhat haggard, sighed, and walked back: "Let's go back. We'll cross the river first thing tomorrow morning!"
Li Mingxiu hummed in response, his gaze fixed on the surging river, a hint of disappointment flashing in his eyes. After returning to the camp with the King of Chu, he suddenly stood up upon hearing the news of the group's return. With a hopeful look in his eyes, he walked to the door before the King of Chu and asked anxiously.
"Is there any news about Arong and Changning?"
After bowing respectfully to Lao Ma and Wei Shao outside the door, they shook their heads slightly, looking somewhat dejected.
Old Ma said in a muffled voice, "Reporting to Your Highness, we haven't found it yet..."
The King of Chu sighed and waved his hand at the two men: "Go down first. Rest well today and cross the river tomorrow!"
Li Mingxiu watched the two leave, then sat back down in his seat with a somewhat dazed look in his eyes. The King of Chu frowned as he saw his son's state and gave an order.
"Mingxiu, you haven't been feeling well these past few days, so it's best not to go crossing the river tomorrow."
The moment these words left his mouth, Li Mingxiu looked up, his eyes, which resembled those of the King of Chu, filled with a mixture of determination and hatred: "Father! I am ready to fight! I will personally kill that Commander Wang!!!"
In the two days since arriving at the ferry, Li Mingxiu and his men had already learned that the person in charge of setting up the ambush on that day was a commander surnamed Wang. The checkpoint outside the low mountain was full of various traps, and even the banks of the Yellow River were filled with deep pits. First, they launched a feint attack, then they lured the enemy, and finally they forced them step by step into the traps, wanting to separate the cavalry and then devour them!
That Commander Wang was constantly stabbing people in the back, which led to Xiao Liu and A Rong falling into the Yellow River while trying to save him...
These past few days, recalling what happened that day every day, Li Mingxiu felt an intense urge to tear them apart and bleed them alive!
The King of Chu saw the hatred in his son's eyes, shook his head slightly, and walked out of the tent: "Take good care of your personal guards. Your father has already lost A Rong and Chang Ning. You must not be harmed."
Since Lin Changning and Qi Rong went missing, the morale of the army has dropped to varying degrees, especially the Right Guard. These days, everyone he visits looks worried.
At this moment, he urgently needed to capture the ferry crossing and stabilize the morale of the army. Mingxiu had not been in good condition these days. If something happened to this child in the battle, the morale of the army would only suffer a greater blow. After all, he only had this one legitimate son.
But seeing the hatred in the child's eyes, the King of Chu hesitated to bring up the matter of keeping Li Mingxiu in the tent again. He sighed and left the tent.
Despite the resentment, Mingxiu was still somewhat reckless in leading troops into battle. Although he had followed him into battle since childhood, he was always surrounded by generals and guards to protect him. Although he was steady in nature, he had never suffered any real loss.
This time we suffered a major setback at the ferry crossing, which will hopefully make us more cautious in the future.
It's just a pity about the second and sixth children.
They've been searching the shore for days, but all they've managed to pull up is a suit of armor that washed ashore. That armor is currently displayed in his tent; it was the suit of armor that Changning had given him before their marriage.
They only found the armor, but not the people. After so many days without any trace, the two children are probably in grave danger.
However, the King of Chu still held onto a sliver of hope. After all, since the bodies hadn't been found, there was a chance the children might survive. But he also knew in his heart that falling into the Yellow River wounded at this time of year meant their chances of survival were slim...
The King of Chu returned to his tent and touched the silver helmet. It had been worn down by the recent fighting, but it was still a fine suit of armor, and the mud and sand on it had been cleaned off.
With a look of disappointment, the King of Chu took a cloth from the table, dipped it in oil, and began wiping Lin Changning's armor.
He wiped the armor and sighed, and after a long while he put it down, walked to the sand table, and stared intently at the river crossing.
Taiyuan has no naval forces, only cavalry and infantry. If they want to seize control of the ferry crossing tomorrow, they will have to have the engineers build a pontoon bridge.
Yesterday he had already ordered his soldiers to go to the surrounding areas to build boats and sheepskin rafts. Tomorrow morning, they will quickly erect a pontoon bridge, linking the boats and sheepskin rafts together. The engineers will cross the river first, while the fortifications at the crossing are constructed.
It seems unlikely that the cavalry can cross the river. First, try to get your infantry across, seize the riverbank, force the soldiers at the crossing back, build several rope bridges to allow the cavalry to cross, and finally launch a charge on the other side.
The King of Chu clenched his fist. "Zhanghe Ferry! General Li! Commander Wang! You are all doing well!"
The King of Chu glanced at the two faces, and when he opened his eyes again, only indifference remained in his gaze. He would definitely hang the heads of these two people at the Yellow River ferry!
The following morning, as the Chu King's engineering troops began constructing the pontoon bridge, the opposing forces launched a counterattack, with volleys of arrows raining down on the Yellow River from their camp.
The river was turbulent, and many small boats were swept downstream before they could even be properly anchored. Fortunately, the sheepskin rafts and planks on the river were all tightly secured with iron chains.
The King of Chu stood coldly on the opposite bank of the river, watching the soldiers on the other side shoot arrows towards the middle of the Yellow River in an attempt to stop them from crossing.
He quietly watched the suspension bridge being built. Downstream, where the river current wasn't too turbulent, he had already dispatched four or five advance teams. Once those teams had crossed the river, he would launch the first surprise attack on the other side.
Once the harassment from the other side is gone, the pontoon bridge will be completed sooner or later. As long as a portion of the army can cross the bridge, all those people on the other side will die!
In war, some people will inevitably be sacrificed. After watching many of his soldiers fall into the surging Yellow River, the King of Chu clenched his fists again.
After what seemed like an eternity, unable to bear the sight any longer, he turned to Commander Zhao beside him and asked, "How much longer? When will this suspension bridge be completed?"
Commander Zhao, facing the oppressive atmosphere in the surrounding camps, bowed to the King of Chu with a serious expression and said, "Your Highness, it will take at least half a day for our infantry to pass through."
The King of Chu nodded, squinting at the soldiers on the opposite riverbank: "I understand. Mingde is leading a surprise attack. Keep an eye on things here. Do whatever it takes to get the ferry crossing!"
Commander Zhao clasped his hands in a fist salute and replied firmly, "Yes, Your Highness!"
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