Xiao Zhixing received a message from Xiong Chumo on the way, saying that the other party did not go to Jianan Pass at all, but the army came directly to Aba Pass.
They say it's 200,000, but I'd guess it's more like 150,000 troops.
Knowing she was in Huzhou, they were indeed there for her.
At Muchun Pass, opposite Aba Pass, Xiahou Zhenglin glanced at all the generals and said, “The South is not the North. Xiao Zhixing doesn’t have that many soldiers. We only need to focus on dealing with Xiong Chumo’s 100,000-strong army.”
The Feng family has secretly agreed not to move, and Huo Baijun's 100,000-strong army is entangled with the Nanfan.
Just then, Huzhou was hit by severe flooding, and all of Dasheng's manpower and resources were concentrated there.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
This is also the best opportunity to strike at Xiao Zhixing.
"Even if we can't severely damage Xiao's army, we must at least recapture five cities."
On this point, all three factions of the Southern Barbarians agreed.
It wasn't just because losing land affected their reputation, but also because Xiao Zhixing's policy of liberating slaves had stirred up the slave groups of the Southern Barbarian tribes.
They yearned for life in those five cities and secretly amassed power, waiting to turn against the Southern Barbarian royal family.
Xiahou Zhenglin and others must suppress this trend, otherwise their rule will be in danger.
In this great battle, Xiahou Zhenglin led his troops into battle, intending to personally meet Xiao Zhixing.
The experiences of Luo Wei and others gave him some suspicion, so he wanted to personally contact Xiao Zhixing to determine the depth of her feelings.
On Xiao Zhixing's side, she issued several orders on the way.
"Have Huo Baijun defend the Nanfan region and wait for an opportunity to strike."
"Tell Guan Dahai that we can take action now."
Did she really think she would wait for them to make the first move?
During the middle of the major flood in Huzhou, she anticipated that the Southern Yi and Southern Fan would take advantage of the chaos, so she made some arrangements in advance.
Xiong Chumo secretly amassed power in preparation for war, and Guan Dahai took action.
There's also Feng Mo.
She sent Black Tiger to inform him.
"We can take advantage of the situation to make a move." As for whether to seize military power or kill his brothers and Feng Lizhen, that depends on how he decides to act.
These arrangements were made behind the scenes, and she outwardly appeared anxious as she rushed to Abaguan overnight.
"Your Highness, the battle has begun."
Two days' journey from Aba Pass, the latest news is that the Southern Barbarians have begun crossing the river to attack Aba Pass.
In Xiong Chumo's footage, he calmly and methodically arranges for his army to block the enemy from crossing the river.
This was just a probing attack; the real bloodbath was yet to come.
The Southern Yi people had many inland rivers, so there were also many sailboats.
The wooden boats they used to cross the river were covered with iron sheets and were converted from merchant ships.
The quality may not be the best, but the quantity is large.
With the recent heavy rains in the south, the Jianan River has swelled, and its width has increased to over four thousand zhang. This is not a good time for the southern barbarians to attack.
But they didn't want to miss the opportunity, so they called up more ships to fight.
The densely packed wooden and iron boats stretched across the opposite bank of the river, which was quite intimidating.
Xiong Chumo remained calm and waved his hand, "Let's proceed."
A short, dark-skinned youth next to him chuckled, "Alright, General, just you wait and see how formidable we are."
Before long, several hundred young men dived into the river from a secluded spot on the side of the city.
Xiahou Zhenglin soon received news that more than ninety ships had been smashed through their bottoms, flooded, and rendered unusable.
"It's alright."
Those were ships whose bottoms hadn't been plastered with iron sheets yet, so the damage wouldn't be too great.
They also have precautions against enemies swimming in the water.
Xiong Chumo was not surprised and ordered his men to set up crossbow arrays on the shore, waiting for the enemy to arrive.
Xiahou Zhenglin stood atop the tower on the riverbank, surveying the scene. "Probe from the front, launch the main attack from the left!"
A long line of wooden boats stretched forward, with figures flickering on them.
Luo Zhengnan frowned. "Are they all illusions?"
"Yes, the purpose of these ships is to deplete our crossbow bolts. You keep an eye on the left side."
Luo Zhengnan strode away without questioning his decision.
As the southern barbarian wooden boat drew closer, Xiong Chumo signaled to wave his flag.
rustling.
Bang bang bang—
Heavy crossbow bolts tore through space, piercing through wooden boats and knocking down their white sails.
More and more wooden boats sank and became stuck in the river. When all the hundreds of wooden boats sank, they piled up in the river to form a wooden boat island.
Xiong Chumo frowned, "Something's not right!"
Heihe's eyes gleamed. "He not only wants to deplete our crossbow bolts, but also wants to use this opportunity to build a bridgehead in the river."
With their boats following one after another, they were able to connect the pile of wrecked ships in the river with the banks of the Nanyi River, thus pushing the battle line forward.
Unless a large flood washes away the pile of wrecked ships, or all their warships are destroyed in one fell swoop.
Xiong Chumo frowned and pondered.
Xiao Zhixing was also paying attention to the battle situation, and upon seeing this, he thought of a certain famous battle.
Just then, Xiong Chumo uttered a single word: "Fire."
Chief Heihe reacted quickly, "But how can we fuel the fire?"
A small fire won't burn many boats.
Only an unquenchable fire can achieve the desired effect.
Did the Southern Barbarians not expect this? They certainly expected to be attacked with fire.
But they knew that a small fire wouldn't burn many ships, so they were confident and not afraid of a fire attack.
Fire can be amplified with the help of oil or wind, but where can we get so much oil in such a short time?
The wind is even more unpredictable; there is no one in this world who can summon wind and rain.
As expected, the Southern Barbarians stopped advancing and instead arranged their ships in an orderly fashion, eventually connecting them with the pile of abandoned ships in the river.
At this distance, the heavy crossbow bolts are at their maximum range and cannot harm them.
The Southern Barbarians sounded the retreat.
Xiahou Zhenglin said to his subordinates, "Xiong Chumo is indeed a general valued by Xiao Zhixing. He is young but mature and composed."
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