Chapter 336: Sun Ce is ambushed
borrow! How can I not borrow?
Just as Qiao Yan said, if she couldn't get warships from Jingzhou, she could still travel by relying on the ships of Yizhou. But when the ships of Yizhou, or even the soldiers of Yizhou, were crossing the border towards Jingzhou, could he, who did not cooperate with her actions, really continue to maintain superficial peace and keep out of each other's way as before?
I’m afraid I can’t!
"The Grand Marshal is comparing me to the situation when I entered Jingzhou. This is really a bit too much for me." Liu Biao replied politely, "If it weren't for the Emperor Xiaoling's appointment order and the majesty of the Han Dynasty, the Jingzhou family would not have cooperated so well after my arrival. There's no need to talk about imitation..."
Qiao Yan raised his eyebrows, "Isn't it the dignity of the Han people that I rely on now?"
Liu Biao wanted to say that she was clearly relying on her own face and intimidation, but under the other party's meaningful emphasis, Liu Biao still chose to bow to her and said, "The Grand Marshal has the will of the Emperor of Chang'an to conquer the world. Now that Yangzhou has a sudden change, we need to borrow a ship from Jingzhou to travel east. I will go there to make preparations."
Qiao Yan clapped his hands and smiled: "That's perfect. I'll give Liu Jingzhou half a day to prepare. I hope I can see a satisfactory answer."
Half a day, this is barely enough time for a message notification!
Liu Biao's expression tightened, and he quickly ordered all the ships from Zigui, Yiling, Yidao and other places to go to Jiangling. He chose this place as the place where Qiao Yan would lead his troops to set off. In order to show his importance to this dispatch of troops, the general who commanded this navy was his nephew Zhang Yun.
Also, because Qiao Yan would be assisting in the battles of Xuzhou and Yangzhou, the war would certainly require land fighting, so he loaned out Wen Pin, who accompanied Qiao Yan on the ship from Xiangyang to Jiangling.
When sending Qiao Yan onto the main warship, Liu Biao felt relieved and breathed a long sigh of relief.
The temporarily deployed warships sailed down the river, and it was impossible for them to achieve the grand scene of thousands of miles of ships as described by Qiao Yan, but almost all the navy of Jingzhou Nanjun were dispatched. Everywhere you look, there are a lot of ships and people.
In order to show his importance to Qiao Yan's visit, Liu Biao even had the word "Qiao" sewed on the flag on the boat.
Fortunately, Qiao Yan did not make any more complaints about his performance, as if the urgency of the war in Yangzhou did not allow her to make any more complaints about this matter.
Looking at the figure with his hands behind his back, looking east, Cai Mao heard Liu Biao mutter, "The world is about to change."
"Master?"
Liu Biao retracted his complicated gaze, and in response to Cai Mao's inquiry, he shook his head and replied: "Nothing, I was just thinking... Spring has arrived, and it will rain some time."
When it comes to his insight into current affairs, Liu Biao believes that he is no worse than most people.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to keenly grasp the other party's demands when Emperor Ling of Han intended to select the governor of Jingzhou, and would not have participated in a "vicious" competition and won the position of Governor of Jingzhou.
But now, he couldn't quite see what Qiao Yan wanted to do.
He also didn't know why she was able to learn about Yangzhou's movements so quickly, making it very likely that this plan of borrowing a passage to raise troops would become a timely aid.
Just like... just like Liu Yan's situation at that time.
But he could never say such things casually.
When he heard that the army in Hanzhong seemed to have made some arrangements and was approaching the lower reaches of the Han River but still staying in Yizhou, Liu Biao could be sure that he had made a clear enough decision.
One that at least allowed him to make the right decision at this moment.
At this time, on the eastbound ship, Dian Wei asked Qiao Yan a question, "Sir, aren't you afraid that Liu Biao will become desperate and not only will he not lend us his navy, but will also wipe us out from the territory of Jingzhou?"
In the past, when the rabbit was forced into a corner, he could even use Dong Zhong's head to trick He Jin into killing him. Liu Biao and Liu Hong are related by blood, so who knows if they will do something similar.
Qiao Yan replied, "Liu Jingsheng is not Emperor Xiaoling, nor is he someone like Prince Shi who can't figure out who can rule the world. He is a man who rode alone into Jingzhou with courage, but he is not someone who will fight me on the spot to see who is better. If I can't even see through this, there is no need to deal with these people at this time."
Dian Wei scratched his head, feeling that these criteria of judgment were indeed something he found difficult to understand.
However, Qiao Yan's last sentence was much easier to understand. "Besides, why do you think I would call Liu Jingsheng's second son and Kuai Yidu, who was born in Xiangyang's aristocratic family? Do I really have to take care of the homework of his son of a dog or a pig? Do I have to take care of the government affairs of Jingzhou when there is no need to do so?"
Dian Wei suddenly realized: "Hostages!"
Qiao Yan rolled his eyes at him and said, "To put it nicely, this is called a brave man fighting his way out of the siege."
Dian Wei was speechless. Qiao Yan waved his hand and said to his attendants standing by: "Go and tell General Wen that the ship should stay here for a while when it passes Changsha County. I also want to ask someone to go to Jiangdong with me."
The person she was looking for was Zhu Jun, who had left Liu Biao helpless.
When Sun Jian died, Zhu Jun took over the guarding of Changsha County on his behalf. After Sun Ce moved to Yangzhou, Zhu Jun did not move the garrison.
The imperial court originally wanted to appoint him to another position, but for Qiao Yan, it was not a bad thing to let Zhu Jun be like a nail firmly planted in the land of Changsha County in Jingzhou.
This prevented Liu Biao from forming a closer alliance with the clan bandits in southern Jingzhou, and secondly...
Just like now, isn't this working?
The territory of Yangzhou is constrained by the Shanyue people and the Yangzhou families. Even if Sun Ce was ambushed and his followers obeyed Yu Qiaoyan's orders before Zhou Yu returned to Yangzhou, it was not enough for her to go north from Yangzhou to Xuzhou without any worries.
Liu Biao transferred part of the navy and the army to her. The person commanding the troops was no mediocre person, but the Jingzhou Army was the Jingzhou Army after all. It was worth it for them to play a deterrent role in numbers during her journey to the south. When it came to coordination and dispatch, there was no need to have too high expectations of them.
But there is one team that is different.
These are the soldiers that Zhu Jun trained in Changsha over the years!
Qiao Yan's visit greatly exceeded Zhu Jun's expectations, but after hearing her story and intentions, Zhu Jun stood up without hesitation and said, "I will immediately mobilize troops and go to Yangzhou with you."
After Sun Jian's death, Zhu Jun not only lost his former favorite general, but also lost someone he treated as his son or nephew, which made him shift all his concern to Sun Ce.
Although he did not personally follow Sun Ce to Yangzhou to fight, he was stationed in Changsha and could provide support to Sun Ce at any time.
"When Bofu marched into Wujun, conflicts broke out between the aristocratic families of Wujun and he even almost wiped out the Wang family of Wujun. He also killed famous scholars without authorization. If Yeshu had not informed us and asked Madam Wu to go to Wujun to persuade him, it would have caused even greater trouble. This time, when the Shanyue people were besieging, Bofu did not listen to the advice and even asked Yeshu to go in person. It was really a blessing for Bofu." Zhu Jun said when he boarded the ship with Qiao Yan.
There was no sign of anything strange in Qiao Yan's eyes because of these words.
Whether this was Sun Ce's luck or misfortune, she had another answer in her heart, but there was no need to mention it to Zhu Jun.
This general, who was a contemporary of Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi, gradually lost his former bravery after Lu Zhi resigned and went to Leping and Huangfu Song took the position of Grand Marshal.
It would be better for him to set out with the mentality of rescuing Sun Ce and pacifying Yangzhou.
Zhu Jun's team actually had a close connection with Sun Jian's old human sect, which was one of Sun Ce's subordinates. This meant that if Qiao Yan wanted to use this to dispatch Sun Ce's subordinates, it would undoubtedly be much easier to do so through the elder Zhu Jun than if she intervened directly.
Zhu Jun's troops can serve as a check and balance against the troops of Jingzhou.
This was the best solution she could come up with after giving up deploying military forces to other locations.
Even the military rations for this expedition were provided by Liu Biao and Zhu Jun themselves.
"I hope Bofu can listen to Gongjin's advice and not do something that will make him regret for the rest of his life." Qiao Yan replied, "After all, he is... the son of an old friend."
But even if he is the son of an old friend, in this war for the unification of the world, if he is not someone she can lead for a long time, it would be better for him to sleep in the ground than to live!
The brief stop in Changsha County seemed to be just a small episode on the journey east to Yangzhou.
The ship was pulled back to speed up and headed towards Yangzhou at a very fast speed.
If they continued at full speed day and night, they would reach Danyang County in just over a day.
But can this really be enough to rescue Sun Ce?
When the carrier pigeon that reported the fall of Jing County arrived in Luoyang, Sun Ce had already sent people into the mountains to further define the scope of Zu Lang's activities. And when Qiao Yan was asking Liu Biao in Jingzhou to borrow ships and soldiers, Sun Ce had already officially led his troops into the territory of Yishan.
This was no longer the situation as it was last winter when he had sent people into the mountains to engage in a small-scale fight with Zu Lang. Instead, he launched a large-scale mountain search with the real determination to raze the opponent's lair in the mountains.
The Yangzhou family in Wu County had already understood Sun Ce's temperament clearly through their interactions over the past few years.
He is indeed a first-class military commander. Besides being brave in battle, he also has the ability to judge the situation of the battle. Unfortunately, the flaws in his character are exactly the same as his father's!
During the battle against Dong Zhuo, Sun Jian had a conflict with Zhang Zi, the then prefect of Nanyang, over military rations. Sun Jian killed Zhang Zi without any imperial edict allowing it, which led to a huge mess.
Sun Ce would also take up the butcher knife because of the conflicts between Wang Sheng, Gao Dai and others and his faction.
Once this impulsive thought takes over, no one can persuade them to stop!
Huang's shooting of Zhu Zhi, Zu Lang's game of hide-and-seek with Sun Ce throughout the winter, and Sun Ce's encounter with the trick when he attacked Jing County - all of these suppressed the rational analysis of the battle situation in his heart.
In the similar environment of these mountains, his impulsive actions could become fatal at any time.
Back then, he failed to see through the information concealed in the correspondence between Gao Dai and him, and committed the act of killing the famous scholar recklessly. Now he cannot see clearly that Mount Yi is not the burial place of Zu Lang at all, but a trap designed for him, Sun Ce!
When the first mountain fortress of Zu Lang and others was discovered, Sun Ce looked at the backs of the enemy who were fleeing with their armor and weapons thrown away, and without thinking, he led his men to chase after them.
The other party thought that once he entered the mountains, he was like a duck entering the water and could not cause any harm to them at all. However, he wanted to let them see that a tiger entering the mountains is the real place to show its strength.
"General?"
Huang Gai, Han Dang and others had not paid any attention to Sun Ce for a moment before they realized that Sun Ce had disappeared.
After asking around, the two men found out that Sun Ce had ordered his men to temporarily hand over the command of the area to Huang Gai and the other two, while he himself led a team of elite soldiers and ran away.
Huang Gai immediately hit his leg and said, "General, we clearly agreed not to act on our own before entering the mountain, in case we fall into Zu Lang's trap. Why did you run away again?"
Thinking of Zhou Yu's worries and looking at the sky which was approaching dusk, Huang Gai felt that his heart was beating faster than usual, and this was probably not because they had just experienced a fierce battle in the fort.
While leading his men to chase in the direction Sun Ce left, he asked Han Dang to reorganize the team as soon as possible to prevent them from being taken advantage of by the enemy.
Perhaps it is good news that because Zhu Ran was young and the horse he rode was relatively young, he did not directly catch up with Sun Ce's team. If any emergency really occurred, at least he would not become a drag on Sun Ce.
Another good news is -
"Gong Fu, don't worry so much." Han Dang shouted to him from a distance, "Captain Ling is still following us!"
Ling Cao joined Sun Ce's army during his conquest of Wujun. Since he started fighting with Sun Ce, he has shown great courage and chivalry, and his loyalty to Sun Ce is unquestionable.
With him by my side, if I really run into any trouble, at least there's someone to help me, and it won't be difficult to delay the problem for a while, so I don't have to worry so much.
Huang Gai was relieved of his worries a little, but even though he had Ling Cao's protection, it would still be better to find Sun Ce earlier.
Please don't let anything go wrong...
But just when Sun Ce, Ling Cao and others broke away from the main force and used these elite troops to pursue the remnants of Zu Lang, the mountains and forests in front of him began to look more and more unfamiliar to him.
The sunlight above their heads had already been weakened by the setting sun, and now it was further dimmed by the dense forest.
Even though Ling Cao was always brave, when he heard that there was no sound of the Shanyue people being pursued ahead, and only the sound of their cavalry horses' hooves trampling the fallen leaves, he could not help but catch up with Sun Ce and asked, "General, should we go back first and meet up with General Huang and the others?"
However, as he asked this question, Sun Ce saw a fleeting figure appear in front of him, who was vaguely dressed like a Shanyue person.
Sun Ce, who wanted to withdraw, was unwilling to return empty-handed at this time, so he replied: "It will take another cup of tea!"
After a quarter of an hour, if he had not captured a useful prisoner, it would not be too late for him to return outside.
What made him not care about his current situation was that the more than one hundred elite cavalrymen around him were good at fighting one against five, and he also had a capable subordinate at his side. No matter how he looked at it, he had not violated the promise he had made to Huang Gai before.
But no matter how elite the cavalry was, when there were few who were specifically involved in such mountain warfare, some of their combat effectiveness would always be reduced. There was a difference in the ability to control horses on the mountain roads, and several of his subordinates were left behind inadvertently.
What Sun Ce didn't even notice was that the sky had become even darker.
When the sunlight was blocked by the surrounding mountains, only the sky above was covered with a layer of fiery clouds. It was completely impossible to see what was hidden among the withered grass on the ground in the forest.
Sun Ce rode faster and faster because after turning the mountain pass in front of him, he heard a burst of hurried horse hooves sounds!
Only a minority of the Shanyue people were equipped with horses. From the neighing of the horse, one could vaguely tell that it was a good horse. It was very likely that the horse belonged to an important figure under Zu Lang, or even to Zu Lang or Huang She himself.
Thinking of this, Sun Ce was no longer able to care about anything else. At this moment, the gate had already arrived in the time of a cup of tea as he had mentioned. He immediately whipped his horse and rushed out first.
Ling Cao didn't dare to fall behind and hurriedly chased after him.
But the next moment he saw that a tripwire that appeared from the ground at some point had strangled the ankle of the horse he was riding, causing Sun Ce, who was galloping in the front, to suddenly fall forward.
"General, be careful!"
Sun Ce had encountered such trouble before. He grabbed the horse's neck and fired a shot at the tripwire on the ground.
The sharp tip of the spear cut the tripwire straight in the middle, and his battle-hardened mount kicked its long legs and regained its balance at the same time.
But before he and his horse could sit or stand still, a sharp arrow suddenly flew out in the twilight and shot towards Sun Ce. He quickly pulled the reins and pulled himself up, avoiding the arrow.
Ling Cao in the back was so nervous that his heart was in his throat.
However, this arrow did not seem to be a fatal blow to Sun Ce, but rather a signal to launch an attack.
The tripwires and arrows missed their target one after another, but did not make the opponent decide to withdraw.
Almost at the same time, several crossbow arrows were suddenly shot out from the dense forest in front of him.
The crossbow arrow that broke through the air emitted a layer of faint green light in the afterglow of the setting sun, which made people subconsciously hold their breath.
That was another extremely fast and sharp crossbow arrow.
Even if it wasn't a repeating crossbow, an ordinary heavy crossbow coming towards you without warning would be enough to cause you serious damage!
What's more, in his previous series of reaction actions, he was not given any room to rest, so that between the crossbow arrow breaking through the air, his mount could not keep up with his pulling and dodging movements.
In this critical moment, Sun Ce threw away the spear in his hand without thinking, and rolled off the horse with his head in his hands.
The dry grass on the ground just happened to catch him, allowing him to roll up and get the goalkeeper's spear back in his hand.
His horses had no such luck.
At that moment, several heavy crossbow arrows burst out from the door and pierced his horse's head accurately.
as well as……
Ling Cao's chest was only a few steps away from him.
The young captain groaned and fell off his horse.
The injuries caused by the fall caused his bones to break instantly.
If the arrow was not fatal, the fall would have completely ended his life.
"Captain Ling!" Sun Ce's eyes were bloodshot.
In the blink of an eye, he had no time to think whether the scene of ambush in the dense forest was somewhat similar to the time when his father was killed. He also had no time to think that before the bandit suppression mission, Ling Cao mentioned to him that his seven-year-old son Ling Tong would inherit his father's business.
He took a few quick steps and climbed onto Ling Cao's horse, which had turned back because of its master's death. Together with his followers who had gathered from behind, he chased in the direction where the crossbow arrow was shot.
Can't retreat!
This time it was not because of his passion, but his experience and intuition that told him that charging out was the best way to resolve the current crisis.
Ling Cao's death completely calmed his originally boiling desire to hunt him down.
But he couldn't confirm how many enemies were hiding in this trap that lured him deep into. Instead of dealing with the pursuit and the unknown ambush at the same time, it would be better to -
Fight your way out!
Because of the shooting of those sharp arrows, this originally quiet and eerie forest came completely alive.
The Shanyue people, who had been lurking here for an unknown period of time, rushed towards him with slogans that even Sun Ce could not understand, accompanied by a burst of curses and shouts.
These Shanyue people who swarmed in had much stronger muscles and bones than those encountered in the previous battle of Jingxian County. They were recognized by Sun Ce at the first sight. They were Zu Lang's subordinates.
These are the real elite Shanyue people!
But what they met was Sun Ce, who was trying to survive from his desperate situation.
He gripped the spear tightly in his hand.
The cavalry behind him seemed to sense the desperate determination of the commander, and rushed towards the enemy together with him.
Amid the noisy noise, the birds in the forest flapped their wings and flew up from their nests, only to be nailed to the trees by the arrows that had missed the target.
Long spears and long swords were swung from horseback, chopping the Shanyue man who rushed in front of them into two halves.
However, these fearless Shanyue people had already thrown their ropes onto the Yangzhou cavalry and dragged them off their horses.
Their biggest advantage at the moment is their large numbers.
The many years of living in the mountains have made their actions even more wild.
So when the cavalry landed, they bit and ripped into their prey like wild beasts.
Sun Ce pierced and swept one of them with the spear in his hand, and the Shanyue man's companions fired a series of arrows in his direction without caring about his life or death.
He had to use this man as his shield, and then use more ferocious killing moves to try to force these people back.
Fortunately, he was not fighting alone.
Fortunately, the example he set prevented his subordinates from being thrown into disarray by the sudden accident. Instead, each of them unleashed their absolute potential in order to survive.
In this battle between cavalry and infantry, they also won the final victory.
When the last Shanyue man fell, Sun Ce breathed a sigh of relief.
At this point in the fierce battle, his hands that were holding the spear were already aching, and for a moment he could not tell how many people he had killed in this battle.
Fortunately, he was the last one standing.
The ambush designed for him did not have the desired effect.
He will also definitely teach them a bloody lesson after joining the main force!
Sun Ce looked around at the corpses of the Shanyue people lying all around him, then turned back to the dead Ling Cao, intending to bring back this subordinate who had sacrificed himself for him.
However, just as he squatted down to help the man up, a strange noise suddenly occurred behind him.
The end of the war made Sun Ce's guard lowered much more than before.
The pain from Ling Cao's death temporarily overwhelmed his vigilance.
By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late for him to dodge.
An arrow pierced the damaged back shoulder of his armor, and in an instant all his limbs were paralyzed.
The next moment, he lost his balance and fell backwards to the ground.
When his consciousness was almost gone, he vaguely heard the sound of horse hooves approaching from afar, and the heart-wrenching cries of Huang Gai and others, "General——!!"
Sun Ce raised his eyelids with difficulty.
But perhaps because of the power of the poison arrow, he felt as if his eyelids weighed a thousand pounds.
He opened his mouth again with all his might.
But not a syllable came out of his mouth.
In the remaining glimmer of light in his sight, only a gray pigeon flew past and made a very soft cry.
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