Chapter 339: Introduction...
If it is true that Sun Ce intended to launch a new attack on Zu Lang when his illness had not yet healed and the remaining poison had not yet been cleared, then he might really be asking for trouble.
Zu Lang is not a completely reckless person.
The mountains in Danyang are almost in two east-west directions, and are connected on the west side of Jing County. This allows Zu Lang to have a sufficient number of outposts in the mountains to the north and south of Jing County, so it is not difficult for him to go north to Tongguan without anyone noticing.
He carefully analyzed the message coming back from the other end.
Suddenly, an astonishing number of warships arrived from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and they seemed to be coming from the direction of Jingzhou. Unfortunately, Huang She was dead, leaving him with no source of information from Jingzhou.
"But this is not a big problem. The soldiers from Jingzhou were sent by ship. Even if they are good at naval warfare, they will be defeated by us in the mountainous terrain."
Unless they can make Yishan flooded.
Zu Lang held a grass stem in his mouth and analyzed the situation with his subordinates.
"What if they are soldiers from Yizhou?" asked one of the subordinates.
"That's a good question!" Zu Lang replied, "But it's unlikely. Yizhou's soldiers boarded Jingzhou's standard warships and arrived in Yangzhou's territory. How could this be possible?"
He muttered, "But we can't rule out this possibility. When they enter the mountain, keep an eye on them for me. If we find out they are Yizhou soldiers, we will be careful. If we can avoid the disaster, I will give you credit for the first place."
As he spoke, he threw a five-zhu coin in his hand toward the subordinate.
"Let's talk about the other side. Cheng Pu and Cheng Demou have also dispatched people from Kuaiji County to this place. Among these people are many of Sun Ce's elite soldiers, which is a troublesome matter."
"General, why bother to encourage others!" someone else said, "The ones who fought against us in the mountains before were Sun Ce's elite soldiers, and Sun Ce himself, and we still had the upper hand. He doesn't have the ability to move mountains or fill the sea anyway, and he still has to fight us in the mountains and ravines. What's the point of having more people!"
"That is still useful," Zu Lang replied nonchalantly, "Let him lose a few more subordinates and get a little angrier. Those Wujun families have always looked down on us, but some of their words really make sense. If it weren't for their advice, it would have been really difficult for us to make Sun Ce fall into the trap so easily."
"It's a pity that it's better to cooperate with them less often."
Zuro muttered in a voice that only he could hear.
Even though these famous Wujun families were much more trustworthy to Zu Lang than a madman like Huang She, their cooperation was limited to killing Sun Ce this time.
In the face of common interests, they might still be considered friends and allies who cooperate with each other.
But once Sun Ce died, in such a huge Yangzhou, the two parties who always had conflicts of interest would become enemies.
Although one occupied the mountains and the other occupied a county, the Shanyue people were not satisfied with only having land in the mountains and hoped to get out of the mountains to get more food and a better living environment. The aristocratic families in the Wu and Yue areas were also dissatisfied with having such barbarian-like neighbors and it was only a matter of time before they would have disputes with each other.
These people even tried to cover up the matter of dealing with Sun Ce, and only let Shanyue take the leading role. It is obvious that they had no good intentions.
If the Chang'an court really wanted to hold people accountable for Sun Ce's death, the first to bear the brunt would definitely be the Shanyue people like them.
Those Wujun noble families who had come up with the plan were hiding safely in the back.
No matter how Zu Lang thought about it, he felt that there was no need to compare these people with Zuo Rong.
Fortunately, he was not just doing things for others.
The military achievement of killing Sun Ce was enough to increase his prestige among the other Shanyue forces and he occupied a dominant position from then on.
The Shanyue people are such a huge group.
If he could recruit a few more forces under his control, he would not be far from truly establishing his own regime.
But the premise of all this is that he can successfully kill Sun Ce.
"Alright, alright, get moving," he clapped his hands, signaling his subordinates to work according to the division of labor he had previously drawn up. "Bring me all the information I want. Huang Shebai's death will give us back the credit for killing Sun Ce. If we succeed, I will celebrate your victory and we will get drunk!"
These Shanyue soldiers, who knew the mountain terrain very well and had unique talents in climbing, quickly dispersed into the mountains, making it seem as if the mountains around Jing County had given birth to countless pairs of eyes secretly watching.
The faint sound of the scout's footsteps was soon covered up by other movements in the mountains and forests, as if those sounds were just illusions heard by people.
Looking in the direction where the sound came from, all I could see was a little rustling caused by the wind blowing through the trees.
Qiao Yan withdrew his gaze and a meaningful smile appeared on his face.
She said to Huang Gai standing beside her, "General Huang, have someone set up camp in front tonight to give our enemy some time to react and digest the situation."
Huang Gai agreed and made arrangements immediately.
But when he finished all these arrangements and looked at Qiao Yan, he was a little dazed for a moment.
As planned by Qiao Yan, the news of Sun Ce's death was temporarily blocked in Tongguan County.
Fortunately, when someone was sent to Wujun to pick up Madam Wu, they did not directly say that Sun Ce was dying, but only said that he was seriously injured.
It is a perfectly normal situation for a mother to visit her injured child.
Sun Ce was in such a lively state on weekdays that it was hard to believe that he would die from some injuries during an encirclement and suppression campaign in the mountains.
So in the eyes of outsiders, Sun Ce was still "alive" at this moment, and even after a failure, he continued with the first attempt with even greater resentment.
But in fact, Sun Ce's body was temporarily placed in Tongguan County, guarded by Han Dang, Madam Wu and others, and the "rebel general" who entered the mountain at this moment——
It was actually the Grand Marshal Qiao Yan!
She was originally very tall, and at this moment she was wearing boots that were slightly higher than usual. Plus, she was sitting on a horse, so it was impossible to detect any abnormality from a distance.
The heavy armor covered his body and half of his face, making him look a little thinner and paler than Sun Ce. But even if he pretended to be seriously injured, he still looked very heroic.
The gun in her hand was not Sun Ce's, but the two-piece pistol she usually used. But perhaps because it was in the state of two shots being fired consecutively, it looked no different from a complete spear.
This is why, when she was personally leading the expedition into the mountains, at a glance, people almost mistakenly thought that the general was still there.
But when Huang Gai looked at her again, he realized one thing very clearly. Although Qiao Yan was trying to make Zu Lang mistakenly believe that Sun Ce had arrived again, no one would mistake her for Sun Ce at such a close distance.
This Grand Marshal, who was the most powerful official of the dynasty, had the sharp aura of a commander going to war, but he also had a more relaxed demeanor in his words and deeds. Only when he looked at someone with a scrutinizing look did people feel the pressure.
Sun Ce entrusted these old subordinates to Qiao Yan. Was it because this great Marshal, who had fought in many battles in the south and the north, also possessed the unique charm of a military general?
Huang Gai was unable to come up with the answer for the time being.
"General Huang?" Qiao Yan's voice interrupted Huang Gai's thoughts.
He quickly calmed down and replied, "I'll have someone arrange it right away."
The people they brought into the mountains this time were really mixed. Although there weren't many people, they came from all over the place.
The entourage that Qiao Yan brought from Luoyang to Jingzhou and then followed to Yangzhou. This part is considered her bodyguard.
The Jingzhou soldiers loaned out by Liu Biao of Jingzhou. Among them, the land infantry led by Wen Pin also entered the mountains.
She invited Zhu Jun and his followers from Changsha County. Of course, Zhu Jun was temporarily kept there by her on the grounds that there were many dangers in the mountains and someone was needed to man the Tongguan warship, and he did not come with them.
Finally, there are Sun Ce’s old subordinates consisting of Huang Gai, Cheng Pu and others.
Huang Gai actually felt that instead of letting all the manpower gathered from various forces participate in the search for Zu Lang, it would be better to focus the troops and only use those troops from Yangzhou who were familiar with the mountainous terrain of Danyang. This might be able to deal a greater blow to Zu Lang.
After all, in terms of physical fitness alone, the elite soldiers under Sun Ce were far superior to those Shanyue people who were short of supplies.
But when Huang Gai asked this question tentatively by the campfire after setting up camp in the mountains, Qiao Yan shook his head and said, "If my goal is just to fight a guerrilla war with Zu Lang in the mountains, then your arrangement is correct. A small but elite force is much better than a large but mixed one."1
"But I don't have that much time to spend looking for Zu Lang. I have to get him to my door so that we can fight quickly. At this time, the current state is the most suitable."
"Tell me, what would Zu Lang think when facing a team like ours?"
After forcing Sun Ce to the point of being seriously injured, he was attacked by the enemy again. Even if Zu Lang still had some awe in him, it had already been mostly worn away.
The patchwork of Sun Ce's troops would only make him feel that the other side had run out of tricks in trying to defeat him, and that was why they were using all sorts of people.
How could a commander who was so angry that he only wanted to search the mountains for people be qualified to compete with him?
This is what Zu Lang is thinking at the moment!
"They are indeed soldiers from Jingzhou!" Zu Lang sneered, "Sun Ce has really gone backwards as he grows older. He and Liu Biao of Jingzhou are still enemies for the murder of their father, yet he actually reached such a cooperation with the other party."
"No..." Zu Lang muttered, "It is also possible that the court in Chang'an is dissatisfied with the fact that Sun Ce has invested too much time and energy in suppressing the rebellion, so they asked Jingzhou to send troops to support him."
But no matter what the reason is, it cannot change the result - Sun Ce's eagerness to go into the mountains will not only fail to allow him to avenge his previous shame, but will only make him lose his life here!
It would be even better if it was the first reason he guessed!
The existence of the Jingzhou army was no different from an enemy monitoring him to Sun Ce, and even seemed like a shame. This would undoubtedly fuel his eagerness for merit and anxiety, and this was also where Zu Lang's opportunity lay.
Zu Lang did not feel depressed at all after receiving the news that another fortress in the mountain was destroyed and several roads out of the mountain were blocked, because -
Those who attacked the fort were Sun Ce's generals, while those who guarded the various passes were soldiers from Jingzhou!
It is obvious that Sun Ce wants these "helpers" to at most help him close the gap, while he himself will have to close the door and beat the dog.
Very good!
Before he could make a move, the other side had already started to panic.
The news that reached Zu Lang's ears did not make him realize at all that he was jumping into a trap prepared for him, just like Sun Ce had done before.
He only felt that he was watching Sun Ce, who had not remembered the lesson that almost cost him his life, and once again came to an environment that was unfamiliar to him.
"Show them one of the mountain strongholds."
Zu Lang looked at the mountains in the distance, his eyes filled with determination.
Since Sun Ce was determined to seek death, he would help him and at the same time enhance the reputation of Zu Lang.
The subordinate swallowed his saliva and asked excitedly, "Which place?"
Zu Lang thought for a moment and replied, "The one at Shuiling."
The key to the mountain pass is a great place to lose one’s life!
But this mountainous area that was originally difficult for Sun Ce to control was a clearly identifiable area on the three-dimensional map in front of Qiao Yan.
Even though she did not bring Chu Yan, Yao Chang and others who were best at mountain combat here, it did not affect her confidence of more than 80% in defeating Zu Lang.
"Da Sima, they really moved!"
When the flames of the bonfire in the early morning were about to die out, a scout suddenly ran to Zhou Tai who was guarding the outermost circle and whispered a few words. Then Zhou Tai ran to Qiao Yan at a faster speed and told her the news.
There was a hint of admiration in Zhou Tai's eyes as he looked at her.
If Qiao Yan's previous decisive decision to send troops into the mountains to avenge Sun Ce was what he wanted as a person who clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment, then at this moment, it was truly exciting to let Zu Lang act according to her words through four teams that were difficult to unite as one.
When Zhou Tai thought about the fact that they were going to bring Zu Lang not only the surprise of a failed ambush, but also the shock of the real and fake Sun Ce, he couldn't help wanting to see Zu Lang as soon as possible.
Just like, Zulang was also looking forward to meeting them.
In this Shuilingkeng area, there is a hillock between Tongshanling and Nanlingkeng. According to what he heard from a Taoist priest in Yangzhou in his early years, this hillock extends all the way to the river, just like a giant dragon drinking water, and it is a dragon vein.
It doesn’t matter whether there is a dragon vein or not. He chose Jing County as his settlement because of its convenient terrain.
But at this moment, he recalled the prophecy he had heard in the past, and felt that there were simply few good people like him in the world, who could think of finding a Feng Shui site for Sun Ce's burial in such a situation of siege.
He stroked the long sword in his hand, and signaled his subordinates to hide the ambush troops on the hill better, especially to hide the few horses under their command.
"Everyone, wake up!" Zu Lang looked around and warned, "If anyone makes any trouble and prevents them from jumping into this pit, I will show you how I will deal with you."
This terrain was extremely advantageous to him. If he could completely trap Sun Ce's troops who were attacking the village in the valley here, he only needed to have his men guard the entrance to the valley and kill any and every one they could.
But Sun Ce is not a fool. If he finds out that the situation here is different, he will definitely run away!
Fortunately, Zu Lang's worries seemed unnecessary.
Perhaps because Sun Ce was eager to find Zu Lang's whereabouts, he would use any clue he found as a breakthrough.
The support from Cheng Pu from Kuaiji and the manpower sent by Zhu Jun from Changsha County also gave him the confidence to wipe out the Shanyue.
So, Zu Lang looked from afar on the hill and saw a huge cavalry team quickly attacking from the mountain path, and their target was the Shuiling village below him!
The most eye-catching one among them is the young commander wearing armor and holding a spear in his hand!
At this moment, Zu Lang could no longer care about lamenting that the cavalry brought by "Sun Ce" was actually more than he had imagined, nor could he lament the impact that this guy's show-off behavior of only using cavalry brought to him. There was only one thought left in his mind -
The prey has arrived!
With the silent gestures he made, his subordinates acted one by one at an extremely fast speed.
Just as the Qiang people have natural advantages in the mountainous environment of Liangzhou, the water ridges and mountain pits are also the paradise for the Shanyue people to walk on as if it were flat land.
Every pair of wild eyes was staring at the team that was entering the valley one after another, watching them rushing into the village.
However, there were naturally no Shanyue villagers in the village that had already been evacuated by Zu Lang, only Shanyue swordsman and axemen lurking in the houses.
Like the Shanyue soldiers who were lurking on the mountain, they held their breath and waited for the moment to strike.
The next moment, the sound of a gong was heard echoing in the valley, causing the entire silent mountain to boil in an instant.
"Get started!"
That was the moment when all the cavalry led by Sun Ce entered the village.
But obviously, they did not confront the Shanyue soldiers stationed here as they should have, but instead fell into a trap prepared for them.
As soon as the last horse stepped into the gate of the village, the gate tower, which seemed quite sturdy, collapsed under the influence of a pulling force, directly blocking their way.
Almost at the same time, the Shanyue people hiding in the village threw the torches in their hands onto the thatched huts.
The presence of several layers of thatch and rapeseed oil made the fire spread many times faster than usual.
In the firelight, the swordsmen and axemen who were lurking on all sides rushed out with their weapons in hand, intending to take advantage of the moment when the enemy was unable to cope with the sudden change and inflict a sufficient blow on them.
"Everyone says that Sun Lang of Jiangdong is extremely talented in leading troops, but I think he is just so-so!" The successfully ignited fire made Zu Lang's face even happier.
Anyone who saw such a quiet village would have looked to see if this was an enemy ambush. But Sun Ce actually thought that their people had heard the news that they were coming to encircle and suppress them and ran away. So they just rushed over like this. What was the difference between this and putting their heads directly under the guillotine?
The sound of the gate tower collapsing was not a sound that would cause panic among the well-trained war horses, but fire was a good thing that could confuse these horses.
Once the fire spreads and the village houses collapse, the number of cavalry that was originally an advantage for Sun Ce will become a disadvantage for him in an instant!
Zu Lang held the long sword tightly in his hand, as if he could see the embarrassed scene of Sun Ce's troops shouting "fallen into a trap" in the next moment. Then it would be time for those of them lurking on the hill to move out.
But to his surprise, the ambush in the village and the fire on all sides did not seem to affect the attacking team at all.
In the thick smoke below, the chestnut horse carrying "Sun Ce" was seen leading the way and rushing out of the fence.
No, that perhaps cannot be called a charge, because at the moment before the warhorse was about to collide with the fence, a long spear was swung out first, picking up the iron spikes that were originally pressing on the fence and opening a way out.
Although still feeling that the other party's figure was not as majestic as that of an ordinary general from a distance, the power that erupted in that instant and the coordination between this man and his horse were enough to shock people.
But now is obviously not the time for Zu Lang to delay.
He also had no time to think about whether the red horse that broke through the siege was in some way inconsistent with the rumored mount of Sun Ce.
Because at this moment in his sight, behind the commander who jumped out of the barrier first, a group of cavalry came out one after another, seemingly completely ignoring the various changes in the camp, maintaining a stable formation and marching closely.
It seems that the only person they need to care about is the leader in front of them.
This team of at least a hundred cavalrymen was the first to break through the restrictions of the village barriers, but they did not turn around and leave the valley where an ambush had been set. Instead, as the leader raised the spear in his hand, they quickly turned the direction of their horses along with their commander, and then maintained an almost identical posture of holding their weapons, and rushed back through the gap that had been opened.
Due to the growing fire and the great distance, Zu Lang could not see the faces of each of them clearly. However, from his perspective looking down from above, the small number of cavalrymen guarding their absolute core were like a sharp blade piercing through the village!
Even though the leader's movements showed some sluggishness from time to time, and even though the number of people in this team was less than one-tenth of all the cavalry, Zu Lang had no doubt that in the face of such direct impact, their counterattack would inevitably reverse their original disadvantage.
not good!
Once Sun Ce reorganized his troops and evacuated them, his plan of trapping his men in the valley would be a complete failure.
He will never have such an opportunity again in the future.
What he should do now is to take advantage of the fact that the other party has not yet been able to completely escape from this fiery prison and ambush, and directly add another stab to their wounds!
Thinking of this, Zu Lang did not hesitate to have the gong struck again.
As the gong sounded, the Shanyue ambush soldiers who were originally watching from the high hills all ran down the mountain. The archers who were already ambushing not far away surrounded the village at the order and fired dense arrows into the fire.
The thick smoke and flames made it impossible for them to accurately identify the enemy's position, making these arrows non-targeted shooting.
However, this will undoubtedly have a great effect in causing further chaos here.
If this was a normal cavalry team.
But this one is obviously not!
Qiao Yan, who had already prepared for Zu Lang's ambush, was willing to take the risk to lure the snake out of its hole, but he did not intend to underestimate Zu Lang's ability, nor did he intend to use everyone who went to the water ridge as bait for fishing.
The complex composition of their team is an absolute disadvantage in large-scale confrontations, but not necessarily in the face of such elite troops!
Huang Gai, Cheng Pu, Zhou Tai, Wen Pin, Dian Wei and others each led a part of the cavalry. At the moment when Qiao Yan led the elite cavalry to charge back and induce Zu Lang's massive attack, the five teams also launched a breakout charge in one direction of the village.
Each of them has their own way of doing things, but each has their own shortcomings!
So when Zu Lang led the cavalry to chase down the hill, what he saw was not the prey like a headless fly in the fire, but a group of cavalry with whom he had fought before, led by Huang Gai, raising their knives towards his archers!
The other four teams also gathered together around their respective generals and launched a challenge against the Shanyue soldiers who were coming from all directions with swords raised.
The flames in the village had completely merged into one at this moment.
However, it was not as Zu Lang had expected. Seeing the neighing of war horses and the wailing of people in the village completely confirmed the idea of burying Sun Ce in a Feng Shui treasure land.
Instead, it was the cavalry that had once broken through the defense and completed the turn, surrounding "Sun Ce" and standing in front of the fire, watching his subordinates kill the surrounding ambushes.
What an arrogant gesture!
This was Zu Lang’s first impression of the other party.
As for the first impression -
Against the background of the fire, the bleak color on the other person's face seemed not to be covered up, but to be more distinct.
Seeing this, Zu Lang made a decision without hesitation.
He wants to catch the leader first!
Their ambush had indeed lost its original purpose in the face of the opponent's well-trained response, but that did not mean that all his previous actions were meaningless.
At least he has lured Sun Ce here.
At the moment, there are still more people on his side!
This numerical advantage allows him to hold back Sun Ce's subordinates while taking the life of this Jiangdong tiger while he is injured!
When he took Zuo Rong's life, he didn't have any sense of taking advantage of someone in danger, let alone facing Sun Ce at this moment.
"Let's go!" He made the decision very quickly and acted just as decisively.
The cavalry experts among the Shanyue have close ties with the Yue Cavalry Battalion among the five schools of the former Northern Army. They were able to move freely in the downhill movement just now. If it were not for the shortage of horses, the cavalry team under Zu Lang would have been amazing.
But just this, in his opinion, was enough!
As soon as he moved, his subordinates followed him without questioning his decision.
Go straight to "Sun Ce"!
However, at the same moment when he locked onto his target, the prey he was targeting suddenly changed his weak and watch-the-show attitude, and led his cavalry to meet him at a speed that was no less than that of Zu Lang's side.
The person leading the group was none other than the commander in chief wearing silver armor and black robes!
There is no sign of him just watching a show.
At the moment when the two teams of cavalry collided, no one could sense any sign of weakness from this man, only the spear in the other's hand, which was as light as a feather, cut a streak of blood as the horse galloped.
She didn't even know if it was because of this targeted charge, but she was clearly using her spear to block someone's stabbing attack the moment before, and the next moment, the spear with the force of thunder had already arrived in front of Zu Lang.
Zu Lang hastily drew his sword to fight, but he felt a startling vibration coming from the sword, which almost caused the battle-hardened Jingxian commander to drop the sword in his hand.
It was during this close encounter that he exclaimed in astonishment: "You are not Sun Ce!"
How could this be Sun Ce! That's clearly a female general!
Wrong, all wrong!
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