Smoke and fire stretched for more than ten miles along the river bank, and the shouts of killing shook the sky. Cao Cao and Xun You rode their horses to watch the battle on a hill. Cao Cao stroked his beard and laughed, saying, "This fire will surely scare the rats in Jiangdong."
In this battle, the Wu army was lured ashore by a trick. Hay, sulfur and other flammable materials were hidden in the small boats in the water stronghold. When the navy came ashore, the ambushers lit a fire in the secret passage, cutting off their way back and catching all the elite troops in one fell swoop.
Xiahou Dun and his men ambushed and attacked, surrounding the Eastern Wu navy on the shore and attacking them. Although the Wu army resisted hastily, they were powerless against the cavalry from the north.
As they were watching, reinforcements from both banks arrived to rescue them. Except for the port, it was inconvenient to anchor the ships elsewhere. After getting off the ships, the Wu army had to wade through the water and climb the cliffs to get ashore.
When Cao Cao saw that countless Wu troops were crawling up like ants, he waved the red flag. Wen Qin and Cao Chun ambushed and attacked from the reeds on the shore.
The Wu army that came ashore was still controlling the water and preparing for battle. Some of them even took off their boots, making it difficult for them to move. The cavalry arrived in a blink of an eye and they were killed by surprise. Ding Feng retreated to a rock with one bare foot and commanded his soldiers to meet the enemy.
The ship was suddenly ambushed on the shore. Seeing that the situation was not good, the sailors on the ship hid in the cabin one after another. The helmsman subconsciously wanted to steer the ship backwards.
Lu Meng drew his sword and killed the helmsman, shouting, "Let's move forward together. Anyone who retreats without permission will be killed!"
The Wu army paddled hard and did not care about damaging the boats. They rushed straight to the shore. Some of them crashed into the reefs and rushed ashore to meet the enemy.
Seeing that the Wu army was increasing in number and the archers were lying in formation on the shore, Wen Qin decided to stop fighting and led his troops to retreat and meet up with Xiahou Dun and others.
On the other side, Zhu Huan and Pan Zhang were defeated by Cao's army. They encountered the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry led by Cao Chun. Their combat power was extremely powerful, like a flood and a beast. Wherever they passed, the soldiers fell down one after another and could not stand at all.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhu Huan hurriedly retreated to the water. The navy on the tower ship provided cover with bows and arrows and forced the cavalry back.
The two men continued to sail upstream, looking for a place to land, while Cao Chun led the cavalry to follow on the shore. The two armies looked at each other across the river, as if they were reluctantly saying goodbye.
Lu Meng and Ding Feng reorganized their troops and went to the water stronghold to rescue people. Zang Ba came to intercept them and fought with Lu Meng. Ding Feng broke through the encirclement of Cao's army, fought hard with a knife, and headed towards the core.
"Who is this young general?" Cao Cao was surprised to see Ding Feng waving his knife left and right, causing people and horses to fall wherever he passed.
One of the personal soldiers who was familiar with Jiangdong replied, "Prime Minister, this man is called Ding Feng and is currently the commander of the navy."
"This man has the talent of a great general, but he was buried by Sun Quan!" Cao Cao sighed and stroked his beard, and issued an order: "Whoever captures Ding Feng alive will be rewarded with 100 gold coins!"
The attendant went to pass on the message, Ding Feng had already rushed into the battle, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were charging eastward, Cao's cavalry were constantly attacking on the side, and Taishi Ci was the rear guard, fighting a fierce battle with an armored general.
"Go east!" Ding Feng shouted, and stepped forward to fight with Xiahou Dun. Zhou Tai led the way, and Jiang Qin guarded on both sides.
In the chaos of the army, Lu Meng killed his way to Taishi Ci and saw that he was covered in blood, his clothes and armor were torn, and he had no idea how serious his injuries were. All his personal soldiers had already died, and he was gasping for breath and sweating profusely after being killed by Xu Chu.
The two men fought and retreated. At this time, Zang Ba killed all the Wu troops in the water stronghold and surrounded them from behind.
"Look, Prime Minister!" Cao Cao was waiting to capture the enemy general when suddenly his follower Xiahou En pointed to the east and screamed.
Cao Cao turned his head and saw black smoke rising from the shore four or five miles away from the water stronghold. There was a beacon fire every few hundred steps. At the same time, on the surface of the river, there were many sails, covering the sky and the earth. He didn't know how many Wu troops were crossing the river.
"Could it be Sun Quan's reinforcements?" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, feeling doubtful and uncertain.
"How come the reinforcements from Jianye arrived so quickly?" Xun You was also very confused.
At the same time, someone reported that Zhou Yu had led his troops across the river from upstream and was coming quickly to support them. On the east bank, more and more Wu troops were gathering, with flags fluttering in the river breeze. It seemed that there were tens of thousands of soldiers and horses.
"Retreat!" Cao Cao made a prompt decision. Although he was about to destroy the Wu army that had landed first, their reinforcements had arrived. It was not the time to fight anymore. He ordered, "Sound the horn!"
Ding Dong Dong—
A series of clear and crisp blasts echoed across the river bank. Cao's troops turned around, saw the flags flying high, and began to retreat.
The cavalry came quickly and left quickly, like the ebbing tide. In the blink of an eye, they left the battlefield and followed Cao Cao to Ruxu Port.
"Cao thief!" Taishi Ci yelled, threw away the broken sword in his hand, and fell off his horse with a thud, unconscious.
The battle lasted for nearly two hours, from after lunch until sunset. Thick smoke billowed on the shore. When Lu Xun arrived from the east bank, Cao's army had already disappeared, leaving only smoke and dust in the sky.
There were corpses everywhere on the shore and blood flowing like a river. General Zhou Tai and other Wu soldiers had already understood the situation and did not care about the mess on the ground. They either sat or lay down, slumped in the blood.
Lu Xun sighed softly, ordered his men to treat the wounded, and deployed his troops in front to prevent a counterattack from Cao's army.
When Zhou Yu's troops arrived, the wounded had been carried to the shore and applied with medicinal herbs, the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, and in the distance, the troops were in neat formation and well prepared.
Lu Xun stepped forward to greet him. Zhou Yu was surprised and said, "When Cao Cao was using his troops, he had already prepared for reinforcements. I was intercepted by Cao Chun upstream, so why was Bo Yan not stopped?"
Lu Xun clasped his fists and said, "It was only thanks to Generals Lu and Ding's desperate fight that we were able to successfully land and drive Cao's army back."
Lü Meng said, "General Lu, why should you be so modest? If you hadn't used the strategy of confusing the enemy and frightened Cao's army away, we would have been in great danger of death."
Zhou Yu was surprised and asked, "What is the strategy of confusing the enemy with enemies?"
Lü Meng set fire to the coast along Lu Xun's route, divided the warships into three groups and sailed back and forth on the river. He also tore down the sails to make flags and spread them on the river bank, so that Cao Cao would think that the Jiangdong army had arrived and he would retreat without hesitation.
"Oh?" Zhou Yu's eyes flashed, and he re-examined Lu Xun. Seeing that he was calm, he nodded in approval and said, "Cao is a suspicious person by nature, and Bo Yan is just bluffing. This plan hits the nail on the head. He is well versed in the art of war."
Lu Xun clasped his fists and said, "You are too kind, Commander-in-Chief. I am only a novice in military tactics, and have not yet mastered the profound art."
Zhou Yu was about to have a deep conversation with him when his personal soldiers suddenly came to report: "General Taishi has suffered more than ten serious injuries. Although the bleeding has stopped, his breathing is unstable and he needs to see the commander-in-chief."
Everyone rushed over and saw Taishi Ci lying on a stretcher with a face as pale as gold paper, pale lips, dim eyes, and eyelids that seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and would close at any moment.
“Ziyi!” Zhou Yu rushed forward and grabbed Taishi Ci’s arm. “Just rest and recover. I will avenge you.”
"Great... Commander!" Taishi Ci forced a smile, "This battle is... the fault of this general..."
Zhou Yu hurriedly said, "Victory and defeat are common in the military, General, don't worry about it. It's important to recover first. Jiangdong's foundation cannot be without you, General. You and I will fight side by side."
"I'm afraid it will be difficult to... fight the enemy in battle!" Taishi Ci sighed deeply, looked up at the sky, saw birds circling overhead, and murmured: "Listen - Bofu, Bofu... he is calling me!"