Cao Cao never expected that the Wu army would take such a big risk and drive the fireboats directly into the water fort.
It turned out that the Eastern Wu navy had a kind of mother-and-child ship. There was a small boat hidden under the big ship. The big ship was loaded with flammable objects and had an iron spike hook at the front end. Once it collided with an enemy ship, they would connect together.
There were sailors hiding on the small boat. They would light the fuse and burn the big ship, then they could break away from the belly of the ship and leave the battlefield easily.
Cao's ships were connected together and there was no time to evacuate. Once the warships collided with each other, they all caught fire and there was no time to rescue each other.
In addition, there was the straw boat that Liu Qi used last time. There was a large ship pushing it from behind. It caught fire and crashed the boat and the straw into the water fort directly. The fireball rolled, and the Cao army had no chance to even rush to the shore and could only retreat.
Everyone retreated to the rear camp and scrambled to get onto the pontoon bridge, but at that moment reinforcements from Le Jin arrived, urging their horses to come, and the two sides were squeezed together, unable to move forward or backward.
The cavalry led by Le Jin were all Xianbei soldiers. They had always fought on their own and had short training time. They were not able to fully obey orders. In addition, the ship was shaking and flames were flying, so they were frightened and bumped around, and many people fell into the water.
Xu Chu led the armored troops to clear the way, forced their way through a passage, and escorted Cao Cao onto the pontoon bridge. Cao Chun led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to follow up for protection.
At this time, the morning breeze suddenly rose, blowing from the river into the canyon. Thick fog and smoke rolled up in one place, making it impossible to see people clearly. The Dongwu ships sailed with the wind and headed straight for the floating bridge ship.
Amid the violent collision, the entire floating bridge was on the verge of collapse. The Xianbei cavalry became increasingly nervous. They had never seen such a deep river on the grassland and were completely panicked. Some moved forward, some moved backward, and they crowded and trampled on each other, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.
"Everyone get out of the way!" Seeing that the big ship was also on fire, Xu Chu roared, dismounted from his horse, took off his armor, and strode forward with a big sword in hand to clear the way.
Under the protection of his personal soldiers, Cao Cao stumbled along the bridge and saw that the water fort had become a sea of fire. The river breeze blew away the thick fog, and the Eastern Wu fleet was slowly approaching.
On a tall ship in the middle, Zhou Yu's flag was fluttering in the wind, and the entire Wu army was mobilized to seize the camp.
Boom!
At this moment, there was a muffled sound in front, and the big ship was knocked over and lay across the water, causing the entire floating bridge to shake violently, and Cao's army, including men and horses, rolled and fell.
Cao Cao desperately grabbed an iron chain and shouted, "Save me, save me!"
Xiahou Dun hurried forward, hugged Cao Cao around the waist and placed him on a wooden board, but the Wu army fleet continued to ram them. The two large ships in the middle caught fire, blocking their way.
Xu Chu rushed forward in the midst of smoke and fire, but he was unable to defeat them, so he turned back and said in a buzzing voice: "Prime Minister, the floating bridge has been broken, hurry back to the water fort."
Cao Cao was very anxious, thinking that turning back would mean death. Just as everyone was getting anxious, they saw Cao Xiu coming from upstream in a boat, shouting loudly.
It turned out that after Cao Xiu was attacked, he immediately led a navy upstream, preparing to ambush the Wu soldiers in the fog. However, he did not know that the Wu army did not attack at all, but just set fire, so he hurried to rescue.
Everyone worked together to help Cao Cao jump onto the boat. Xiahou Dun, Xu Chu and others also boarded the boat one after another. Seeing this, some soldiers jumped onto the boat and lay on the side of the boat like ants.
The two boats were overturned in the blink of an eye. Xu Chu saw that many people on this boat also jumped off. He swung his sword and hacked to death the soldiers lying on the side of the boat.
Xiahou Dun grabbed a paddle and kicked the soldier who jumped off the boat away. Cao Xiu ordered the boat to row immediately and get away from the pontoon bridge as quickly as possible and head towards the west mountain.
Le Jin led his troops into the water stronghold, but unexpectedly put himself in danger. After finally escorting Cao Cao to retreat, the cavalry was unable to escape.
In the chaos, he saw Xun You and his men coming in a panic, and hurriedly said, "The floating bridge has been cut off, and the Prime Minister has left on a boat. What should we do?"
Xun You said, "There is a small path in the back mountain. General Cao Ren is coming to meet us. We can abandon our horses and go into the mountain to meet him to the east."
Le Jin immediately dismounted and called his trusted followers to protect Xun You and others up the mountain. The Cao army in the camp was in chaos and there was no way to dispatch them.
When the Xianbei soldiers saw Le Jin giving up his mounts, they were all very hesitant. They walked with bow legs after getting off their horses, but they had deep feelings for their mounts and could not bear to give up. They cursed Cao's army for being disloyal.
When I first came to the Central Plains, Cao Cao promised me promotions and rewards for my meritorious service, and a treat of fine wine and beautiful women. But now, not only does he suffer training all day long, but he leaves without even saying goodbye in times of crisis.
Cao Cao was riding on a chain of three boats, far away from the battlefield. He saw a fire on the floating bridge and the deafening sound of killing in Ruxu Village. Suddenly, he looked up to the sky and laughed.
Xiahou Dun was surprised and asked, "Why is the Prime Minister laughing?"
Cao Cao laughed and said, "I laugh at Zhou Yu's lack of strategy and Liu Qi's lack of wisdom. They came out in full force for Ruxu Water Fort, but they didn't know that I had already made arrangements. Zixiao has marched along the river to take the Jiangdong camp. Quickly gather troops at the West Camp and attack them from behind by taking the mountain road."
Cao Xiu ordered his men to row the boat to the shore. When they were about to reach the shore, suddenly a drum sounded and a volley of arrows was fired. The sailors who had landed in front fell to the ground one after another, and countless arrows flew onto the bow of the boat.
Xu Chu stood up quickly, waved his sword to block the arrows, and shouted angrily: "Who is so bold as to shoot an arrow at the Prime Minister?"
"Hahaha, Cao thief, we have already taken Qibao Mountain for a long time, why don't you surrender?"
Amidst the laughter, a general stood out from behind a tree. It was Liu Pan. He ordered the archers to aim at Cao Cao's ships and shoot.
"It's that little Liu Qi again!" Cao Cao was shocked and furious.
The Western Camp was full of cavalry and baggage, which was his foundation, so he didn't feel sorry for losing the Water Camp. But at this time, the Qibaoshan Camp was breached and he lost the power to resist.
More than a dozen personal soldiers were shot to death by arrows, and Xu Chu was also hit by several arrows. When the boat reached the middle of the river, the soldiers of Jingzhou stood on the shore helplessly.
Cao Cao escaped again. Seeing the soldiers from Jingzhou chasing him along the river, he stood on the bow with his hands on his hips and laughed, "Little Liu Qi, have you ever thought that even Cao Mengde can walk on these linked boats? If you have the guts, come and chase me, haha... uh—"
Before the laughter had died down, an arrow suddenly flew in like a meteor, and he fell backwards with a scream.
Cao Chun was horrified and rushed forward to protect Cao Cao. Seeing that the arrow had hit his front teeth, he quickly carried him back to the cabin.
Cao Cao suddenly sat up, bared his teeth and shouted: "Dog Ming Gai Hao (Is my life still alive)..."
Xiahou En drew his sword and cut off the arrow. When the arrow was removed, a big hole appeared between Cao Cao's front teeth and blood was flowing out.
Cao Chun brought water to rinse his mouth. Everyone was so scared that they collapsed on the ground. If they had not laughed up to the sky just now, the arrow would have hit them in the middle of their eyebrows and the consequences would have been disastrous.
After Cao Cao rinsed his mouth, he only felt a slight pain in his gums, but nothing else was wrong. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked, "Who shot me with an arrow just now?"
Cao Chun sighed: "It's the old general Huang Zhong!"
Everyone still remembers the last time Huang Zhong shot an arrow into the eye of Xu Chu's mount. Today, another arrow almost took Cao Cao's life.
Cao Cao said with emotion: "Guan and Zhang can both take the heads of generals in the midst of thousands of troops. This old soldier from Jingzhou has excellent archery skills and can injure people with one arrow from hundreds of steps away. Why is it that all these extraordinary people are used by Liu Qi?"
Just as he was feeling sad, he suddenly heard the sound of a clear copper bell from outside, and someone shouted, "Don't run, Cao thief, Gan Xingba is coming!"