Xiahou Dun waited anxiously for another afternoon, but did not see Jiang Gan return to the camp. He angrily scolded, "You two are classmates and close friends, eating and drinking in the city, leaving me to starve outside. Fine, fine..."
He then ordered each camp to hold a banquet to celebrate the victory. Although the battle with Zhou Yu was inconclusive, the Wu army had run out of food in the city and was on the verge of defeat. From Xiahou Dun's perspective, it was a great victory and they prepared to retreat the next day. Camping outside in the cold winter was extremely difficult for the men and horses.
At this time, the Wei army knew that both sides had stopped fighting, so they all relaxed their vigilance. The rear camp also allocated more food and fodder to prepare meals so that everyone could eat and drink enough so that they could set off the journey the next morning.
Xiahou Dun was feeling depressed, and with the persuasion of Zhong Jin and his brothers, he got drunk without realizing it. Although there was not enough wine to go around among the soldiers in the camp, everyone was nervous after attacking the city one after another, so after relaxing, they competed in partying until nightfall.
At four o'clock in the morning, the waning moon hung in the western sky, the stars flashed coldly, and the northwest wind cut the face like a knife.
The Wu army divided into three groups and headed straight for the Wei army camp. When they arrived outside the camp, they saw darkness everywhere, no one was patrolling, and the torches on the sentry tower had long been extinguished.
Zhou Yu sat upright on his horse, his eyes like lightning under his brocade robe, slowly sweeping across the Wei army camp, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth: "No wonder Xiahou Dun is always defeated. How can he not be defeated if he leads the army like this?"
Not long after, Xu Sheng sent someone to report that firewood and timber had been piled up in the northwest direction of the coast. Soon, the sound of horses neighing could be faintly heard from the south gate, and Ding Feng also led his troops to rob the Wei army's war horses.
"Set fire—" Zhou Yu gave the order slowly.
Soldiers on both sides rushed forward and lit torches at the north gate. The archers were already ready to fire. The flaming arrows shot up into the sky like meteors, breaking through the dark sky and falling into the enemy camp in unison.
A fire signal sounded in the north, and Xu Sheng in the northwest gave an order. Countless flames illuminated the sky red at night. In an instant, thick smoke billowed and spread into the Wei camp along with the west wind.
The banks of the Zibo River were all red. The Wu army was distributed in the northwest direction, watching the scene quietly. They were not in a hurry to beat drums and charge. The firelight shone on everyone's face, flickering.
Finally, shrill screams were heard, followed by chaotic drum beats. The Wei army camp was in chaos. The soldiers crawled out of the barracks and were shocked to see a red light in the sky above their heads.
The air was filled with thick smoke, and many people were choking and coughing. They fell to the ground after walking a few steps and could never get up again. The fire burned out quickly, leaving only a cloud of smoke and dust.
Xiahou Dun had another familiar dream. He heard people shouting and horses neighing, and his personal soldiers surrounded him from front and back. He was so frightened that he shouted, "Zhang Fei, Zhang Heizi..."
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw black smoke billowing in the tent. The guards were pulling him out of bed and putting on clothes, shouting, "What happened?"
Zhong Jin hastily put his robe on him and urged him, "The Wu army is attacking our camp, General, hurry up!"
"Impossible, absolutely..." Xiahou Dun's eye widened as he heard screams everywhere outside the tent. His whole body trembled and he was dragged out of the tent by Zhong Jin while he was in a daze.
When Xiahou Dun saw the sky full of flames outside the tent, he was stunned and opened his mouth wide: "This..."
Zhong Shen had already brought his mount and helped Xiahou Dun onto it. He and the other guards protected Xiahou Dun and retreated to the southeast amidst the smoke and fire, trying to escape the camp first and then make other plans.
The Wei army fled the camp in a panic, and many were burned to death in the fire. Those who managed to escape had no time to put on clothes and shivered in the cold wind. They were frozen to death before they had walked for long. There were also ambushes and arrows shot in the dark night, causing countless casualties.
Xiahou Dun rode his horse out of the east gate in a hurry, still in shock, and cursed with gritted teeth: "The scholar has misled me!"
Looking back, I saw that most of the camp had been burned down. The flames were as high as four or five feet. Thick smoke covered the sky, and no stars or moon could be seen.
While he was cursing, he suddenly heard the sound of drums and a general came riding his horse and said, "Xiahou Dun, today is the day you die."
"General, hurry up!" Zhong Jin saw it clearly and hurried forward to stop him.
Ding Feng had been prepared for a long time and was ready to go. He raised his spear to push Zhong Jin away and went straight for Xiahou Dun.
"You rats from Jiangdong, stop being so arrogant!" Xiahou Dun was furious. He threw away the robe and armor on his body and fought Ding Feng wearing only cloth.
The three thousand Wu soldiers behind Ding Feng had just quietly entered the camp, snatched the Xianbei army's horses, and rushed forward together. The frightened Wei army could not resist and fled in all directions.
The two brothers Zhong Jin fought together, but their defeat was so overwhelming that they could not control the situation. They stepped forward to rescue Xiahou Dun and rode away on horseback.
Ding Feng pursued relentlessly, and the Wu army rushed forward in the chaos, killing and wounding countless people, all the way to the bank of the Zibo River.
At this time, the entire camp of the Wei army was on fire, and the bank of the Zibo River turned into a sea of fire. The Wei soldiers jumped down the river bank with the help of the firelight, and then crashed into a ball on the ice. The Wu army fired arrows at them, and most of them were killed or wounded.
In the western camp, the Xianbei army was awakened by the smoke and fire. They were close to the food and fodder, and initially thought that there was a fire in the camp. They were still shouting and cursing, but when they realized the situation was not good and wanted to leave, the fire had already spread to their front.
When the Xianbei army rushed to the back stable and prepared to escape on horseback, they were all dumbfounded to see that the stable was empty and there was not a single horse.
"These Han people are so disloyal!" Yuwen Xie was so angry that he stamped his feet and cursed. Without war horses, their military power would be greatly reduced.
The Xianbei army was in a panic and finally managed to escape from the camp in the midst of fireworks. Xu Sheng had already been waiting with the Wu army for a long time. He held the ancient ingot knife in his arms and smiled, "How dare the barbarians invade our Central Plains? Kill—"
At the command, crossbows were fired and the Xianbei soldiers in the front row fell to the ground one after another. Before the soldiers behind could react, the Wu army had already rushed forward. The Xianbei soldiers had no horses and no weapons, so they had no power to fight back.
"Follow me!" Yuwen Xie raised the axe and chopped towards Xu Sheng with a tiger roar.
Boom!
Amid the loud bang, Xu Sheng, who was a head shorter than Yuwen Xie, actually took the move head-on. He took a bow step, blocked the attack with both hands, and was as steady as a mountain.
"You?!" Yuwen Xie was shocked and looked down at his former defeated opponent in disbelief.
"Hehe!" Xu Sheng slowly raised his head, revealing two rows of white teeth under the shining firelight, "Anyone who invades the territory of the Han Dynasty will die—"
With a loud shout, he exerted force with both arms to push the axe away, and swung the ancient ingot knife. The brilliant cold light reflected the raging fire, brilliant and dazzling.
laugh-
With a slight sound, Yuwen Crab's armor was torn apart, and his round belly was cut open like a melon, with his intestines and internal organs gushing out.
"That's it?" Xu Sheng turned his hand and made a beautiful sword flower, shouting: "Soldiers, charge!"
After Yuwen Xie was killed with one blow, the Xianbei army became more panicked and turned around to flee. However, there was thick smoke and fire behind them and they had nowhere to go. They had no way to advance or retreat and were all killed by the Wu army. Soon they were engulfed in the sea of fire.
Zhou Yu watched the battle from a distance with a thousand elite soldiers. The Wei camp was completely burned down. Reports came one after another from the soldiers of various camps that only a thousand or so of Xiahou Dun's men escaped, and most of the remaining 40,000 men were killed in the fire.
"Return to the city!" Facing the raging fire, Zhou Yu's face was as gloomy as water. If Xiahou Dun's troops were not destroyed, it would be these Jiangdong people who left their homes who would die.
It was already bright in the morning when they returned to the government office. The winter morning was dead silent except for the clanging of armor. Several soldiers broke open Jiang Gan's door and pulled him out of bed.