If you count carefully, from the time he set out from Wuchang to today, Sun Deng's experience over the past ten days can be said to be extremely rich, and it was clearly arranged by his father Sun Quan and the left general Zhuge Jin.
General Niu was also a considerate man. He was afraid that Sun Deng might have missed something in his short military career, so he came in person to teach him this lesson before dawn.
The camp was in chaos. The soldiers were either putting on their armor, or looking for their superiors, or picking up their weapons in panic and heading towards the direction of the enemy attack.
Are you the prince?
We are facing the enemy, this is a matter of life and death! How can ordinary soldiers have time to care about these things?
When Sun Deng came to Zhuge Jin's camp, Sun Quan assigned him ten armored soldiers to guard him. This was originally for emergency situations, but it was unexpectedly used now.
Zhuge Ke was a light sleeper to begin with. When he heard the clamor of the Wei army, he suddenly stood up from his couch, not even caring about his outer robe. After looking west for a few moments outside the tent, he rushed into Sun Deng's tent and woke up Sun Deng who was still sleeping.
"Brother Yuanxun, what's the matter?" Sun Deng saw Zhuge Ke's fat face in a daze and had not yet reacted to what had happened.
"There are police in the military!"
Zhuge Ke was quick-witted. Even in such a critical situation, he was still clear-headed. He put his left shoe into Sun Deng's hand and put the other shoe on Sun Deng's foot. "The Wei army is coming to attack at night. Prince, put on your shoes quickly! Come with me!"
"Night attack?" Sun Deng was still a little confused: "The Wei army is attacking me? Have they reached my tent?"
"Put on your shoes!" Zhuge Jin yelled, which scared Sun Deng and he quickly put them on.
As soon as the two of them left the tent, Zhang Xiu and the other three also ran over. The ten soldiers given to him by Sun Quan also hurried over in armor.
Zhuge Ke pointed to the fire in the west and said loudly: "The enemy situation in the west is unclear. Your Highness's life is worth a million gold and cannot be put in danger. I ask you to board the boat as soon as possible and head to the river as soon as possible to avoid danger!"
Zhang Xiu also said at the same time: "Yuan Xun is right. The battle here should be the responsibility of the local commander, not the prince. Lord Zhuge placed us here to prevent any unforeseen events. We should get on board quickly!"
Gu Tan and Chen Biao said the same thing.
Sun Deng looked at the anxious expressions of the four men, heard the shouts and drums of the Wei army in the west, and the shouts of the soldiers gathering in the camp. He looked at the faint light of the fire in the west, took a deep breath, and shook his head slightly at the four men:
"The enemy only attacked at night and has just reached the edge of the camp. The troops in the camp have not been defeated yet. The enemy is still far away from us." Sun Deng said word by word: "If my father were here, would he retreat?"
"This……"
Zhuge Ke was speechless for a moment.
Whether it was him, Zhang Xiu, Gu Tan, or Chen Biao, their starting point was Sun Deng's personal safety. This camp, or the Wu soldiers in the camp, had nothing to do with their lives and future. As long as Sun Deng was safe, the King of Wu could easily let go of anything.
But Sun Deng was different.
Perhaps it was the pride of being a crown prince, or he did not want to be looked down upon by his own father, or the Sun blood in his veins aroused his courage at this moment. In short, Sun Deng rejected the proposals of his four ministers.
"I'm not leaving." Sun Deng turned and looked at the ten soldiers: "You are all the brave soldiers around my father. Put on your armor quickly. Do you listen to me?"
The leading soldier bowed and said, "Your Majesty has told me that protecting the prince is like protecting Your Majesty."
"Isn't this great? I am right here. If the Wei army really comes to me, it won't be too late to fight and retreat." Sun Deng laughed and said to Zhang Xiu behind him: "Brother Shusi, my armor is in the tent. Please help me put on the armor!"
Zhang Xiu felt his heart tighten, and a wave of emotion, whether it was nostalgia or shock, surged into his mind. He nodded heavily in response, and then ran towards the tent in small steps.
Zhuge Ke and others also followed Sun Deng's order and returned to their tents to put on their armor.
Even Sun Deng, the crown prince, did not retreat in the face of an enemy. If they really got scared and ran away, then the matter would have reached a higher level. Even if Zhuge Jin personally came forward, he might not be able to save his son's career. Cowardice and fear of war are the first crime for the children of the rich and powerful.
There were not many Wu soldiers standing in front of the battle line and fighting the Wei army head-on. Most of them hid behind the tents and shot arrows from a distance.
"Have you used up all the things that can start a fire?" Niu Jin swung his sword to knock away the spear in the hand of a Wu soldier, and then stepped forward to chop at the neck of the Wu soldier. After dealing with this person, Niu Jin asked Zhou Li who was beside him.
"It will take a while. The men are still trying to light fires from various braziers." Zhou Li responded while grabbing a small shield to shield himself and the general from arrows. "I see that the Wu soldiers have begun to gather. If the general does not want to fight for a long time, it is time to leave."
Niu Jin used his hand to push Zhou Li's shield away, and looked towards the east for a few times: "After all, there are still not enough people, and we can't accomplish anything big."
"It's a night attack, so it might be good to scare Wu Gou." Zhou Li said in Niu Jin's ear.
"Do I need you to teach me?" Niu Jin glared at Zhou Li and said, "Call all the people in your army who carry bows here! Go now!"
"Okay." Zhou Li nodded, turned around and shouted loudly: "Peng Dao, Liu Er, bring your own things over here!"
Peng and Liu, along with twenty people, put down what they were doing, and ran towards Niu Jin under the sparse arrows.
"Look, do you see it?" Niu Jin pointed to the brightest spot in the camp and said, "Go to that brightest spot, each of you shoot five arrows for me. After you finish shooting, blow the horn and withdraw the troops!"
"Yes, sir!" Peng and Liu responded quickly.
More than ten feather arrows came flying through the air and landed sparsely in front of, under the feet of Sun Deng and others, and in the tent beside them. One of them happened to hit Sun Deng's feet.
Seeing this, the ten armored soldiers assigned by Sun Quan raised their shields to protect Sun Deng. Sun Deng also took advantage of the opportunity, bent down, picked up the arrow, and held it in his hand, without saying a word.
"General, the shooting is ready!" Peng Dao shouted.
"Blow the horn and retreat!" Niu Jin shouted at Zhou Li in the same voice.
Accompanied by short and continuous trumpet sounds, the Wei soldiers saw the situation and some retreated while fighting, while those who were not facing the enemy turned around and ran.
"The general is truly brave!" Zhou Li followed Niu Jin and ran towards Xiangyang City on the west side, his voice full of excitement.
"Although I am brave, I am still far from Zhang Zhengdong." Niu Jin said, "Eight hundred people can defeat one hundred thousand people. How can ordinary people do it? When I came here, I boasted to Zhao Dujian that I could be better than Zhang Wenyuan. Now I dare not say that."
Zhou Li said: "He is he, and the general is the general. The general frightened Wu Gou tonight. When Sun the thief finds out about this in the morning, he will be so ashamed!"
Just as the two were running, the trumpets in the Wu army camp behind them sounded again, the fire in the camp became brighter, and the soldiers also moved forward to the edge of the camp one after another.
Niu Jin said: "This is how you defend a city. If you want to hold it, you have to attack from the outside. You did a good job. Go back and wait for your reward."
Zhou Li became even happier: "Thank you for the reward, General. When I take my turn to rest, I can go find those young girls and have more night battles tonight."
Niu Jin sneered and didn't say much.
The next morning, Zhao Yan and Niu Jin stood on the top of the city wall, watching dozens of large ships sailing from Yuliangzhou and stopping at the pier north of the Wu army camp outside the city.
"Maybe Sun Quan is coming." Zhao Yan pointed to the east and said calmly.
"Sun Quan." Niu Jinchao spat at the city wall and snorted, "Why hasn't this man died yet? When I was in my twenties, I was fighting Sun Quan under the command of the late Cao Gong. How come I'm still fighting Sun Quan now that I'm fifty?"
"He is only in his early fifties, a few years younger than you." Zhao Yan said dimly, "Even if Wu is destroyed, he is still the father-in-law of Wei."
Niu Jin nodded: "I know, the King of Changle was conferred by His Majesty before. But there is one thing I don't understand. If I kill Sun Quan on the battlefield, can I still get the reward? I can't be convicted of killing a relative by marriage, right?"
"Are you really stupid or are you just trying to make me happy?" Zhao Yan rolled his eyes at Niu Jin and said, "Wait until you meet Sun Quan in person on the battlefield before you say this to me."
"Please calm down, Lord Zhao. I will tell you something." Niu Jin grinned, "We lost only more than 20 men in the night battle last night, and brought back more than 80 heads. I have asked around, and the casualties of the Wu army should be around 200."
"Well done." Zhao Yan said, "In all the wars in Jingzhou in recent years, your night attack last night was the most impressive. I will commend you for your contribution."
"Thank you Lord Zhao for your support." Niu Jin said, "It's a pity that I'm not in the central army and can't catch up with the battle in Liaodong. Who knows, I can be promoted from Guannei Hou to Lie Hou."
Zhao Yan looked at the Han River not far away and said softly, "It depends on your luck and how much merit Sun Quan is willing to give you."
At this moment, in the Wu army camp east of Xiangyang City, Sun Quan did not vent his anger on the generals at all. Instead, he praised them in front of everyone:
"I have always been at ease with Ziyu leading the troops." Sun Quan, dressed in robes and calm, stood beside the camp that was burned down by the Wei army last night and said to the generals:
"The Wei army attacked last night, but their strength was only a few hundred men, and they were just trying to gain a small victory to boost morale. From what I can see in Xiangyang, I'm afraid the Wei army is already at the end of its rope."
Zhuge Jin bowed and said, "Your Majesty, when the Wei army attacked last night, the Crown Prince remained calm in the camp, wearing armor and holding weapons to fight back. I am very impressed."
"Zigao, is this what General Zuo said?" Sun Quan turned to look at Sun Deng.
Sun Deng was not wearing armor at this time. He bowed to Sun Quan and said, "Father asked me to come to the army to observe. When the battle comes, I will naturally wear armor and hold weapons. If the enemy had not retreated so quickly, I might have been able to achieve success."
“Hahahaha.” Sun Quan laughed even more heartily: “As expected of my son, you are so courageous!”
"Zigao, Xiangyang City is right before our eyes. You have been watching it for several days. How should we deal with it?"
Sun Deng replied, "My father just said that the Wei army is in dire straits. I think we should send someone to persuade them to surrender and give it a try." (End of this chapter)
