Chapter 232 Chapter 237, Divine Arrow Showdown, Bloody Battle in Jiangling
When Lu Meng led his troops to the city of Jiangling, he saw several heads hanging on the city gate tower at a glance.
One of them had his eyes wide open and a look of resentment on his face; it was the head of Pan Zhang.
Seeing this, Lu Meng suddenly burst into coughing, his face turned red, and his body was shaky. It looked like he would fall off the horse at any time and die on the spot.
"Captain!"
The guards on both sides were terrified upon seeing this and hurriedly urged their horses over to try to help.
However, Lu Meng raised his hand to stop his guards, suppressed his cough, and stared at the red-armored girl standing on the city wall with a sword in her hand with a cold look in his eyes.
The girl had a slender figure, taller than many men of that era, and had a pair of phoenix eyes that looked like Guan Yu's, but with longer and more upturned corners than Guan Yu's.
"That's Guan Yu's daughter, right?"
Lu Meng said softly.
The general carrying the longbow replied with gritted teeth:
"She's so tall, she must be the daughter of Guan Yu! She killed General Pan! When we capture Jiangling, we'll hang her corpse for public display!"
This man was named Ma Zhong, a general under Pan Zhang. He was an excellent archer and even famous generals of the time did not dare to underestimate him.
Lu Meng nodded silently, then raised his voice to the top of the tower and said:
"General Guan has been defeated by Cao's army and is surrounded. We received a secret letter from General Guan. We came here to help defend Jiangling as an ally to prevent it from falling into the hands of Cao's army... General Pan went to Jiangling to contact Governor Mi to discuss the defense. Why did Miss Guan break the alliance and harm our Jiangdong general? Isn't this action sad for the relatives and pleasing for the enemies?"
On the city floor.
Listening to Lu Meng's high-sounding speech, Guan Feng laughed angrily and shouted:
"Lü Meng! You, a traitor, are you still brazen enough to cheat me? Do you think I am young and ignorant and cannot see through your despicable scheme? You know who is doing this to make their loved ones sad and their enemies happy!"
Since taking over as commander-in-chief, Lu Meng has been extremely attentive to Guan Yu, constantly showing goodwill, emphasizing the alliance between the two sides, and declaring that he would never clash with Guan Yu's army.
After Guan Yu led the army to the north, Lu Meng pretended that his illness was so serious that he could not take care of things. Guan Yu then transferred all the main forces in the rear to the front line in Xiangfan, leaving the rear empty.
The reason why Lu Meng's plan of crossing the river in white clothes was successful was because Guan Yu's army that stayed behind always regarded Jiangdong as an ally.
Otherwise, even if the Jiangdong army disguised themselves as a merchant caravan, they would not be able to easily approach the beacon towers, causing many beacon towers to be caught off guard and taken down before they could give any warning.
Of course, Lu Meng didn't think that what he did was wrong.
You believed in the alliance, believed that our army would not stab you in the back while you were fighting Cao's army, and even forgot the principle of using all means fair in war. Aren't you just being stupid?
Lu Meng remained calm and said:
"Miss Guan, what you said is absurd. Now General Guan has been defeated and surrounded, and his army has been annihilated. The situation is hopeless, and Cao's army will take advantage of the victory to march south and sweep Jingzhou. As far as I know, the main force of Jingzhou has been transferred to Xiangfan by General Guan. Jingzhou has no soldiers left, and it is difficult to resist Cao's army.
"When Cao's army marches south, will Jiangling be able to resist? If Jiangling falls into the hands of Cao's army, it will be difficult to stop Cao's power! We in Jiangdong know the truth that the lips and teeth are cold, so we rushed to help at night to help defend Jingzhou. Miss Guan harmed my general, which is really chilling!"
Of course, Lu Meng knew that the plan to easily take Jiangling would not succeed.
However, he continued to deceive, vigorously spreading the message that "Guan Yu was defeated and surrounded, his army was completely destroyed, and Cao's army was powerful and difficult to resist." He also kept emphasizing that he was invited to "assist in defense." This was exactly his strategy to win over people's hearts and minds.
Firstly, Guan Yu was quite popular among the soldiers. He had previously made a record of "terrifying China" and was regarded as an invincible military god by the Jingzhou army. Publicizing Guan Yu's defeat would deal a heavy blow to the morale of the Jiangling defenders. Secondly, it was intended to make the few defenders in the city hesitate to resist the "allies" from Jiangdong who came to help, thus facilitating the subsequent siege and reducing their own casualties.
If it was Mi Fang who was defending the city, then Lu Meng's strategy of attacking the heart would still be of some use.
Unfortunately, the one who controls the city defense now is Guan Feng - in fact, among the generals of Jingzhou who stayed in Jiangling, the only one who wanted to surrender was Mi Fang.
Liu Bei had already occupied Yizhou, captured Hanzhong, and was promoted to King of Hanzhong.
Guan Yu once again displayed his majestic prowess on the Xiangfan front, annihilating and capturing a large number of Cao's main forces, which led to continuous uprisings in the areas under Cao's rule and greatly shook the foundation of Cao's rule.
Seeing the dawn of rejuvenation, it is the time for heroes to show their talents. How can anyone with a little ambition be willing to join the incompetent Jiangdong?
That was a few years ago, when Jiangdong was ruled by Sun Quan, who had just gained the fame of "Sun Shiwan"!
So in the original world line, after Mi Fang surrendered, Lu Meng held a banquet outside the city to celebrate. Yu Fan reminded him that the only person who was loyal to the general was Mi Fang, and the others in Jiangling City would not be willing to surrender. The general needed to lead the troops into the city as soon as possible, control the city, and beware of ambushes.
Lu Meng came to his senses and quickly led his troops into the city, where he discovered the ambush.
That is to say, Jiangling was empty, and the main forces were transferred to the Xiangfan front. There were not many defenders left in the huge Jiangling city, and Mi Fang, the governor of Nanjun, led some of the defenders to surrender. There were really not many soldiers left in Jiangling city, so Lu Meng could easily break the ambush and control Jiangling. Otherwise, Lu Meng might have suffered a great loss when he entered the city.
Now, Mi Fang failed to surrender and was imprisoned by Guan Feng, and the city defense was also taken over by Guan Feng.
Guan Feng used the 500 soldiers she trained as the main force to integrate the Jiangling garrison. She also spread the news that Jiangdong had torn up the alliance, stabbed its allies in the back, and shamelessly betrayed its loyalty. This made the Jiangling garrison despise the Jiangdong army and refuse to associate with such rats.
He also emphasized that the Jiangdong Army was only good at naval battles, not good at land battles and sieges. He also made a big fuss about the "Battle of Hefei" that made Sun Shiwan famous throughout the world, which greatly boosted the morale of the Jiangling defenders.
In short, after eliminating Mi Fang, the only surrenderer, the people in Jiangling City were united, and Lu Meng's strategy of attacking the hearts and minds of the people could no longer shake the morale of the army.
Guan Feng held his sword in his hand, looking majestic and awe-inspiring, and spoke sarcastically:
"Lü Meng, the city is right under my feet. You Jiangdong rats who can only stab and attack from behind, do you dare to come and attack openly?"
As soon as the words fell, the defenders on the city wall shouted in unison:
"Jiangdong rats, do you dare to attack? Jiangdong rats, do you dare to attack?"
The Jiangdong generals were humiliated by this and were filled with anger, and they all challenged Lu Meng to fight.
However, Lu Meng looked at the top of the city wall with a serious expression, feeling the high morale of the people on the city wall, and knew that this battle would be very difficult.
Although there are not many defenders in the city, they have a backbone with a firm will to fight.
With everyone's determination and determination, and with the solidity of Jiangling City and the mobilization of the militia to assist in the defense, it is unknown how much blood the Jiangdong Army would have to shed and how much time it would have taken before they could capture Jiangling.
But the problem now is that the Jiangdong Army really doesn’t have much time.
After Guan Yu defeated Yu Jin, killed Pang De, and captured seven armies, although Cao Cao mobilized several reinforcements and successfully broke Guan Yu's siege of Fancheng, Guan Yu's main force was intact, and he still used his navy to control the Mian River, making it difficult for Cao's army to pass. The initiative was still in Guan Yu's hands, and he could fight when he wanted to and leave when he wanted to.
Once Guan Yu learns of the Jiangdong Army's movements, his main force may return to Nanjun at any time. If we fail to capture Jiangling and occupy Nanjun before Guan Yu returns, cut off Guan Yu's retreat, and use the families of the Jingzhou Army in Jiangling to shake Guan Yu's morale, then this battle will not only fail to achieve the expected results, but will also result in casualties and the infamy of breaking the alliance in vain.
Lu Meng took a deep breath and gave a decisive order:
"All troops attack the city! Quick victory!"
At this point, we can only rely on our military superiority, attack the city with our entire army, and try to win a quick victory.
however.
Faced with a strong city that was well prepared and determined to hold on to the end, even if the enemy was short of troops, it would be extremely difficult to make progress with the Jiangdong Army's poor siege capabilities.
Until nightfall, the Jiangdong army had not even filled the moat.
Relying on the superiority of troops, the Jiangdong army took turns to attack, those who attacked during the day rested at night, and those who did not go into battle during the day fought at night, trying to tire out the Jiangling defenders in this way, drain their physical strength and damage their spirit. They also mobilized sharpshooters to use the cover of night to launch sneak attacks.
Guan Feng, who had been guarding the city wall, received special attention, and the arrows shot at her never stopped.
Ma Zhong hid by the moat, behind a shield cart, squinting at Guan Feng who was standing on the city gate tower, completely exposed in the light of the torches. He silently estimated the distance, wind direction, and wind speed, took out five heavy arrows, suddenly drew his bow, and shot five consecutive arrows.
These five arrows were not aimed at Guan Feng.
One arrow was shot into the air above Guan Feng, and the other four arrows were shot at the sides of Guan Feng.
But when the five arrows were halfway through their flight in the night, the hidden power hidden in the tails of the arrows suddenly erupted. Not only did the five heavy arrows accelerate instantly, doubling their shooting speed, they also adjusted their directions one after another.
The heavy arrow that was shot towards the sky above Guan Feng's head suddenly stabbed downward and shot towards Guan Feng's forehead.
The four heavy arrows on the left and right sides drew a strange arc and shot towards Guan Feng's ribs.
"Hit!" Seeing that Guan Feng was unaware of the five cold arrows that were shot under the cover of darkness, Ma Zhong could not help but clench his fists tightly, with excitement in his eyes, as if he had already seen her being pierced by the powerful arrows and falling dead on the city wall.
Guan Feng is the daughter of Guan Yu and the backbone of the Jiangling defenders. If she can be shot and killed, the morale of the Jiangling defenders will be in chaos, and the Jiangdong army can take advantage of the situation and kill them. It is possible that Jiangling will be completely captured by dawn tomorrow.
however.
Just when Ma Zhong was excited, Guan Feng, who seemed unaware, narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly, a sarcastic smile appeared at the corner of her lips, and drew her sword out of its sheath, making five consecutive slashes in an instant.
Five crescent-shaped sword beams shot out, almost without any order, and hit the five cold arrows at the same time.
Sparks flew and five heavy arrows shattered into pieces!
"how is this possible?"
Seeing this, Ma Zhong's eyes twitched and he widened his eyes in disbelief, "How did she find out?"
It was night, and in the sky, the two armies were shooting arrows at each other like locusts flying all over the sky. He hid in the dark and suddenly shot out cold arrows. Moreover, the initial target of the five arrows was not Guan Feng. How could she react the moment the five arrows were about to hit her?
Shocked, Ma Zhong, unwilling to believe in evil, put five heavy arrows on the bowstring at the same time and shot them out simultaneously.
This time, Ma Zhong applied triple hidden power to the tail of each arrow.
As the triple dark power exploded in succession, five heavy arrows flew side by side, accelerating continuously, colliding with each other in the air, adjusting their angles, and finally, at lightning speed, they struck Guan Feng's forehead, throat, heart, and ribs.
However, this time, the result was the same as before. No matter how the five arrows flew in the air, at the moment when the arrows were about to hit him, Guan Feng once again drew his sword in time and made five slashes in an instant, breaking all five heavy arrows into pieces.
"This……"
Ma Zhong was shocked and wondered if Guan Feng had seen through his arrow as soon as it left the bow.
But how is this possible?
Could it be that she has the ability to foresee the future?
Just as he was shocked, Ma Zhong suddenly saw a man in white clothes walking out from the city wall, walking up to Guan Feng with his hands behind his back, and saying something to her. Guan Feng nodded, sheathed her sword, picked up a longbow, and put five arrows on it at the same time.
The man in white waved his hand to brush away the five arrow heads, then nodded to Guan Feng.
Guan Feng smiled, opened his bow like a full moon, and released the five arrows towards the sky.
Ma Zhong didn't understand what Qi sensing was, nor did he know where the five arrows that Guan Feng shot seemingly at random flew to. He just instinctively felt that Guan Feng was probably responding to his cold arrows.
So he made a prompt decision, quickly left his original position, and rushed towards a shield car next to him.
Unfortunately, although Ma Zhong made a wise decision, he did not know what "Qi Locking" meant.
It would have been fine if he didn't move, but with this sudden movement, the burst of aura directly turned into a beacon of navigation.
Ma Zhong, who had just moved to the back of the shield car next to him, felt a tingling sensation on his scalp before he could even stand firmly. He looked up and saw five "meteors" falling from the sky and shooting towards him.
The five meteors came too fast. Before Ma Zhong could dodge, the meteors were already right in front of him.
Boom boom boom boom…
Five thunder-like roars sounded at the same time, and the shield car was torn into pieces in an instant. A large pit several feet deep and more than ten feet in diameter also exploded on the ground.
As for Ma Zhong, he disappeared without a trace, as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth. Only a few blood-stained pieces of clothing and armor on the edge of the pit proved that he had existed.
"Commander-in-chief, General Ma Zhong died in battle!"
On the general platform made of earth and wood, Lü Meng, who had received the latest battle report, nodded expressionlessly and said:
"understood."
He waved the command flag again and continued to deploy troops.
Although he felt a little sad, even his lord's trusted and beloved general Pan Zhang had died in the battle, so what would the death of Ma Zhong matter?
A clay pot is bound to break by the well, and a general is bound to die in the battle.
Isn't Lu Meng also fighting here despite his dying sick body?
As long as we can capture Jiangling, defeat Guan Yu, and drive Liu Bei's forces out of Jingzhou, all the sacrifices will be worth it.
As the moat was gradually filled up, various siege weapons crossed the moat and the intensity of the battle began to increase.
The Jiangdong army, which had an absolute advantage in manpower, suppressed the defenders on the city walls with rain of arrows, while pushing various siege equipment such as battering rams, ladders, and wooden curtains towards the city walls.
The catapults that were hastily made during the day also approached the optimal attack distance and began to fire stones at the top of the city.
After all, the Jiangling defenders had few soldiers and their long-range counterattacks were limited, so they were unable to effectively prevent the siege equipment from approaching.
When one ladder after another approached the city wall, the Jiangdong Army's carefully selected death-defying soldiers, under the cover of their own bows and arrows and flying stones, climbed the ladders quickly to the city wall, regardless of the risk of being accidentally injured by friendly forces.
But when they really climbed onto the top of the city wall and engaged in close combat with the defenders, the Jiangdong army realized how difficult the defenders were.
Each of them was clad in heavy armor, had amazing strength, moved swiftly, wielded spears as fast as lightning, and had simple but unmatched sharp sword techniques. The Jiangdong Army's carefully selected brave warriors were simply unable to gain a foothold on the city walls in the face of the fierce offensive of the Jiangling defenders. Often, they had just climbed to the top of the city walls when they were stabbed to the ground by lightning-fast spears or beheaded by sharp swords.
Even some generals of a hundred men who were famous for their bravery were either beheaded on the city walls or driven off the walls due to the tacit cooperation of the Jiangling defenders, and the results of the battle were very few.
In other words, the defenders had too few troops. Otherwise, with the powerful attack power of the Jiangling defenders, the Jiangdong army would not even have a chance to climb to the top of the city.
"Brother Ouyang, how are my five hundred soldiers doing?"
At the foot of the city wall, Guan Feng asked Ouyang Feng with a proud smile as he watched only ten family soldiers joining forces to kill a young Jiangdong general who was wearing two layers of heavy armor and could climb the ladder as flexibly as a monkey and quickly reach the top of the city wall. The young general was clumsy and covered in blood.
“Good practice.”
Ouyang Feng was also quite impressed with these 500 family soldiers who were trained with the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, Iron Armor, Rock-Breaking Spear, Iron-Cutting Five Swords, and combined attack formation.
Due to the violent nature of the Fengyun world, although these five hundred soldiers have only been trained for about two years, there are already several of them whose personal strength has reached the level of the Five Tigers and Thirteen Braves such as Ma Yue, and the others are also at the level of elite wolf riders.
With their strength and tacit cooperation, the Jiangdong Army, which had average land combat skills, was simply unable to compete with them, even the carefully selected elite warriors.
"I don't know how they compare to my uncle's White Ear Guards and Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry."
Guan Feng smiled and said:
"I heard that the strongest army in the past was the Xianzhen Camp under Lu Bu. They were all heavily armored warriors. Although there were only 700 people, they were invincible and could defeat ten or even a hundred enemies with one. I don't expect these 500 soldiers to be as powerful as the Xianzhen Camp. I would be satisfied if they could catch up with my uncle's White Ear Army and Cao Cao's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry."
Ouyang Feng said: "If we continue to practice for a few more years and pass on the Tiger Demon Bone Refining and Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound to them, it is not impossible for them to catch up with the Xianzhen Camp."
As for the lightning body, it requires too high a level of talent and understanding, and it is not something that ordinary people can practice.
"Although the Jiangdong army has a large number of soldiers, their combat effectiveness is really average. No wonder Sun Quan led an army of 100,000 to attack Hefei a few years ago, but was defeated so badly." Guan Feng said: "Although our army has fewer soldiers, our combat effectiveness is far superior, and each of our 500 soldiers has long endurance. The Jiangdong army's strategy of tiring out the soldiers is useless."
He smiled at Ouyang Feng again, "With Brother Ouyang backing me up, the Jiangdong rats will never be able to take Jiangling City. They will only get beaten to a pulp in Jiangling."
Ouyang Feng said calmly: "Since I have your back, are you still just thinking about defending Jiangling City?"
"What does Brother Ouyang mean?"
Ouyang Feng looked towards the city:
"Do you dare to follow me out of the city with only a hundred soldiers and strike back to kill Lu Meng?"
Guan Feng's beautiful almond-shaped eyes suddenly lit up, and she straightened her chest, "Why not?"
[The second chapter is done, please give me a monthly ticket! ]
(End of this chapter)
