The night was as dark as ink, with dark clouds hanging overhead.
In the ink-black night sky, not a single star could be seen. Even half of the crescent moon had quietly disappeared into the clouds. The entire night sky was like an endless black canvas, stifling and suffocating.
A cold wind blew past, stirring up waves of dark clouds that rolled up and down, forming an unusual picture.
The Red Cliff quietly crept in the night, like an evil beast withdrawing its fangs, slowly accumulating energy, waiting for dawn to tear all enemies into pieces.
In the Wulin Water Stockade on the west bank of the Red Cliff, nearly a hundred warships of various sizes were faintly discernible in the night, like a group of ghosts, quietly lurking in their lair. On the edge of the warship deck, there were lit torches, the flames flickering.
Under the light of the torches, the water of the stockade was sparkling.
On the deck of the warship, there were occasional sounds of patrolling guards walking back and forth. Faint shouts could be heard coming from the inconspicuous cabin. It seemed like some soldiers were gambling and using this as a pretext to pass the boring night.
Even the soldiers on night patrol were quietly chatting.
"This damn weather, it's so cold, it's so stifling!"
"Yeah, we've been staying in this damn place for so long, and we haven't even seen a ghost. Why do you think we're hiding here? "
"That's for His Lordship to think about, why are you guessing blindly!"
"That's right, what's the point of talking about these useless things!"
"Hurry up and get through this shift, then go back to bed, that's what I call comfortable!"
"Be quiet, and be alert!" The captain in front finally could not stand it anymore, and shouted.
The night returned to silence, and one or two whispers of complaint could occasionally be heard in the cold wind.
In the center of the water stockade, a giant five-story ship stood out like a crane among chickens, surrounded by the other warships, like a king, commanding the other warships, high above.
That ship was Xiong Ba's flagship, the Overlord.
In this battle, Xiong Ba was responsible for guarding the Wulin, while the opposite Red Cliff was guarded by War Wolf.
On the top floor of the Overlord, in a luxuriously decorated study, Xiong Ba, dressed in military uniform, sat in front of a desk. An exquisite oil lamp was lit in front of the desk. The night wind blew, and the flame swayed left and right, about to be extinguished.
The flickering lights made Xiong Ba's face look somewhat ferocious.
The window of the study squeaked in the cold wind, which was unusually ear-piercing.
"Is it windy?"
Xiong Ba stood up and walked to the window, preparing to close it. He raised his head to look at the pitch-black night sky outside the window and frowned. "The moon is dim and the stars are hidden. This kind of weather is abnormal!"
As the saying goes, the abnormality is the devil.
For some reason, Xiong Ba had been feeling uneasy since daytime. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. The ink-like dark night made Xiong Ba feel stifled and suffocated.
"But there's no reason!" Xiong Ba shook his head and tried to shake off the messy thoughts in his mind. Slightly suppressing the emotions in his heart, Xiong Ba simply closed the window, not wanting to take another look at that strange night.
Half a month before the battle began, the [Yan Huang Alliance] had already been preparing for this battle. In Di Chen's words, no matter what, the [Yan Huang Alliance] had to take this opportunity to suppress the [Mountain and Sea Alliance] and take back their authority in the China region.
The explosion in the first half of the year was a way for the [Yan Huang Alliance] to accumulate energy.
Shanhai City's promotion to a Grade-3 County City had slightly suppressed their fighting spirit. However, it did not affect the overall situation. The real battle was still in the battle map.
After obtaining the cannon manufacturing technology, Xiong Ba was even more confident.
"How can you say that you have no clothes? It's time for you to take a big tumble!" Although Xiong Ba admired He Yue Wuyi's achievements, it did not mean that Xiong Ba did not want to defeat He Yue Wuyi.
On the contrary, Xiong Ba's thirst for victory was more intense than anyone else.
The battle on Yizhou Island was generally regarded by the outside world as a game between the Yan Huang Alliance and the Shanhai Alliance.
In the end, the [Yan Huang Alliance] won, and became a good footnote to the rise of the [Yan Huang Alliance] in the first half of the year. It became a symbol of the rise and fall of the two giants.
Xiong Ba, one of the parties involved, naturally wouldn't think so superficially.
Although taking down Yizhou Island was Xiong Ba's proud work, he had also publicized the fruitful results of this war on different occasions, whether openly or secretly, to enhance the prestige of Overlord City.
However, to say that this was a game between the two alliances was a bit of an exaggeration.
Xiong Ba knew that from the beginning to the end, Shanhai City had not been involved in this war. Otherwise, if Shanhai City's Jiaozhou Fleet had intervened in the war, it would have been enough to make Overlord City suffer.
After defeating Dragon Seeking City, Xiong Ba had borrowed a lot from the successful model of Jingzhou Island for the operation of Yizhou Island, such as introducing shipbuilding, salt industry, and adventurer players to jointly develop marine resources.
Xiong Ba had poured too much effort into Yizhou Island. Xiong Ba's ambition was to equally divide the sea area of China with Shanhai City, one in the north and the other in the south.
Yizhou Island was a dividing line between the two sides.
To realize this ambition, the Battle of Red Cliffs was a key node. Xiong Ba had to prove on the battlefield that even in a naval battle, the Hegemon City's navy could defeat the Shanhai City navy that was already rumored to be godly.
It was not difficult to understand why Xiong Ba attached so much importance to this war.
It could even be said that in order to defeat Shanhai City's fleet, Xiong Ba had given up subduing the historical generals on the battle map, allowing Di Chen, Lord Chunshen, and others to beat him to it.
Outside the battlefield, Xiong Ba had also done a lot of work.
For example, the third party force in secret contact with Dragon Seeking City was actually a hidden force secretly cultivated by Xiong Ba's family. Its purpose was to provoke internal strife in the Shanhai Alliance.
Dragon Seeking City and Siege Lion chose Sun Liu's camp, which undoubtedly proved the success of Xiong Ba's plan.
To tell the truth, Xiong Ba was somewhat disdainful of Dragon Seeking City. In Xiong Ba's eyes, Dragon Seeking City was just a lucky dog. It had a relationship with Shanhai City, so it could go all the way to where it was now.
How could a real civilian lord fight against the aristocratic families?
The only exception was He Yue Wuyi.
Therefore, the determination of the aristocratic families to eliminate this exception had never been shaken.
"It's just difficult!"
At the thought of the achievements of Shanhai City in this ocean voyage, Xiong Ba was somewhat frustrated.
Even on the battle map, their progress was not smooth. The annihilation of Lu Su's army was undoubtedly a blow to Xiong Ba and War Wolf.
The first part of the plan was completely declared a failure.
According to the time calculation, the fleet of Shanhai City should have arrived at the Red Cliff as early as two days ago. But what was the result? They were ready for battle, and their nerves were taut. They were both nervous and excited, but they pounced on empty air.
The fleet of Shanhai City seemed to have disappeared.
Xiong Ba had also speculated whether the fleet of Shanhai City had given up the Red Cliff and turned to attack Liu Bei. After all, Liu Bei had Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang as bait, so Shanhai City had every reason to go there.
However, the information received in the evening denied this speculation.
In order to achieve long-distance communication on the battle map, the Yanhuang Alliance also racked their brains. They spent a lot of money to buy four golden eagle spirit beasts from an adventurer team.
These spirit beasts were extraordinary. They could really travel thousands of miles in a day and deliver information back and forth.
In this way, the three teams of the Yanhuang Alliance, which were distributed in the Red Cliff, Dongting Lake, and Dreamy Cloud Swamp, could maintain smooth communication and exchange information with each other.
The information in the evening was sent by Lord Chunshen. Although the two had a grudge against each other, they were both extremely rational people. They could still cooperate on the battle map.
According to Lord Chunshen's report, the situation on their side was also somewhat bad.
As early as when Lu Su's army was destroyed, Huang Gai had written to Liu Bei, requesting to join forces and rush to the Red Cliff together. The problem was, at that time, Liu Bei was busy taking over Changsha Commandery. How could he set off immediately?
Liu Bei's refusal undoubtedly angered Huang Gai.
In the letter, Huang Gai directly reprimanded Liu Bei for his treachery. He said that Liu Bei was chased by Cao Cao like a stray dog. It was the people of Jiangdong who kindly took him in and gave him a place to settle down.
Moreover, the army of Jiangdong defeated Cao Cao's menacing army in one fell swoop, shattering the legend of Cao Cao's invincible army. In this way, Liu Bei could linger on at death's door and live in peace.
Now that the Red Cliff was in trouble, Liu Bei only wanted to occupy territory instead of sending reinforcements. It was extremely shameless.
Such a letter humiliated Liu Bei so much that he could not show his face. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei even exploded on the spot, muttering that they would lead their troops to fight Huang Gai.
Fortunately, Liu Bei knew that he was in the wrong. In the end, he stopped the two of them and avoided a 'civil war'.
Even so, a rift had already formed between the two sides and they could no longer cooperate. In a fit of anger, Huang Gai personally led the army toward the Red Cliff.
According to his calculations, it would take them three days to reach the Red Cliff.
As for Liu Bei, he was not completely indifferent. While Liu Bei was busy pacifying the people of Changsha and stabilizing his rule, he was also preparing for the expedition.
At the same time, in order to pacify the River East Group, Liu Bei had Guan Yu lead the vanguard of the navy and set off for the expedition ahead of time.
In other words, the fleet of Shanhai City was not attacking Liu Bei at all.
Xiong Ba and Zhan Lang were puzzled by this.
Logically speaking, if they really wanted to attack the Red Cliff, shouldn't it be better to do it as soon as possible? If they delayed it for too long, what should they do when the armies from all sides gather at the Red Cliff? Should they wipe them out all at once?
Xiong Ba did not believe that Wu Yi would be so arrogant.
'There must be something fishy going on here!' Xiong Ba thought. 'But where exactly is the problem?'
Xiong Ba had never been able to figure this out.
'Could it be that there's a traitor among us? Has Ouyang Shuo already found out about the arrangements at the Red Cliff? Is that why the fleet of Shanhai City doesn't dare to come? 'Xiong Ba could not be blamed for being paranoid. They simply could not afford to lose this battle.
Xiong Ba focused his suspicions on the other lords.
For a moment, the Red Cliff was in a state of panic. The tense atmosphere had yet to dissipate.
But no matter how much he investigated, he could not find a single suspicious person.
Because of this, Xiong Ba locked himself in his study and pondered hard.
Now, it seemed that this had no effect.
'Forget it, I'll go to sleep!' Xiong Ba finally let out a long sigh and left the study.
The oil lamp in the study gradually extinguished, and the room became pitch-black again.
The night was getting darker and darker.
Late at night, even the soldiers who had gathered to gamble had dispersed and gone to rest. The water stockade became increasingly quiet. Only the howling of the cold wind could be heard in the air.
At this moment, a group of 'ghosts' sneaked in from the bottom of the water stockade and headed straight for the Overlord.
An unexpected battle was about to take place in the pitch-black night.
This night was destined to not be peaceful!
[PS: Shengxiao's official WeChat account has been opened. Search for 'Swordsman Shengxiao' on the account to add him. There will be constant updates of various settings, gossip, news, and so on. Seeking attention, seeking fans ~ ~ ~]
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