More than a hundred Scarlet Horse Boats doused with Fierce Flaming Oil were connected to each other on the surface of the river, forming two flaming dragons. They flew across the vast surface of the river towards Liu Bei's army with an unstoppable force.
Liu Bei and the others were sweating profusely.
"Everyone on the boats has clearly been shot to death. How can they continue to advance?" Zhuge Liang was puzzled.
There was no strong wind blowing on the surface of the river.
The enemy's unfathomable methods left even Zhuge Liang, who prided himself on his intelligence, helpless. He could only watch as the flaming boats rapidly approached and crashed into their warships.
As the warships collided, the flames spread for several li.
Like a massive flaming dragon, the Scarlet Horse Boats coiled up and devoured Liu Bei's army. The surface of the river instantly turned into a massive pot of oil. Liu Bei's army of tens of thousands were like vegetables in the pot.
The situation had reached a critical point.
"We cannot hesitate anymore." Zhuge Liang clenched his teeth. "Zilong, arrange for the boats to escort our lord ashore."
"Understood!"
The white-robed, silver-armored Zhao Zilong was courageous. Charging into the sea of flames was not an issue for him.
"Advisor, let's go together!" Liu Bei did not want to leave Zhuge Liang behind.
With Zhuge Liang around, Liu Bei still had a chance to rise again. Without Zhuge Liang, everything would be over.
"That's right, advisor. Let's go together!"
Among the generals in Liu Bei's faction, Zhao Yun admired Zhuge Liang the most.
"Sigh!"
Zhuge Liang sighed and nodded bitterly. Zhuge Liang was not someone who feared death. However, he did not want to die in such a cowardly manner on the Yangtze River.
Zhang Fei volunteered to stay behind to cover Liu Bei and the others' retreat.
"Third Brother." Liu Bei's eyes glistened with tears. "Take care!"
"Big Brother, you go first. I'll catch up soon!" Zhang Fei grinned with a cheerful expression.
Before the flames reached the main army, the flagship released countless boats and brought Liu Bei and the others to the west bank of the Yangtze River.
In just a short while, the flames grew stronger. Tens of thousands of soldiers were buried in the sea of flames, screaming miserably.
Hearing that, Liu Bei burst into tears.
"I … I am useless!" Liu Bei cried bitterly.
On Dragon Head, Jia Xu looked at the raging flames on the surface of the river with a complicated expression.
One month ago, the fire that the allied armies of Sun Wukong and Liu Bei inflicted upon Cao Cao's army at the Red Cliffs was finally inflicted upon Liu Bei's army.
An eye for an eye.
"If the Lord knew about this, he would probably laugh out loud!" Jia Xu thought.
Jia Xu pointed to the middle of the enemy army and said, "Martial Governor, Liu Bei is about to escape!"
"Don't worry, mister!"
Zheng He smiled and waved the flag.
At the same time, dozens of Taowu battleships anchored to the shore. Hundreds of specially made, long planks were lowered and successfully reached the other side of the shore. Under the leadership of Zhao Sihu, the First Division of the City Guard Army, who had long been ready, stepped on the treads and quickly landed, ready to chase after the enemy.
At the same time, the cannons of the battleships on both sides rang out, dealing more damage to the enemy.
From the looks of it, Zheng He was going to kill them all without leaving them any leeway.
Before the start of the battle, Jun Shang had already said that in this battle, the treacherous enemy was the top priority. If he could capture the enemy's generals, he would do his best to capture them. If he couldn't capture them, he would kill them. He would never let the tiger return to the mountains.
Zheng He's actions were to carry out the Emperor's orders.
…
In Liu Bei's army, seeing that the enemy was about to intercept and kill their lord on the shore, Zhang Fei and the other generals, who were in charge of protecting Liu Bei, grew anxious. "Charge!"
Zhang Fei shouted at the top of his lungs, ordering the burning battleships to charge forward.
"Even if I die, I have to drag someone down with me!" Zhang Fei was filled with killing intent. More importantly, he wanted to foil the enemy's landing plan and cover his elder brother's retreat.
Dozens of burning battleships launched a counterattack against Shanhai City's fleet. However, their battleships were already on fire. None of their sails could be used, and they were burned full of holes.
The only thing that could be used was the oars, which were also heavily damaged by the cannons. Less than 30% of the usable oars remained. The sailors in charge of rowing the oars also suffered heavy losses.
Therefore, Zhang Fei could do nothing but worry, but the battleships advanced at a snail's pace. Some of the battleships were even unable to move. They paused pitifully on the surface of the river, waiting for their fate of destruction.
Seeing that the enemy was risking their lives to fight, Zheng He naturally wouldn't remain indifferent.
The battleships at the forefront became the main target of Shanhai City's fleet.
Hundreds and thousands of cannons were fired at them. Coupled with waves of arrows, the leading battleship was stranded before it could even reach the center of the waterway, unable to move.
The battleships that followed behind faced the same fate.
Even if one or two battleships occasionally rushed to the front of Shanhai City's fleet, they were unable to advance even half a step. The frogmen who were lurking in the water were not to be trifled with. The battleships were already damaged to begin with, so they continued to fire at them.
Inevitably, some frogmen were "accidentally" injured by the cannons and lost their lives at the bottom of the river.
This was how cruel war was. Even if Shanhai City had the upper hand and held the initiative in the war, they had no choice but to make sacrifices in order to maximize their victory.
There were very few "flaming ships" that could truly cause an impact on Shanhai City's fleet.
At this moment, a missile accurately hit Zhang Fei's flagship.
Looking at its trajectory, it was actually aimed at the area where Zhang Fei was.
"General!" The soldiers cried out in alarm.
Hearing the cry, Zhang Fei instinctively looked up at the sky, only to see a black cannonball flying toward him. He wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.
With a "boom", the missile hit Zhang Fei, who was standing on the deck and commanding, at the speed of lightning.
In an instant, blood and flesh splattered everywhere.
Just like that, Zhang Yide, a fierce general of the Three Kingdoms, was blasted into pieces.
"General!"
When the surrounding soldiers saw this, their faces turned deathly pale.
This was especially so for Zhang Fei's guards. According to the rules of the army, if the general died, the guards would be buried with him, regardless of whether they survived the battle or not.
Hearing the cry of alarm behind him, Liu Bei, who had already boarded the small boat, turned around. He happened to see the scene of Zhang Fei being blasted away, and his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. "Third Brother!!!"
His voice was so shrill that it caused the expressions of those who heard it to change.
Liu Bei's hatred for Shanhai City had already accumulated to its peak. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was a blood feud. The two great forces had already reached a point where they would not rest until one party was dead.
Precisely because of this, Ouyang Shuo had to kill them all.
"Master, let's go!"
Zhao Yun's eyes were also bloodshot, but he was still responsible for covering Liu Bei's escape. From the looks of it, there was still a bitter battle waiting for them on the shore.
"Third Brother!" Liu Bei wept bitterly, his voice choked with sobs.
When the surrounding soldiers saw this, they were all moved.
On the Dragon Head, Ouyang Shuo had also seen the scene just now.
With regards to Zhang Fei's death, Ouyang Shuo could only sigh. For a fierce general like Zhang Fei, just like Guan Yu, even if he was captured, he would never pledge loyalty to Shanhai City.
In terms of capturing the hearts of the people, Liu Bei was truly a top talent. Putting aside Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were existences that could not be subdued, even Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, and the others were loyal to Liu Bei.
Ouyang Shuo could not help but admire Liu Bei's methods.
Rather than being beheaded, Zhang Fei's current way of dying was more heroic.
In the Battle of Red Cliffs, Ouyang Shuo's hands were stained with blood, and he became the nemesis of all historical generals.
…
With Zhang Fei's death, the battle on the river gradually lost its suspense.
The focus of the battle shifted from the water to the land.
From the time they received the order to the time they all went ashore, it took Zhao Sihu and the city guards forty minutes. After all, the shore was not a port, and it was very inconvenient for large warships to land.
Just ten minutes ago, Zhao Yun led over three thousand soldiers to escort Liu Bei ashore, and they were retreating into the wilderness.
"Chase!"
Zhao Sihu revealed a ferocious smile and led his troops in pursuit.
As they had all retreated from the ships at the last moment, neither Liu Bei's army nor the city guards had warhorses. They could only walk.
Now, it was time to see who could walk faster.
Zhao Sihu was confident because he had a secret weapon bestowed upon him by His Lordship.
What about Liu Bei? He could not be underestimated.
The ones escorting Liu Bei's retreat were the most elite troops under Liu Bei's command. They were also Liu Bei's Imperial Guards, known as the White Nightmare Soldiers.
Even in history, the White Nightmare Soldiers had always been an outstanding elite troop.
In the history of the Three Kingdoms, the White Nightmare Soldiers were even more famous, and they were on par with Cao Cao's Tiger Leopard Cavalry.
The commander of the White Nightmare Soldiers was not Zhao Yun, but the unknown Chen Zhi.
Chen Zhi was from Runan, and he became Liu Bei's subordinate when he was in Yuzhou. He could be considered a veteran general. He had followed Liu Bei throughout his life, and his reputation was second only to Zhao Yun. The two generals were known for their loyalty and bravery.
The Records of the Three Kingdoms stated: "Conquering the South, Conquering the West, Controlling the Times, Fierce Generals."
The phrase "Controlling the Times, Fierce Generals" referred to the selection of the White Nightmare Soldiers. Each and every one of them was a fierce general. The Conquering the South referred to the Conquering the South General, Zhao Yun, while the Conquering the West referred to the Conquering the West General, Chen Zhi.
The two generals could be said to be equally matched.
In history, during the Battle of Yiling, the Shu army retreated in defeat. Chen Zhi and Fu Tong were responsible for bringing up the rear. Fu Tong died in battle, and Chen Zhi vowed to avenge his comrades. He led 700 White Nightmare Soldiers to a place called Ape's Arm Horn, a hundred li away from White Emperor City. Each soldier was equipped with a spear and a podao.
At that time, Zhu Zhi's eldest son, Zhu Cai, was the vanguard of the Wu army. The central army, Quan Zong, Li Yi, Zhu Heng, Zhu Ran and the others were at the rear, leading 10,000 Wu soldiers. The vanguard and the central army were all cavalry, and they vowed to capture Liu Bei alive.
With just these 700 White Nightmare Soldiers and 700 spears, Chen Zhi was able to block the attack of nearly 10,000 Wu soldiers.
The might of the White Nightmare Soldiers and Chen Zhi's valiance could be seen.
The strange thing was that this fierce general of Shu did not even have a name in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Chen Zhi was a fierce general under Liu Bei's banner, second only to Zhao Yun. Luo Guanzhong "respected Liu and demoted Cao", and wrote many fierce generals for the Kingdom of Shu. The strength of these fierce generals had greatly surpassed the historical facts, so he could only be wronged by Chen Zhi.
Having Zhao Yun was enough of a model. When Luo Guanzhong was planning, he might have combined the two of them. Thus, the might of Chen Zhi in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms could only be seen in Zhao Yun's shadow.
A general was thus submerged in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Thus, in this battle, even if Zhao Sihu had the advantage in numbers, it would not be easy.
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