My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 594

With their retreat cut off, the Yangzhou Navy would have to break through the enemy lines. Meanwhile, the Jiangdong Navy and the Jingzhou Navy who had suffered much from their previous defeat were full of rage. All of their accumulated grievances ensured that they would not slack off.

“Load the arrows!” Lu Xun ordered. All the ballista on his fleet reloaded. “Aim!” Lu Xun ordered again.

At this time, Lu Xun’s deputy general reminded Lu Xun that they did not have many arrows left so it might be better to wait for the enemy to approach. His suggestion was reasonable since it would be harder to hit and the damage would be less at a longer range. It is only when the enemy was close enough can the ballista truly show its destructive power. This is especially crucial if they did not have enough arrows.

“So what if we hit the enemy?” Lu Xun asked. The enemy was not afraid at all. Lu Xun now wanted to make the enemy think that they still have plenty of arrows. That way, the Jiangdong and the Jingzhou navies would hesitate to move forward as neither party would want to shield the other. If he allowed them to approach, an intelligent figure like Zhou Yu or Zhuge Liang would quickly discover that they were running out of arrows and the enemy would press even harder, making escape impossible.

Countless arrows headed towards both the Jiangdong and Jingzhou navies. Of course, there were also a lot of arrows that fell harmlessly into the water. This volley caused them to lose no less than ten ships.

Wen Pin felt his heart bleed as he watched the scene as the one taking the lead this time was Liu Biao’s personal troops. They only listened to Liu Biao’s orders. They only listened to Wen Pin this time because Liu Biao had given Wen Pin military leadership. Liu Biao had also reminded Wen Pin that these troops needed to come back alive even if Wen Pin were to lose Jiangxia.

For this reason, he sent out his own personal troops first in the previous battle only to have them suffer severe casualties. Needing to give an explanation to Liu Biao and believing that Yangzhou was now weak, he sent out Liu Biao’s troops instead only to have them suffer severe casualties.

“Sent a letter to Zhou Yu! Tell him to explain this to me! Didn’t he say that Yangzhou was already running out of arrows?” Wen Pin ordered gloomily. He had lost over ten thousand of Liu Biao’s men. The remaining survivors only numbered around five thousand.

“Yes!” Wen Pin’s deputy commander noticed the anger in Wen Pin’s voice and quickly rushed to deliver the letter.

“Milord! The Jingzhou Navy is asking us why the Yangzhou Navy still has ballista arrows!” One messenger said as he gave the letter to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

“They are asking us? Hahaha!” Sun Ce laughed unhappily. If Jingzhou was asking them this, then who can Jiangdong ask?

Zhou Yu also watched the Yangzhou Navy closely. He believed they were running out of arrows because of how wasteful they had been earlier. Lu Xun’s strategy earlier was good but he never expected the iron chains.

“Who does Wen Pin think he is that he can dictate matters?” Sun Ce did not care about Wen Pin. Yangzhou was already trapped and Zhuge Liang will defect to him. Soon, the Jingzhou Navy would also fall like the Yangzhou Navy.

“Wait! Go and tell Wen Pin that I said Yangzhou was running out of arrows. I did not say Yangzhou had run out of arrows.” Zhou Yu interrupted. It was not yet time to pick a fight with Jingzhou so it was better for there to be peace.

“Hmph!” Wen Pin slammed his hands down onto his ship when he received the reply. Such a worthless reply was the same as no reply.

“General. The Jiangdong Navy is not taking us seriously at all! Should we…?”Wen Pin’s deputy general asked if they should attack the Jiangdong Navy.

“It is not yet the time.” Wen Pin shook his head. If they were to go after Jiangdong now, the Yangzhou Navy will be able to escape. What happens after defeating Yangzhou was a different story. Wen Pin wanted one or two of Yangzhou’s ships. Then Jingzhou would be able to reverse engineer it with their high manpower. At that time, they would also be able to easily take back Jiangxia that had been promised away to Jiangdong.

“Gongjin. Should we have Liang Yi’s ship block the attacks?” Sun Ce asked. Although he treated Wen Pin with disdain, he too felt heartbroken from losing his own ships. Liang Yi’s ships were more reinforced compared to other ships so it could take more hits.

“No need.” Zhou Yu shook his head. “Lu Xun is just bluffing.” Zhou Yu said indifferently.

“But…” Sun Ce was uneasy. If Yangzhou didn’t have enough arrows then they should have waited until they were closer as shooting from so far away was a waste of arrows.

“Lu Xun wants us to be on the defensive and against each other.” Zhou Yu explained. As both Jingzhou and Jiangdong weren’t friends, neither would want to take the damage for each other. This hesitation may break their formation, allowing Yangzhou to break through.

“Tell Wen Pin that if he avoids battle, Jiangdong will withdraw immediately!” Zhou Yu said to the messenger.

Wen Pin quickly replied that if the Jiangdong Navy did not withdraw, the Jingzhou Navy also would not withdraw. Although his reply was offensive, Zhou Yu still laughed.

“Is it no use?” Lu Xun saw that there was no confusion in the enemy’s lines. In fact, they seem more united than before. That was when he knew his plan had failed.

“Tell the ballista to stop until they approach.” Lu Xun had no choice but to give this order. The ballista also stopped firing.

“So this is really the case.” Zhou Yu could see the condition of his enemy. “Disregard any damages to our side and attack Yangzhou’s flagship!”

Zhou Yu wanted to destroy the flagship. Without a leader, the others would fall into disorder making it perfect for Jiangdong to take their new ships.

“Wait! Gongjin, do not attack their flagship!” Sun Ce interrupted.

“Milord?”

“Gongjin. What do you think of Lu Xun’s talent?”

“He is talented.” Zhou Yu praised without hesitation. Lu Xun was young but he could command ten thousand of Yangzhou’s navy with ease. On the other hand, Zhou Yu only commanded three thousand men when he first started his career.

“Then shouldn’t we take him to our side?” Sun Ce’s eyes glinted.

“Milord. This person is unruly and proud. It would be difficult to entice him.” Zhou Yu replied.

“Is he more arrogant than Zhuge Liang or more talented than Zhuge Liang?” Sun Ce asked as he used Zhuge Liang as a comparison.

“No.” Zhou Yu replied. Lu Xun was admirable for his talent however, Zhuge Liang would make Zhou Yu sigh with regret as Zhuge Liang was better than Zhou Yu in many aspects.

“Then we should be able to get him to our side.” Sun Ce replied.

“But…” Zhou Yu was unconvinced and talked about Lu Xun’s family. Lu Xun’s family may be indirectly killed by Sun Ce but the resentment was there.

“Don’t need to say anymore. Just capture him!” Sun Ce replied. Zhou Yu had mentioned Lu Kang hoping that Sun Ce would give up but the reminder only made Sun Ce’s temper worse.

“Lu Kang. I wonder what you will say if your grandson becomes my subordinate.” Sun Ce muttered as his eyes gazed towards the Lu banner on the other side. He attacked Lujiang in the past not only because of provisions but also because Lu Kang had humiliated him. Lu Kang said that Sun Ce had courage but not wisdom. Sun Ce would also be fated to fall like his father.

The young and vigorous Sun Ce was provoked and got his soldiers from Yuan Shu after adding oil into the fire. Yuan Shu also wanted Lujiang for a long time and hated Lu Kang so he was happy to give Sun Ce the troops.

As expected, Sun Ce was as powerful as his father. Yuan Shu had also promised Lujiang to Liu Xun so Sun Ce would be working for nothing. However, Sun Ce still fought hard for three years because of Lu Kang’s words.

Sun Ce held in his anger for a long time. He thought Lu Kang would surrender and take back his words. He never knew Lu Kang would starve himself and his family in prison to death. This showed that Lu Kang’s stance did not change even in death and that fact troubled Sun Ce for many years.

With this hatred in him, Sun Ce wanted Lu Xun to surrender. That way, Sun Ce can mock Lu Kang in the afterlife saying, “The person you called ignorant is now your grandson’s Lord. Your grandson has to kneel towards me. What else can you say now?”

Zhou Yu did not know the reason but he could tell from Sun Ce’s eyes that his decision would not change.

“Pass down my orders. All soldiers attack the vanguards. I want to see them sink!” Zhou Yu shouted. This was the best thing they could do if they could not attack the flagship. They need to strike fear into the hearts of Yangzhou’s soldiers to stop the ship.

As the Jingzhou and Jiangdong navies cannot catch the Yangzhou Navy, they had to restrict their movements first.

Four hundred ships to a total of two thousand ballista fired on the Yangzhou Navy. The Yangzhou Navy fired back with their eight hundred ballista. Arrows covered the Yangtze River.

Soon, three of Yangzhou’s ships were destroyed. While it was stronger than Jiangdong’s ships, it was still unable to withstand the attacks. There were also two of Yangzhou’s ships that were full of holes. While these two could still return fire, they were already in a disastrous state.

“Charge through!” Five ships was about two thousand people. This was the Yangzhou Navy’s biggest loss so far. The troops, the ballista, the new ship. All of them were extremely precious.

“General! There’s a fire!” The deputy general shouted towards Lu Xun.

“No!” Lu Xun saw that the fire came from his two half destroyed ships. They knew they could not leave so they burned their own ship down with oil.

“Fire?” Sun Ce was also surprised. He was not afraid the fire would spread to his ships. Approaching to spread the fire was also impossible as they would be destroyed by the ballista before they could reach the Jiangdong and Jingzhou ships. However, this also meant that the new ships would be gone. The destruction of the first three ships were a necessity but these two half destroyed ships could have been salvaged.

“Brothers! Charge forward!” Lu Xun resisted his anger and shouted. Although they had lost five ships, it wasn’t in vain. There were also many enemy ships that were destroyed. They quickly approached the enemy. At close distance, the enemy risked shooting their allies.

“Prepare for collision!” Lu Xun shouted loudly. The men all quickly grabbed onto something as the sharp end of the ship rammed into the enemy. Against the might of Yangzhou’s ships, the hulls of the enemy’s towered ship were just like paper. With fifteen ships ramming against the enemy, over ten of the enemy’s ships were sunk. With over a thousand casualties. Sun Ce’s and Wen Pin’s expression also turned unsightly.

“Charge through!” Lu Xun started to smile. If they could get pass the enemy, the enemy would no longer be able to chase them. It was at this moment when his own ship shook hard. If his deputy general had not supported him, Lu Xun would have fell and severely injure himself.

“What happened?”

“General! They are using iron chains!” The messenger quickly brought the news.

“Where did these iron chains come from?” Lu Xun did not know what to do. There were iron chains to the front and to the back.

“Haha! You want to escape? You must be daydreaming!” The Jingzhou and Jiangdong navies sneered. Most of their ships had sunk but the iron chains were still there. The Yangzhou Navy would not be able to escape unless they could destroy all of the enemy ships.

The Yangzhou Navy was surrounded.

“Surrender! Lu Xun!” Sun Ce’s voice echoed from Jiangdong’s ship.

“General. What should we do?” The Yangzhou Navy was starting to panic as they were surrounded.

“General! Let us fight!” Some soldiers were excited instead as they came from Jiangxia. Their relationship with Jiangdong was never good.

“Yes, General! Let’s fight!”

“Lu Xun Lu Boyan. I will give you double of what the King of Shu Liu Mang is giving you if you surrender!” Sun Ce said again. “If you do not surrender, you will die! Don’t even think about burning your ships. With a single command, I can send my men to extinguish the fire. Your ships and your lives are mine. Surrender and join the Jiangdong Army. The Yangzhou Navy is finished!”

“General…” Some of the soldiers were shaken. They were full of adrenaline earlier but once they calmed down, they were still afraid of death.

“No more ballista arrows as well? Does the Heaven really want me dead?” Lu Xun’s face was full of bitterness.

“Everyone. Do you belive in me?” Lu Xun asked his men with a smile.

“General! We will follow you until the end!” One man replied. Lu Xun was a commander that came out of nowhere. They were all initially dissatisfied as Lu Xun was weak and young. However, his military successes showed them why Liu Mang had recommended him after Gan Ning had left.

“Good. Then take out the oil. We cannot let Jiangdong have these ships.” Lu Xun intended to burn down all his ships as there were no way out and no ballista arrows left.

“Understood!” The soldiers began to move when one officer shouted. “Wait!”

“Why? Is Officer Yu afraid? If so, you can go and surrender!” Lu Xun said coldly. The other soldiers also glared at him.

“No, General. I, Yu Cheng, know nothing but I will not betray His Highness who have treated us well.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“I just want to remind the General something. Didn’t the Military Advisor give you a letter?” The officer said to Lu Xun.

“A letter?” Lu Xun thought for a moment and then remembered about the letter. The messenger had given him a letter saying that it was not to be opened until it was the last moment. This moment certainly qualifies.

With this reminder, Lu Xun quickly opened and read through the letter. His eyes grew wide. After taking a deep breath, he asked his men again. “Everyone. Do you still believe in me?”