Chapter 713-Elite White Soldier
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Hundreds of Cima Boats that were drenched in alchemical fire oil joined together on the river surface, forming a row. They were like two fire dragons that charged right at the Liu Bei Army, unable to be stopped.
Liu Bei and the others were sweating.
“The people on the boats were obviously shot to death, so how are they proceeding forward?” Zhuge Liang was filled with doubt.
One must know that this time, there was no wind on the river surface.
The enemy had used a weird method to make the clever Zhuge Liang lost; he had no method to counter it. He could only watch on as the boats in flames swiftly closed in and knocked into their warships.
As the ships knocked into one another, the fire spread and stretched for miles.
The Cima Boats were like a giant fire dragon, wrapping up into a bundle and swallowing up the Liu Bei Army. The entire river became a huge oil pot and the tens of thousands of Liu Bei troops were the main dish.
The situation had reached its crucial point.
“We cannot hesitate any longer, Zi Long, cover him as the Lord goes up to shore!”
“Understood!”
The white-robbed Zhao Zi Long was a courageous person but even he could not survive a sea of fire.
“Advisor, leave with us!”
With Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei would have a chance to rise once more. Without him, everything would be lost.
“That’s right. Advisor, let’s go together!”
Out of all the generals in the Liu Bei Organization, Zhao Yun respected him the most.
Sigh!
Zhuge Liang sighed and agreed bitterly. Zhuge Liang was not a person that was afraid of death, but he did not want to die on this river, nameless.
On the other hand, Zhang Fei volunteered to stay behind to be in charge of protecting them as they left.
“Third brother…” Tears welled up in Liu Bei’s eyes, “Take care!”
“Go first Big Brother, I’ll be there soon!” Zhang Fei smiled in a casual manner.
Taking the chance that the fire had not spread to the middle troops, the flagship placed down numerous small boats to bring Liu Bei and the others to swiftly retreat toward the west coast of Changjiang.
In just a short while, the fire grew stronger and thousands of soldiers were buried in the sea of fire, crying out in pain.
When Liu Bei saw this scene, tears streamed down his face.
“I’ve failed them!” Liu Bei cried out in pain.
On Dragon Head, Jia Xu looked out at the burning Han River with a complicated expression.
This was revenge.
If the Lord knew about this, he would probably laugh out loud! Jia Xu thought.
Jia Xu pointed toward the center region of the enemy and said, “Admiral, Liu Bei is escaping!”
“Do not worry mister!”
Zheng He laughed and waved a flag.
At the same time, on the many Mengchong Warships docked on the shore, hundreds of specially made boards were placed down onto the shore. The 1st division of the City Protection Legion that had been waiting for such a long time under the leadership of Zhao Si Hu stepped onto the boards and quickly disembarked, getting ready to chase the enemy.
At the same time, the cannons on both sides sounded out. The attacks of the cannons dealt even more damage to the enemy.
Looking at the situation, they were going all out to kill them, not giving them a single chance to survive.
Before the battle began, the Lord had said that the main goal was to eradicate the enemy. Capturing their generals would be a bonus; if they could catch them, they definitely must not let them escape.
Zheng He’s actions precisely followed Ouyang Shuo’s instructions.
……
Among the Liu Bei Army, seeing the enemy wanting to go ashore to kill their Lord, Zhang Fei, who was in charge of covering for them, was furious, “Kill them!”
Zhang Fei ordered his troops to charge at the warships that were firing at them.
“Even if we die, we must drag them down with us!” Zhang Fei was filled with killing intent. Most importantly, he just needed to cover his brother’s escape.
Many warships that were already on fire charged at the Shanhai City Squadron. However, they were already on fire and their sails were already burned.
They could only use paddles, but the paddles had also suffered heavy damage under the cannon. Less than 30% of the paddles could be used. Even the soldiers in charge of them had suffered heavy casualties.
Hence, Zhang Fei was panicking, but his warships crawled forward like a turtle. Some of the warships could not even move and just stayed stunned on the river surface; it was like they were waiting to be destroyed.
Seeing that the enemy wanted to give their all to try and fight them, Zheng He naturally would not stay still.
The warships at the front became the main focus of the Shanhai City Squadron.
Hundreds and thousands of cannon balls flew over. Along with an arrow rain, they caused the warships at the front to fall even before they reached the middle of the water path.
The warships that followed behind faced a similar fate.
Even if there were one or two warships that managed to charge in front of the Shanhai City Squadron, they were unable to proceed any further. The frogmen hiding below were obviously alert and chiseled the boats.
Unavoidably, some of them would be smacked by cannonballs and die.
War was just so cruel. Even when they had full control over the battlefield, they still needed to make some sacrifices to increase their rewards.
The ‘fire ships’ that could truly do damage to them were incredibly rare.
At this moment, a cannon ball accurately flew toward the flagship that Zhang Fei was on.
Looking at the trajectory, it was actually flying right for Zhang Fei.
“General!”
When Zhang Fei heard this shout, he only had time to look up and see a black cannonball fly right at him. He could not avoid it even if he wanted to as it was too late.
The cannonball hit Zhang Fei who was commanding on deck.
All of a sudden, blood and flesh flew all around.
The Three Kingdoms fierce general Zhang Yi De was blown apart just like that, his body in pieces.
“General!”
When the surrounding soldiers witnessed his death, their faces turned ashen white.
Especially his guards; based on military rules, if the main general died, these guards needed to be buried with him on the battlefield.
Listening to the shock from behind him, Liu Bei who had already boarded the little boat turned his head around to look. Coincidentally, he witnessed the moment when Zhang Fei was hit; his eyes turned blood red, “Third brother!”
His voice was filled with sadness.
The hatred Liu Bei felt toward Shanhai City had reached its maximum. To call it a blood ocean deep hatred was not an exaggeration, and it had already reached a state where he would not stop till he took revenge.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo had all the more need to kill him.
“Lord, let’s leave.”
Zhao Yun’s eyes were similarly blood red, but he still responsibly guarded Liu Bei as he left. When they reached the shore, there was still a battle that awaited them.
“Third brother!” Liu Bei cried out hoarsely.
When the surrounding soldiers saw this scene, they all felt emotional.
On Dragon Head, Ouyang Shuo similarly saw this sight.
Ouyang Shuo could only sigh about the matter of Zhang Fei's death. A general like Zhang Fei was similar to Guan Yu. Even if he was captured, he definitely would not pledge loyalty to Shanhai City.
In terms of convincing the people that he captured, Liu Bei was the absolute talent. Without mentioning Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, the people who Ouyang Shuo 100% could not recruit included Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun.
Just this fact made Ouyang Shuo respect Liu Bei.
Zhang Fei was killed by a cannonball; such a way of going out was a little too brutal.
During this Battle of Red Cliff, Ouyang Shuo's hands had been stained with blood, and he became the nemesis of historical generals.
……
Along with the death of Zhang Fei, the river battle slowly lost its meaning.
The intense battle changed from sea to land.
After receiving the order to head ashore, the City Protection Legion led by Zhao Si Hu took 40 minutes to completely get off their ships. After all, the shore was not a port, so it was really inconvenient for large warships to disembark.
And just 10 minutes ago, Zhao Yun had led three thousand odd soldiers to protect Liu Bei as they headed up shore; they were retreating toward the depths of the wilderness.
"Chase!"
Zhao Si Hu let out a vicious laugh and led his troops to chase.
As they had just come off their boats, be it the Liu Bei Army or the City Protection Legion, both did not have any horses.
Now, it all depended on who ran faster.
Zhao Si Hu was confident, as he had a secret weapon that the Lord had given him.
What about Liu Bei? He could not be underestimated either.
Protecting him was the most elite troops under his charge; they were also his Guards Army, the White Soldiers.
Even in history, the White Soldiers were a famous elite force.
In the Three Kingdoms history, their names spread far and wide; they were an existence equal to the Tiger Leopard Cavalry under Cao Cao.
The commander of the White Soldiers was not Zhao Yun but Chen Dao who no one knew about.
Chen Dao was from Runan. He became Liu Bei's subordinate at Yuzhou and could be considered an old general. He had followed Liu Bei all around, and his position was only lower than Zhao Yun.
In the Three Kingdoms records, conquering south was strong, and conquering west was loyal. When choosing soldiers, fierce generals and fearless warriors were taken.
The last sentence referred to the White Soldiers. Everyone chosen was fearless and strong. Conquering south referred to the South Conquering General Zhao Yun and Conquering West referred to Chen Dao.
Both of these generals were on par with each other.
In history, during the true Battle of Yiling, the Shu Army had retreated in defeat, and Chen Dao and Fu Tong were in charge of holding back the enemy. Fu Tong died in battle and Chen Dao swore that he would take revenge for him. Hundreds of miles outside White Emperor City, at a place known as Yuanbi Corner, he led 700 White Soldiers to defend the place. Each only had a spear and a blade.
The Wu Country general line up had Zhu Zhi's eldest Son Zhu Cai, and the middle troops were Quan Zong, Li Qi, Zhu Heng, Zhu Ran, and other generals leading ten thousand Wu soldiers. The vanguard and middle troops were all cavalry, and they swore to capture Liu Bei.
Chen Dao used just 700 of them to block the ten thousand men attack of the Wu Country.
The strength of White Soldiers and the strength of Chen Dao was evident from this feat.
Weirdly, this general was not even mentioned in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Chen Dao was a strong general only below Zhao Yun. When Luo Guan Zhong wrote about how strong the generals of Shu Country were, it had exceeded reality. Hence, he had to exclude Chen Dao.
With one Zhao Yun, it was already a classic. When he was thinking about it, he might have combined the two, so the strength of Chen Dao could only be seen in Zhao Yun's shadow.
Hence, a general was buried in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
As a result, even though Zhao Si Hu had the numerical advantage, it was not going to be easy.