Mi Han

Chapter 744: The Snake Wants to Swallow the Elephant, Master Wei is Here

Chapter 744: The Snake Wants to Swallow the Elephant, Master Wei is Here

The person left behind by Lu Xun to guard Zhouling was the veteran general of Eastern Wu, Pan Zhang.

When September came, the weather in the south of the Yangtze River inevitably became gloomy and cold.

In particular, the state mausoleum is located on the riverside.

The constant surge of water vapor from the river deepened the chill.

Pan Zhang, who had a scar on his face, was leading his trusted associates in inspecting the river defense.

As the water level of the Yangtze River has become increasingly shallow recently, some of the iron chains that were originally hidden in the river have now emerged above the surface of the river.

Looking at the dense iron chains in the distance, Pan Zhang did not have much worry in his heart.

His inspection was just for show at best.

After a brief inspection of the river defense, Pan Zhang rubbed his dry hands and returned to Zhouling City.

As soon as he sat down, Pan Zhang said with regret:

"My only regret on this expedition is that I was unable to see the Mid-Autumn Festival fireworks."

The Mid-Autumn Festival originated in the pre-Qin period. After 400 years of development during the Han Dynasty, it has gradually become an important part of the traditional festivals of the Han nationality.

This is particularly evident in the southern region.

For people in the southern region, the Mid-Autumn Festival now has the beautiful meaning of family reunion.

Pan Zhang apparently said that he missed the Mid-Autumn Festival fireworks, but in fact he was expressing his longing for his family to his confidants.

The feeling of missing one's family is something that everyone has.

After hearing Pan Zhang's words, all the confidants showed regret on their faces.

But soon, the regret on their faces disappeared.

“If all goes well, the general may be able to conquer Gong’an before the New Year.

By then, we would like to follow the general to Gong'an City and watch the fireworks in Jingzhou!"

The person who is speaking is from Yangzhou.

Although he was from Yangzhou, he said that he wanted to watch the fireworks in Jingzhou. At first glance, it might sound like he was occupying another's nest, but if you think about it more carefully, this sentence reveals the ambition, or arrogance, of the Wu general at the time.

Sooner or later, Jingzhou will become one of the territories of their Great Wu!

Pan Zhang could hear the ambition and arrogance of his subordinates, but he did not blame them for it.

Because similar thoughts were even stronger in Pan Zhang's mind.

Not long ago, Pan Zhang had just received the latest military report from Lu Xun.

Although there was some accident with Xu Sheng, he managed to tie down Chen Dao's reinforcements near Wanshan.

Apart from Xu Sheng's side, all the important land roads from Jiangling to Gong'an were guarded by the elite soldiers of the Wu army.

As for the water route, thinking of the many iron chains he had just seen, Pan Zhang had never worried about this at all.

And when both the water and land routes were firmly controlled by their side, what could Mi Yang do even if he returned from Wancheng in time?

To be honest, Pan Zhang still had some hope that Mi Yang could return to Jiangling City in person.

So when Mi Yang saw the scene of the iron chain across the river, his face must have been very ugly!

When he thought of this, Pan Zhang suddenly burst into laughter in front of his subordinates.

The subordinates didn't know why Pan Zhang suddenly laughed, but when they thought of the advantageous situation they were in, they also laughed at Pan Zhang's laughter.

What a joyful scene it is.

But what Pan Zhang didn't know was that, just as he wished, Mi Yang, who had returned to Jiangling, was indeed observing the many iron chains on the Yangtze River.

But Mi Yang's expression didn't look ugly at all.

Looking at the iron chain that was slightly rising and falling due to the influence of the river water, Mi Yang said to Wei Yan beside him:

"The craftsmen of Wu are cutting corners!"

After hearing Mi Yang's words, Wei Yan almost laughed out loud.

According to common sense of the time, if the object is made of iron, it should be sunk directly into the river.

Even if the water level of the Yangtze River drops, is it possible that some parts of it will be exposed on the surface of the river?

This is enough to prove that the iron chains made by Wu Jun in recent years are by no means made of fine iron inside and out.

But this is normal.

Although the iron smelting industry in the Wu and Yue regions has been developing well since the Spring and Autumn Period, no matter how much it develops, it is still subject to the limitations of the times.

Part of the Yangtze River basin covers a large area.

To build an iron chain that can completely block that part of the river basin is a huge project.

Soochow is not the Soviet Union. It is impossible for it to complete such a huge project with the highest quality in a short period of time.

The discovery that the Wu craftsmen were "cutting corners" would invisibly make the Han army's subsequent actions smoother.

Mi Yang looked at Wei Yan again and said:

"Don't let me down tonight!"

There is a strong sense of entrustment in Mi Yang's words.

Wei Yan, who knew the seriousness of the situation, bowed to Mi Yang and said:

"Please rest assured, General. I am also from Jingzhou and I am quite good at swimming.

There will be no mistakes in what happens tonight!"

After hearing Wei Yan's assurance, Mi Yang nodded, looking at the fog that lingered over the Yangtze River.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the night covered the entire sky.

When the moonlight in the sky shone toward the outside of Jiangling City, an owl that came out to hunt in the sky seemed to have discovered something that frightened it, and fluttered its wings a few times to escape from the airspace.

So what does the owl see?

At this moment, the port outside Jiangling City was brightly lit.

A large number of Han troops, like ghosts in the dark night, were standing in the port, exuding murderous intent.

Wei Yan, standing in the firelight, was sweating profusely as he personally directed his soldiers to release some huge objects into the river one after another.

Wei Yan was sweating on his forehead on such a cold night, but his mission tonight must be extraordinary.

With the help of the surrounding firelight, you can vaguely see the objects being put into the Yangtze River, which seem to be in the shape of a boat.

But compared to ordinary warships, those things seem extremely huge.

If someone took a torch and went to those things and looked carefully, they would find that they were actually rafts!

Each of those rafts had a circumference of over a hundred steps.

When all these huge rafts were put into the Yangtze River, they seemed to cover the Yangtze River for a moment.

Seeing that all the giant rafts had entered the water, Wei Yan jumped directly from the shore onto the leading raft, and then gave the order for the entire army to attack.

In water battles, fog is an excellent weapon.

Because fog often affects the enemy's vision.

In order to deal with the Wu army, Mi Yang prepared dozens of large rafts.

On those large rafts, there were not only soldiers from Jingzhou who were good at water, but also many straw men.

Mi Yang dressed the straw men in Wu army uniforms and also flew Wu army flags on the rafts.

Before reaching the area where the iron chain crossed the river, the Wu army had deployed some scouts on the river.

But due to the obstruction of fog, the scouts initially thought that the warships that appeared on the river were those of their comrades.

The reason why the Wu army scouts had this illusion, apart from the influence of the fog and the straw men, was also because the idea that the Jingzhou navy was in ruins had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of every Wu soldier.

In the eyes of every Wu soldier, how could such a large "warship" shrouded in fog be owned by Jingzhou.

Due to the wrong judgment, the Wu army scouts not only did not feel afraid of the arrival of those "warships", but some of them even took the initiative to meet them.

However, no matter how big the illusion is, it will be shattered in an instant when it comes to you.

But at this point, what use would it be for Wu Jun's scouts to react?

When the last Wu army scout who came to inquire was hit by an arrow and fell into the water, Wei Yan knew that the biggest test was coming based on his memory.

If Wei Yan remembered correctly, there were many iron spikes laid by the Wu army in the water ahead to pierce the bottom of the boats.

As the rafts moved rapidly downstream, dozens of them soon entered an area filled with iron cones.

While Wei Yan was worried, he felt that the raft under his feet seemed to hit something hard in the water and paused, but soon the feeling of pause disappeared.

Dozens of large rafts continued to move smoothly towards Zhouling City.

Seeing that the large raft under their feet was not pierced by the iron spikes in the water, not only Wei Yan, but every Han soldier on the raft showed a look of surprise.

Suddenly, cheers broke out on dozens of rafts.

What on earth did Da Sima come up with? It actually works!

The cheers of the Han soldiers on the raft were to celebrate the success of Mi Yang's plan and also to celebrate the fact that they did not have to risk their lives by going into the water.

They all knew that they were the vanguard sent by Mi Yang.

Why does the vanguard army require every soldier to be good at swimming?

This is an insurance that Mi Yang took out for today's event.

Many roads that are impossible to travel can be filled with human lives.

Every Han soldier on the raft knew what his other mission was. They didn't mind dying for Mi Yang, but who would be unhappy if they didn't have to die?

The warm cheers, along with the hazy mist, gradually drifted into the ears of Mi Yang who was standing behind.

It wasn't just Wei Yan who went on the expedition last night.

After hearing the cheers, Mi Yang felt that there was no need to wait for Wei Yan's report.

A smile appeared on Mi Yang's lips, and he nodded to Ding Feng beside him.

Ding Feng, who got Mi Yang, quickly waved the flag in his hand.

When Ding Feng waved the command flag in his hand, soon people on the thousands of small boats behind him also raised colorful flags in response.

Yes, thousands of small boats!

Indeed, the Battle of Chibi almost destroyed the navy of Jingzhou.

Indeed, the years of war in Jingzhou also prevented the Han Dynasty from building many large warships.

But there were quite a few small boats in Jingzhou, especially after Mi Yang ordered the levy of boats from Jingzhou fishermen.

If they were to confront the Wu navy head-on, no matter how many small warships they had, they would not be able to defeat the Wu navy's tall tower ships.

But under Mi Yang's painstaking planning, the Wu army is now fully focused on public security, so how can they have the energy to send out tower ships to stop the Han army?

Without having to worry about being blocked by Wu’s warships, the small warships have a huge advantage – they are incredibly fast!

When the Han troops on thousands of small boats received the order from Mi Yang, thousands of small boats on the river raised their sails almost at the same time.

Thousands of sails rustled in the cold wind.

As the loud sound of breaking through the air like a hymn rang out, thousands of Han army warships flew quickly towards Zhouling like arrows.

Why are thousands of boats racing against the current and riding the waves?

This is it!

As dozens of rafts continued to drift downstream and gradually reached the waters covered with iron chains, Wei Yan turned his gaze to the torches placed on the rafts.

The torches on the raft were more than ten feet long and several dozen feet in circumference. They lay quietly on the raft like a magic needle waiting to be called.

Because of the previous success, Wei Yan did not hesitate at all this time.

Wei Yan ordered his men to pour sesame oil on the torches on the raft and then push them to the front of the raft.

After all this was done, the raft arrived in the waters covered with iron chains.

As expected, the raft, which had been moving forward unstoppably, was blocked by the iron chain in the water and could no longer move forward at all.

But this scene did not make Wei Yan worried.

Dozens of rafts across the Yangtze River are connected together by iron chains, like a piece of land in the water.

This allowed Wei Yan to retreat smoothly to the raft in the middle.

Standing on the raft in the middle, Wei Yan observed the distance between himself and the raft in front.

After estimating the distance, Wei Yan took a strong bow and a flaming arrow from the guard beside him.

Wei Yan quickly put the burning arrow on the bowstring, then he bent down and raised the arrow in his hand high. Soon after, the flaming arrow flew towards the raft in front with a sound of breaking through the air.

Many people may not know that Wei Yan has always been a sharpshooter in the Han army.

The accuracy of the arrows shot by the sharpshooter is naturally guaranteed.

The flaming arrow landed accurately on the raft in front.

The raft was already flammable, not to mention the large torch covered in sesame oil.

When the flames from the arrows fell on the raft, there might not be any change at first.

But soon after, flames gradually started to ignite on the raft.

Especially those large torches, which Mi Yang had high hopes for, and they did not disappoint Mi Yang.

The fierce flames covered the entire body of the torches almost in an instant, and those torches were all connected to the iron chains in the river.

So the next moment, the raging flames almost unsurprisingly spread towards the iron chains.

At this time, Wei Yan had retreated all the way to the last raft.

But even at such a long distance, Wei Yan could still clearly hear the crackling sound of the flames burning in front of him.

Under the gaze of many Han soldiers, there was already a sea of ​​fire ahead.

Soon after, the small boat that came to pick up Wei Yan and other Han troops arrived.

But Wei Yan did not retreat to the warship behind him in time like others did.

Wei Yan's eyes were fixed on the iron chain in front of him.

Under the burning flames, the surrounding fog was dissipating at an extremely fast speed, allowing Wei Yan to see the situation ahead more and more clearly.

Because he was so focused, Wei Yan didn't know how much time had passed.

Just when Wei Yan's patience was almost worn out, an iron chain finally broke under the scorching fire under Wei Yan's gaze.

Wei Yan could not hear the sound of the iron chain breaking, but at this moment, there was a voice in Wei Yan's heart constantly shouting.

"broken!

It finally broke!"

The next moment, Wei Yan's hearty laughter instantly floated over the mighty Yangtze River.

"Wu Gou, your Grandpa Wei is here!"

(End of this chapter)