Chapter 112: A Textbook Battle Case

Sun Quan did not know that Chen Deng had played another joke on him.

And this joke would create a classic textbook battle case of few fighting many.

On the City Wall, Chen Deng’s two arms felt as heavy as lead, hanging loosely between his legs.

He had drummed continuously for over an hour and was now completely out of strength. Leaning against the city gate tower, he stared at the Jiangdong Elite troops that kept jumping onto the wall.

“Is everything arranged?”

“The Grand Administrator, all is ready. We only await your order to send the ambush troops into action.”

“Hehe~ Sun Lang, Sun Lang, can you really not decide?” Pushing out his last bit of strength, Chen Deng smiled brilliantly. Since Sun Quan insisted on continuing the siege, Chen Deng had already won more than half the battle.

“Jiangdong troops move without limit. Because they think they have the danger of the Yangtze River, they believe no one can touch them? This is a path to death. Send my order: let the ambush troops kill as many as possible toward the riverbank. I want Sun Ce to dare not even touch Guangling for the rest of his life!”

“Yes!”

The Vice General under his command bowed and received the order, then immediately ordered the messengers to issue the next military command.

“The Grand Administrator orders the ambush troops to attack the riverbank directly!”

When this order echoed in the ears of countless Players, thousands of Players who had been impatiently waiting surged out immediately.

All night without sleep, they had waited for this very moment!

“Kill!”

“Follow the Great God to kill Sun Lang.”

“Sun Zhongmou, Daydream Great God is here, and your death is near!”

The Player charge showed no formation or discipline. In short, it was just a two-kilometer sprint, shouting and screaming as they attacked the riverbank. This was only possible because the Players had slightly improved their Lord Attribute after leveling up; otherwise, many of them might not have been able to run even five li.

Five li and ten-plus li made a big difference.

Sun Quan had fully expected the Cao Army’s reinforcements to still be more than ten li away. Who would have thought that in just a short while, the Cao Army reinforcements would be almost at the city walls!

“Not good!”

Sun Quan finally realized things were going badly. The soldiers he had sent to attack the city gate had failed to breach it, and now they were stuck in a dilemma between advance and retreat. If the Cao Army reinforcements arrived and pounced on them, his 7,000 to 8,000 Danyang Elite soldiers would likely be wiped out at Guangling.

“Retreat!”

“Sound the brass gong to recall the troops. Everyone retreat at once!”

Without time to think further, Sun Quan immediately issued the retreat command.

As soon as the order was given, Sun Quan glared hatefully at the Guangling city walls. “Chen Yuanlong, you cunning man! You actually tricked me with a plan!”

Originally, Sun Quan thought that even if they couldn’t capture the city, they would have time to retreat. But now, he had given a panicked order. Many people didn’t even understand what was happening when they started retreating along with the fleeing troops.

By the time they retreated from the city wall, they saw that the Cao Army reinforcements were less than one li away from them.

How could this be allowed?

Run away quickly!

Harsh mountains and evil waters produce cunning people. Although the Danyang troops were famous for being fierce to the point that Cao Cao had once traveled there to recruit soldiers, this group was usually the hardest to control.

Seeing the situation turn against them, they turned around immediately and fled.

No chain of command, no orderly retreat.

Forget it!

For the first time in his military career, Sun Quan had used the wrong soldiers at the wrong time and then issued a wrong command.

The most direct consequence was that when he escaped back to the Tower Ship in the Central Army on the riverbank, even though Sun Ce was right before his eyes, he could not reverse the sudden defeat.

Sun Ce said not a single word of nonsense. He simply ordered the Tower Ship to return: “Today we retreat temporarily to Jiangnan. We will fight for Guangling another day.”

Standing on the Tower Ship, Sun Ce witnessed with his own eyes how the Jiangdong troops’ fortunes went from promising to a complete collapse in an instant.

Was this Sun Quan’s failure in command?

Sun Ce did not know the answer.

But with the troops’ morale shaken, the Jiangdong troops were no longer fit to fight desperately at Guangling.

Retreat was the only inevitable choice.

Fortunately, he still had his main forces intact. There were losses, but it was not a crippling blow.

More than ten large Tower Ships, accompanied by Mengchong and Doujian ships, began their southward retreat. Because the withdrawal was so hasty, many Players and Danyang troops were still left stranded on the shore.

Some Danyang soldiers, summoning their courage, jumped directly into the river, leading many Players to imitate them.

And then… that was all there was.

Players could choose to Respawn on the Tower Ship after death, but the Danyang soldiers could only sink to the bottom of the river with their bodies.

…

North of Dantu County, on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Compared to the “Daydreaming” hideout on the north bank, Mo Xiaobai was actually much more low-key.

A day earlier, he had already made contact with Chen Deng through the Xiaoshi. However, Chen Deng did not let him lead troops into Guangling. Instead, he gave Mo Xiaobai a different order.

Steal across the river and conduct a surprise attack on the Jiangdong supply camps on the south bank.

The reason given was very sound. Even if Guangling had three thousand more troops now, they would still be at a disadvantage facing the Sun Family’s tens of thousands of soldiers, and the fundamental situation could not be changed. If they could force Sun Quan to retreat and then burn his grain supplies, given the current situation in Jiangdong, it would be almost impossible to organize another large-scale battle with twenty or thirty thousand men.

Knowing Chen Deng’s plan, Mo Xiaobai naturally had no objection.

If he could easily handle the Guangling battlefield, it would bring him many benefits as well. Perhaps he could speed up his return and make it in time for the final decisive battle between Cao and Yuan.

Taking Li Ji and Li Guang, he took a detour to cross the river. Apart from a small boat that capsized accidentally and drowned twenty soldiers, everyone else landed safely.

At this time, almost all the Jiangdong troops had crossed north to Guangling. Mo Xiaobai didn’t even need to raise his sword to boost morale. Just with Li Guang leading the charge and killing, he completely took control of the entire supply camp.

Only now did Tower Ships begin to slowly break through the waves and return to the south bank of the Yangtze River.

“My Lord, when should we set the fire?”

After breaking into the supply camp guarded by only four hundred soldiers, Li Guang felt no excitement at all. Now he just wanted to burn the camp down immediately and lure some freshly disembarked Jiangdong soldiers to return for rescue.

“No rush. We must give Sun Lang a little hope, after all.”

Mo Xiaobai chuckled, holding his Xumi Bag in his hand. The supplies in the camp had already been emptied by Mo Xiaobai, so burning them would only set fire to wooden frames.

“Are all the troops hidden and ready?”

“My Lord, we are only waiting for the Jiangdong troops to retreat into our trap.”

“Good, that is fine.” Mo Xiaobai stroked his chin and looked toward the north, his eyes sparkling with light. “If Sun Ce comes personally later, can you, the Flying General, be sure to kill him?”

“If that Sun Ce truly has the bravery of the Little Conqueror, this subordinate will certainly present his head to you.”

Mo Xiaobai raised an eyebrow noncommittally and nodded. “Go prepare. Maogong, come with me to burn this wretched camp.”

One minute later, the entire supply camp caught fire on all four sides.

The flames shone brightly. The Soldiers on the Tower Ships that had just docked by the river saw everything clearly.

“Big Brother, that is our grain storage camp on the other side!” As Sun Quan was about to walk down from the Tower Ship, he stopped in his tracks, and his face turned completely pale.

Losing a battle is not terrible; what is terrible is having one’s rear supply line cut!

Once the grain is burned, this war truly cannot be fought.

“You stay here. I will lead the troops to return and aid us.”

Sun Ce was not calm now either. Those grain supplies had been painstakingly accumulated by him. He absolutely could not let them be burned in one fire.

Fortunately, the fire was not too large, and probably not many attacking troops were involved. The grain and supplies might still be saved.

“Big Brother, let me do it!”

“Stop arguing. You should properly organize the retreating troops. Another day, I will fight for Guangling again.”

Sun Ce waved his right hand and immediately led his Personal Guard away. He did not have time to gather all the troops and took less than three hundred men, rushing fiercely toward the supply camp.