Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 333: Shocking China
"Chushui?!"

Wu Mingche was completely stunned at this moment.

Although Wu Mingche had fought against the Pseudo-Qi many times, he was not familiar with Chushui. This was his first time leading a large army to Jiangbei.

Jiangbei and Jiangnan face each other across the river. Although separated by a river, the situations in the two places are completely different.

Wu Mingche walked quickly towards the high platform built inside the tent. The soldiers inside the tent were running around at this moment, with screams and roars everywhere. The officers rushed out one after another, riding their horses wildly, and ordered the soldiers not to flee. Anyone who wanted to escape would be caught by the officers and killed with a single blow.

Although the southerners did not know about the Chu River, they knew about the dike bursting.

After all, water attack is a relatively common tactic in Jiangnan, and many generals in the South have used similar methods.

These old soldiers are too experienced and they know exactly what will happen next.

Wu Mingche quickly climbed onto the platform and looked into the distance.

The originally calm Chushui River became extremely violent at this moment, rushing towards the main camp and the city. The several separate camps closest to the Chushui River had been completely submerged by the rushing water. Only some debris could be seen continuing to move forward with the river. The water flowed at an extremely fast speed and had already rushed towards the main camp.

Guabu City is located in a very low-lying area, and the Chu River is like millions of knights galloping forward, destroying everything they see.

Wu Mingche trembled all over, and then fell into a daze.

The dam burst was not an accident, but man-made.

He sent people to check the situation in Chushui. It was clear that the situation in Chushui had been normal in the past few days and there was no abnormality.

Obviously, there was a strong man on the opposite side who was proficient in water attack tactics. He accurately calculated the situation of Chushui River and then gave them a fatal blow.

And those people may be upstream or in other directions at this moment, quietly waiting for the camp to be completely destroyed.

"General!! General!!"

The soldiers at the side shouted, and Wu Mingche woke up instantly.

He looked at the people around him and said, "Retreat! Don't run to high places, retreat to the river! Get on the boat!!"

"General! The Chu River is turbulent, and the large ships along the coast will also be affected!"

"I know!! Pass my orders!!"

Wu Mingche roared, and the soldier didn't dare to say anything. He turned around and went to convey the order.

Wu Mingche walked down the platform in a daze. Under the current circumstances, walking towards the river would be a very stupid behavior, because the closer to the river, the lower the terrain, the greater the impact would be, even the navy would be affected. It was not known whether only 30% of the tens of thousands of troops plus the civilians could escape.

However, if you run eastward now, to the east of Guabu is Taoye Mountain. It is said that the name comes from Wang Xizhi.

Of course, if we go up the slope now, we may be able to preserve a lot of strength.

However, after the water attack, the aggressive knights would annihilate them all on the high slope, leaving no one able to escape. And after experiencing the embarrassing escape from the water attack, they would have no ability to resist the cavalry of the Northern Hu.

Wu Mingche thought about the consequences of the two options in his mind, and immediately chose a method that would allow some people to escape.

Wu Mingche rode on the warhorse, and even the horse under his crotch seemed to sense something and became extremely irritable, constantly shaking its head and rubbing its hooves.

Wu Mingche ran around and began to organize the army to evacuate.

The movement of tens of thousands of troops is a very complicated matter. Without reasonable deployment, no one knows how many people will die at the hands of their own people.

At this moment, the Chushui River attacked the camp.

With a few screams, the outermost wooden fence collapsed, followed by the inner wall. The inner wall was made of wood, and when facing the Chushui River, it could not put up any resistance and collapsed. The soldiers just raised their heads and saw the wood falling. They let out a scream, fell to the ground, and were then submerged by the water. As the Chushui River advanced, the soldiers completely lost control.

Wu Mingche was still trying to organize the group. "You, the rest of you, go and carry the injured officers on horseback. Take as many as you can!"

"Liu Siduan, don't let your soldiers go towards the city! Let them retreat! Retreat quickly!"

"You!! All of you! Go hold my banner!!"

"Pile it up! Pile it up!"

Wu Mingche was running around like crazy. The Chushui offensive was gradually weakened with wave after wave of charges. Half of the body of the warhorse under Wu Mingche's crotch was soaked in water, and the horse sneezed in dissatisfaction.

On the gentle slope to the north.

Liu Taozi was wearing armor, and the knights lined up and stood behind him.

The Chu River flooded all the way in front of them. Liu Taozi rode on a horse and watched the tents surrounding the city in the distance being broken by the raging water. The soldiers seemed so small in front of the flood. They screamed and fled everywhere, but were swept away by the flood. The water swept them away, rushed to the south bank, and poured into the river.

The Chushui dam had already been breached, and the water continued to wash away the enemy's camp.

Within a moment, at least half of the tents in the distance were reduced to ruins.

Wang Lin stood aside, watching this scene, and suddenly laughed out loud with his head raised.

He laughed particularly happily and his laughter was particularly loud.

Looking at these screaming soldiers, his uneasy heart, which was troubled by the loss of an army of 100,000, seemed to be relieved.

Shi Wansui was young after all, and he couldn't laugh when he saw such a tragic scene.

He had never imagined that the water flow could have such destructive power. Such an impact looked more terrifying than the charge of a hundred thousand troops.

Liu Taozi's face was solemn. He just stared at the situation in the distance without saying a word.

Wang Lin suddenly said, "The enemy did not run to Taoye as expected. They are running towards the river. It seems that Wu Mingche is still in command. He knows that if he goes up the mountain, we will annihilate them all."

"However, it is difficult for a large ship to dock in such a heavy water situation. There is a risk of capsizing at any time. I wonder how many people can survive if they flee south."

Liu Taozi gave the order: "Beat the war drums."

"Dongdongdongdong~~~~"

Suddenly, a continuous sound of drums sounded from the north.

The sudden sound of war drums made the Chen people completely lose control. Wu Mingche was riding on a war horse, but he could no longer command his soldiers. They were only concerned with fleeing and no longer had any thoughts of fighting.

Wu Mingche looked towards the north in despair. The sound of the war drums was particularly dull, and each beat seemed to hit his heart.

The soldiers fled in a hurry, and some simply ran to the high slopes on the east side to avoid the flood.

War drums were occasionally sounded, but the pursuit did not proceed.

The main reason was that the water force was stronger than Wang Lin had estimated. Because of his naval advantage, Wu Mingche deliberately set up his camp at the intersection of Chushui River and the river surface to facilitate the navy to transport goods and people from both sides at the same time.

It was this advantage that caused him to lose his army at this moment.

I don’t know how long it took, but the screams gradually weakened.

Liu Taozi raised the lance in his hand.

"rush!!"

The knights rushed out wildly, and Liu Taozi led the army to bypass the water from the north and headed to the east. He wanted to first eliminate the enemies who fled to the high slopes and then drive them into the water.

As the knights began to run wildly, the ground began to shake again.

Those soldiers and civilians had just climbed up the high slope and had not yet caught their breath when they saw cavalrymen coming towards them like ghosts in the distance.

The sound of war drums is getting closer.

They stood up in fear, and being unarmed they could only flee in all directions.

Liu Taozi rushed over first. As soon as a man who looked like a general raised his spear, Liu Taozi's horse lance hit him hard, and the general was directly knocked into the river by Liu Taozi.

Black Wind became more violent, knocking over the soldiers in front of him, and the knights chased him along the way.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!!!"

When they heard the Qi people's shouts, the Chen people hurriedly knelt on the ground and begged for their lives.

Those who are unwilling to surrender can only jump into the turbulent water.

Wu Mingche had now arrived at the southernmost part, and more than ten of his personal soldiers were desperately pulling a small boat.

The boat was still shaking.

"General! Get on board! Get on board!!"

Cheng Lao Hu shouted loudly.

Wu Mingche stood there in a daze, looking at the brave general in front of him, but what emerged in his mind was the letter sent to him by the emperor.

He couldn't help but put his foot, which had been raised, on the ground again.

He looked around again.

The entire camp was completely destroyed. After entering the river, the Chushui River had a place to vent its water, and the offensive was gradually weakening. However, the entire area around Guabu was submerged in water.

The situation was not as outrageous as before, but Wu Mingche was still soaking in the water, his whole body cold.

"kill!!"

The roar of the Northern Hu knights could be heard from afar, and they were seen approaching one by one, each holding a crossbow, facing the surrounding soldiers without much mercy, and shooting with their bows. War horses could not charge in such an environment, but the ability of horse archery suddenly became particularly important at this moment, as long as they could see the enemy, they could shoot and kill at any time.

There is no mercy on the battlefield.

Cheng Wenji looked at the approaching enemy and ignored Wu Mingche's hesitation. He rushed over quickly and picked up Wu Mingche.

Wu Mingche was more of a commander, but his fighting power was obviously not as strong as the rough man in front of him. Cheng Wenji just picked him up, rushed to the side of the boat, and threw him in.

“Go!! Go!!”

Cheng Wenji shouted, and the soldiers loosened the ropes and began to climb onto the boat.

The boat was moving towards the river at an extremely fast speed.

"Ah!!"

Then he heard angry shouts behind him, and within a moment, dozens of grappling hooks were thrown over, some of which hooked the ships, and some of which hooked the soldiers.

The moving ship suddenly stopped, and everyone on board was swaying. Only Cheng Wenji managed to keep his balance.

Cheng Wenji turned around and saw several knights behind him. They threw out grappling hooks, which were only used in naval battles. Cheng Wenji didn't know why Liu Taozi and his gang of northerners would also use this thing, but now was not the time to think about the reason. The knights held the grappling hooks tightly to prevent the boat from moving forward, while the rest of the knights quickly closed the distance between each other and raised their crossbows.

Cheng Wenji roared angrily, holding a steel knife, and began to cut the hooks.

"cut!"

“Get rid of it!!”

Several bodyguards also came up to help, but the number of knights on the opposite side was increasing, and grappling hooks were constantly being thrown out. Cheng Wenji became ruthless and acted quickly. An officer had already forced his way in front of him, and it was obvious that he wanted to capture him alive first. This officer was the leader of these knights.

Cheng Wenji picked up a grappling hook and threw it towards the knight in front of him.

The grappling hook hit the knight's armor head-on, and the knight's breastplate seemed to be dented. He tilted backwards and fell into the water.

This immediately made the knights give up the idea of ​​capturing him alive.

“Swoosh~swoosh~swoosh~swoosh~~”

Arrows flew towards him instantly, Cheng Wenji raised his hands, his armor was full of arrows, and he felt severe pain all over his body.

The next moment, someone suddenly rushed over and pushed Cheng Wenji away.

Cheng Wenji staggered and looked ahead in astonishment.

Wu Mingche stretched out his hand and blocked in front of him.

The next moment, Wu Mingche's back was filled with arrows.

“Run, run!!!”

Wu Mingche widened his eyes and roared at Cheng Wenji. The next moment, he looked at the personal soldiers on his left and right.

"Kill with me!!!"

Wu Mingche turned around and jumped off the boat, holding a steel knife and cutting the hook ropes one by one. His bodyguards jumped off without hesitation. As they continued to cut, the boat started again.

Cheng Wenqi struggled to get up, but saw the boat sailing away quickly, and Wu Mingche standing in the water, with arrows all behind him, holding a steel knife, facing the enemy head-on.

Cheng Wenji was about to jump down when Wu Mingche seemed to sense it and suddenly turned back.

"Get out of here!!!"

He cursed harshly.

Cheng Wenji stood there in a daze. The boat was moving very fast and he could only watch Wu Mingche's figure getting smaller and smaller.

Wu Mingche turned around and looked at the many knights in front of him.

These knights had obviously discovered Wu Mingche's identity through his armor.

Wu Mingche took a deep breath.

"kill!!!"

He rushed out in the flood, holding the knife in both hands, but before he could get close to the enemy, the knights' arrows attacked again.

There were more and more arrows on Wu Mingche's body.

Finally, the speed of his charge slowed down.

He just staggered and fell down weakly.

At the moment of falling, his head seemed to glance behind him.

With endless guilt and regret.

Guabu City.

The city gates had long been demolished and the city was filled with captured prisoners.

The knights moved back and forth around the prisoners, who all had their heads down and were tied to each other with ropes so that they could not escape.

There were so many prisoners that the entire city could hardly accommodate them all.

After experiencing such a crushing defeat, they no longer had the courage to resist. They just sat on the ground in a daze, not daring to raise their heads.

The knights passed by them in a show of force, keeping a close eye on them to prevent them from joining forces to cause chaos.

Liu Taozi was standing at the city gate, discussing the aftermath with Wang Lin.

At this moment, Shi Wansui rushed in from outside excitedly.

He was holding something in his hands.

"Lord!!"

"Look! Wu Mingche! Wu Mingche has been arrested!"

Shi Wansui raised the thing in his hand high, and it turned out to be Wu Mingche's head.

For a moment, the scene was somewhat silent.

Even Wang Lin fell silent at this moment.

Given the current situation in the Southern Kingdom, there are no veteran generals left. Wu Mingche is the standard-bearing figure among the Southern Kingdom's generals. Just like Duan Shao, who was left behind after the death of the famous generals of the Northern Qi Dynasty, he is a leading figure at the moment.

I didn't expect such a person to end up like this.

Wang Lin originally thought that he could not catch Wu Mingche because the water was flowing too fast and the knights could not come down quickly to catch him. They gave Wu Mingche a long time, which was enough time for him to escape.

I think this guy reserved some strength and was not in a hurry to lead the way and leave. He sent the rest of the people away first, but in the end he couldn't escape.

Shi Wansui looked behind him and shouted, "Come here! Come here!"

Immediately, an officer from the Mandrill Camp walked up quickly. There was a dent on his breastplate, and he saluted Liu Taozi.

Liu Taozi glanced at him and asked, "Did you catch Yuchi Jia?"

The young officer Yuchi Jia bowed his head and saluted hurriedly. "I ran into them by accident. They were already on the boat, so I had someone hook them with a grappling hook to prevent them from escaping. Later, Wu Mingche took the initiative to jump off and sent the people on the boat away. I couldn't catch up with him, so I could only chop off Wu Mingche's head."

This Yuchi Jia was from Jinyang. When Hulugu led his people to leave Jinyang, Yuchi Jia's father Yuchi Mengdu led his own army to follow Hulugu. Because of his strong physique and excellent performance, Yuchi Jia joined Liu Taozi's gibbon camp.

The composition of Liu Taozi's baboon camp was extremely complex. There were recruited Han people from border areas, people from Yecheng, people from Jinyang, Xiongnu people from Hengzhou, and even a few defected Xi people and Rouran people.

However, the army issued orders in Chinese, unlike the former Qi State, where military orders were issued in Xianbei language. Gao Huan would only issue orders in Chinese when Gao Aocao was present.

The Xianbei, Xiongnu, Di, Qiang and other tribes in the north have lived together with the Han people for a very long time, and people like these bandits are the majority.

"Okay, record his merits and reward him after the war is over."

"Thank you, my lord!!"

Yuchi Jia was very excited and thanked him quickly.

His father had always looked down on him, thinking that he was not like the old Jinyang nobles, and that he was also fucking imitating the Han people and indulging in reading, not doing his job properly, and giving up the good tradition of the old nobles of fighting and killing.

But Yuchi Jia felt that studying did not interfere with fighting.

This time, I can capture the enemy general myself, and when I return I can make my grandfather shut up!
Shi Wansui was extremely excited at this moment. He held the head in his arms and said, "My lord, we have killed Wu Mingche! I'm afraid the southerners will be too scared to sleep this time!"

"Kill Yang Zhong in the north and Wu Mingche in the south!"

"My lord is the best general in the world!!"

"Shock China!"

(Yuchi Jingde) Great-grandfather Benzhen, General of the Central Army, General of Champion, and Founding Duke of Yuyang County in the Later Wei Dynasty, was granted the title of Military Officer of the Six States in China and Abroad, and was posthumously named Mao. Great-grandfather Yidu was the Left Military Officer of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and was promoted to Jinzi Guanglu Dafu. He entered the Zhou Dynasty and was the Military Officer of Jeju and the Governor of Jeju. Kaojia was granted the title of Yitong Sansi and Recorder of King Wei, and was posthumously named Duke of Changning'an by the imperial court, and was granted the title of Governor of Fenzhou and Governor of Youzhou. ——"Monument to the Late Minister of the Tang Dynasty, Governor of Bingzhou, Duke Eguo Zhongwu"

(End of this chapter)