My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 109 Where does he get the confidence from? Guan Yu: I will let you know who is the king of the Yangtze River!
Jianli is the water camp of Jingzhou army.

"How dare Guan Yu be so arrogant and treat me like a forbidden person?"

Inside the big tent, Cai Mao stood up angrily, holding a piece of information written on a piece of silk.

That was when a patrol boat downstream just sent an urgent report, saying that Guan Yu commanded more than 18,000 naval forces and more than 500 warships approaching up the river, and the vanguard was only ten miles away from Jianli.

There was an uproar in the tent. Cai Zhong, Zhang Yun and other generals were all shocked by the news.

"Our army has nearly 30,000 men. The number of our troops, warships, and even the elite soldiers are far superior to Liu's army."

"Brother is also recognized by everyone in Jingzhou as the best general in naval warfare. So where does Guan Yu get the confidence to come and provoke me?"

Cai Zhong told everyone what surprised them and took the opportunity to praise his brothers.

Zhang Yunze showed indignation and said with a folded hand:
"Guan Yu has always been conceited. This must be because after his lucky victory over the Jiangdong army at Xiakou, he became so arrogant that he looked down on everyone and thought he was unbeatable in naval battles. That's why he dared to challenge our army with 18,000 naval forces!"

"General Degui, since he has offered himself to us, I believe we should adapt to the situation, change our established strategy, lead our navy into battle, and defeat him in one fell swoop!"

Cai Mao narrowed his eyes, and a cold light flashed across them.

According to the strategy formulated by Kuai Yue, after he led the main force to Jianli, he stationed his troops there and temporarily suspended the attack on Baqiu.

On the one hand, he ordered the Jingnan coalition forces to attack Baqiu from land to consume Liu Bei's manpower.

On the other hand, he waited for Sun Quan's Jiangdong army to arrive and attack Liu Bei from the east.

At that time, if Cai Mao sent troops eastward again, he could achieve the strategic goal of defeating Liu Bei's navy and retaking Bazhou in one fell swoop with the least consumption.

The current situation is that Liu Bei does not play by the rules.

There was no news from Sun Quan yet, and the Jingnan coalition had not yet launched an attack on Baqiu, but Guan Yu's navy, which was originally on the defensive, actually took the initiative to attack!

The situation has changed, and there are only two paths before him.

Either hide in the cave or take the initiative to fight back.

The strongest general in Jingzhou's naval battles, commanding a navy nearly twice the size of the enemy's, was actually frightened by Guan Yu and retreated to the battlefield?

If this gets out, what will happen to Cai Mao's reputation in Jingzhou?

This battle must be fought!

"Swipe!"

Cai Mao tore the silk book into pieces and snorted coldly:
"Since Guan Yu has come here to die, how can I not help him? In this battle, I will let him know who is the king of naval warfare in Jingzhou!"

Cai Mao wanted to fight.

Generals Cai Zhong and Zhang Yun were in high spirits and eager to fight.

"General Cai, Wei thinks it's best for us not to go to war!"

Amidst the high morale of the fight, Wang Wei remained calm and poured a bucket of cold water on them.

Cai Mao frowned and glanced at Wang Wei.

"The strategy Kuai Biejia has outlined for us is to wait for Sun Quan's Jiangdong army to reach Baqiu before we can attack and attack Guan Yu's navy from both the east and the west."

"There's been no news from the Jiangdong army about Jiangxia yet. I think we should prioritize safety and not change Kuai Biejia's strategy without authorization."

Wang Wei stated the reasons for his opposition.

When Cai Mao heard him talking about Kuai Yue's strategy in every sentence, he curled his lips secretly and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, but he didn't dare to refute him openly.

"The art of war is about adapting to changing circumstances. Now that Guan Yu has taken the initiative to fight, it's beyond Kuai Yidu's expectations. How can we continue to stick to our original plan?"

"General Wang, you're a veteran of many battles, how can you be so pedantic?"

Cai Zhong figured out Cai Mao's thoughts, and he took over and gave a sarcastic rebuttal.

Wang Wei was frustrated and swallowed his saliva before saying:
"General Cai's words are indeed true. However, although Guan Yu is from the north, he is an expert in naval warfare. He defeated Yu Jin and then Zhou Yu. His naval combat skills should not be underestimated."

"Guan Yu, knowing full well that his forces are smaller than ours, still dares to come and challenge us. He is clearly confident and fearless. We should be cautious."

Seeing Wang Wei was so wary of Guan Yu, Zhang Yun couldn't help but sneer:
"Yu Jin is just a fool, completely incompetent in water warfare, so what's the point of winning?"

"As for Zhou Yu, Guan Yu's victory was due to his deception, catching the Jiangdong army off guard, rather than relying on his true strength."

"This battle was a head-on confrontation. Could it be that General Wang believes that General Degui is no match for Guan Yu, a northerner?"

Wang Wei was speechless. He glanced at Cai Mao and dared not say anything else.

Having said that, if anyone still questions it, it is obvious that they think Cai Mao is not as good as Guan Yu in naval battles.

Wang Wei is not yet so honest.

What's more, what Zhang Yun said does make sense.

"Gongwu, since you are so afraid of Guan Yu, you should stay and guard the Lishui Camp."

"The rest of you generals, march out immediately and follow me to destroy Guan Yu!"

Cai Mao gave an indifferent order and walked away with his sword in hand.

Cai Zhong, Zhang Yun and other generals all followed out, but Wang Wei was left behind in the tent.

Wang Wei could only sigh.

...

At dusk, Jianli was five miles downstream.

On the great river, a huge fleet lay flat on the water, sailing westwards up the river in a mighty manner.

At the bow of the flagship, Guan Yu stood proudly with his sword in hand, his half-open eyes scanning the distance ahead.

At the end of the river, countless cloud-like sails came overwhelmingly, and flags with the word "Cai" on them caught the eye.

"Bo Wen's prediction was correct. Cai Mao really looked down on me and led his army to fight..."

Guan Yu raised the corners of his mouth slightly and looked again carefully.

The overall picture of the Jingzhou military fleet gradually became clear.

There were more than 700 warships of various sizes and countless tower ships and battleships. Even a blind man could see from this formation that Cai Mao had come in full force.

"That's exactly what I want!" Guan Yu smiled coldly, waved his hand and shouted:

"Beat the drums, all troops, advance and launch a feint attack!"

The war drums sounded and the flagship flag waved.

All of Liu Jun's ships were fully sailed and oars were used. They formed an attack formation and rushed towards the Jingzhou navy coming downstream.

On the flagship of the Jingzhou Army.

At the same time, Cai Mao also saw Liu Jun's navy clearly.

What annoyed him was that when the two armies met, Guan Yu launched an attack without hesitation and rushed forward directly.

How much do you look down on him!

"Brother, Guan Yu is really arrogant. He doesn't take you seriously at all!"

Cai Zhong pointed forward, fanning the flames indignantly.

Cai Mao's anger was ignited in an instant.

"Guan Yu, today I will teach you how to fight a real naval battle!"

Cai Mao's eyes were filled with rage, and he drew his sword and pointed it forward:
"Send the message to Zhang Yun to lead the front troops to press forward and charge first."

"Order the central army and the left and right armies to stabilize their formation and push forward to crush the ragtag group of big-eared thieves!"

The command flags waved and the drums beat to the sky.

Seven or eight hundred Jingzhou warships, taking advantage of the downstream force, pushed towards Liu's army in a large number.

Cai Mao's formation was well-versed in naval warfare, and it fully utilized the numerical advantage of the Jingzhou army's tower ships, fighting ships and other large ships.

Having learned from the lesson of Yu Jin's defeat, Cai Mao also deployed enough chariots in the front and on the left and right wings to prevent Guan Yu from repeating the same trick and launching a boarding and hand-to-hand combat with chariot boats.

The Jingzhou army pressed forward steadily, and the two armies soon came within the range of bows and crossbows.

In an instant, thousands of arrows were fired from the two warships.

Countless sharp arrows intertwined into a net in the sky, pouring down towards the enemy's warships.

Screams rang out, and streams of blood flew into the air, dyeing the sky above the warship red.

After only a short moment of arrow rain, the advantage of the Jingzhou army quickly became apparent.

With more soldiers, there are more archers and crossbowmen, twice as many as Liu's army.

Moreover, the Jiangling navy is the essence of the Jingzhou navy, and the number of large warships such as tower ships and fighting ships is about twice that of Liu's army.

Having many large ships gives you the advantage of being able to command a high position and concentrate firepower.

With the two advantages combined, Guan Yu's navy was quickly suppressed to the point where they could no longer raise their heads, and the situation quickly took a turn for the worse.

Guan Yu, who was on the flagship, looked as cold and stern as usual.

It seemed that he had already anticipated this unfavorable situation.

Seeing that the two armies had approached more than fifty steps, they were about to enter the maximum distance for combat.

Guan Yu waved his hand and shouted coldly:
"Sound the horn! The entire army will immediately turn around and retreat eastward!"

Dangdang Dangdang!
On the flagship, a golden sound rang out, and the flag of retreat waved.

The ships that were pressed to the point where they could not lift their heads immediately turned around and retreated as if they had been pardoned.

Before engaging in battle with the Jingzhou army, four or five hundred warships of Liu's army turned downstream and "fled eastward."

Seeing Liu's army retreating in the middle of the battle, the morale of the Jingzhou army was greatly boosted, and the shouts of killing shook the sky.

"Our Jiangling navy is so strong that even Sun Ce would have retreated, let alone a northern barbarian like you, Guan Yu."

Cai Mao on the flagship raised the expected sneer on his face.

It seemed that Guan Yu could not withstand the pressure of the arrows and chose to retreat and flee eastward in the face of the enemy, which was also within his expectations.

Putting away his sneer, Cai Mao pointed his sword and said sternly:
"All troops, listen to my order! Chase the enemy at full speed!"

"In today's battle, I will completely annihilate the Big Ear Bandit's navy and capture Guan Yu alive!"

The sound of war drums rang out like thunder.

The soldiers from Jingzhou on each ship were like chickens with their blood pumped up, urging the warships to chase after the enemy at all costs.

From Cai Mao to the soldiers, all the soldiers of Jingzhou had bloodshot eyes as they stared intently at the "escaping" warships of Liu's army in front of them.

But no one noticed that in the reeds on both sides of the river, thousands of excited eyes were staring at them like prey in their mouths.

At the bow of one of the ships, Ding Feng was pushing aside the reeds and staring intently at the Jingzhou navy passing by.

"General Guan's ability in naval warfare is so great that even Zhou Lang would be three points behind him."

"That Cai Mao guy would never have imagined, even in his wildest dreams, that General Guan was feigning defeat. He must have ambushed my special forces in the reeds along both banks..."

Ding Feng looked towards Guan Yu's flagship, his eyes full of admiration.

On Liu Jun’s flagship.

At this moment, Guan Yu's eyes were also fixed on the reeds on both sides of the river.

There were three thousand special troops he had ambushed in advance.

His main fleet was just a bait, and the three thousand special troops were the trump card to defeat Cai Mao.

In a blink of an eye, the Jingzhou army had chased for several miles, exposing its unprotected rear to the swords of the three thousand special forces.

The time has come.

"Cai Mao, today I will let you know who is the king of the Yangtze River!"

Guan Yu opened his eyes, waved his hands domineeringly and shouted:
"Send the order to Ding Feng, send out the ambush troops and go straight for Cai Mao's flagship!"

(End of this chapter)