I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 196 Turbulent Waves
The drizzling rain in Jingzhou made the soldiers, who were covered in armor, very uncomfortable. It felt as if something was stuck to their bodies, making it impossible for their skin to breathe and causing them to feel hot and uncomfortable.

Soon, rainwater began to flood the Lishan area. Huang Zu ordered his soldiers to dig dikes and clear a dry area on the south side for troop deployment. At the same time, he brought over the warships from Xiakou and connected them together.

"After this rain, the wind and waves will be calm, and we will surely win in one fell swoop."

Huang Zu was warming himself by a campfire in the military camp.

"If we can capture Liu Miao, then the entire Jiangdong region will be within our grasp."

"All we have to do now is wait..."

Huang Zujun's soldiers did not question Huang Zu's judgment.

When the rain stops and the sky clears, the outcome of the battle will be clear.

As for now... what's the point if we don't play Liubo or Shefu indoors?
The soldiers inside the sentry post were all crowded together, excitedly clapping the ground—

"Run! Run! Take the slant! Go for his pheasant!"

"Quiet down, quiet down, watch me kill him!"

"Bullshit! I'm six moves ahead of you! I don't believe you can beat me!"

The soldier sitting opposite the chessboard picked up the dice, held them in his hand, and devoutly closed his eyes: "Six, six, six! God Taiyi, I want a six!"

He suddenly threw the zither down; that thing was also a nasty nuisance, it kept spinning and the numbers on it kept changing.

"Six, six, six!"

The dozen or so soldiers on either side were all staring at the circling Qiong, and when it slowly stopped, they all held their breath with focused attention.

"Six! It really is Liu!"

"Hahahaha! I won!"

The soldier who threw the dice laughed loudly, grabbing the coins on the table: "Quick, quick, the loser goes outside to stand guard for an hour! Hahaha!"

The losing soldier also cursed loudly. He had just gotten up from the table when someone immediately sat down: "Damn it! Is there some kind of ditch with water flowing through it? Why is it so wet?"

The other person quickly moved their bottom to the side and picked up their chopsticks: "I'll go first! I'll go first!"

The losing soldier could only grumble and watch the other soldiers playing together, then reluctantly put on his raincoat and went outside.

"Whoo~~~"

This awful weather, it's neither cold nor hot, it's just unbearable!
This sentry post is in an excellent position, offering a perfect view of the entire river.

The drizzle went from gentle to heavy and then back to gentle again, and the waves went from large to small and then back to large, which was quite irritating to watch.

"In this kind of weather, ordinary fishermen don't even come out to fish, so what enemy army would attack from here?"

Bored, the soldier reached behind his back and pulled out the fabric stuck between his buttocks, shivering involuntarily.

He then brought the hand to his nose and smelled it; the aroma instantly made him intoxicated: "Wow~~~"

Just as the soldier was about to switch hands to tug at his buttocks again, his eyes involuntarily caught sight of a black dot.

"What is that? Are you seeing things?"

The soldier looked into the distance, then suddenly froze, his movements stiffening, forgetting even to pull his hand out from between his buttocks.

After watching for a long time, he finally realized what was happening and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!!"

"Bullshit! What 'loyal subordinate'? Are you trying to renege on your post and avoid guard duty?"

The platoon leader emerged from the warm room, displeased: "Falsifying military intelligence is punishable by death! Do you want to die, kid?"

"It's a real enemy attack! Look!"

The squad leader looked downstream to the east, and his expression changed as well.

A hazy mist, swirling with white waves, merged the boundary between heaven and earth into one, a gray blur that made it impossible to see anything clearly.

Only a few dark figures, as solid as rocks, stood firm and unmoved in the waves.

After looking for a while, I realized that what I saw were not rocks in the river at all, but boats from the east of the river, sailing upstream against the current, breaking through the wind and waves and heading upstream!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Light the beacon! Get the fire lettuce!"

In the south, where there is much rain and mist, thick and long reed stalks are tied together to form fire starters to serve as beacon fires.

From the first sentry post, billowing black smoke traveled all the way up the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, instantly igniting a long dragon of fire!
As Huang Zu got older, his knees would ache involuntarily on rainy days.

Upon seeing the beacon fire, Huang Zu immediately burst into laughter and donned his armor.

"In such a vast area as Jiangdong, is there not a single person who knows anything about military affairs?"

"Attack from downstream to upstream is already a disadvantage, yet Liu Miao dares to go into battle in this weather. Does he think he can catch me off guard?"

"Send troops! Today I will teach Liu Miao a lesson on how to fight a naval battle!"

------

On a boat downstream, Liu Miao, wearing a bamboo hat, stood at the bow.

"My lord, the rain is getting heavier. Let's go into the cabin to take shelter from the rain."

"Don't go."

Liu Miao raised his head, and the first thing that caught his eye was not the sky or the sun, but his own banner with the character "Han".

The plan to have Liu Ye build pointed-bottom boats to engage Huang Zu in naval battles during rainy days, thus eliminating the disadvantage of fighting downstream, was a pre-arranged tactic.

But when it came time to set off, some soldiers became fearful.

"Where can we get out in such a storm?"

"This is the Yangtze River! Does my lord truly not know the might of the Yangtze?"

What people are used to seeing every day are still those flat-bottomed boats that travel freely on rivers and lakes.

This boat has a shallow draft, and it's prone to capsizing in rough seas, often resulting in the annihilation of the entire fleet. Even with explanations from officers and soldiers, many soldiers still hesitate to board, lingering at the ferry crossing.

Originally, according to Zhou Yu's plan, Liu Miao was supposed to stay in E County.

Upon hearing that the soldiers were afraid to board the ship, Liu Miao appeared directly at the ferry crossing and had Zhou Tai stand on the bow of the ship carrying his banner.

"You lot! I, Liu Miao, dared to board this ship, do you think you wouldn't?"

The banner of Xuan Yun Chi Yan was whipped up by the gale, and Liu Miao, wearing gold and silver scale armor, had his crimson cloak fluttering behind him. From a distance, it looked as if Liu Miao was enveloped in a ball of flames.

"If you dare, hurry up and get on the boat, and come with me to drive Huang Zu's troops into the Yangtze River to feed the fish! If you don't dare, hurry up and unzip your pants and see if your two soft balls are still there! Hahahaha!"

The soldiers below the ship looked at each other, and finally made up their minds—

"Fight!"

Even Liu Miao dared to board the ship, so what did these ordinary soldiers have to hesitate about?
Even if we capsize into the river, it will be with Liu Miao, which will be a source of pride!

"Set off!! In this battle, we must utterly annihilate the Jingzhou navy! We must completely open the gates of Jingzhou!"

With Liu Miao setting an example by himself, the soldiers immediately set no further hesitation and began to board the warships and brave the wind and waves!
"what?"

Once aboard, it became clear that this ship was indeed different from the others!
Although there was still some turbulence, it was still within a tolerable range. For some soldiers who were used to living on boats, it felt like walking on flat ground, with no impact whatsoever!

"My lord is mighty!!!"

When the soldiers saw Liu Miao's banner, they were no longer panicked and steered their boats into the raging storm to see just how strong the waves of the Yangtze River could be!

Liu Miao looked at Lu Su, who had told him to go and rest in the rain, and said, "Zijing, everyone's watching me! How can I run away now?"

By this time, the raindrops had grown to the size of soybeans. Lu Su struggled to stand firm and squinted to keep his vision clear.

"My lord, can we win this battle?"

"You should ask Gongjin that question!"

Liu Miao also put his palm on his forehead to shield himself from the rain.

"I'm just telling you, this ship will absolutely not capsize!"

"At least, it won't capsize before Huang Zu's ship does!"

"That's enough!"

Lu Su gripped the railing, his ears twitching slightly: "My lord! It's the sound of drums! The fleet ahead has encountered Huang Zu's army!"

"it is good!"

Standing at the bow of the boat, Liu Miao felt his heart soaring with the waves and into the sky, causing his throat to tighten involuntarily.

"Tell the rest of the generals to be aware of their positions! Be ready to charge at any time!"

"Here!"

The drumbeats on Liu Miao's boat suddenly rose and fell, blending with the heavens and earth, constantly bombarding Huang Zu's heart.

Something is wrong!
Something is very wrong!
As soon as Huang Zu left the ferry by boat, he immediately realized that something was wrong with the battle.

The light drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour.

Before the ships from Jingzhou even left the port, many had already been torn apart and swallowed by the giant waves, and then gradually disappeared into the river.

"Has Liu Miao gone mad? He dares to fight me with this kind of swagger? I'm afraid by the time he gets to me, his own ship will be half-capsized."

Huang Zu was scared.

He dared not leave the port.

He is waiting.

We'll wait until the scouts send word that Liu Miao's fleet has been completely annihilated, or until Liu Miao himself realizes something is wrong and returns ahead of schedule...

Unfortunately, none of this happened.

The only thing that happened was that Liu Miao's ship was getting closer and closer to them! Closer and closer!
Later, Huang Zu, standing in the camp at Lishan, could even see Liu Miao's fleet sailing upstream from downstream!
Faced with the immense power of heaven and earth, those boats were like ants struggling endlessly in the river.

Every time a huge wave crashed over the boat, Huang Zu would stare intently at it, shouting, "Capsize! Capsize!!!"

Although the way those boats rolled and scrambled was ugly, they just wouldn't let a single one capsize!
The sound of war drums on the ship had already drowned out the gale and the giant waves, constantly pounding on Huang Zu's body, making his joints ache even more.

At the very front of Liu Miao's fleet were none other than Huang Zu's recently defeated "enemies".

Leading the way was a large banner with the character "Sun" that was exactly the same as Sun Jian's banner.

Following them were old rivals such as Cheng, Huang, Han, and Zhu.

They squeezed through the raging floodwaters, like evil spirits struggling to crawl out of the deepest hell, and walked step by step toward Huang Zu.

"You want revenge? With your abilities?"

Huang Zu gritted his teeth, forgetting his surprise, his fear, and his pain.

"However, this rabble is no match for me, they will only be my defeated foe!"

"I am the greatest general in the land, who slew Sun Jian! Do you think you can defeat me with just a few broken ships?"

Huang Zu had already discerned the true nature of Liu Miao's ships and immediately gave the order—

"The entire fleet is anchored on the south bank!"

Because the Yangtze River flows from southwest to northeast here, the current on the south bank is slightly calmer.

At the same time, the water depth on the south bank will be much shallower, which is perfect for the Jingzhou navy's flat-bottomed boats to fight!

"This Jingzhou is ours!"

"Yuan Shu and Sun Jian couldn't take it away, and neither can you, Liu Miao and Sun Ce!"

(End of this chapter)