My Sims of the Eastern Jin Dynasty

Half an hour later, Liu Dan returned with a message.

The Ju Nan cavalry halted their advance at the village ahead.

Xiao Heng immediately ordered the fleet to slow down and hide in a bend in the river, sending people to observe the movements in the village.

Soon, scouts reported that the Qin army's warhorses were drinking water by the river, while the soldiers were searching for food and fodder. The villagers were either dead or had fled. Despite this, the Qin army remained vigilant and sent dozens of scouts to patrol the perimeter.

"They're just like frightened birds. Order Liu Dan to take action now; simply drive them away, no need to pursue!"

"promise!"

Before long, a burst of arrows suddenly rang out from the woods on both sides of the village, followed by the screams of the Qin soldiers and the neighing of their warhorses.

Liu Dan led his archers and crossbowmen to launch an attack, raining down arrows on the Qin army's scouts and warhorses.

Caught off guard, many of the Qin army's warhorses fell to the ground after being hit by arrows, and most of their scouts were also shot dead. The Qin army in the village immediately fell into chaos.

"Hurry up!"

Ju Nan remained calm, just as Xiao Heng had predicted. He dared not linger in battle and immediately ordered his cavalry to assemble, abandon their rest, and continue south.

That day, Xiao Heng chased after Ju Nan three times, but the result was the same each time: the other party completely ignored him.

......

As dusk settled, the afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the water, painting half the sky red.

Xiao Heng stood at the bow of the boat, a sudden unease rising in his heart.

He knew that catching up at night would be even more difficult. The Qin cavalry could use the darkness to conceal their movements, while the fleet would be limited by the lights and the waterway, making it difficult to travel quickly.

"Pass down the order: light three torches on each warship, and have fast boats lead the way to carefully scout the activity on both banks, guarding against any ambushes by the Qin army. Also, send scout fast boats to patrol along the tributaries, and report back immediately if any trace of the Qin army is found, confirming their marching route."

"..."

As night fell, the banks of the ancient river were plunged into darkness, with only the torches of the fleet forming a long, fiery dragon on the water, illuminating the waterway ahead.

Xiao Heng sat in the flagship's cabin, with simple dry food and water in front of him, but he had no appetite.

He looked at the map repeatedly, calculating the Qin army's marching speed in his mind.

At the current pace, Ju Nan's cavalry will arrive at Guabu by tomorrow morning, while his fleet will not arrive until noon at the earliest. If Xie Xuan's pursuers cannot arrive in time, Ju Nan will successfully reach the north bank of the Yangtze River...

"My lord, our scouts have reported that they have found a wounded horse abandoned by the Qin army, as well as a hearth that has just been extinguished. It seems they have been resting here for a while."

Chen Da entered the cabin and bowed to report.

Xiao Heng immediately stood up and followed Chen Da to the bow of the boat, looking towards the shore.

On the shore, there were many broken suits of armor and the corpses of wounded horses, and wisps of smoke were still rising from the hearths, indicating that the Qin army had just left.

Just as Xiao Heng was about to go ashore to investigate more thoroughly, Chen Da seemed to sense some danger and pressed Xiao Heng down onto the deck.

In an instant, the sound of arrows piercing the air rang out, and hundreds of Qin archers suddenly charged out from both sides of the river.

Xiao Heng lay motionless on the deck, then turned and shouted loudly.

"Extinguish the torches and row forward!"

Chen Da instantly understood Xiao Heng's meaning and hurriedly repeated Xiao Heng's words several times in his loud voice.

Moments later, all the torches on the nearby boats went out, and Liu Dan, who was in front, began his counterattack.

Xiao Heng realized he had been careless. The other party was lurking in the shadows, and finding them wouldn't be easy. They would keep following the torches and occasionally harass him.

Soon, the fleet moved out of the battle zone, but the Qin archers quickly disappeared ashore.

"My lord, what should we do!"

Xiao Heng stood up and looked back. He did have a solution, and he looked at Chen Da.

"The enemy is lurking in the shadows, but fortunately they are few in number, and their large ships are slow. You can have them all!"

Chen Da nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"No need for battle. Find a relatively wide river channel, light torches, and have the soldiers hide in the cabins!"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll catch up soon!"

"Be careful, the main force of the Northern Army should be right behind us!"

"promise!"

After Xiao Heng finished speaking, he boarded a small boat and left the place.

Soon, Chen Da gathered all the battlefields together, and a moment later the torches on the ship were lit again.

Xiao Heng, who had already reached the front of the fleet, immediately ordered full speed ahead. Under the cover of darkness, the oarsmen used all their strength to row, and the fast boat sped down the river like a flying arrow.

And on the shore behind them, the Qin army appeared once again...

Around dawn, the fleet arrived at a fork in the waterway in the lower reaches of the ancient river, one leading to the Yangtze River and the other to Tuzhong (Chuzhou City).

Soon, the scouts from the Clippers sent another report.

"My lord, the Qin army has crossed Tuzhong, and the local garrison has already collapsed!"

Xiao Heng wasn't surprised; he just sighed, knowing that his pursuit all night had ultimately failed.

"Guabu..."

As the simulation shows, Ju Nan still arrived here; across the river from Guabu lies Stone City.

Xiao Heng looked at the fleet behind him, feeling powerless to stop them, and then gave the order.

"Halt! Resume advance! Send the fastest boat across the river and urgently report to Jiankang that the Qin army has reached the north bank and is advancing towards Guabu! Send another fast boat back to Governor Xie to inform him that the Qin army is about to arrive at Guabu!"

The speedboat immediately set off, speeding towards the Yangtze River and Xie Xuan's camp.

At this moment, Liu Dan stepped forward, wanting to ask a question but not speaking.

"Don't worry, he won't get across. Does he really think the Yangtze River is that easy to cross?"

"Then wouldn't the governor be...?"

Xiao Heng turned around and glanced at Liu Dan.

"Serves you right for being so careless! Consider it a reminder to them!"

"..."

At daybreak, Chen Da caught up with them, along with Liu Laozhi and Zhuge Kan.

The two were quite surprised to see Xiao Heng resting on the shore.

"Sanlang, why don't we give chase? If the Ju Nan army manages to reach Jiankang, how will we face the Commander-in-Chief!"

Liu Laozhi jumped ashore and shouted at Xiao Heng.

Xiao Heng didn't mind and smiled as he got up to greet the two.

"Even my few hundred men couldn't hold them off, so this great credit goes to you two!"

Liu Laozhi and Zhuge Kan exchanged a glance, both surprised, but neither of them believed Xiao Heng's nonsense.

Zhuge Kan stepped forward and approached Xiao Heng, asking with a smile.

"Sanlang, what's going on? We've been chasing them for a whole day and night, and we almost ended up in Guangling!"

Xiao Heng feigned helplessness and sighed.

"I initially thought he would head towards Guangling, but the more we chased, the more we felt he was going the wrong way! Right now, let's discuss how to intercept him!"

"..."

When Xiao Heng led his naval fleet to the banks of the Guabu River, the morning mist had already dissipated.

At this time, besides Xiao Heng, there were more than a dozen Imperial Guard warships from Jiankang City on the river, but they were only anchored in the middle of the river.

He stood at the bow of the flagship and looked out, only to see thousands of Qin cavalrymen already standing densely on the riverbank.

Xiao Heng snorted coldly and turned to look at the Imperial Guard warships.

"If it weren't for the formidable Yangtze River, you bunch of bastards would probably have already fled to Wu County!"