The Three Kingdoms: Home Travel

Chapter 122 The Battle of Yijing!

"What? Cao Mengde's army has crossed the Yi River?" Gongsun Zan stared wide-eyed at the messenger in front of him.

"Yes, yes, my lord!" The messenger was clearly afraid when he saw Gongsun Zan's fierce expression.

Gongsun Zan abruptly kicked the soldier several steps away, angrily shouting, "Get out of here! Get out!"

The soldier dared not linger and fled in panic, filled with resentment.

"This...this is impossible!" Gongsun Zan collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Even Gongsun Zan's wives and concubines dared not speak to him at this moment, for fear of incurring his wrath.

After a long while, Gongsun Zan got up and walked to the window. He opened the window and looked outside. The cold wind blowing into the room cleared his mind.

"Is this the end for me, Gongsun Bogui?"

While Gongsun Zan lamented, his general Chen Huan, amidst the bloody battle, watched as countless Cao soldiers charged with shields raised. Chen Huan shouted, "Gentlemen, fight to the death! Gentlemen, fight to the death!"

Guan Jing, the chief clerk atop the city wall, was terrified upon hearing that Cao Cao's soldiers had crossed the Yi River on ice. Was Jiang Zhe some kind of ghost or god? Otherwise, how could thousands of Cao Cao's soldiers have crossed the Yi River on ice without the ice breaking?

Suppressing his fear, Guan Jing hurriedly deployed three thousand archers to defend the city walls and sent two thousand elite soldiers to assist Chen Huan.

After doing all this, Guan Jing had someone report the matter to Gongsun Zan, which led to the scene just now.

On one side were Cao Cao's soldiers, whose morale was high and who seemed to have divine assistance; on the other side were Gongsun Zan's soldiers, who were trembling with fear. It was obvious who was stronger.

Li Dian and Yue Jin's six thousand men encountered almost no significant resistance. Apart from the last heavy trench held by Chen Huan, the rest of the defenses collapsed at the first touch.

Faced with the menacing Cao army, Gongsun Zan's soldiers turned and fled, which angered Chen Huan, who shouted incessantly.

If it were just one or two, Chen Huan would probably execute them without hesitation, but with a hundred or two hundred, Chen Huan hesitated, especially considering there were nearly a thousand deserters in the field…

Just then, Chen Huan accepted the two thousand elite soldiers sent by Guan Jing to help him, barely managing to rally the defeated army and hold the last line of heavy trenches.

Looking at the trembling hands and fearful eyes of his soldiers, Chen Huan sighed sadly.

The two armies clashed fiercely, and Gongsun Zan's soldiers, whose morale was extremely low, suffered repeated defeats.

"Chen Huan!" Li Dian shouted, looking at Chen Huan not far away. "I admire you as a hero and cannot bear to harm you. If you are willing to surrender, I will certainly speak for you before my lord!"

Chen Huan stood up and said loudly, "Hmph! A true man has principles of conduct, and what he shouldn't do. Besides, the outcome of today's battle is not yet decided, so don't be so arrogant!"

Li Dian nodded secretly, a hint of admiration in his eyes. He raised his sword and said, "In that case, do you dare to fight me?"

"How could I not dare?" Chen Huan shouted, leaping out of the trench and charging straight at Li Dian with his spear.

Le Jin stopped his subordinate general who was about to launch a sneak attack, glanced indifferently at Li Dian and Chen Huan, and then turned and charged off elsewhere.

With four thousand demoralized soldiers facing six thousand ravenous Cao soldiers, how could they possibly withstand them? Many of Gongsun Zan's soldiers had already turned and ran towards the walls of Yijing, but unfortunately, they were all shot dead by Guan Jing's orders from the walls.

"Charge forward!" Guan Jing shouted urgently from the city wall. "Anyone who retreats or refuses to advance will be killed without mercy!"

Li Dian deflected Chen Huan's spear with his sword and said admiringly, "Your martial arts are quite impressive. It's truly a pity you died like this!"

"Hey!" Chen Huan grinned, flicking his spear at Li Dian, saying, "You can have your soldiers shoot me dead, but to abandon such an advantage and fight me now is truly foolish!"

Li Dian suddenly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding Chen Huan's spear, and shouted, "I cannot bear to see such a hero die in the chaos of battle. If you are determined to die, then die by my blade!"

Chen Huan was stunned for a moment, then stood there dumbfounded for several breaths before laughing loudly three times, declaring, "My head is here; let's see how you take it!"

"Very well!" Li Dian's expression turned serious, and he clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute to Chen Huan, saying, "In that case, I won't stand on ceremony!"

"Don't be so polite!" Chen Huan shouted.

The two fought for dozens of rounds, the thrill of which stirred the hearts of soldiers on both sides.

"Tai!" Li Dian shouted and slashed down at Chen Huan with his sword. But to Li Dian's surprise, Chen Huan stretched out his left hand and grabbed Li Dian's sword, while simultaneously thrusting a gun at Li Dian with his right hand.

"Mancheng!" Yue Jin roared, his eyes filled with fear.

Should he abandon his sword? Or not? Several thoughts raced through Li Dian's mind. By the time he made up his mind, Chen Huan's spear was already poised to strike Li Dian's chest...

"..." Li Dian stared in astonishment at Chen Huan's spear tip pressed against his chest, glanced at Chen Huan with a puzzled look, and said with a smile, "...Why don't you stab him?"

"Why not discard your sword?" A few drops of blood trickled from Chen Huan's mouth as he stared blankly at his opponent.

"Discard your sword?" Li Dian sneered. "A sword is a soldier's life. How can one abandon their sword to save their life on the battlefield? How can I command respect if I do that?!"

"Cough!" Chen Huan coughed up a mouthful of blood, pointing to the blood seeping from his abdomen, and said, "I was just hit by an arrow, and I have no hope of survival. That's why... This is my last strike. You just need to dodge it. After this, I won't even have the strength to stand up..."

Li Dian shook his head, his face indifferent.

"Cough cough!" Chen Huan swayed, and his spear fell to the ground.

Li Dian helped Chen Huan up, looking at Chen Huan as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Just now... cough, just now I won? Not quite." Chen Huan was panting as he lost too much blood and was exhausted.

"Yes!" Li Dian nodded.

"Hehe!" Chen Huan chuckled slightly, glancing at the walls of Yijing with difficulty, and said, "Even in such a critical situation, our lord still hasn't come out... General Li, if Governor Cao breaches Yijing, could you please ask him to refrain from excessive killing?"

"Hmm!" Li Dian nodded, then said in a deep voice, "Why didn't you stab me just now? I had already avoided my vital points..."

Glancing at Li Dian, Chen Huan chuckled, "You think I didn't want to? I've fought you for dozens... dozens of rounds, my strength is long gone, my hands are trembling... how could I possibly... stab you? Hehe, send... send me on my way!"

Li Dian remained silent, placing Chen Huan on the ground. Gazing at the bloodied mangled flesh of Chen Huan's left hand, he picked up Chen Huan's spear and murmured, "So be it... farewell!" Then, Li Dian slightly averted his gaze and plunged the spear down fiercely...

"Thud..." The sound of a sharp object piercing the body.

After a long pause, Li Dian hesitated before glancing at Chen Huan on the ground. He saw Chen Huan gripping the spear with both hands behind his back, a faint smile still lingering on his face…

"Those who surrender will not be killed!" Li Dian roared.

"Mancheng?" Le Jin walked up to Li Dian in confusion, grabbed him, and shouted in a deep voice, "What are you doing?!"

"Um..." Facing the angry Yue Jin, Li Dian had a sudden thought and said, "As the master said, winning hearts and minds is the best strategy, while attacking cities is the worst. At this moment, Gongsun Zan's soldiers have lost all morale. Why not allow them to surrender, so that our soldiers can focus all their efforts on attacking the city!"

"...What did you say, sir?" Yue Jin hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then that's settled!"

"Hmm!" Li Dian responded, glancing at Chen Huan's corpse. He thought to himself, "He didn't even have the strength for a single strike? You can rest assured. As long as it's something I, Li Mancheng, have promised to do, I will definitely do it!"

On the other side of the Yi River, Cao Cao watched as his troops seemed to have reached the foot of Yi City and exclaimed with delight, "Good! Mancheng and Wenqian, well done!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhe glanced at the situation and said to Cao Cao, "Mengde, send a general to accept the surrendered soldiers under Gongsun Zan!"

"Hmm!" Cao Cao nodded, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding generals. When he saw Zhao Yun, he hesitated for a moment, but ultimately ordered Dian Wei, "E'lai, take two thousand soldiers and go to receive Gongsun Zan's surrendered troops!"

"Yes!" Dian Wei nodded sheepishly and led two thousand soldiers away.

"Shouyi!" Cao Cao hesitated, gazing at the battle situation at the walls of Yijing. "In Shouyi's opinion, is it possible to capture this city today?"

"Hmm?" Jiang Zhe clearly didn't understand Cao Cao's intentions in saying this.

"That's how it is!" Cao Cao pointed to Yijing and explained, "Our soldiers were able to cross Yijing today for two reasons. First, it was thanks to the strategy of Shouyi. Second, Gongsun Zan and his troops in Yijing firmly believed that we could not cross the Yi River. If we had not captured Yijing today, we would have had no choice but to sound the retreat. If we came again in the future, it would not have been so simple. Gongsun Zan would have set up heavy defenses at the Yi River..."

Jiang Zhe smiled as he watched the distant battle and said, "Actually, taking Yijing is not difficult. Mengde only needs to issue an order to pardon everyone except Gongsun Zan, and the common people will not be affected at all. Just shout this order to the guards on the city walls..."

"Huh?" Cao Cao exclaimed in surprise, "So useful?"

Jiang Zhe sighed and said calmly, "I still haven't seen Gongsun Zan..."

Cao Cao suddenly realized what was going on and said with a happy expression, "Gentlemen, let's go too!" With Cao Cao's order, thousands of Cao soldiers slowly crossed the Yi River.

Just as Li Dian and Yue Gong finished their attack and reached the walls of Yijing, they frowned repeatedly as they looked at the towering walls, which were seven or eight zhang high.

Just then, Li Tong arrived with five hundred elite soldiers. Li Dian and Yue Jin, seeing the more than one hundred "strange ladders" in the hands of Li Tong's five hundred elite soldiers, were overjoyed and said, "So the master had already made his decision! In that case, let's charge up!"

Li Tong then ordered his soldiers to set up ladders, which would allow them to reach the walls of Yijing.

Guan Jing, atop the city wall, was horrified. How could he not know what the ladder was for? He hurriedly shouted to the soldiers beside him, "Push this thing down!"

His idea was quite good. Once the ladder was pushed aside, not only would the ladder be damaged, but many of Cao's soldiers on it would also be killed. It would kill two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, Jiang Zhe, being a person from later generations, would not have left behind such a huge oversight.

A guard from Yijing cried out in alarm, "My lord, we...we can't push it open!"

"Is this really true?" Guan Jing was shocked. He hurried to the city wall and tried to push the ladder in front of him, but just as his soldiers had said, he couldn't move it...

Guan Jing suddenly noticed the iron chains at the top of the ladder. An idea struck him, and he quickly leaned out to look down from the city wall. He saw more than ten Cao soldiers holding tightly to the iron chains, which kept the ladder firmly attached to the city wall...

"Jiang Zhe!" Guan Jing knew without a doubt who was behind this; only he, only he could have come up with such a method!

"Cut this iron chain!"

"Yes, sir!" Guan Jing gave the order, and his soldiers rushed forward, hacking at the iron chains on the ladder with their swords and axes, but...

"Sir, we still can't push it open!" the soldiers said in astonishment.

Chief Clerk Guan Jing was taken aback. He leaned back to look and his face immediately turned red with anger. He roared, "Jiang Zhe, you've gone too far!"

It turns out that the ladder was not only tied with an iron chain at the top, but also in the middle. If only one section was cut off, it would be impossible to push it open...

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