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Chapter 2731 Taking down Chaisang!

Seeing this, Pan Zhang knew perfectly well that Fankou City had been prepared all along, so he quickly tried to lead his men to retreat. However, they hadn't gone far when a dense rain of arrows suddenly appeared on the mountain south of the river.

Pan Zhang quickly ordered the shield bearers to carry wooden shields and set them up on the right side, allowing the army to pass quickly.

Just then, another boulder slid down the mountain, crashing heavily onto the wooden shield and instantly sending the shield-bearer flying.

Without the protection of their shields, the Jiangdong soldiers were like lambs to the slaughter. Under the barrage of arrows, they only had time to let out screams before losing their lives.

Pan Zhang quickly ordered his soldiers to run towards the riverbank, preparing to escape to the side closest to the river. Although it was very muddy there and the speed of passage would be slower, it would also prevent the archers from having a chance to shoot. Only then did they manage to escape out of the range of the archers' shots.

However, of the 30,000 troops he led, only more than 20,000 remained. Although Pan Zhang was very saddened, he was relieved that at least the entire army had not been wiped out. He was just worried about Lu Xun's situation.

At that moment, Lu Xun was also in a bad situation. He managed to jump into the water and, with the help of some soldiers, swam away from the area where the rocks were being used for speculation.

However, as they swam towards the riverbank, they were shocked to find a large number of shadowy figures on both sides of the river, clearly waiting to arrest them.

In fact, these people were ordinary citizens from the Anti-Thief School Guard Department. Their orders were to guard this place and catch any who escaped.

Don't underestimate them just because they are old, weak, women and children. With the help of fishing nets, they can easily capture some soldiers.

Therefore, Lu Xun had no time to feel sorry for his personal guards and carried the plank downstream.

The ships on the battlefield had limited timber, and under the influence of the fire, they all sank into the water in less than half an hour.

It was only at this point that the 10,000-strong Jiangxia navy, having been trained, sailed through the battlefield in their new warships and headed downstream.

Accompanying them were a large number of merchant ships equipped with catapults, carrying ordinary soldiers. The sheer number of ships totaled 2 men.

So, just as Pan Zhang was about to reach Chaisang, he saw that the Chaisang naval camp was ablaze with winter fires. He immediately realized that they had been attacked and hurriedly tried to go to their aid.

But before they could get close to Chaisang, the boats on the river spotted them and fired a barrage of arrows, making it impossible for him to help.

Behind them, Xiahou Shang, leading 5000 men, was pursuing the routed troops led by Pan Zhang, leaving Pan Zhang with no choice but to rush towards Chaisang City.

Just as Pan Zhang was about to lead his men into the city, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly came from behind. Pan Zhang quickly turned around and was shocked to see a large group of cavalry rushing out from the firelight. Judging from their attire, they were undoubtedly Han soldiers.

Pan Zhang wasn't stupid; he certainly knew why cavalry would be dispatched at this time.

Because Chaisang is a major military stronghold with extremely solid defenses, it would be very difficult to capture the city, even with three to five thousand guards, without at least thirty to forty thousand people.

However, just as Pan Zhang and his soldiers arrived at the city gate, the cavalry behind them charged forward, making it impossible to close the city gate at this point.

If these cavalrymen managed to break into the city, the gate would fall completely. By the time they tried to retake it, the infantry behind the cavalry would already be upon them. Realizing this, Pan Zhang, while trying to stop the army from entering the city, quickly shouted, "Close the gate!"

Pan Zhang was actually in a hurry at this point, so his IQ dropped a bit. In this situation, shouting to close the city gates was just urging his soldiers to hurry up and enter the city.
Actually, Pan Zhang can't be blamed. If it weren't for the previous ambush and failure, Pan Zhang's orders would definitely have been carried out.

However, of the 3 troops, several thousand have died in battle, and tens of thousands are still wounded. In total, more than half of them have been killed or wounded, and their morale has long been completely destroyed. Otherwise, they would not have been chased and attacked by Xiahou Shang's 5000 men.

Just when everyone thought they could finally escape home, Pan Zhang suddenly wanted to close the city gates. How could they possibly want to be locked out of the city?
Moreover, with the thunderous sound of hooves behind them, who knows how many cavalrymen are coming? Sending them to fight against cavalry in the open field would be suicide.
So they rushed in, and the soldiers guarding the city tried to close the gate, but it was smashed open.

Some of the soldiers who went in first saw soldiers turning the winch, trying to lift the drawbridge!

They figured they would be punished for storming the city gate, but if there were many of them, they might escape punishment because of the sheer number of people involved.

Moreover, those behind them were their comrades-in-arms, with whom they had lived together. Immediately, their blood boiled, and they hurriedly tried to stop the soldiers from twisting the ropes. Some even climbed directly onto the suspension bridge.

During the argument, the iron chain blocking the bridge actually broke off from the city wall because there were too many people on the drawbridge.

When the drawbridge was first raised, some people swam across the river into the city. Now that the drawbridge has been lowered, more and more soldiers are arriving at the city walls.

Pan Zhang realized that it was now impossible to stop them, and the authorities could only enter the city first and then organize a counterattack.

However, before Pan Zhang could enter the city, the cavalry had already reached him after several volleys of fire. Pan Zhang himself, under the protection of his personal guards, hurriedly left the city gate and thus escaped death.

Meanwhile, the other soldiers panicked and tried to dodge, and the more than three thousand cavalrymen charged straight into Chaisang City.

When the soldiers in the city saw the cavalry charging towards them, they immediately came to stop them, but unfortunately they were no match for the well-trained cavalry and were easily breached.

The purpose of these cavalrymen entering the city was obvious: to block reinforcements from various parts of the city. So after entering the city, they automatically split into several directions and swept towards different parts of the city.

There was also a group of cavalrymen guarding the city gate, and several hundred cavalrymen dismounted and went directly up to the city wall.

Xiahou Shang and his army were about to arrive, so these few hundred men were only temporarily occupying key positions.

Jiang Qin, who was defending the city, was an old general. He was originally supposed to participate in the attack on Jiangxia, but he suddenly fell ill, so he stayed here to defend the city.

When Jiang Qin heard the commotion outside, he knew something was wrong and immediately went out of his courtyard. He then heard shouts of battle coming from the west of the city.

He realized something was wrong at the city gate and quickly ordered his men to gather troops, hoping to block the people from entering the city while there weren't many left.

(End of this chapter)