My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 441 Gan Ning Pulls the Fortress
Zhou Yu chose a good location. Although large warships and large ships could not dock, ships of the Red Horse class could move freely. A large number of soldiers were transferred from the large ships to the smaller ships in an orderly manner and then sailed to the shore.

With the help of the small boats, the soldiers landed very quickly; in just half a day, more than 10,000 men had successfully landed.

After these soldiers landed, they did not linger at the landing point. Instead, they carried out their assigned tasks according to Zhou Yu's instructions and went off to carry out their missions separately.

Of course, this is just the beginning. Whether things are really that simple depends on the success of the attack on Xisai Camp.

The faster the battle progresses, the less Liu Feng's forces will suffer losses.

Conversely, if Zhou Yu's troops were held back by Liu Xun, their situation would immediately become dangerous.

Zhou Yu himself appeared relaxed. After landing, the Yue chieftains, including Zu Lang and Zu Duan, were the first to volunteer for battle.

Mount Xisai is not a bald mountain like those in the Northwest. It is covered with dense forests and lush vegetation, a type of terrain that the Yue people love most and where they can make the most of their abilities.

Especially after they joined the army, from Liu Feng to Zhou Yu, no one looked down on or discriminated against them.

Large quantities of leather armor were distributed to the Yue warriors, fully arming them. The tough iron weapons further enhanced their combat effectiveness.

After receiving the new equipment, the Yue army roared with excitement from top to bottom, hoping to repay Liu Feng and Zhou Yu with their martial prowess.

At three quarters past noon, ten thousand troops completely surrounded the Xisai camp.

Two thousand of them were Zhou Yu's personal guards, four thousand were the Yue soldiers of Zu Lang, Zu Duan and others, and another four thousand were the elite naval troops commanded by Gan Ning and Ling Cao.

With a large army and elite troops assembled, Liu Xun on Xisai Mountain was terrified, but Zhou Yu hesitated to launch an attack.

Gan Ning was somewhat puzzled. He was bold and had the favor of Liu Feng. He rode up to Zhou Yu's carriage, ostensibly to ask a question, but secretly to urge him: "General, may I ask when the battle will begin?"

Zhou Yu licked his thumb, then raised it high above his head. He then looked at the fluttering banner and smiled after a moment: "Captain Gan, go back now. Within a quarter of an hour, the order for the general attack will arrive."

Gan Ning received a satisfactory reply and sped back.

Zhou Yu's gaze was not on Xisai Mountain, but rather towards the northwest of Xisai Mountain.

Xisai Mountain runs east-west, and the Xisai Mountain Camp is located on the upper right side of the entire Xisai Mountain, which is also the lowest point of Xisai Mountain.

It was June, and the prevailing winds were from the southeast and southwest.

Zhou Yu had just tested the waters and observed the direction the banner was waving; the wind was currently blowing from the southeast.

Before long, a large amount of thick smoke rose from the lower right of the Xisai camp and the left side of Zhou Yu's army, rolling like clouds and blowing towards the Xisai camp with the help of the wind.

Liu Xun and his men in the camp were terrified, but there was nothing they could do. They could only watch helplessly as the thick smoke rose above the Xisai camp and enveloped the entire camp in smoke.

"Someone, quickly bring water! Quickly! Tell the soldiers to wet cloths with water and wrap them around their mouths and noses!"

Liu Xun was a seasoned general, not a complete fool. Although he was alarmed by what he saw, he was still able to come up with a solution and issue orders.

Under Liu Xun's orders, the soldiers quickly fetched clean water and took cloth from the treasury, tore it into pieces, wet it, and covered their faces and noses with it.

Some soldiers were so impatient that they couldn't wait for the cloth to be distributed and tore their clothes to cover their mouths and noses.

After a period of chaos and turmoil, the camp finally calmed down a bit.

At this time, Zhou Yu's vanguard had already reached outside the camp, and the watchtowers on the camp instantly became the target of the enemy's arrows. Some of Zhou Yu's tribes even took advantage of the chaos to set fires and throw the fire sources onto the enemy's wooden palisades.

As a result, flames gradually rose and smoke billowed, and Liu Xunjun's original advantage of being on the high ground gradually disappeared.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Yu was overjoyed and immediately urged his troops to launch a fierce attack.

The Shanyue army, which had been waiting patiently for a long time, and the troops under Gan Ning and Ling Cao immediately charged forward. Liu Xun's troops, however, were panicked and confused. In addition, the thick smoke made it impossible for them to open their eyes, and their resistance was greatly reduced.

However, they still had the advantage of terrain and fortifications. Although Liu Xun's army was in retreat, they were still able to resist step by step by relying on their fortifications.

But the situation started to get difficult.

Liu Xun originally thought that the outer defenses alone could take up Zhou Yu and his men for more than ten days.

But now, in just half an hour, the outer defenses have already been breached.

Liu Xun wasn't sure if he could hold out until dark.

What troubled Liu Xun even more was that the Jingzhou army in the camp did not get along well with Liu Xun's own troops, especially the Qichun army. The terrible consequences of binding the Qichun army and looting the government treasury and the people of Qichun in Qichun City were beginning to show.

Although the Qichun army was resisting out of necessity, their willpower was far weaker than that of Liu Xun's own troops, and even less than that of the other three thousand Jingzhou soldiers.

The opponent Qichun encountered happened to be the strongest army in this attack on the mountain—Gan Ning and Gan Xingba.

Gan Ning, clad in two layers of heavy armor, stood on the left flank of the camp, a long sword in his right hand and a flower bud in his left, surrounded by a group of fully armored guards.

He nodded to the person beside him.

At the command of the deputy general Gan Mao, a squad of armored soldiers charged out.

These armored soldiers, all clad in armor and wielding large shields, each with their faces covered in damp cloth, braved the enemy's rain of arrows and charged straight to the wooden palisade.

Immediately, the armored soldiers raised their large shields and formed a square formation, protecting everyone on the inside. Then they split into two teams. One team hung the hooks they were holding onto the wooden fence and secured them firmly, while the other team took advantage of this time to frantically dig the soil outside the fence. Before long, they had dug small pits right next to the wooden fence.

After finishing these tasks, the armored soldiers did not linger, re-established their shield formation, and retreated downwards.

This operation took less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, yet many soldiers were injured, and a few unlucky ones were hit in vital areas by arrows and died instantly.

But their efforts were not in vain.

Thick hemp ropes, one end attached to hooks on the wooden fence, the other end hung on the backs of the oxen. Then the soldiers whipped the oxen's rump, driving them down the mountain.

Although the camp was very sturdy, it could not withstand such a commotion. With the efforts of the cattle, in less than a quarter of an hour, the wooden fences broke free from the soil, were uprooted, and then torn apart.

After leaving the land, the wooden fences were either dragged away by the cattle or broken in half, with the once-reliable fences torn open with gaps six or seven meters long.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing the situation, Gan Ning laughed wildly and said, "My lads, follow me to defeat the enemy!" Then, Gan Ning took the lead and rushed into the gap like an arrow, crashing head-on into a group of people who were trying to block the gap.

Seeing this, Gan Ning showed no sign of backing down. Instead, he quickened his pace and charged into the enemy ranks with a roar.

Gan Ning was already muscular, and now, with two layers of armor, he resembled a human tank. Furthermore, as Gan Ning accelerated while his opponents panicked and dodged, two or three people were instantly knocked away the moment they made contact.

Then, Gan Ning wielded his hammer with his left hand and his sword with his right, like a whirlwind of death. In just a few breaths, three or four more Qichun soldiers fell at his feet.

Before the remaining Qichun soldiers could surround Gan Ning, a large number of Yangzhou soldiers broke through the breach and rushed in.

The two sides clashed briefly, lasting only a dozen breaths, before Gan Ning raised a head high and shouted, "The enemy general has been slain by me! Anyone who drags my foot and prevents me from getting the first credit, don't blame me for turning my back on you!"

Gan Ning's shout immediately aroused the ferocity of his subordinates, which can be considered a special way of encouraging them.

Gan Ning's troops fought bravely and risked their lives. The Qichun army, already demoralized, could hardly withstand these fierce Gan Ning soldiers. They collapsed and surrendered in less than half a cup of tea's time.

At this point, the left flank of the camp was breached, and the army poured into the camp in droves.

Moments later, bad news also came from the right flank of the camp.

Like Gan Ning, Ling Cao was at the forefront, leading the charge and killing two of Liu Xun's valiant generals. He burned down the camp gate and stormed into the camp.

Zu Lang and Zu Duan each had their own methods and made breakthroughs one after another.

Although Liu Xun was still fighting desperately, the outcome was already decided.

Liu Xun originally wanted to hide in the inner camp to continue resisting, but Gan Ning advanced faster than him and rushed into the inner camp first.

Seeing that even the inner camp was unreliable, Liu Xun only had six or seven hundred men left. The other troops either surrendered or were divided up and cut off from communication.

At this point, Liu Xun dared not think about continuing to hold out any longer and wanted to find an opportunity to break through.

However, the Xisai Mountain camp was located deep in the river, with water on three sides. It wasn't that one couldn't escape from the side facing the water; Xisai Mountain wasn't steep, so it was still possible to descend the mountain.

However, Liu Xun had no ships, and the river had already been blocked by the Yangzhou army. Running towards the Yangtze River was no different from throwing himself into a death trap.

The only feasible option is to break through the encirclement of the Yangzhou army, then turn west and head straight for Echeng.

Liu Xun had a sudden thought. Seeing how fast Gan Ning was rushing forward, he thought that if he broke through Gan Ning's route, it might have a surprising effect.

So Liu Xun immediately led his six or seven hundred men to charge toward the left flank of the camp.

Gan Ning had just rushed into the inner camp, intending to find Liu Xun.

Suddenly, a report came that a large number of enemy troops were attacking their position.

If it were someone else, they would definitely prioritize the overall situation, completely conquer the inner camp, and search for Liu Xun's whereabouts.

However, Gan Ning had a fiery temper. He immediately ordered his deputy, Gan Mao, to continue leading the troops to attack the inner camp, while he himself led over a hundred personal guards back to see who was so audacious as to dare to launch a sneak attack on his father, Gan Ning.

As Gan Ning turned around, he bumped into Liu Xun.

Liu Xun was unable to move due to being entangled by Gan Ning's follow-up troops. Several attempts to break through failed, and he was getting anxious when, unexpectedly, Gan Ning led more than a hundred personal guards to attack from the side and crashed into his central army.

One side's morale had waned, while the other side was as fierce as a tiger. Liu Xun was forced to retreat repeatedly by Gan Ning, and Liu Xun's troops were completely crushed and torn apart by Gan Ning's attack.

Seeing Gan Ning covered in blood, slaughtering Liu Xun's personal guards like chickens, Liu Xun was terrified and completely lost his will to fight, and was captured alive by Gan Ning.

In just half a day, Zhou Yu led his army to successfully break through the Xisai Mountain camp. The eight thousand soldiers in the camp were wiped out by the Yangzhou army, and not a single one escaped.

The bandit leader Liu Xun was captured by Gan Ning, and Ling Cao, Zu Lang, and Zu Duan also made their own kills, making it a great victory.

In their first battle, the army attacked a fortified camp that occupied a strategic location, and surprisingly, they swept through the camp in one fell swoop. The fighting within the camp lasted for less than an hour, with very few casualties, yet the enemy was completely annihilated.

Such a great victory greatly boosted morale. In an instant, from Xisai Mountain to the plains and even the naval warships, everyone shouted the slogan of General Zuo's victory.

The main reason for such a successful battle was the extremely low altitude of the Xisai Mountain fortress, which was surrounded by much higher elevations and abundant forests, providing the attacking troops with a large supply of fuel. Furthermore, Liu Feng's specific suggestion to Zhou Yu regarding the firebreak strategy enabled them to strike Liu Xun with such precision.

"General Zhou, I admire you."

Gan Ning brought Liu Xun to Zhou Yu, praising Zhou Yu's strategy of using smoke as a weapon with great admiration.

Zhou Yu smiled and shook his head, saying, "General Xingba, you are unaware that this plan was not my idea, but rather a gift from our lord."

In fact, the Xisai camp had already come into Liu Feng's sights six months earlier.

After Zhou Yu entered Yuzhang, under Liu Feng's instruction, he dispatched many spies to gather intelligence on the Xisai camp and to analyze how to quickly and effectively breach it.

As mentioned before, the Xisai camp blocked the Yangtze River waterway. If it was not resolved, the passage of ships would be under considerable threat and would be easily disrupted.

As a result, Liu Feng, Zhou Yu, and others would naturally not overlook him.

As for the strategy of using smoke to attack, it was indeed proposed by Liu Feng.

However, the true founder was not Liu Feng himself, but Sun Ce.

In the original timeline, Sun Ce used this tactic to completely annihilate Huang Zu's Jiangxia Commandery and the elite spearmen sent by Liu Biao during the Battle of Shaxian.

What's even more interesting is that the battle took place in December, when the prevailing wind was from the northwest. However, at the start of the battle, the wind suddenly changed to a southeast wind. Sun Ce was prepared and took advantage of the strong southeast wind to set fires with the wind at his back, thus inflicting a great defeat on the Jiangxia navy.

During the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu was certain that a southeast wind would blow, most likely because Sun Ce had already given him a precedent in this battle.

The Xisai Mountain camp is surrounded by long stretches of dense forests, so Liu Feng specifically reminded Zhou Yu to be prepared to set fire to the area when making smoke, and also taught him techniques such as firebreaks. Otherwise, if a wildfire were to start, the camp might fall but the fire could spread to their own troops, which would be counterproductive.

Upon hearing Zhou Yu's account, Gan Ning laughed instead: "I never imagined it was my lord's plan. No wonder it looked familiar. I am truly amazed."

Liu Feng was skilled in using unconventional strategies in warfare, a fact well-known to those familiar with him, which is why Gan Ning was said to look familiar.

(End of this chapter)