My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 146: There is no good ending for gamblers! Zhou Yu asked the heaven: Since I was born, why was there He?
"Military Advisor Bo Wen, what ingenious plan can we use to break this iron chain formation across the river?"

Liu Bei asked happily.

Everyone's surprised eyes were also focused on Xiao He.

Xiao He said two words slowly:
"Fire attack!"

Liu Bei was stunned and failed to understand for a moment.

Fa Zheng, whose thoughts were racing, suddenly had a light in his eyes and spoke first:

"Military Advisor, could it be that we fill our boats with flammable materials like paraffin and kerosene, and use them to ram the iron chains blocking the river, burning them apart with the raging fire?"

"In this way, our army can break Zhou Yu's iron chain formation blocking the river without a single soldier."

Xiao He smiled without saying anything and nodded slightly.

His original strategy originated from the time when the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed the Wu State. In order to prevent the Yizhou navy led by Wang Jun from going down the river to the east, the Wu State set up iron chains on the Yangtze River.

Wang Jun, the famous general who defeated the Wu Kingdom, broke the iron chain blocking the river by using fire attack.

In other words, this plan of placing an iron chain across the river has its own solution.

"I see, I see... I never thought this seemingly insurmountable iron chain formation would be so easy to break!"

Liu Bei suddenly understood and couldn't help but applaud.

Then he looked surprised and asked:
"Bowen, when you first proposed this plan, didn't you already have in mind the possibility of defeating it with fire?"

Xiao He nodded slightly.

At this time, Huang Zhong couldn't help but say:

"Given Zhou Yu and Lu Meng's intelligence, it's not surprising that they couldn't come up with a solution right away. But why did they attack for a month straight and still fail to come up with a fire attack?"

Everyone looked at Gan Ning, wanting to know from him what Zhou Yu was thinking at the time.

"Yining knows Zhou Yu well. He probably thought of using fire to melt the iron chains."

Changing the subject, Gan Ning continued:

"But if you want to use fire, you have to go downstream or with the wind. The Jiangdong army was downstream at the time. If they set fire upstream, they would not only fail to burn the iron chains, but would burn themselves instead."

"Military Advisor Xiao's plan is to set fire to the ships upstream, so there is naturally no such concern."

"I suspect Zhou Yu had this concern at the time, so he didn't dare to use the fire attack."

Gan Ning's speculation explained the doubts of Huang Zhong and others.

While Liu Bei showed admiration on his face, he secretly admired Xiao He's ability to judge people.

It is truly commendable that Gan Ning, as a military general, could express such judgments and insights. As Xiao He said, he is indeed a famous general with both wisdom and courage.

"I see. No wonder Advisor Bo Wen dared to use this strategy, and was not afraid of Zhou Yu's use of fire to break it."

Liu Bei nodded slightly, but then asked doubtfully:

"But Zhou Yu knew that the iron chain plan to block the river was invented by you, Bowen. How could he be so confident that you, Bowen, didn't know how to break it and dared to use it?"

Xiao He pondered in silence.

After a moment, he looked downstream and said:
"My Lord, it's possible that Zhou Yu wouldn't have thought of what you said. He still dared to use this strategy. I guess he was forced to take a gamble out of desperation."

Liu Bei suddenly understood.

Zhou Yu had no choice but to burn his boats and pin his hopes on Xiao He not being able to come up with a solution.

"This Zhou Lang is resourceful and courageous. He is truly a wise general rarely seen in the world."

"What a pity, he was born at the wrong time and met you, Bowen."

After Liu Bei sighed, his heroic spirit rekindled on his face, and he waved his hand and shouted:

"Pass the order, the army will go down the river to the east, prepare the boats, rafts and kerosene, and we will break Zhou Yu's iron chain array in one fell swoop!"

...

Two days later, Nanling River area.

Two iron chains stretch across the north and south, blocking the mighty Yangtze River.

Downstream of the iron chain, nearly a hundred Jiangdong warships were floating on the river.

On the flagship of the tower ship, Zhou Yu stood with his sword in hand, looking around at the warships, but a sense of sadness passed through his heart.

Looking back at those days, the Jiangdong navy had tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of warships, what a magnificent force it was.

Now, there are only less than 10,000 sailors left, and only a hundred or so warships.

How miserable...

"Bofu, don't worry. As long as I, Zhou Yu, am still breathing, I will definitely support your Sun family!"

"If you are still alive, please help us get through this..."

Zhou Yu looked up at the sky and muttered to himself.

"Commander-in-chief, Liu Bei's navy is here!"

Xu Sheng's voice was heard beside him.

Zhou Yu withdrew his thoughts and looked up. Sure enough, he saw a fleet coming from upstream.

Thousands of warships of all sizes, countless cloud-like sails, and countless battle flags covered the sky and the sun, and came across the river.

The momentum was so great that it had surpassed the Jiangdong navy's peak period.

The Jiangdong soldiers on the boats immediately became nervous and looked frightened.

Even a powerful general like Xu Sheng beside him had a slightly changed expression, with a look of fear between his brows.

Zhou Yu tried his best to appear calm, waved his hand and shouted:
"Send a message to Huang Gongfu on the south bank and Xu Huang on the north bank. Instruct them to prepare and defend the city and camp to the death. Do not retreat a single step!"

"Order all ships to press forward immediately to prevent the enemy from destroying the iron chains blocking the river!"

Zhou Yu issued several orders in succession.

The flags and command banners fluttered like the wind, conveying his orders to the north and south banks and all the ships.

The sound of the gongs and warnings immediately resounded on both sides of the river.

Huang Gai and Xu Huang were both on high alert, ready to meet Liu Jun's fierce attack.

More than a hundred Jiangdong warships on the river went upstream and began to approach the two iron chains to prevent Liu's warships from approaching the iron chains and to chop and destroy them with swords and axes.

The Cao-Sun coalition forces seemed to have made careful deployments, blocking all means for Liu's army to break through the iron chain formation.

"Guan Yu, just come on! I will make sure you never return. I will kill you without a single piece of armor left!"

Xu Sheng beside him was even more excited. He was bare-chested, holding a sword in his hand and shouting angrily. He couldn't wait to have a big fight to avenge the shame of Chaisang's disastrous defeat.

Only Zhou Yu seemed calm on the surface, but his fists were clenched tightly, and a layer of cold sweat had appeared on his palms.

"Xiao He, no matter how brilliant your calculations are, you are still a mortal after all, and there will always be times when you make mistakes."

"This time, you probably wouldn't think of using fire to break through this iron chain formation..."

Zhou Yu's heart was in his throat, but a voice in his heart kept comforting him. Guan Yu's navy was getting closer and closer...

Sudden.

Countless flames ignited in front of Liu Jun's formation almost at the same time.

Immediately afterwards, more than a hundred burning rafts broke away from Liu Jun's fleet, rushed downstream, and roared towards the iron chain formation in an overwhelming manner.

Zhou Yu's eyes suddenly popped open, and a trace of blood seeped out from his clenched teeth. The calmness on his face disappeared, and his expression gradually turned into despair.

"Xiao He, have you finally thought of the fire attack strategy..."

"Why, why can't you miscalculate once, why—"

Zhou Yu looked up to the sky and shouted in grief, anger and despair.

He was so angry that his heart ached. He covered his chest with his hands and staggered back several steps.

"Captain!"

Xu Sheng screamed and hurriedly supported Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his heart, and shouted:
"Hurry and send a message to both sides. Lower the second iron chain and send the fireboat forward to push the Big Eared Thief's fireboat to the shore!"

"Hurry, hurry—"

He still wanted to make a final struggle.

Xu Sheng hurriedly passed down the order, and the command flag waved like the wind.

Upon receiving the order, the defenders on both sides quickly sank the second iron chain into the river, and dozens of fire-resistant ships rushed up and attacked the first iron chain.

In just a short while, hundreds of fireboats had already swept down the river.

"Bang bang bang!"

One fire ship after another hit the iron chain.

The raging fire began to burn the rope.

The Jiangdong army's fire-resistant ships finally arrived and hurriedly extended their poles in an attempt to push the fire ships to the two banks.

The difference between going downstream and going upstream becomes apparent.

If the fireboat came from downstream, it could be easily pushed away. But if the fireboat came from upstream, how could it be easily pushed away with the help of the downstream force?
What's more, Liu Jun's fire ships numbered in the hundreds, coming continuously from upstream, and were soon densely covered with iron chains. How could they be shaken by just a few dozen fire-repelling ships of the Jiangdong Military Region?

"Boom boom boom!"

A breaking sound was heard.

The iron chain at a certain place finally couldn't bear the dual effects of the burning fire and the thrust of the fire ship and broke apart.

The iron chain blocking the river sank into the river in the blink of an eye.

The fire ships, freed from their obstructions, continued to drift downstream, charging towards the fire-repelling ships in large numbers.

The soldiers on the ship were horrified and tried to turn the ship around and escape.

It's too late.

The fire ships were too close and there were too many of them, so they rammed the fire-repelling ships before they could turn.

One after another, the fire-resistant ships were set on fire by the fire ships, and the wailing cries for help from the Jiangdong soldiers rose one after another.

"Commander-in-Chief, our iron chain formation has broken. What should we do?"

Xu Sheng pointed at the fireboats that were crossing the river ahead, his eyes filled with fear, completely devoid of the arrogance he had in the past.

Zhou Yu's expression was gloomy, and the glimmer of hope in his eyes had now disappeared.

After a long sigh of helplessness, Zhou Yu could only wave his hands helplessly:

"Pass the order down, all ships immediately retreat downstream towards Ruxukou."

"Send a message to Cao's army on the north bank and General Gongfu on the south bank, ordering them to abandon the fortress immediately and retreat overland to Ruxukou—"

Xu Sheng hurriedly gave the order.

More than a hundred Jiangdong warships turned around and fled downstream without waiting for Zhou Yu's order.

On Liu Jun’s flagship.

Liu Bei and Xiao He stood side by side, and from the vantage point of the ship, they admired the spectacular fire attack.

"Bo Wen, the weakness of the iron chain blocking the river is that it is vulnerable to fire attacks. Yun Chang broke it so easily."

"I wonder what Zhou Lang, the shrewd imitator, feels now..."

Liu Bei pointed at the raging fire in the river ahead and laughed.

Xiao He pointed, but smiled and pointed in the direction of Nanling City:
"The Jiangdong navy has already fled. Pursuit is unlikely. My Lord, please order General Yunchang to refrain from any futile pursuit and instead land the navy downstream of Nanling City to block Huang Gai's escape route eastward."

"This thief is the only one left among the three veteran officials of Jiangdong. Let's encircle and annihilate him in Nanling and make things worse for Zhou Lang."

Liu Bei laughed and immediately issued an order according to what Xiao He said.

So the navy led by Guan Yu quickly landed downstream of Nanling.

At the same time, Huang Zhong and other generals who were advancing on the south bank also led their infantry to march eastward and head straight for Nanling City.

Downstream.

Zhou Yu, who had recovered a little, came to the stern of the ship with the help of Xu Sheng, and looked eagerly towards the direction of Nanling City, hoping to see Huang Gai withdraw in time and meet him by land.

The Jiangdong Army is currently short of manpower, and the 5,000 soldiers and horses in the city are extremely precious.

What's more, the commander of the army in the city is Huang Gai, the only remaining third-generation minister of the Sun family.

If he were to lose here, it would be a heavy blow to Jiangdong, adding insult to injury.

How will he explain to Sun Quan?
"Commander-in-Chief, it seems Guan Yu has stopped pursuing us and is heading towards the south bank instead?"

"Oh no! He's planning to land in the lower reaches of Nanling, cut off General Huang's retreat, and trap our five thousand soldiers in Nanling City!"

Xu Sheng's eyes widened and he pointed at Liu Jun upstream and exclaimed in a trembling voice.

Watching Guan Yu's navy land and block the retreat of the Nanling defenders, Zhou Yu clenched his fists, trembled all over, and his eyes gradually filled with grief, anger and despair.

"This must be another of Xiao He's evil schemes. He wants to surround Huang Gongfu and my five thousand soldiers and horses and kill them in Nanling, making our situation even worse..."

"Xiao He, a country bumpkin, you, you——"

Zhou Yu gritted his teeth, his face twisted, and the angry blood cut into his heart like a sharp blade, causing him severe pain.

"Youyou Cang Tian, ​​how can you treat me less favorably?"

"Since Yu is born, why should there be harmony? Since Yu is born, why should there be harmony?——"

Zhou Yu suddenly looked up to the sky and yelled in anger, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, his eyes turned black, and he tilted his head back and fainted.

"Captain!"

There was chaos on the boat all of a sudden.

(End of this chapter)