Chapter 99: The Praying Mantis Stalks The Cicada
Sun He led over a hundred personal guards fleeing along the small river. The small river wound around the forest, with its upstream in Qianshan to the northwest direction. Sun He led his subordinates to flee to an open space when suddenly there was a burst of gong sounds. Over a thousand men charged out from all sides, surrounding Sun He and his over a hundred subordinates.
Leading them was an extremely burly general—it was Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun raised his spear and laughed loudly, “I know you; you are Sun Ben’s younger brother Sun He!”
A personal guard whispered to Sun He, “General, they seem to be that gang of mountain bandits from Qianshan!”
Sun He calmed down a bit. It turned out they were just the mountain bandits who had robbed his grain carts, so he was no longer afraid. He pointed at Zhao Yun and shouted, “If you know what’s good for you, get out of the way quickly, or Grandpa will send you to the Western Paradise with one spear thrust!”
Zhao Yun laughed, “You, this pretty boy, know martial arts?”
The crowd of subordinates burst into mocking laughter. Sun He flew into a rage, thrust his spear at Zhao Yun, who calmly dodged the incoming spear thrust, reached out to grab his shoulder, yanked hard, and directly pulled Sun He off his warhorse. Over a dozen subordinates rushed forward, pressing Sun He down and binding him up.
Sun He’s subordinates were greatly shocked and fled in all directions, only to be caught one after another by Zhao Yun’s soldiers and bound and taken away together.
Zhao Yun knew very well that capturing Sun He would at least allow him to demand several thousand stone of grain from Gan Ning or Sun Ben.
At this moment, a soldier came to report, “General, the Yuzhang Army is chasing us.”
Zhao Yun waved his hand, “Let’s go!”
He led his subordinates to quickly withdraw with the prisoners of war. Not long after, General Taishi led his army in pursuit and saw soldiers’ weapons scattered everywhere on the open space—it seemed a fierce battle had taken place here.
General Taishi was truly puzzled and ordered, “Search everywhere for me!”
The soldiers spread out in all directions to search. Not long after, the soldiers brought two of Sun He’s personal guards who had slipped through the net and been captured by General Taishi.
The two knelt on the ground kowtowing desperately, “General, spare our lives! Spare our lives!”
General Taishi asked coldly, “Where has Sun He gone?”
“Reporting to the General, General Sun was captured by the mountain bandits from Qianshan.”
The two pointed to the northwest direction. General Taishi flew into a rage and ordered, “Follow me in pursuit!”
Leaving a few men to take the prisoners of war away, the remaining two thousand followed General Taishi in pursuit to the northwest direction.
After chasing several li, they saw a great general standing with his spear horizontally on his warhorse in front of a forest, coldly watching them.
General Taishi shouted loudly last time, “Quickly hand over Sun He, and I will spare you!”
Zhao Yun sized him up and nodded, “You are Taishi Ci of Donglai, right!”
General Taishi was shocked and suspicious in his heart—this bandit leader actually knew him. “And who are you?”
“I am Zhao Zilong of Changshan!”
“Ah!”
General Taishi was greatly startled, “Aren’t you a subordinate of Gongsun Zan? How are you here?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. If you want me to release Sun He, first defeat the spear in my hand!”
General Taishi laughed, “I have long heard that General Zhao is the fiercest general under Gongsun Zan. Taishi Ci wants to experience it firsthand.”
He spurred his horse forward and thrust. Zhao Yun swung his spear to meet the attack, and the two fought fiercely together.
The two were of similar age, both at the peak of their physical strength and martial arts. They fought over fifty rounds in one go, locked in an inseparable battle, leaving the surrounding soldiers stunned.
After another dozen rounds, General Taishi gradually began to falter. Zhao Yun suddenly withdrew his spear, exited the battle circle, and laughed, “General Taishi truly has superior martial arts, but I won’t continue. If you want Sun He, bring three thousand stone of grain to exchange!”
Zhao Yun turned his horse around and left. The soldiers wanted to pursue, but were stopped by General Taishi, “Don’t chase; let him go!”
Subordinate general Gao Lian asked puzzledly, “General, we were just in the middle of the fight—why stop?”
General Taishi sighed, “I am not his match. If we continued, I would undoubtedly lose. He gave me a way to save face.”
“Should we try to win him over?” Gao Lian asked again.
“Of course!”
General Taishi said without hesitation, “Such a fierce general is rare in the world. Since he has appeared in Lujiang, we must win him over.”
General Taishi temporarily set aside Zhao Yun; the top priority now was to capture Wan County.
He led his subordinates back to the official road.
The fierce battle on the official road had ended, and the prisoners of war had been taken away. Xu Shu saw that General Taishi had not brought back Sun He and laughed, “Did Sun He escape?”
“Don’t mention it; today I encountered a formidable figure!”
General Taishi recounted his encounter with Zhao Yun. Xu Shu was very surprised—he hadn’t expected the Hebei fierce general Zhao Yun to appear in Lujiang Commandery. He thought for a moment and laughed, “I estimate they came along with the Xuzhou migrants. Our lord seeks talents eagerly; we can’t let such a fierce general get away.”
“That’s what I was thinking too. In a couple of days, I’ll go negotiate the matter of Sun He with them.”
Xu Shu laughed, “Why not let me go? I’ll talk with Zhao Yun.”
General Taishi nodded, “We’ll first capture Wan County, then follow up on this matter.”
At this time, men sent by Xu Sheng arrived with encouraging news: Xu Qian’s fire oil camp had been completely annihilated, and there was no fire oil bottle stock left inside the city.
Leaving two thousand soldiers to guard the prisoners of war, General Taishi and Xu Shu immediately led the remaining thirteen thousand troops to attack Wan County. At the same time, Xu Sheng’s ten thousand navy also arrived at Wan County, and the two armies converged under Wan County.
At this moment, the city wall of Wan County was extremely quiet, which was truly suspicious.
“Strategist, could the enemy army have already withdrawn?” Xu Sheng asked in a low voice.
Xu Shu was also unsure. He pondered for a moment and said, “We can probe with an attack—use assault boats to attack the water gate!”
This was also the suggestion given to them by Gan Ning. The water gate had always been a weakness in Wan County’s defenses; even when Sun Ben occupied Lujiang, he had not realized this problem.
Xu Sheng immediately made arrangements. Not long after, rumbling sounds came as assault boats appeared, followed by three hundred sampans, each with over a dozen soldiers. Xu Sheng, clad in armor and iron helmet and holding an iron spear, stood at the bow of the foremost boat.
The assault boat was the same one that had rammed open the city gate last time. Its oars spun, stirring up waves and huge noise, but it moved very quickly, speeding toward the water gate.
The gaze of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers was fixed on this assault boat, but General Taishi stared at the city wall above the water gate. The assault boat was now only a hundred and fifty paces from the water surface, yet no defenders appeared on the city wall.
The assault boat drew closer and closer to the water gate: a hundred and fifty paces, a hundred paces, fifty paces.
It had reached fifty paces, but there was still no sign of the defenders. At this distance, it could basically be determined that the defenders had fled.
The oars continued spinning rapidly, getting closer and closer, then suddenly accelerated and rammed toward the water gate.
Though the water gate was a barred gate as thick as an arm, it was completely no match for the powerful impact of the assault boat.
“Crack!” With a huge sound, the barred gate was smashed to pieces, and the assault boat charged directly inside the city.
The sampans followed one after another, killing their way into the city.
Soon, the city gates opened. General Taishi led the army inside, and sure enough, there was not a single soldier or officer left in the city—not even the county official remained.
Though Xu Qian was of bandit origins, he was extremely cunning. When he learned that Sun He had been caught between two branches of the Yuzhang Army, he realized trouble was brewing and immediately led his army to withdraw.
Xu Qian had roamed Lujiang Commandery for so many years without ever being annihilated, thanks to his keen instincts—fleeing immediately when something felt off. This time was no exception.
