Chapter 124: Wei Yan’s Brilliant Feat
Wei Yan, as Ding Feng’s deputy general, led one Doujian and ten Mengchong Warships into battle as well.
Wei Yan was also holding back a breath, determined to earn military merit. Seeing that Taishi Ci, who arrived later than him, was promoted to Colonel and became the leader of the Fifth Army, and then Zhao Yun from the North was also promoted to Colonel and became the leader of the Sixth Army.
Wei Yan was getting anxious. He admitted that Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun’s martial arts were superior, beyond what he could match, but watching one great general after another arrive and be appointed to high positions, when would it be his turn to turn things around?
Wei Yan knew he lacked military merit, great military merit. In this campaign to conquer Changsha Commandery, he was rubbing his fists, eager to make a big splash.
Wei Yan followed Ding Feng and was assigned to the left army. As soon as the battle started, he had little interest in killing enemy soldiers; he was focused on finding the enemy’s flagship. With perseverance paying off, he finally spotted the enemy flagship at the rear of the enemy army—a Three Thousand Stone Tower Ship.
He immediately led his Doujian and ten Mengchong Warships around the warships, stealthily approaching the enemy’s flagship. At this time, Wei Yan’s ships had all raised Jingzhou Army military flags, successfully deceiving the enemy. Many Jingzhou Army warships passed by without intercepting them.
When still three hundred paces from the flagship, Wei Yan suddenly noticed an even larger Tower Ship a mile behind the enemy, around Ten Thousand Stone, surrounded by five Two Thousand Stone Doujians as escorts.
Wei Yan considered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and ordered: “Head for the largest warship at the rear!”
His Doujian quickly turned around and sailed toward the large ship a mile to the rear.
The warship Wei Yan targeted was precisely the Jingzhou Army commander’s ship. Because Liu Cong was on board, they had to use the largest ship to display prestige, as per Jingzhou’s rules.
At this time, Cai Yan saw a Doujian and ten Mengchong Warships threading through countless warships, heading toward her large ship, and thought they were coming to report the battle situation.
Cai Yan misjudged for two reasons: first, the enemy was flying Jingzhou Army military flags; second, they passed calmly through her countless warships without any ship intercepting them.
Cai Yan naturally assumed they were her own warships approaching her large ship to report the battle situation.
She walked to the ship’s rail, both sides holding the rails waiting for the other to come forward. Unexpectedly, a black dot suddenly appeared. By the time she reacted, the arrow was right in front of her. Cai Yan was greatly alarmed and instinctively dodged to the side. “Pfft!” The arrow struck her left shoulder squarely. Cai Yan cried out in agony and fell backward. She had been careless today, not wearing iron armor, and paid a heavy price.
Personal guards rushed forward to rescue the commander. At this moment, Wei Yan’s Doujian charged like an arrow. “Thud!” With a muffled crash, the Doujian slammed heavily into the enemy’s ship hull. The enemy large ship rocked violently, and everyone on board lost their footing and fell.
Although this Tower Ship was a Ten Thousand Stone warship, its height was similar to Wei Yan’s Three Thousand Stone Doujian, mainly distinguished by its broad build with four decks built on top.
Wei Yan leaped onto the large ship, swinging his saber with extremely fierce technique, killing over twenty personal guards in succession. He placed his saber on Cai Yan’s neck and shouted: “Cai Yan, you have this day too!”
Cai Yan recognized Wei Yan at a glance, her face changing drastically. “So it’s you!”
Cai Yan naturally knew Wei Yan. Wei Yan had initially been her deputy general, but after he mocked her incompetence behind her back and she found out, she flew into a rage, demoting him to Battalion Commander and sending him to Deng Long’s army.
Cai Yan’s face flickered with uncertainty. She suddenly straightened her neck and shouted: “If you want to kill, then kill. If Grandpa frowns, I’m no hero!”
Wei Yan chuckled. “You want to die, but I really don’t want to kill you.”
He withdrew his saber and ordered his subordinates to bind Cai Yan.
Wei Yan killed another dozen or so, then charged up to the upper deck to catch the big fish. Coming from the Jingzhou Army, Wei Yan knew their rules. He discovered that the large ship was flying a silver-edged king flag, meaning Liu Biao’s son was on board.
If Liu Biao himself were present, the king flag would have a gold edge; if his son, a silver edge; if no edging, it indicated Liu Biao’s special envoy was aboard, carrying out the Lord’s kingly orders.
At this time, the four hundred subordinates led by Wei Yan all boarded the Ten Thousand Stone command ship, continuously hurling fire oil bottles onto the five surrounding escort ships, setting all five escort ships ablaze.
Wei Yan led a dozen subordinates to charge to the second floor, where dozens of soldiers guarded the entrance to a large cabin. Wei Yan swung his saber and charged. The enemy soldiers shouted and met him head-on. If anything happened to the Lord, they wouldn’t survive either, so everyone fought desperately.
The clash was a bloody melee, heads rolling. Wei Yan took several saber strikes, but wearing iron armor, he was unharmed. He and his dozen subordinates killed all forty-plus enemy guards, then kicked open the cabin door and rushed in.
Inside the room stood a young general, clear-eyed and handsome, wearing iron armor, holding a treasure sword, his face pale as paper.
Wei Yan narrowed his eyes and smiled. “So it’s the Second Young Master. Long time no see!”
Wei Yan naturally knew Liu Qi, Liu Cong, and Liu Biao; it had just been three years since he last saw Liu Cong.
“Who are you?” Liu Cong vaguely felt he had seen the man before.
“I am Xiakou Commandant Wei Yan. I once served as a general in the Jingzhou Army, but that’s the past. I don’t wish to be rude to the Young Master. Please come with me!”
He gave a look, and his subordinates stepped forward, seized Liu Cong’s treasure sword, bound his hands behind his back, and pushed him out.
Though the Tower Ship was large, it was too slow and would be surrounded. Wei Yan led all his soldiers to withdraw to his Doujian. Just then, the Jingzhou Army discovered the commander’s ship was in trouble, and over twenty warships rushed back to rescue.
The Doujian paddled desperately, speeding eastward, with over twenty warships in hot pursuit. The two sides were less than a mile apart, dozens of warships chasing Wei Yan’s Doujian like a wolf pack.
They rowed over twenty li, but Wei Yan’s Doujian had too many soldiers and couldn’t match the enemy warships’ speed. The pursuers closed in to within a hundred paces. Both sides began exchanging arrows, the enemy forming a pocket formation to surround Wei Yan’s ships.
At this critical moment, a fleet charged in from the side, cutting off Wei Yan from the pursuers. This fleet was part of the left army led by Ding Feng, consisting of five Doujians, five large Mengchong ships, and dozens of medium Mengchong Warships.
They encircled the pursuing ships in reverse, continuously hurling fire oil bottles and fire oil cans onto the enemy ships. The enemy’s over twenty ships couldn’t extinguish the fires fast enough and were ultimately engulfed in flames.
At this point, the battlefield had turned decisively one-sided. The Yuzhang Army’s battering poles demonstrated their might, smashing nearly two hundred Jingzhou Army warships. More importantly, as time passed, the mutual fire oil attacks reached a tipping point. Increasingly, Jingzhou Army warships couldn’t keep up with the burning speed despite rescue efforts, and the fires ultimately consumed them.
Over three hundred warships had been destroyed by the inferno, while the Yuzhang Army also lost nearly a hundred warships. The exchange ratio was one to three, truly killing three thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred.
But the battering poles suffered no losses. Apart from a dozen Doujians withdrawing due to damaged poles, the remaining thirty-plus Doujians advanced unstoppable, growing fiercer, and the enemy gradually showed signs of collapse.
Gan Ning had learned that Wei Yan captured Liu Cong and Cai Yan, and was overjoyed. He immediately ordered: “Full army advance, utterly crush the enemy!”
“Dong! Dong! Dong!” The drums beat fiercely again, and three red flags were raised on the flagship—the order for the final decisive battle.
Over five hundred warships intensified their assault, engaging the enemy in full melee. By now, the enemy had learned their commander was captured and lost the will to fight. The flagship raised the yellow flag for retreat, and enemy ships turned to flee one after another.
But Gan Ning issued the order to pursue the routed enemy relentlessly. Yuzhang Army warships surged with vigor, chasing relentlessly, overtaking one enemy warship after another. With no way out, Jingzhou Army warships began raising white flags to surrender.
Soon, hundreds of enemy rear logistics ships were overtaken. The Yuzhang Army warships pursued over two hundred li in one go, deep into the Yangtze River. Ultimately, of the Jingzhou Army’s over one thousand warships, only thirty-odd escaped back to Jiangling.
Thus, the Jingzhou Army’s thirty thousand navy was completely annihilated, with commander Liu Cong and deputy general Cai Yan taken as prisoners of war.
