Chapter 28: Da Qiao And Xiao Qiao
Under the cover of night, five ships quietly approached the Water City Gate. There was also a corridor beside the Water City Gate leading up to the city wall, about two hundred paces from the South City Gate. At night, the Water Gate was closed, and there was no one around.
The five ships were of course suspicious, covered with a layer of rice on top, while the cabins below were empty. Each cabin hid twenty soldiers wearing iron armor.
A total of one hundred ironclad soldiers, led by Wang Ping, were to coordinate an inside-outside attack to capture Wan County.
Time gradually reached the second watch. Wang Ping heard the watchman’s drum, lightly waved his hand, led twenty ironclad soldiers ashore, and the ironclad soldiers from the four ships behind also came ashore one after another.
The troops quickly assembled and, under Wang Ping’s lead, went up to the city wall along the corridor.
Due to the recent Gan Ning sneak attack on Zheng Bao incident, Wan County was still on high alert. Garrison Commander Liu Song was Liu Xun’s cousin. Liu Xun had appointed him General of the Middle Army, leading three thousand troops to garrison Wan County, while also responsible for guarding Yuan Shu’s family and retainer troops.
Liu Song then dispatched twelve hundred men to guard the four city gates, equivalent to entering wartime status.
The South City Gate had three hundred men garrisoned, basically concentrated at the city gate.
Fortunately, the army garrisoning Wan County was not an elite army. Specifically at night, a well-trained elite army would diligently guard the city gate, while a more lax army would not strictly follow military regulations at night.
At this moment, most of the more than three hundred soldiers were leaning against the wall asleep, with only dozens of soldiers yawning, looking extremely sleepy as they stood on the city wall.
Why attack the city wall? Because two important switches were on the city wall: one was the drawbridge mechanism, which had to be lowered from the city wall, and the other was the main city gate switch—the thickest and heaviest bolt above the city gate, which had to be opened from the city wall.
The bolt was fixed on the city gate, but in the morning it needed to be raised upright, and at night lowered into the bolt slot. All of this required an iron chain on the city wall to accomplish.
“Who goes there? Password!”
The sentinel on the city wall spotted the approaching column of troops.
“You bastard, you don’t even recognize me?” Wang Ping angrily rebuked.
The soldier was a bit stunned. He really hadn’t recognized who the other party was.
By the time he suddenly realized something was wrong, it was too late. Wang Ping’s steel spear had already ruthlessly pierced into the soldier’s chest.
“Ah!” The soldier let out a miserable scream and fell to the ground.
“Kill!” With Wang Ping’s command, his one hundred subordinates raised their spears and charged forward.
The city wall fell into great chaos. In an instant, more than a dozen soldiers were stabbed down. The rest of the soldiers who were deep asleep were startled awake. They did not flee but got up and fought back. At the same time, the piercing alarm bell rang out.
“Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!”
The alarm bell resounded throughout the city. Soldiers from the east and west sides of the city came rushing toward this side together.
“Why hasn’t the drawbridge been lowered yet?” Wang Ping shouted anxiously.
“General, the winch is locked!”
Wang Ping picked up a battle saber and viciously slashed at the iron chain. “Clang!” Sparks flew, and the battle saber was chipped.
“Cut the iron chain!”
Several soldiers rushed forward and hacked wildly with their blades. “Clang!” With a loud noise, the iron chain flew up. The drawbridge hung obliquely on the city wall, and there was another iron chain on the other side.
Several soldiers charged up and hacked away. The iron chain suddenly snapped, whipping up like a snake. The drawbridge crashed down, smashing heavily onto the opposite bank.
At this moment, Gan Ning, leading several thousand men, had already arrived under the city wall, just waiting for the city gate to open.
The iron bolt above the iron door had been pulled up—this step went smoothly—but they still needed to go down to the city to open the bolt below the city gate.
Sweat beaded on Wang Ping’s forehead. Six hundred enemy troops from the east and west sides had already closed to within a hundred paces, and the situation under the city wall was unknown.
“Elder Brother, I’ll go!”
His brother Wang Xiaoman shouted, “You, follow me!”
He led twenty soldiers rushing toward under the city wall. Just as they charged down, a volley of arrows came flying from the front. Dozens of enemy troops guarding the gate below had been waiting for them for a while.
The iron armor finally proved its worth at this moment—not a single one was injured.
“Kill—”
Wang Xiaoman raised his spear and charged forward, his twenty subordinates following closely behind. Both sides engaged in fierce battle at the city gate.
Wang Xiaoman pierced his opponent’s neck with one spear thrust. “Cover me!” he shouted, then darted into the city gate tunnel. Five subordinates rushed forward, lining up in front of the city gate tunnel to cover Wang Xiaoman as he opened the city gate.
At that moment, two thousand soldiers led by Liu Song came rushing from the distance, but the city gate finally opened.
Gan Ning spurred his warhorse and charged through the city gate. The soldiers scattered aside. Gan Ning rushed into the city gate, followed by five thousand soldiers charging in.
Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Liu Song shouted, “Retreat! Retreat from the North City Gate!”
He led two thousand soldiers in turning around and fleeing madly toward the North City Gate, which was already open. Liu Song fled in panic, followed by his two thousand subordinates.
Gan Ning did not lead his army in pursuit—he did not have much time and had to withdraw before dawn.
……..
The several large courtyards where Yuan Shu’s family and retainer troops were under house arrest were all taken over by Gan Ning’s subordinates.
The more than three hundred people under house arrest all awoke in shock and came out of their respective courtyards.
Gan Ning gathered the more than three hundred people together and loudly said to them, “I am Chaisang Gan Ning. Those willing to follow me, I will take you to Chaisang. I will protect you. Those unwilling to follow me, Gan Ning, I will not force. Now everyone follow me to Chaisang. After the situation calms, I will respect your choices.”
The crowd hurriedly went back to pack. Gan Ning found Qiao An and Madam Yang with her two daughters.
He immediately spotted the sisters. Though they appeared somewhat thin due to malnutrition, their foundation remained unchanged. Both young women were extremely beautiful, especially sharing the same bright eyes and white teeth. The older sister’s beautiful eyes were deep like a pool of autumn water, while the younger sister’s eyes were strikingly black and white, darting left and right. Both were exceptionally charming and alluring.
In an instant, Gan Ning confirmed that the two young women were Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. At this moment, Gan Ning’s smile was a bit like Gray Taro’s. Da Qiao had become a widow less than half a year after following Sun Ce—truly too unfortunate. She should still be taken care of by him.
As for Xiao Qiao, she could be slowly nurtured first. A man’s chest is broad enough to hold the world, of course it could also accommodate a little beauty like Xiao Qiao.
“I came specifically to rescue you. From now on, your safety is my responsibility!”
There was no gentleness or elegance. Gan Ning had inherited many character traits from his sect, and domineering was one of them.
Qiao An and Madam Yang’s hearts sank. This General Gan had taken a liking to the two young ladies. They had just escaped one fiery pit only to fall into a tiger’s mouth.
Qiao An said in a low voice, “Go back and discuss with Yang Jing. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll think of a way to go to Jiangdong.”
Madam Yang nodded lightly, her heart filled with worry.
The two young women were also timidly sizing up this majestic and tall young man. They had heard that this young man was the one who four months ago raided Yuan Shu, severed Yuan Shu’s head, and stole the Imperial Seal.
He was also the Chaisang Gan Ning who had decisively defeated Zheng Bao’s army and burned thousands to death in one fire.
So he was still so young. Gan Ning’s youth was beyond their expectations—they had all thought Gan Ning was at least in his thirties or forties, around their father’s age.
Gan Ning’s presence was like a mountain. Though it made the enemy army tremble with fear and his speech was extremely domineering, it gave the two young women another indescribable feeling.
A sense of safety. Gan Ning’s strength and domineering gave people a feeling of reliability, and this reliable feeling was a sense of safety for women.
Gan Ning not only gave the two young women a sense of safety but also gave everyone a sense of safety. Except for Yuan Shu’s family, everyone else chose to follow Gan Ning.
After all, Yuan Shu’s neck had been severed by Gan Ning with one slash. Even if they could not avenge their father or brothers, at least they would not serve the enemy.
Of course, unwillingness to join Gan Ning did not mean they could leave freely. Yuan Shu’s family had extremely high political value and could be exchanged for Cao Cao’s support—how could Gan Ning let them go?
Ever since Yuan Shu had rebelled and claimed the throne, his and his family’s fate had no longer been theirs to control.
As dawn approached, the soldiers looted all the supplies and grain from Wan County’s warehouse, escorted more than seven hundred prisoners of war onto the ships, and left Wan County for Chaisang.
Yuan Shu’s family was also escorted by soldiers onto the ships heading to Chaisang.
In the cabin of the largest ship, the sisters huddled closely together, gazing at Gan Ning standing at the bow. On the great river, Gan Ning stood holding his spear, resembling a heavenly god under the reflection of the rising morning glow.
