Chapter 32: No Spreading
Cao Hong's troops were stationed near the main camp, and they were immediately mobilized to cross the river and set up obstacles at the mouth of the Weishui River using fishing boats.

The troops of Liu Xun, the governor of Henei County, were stationed in Chenliu County and participated in the canal excavation work.

The order was urgent, and Liu Xun summoned his followers to ask: "The bandits have kidnapped the prime minister of Liang State and are coming up the Langdang Canal in three transport ships. Cao Gong ordered me to rescue him. What good plans do you have?"

Liu Ye was sitting on the side yawning when he heard Liu Xun's cousin Liu Xie say, "The enemy has a large ship. If we can't persuade them to surrender, we can only attack them by force. If we attack by force, it will be difficult to protect the Liang State."

Liu Xie was also a little sleepy, rubbing his eyes and saying, "Brother, does Cao Gong want to persuade the bandits to surrender, or does he want to rescue Yuan Huan? If he wants to rescue him with all his strength, we still have some room for maneuver."

It's nothing more than rescuing Yuan Huan and agreeing to more conditions when negotiating with the bandits.

After confirming that Yuan Huan was safe, they would kill the thief if they could, but it didn’t matter if they couldn’t, as they had rescued him anyway.

Liu Xun flipped through the wooden tablet of military book in his hand and frowned. He did not interpret the meaning of the military book that Yuan Huan must be kept alive.

Yuan Huan’s life or death is actually a secondary issue.

This group of bandits are too rampant. Not only did they kidnap the heads of counties and states, but they actually did it right next to the imperial army.

If we let him go easily or he escapes, it will damage the prestige of the court.

If the imperial court and Lord Cao lose some of their prestige, the reputation of this group of thieves will naturally soar.

After thinking for a while, Liu Xun looked at Liu Ye and said, "This time, I will have to trouble Zi Yang to go and persuade the bandits. If the bandits can release Yuan Huan, our army will not pursue them for one day."

"Yes, I will do my best."

Liu Ye knelt up straight and bowed in response. He didn't think the thief would hurt him.

At the young age of twenty, he killed the powerful commander Deng Bao with his own hands, took his head into the enemy's camp and took over more than 3,000 troops of the enemy.

However, he believed that the Han Dynasty had been dominated and would be difficult to revive, so he handed over his troops to Liu Xun and stayed beside him as a guest.

Later, Sun Ce formed an alliance with Liu Xun and induced Liu Xun to attack. Liu Ye's dissuasion failed, and as a result, his base was raided, so he had no choice but to follow Liu Xun to the court in Xu Du.

He clearly had strong hands-on abilities, but he just didn't want to get involved in the mess of restoring the Han Dynasty.

Therefore, Liu Ye always regarded himself as a strategist, paid attention to self-cultivation, had a good reputation in the world, and had few enemies.

Liu Ye immediately led his personal warriors to set sail on the boat, while the officers and soldiers in the camp were still being mobilized.

The Xudu court had no warships, and even the specifications of the transport ships were mainly designed to be light and flexible.

Except for a small number of tower ships and sea vessels that have survived to this day in Qingxu, most of the ships in the north are small boats.

In the wandering canal, Liu Ye stood at the bow wearing a sheepskin cloak, two people were rowing at the stern, and his personal warriors were sitting cross-legged in the boat.

There was another person holding up a torch to illuminate the river. After seven or eight miles downstream, they saw faint lights on the surface of the river.

In an instant, Liu Ye took a breath and widened his eyes: "How dare the thieves sail at night!"

Unfortunately, there was only one boat, so he turned around and said, "Dock, and two people will quickly inform Lord Liu! I will go and delay the thieves and buy time for Lord Liu to set up his formation!"

The boatman rowed the boat flexibly to the shore. When it was almost reaching the shore, the two guards jumped into the waist-deep river and waded towards the shore.

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

"We are envoys from the imperial court!"

As they got closer, the warriors on the boat shouted, but Black Bear was unmoved. Instead, he said to Xu Lin behind him, "Beat the drum, speed up!"

"Yes, drum roll!"

Xu Lin shouted loudly behind him, and the shouts were passed on to the cabin by the two sailors. The drummer in the cabin immediately started beating the waist drum, making a thumping sound.

The sailors sitting at the oars immediately gathered their strength and rowed the boats, with the drum beats providing the rhythm for the rowing.

After a dozen breaths, the ship's speed increased by about one-seventh.

The boat on the opposite side moved flexibly and dodged the collision, but suddenly several figures appeared on the boat, waving swords and knives, and screams were heard in an instant.

Blood and severed limbs fell into the flowing canal without even a sound.

Before Liu Ye could react, he was knocked into the water by the shoulder of the personal guard behind him.

Liu Ye fell into the water suddenly and his hands and feet became flustered. He felt cramps and his whole body immediately turned cold.

When I barely surfaced, I saw torches falling on a boat not far away. There was no one walking around on the boat, let alone any living people.

Enduring the pain in his legs and feet, Liu Ye could only float downstream, trying hard to keep his face above water.

Next came the second big ship, the third big ship, and then the wupeng boat slid past him.

Liu Ye quickly reached out and grabbed the board, followed by his second hand, and then he pulled hard with both hands.

After a few breaths, he finally crawled into the awning and lay there gasping for breath, with a look of fear on his face that did not subside.

In front of the boat, Black Bear saw that there were more and more small boats holding torches, almost illuminating both sides of the Langdang Canal.

He turned around and looked at Xu Lin: "Signal the boat behind, everyone return to the cabin!"

"Yes!"

Xu Lin strode away, and the two sailors who were controlling the sail untied the ropes around their waists and followed Xu Lin into the car.

At the bow, Black Bear summoned the remaining Taoist servants, who picked up shields to cover both sides.

Upstream.

"Brother! It's dark, the enemy is coming upstream, and our army lacks equipment... How can we fight!"

"There is no other plan. Surround them, force the pirate ship to stop, and seize it by force!"

Liu Xun gave the order, and immediately the drummer behind him began to beat the drum, and various small boats on both sides accelerated with torches.

Sixty or seventy small boats rushed downstream, followed by Liu Xun's team.

The ship was a borrowed baggage transport ship, without any heavy crossbows or anything else.

Some were only equipped with spears, halberds, bows and crossbows; even many elite soldiers did not dare to wear iron armor, and wore leather armor when leaving the camp.

Even Liu Xun gave up his gilded armor tonight.

At the bow, Black Bear took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

I couldn't help but take another deep breath, and soon found that I couldn't control my breathing steadily, and my breathing gradually became rapid.

After a few strong heartbeats, the whole person broke away from the initial stiffness and began to get excited.

Even the enemy's fleet began to slow down in his sight.

He raised his right hand and clenched the five cards together.

Looking at the boat in the front twenty or thirty steps away, he swung his right hand and threw out a card. He suddenly felt his arm go weak. Half a breath later, five Taoist soldiers appeared on the boat.

Immediately, swords were swung, iron spears were swept, and screams were heard everywhere.

The surrounding fleet was in chaos. Seeing the Taoist servant Yuan Shu fall into the water, Black Bear endured the tiredness in his arms, raised his hand to recall and threw him out again.

Gao Shun, who had been strengthened into a Taoist soldier, followed Lu Bu and jumped onto the nearby boat to kill the frightened enemy soldiers who had poor vision and were in disorder.

The two ordinary Taoist soldiers also wanted to jump, but their explosive power and balance were poor, or they might lack the ability to seize the opportunity.

They immediately fell into the water one after another, but were immediately called back by the black bear and immediately joined in the fight again.

In just seven or eight breaths, the enemy's fleet formation became chaotic. Many ships had the instinct to avoid chaos and fighting, so they dodged to the sides, causing the number of ships in the middle to become sparse.

In the blink of an eye, the transport boat under the black bear's feet hit the first small boat, followed by the second one, and then crashed to the sides. After several consecutive collisions, the black bear on the bow of the deck did not feel very strong.

In the lower cabin, dim lights flickered, and women and children huddled together nervously.

Yuan Huan, who was dozing off, was awakened by the sound of the collision. He immediately stood up and put his ear to the wooden board to listen to the movement outside the boat. He could faintly hear the sound of killing.

"Brother, the thieves are fierce!"

Liu Xie shouted, "There must be many crossbows on their ships. The only way to stop them is to form a tight formation. But if we form a tight formation, we will be severely hit by the crossbows! It is better to avoid the enemy's sharp edge. They are sailing at night, and our army will leave the camp in a hurry. It is normal that we cannot stop them."

"Brother, why don't you retreat to the sides and shoot with your strong bows to kill the bandits!"

Liu Xun said nothing as if he acquiesced. His trusted men who were rowing the oars behind him began to control the boats. The forty or fifty boats serving as the reserve also began to spread to the two wings.

Since they had given up intercepting the enemy, the Lujiang soldiers who had retreated to both sides drew their bows.

As the large ship entered the shooting range, arrows were shot out one after another.

When the black bear saw the other party make way, he squatted and hid under the bow guard plate.

Then one could hear the sound of arrows breaking through the air and hitting the deck and the bow.

Some of the thrown arrows also hit the shield held obliquely by the Taoist servant, and were either bounced away or nailed to the shield.

Liu Xun was blocked in front of him by several shields, and had no time to wait for the enemy's bows and crossbows to counterattack. The Lujiang archers on both sides shot arrows to their heart's content in an attempt to continue to suppress the enemy's bows and crossbows.

In a naval battle, whoever suppresses the other will suffer fewer casualties!

The more you don't want to die, the harder you have to suppress the other party!

They successfully suppressed the thieves!

But the thieves' boats continued to move forward, as if they were in an empty space.

"Chase, chase the pirate ship!"

Liu Xun watched the pirate ships pass by one after another and issued a meaningless order.

Other people's boats are larger and have more oars and sails; under the same upstream conditions, it is more difficult for small boats to catch up.

On the shore, knights who were observing and conducting reconnaissance were running back and forth, reporting changes in the battle situation to the main camp.

In Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao heard the news and went out of the gate to look, and saw sparse fire in the distance.

Xun You pulled his cloak tightly together and watched for a moment, then said, "Mingsir, although the Langdang Canal is straight, the thieves are sailing at night, which shows that they must be elite navy troops."

If we allow this bandit army to pass safely past our camp, the consequences will be disastrous.

Cao Cao was thinking about countermeasures, but it was too late to mobilize a large number of soldiers to set up bow and crossbow arrays on both sides of the Langdang Canal.

Liu Xun's Lujiang troops failed to intercept, and they could not count on other soldiers from the north.

Li Dian's troops were able to adapt to river-level water battles, but Li Dian's troops went out to transport grain and were responsible for the transportation and protection of the Ji River.

After thinking for a while, Cao Cao smiled and said, "Gongda, judging from what happened today, it would be better for you to join the navy as soon as possible."

The most important thing at the moment is to conquer Hebei, and all resources should be invested in this matter.

It is not realistic to train a navy now because there are no warships.

Xun You understood that this meant allocating part of the manpower to shipbuilding, training craftsmen and construction units; once Hebei was able to free up some time, the scale of shipbuilding would be expanded and professional naval forces would be trained.

Moreover, the navy could not be trained on a large scale, as this would cause Sun Quan to feel uneasy.

Xun You replied to Cao Cao's helpless sigh at this moment: "If the bandits want to get out of Langdangqu, they can either go west through Honggou, north through Yingou, or break through General Zilian and go east through Weishui. We should dispatch two armies to the Honggou and Yingou water mouths at night, build more fireboats and rafts to block the river; then use cavalry archers to damage the sails of the bandits' boats, and their momentum will be stopped, and we can eliminate them in a flash."

"can."

Cao Cao agreed, and Xun You immediately arranged a troop deployment plan.

Anyway, there is no way to deal with this fleet at the moment. Who would have thought that the other party dared to sail in the dark.

If Yanling Commander Wen Hui had not sounded the alarm, this fleet might have quietly passed by the side of the camp after hijacking Yuan Huan.

Three transport ships, under extreme conditions, can transport two to three hundred soldiers!
The camp’s alert direction is Hebei, and the alert level to the south of Langdang Canal is very low!
Fortunately, he was just a small thief. If he was a group of elite rebels who had been planning for a long time, they could have approached the camp on a night boat and launched an attack, which would have been enough to shake the entire army!
So while Cao Cao was shocked and angry, he also felt a little relieved.

He did not move on the shore. Xu Chu, who was in charge of the guard, did not dare to be careless and ordered the tiger soldiers to line up with bows and crossbows, each with a hundred men, on both sides.

Soon, the outline of the pirate ship appeared in sight.

Their dense torches also attracted the attention of Black Bear early on, and he was ready with five cards in his hand.

"hair!"

Xu Chu was the first to give the order. Bows and crossbows on the right wing were fired one after another, and arrows were nailed to the side of the ship.

The black bear threw the card towards the area where torches were densely packed, then retracted its head and hid under the guard plate and shield.

He leaned against the guardrail, rubbing his trembling and weak right arm with his left hand, and his face did not look very good.

This is just one spell to summon five Taoist soldiers. In the future, as the Taoist soldiers become stronger and more numerous, wouldn't it be a heavier burden to summon them through concentrated spells?
The tiger soldiers' bows and crossbows were very effective in suppressing the enemy, and there was no sign of the enemy's counterattack.

Just when Cao Cao was feeling relieved, suddenly a tall white-robed warrior appeared about ten steps in front of him, making him extremely nervous!

The sudden appearance of the tall, white-robed warrior made Cao Cao's bad memories come to his mind. He immediately began to fear death and retreated into the guard formation.

Without any shouts of killing, the five Taoist soldiers marched forward and rushed straight ahead. The archers on both sides of the enemy were unable to react in time, and only a few of them could notice this unusual movement.

A dozen tiger warriors in the first row drew their swords and held their spears and stepped forward subconsciously to block the attack, but the tall warrior on the opposite side was too swift.

The long sword held in both hands is not only extremely brutal but also extremely powerful. Almost no one can block it.

When Xu Chu saw the enemy rushing forward, he killed five of them in a row. For a moment, the tiger soldiers in the second row who were attacking subconsciously dodged, but the enemy's forward momentum continued and they rushed straight towards Cao Gong.

Xu Chu had no choice but to raise his sword and step forward to fight. He was suddenly attacked, and Xu Chu was unable to use his full strength. The sword hit Xu Chu, and his body was shaken, and he could barely stand firm.

He raised his sword without thinking and successfully blocked the attack, then chopped with his backhand, but unfortunately the opponent was faster.

Lu Bu's fierce attack was able to unleash his full power in every slash, while Xu Chu was one step slower from the beginning.

As a result, he is always a step behind and cannot fully unleash his power.

Unable to burst out with his full strength, Xu Chu felt very frustrated every time they fought.

He didn't care about the aggrieved feeling and had to retreat while gathering his strength to strike again, not daring to slack off at all.

The other tiger warriors were killed because they were hit by the opponent's sword and became unstable and their postures were scattered, and then they were killed by the opponent's counterattack sword.

At this moment, power is speed, and speed is power.

The Taoist soldier Lu Bu had already caught Xu Chu off guard, and he took advantage of the situation and continued to chase Xu Chu and hack at him.

Xu Chu retreated five or six steps, and the surrounding tiger warriors finally regained their composure. More than a dozen tiger warriors from the Xu clan, who were close relatives, stepped forward with spears in hand and attacked in a disorderly manner.

They successfully repelled the force of Lu Bu's sword and were about to surround and kill the opponent together, but the opponent suddenly disappeared!
In an instant, Xu Chu, with his arm trembling, held the sword in his right hand and instinctively held it across his face.

It was as if the opponent would suddenly appear in front of him and give him a powerful blow.

Not only Xu Chu, but all the tiger warriors holding spears retreated together, stirring the air in front of them with their spears and halberds, holding their breath nervously.

Cao Cao climbed onto the chariot and raised his hand to hold the thick pole of the flag. He looked around and felt even more terrified in the quiet and eerie atmosphere.

"This is weird."

Maybe a few breaths later, Cao Cao said to Xu Chu who had retreated to the front of the chariot: "Don't spread rumors!"

(End of this chapter)