webnovelfull Chapter 456 Nanzhang River Swimming Competition
Chapter 456 Nanzhang River Swimming Competition
Seeing that the army he led had collectively rebelled and was attacking him, and that their morale was even higher than when they fought against him, Zhu Yi was completely distraught.
He has never seen so many traitors in his life. Have you been bewitched by Guan Xing or what?
After the initial shock, Zhu Yi realized the danger and, without thinking twice, decisively left two hundred personal guards to cover the rear, leading the rest of his personal guards northward to attack.
We must cut our losses and save ourselves, otherwise, if this drags on any longer, not only will our eight hundred personal guards be lost, but we ourselves may also perish.
Previously, he and Liu Chan had tens of thousands of troops, three or four times the strength of Sun Huan. But now the situation has reversed. The Jingzhou troops they brought have all surrendered, and Guan Xing has brought troops from Jiangdong. Guan Xing's forces are more than ten or twenty times greater than theirs. If they are surrounded, let alone Zhu Yi, even if Lü Bu came, he might not be able to break through.
Therefore, we must break through the encirclement before Guanxing joins us, otherwise it will be dangerous.
The idea is good, but shouldn't we ask Sun Huan's opinion before we try to run away?
Sun Huan was equally shocked by the scene of the enemy's collective defection. Looking at the private soldiers of the aristocratic families who had originally been charging towards him but had now turned around to attack Huang Yi and Zhu Yi, he muttered to himself in disbelief, "The private soldiers of the aristocratic families have defected as soon as Guan Xing appeared. The Guan family's prestige in Jingzhou is too high. They can command a hundred responses with a single call. This is the real meaning of commanding a hundred responses, not just an adjective."
After the initial shock, Sun Huan erupted, accelerating his attack on Zhu Yi once more, shouting, "Brothers, give it your all! Don't let Guan Xing underestimate our Eastern Wu soldiers! Kill!"
Sun Huan knew this was the best opportunity to kill Zhu Yi, so he charged towards the other side with all his might, disregarding his own life. However, the private soldiers of the Zhu family, who were also from Jiangdong, were not the traitors under Huang Yi. In order to protect Zhu Yi's retreat, they unleashed amazing fighting power, blocking Sun Huan and forcing him to stay in place and not be able to advance an inch.
At the same time, Zhu Yi successfully reunited with Huang Yi. Knowing that Huang Yi was unreliable, Zhu Yi decisively shouted, "You protect my flank, and I will take the lead in breaking through the encirclement."
Huang Yi retorted, "It's no use. Guan Xing has already circled around to the north to block us. He's probably already set up a defensive formation. How could our small force possibly break through Guan Xing's defenses?"
Zhu Yi said irritably, "Then what can we do? We can't just raise our hands and surrender, can we? If we surrender, I might live, but you might not."
Guan Xing killed Liu Chan, so how could he let the Huang family, these traitors, go? If Huang Yi really falls into Guan Xing's hands, he will probably have to go down and reunite with Liu Chan immediately. If he is fast enough, he might even have time to toast with Liu Chan while drinking the Meng Po soup.
Upon hearing this, Huang Yi's legs trembled instinctively, and he quickly changed his words, saying, "If we can't cross to the north, we can only go west. We'll jump into the Nanzhang River and swim to the other side. Once we're across the Nanzhang River, we'll be safe."
Zhu Yi exclaimed with delight, "Great idea, let's go!"
The two immediately turned around and headed towards the Nanzhang River. When they arrived at the riverbank, they were dismayed to find dozens of small boats and bamboo rafts going upstream, less than two miles away from them. It was Bu Zhi's navy.
Huang Yi stared at the "Bu" battle flag on the ship and asked in horror, "Bu Zhi's army is here, what should we do?"
Zhu Yi said dejectedly, "What else can we do but jump and try to swim to the other side before the enemy ships catch up."
Without waiting for Huang Yi's reply, he hurriedly jumped into the water and swam desperately to the other side. His personal guards followed him decisively. Seeing this, Huang Yi also gritted his teeth and jumped in. If he didn't jump, he would have to charge north to attack Guan Xing's defensive position. Huang Yi felt that it would be more painless to drown in the river than to fight Guan Xing head-on.
With this in mind, Zhu Yi and Huang Yi's personal guards jumped into the river one after another and swam to the other side like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.
Upon seeing this, Bu Zhi, who was standing at the bow of the boat heading this way, immediately flew into a rage and angrily cursed, "You all saw me coming and still dared to jump into the river! You're clearly looking down on me, old Bu! Speed up the small boats and give chase immediately! All bamboo rafts, go ashore and block them! Today, none of you will escape!"
Bu Zhibing split into two groups to pursue the fleeing soldiers in the river. At the same time, Guan Xing, who had already set up a blocking formation in the north, also discovered the scene of Zhu Yi and Huang Yi jumping into the river. He exclaimed in astonishment, "Damn Zhu Yi, he would rather jump into the river than charge towards me. Am I that scary?"
The soldiers behind him rolled their eyes in unison. What do you think?
After a moment's thought, Guan Xing decisively said, "Strike while the iron is hot. At times like this, we must finish off the enemy. Follow me into the river and chase after them. That damned Zhu Yi, does he think I can't swim?"
After saying this, he jumped into the river first, and his personal guards followed suit, quickly jumping into the river like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
Then a bizarre scene unfolded: two large groups of people started a swimming race in the river, hundreds of meters apart, each determined to get to the other side first.
Bu Zhi naturally took on the role of referee, driving toward Zhu Yi while praying in his heart for Guan Xing: "Faster, faster, even faster! You must be faster than Zhu Yi!"
The scene in the river also alarmed the enemy and our forces who were fighting on the east bank. Zhu Chao, who had successfully joined forces with Sun Huan to deal with Zhu Yi's private army, quickly said, "General Sun, the terrain here is too narrow for our forces to maneuver, so I'm leaving this remnant army to you. I'll go help my general."
Sun Huan said, "I'll give you another thousand men. Make sure Zhu Yi doesn't escape."
Compared to Zhu Yi, the fate of these two hundred Zhu family private soldiers was not important. As long as they were kept in check to prevent them from causing trouble in Guanxing's area, that would suffice. Therefore, Sun Huan decisively agreed to Zhu Chao's suggestion.
"Thank you..." Zhu Chao quickly disengaged from the battle, led more than two thousand allied troops to the riverbank and decisively jumped in. They all grew up by the Yangtze River, so who couldn't swim?
And so, dumplings were cooked again on the banks of the Nanzhang River. Poor Nanzhang River, it hadn't been this lively in years.
Meanwhile, in the river swimming competition, Zhu Yi jumped into the water earlier than Guan Xing. Under the constant threat of death from Bu Zhi, he unleashed unprecedented potential, reaching the shore first by a distance of twenty or thirty meters ahead of Guan Xing. However, before he could even stand firmly, Bu Zhi's first army of bamboo rafts that had reached the shore attacked them. Although this army was small in number, it was enough to entangle Zhu Yi.
Zhu Yi had no choice but to desperately resist and cover his personal guards as they reached the shore.
This delay gave Guan Xing an opportunity. Guan Xing swam to the shore, grabbed some water plants, climbed ashore, turned around, and pulled his personal guards up with his sword sheath. The guards also extended their weapons, using this method to quickly help the others get ashore.
Guan Xing quickly gathered a hundred men and, without waiting for the remaining personal guards who had not yet reached the shore, led them to attack Zhu Yi.
Guan Xing quickly reached Zhu Yi's side, shouting as he charged, "Zhu Yi, you only have so few men left, while my men are gathering more and more. You can't win. I'm giving you one last chance. Surrender or not, give me a straight answer. If you don't surrender, then die."
Zhu Yi's lips trembled violently a few times, and he said helplessly, "Guan Anguo, I can surrender, but I want to fight you one-on-one. I, Zhu Yi, swear in the name of the ancestors of the Zhu family of Wu County that if you defeat me, I will surrender, and I will never betray you after surrendering, otherwise may I be struck by lightning and have no descendants."
In this situation, there are really only two choices: surrender or death. Zhu Yi is only nineteen years old and naturally doesn't want to die, but you can't just make me kneel down and beg for mercy. Doesn't the young master Zhu have any dignity? Shouldn't I find a way to save face?
Therefore, Zhu Yi secretly made up his mind that as long as Guan Xing accepted the duel, he would deliberately lose to Guan Xing.
This idea is somewhat presumptuous, as if he thinks he can defeat Guan Xing by not holding back.
Guan Xing threw away his weapon and said, "No problem, to be fair, let's fight hand-to-hand without weapons."
Zhu Yi then threw down his weapon and loudly ordered, "Everyone, throw down your weapons and stand aside and watch!"
These words were naturally spoken to his personal guards, but the Han-Wu allied forces that were besieging them also tacitly retreated, giving up their positions to Guan Xing and Zhu Yi.
Guan and Zhu snapped their fingers, sized each other up for a moment, and then rushed at each other. As soon as they made contact, Zhu Yi was thrown several meters away by Guan Xing with an over-the-shoulder throw.
Guan Xing was the real professional in hand-to-hand combat. Zhu Yi was like a chick in his hands, completely powerless to fight back. After being thrown around more than ten times, he finally gave in and admitted defeat. Seeing Guan Xing rushing at him again, he quickly raised his hand to stop him, saying, "Stop, I admit defeat..."