JavaScript is off/unavailable on your browser. You will not be able to experience this website as it was intended without JavaScript enabled.
There were now two parts of the Yangtze River that looked to be
made of more wood and men than water, and it was highly likely that the battle
would cost a lot of lives if it was not brought to a swift end through an act
of morale-breaking heroism by one side or the other.
“…So many men and boats,” Bofu said as he marvelled at the sight of the
two large navies. “I doubt that we’ll see this again in our lifetime, Gongjin.”
“We might, we might not,” Gongjin replied. “That depends, as it always
does, on the state of the northern court.”
The grey-haired Cheng Pu harrumphed and said, “The sooner we’re free of
their foolishness, the better, Zhou Gongjin. What’s the plan…?”
“What plan can one have when the situation is as simple as this,
Demou…?” the veteran Huang Gai asked. “I would have thought that the answer
here is ‘sail toward them and break them as quickly as possible’.”
“And you’d be right, Mister Huang,” Gongjin said. “Lü Fan and I have
discussed it at great length, and we both decided the same thing: the great
‘Tiger of Jiangdong’ is the man that we must look to for inspiration.”
“Suits me!” Bofu cackled. “I-!”
“No heroics, Bofu!” Sun Hè pleaded. “We’ve done this too many times
already, and I can’t guarantee that I can watch your back during a river
fight!”
“Bah… don’t fret so much,
Bohai!” Bofu insisted. “I’ve been practicing this stuff endlessly in the last
two years, which you know well enough.”
“…Well I’m not so nimble these days, not since my leg got hurt, so I’ll
manage things from the command ship,” Cheng Pu grumbled. “Remember that your
leg is not so trustworthy since you were shot by Ze Rong’s men, Lord Sun.”
“It’s fine now,” Bofu insisted. “Let’s get this over with! Taishi Ziyi!
Let’s you and I show these men what true heroes look like!”
The brawny Taishi Ci smirked and said, “I’m already there in spirit,
Lord Sun: my body won’t take long to catch up!”
“And you’re lucky I didn’t charge already!” Ling Cao cried.
“…Aiee… such recklessness,”
Huang Gai muttered.
Huang Shè and Han Xi watched with horror as Bofu, Sun Hè, Gongjin,
Taishi Ci and Ling Cao led a force of several hundred highly-trained men toward
his fleet at great speed: they were already hopping onto the Jing vessels and
engaging the front lines before their craft had even slowed. At first, their
tactics - which involved moving past the front lines of boats - seemed to be
suicide, as they risked being surrounded, but it quickly became clear that
something more was happening.
“At that speed, they’ll be at the main ships in no time at all!” Huang
Shè exclaimed. “We’ll have to be ready with archers!”
“That’s the least of our worries!” Han Xi noted. “Their smaller craft
are parting… and their larger ships are moving to ram into our small boats as
their leaders pass them!”
As Han Xi spoke the words, the actions that they described came to pass:
many of Huang Zu’s vanguard boats were being capsized and smashed by the larger
Jiangdong vessels, and the men that were thrown overboard were being shot and
stabbed as they tried to swim toward land.
“This is a rout!” Huang Shè
gasped. “How can this be???”