Chapter 3: Capturing General Sun Jian Alive

  Luo Zheng returned to the camp and immediately sent people to collect lime, fire oil and other materials.

  Dou Bo Chen Tong was quite puzzled and asked: "Sir, what do you want with lamp oil and ash?"

  "Go ahead and look for him then! What's the point of asking so many questions? I've told you already but you won't understand anyway."

  Chen Tong did not dare ask again and hurriedly led his men to gather lime, fire oil, big ropes and other materials.

  Luo Zhen sneered, this time he was determined to make Sun Jian unable to escape. As long as Sun Jian was caught, there would be one less powerful enemy in the future. Unfortunately, Sun Ce didn't know where he was, otherwise he would have been caught and killed together, eliminating future troubles.

  The night is dark and deep, it's a good time for murder and arson.

  Sun Jian's camp was quiet, with many soldiers already asleep. Even the night watchmen were leaning against the fence, dozing off.

  Originally, two days ago, Sun Jian was worried that the soldiers from the Wujiangkou Pass would come to raid the camp, so he made arrangements and the night guards were also very vigilant.

  Two days passed and Hu Zhi did not come to attack the camp, so all the soldiers relaxed their vigilance.

  Sun Jian's large camp was set up on a small hill, with the north side being a steep slope of loose rocks, making it unfavorable for surprise attacks. The other three sides were all lined with fences.

  Under the cover of night, two teams of 500 cavalrymen each approached the campsite stealthily, their war horses' hooves wrapped in tattered cloth and their muzzles covered with green cloth, until they were just twenty zhang away from the main camp.

  "What sound?"

  Next to the fence, a soldier leaning against the fence yawned, rubbed his eyes and looked into the darkness.

  "Ah..."

  The Changsha soldier suddenly widened his eyes and let out a shrill howl that pierced the silent night sky, "Enemy raid... Ahh!"

  An arrow shot across the night sky and pierced through the throat.

  The vigilant soldier from Changsha fell backwards and collapsed.

  But this warning was enough.

  Sun Jian's camp suddenly boiled up, and the soldiers on night watch were awakened first, taking up their weapons at the first moment.

  But it's too late now.

  The Western Liang cavalry, riding swiftly on horseback, quickly arrived at the fence, cutting down several soldiers, pulling out the fence, and the cavalry behind them rushed into the camp, killing and setting fires everywhere, shouting "Capture Sun Jian alive, capture Sun Jian alive."

  The eerie cries and shouts of killing broke the tranquility of the night.

  The soldiers who were familiar with the situation were awakened and rushed out of their tents without having time to put on their armor.

  As far as the eye could see, on both sides of the small mountain pass, countless torches lit up, and it was unknown how many enemy troops there were.

  The camp was in a state of utter chaos, with cries and shouts of killing filling the air, fires breaking out everywhere. The soldiers who had just been awakened from their deep sleep by the sudden commotion were immediately thrown into panic, scurrying about like ants on a hot skillet, not knowing what to do.

  Some soldiers didn't even have time to put on their clothes and were beheaded by the Western Liang cavalry as soon as they rushed out of their tents.

  Sun Jian was startled awake from his sleep, hearing the enemy's surprise attack on the camp. Instantly, he felt a surge of energy throughout his body and silently cursed his bad luck. Hastily donning his armor, he rushed out of his tent, where General Cheng Pu had already arrived in disarray.

  "It's terrible, sir."

  The messenger's face was sorrowful, and he said in a mournful tone: "The enemy troops launched a surprise attack at night, the main camp has been breached, Master, please hurry up and break through the encirclement."

  Sun Jian almost vomited blood and shouted loudly: "I have repeatedly instructed you to be cautious of the enemy's surprise attack, why did they suddenly break into our camp?"

  The general's face turned red with shame, and he hastily said: "It's all because I was careless for a moment. The enemy troops didn't come in the past two days, which led to this oversight. Now that the camp has been breached and the soldiers have lost their will to fight, please, my lord, quickly break through the encirclement, regroup our forces, and then engage the enemy in a decisive battle of life and death."

  "You're going to be the death of me!"

  Sun Jian let out a loud roar, but did not dare to engage in a prolonged battle. He immediately pulled over his warhorse and mounted it.

  "Kill Sun Jian and behead him, capture Sun Jian alive."

  In the darkness, a thunderous roar pierced the night sky, stunning people's eardrums.

  Not far away, several Western Liang cavalrymen rode in and cut down several panicked Changsha soldiers like cutting melons and vegetables.

  "Huh?"

  Sun Jian's eyes gleamed fiercely as he spurred his horse forward, let out a loud roar and swung his sword, cutting the two Western Liang cavalrymen into four pieces.

  "Sun Jian is here."

  In the midst of the fiery light that filled the sky, a Western Liang cavalryman let out a loud shout and immediately over a hundred more horsemen charged towards this side.

  The urgent drumming of the four beats, in the chaos, still didn't know how many Western Liang cavalrymen had killed their way in. The hillsides on both sides were densely packed with torches everywhere. If they didn't leave now, they would be surrounded. Hurriedly shouting loudly: "Your Excellency, depart quickly."

  Sun Jian beheaded more than a dozen Western Liang soldiers and saw even more Western Liang soldiers closing in, only then did he turn his horse around and charge out of the camp.

  The torches on both sides of the thing are dense, and it is unknown how many Xiliang soldiers there are.

  The northern side was a steep slope of loose rocks, and war horses could hardly run on it.

  There were fewer torches on the south side, and it seemed that there weren't many Western Liang soldiers.

  In an instant, Sun Jian also couldn't care about whether there were ambushes or not, and led Cheng Pu to rush out of the camp. Huang Gai, Han Dang and dozens of soldiers followed closely behind, charging down the mountain from the south like a whirlwind, galloping hastily.

  The Central Plains lacked war horses, and although the Guandong army was known as a large army of 300,000, there were not many cavalry.

  Sun Jian led eight thousand Changsha soldiers, but there were only a few dozen cavalrymen, and the rest were infantry.

  "Sun Jian has retreated, Hua Xiong is here."

  Sun Jian led a few dozen cavalrymen down the mountain, and in the midst of loud shouting, he saw two thousand cavalrymen blocking his way.

  "Hua Xiong, you lone hero, come quickly to accept your death."

  Sun Jian remained calm and fearless, let out a loud shout, whipped his horse and wielded his sword, charging straight at Hua Xiong.

  Cheng Pu, Han Dang and Huang Gai, three generals, shouted in unison, leading dozens of cavalrymen to chase after them, killing as they went.

  "Right!"

  "Bang!"

  In the midst of a clear and loud clash of gold and iron, two riders crossed each other, Hua Xiong's whole body shook violently, his right arm exhausted and unable to be lifted.

  Sun Jian, however, did not dare to linger in battle and with a swing of his sword killed three Western Liang cavalrymen before charging straight into the rear ranks.

  The troops were even more reluctant to fight, closely following Sun Jian's back, and making a desperate effort to break through the encirclement. In the darkness, it was still unknown how many ambushes the Xiliang army had laid, if they didn't take advantage of the situation to break through the encirclement, once surrounded by the main force, it would be big trouble.

  In a patch of mugwort ten miles north of Xiaoyao Mountain.

  Two hundred cavalrymen extinguished their torches and stood quietly, like ghosts in the darkness, waiting for prey to fall into their ambush.

  "Sir, will Sun Jian come?"

  Chen Tong waited for a while and couldn't hold it in anymore, so he asked in a low voice.

  Luo Zheng swept his gaze over the distant flames that reached the sky and said coldly, "You'll know soon enough."

  Chen Tong couldn't get an answer and stopped asking, so he could only shut his mouth and wait.

  Luo Zheng was also uncertain in his heart, but things had come to this point, and he could only listen to the heavens and wait quietly for the fish to take the bait.

  Long before arriving at Sun Jian's large camp, he led his two hundred cavalrymen to quietly leave the main team and set up an ambush in this grass thicket north of Xiaoshanbao, waiting for a chance to launch a fatal blow.

  Sun Jian was known as the "Tiger of Jiangdong", brave and unmatched in the three armies, with generals like Cheng Pu and Han Dang under his command, Hua Xiong could hardly stop him.

  Luo Zhen speculated that the official road was in the north. After Sun Jian broke through Hua Xiong's siege, it is highly likely that he would head north. As for whether Sun Jian would really take the official road, it can only be left to fate and gamble on it.

  If you win, all your bowls are full; if you lose, there is no loss.

  It took nearly half an hour.

  In the distance, more than a dozen torches moved rapidly northward, accompanied by the sound of horseshoes.

  "I'm here."

  Chen Tong's spirits lifted instantly, and he was so excited that he almost shouted out loud.

  Luo Zheng also felt a surge of energy and ordered, "Prepare, absolutely must not reveal any signs."

  "Don't worry, adults, this time Sun Jian will definitely be caught off guard."

  Chen Tong responded with a nod and immediately passed down the order. The two hundred cavalrymen fell silent, not even daring to breathe loudly.

  Soon, more than a dozen torches arrived at a distance of three arrows, and it was already possible to clearly see more than a dozen cavalrymen.

  At the forefront was a majestic Han warrior riding a horse, galloping in the front, if it wasn't Jiangdong's fierce tiger Sun Jian, then who else could it be.

  "Rumble!"

  Sun Jian reined in his horse abruptly, and the warhorse let out a long whinny as it raised its front hooves and struck them violently on the ground.

  "What's wrong with Master?"

  Cheng Pu urged his horse on and caught up, reining in his warhorse to ask.

  "Are there ambushers?"

  Sun Jian's tiger eyes scanned the front of the official road, and he said in a deep voice.

  Zhou Yu, Huang Gai and Han Dang listened intently for a moment, their faces also turned pale with shock and secretly cursed.

  Looking back at more than a dozen riders behind him, his heart suddenly sank.

  It's hard enough to break out of the siege, but unexpectedly there are still ambushes, this is indeed a disaster that doesn't come alone.

  "Kill!"

  In the darkness, a loud shout burst through the night sky like thunder, and Luo Zheng rode out on horseback, leading the charge.

  "Follow him and kill."

  Sun Jian's eyes narrowed, with no retreat route behind him, he could only fight his way out of the encirclement and seek life in death.

  Zhou Yu, Huang Gai and Han Dang also knew they could no longer retreat, so they let out a loud shout and charged forward on horseback.

  "Fire the arrow."

  Just as they were about to come within bowshot of each other, Luo Zheng suddenly let out a loud shout.

  Whoosh!

  Whoosh!

  Whoosh!

  In the darkness, dozens of strong arrows with piercing winds shot fiercely towards Sun Jian and others.

  "Huh?"

  Sun Jian's eyes narrowed, without a hint of panic, the ancient halberd danced with dense and impenetrable blades, deflecting the strong arrows one by one.

  "Ah! My eyes."

  A shrill and mournful cry suddenly rose from behind, and Sun Jian's heart skipped a beat.

  "Pffft!"

  A sound like torn fabric rose up, and a ladle of white foam was splashed down.

  Sun Jian was somewhat stunned and couldn't understand the situation. However, before he could even react, he felt a searing pain in his eyes, as if burning oil had been poured into them, and his vision quickly blurred. He was so startled that his hair stood on end.

  "Beware, for the arrow is strange."

  Sun Jian let out a loud shout and quickly leaned forward, hugging the horse's neck tightly.

  Yellow flags fluttered behind him, and the miserable cries of Han Dang's local people rang out one after another.

  The war horse let out a long whinny and suddenly stood up on its hind legs, almost throwing Sun Jian off its back.

  Sun Jian's heart sank to the bottom of the valley, the ancient sword swung wildly with no effect, and he tightly hugged the horse's neck, not daring to let go.

  Luo Zhen had already urged his horse to circle around to the back. Seeing Sun Jian charge out for hundreds of paces, he immediately shouted loudly: "Halt!"

  Sun Jian was shocked and lost his color, unexpectedly the war horse had completely lost control, and suddenly jumped up, directly jumping over the tripwire that had just been pulled up, rushing northward like crazy, soon disappearing into the darkness.

  Cheng Pu also closed his eyes in time, relying on his superb riding skills, and suddenly pulled the reins of his horse. The warhorse leapt forward, dodging the tripwire and rushing down the official road, following Sun Jian's retreat into the darkness of night.

  "Whoa!"

  Lu Zhen couldn't help but blurt out a curse, and after waiting for such a good opportunity, it was actually let slip by Sun Jian and Cheng Pu. This is indeed the case where man's plans are not as good as heaven's plans, and who knows when they will have another chance to kill Sun Jian.

  Han Dang and Huang Gai were not so lucky.

  Han Dang and Huang Gai were both chilled to the bone, if they had been injured it would have been fine, but these iron men who were used to seeing life and death didn't put it in their hearts. What made them powerless was that their eyes couldn't see anything, and they didn't know if they had already gone blind.

  Even if one has a strong and brave physique, if they cannot see things clearly, they can only be at the mercy of others.

  The runaway warhorse came over and was tripped by a lasso.

  Bang!

  Bang!

  Bang!

  Han Dang and Huang Gai were thrown off their horses one after another, falling several zhang away, dazed and disoriented with ringing ears.

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