Chapter 38: A Big Fire (Please Collect)

  A gust of mountain wind carrying water vapor blew by, Yan Liang patted his mount and subconsciously held his breath.

  For him who was used to the dry climate of Hebei, this unfamiliar climate felt comfortable, but his body still produced a subtle discomfort.

  The azure sky has no clouds at all, and the sunlight is dazzling.

  Yan Liang's rear was guarded by five hundred cavalrymen.

  Although they had gone through two major wars, the soldiers' physical strength was greatly consumed, but this Hebei Iron Cavalry, carefully trained by Yan Liang, still maintained high morale.

  A scout rushed in from the rear and reported to Yan Liang: "General, Mr. Xu has come to report that the 20,000 Jingzhou troops led by Cai Mao have approached Xinye."

  Yan Liang let out a satisfied smile at the corner of his mouth.

  Liu Biao's actions were indeed as he had anticipated, and in the end he could not restrain his true nature and planned to reap the benefits without doing anything.

  Yan Liang glanced at the sun and said loudly, "At the current speed, we can reach Dengze before sunset. Pass down the order to have the whole army quicken its pace."

  Yan Liang's tone was full of confidence, as if everything was under his control. The exhausted knights took a deep breath and continued to gallop on the rugged mountain road.

  Before sunset, Yan Liang finally saw the Han River, which was as clear as a jade belt.

  The small fortress on the north bank of the Han River is Dengze.

  Deng Se is located in the northeast of Xiangyang, built on the north bank of the Han River. Because it is close to the Xuanhe River, Liu Biao used it as a place for storing grain and supplying food to Jingbei, and many ships were loaded here to enter the Xuanhe River and transported north to XinYe and other places.

  That is to say, the 20,000-strong army of Cai Mao's relied entirely on Deng Ai's stored grain for supplies.

  From XinYe to DengSe, you can take the waterway or the dry land highway, but Yan Liang chose the difficult mountain road, in order to sneak past the scouts of Jingzhou army and appear unexpectedly at DengSe.

  His goal was simple - burn Dunce!

  Historically, Cao Cao's fire at Wuchao was enough to intimidate Yuan Shao's army of over 100,000 soldiers. As for Cai Mao, if he had known that his rear supplies were being burned, wouldn't he have been frightened out of his wits?

  Yan Liang sneered and slowly raised his long knife, slashing it down the mountain with a fierce stroke.

  Five hundred iron cavalry, rumbling and moving, galloping down the slope, rushing towards Deng Ze several miles away.

  From south to north and then from north to south, several hundred miles of galloping, this is already the limit of human and horse physical strength.

  Every soldier's face was still as resolute as iron, without any retreat.

  For he knew well that the general they followed would lead them to victory.

  To fight for Yan Liang, even death is no regret.

  In an instant, a mighty iron current surged forth, Yan Liang wielded his great blade, and his battle cry shook the heavens.

  "Kill!"

  "Kill!"

  The earth-shaking killing sound rises again, the rumbling iron hooves shake the ground, and the surging killing intent makes the heavens and earth change color.

  Deng Ai was in a location with Cao Mao's 20,000 troops to the north and Xiangyang's strategic territory to the south, originally in the safest area, so there were no large armies stationed there. At this time, only Zhang Yun's more than 2,000 infantrymen were left behind to defend it.

  Facing the sudden, god-sent cavalry attack, the two thousand Jingzhou defenders who were taking off their armor and having dinner were instantly frightened out of their wits.

  No matter how they thought about it, they couldn't figure out where this surging cavalry came from.

  Perplexity led to astonishment, and astonishment led to terror. When they saw the banner with the character "Yan" on it, their will was suddenly broken, and the entire Deng Sai camp quickly fell into chaos.

  Zhang Yun, who was enjoying a small wine, heard the noise outside the account and had his good mood disrupted, so he came out to see what was going on.

  "Report to General, something is wrong, Yan Liang has arrived!" The rushing subordinate reported in a panic.

  Zhang Yun glared and scolded, "Nonsense! Yan Liang is still entangled with Cao's army in the north, how could he run to Deng Ai? You're spreading false military information, be careful or I'll have you punished according to military law."

  "The little one dare not speak nonsense, Yan Liang is about to kill his way into the camp."

  The frightened words of his subordinates finally made Zhang Yun suspicious, and he couldn't help but hastily rush to the camp gate.

  As far as the eye could see, a vast dust storm had already appeared a hundred paces away, and amidst the swirling dust, a dark cavalry was indeed galloping towards them.

  "How is this possible? Didn't Lord Cao say that Yan Liang was tied up by Cao Hong? How can he appear here? Has he grown wings?"

  Zhang Yun was greatly shocked and could hardly believe his eyes. In a state of terror, he hastily ordered the closure of the gate and prepared to defend against the enemy.

  It's too late.

  Yan Liang's surprise attack was too sudden, and Zhang Yun's defense was so lax that his orders had just been passed down when Yan Liang led the cavalry to rush over.

  A loud shout, and Yan Liang's knife edge swept across, cutting down several enemy soldiers who were closing the gate of the camp, one man and one horse, like lightning, rushed into Deng Ai's camp.

  The five hundred iron cavalry behind him charged in like tigers into a sheep's den, shouting as they surged forward.

  Yan's soldiers rushed into the camp, charging and killing recklessly, cutting down the disorganized Jingzhou army.

  The Jingzhou army, which was ambushed, collapsed completely after a slight resistance and fled to the Wangshui Garrison ship.

  "Don't let them escape! We'll hold our ground, whoever dares to retreat will be dealt with by military law!"

  Zhang Yun galloped back and forth, trying to quell the rout, but the fleeing soldiers completely ignored his warnings, only caring about escaping with their lives.

  Yan Liang danced with his knife and cut down an enemy, eagle-eyed scan, found in the chaotic army a shouting enemy cavalry, guessing it was Zhang Yun, the commander of Deng Sai's camp.

  His eyes were bloodshot and his killing intent was surging. Yan Liang spurred his horse's belly, staring at Zhang Yun as if he would shoot him with lightning.

  The long sword cut through, cutting down those who blocked the way like withered and rotten wood, one man and one horse, rushing straight to Zhang Yun.

  Na Zhang Yun saw a iron tower-like enemy general charging towards him, unable to dodge, and with the blade about to chop down on his head, he could only raise his gun to block it.

  In the midst of a loud shout, Yan Liang's steel knife, with an overwhelming force like a mountain collapse, swooped down.

  Clang!

  "Ah~~~"

  A metallic screech, a blood-curdling scream.

  Zhang Yun's seven-foot-tall body fell off the horse like a broken kite, flying out several meters away and heavily falling to the ground.

  Zhang Yun, who was struggling on the ground with a face full of blood, almost shattered his muscles and bones, looked at Yan Liang with an incredible gaze, shocked in his heart. He had always thought that his martial arts skills were not weak, but he didn't expect to be defeated by the opponent in just one move.

  "General Zi Yi, why must you spare this Zhang's life?" Wen Ping said coldly as he rode up.

  Zhang Yun was the son of Zhang Wen, a former Grand Commandant. He came from a prominent family in Nanyang and was a maternal cousin of Cai Mao. He also had marital ties with Liu Biao, which earned him favor with Liu Biao just like Cai Mao did.

  Wen Ping originally yielded to Zhang Yun's authority, and he often had to put up with his temper, so it was inevitable that he harbored some resentment towards him.

  Na Zhaoyun then realized that the enemy general who had just defeated him was none other than Yan Liang of legend.

  Knowing Yan Liang's identity, Zhang Yun's face was even more horrified.

  Yan Liang glanced at Zhang Yun on the ground and said disdainfully, "He's just a nobody, killing him would dirty my knife. Let's spare his dog life, he might be useful someday."

  Yan Liang's goal was to intimidate Liu Biao, rather than engaging in an all-out war with him. It would be better to spare the mediocre Zhang Yun and use him later.

  Wen Ping saw Yan Liang and had his own plan, so he dared to speak more, pointing to the granary of the camp: "What does the general plan to do with these grains?"

  Yan Liang halted his horse and gazed out at the southern bank of the Han River, coldly laughing: "Give me a torch to burn everything clean! I'll use a great fire to summon Liu Biao, so he'll never dare look down on Yan Liang again!"

  His tone was filled with a fierce and murderous aura.

  Wen Ping obtained the order and rode out on horseback, shouting loudly: "General Yan has an order to set fire and burn the grain."

  In an instant, fierce fires erupted everywhere, and dozens of grain warehouses were set ablaze one after another.

  The raging flames spread in all directions, engulfing the remaining military tents and barracks, and before long, the entire Dengze Granary Camp was transformed into a sea of fire.

  The fiery blaze shot up into the sky, burning half of it a deep crimson, and even the Han River was dyed red.

  The remnants of Jingzhou's army who had fled by boat into the Han River, gazing at the raging fire in the sky, were all left with lingering fear and deeply intimidated by Yan Liang's army.

  Yan Liang stood with his horse, dragging his sword, gazing far into the distance at the raging flames, and in his heart there was an unspeakable delight.

  A pungent smell of char was gradually spreading in the air, which was the smell of corpses being burned to a crisp.

  Yan Liang furrowed his brow, turned his head back, and cast his gaze northward, saying lightly: "Let's go north, it's time to pay a visit to General Cai."