Chapter 697 In a desperate situation

Chapter 697 In a desperate situation

Chapter 697 In a desperate situation
Deafening explosions continued to sound on the water surface, and warships were constantly blown to pieces. Broken bodies and broken wood were mixed together on the river. No screams could be heard on the river, only terrified cries.

When more than a hundred warships were destroyed, the remaining three hundred warships raised white flags, and all the soldiers knelt obediently at the bow of the ship, with their weapons and armor thrown aside.

In less than an hour, the war was over. The enemy's main general had been killed in the explosion, and the remaining soldiers were so frightened that they didn't even have the courage to escape.

Shen Guang sent two soldiers on each surrendered ship and took control of the entire ship. He was not worried at all that these surrendered soldiers would resist. Once the soldiers' courage was completely lost, even when facing death, their choice would be to escape rather than resist. Once surrendered, the soldiers would only obediently wait to be repatriated home. This was the purpose of their surrender and their greatest expectation.

Shen Guang's warships escorted more than 2,000 enemy ships out of Jiangjin County and returned to Ba County.

When Yu Wenzhi's army arrived at the other side of Jiangjin County, they realized something was wrong. They could clearly anchor on the other side, so why didn't their fleet stop and wait, but went on without permission? Didn't the fleet know that they were in urgent need of supplies?
Even Yu Wenzhi felt something was wrong, and other generals felt even more so. Yu Wenzhi hurriedly sent his men to the front to look for the whereabouts of the fleet. The rest of the army was stationed on the north bank of Jiangjin County. The only hundreds of households on the north bank fled to the south bank by boat. The hundreds of mud houses were almost bare, dark and dirty, and the doors and windows were removed and taken away. As long as it didn't rain, no soldier was willing to live in them.

The biggest problem for the 80,000-strong army is not accommodation, but food. Without replenishment from grain ships, they only have enough food for one day. What should they do?
The solution Yu Wenzhi thought of was to station troops where they were and look at Jiangjin County on the other side of the river. It was like drawing a pie in the sky to satisfy one's hunger: one could see it but could not touch it. However, at least there was still a glimmer of hope.

But the generals under Yu Wenzhi did not think so. In front of a large rock, five generals including Sima Dekan, Zhao Xingshu, Chen Botu, Pei Qiantong and Linghu Xingda gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

"This Yu Wenzhi is an absolute idiot. I told him that we are still three days away from Ba County. It's very simple. We can have enough food for one day and kill mules and donkeys for two days. Then we can reach Ba County. Even if we can't get into the county, there are farmers and farmland around, right? We can definitely collect a lot of food. But this idiot just wouldn't listen to me and insisted on finding the fleet. Didn't he think about why the fleet disappeared inexplicably?"

The person who spoke was Sima Dekan. He was extremely dissatisfied with Yu Wenzhi and was filled with murderous intent. He found a few colleagues and wanted to invite them to join him.

"With this idiot here, we and our 80,000 soldiers will be dragged to death by him."

Linghu Xingda clenched his fist and said, "Then kill him!"

Chen Botu was silent for a moment and said, "It's easy to kill him, but what should we do next?"

Sima Dekan said coldly: "We have 80,000 troops. Next, we will sweep all the way and fight our way out of the Three Gorges Road. Isn't the vast Jingxiang enough for us to enjoy?"

Sima Dekan's idea was very simple: live one day at a time. Everyone was persuaded. The emperor died in their hands, so what qualifications did they have to ask others for shelter? They could only earn one day at a time if they lived one day at a time.

"Done!"

"Done!"

"Done!"

The rest of them all expressed their opinions that if they killed Yu Wenzhi, they would be the masters of the 80,000-strong army.

In the afternoon, Yu Wenzhi was sitting in a small tent drinking. Suddenly, he heard several screams outside and was startled.

Sima Dekan, wearing helmet and armor, rushed in with a dozen soldiers.

Yu Wenzhi was shocked and asked, "General Yuwen, what are you doing?"

Sima Dekan said coldly: "There is only one day's food left. The soldiers are extremely anxious, but you are drinking here. You are so comfortable as an emperor!" Yu Wenzhi was panicked and explained quickly: "After drinking this glass of wine, I will take everyone to Ba County!"

"No need, we'll go to Ba County by ourselves, go to hell!"

Sima Dekan waved his hand, and more than a dozen soldiers rushed forward with swords drawn. Yu Wenzhi was shocked and turned to flee, but he was tripped by the wine table and fell heavily to the ground. Before he could get up, more than a dozen soldiers attacked him with swords. After a scream, Yu Wenzhi was beheaded on the spot, and a generation of treacherous heroes died.

Sima Dekan and the other five men decided to go all out and killed Yu Wenzhi's brother, the Minister of Personnel Yu Wenshiji, and dozens of officials who followed Yu Wenzhi. Only a very few officials were spared.

Sima Dekan immediately summoned all the generals to explain the situation. Although most of the generals did not agree with killing Yu Wenzhi, they were also deeply dissatisfied with Yu Wenzhi's slow response and inaction.

Everyone temporarily supported Sima Dekan, and they decided to make a concerted effort to break out of the Three Gorges Road first.

Sima Dekan proclaimed himself King of Shu and led an army of 80,000 to continue marching towards Ba County. The next day, the food was finally eaten up, and Sima Dekan ordered all 5,000 donkeys and mules to be slaughtered, and the meat and bones were distributed to the three armies.

That afternoon, the team arrived at the Shijing Valley Road, which was 50 miles away from Ba County. Zhangjing Mountain got its name from this place.

This is the most difficult section of the road to walk on. It is a mountain road built entirely on the mountainside. On one side is a thousand-foot cliff, and on the other side is a surging river.

This section of mountain road is about thirty miles long, and the last two miles are plank roads. After walking this section, you will be very close to Ba County.

As they were walking, there was a sudden commotion ahead, and soon a soldier came running to report, "The plank road ahead is gone!"

Sima Dekan was shocked. How could the plank road suddenly disappear? He immediately realized that it must be Qiu He, the bastard, who destroyed the plank road.

Sima Dekan suddenly thought of a terrible hypothesis. If the plank road in front was gone and the road behind was blocked, they would be doomed if they had no food.

Thinking of this, Sima Dekan was extremely anxious and immediately ordered: "Pass the order down, the entire army retreats, and immediately withdraws from the mountain road!"

The 80,000-strong army began to turn around and march back. The troops behind them were unaware of this and they all complained and had to turn around and march back.

At this time, several huge explosions were heard from the west. No one knew what was happening and everyone's heart sank.

The mountain path was carved out of the stone wall. After continuous carving by predecessors, the path was relatively wide, about ten feet wide, and could accommodate large carts. When they were about to exit the mountain path, with only about a hundred steps left, the mountain path suddenly disappeared, leaving a three-foot-wide gap. Below the gap was a straight cliff, and below that was the surging river.

Needless to say, the explosions just now cut off this section of road.

At this time, hundreds of crossbowmen appeared on the opposite side and shot arrows at the mountain road together. The soldiers behind were unable to dodge and dozens of them were shot down at once. The soldiers on the mountain road were frightened and retreated one after another. In the chaos, several soldiers were pushed off the cliff and fell into the Yangtze River screaming.

(End of this chapter)