Chapter 69: The King's Retreat
"kill!"
Under Qingji's order, the smaller warships of the Wu army, such as the central wing, small wing, Tumao and bridge ships, rushed towards the Chu army's navy and started fighting after getting close.
The brutal battle instantly spread over most of the vast river surface, and the river water was dyed deep red!
"Wu Manzi has gone crazy!"
Seeing the Wu army soldiers' fearless and courageous tactics of killing one thousand enemies but losing eight hundred of their own, all the Chu army soldiers, including Shen Yinshu, were frightened.
"Beat the drum! March!"
"Knock away the Wu army's warships!"
Shen Yinshu immediately waved his hand and issued the order for a full-scale attack.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Amid the dull and murderous sound of war drums, the soldiers of the Chu army shouted loudly, waved flags and cheered with an indomitable momentum. The huge warships instantly knocked away the center wing, Tuomao and bridge ships of the Wu army.
Many Wu soldiers who tried to set up ladders or climb up with grappling hooks and rush towards the Chu warships were shot to death by arrows, or fell directly into the rushing river when swept by their long spears and died.
The Chu army's counterattack was so powerful that the Wu army, which lacked large warships, could not cope with it and retreated!
"Give the order, stop the pursuit!"
Looking at the fleeing Wu army warships, Shen Yinshu, who was lost in thought, raised his hand and stopped his own warships from chasing after them.
"General!"
Mi Ji and other generals were immediately puzzled and asked, "General, why don't you pursue them?"
"The Wu army can no longer hold out and has begun to flee . If our army can seize the opportunity to pursue them, we can wipe out the Wu navy in one battle!"
"General, give the order to pursue!"
All the generals requested to fight, so Shen Yinshu gave the order to pursue.
But as smart as Shen Yinshu was, he was still hesitant, suspecting that the Wu army might be cheating!
Seeing Shen Yinshu remained silent, Mi Ji could not help but hurriedly said, "General, this opportunity cannot be missed, it will never come again!"
"If we can completely destroy the warships of the Wu army in this battle, then in the future all the rivers, lakes and seas of the Wu Kingdom will be at the disposal of our Chu army, and it will not be a problem for us to swallow up the Wu Kingdom in one go!"
This was indeed a huge temptation for the Chu generals present .
This was because once the State of Wu lost its naval warfare capability and did not have many warships, all of Wu's waters would be occupied by the Chu's navy in the future.
Then the Chu army could move in without anyone's help and slowly nibble away at the enemy, or swallow up the entire Wu State in one fell swoop.
At this time, Qingji, who was far away on the flagship of the tower ship, frowned when he saw that the Chu army had stopped chasing!
Shen Yinshu is indeed a famous general of the Chu State, and his military talent is truly extraordinary.
Originally, according to the plan made in advance by Qingji and Hefu, they wanted to lure the Chu army to the mouth of the river, and then take advantage of their unpreparedness to launch a surprise attack and wipe out the Chu army's navy in one fell swoop.
But now it seems that plans cannot keep up with changes!
The Chu army is ready to quit while they are ahead!
Qingji really couldn't tolerate this.
"Order the whole army to retreat to Xikou as planned. I will personally cover the retreat!"
"Your Majesty!"
As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caused an uproar among the generals.
It is no small matter for the king of a country to personally cover the retreat!
This is because interrupting a melee is always an extremely dangerous thing. If one is not careful, Qingji, who is left behind, may die.
The chain reaction that this brought to the State of Wu was fatal!
"I have made up my mind. No need to say more! Retreat!"
With a clang, Qingji placed the Longyuan sword in his hand on the deck, his brows solemn, his attitude unquestionable.
Seeing this, all the generals had no choice but to obey the order and leave.
As more and more Wu army warships left the waters, the tower ship where Qingji was located was exposed to the sight of the Chu army!
Nothing else!
Just because there was a unique flag hanging on the mast of the ship——
The flag has a red and black background, with a large fiery red bird (phoenix) embroidered in the middle, and a striking "Wu" character surrounding it!
Looking at its layout, one can tell that it is the flag of an army. Looking at the fire phoenix, anyone with insight can recognize that it is the exclusive flag of the King of Wu.
Royal flag!
"General, look! Is that the flag of King Qingji of Wu?"
A sharp-eyed Chu army general couldn't help but screamed in surprise.
Upon hearing this, all the Chu army generals, including Shen Yinshu, could not help but look around.
"It is indeed the flag of the king of Wu! In that case, Qingji is on that ship."
Shen Yinshu's mind suddenly became active.
The deputy general Mi Ji said, "General, let's attack! Qingji is right there. If we can capture and kill Qingji, we can easily destroy Wu."
Led by Mi Ji, the nearby Chu army generals all advised Shen Yinshu to give the order to attack.
But Shen Yinshu always felt that there was something strange!
Shen Yinshu had met Qingji several times in his early years, but he didn't know much about him.
People all say that Qingji is brave enough to fight against ten thousand men, and is kind and righteous, with the demeanor of a wise king of ancient times.
This is not enough to convince Shen Yinshu.
This was because when Shen Yinshu was hiding in the State of Wu, he served in the same court as Helu and they had some personal relationship, so he knew Helu quite well.
Helü (Prince Guang) was a famous general of the Wu State in his early years. He led his army to defeat the Chu army many times and captured many cities of the Chu State. He had outstanding military achievements and extraordinary military talents.
Moreover, Helu was extremely cunning, as can be seen from the fact that he secretly raised loyal soldiers and aides and sent Zhuan Zhu to assassinate Wang Liao!
After all, in this world, there are not many people who are capable of killing the king and usurping the throne.
The fact that Qingji was able to defeat Helü and successfully restore order was not only due to the help of other countries or his righteous cause. Qingji's personal abilities were beyond doubt.
Therefore, Shen Yinshu had to suspect that there was something fishy going on as Qingji was now personally covering the retreat!
At this moment, seeing Shen Yinshu still hesitating and unable to make a decision, Mi Ji could not help but shout, "General, success or failure depends on this one move, how can we miss this opportunity?"
"General, just hand over the fleet to me. The credit for capturing and killing Qingji and defeating the Wu army belongs to you, General. If there is any mistake, I will be held responsible!"
"General, please give the order!"
Mi Ji really couldn't tolerate Shen Yinshu missing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Shen Yinshu shook his head and said, "Right Sima, the merits and demerits have not yet been determined. Since Mi Shu is a general, if we lose this battle, he must be held responsible!"
"Well! Pass my order, all troops, attack! Send out the central wing, small wing, and bridge ships, surround them, and make sure to capture Qingji alive!"
"promise!"
After receiving the order from General Shen Yinshu, the soldiers of the Chu army were overjoyed. They immediately rowed their boats and used various warships of different sizes to rush towards the tower ship where Qingji was.
"withdraw!"
Seeing that the Chu army's warships were indeed chasing after them, Qingji immediately gave the order to retreat.
As the saying goes, you can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb!
As soon as the Chu army saw Qingji exposed in their field of vision, they could not resist the huge temptation and pounced on him like sharks smelling blood.
