Chapter 242
249-2
Right now, Ju Shou is just attending the banquet out of etiquette and secluded himself, drinking the fate of this lord of his and him own for serving an already G.o.ds-forsaken lord. Ju Shou really hopes that what are they saying and what they are praising to Yuan Shao proved to be true all along and his uneasiness will be proved wrong. When Ju Shou drink once more, suddenly there is a messenger, he kneeled and said "Milord, the enemy appeared on the river. Enemy incoming!!!"
"Hrm, enemy?!" Yuan Shao put down his wine gla.s.s and quickly goes out of his tent. Tonight, the moon is full, and so the night is bright. He saw that all of his generals Wen Chou, Yan Liang, Zhang He and Gao Lan already at the front, vigilant and watching their movements, however they are not talking to each other, for they are all similar to Yuan Shao's advisors. Playing politics among themselves. This is the greatest cause that when Yuan Shao died, Yuan clan destroyed completely by Cao Cao. What the messenger is reporting is correct, as on the river, there are many torchlight, indicating a lot of s.h.i.+ps incoming, but because there is dense fog, he could not confirm whose fleet is it. But, when he saw it, Yuan Shao quickly knew that this is Cao's Army fleet, definitely not a merchant fleet and not any other warlord's fleet. Yuan Shao then smiled and said in his heart "Oh Cao Aman!!! You are truly seeking quick end. Let this great Shao grant your wish, as your oldest friend!!!" Yuan Shao then returned to his camp, and continued to drink his wine. He reviewed Ju Shou's report and sneered. He thought With only 70,000 troops, what can you do, Cao Aman?
He then stood up and exclaimed "All troops, follow this general and prepare for battle!!!" All of the troops said "YES SIR!!!" And quickly prepared for battle. Yuan Shao then asked his troops to help him wear his armor. Yuan Shao did not mentioned it at all, but this battle is kind of personal vendetta to him. Dear readers, we already established that Yuan Shao wanted to NTR Cao Cao's wife but the real reason is established here. Yuan Shao had been a handsome man for his entire life, he had taken a liking to Lady Bian for quite sometime. Before Cao Cao's wedding, Yuan Shao wanted to purchase Lady Bian, but Cao Cao said to give the money to him. However, when Cao Cao purchased her, he also proposed marriage to her. So Yuan Shao can only bite his finger when he read a wedding invitation from Cao Cao. Money stolen, girl stolen, Yuan Shao had been nurturing that feeling of vengeance for a very long time, and right now the time for revenge has come and his vendetta can be fulfilled.
Right now, Yuan Shao quickly allocated his 100,000 troops to become naval troops as well 150,000 troops as archers to shoot Cao's Army fleet. Who in their right mind want to resist such easy merit? 70,000 Cao troops vs 250,000 Yuan troops. Even a child could know who would win.
"I'VE GOT IT!!!!" Exclaimed Ju Shou while jumping on his feet, tumbling his table and the other table, scattering food on the floor. Hrm, what the h.e.l.l is Guangping doing?! Thought Yuan Shao while his brow is knitted very hard. This act of throwing food is an act enough to warrant for death in times of war, especially in Cao Cao's camp, where he doles out slow slicing to anyone who throws food. However, since Yuan Shao's mood is very good right now, he just stay silent and goes out of tent after he already dressed. I've got it, I've got it!!! Muttered Ju Shou. He wanted to report his findings to his lord, but alas, it is already too late for all of them already preparing to sortie, also preventing Yuan Shao to go sortie at this point is fatal to Ju Shou, so he just shook his head, lamenting this certain loss. Ju Shou
And as always, Ju Shou's prediction is correct again. Cao Army's fleet was lead by Cao Cao himself and bringing a sure-kill weapon. Each of s.h.i.+ps got 2-3 ballistae installed. Although Cao Cao got an excellent weapon, he is still nervous, his hand is holding the hilt of his Sword of Heaven and trembling. Guo Jia then approached Cao Cao and said "Milord, don't you worry too much. These weapons will definitely work and our army will win big time!!! Jia is willing to bet his life for this!!! Milord, Yuan Benchu is an arrogant man, he is a person who will dismiss good advice out of his ego. Jia had no doubt that Yuan Benchu knows about ballistae, but he is too proud to inquire further. That is the very reason Jia is confident, we will win this battle. We got the element of surprise this time." Guo Jia then finished by beating his chest, showing his confidence. Hearing Guo Jia's words, made Cao Cao regained his confidence again and said "Fengxiao, you are correct. We shall win this battle and this battle will decide that the victor is to become king and the loser is to become a bandit.
One by one, Yuan Shao launched his naval force, and slowly all of 100,000 naval troops are ready for showdown. Cao Cao dispatched only 30,000 troops in this battle and most of them are ballistaes operators. 30,000 troops vs 100,000 troops, it should be logical that 30,000 troops are p.i.s.sing in their pants right now, but when they look at Cao Cao's absolute confidence expression, they all know that this battle is 100% on their side. While Cao Army is calmer, the Yuan Army is restless. They cannot wait to obtain easy merit.
Cao Cao then goes to the edge of his s.h.i.+p and shouted "Brother Benchu, are you there?!" Yuan Shao then responded "Hahaha, Cao Aman. It's been a long time!! You still energetic as always!!!" Yuan Shao had positioned himself above Cao Cao as he is certain to be the victor of this war, so now, he belittle Cao Cao.
"RUDE OAF!!!" Exclaimed Xu Chu angrily. Cao Cao is THE PRIME MINISTER of Han, and this oaf, although he had t.i.tle of Grand Commandant, he still must respect Cao Cao as his t.i.tle is higher than him. Cao Cao then waved his hand toward Xu Chu and said while smiling "Enough, Zhong Kang. fall back!!!" This time, Cao Cao just swallow his anger for he need to be calm down now. Cao Cao then replied "Yes, brother Benchu. Aman still energetic like always. Aman sees that brother Benchu still not change, naturally Aman will stay the same!!!" Yuan Shao then laughed and sneered "Hahaha!!! Cao Aman, oh Cao Aman. Your tongue is still really smooth, eh. This big bro of yours heard that you dispatched 30,000 troops. You managed to put out 100 wars.h.i.+ps so magnificently, this big bro of yours really impressed." Cao Cao then humbled and said "No, no. Aman is more impressed with brother Benchu's army, all 100,000 troops dispatched magnificently!!!"
"Oh Cao Aman, for what reason must you bring your people here? Is not it shameful to see their lord beaten like a naughty boy by this big bro of yours?!" Yuan Shao spoke as if Cao Cao is a naughty boy. Cao Cao then fought back and smiled sinisterly "Hahaha… Brother Benchu, is not the weather hot these days? Mengde's visit here, is to invite brother Benchu to swim together in this Yellow River. Cool our head together!" Yuan Shao then stopped smiling and thought This little man, actually have the audacity to tell me to die in this river? I will show him his place this time and replied "Well, Cao Mengde, I hope you prepare your coffin as well, for you will drown in this place as well!!!!" Then he returned to his castle in his flags.h.i.+p. Cao Cao then replied "Well, come and get me, brother Benchu!!!" While taunting him by taking out his tongue and his eyes is flas.h.i.+ng killing intent nonstop. Yuan Shao then commanded "ALL ARMY, BEAT DRUM, WE MARCH!!!" Followed by drum. He must kill this Cao Cao, he had been a thorn at his side since they are teenagers. Cao Cao also exclaimed the same command while muttered "Oh brother Benchu, you are agitated by that sentence alone, you are not worthy to be my opponent. This battle is mine!!!" Then Cao Cao roused morale of his soldiers "All soldiers, do not fret. This battle is ours!!!" Then all of his soldiers responded "THIS BATTLE IS OURS!!!!" Then the first decisive battle of Yuan Army vs Cao Army begin.
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At the north, a big decisive battle erupted, while in the south, a similar battle will erupt in just a few moments. Right now, Fledgling Phoenix's fleet is around Shouchun's Naval HQ vicinity which was also taken over by Liu Mang. This HQ was built by Yuan Shu and although was abandoned for a long time, it is not in a state of unrepairable, therefore Liu Mang ordered a quick restoration and installed many of defense maneuvers and stationed Black Flag here to guard.
In Naval HQ, Liu Mang can be seen discussing with a scholar as they need to create battles.h.i.+ps immediately, Liu Mang then pointed out to the blueprint on the table "Look, sir. I want the new battles.h.i.+p to be more efficient than before. Therefore, we remove the castle. The only thing that is left behind is only the crow's nest and sail." The scholar replied with doubtful tone "Milord, the castle also served as a balance, will the s.h.i.+p not tumble?!" Liu Mang then smiled and said patiently "Ziyang, this s.h.i.+p is the latest design. See, I add a pole here. This one is called the keel and this is what we need to reach the balance you are questioning. I also add rudder for maneuver. However, if you are asking its effectiveness, you should build it first and we can revise it afterwards if it is still not satisfactory to you!" Hmmm….. Liu Ye hold his chin. This Liu Ye, is the same Liu Ye who fled from Cao Cao's camp. He arrived in Hefei while holding job advertis.e.m.e.nt ad, that he obtained on the road. Early chapters we had established that Liu Mang's job advertis.e.m.e.nt had offended all n.o.bles, and logically speaking, Liu Ye should be offended too right? No, Liu Mang's act did not offend Liu Ye at all, instead it invigorate him as now he is able to show his talent to this nation.
When Liu Mang still in heated discussion, suddenly a messenger came and reported "Report to General, numerous enemy has been sighted at Shouchun Naval HQ vicinity. Request for general's instruction!" Hrm… Liu Mang's brow knitted hard. That Liu Bei is really restless and hasty, I want to know what he is going to hit me with Thought Liu Mang and proceeded to go outside of tent.