Bai Changjian only found out about the surprise attack on the salt carriage the next morning. Fortunately, he had prepared for a rainy day and sent people to support them along the way.
He stood at the edge of the river, squinting as he observed the snow. There was already some thin ice on the river, but it had already been shattered by the soldiers on night duty.
His gaze landed on the other side of the river. He guessed that the Prince Chu must be worried too, since the food could not be delivered, and the soldiers could not endure, their physical strength would be greatly reduced.
He rubbed his chin and instructed Guan Xiong, "You have to be extra careful in the next few days, in case the other party jumps into the wall like a dog. Prince Chu is not someone who just sits there waiting for death, he will definitely think of a way to force his way across the river."
Guan Xiong said: "General, don't worry, everything has been arranged properly. If Prince Chu dares to come, I'll make sure he won't be able to return."
Several days passed in a flash, and the snow stopped falling. However, the light snow continued to fall, staining the mountain white. The river was covered in a thin layer of ice, and even though it was sprinkled with salt at night, it still wouldn't freeze in the morning. It was very cold and the soldiers were having a hard time, but their faces were getting better and better every day, because they knew that the enemy troops on the other side of the river were worse off than they were because they were short of food and drink.
Guan Xiong did not dare to relax, he sent more people to patrol every night. However, Bai Changjian's expression slowly became more solemn, because he knew that the day of the decisive battle was about to arrive.
Finally, on a dark and windy night, someone heard a strange noise coming from the river. It was very light and very slow, but they were unable to tell what it was.
When the soldiers entered the camp to report, Bai Changjian was in the middle of discussing matters with the assistant generals. Upon hearing this, he immediately picked up his sword and walked out, the river surface was pitch black, he could not see anything clearly, but the strange sound was gradually becoming clearer, "Hua - Hua -"
Someone shouted, "It's the sound of the oars! The enemy is coming!"
Bai Changjian shouted: "Don't panic, act according to the plan. Tonight, we will fight to the death with the enemy!"
Their response to the battle had been decided long ago. Since the other party had come to paddle the boat, they had the advantage in the terrain. As long as the archers were well-prepared, those boats would be live targets.
As expected, a few dark shadows appeared in everyone's line of sight. It was the enemy's navy man. The ship was filled with people who seemed to be drawing their bows, trying to gain the upper hand.
Bai Changjian had the advantage in this situation, of course he wouldn't let the enemy have the chance. He ordered the drummer, "Begin!"
The drumbeats suddenly sounded out, flying straight into Yun Xiao's ears, Bai Changjian's archers immediately shot towards their target, the 'whoosh whoosh whoosh' sounds that could be heard continuously pierced through the air, causing arrows to fly everywhere, the people on their backs flipped, and miserable screams sounded out in the darkness.
The drum beat was an order, the drum beat did not stop, the arrows did not stop, causing the boat on the river surface to spin, it was obvious that the boat had lost its leader. Bai Changjian was overjoyed, and ordered the drummer, "Continue, hit louder!"
The drummer waved his arm at once, rattling the ox-skin drum, but the enemy was tenacious, and did not retreat from the blow. A steady stream of ships came out of the darkness.
One group of archers retreated, another group came forward, and countless arrows were shot out, some falling into the river, some hitting the mast, and most of them making "pu pu" sounds, as if they were stabbed into meat. The screams that followed did not stop. After three or four rounds of arrows had rained down on them, the arrows were in a hurry, and the boats on the surface of the river were no longer moving.
Bai Changjian raised his hand, and the drumming stopped. The arrows and screams stopped as well, and the place became extremely quiet.
Bai Changjian had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. The darkness was like a piece of gauze, unable to allow him to see the situation on the river surface clearly.
There seemed to be smoke drifting in the air, which was extremely strange. What was wrong with him? He frowned as he thought about it. Guan Xiong walked over, "General, something is amiss."
"Something is not right," he suddenly opened his eyes, understood what was going on, and shouted, "Everyone retreat!"
He finally remembered that there was no smell of blood. After sending out so many arrows, he cried out miserably, but there was no smell of blood. Wasn't this very strange?
However, just as he said that, a loud piercing sound came from the surface of the river. In the darkness, the faint blue flames above could clearly be seen. Before anyone could recover their wits, the large oil arrow hit the tent closest to the river. With a "hong" sound, it immediately ignited.
Following that, there were more oil arrows that shot towards the camp, every single one hitting a target. Bai Changjian's camp was brightly lit up by the raging flames of the fire, in the darkness, it was as if a large flower of enchanting beauty was blooming.
"Don't panic!" Bai Changjian shouted with all his might, "Get on your horse, get into formation! The Armoured Cavalry Battalion formations! "
The sound of the battle horses came from all directions. The Armoured Cavalry Battalion soldiers were well-trained teams. Although they were a little flustered by the actions of the other side, they quickly calmed down and got on their horses in order to set up the formation.
The activity on the surface of the river was very big. Countless boats were moving, and there were many of them, as if they were also in formation.
Bai Changjian rode on his horse and pointed at the boats on the surface of the river. "Watch out for them, don't let the boats near the shore. The archer will cover you! "
He was bluffing at the end. The enemy was too fast for him to think. After a few rounds of rain of arrows, the archers were still there, but he had almost used up all his arrows. Morong Gan had used up all of his arrows from the very beginning. Or perhaps, he had used a grass boat to borrow arrows, but unfortunately, he had read too many martial art books and could not recall any of them at that critical moment.
Up to this point, Bai Changjian was confident, he had calculated before, a boat wouldn't be able to hold many people, the first batch would be packed, he would not give them a chance to catch their breath, the enemy would not be able to catch up, and would only be sending themselves to their deaths.
The boat on the river continued to move, but the enemy troops did not come ashore. The cavalry stood on the shore, watching the boats moving about in the darkness, and they were all baffled.
The boats were all very close now, and people could be seen moving about, but no sound came out of them.
Bai Changjian frowned, what the hell was he doing now? Since they were already at the shore, why didn't they come up? If the enemy didn't come up, how would they fight?
Guan Xiong pulled on the reins and came over, "General, what do we do now?"
Bai Changjian turned back to look. All the burning tents had been extinguished, and the surroundings were pitch black. He stared at the boats on the river surface in silence. It's no use setting up arrays on the river's surface...
A soft sizzling sound came from the wind as he asked Guan Xiong, "Did you hear anything?"
Guan Xiong pricked up his ears and listened for a while, then frowned: "It seems to be the sound of iron chains shaking."
"Crap!" Bai Changjian shouted loudly, "Retreat cavalry, pike soldiers are in position!"