Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1466: Chapter 1414: The Blocked River Crossing Plan

”Hmph, let me measure the weight of you, Zhou Yu.” Guo Jia coldly sneered as he gazed into the distance of South Huai River. After freeing his hands, Guo Jia finally concentrated his focus on Zhou Yu across the way.

Soon, Zhou Yu felt a kind of constraint, not the kind where warships would be slightly suppressed by stone throwers, but a chaotic situation that he couldn’t perfectly control, causing trouble in his own strategy.

”Guo Jia isn’t simple either. But, fundamentally, you can’t bypass one point if you want to deal with me, and that is you have to cross the Huai River.” Zhou Yu muttered to himself as he looked at the map.

Although Guo Jia started mobilizing Liu Bei’s southern forces, increasing the pressure on Zhou Yu’s defense line, he was well-prepared, and Guo Jia couldn’t break it just by mentioning it.

Even before Xuzhou Chen Deng mobilized his troops, Li Yan, who had initially stationed downstream of the Huai River, took the initiative to lock the battlefield in Xuzhou’s territory, leaving no opportunity for Xuzhou Chen Deng to cross the river.

”Report, General, our scouts have detected a tendency for Guan Yu’s Army to relocate their military camp.” Wen Pin personally came to report to Zhou Yu, now fully respectful of this young man ten years younger than himself.

”Are they relocating upstream of the Huai River?” Zhou Yu asked curiously.

”Indeed, there is such a tendency.” Wen Pin nodded and replied.

”How far is our military camp from the nearest spot where the water flow is gentle?” Zhou Yu inquired, though he roughly knew the distance, getting the precise measurement was challenging for him.

”More than thirty li.” After a brief thought, Wen Pin answered this question.

”In that case, send part of our warships to the upstream of Huai River. There is a valley mouth upstream where the distance between the banks is less than two li, but the water flow is too rapid. Even large ships find it difficult to navigate, but beyond that place, the water flow is similar to here.” Zhou Yu cautiously issued orders, considering the uneven width of the Huai River, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow.

In theory, passing through the narrow part should be the best option, but in reality, it’s not so. On one hand, the water flow is rapid and turbulent in the narrow area, even Zhou Yu’s large ships need to be very cautious to pass through, let alone landlubbers like Guo Jia.

On the other hand, although the narrow part is far from Zhou Yu’s military camp, its obviousness means Zhou Yu won’t forget to dispatch people for periodic reconnaissance despite the low likelihood of a successful crossing.

”Noted!” Wen Pin gave a salute and immediately followed Zhou Yu’s arrangement, dispatching five large ships and one general to pass through the narrow mouth to the upstream to monitor the situation.

”Be careful while passing through. The water flow in that part of the Huai River is rapid, and the banks are protruding. The large ships heading upstream are mainly for surveillance and harassment, not to get too close to the northern bank where the river width can lead to accidents. Report any developments promptly.” Zhou Yu instructed before letting Wen Pin leave.

[Though I don’t know what you’re planning, the narrow part of the Huai River has such rapid water flow that without large ships, they’ll easily capsize. I’ll send over a few more ships to watch you. I want to see what tricks you have up your sleeve.] Zhou Yu sneered inwardly.

Guan Yu watched the rushing water at the narrow part of Huai River. Because of the sudden narrowing, the flow velocity far exceeded his estimations.

”Fengxiao, though I don’t understand navy tactics, this isn’t a place we can pass through by any means.” Guan Yu frowned as he looked at the turbulent Huai River.

”The soldiers definitely can’t cross at this flow speed...” Guo Jia rolled his eyes. Thinking of crossing here by boat? That’s a wishful thought. He turned and shouted at Zhou Cang behind Guan Yu, ”Yuanfu, jump in and swim two hundred paces to have a look.”

Zhou Cang didn’t understand Guo Jia’s intention, nor did he anticipate any tasks for him unexpectedly. Nevertheless, he dutifully followed Guo Jia’s order, strapped his weapons to his back, and jumped into the Huai River, starting to swim with effort.

Originally Guan Yu didn’t understand either, but watching Zhou Cang unconsciously move along with the current while swimming, he promptly understood what Guo Jia meant.

”Yuanfu, return.” Without further ado, Guan Yu called Zhou Cang back. Then, with a splash, Zhou Cang quickly jumped ashore onto the riverbank.

”Indeed, the water flow here is quite exaggerated, and when the rains come, it will be even more.” Guo Jia chuckled.

”Since we can’t cross here, why not try to seize the gentle flow downstream for a landing?” Guan Yu asked, puzzled. The current could easily sweep even Zhou Cang away, let alone ordinary soldiers who might disappear in an instant.

”What we can think of, Zhou Yu can naturally think of too. That’s why his large ships patrol there. In the wide river of the gentle downstream, we have no means to restrict his patrolling.” Guo Jia said helplessly as Zhou Yu had blocked all normal methods.

”The problem is, unless we cross the Huai River, there’s essentially no change at all.” Guan Yu frowned repeatedly, feeling as if he and Guo Jia hadn’t developed any method to deal with Zhou Yu on the opposite side of the river.

Of course, Guan Yu also knew that in wider areas upstream, his stone throwers, bed crossbows, and other equipment could come into play. However, without crossing the Huai River, such a battle would, at most, be considered harassment.

Worse, if the opponent is cautious, it might not even qualify as harassment. After all, the development trend of the Central Plains’ warships was like city walls. Although they couldn’t withstand hundreds of hits from large stone throwers like a city wall, one or two hits wouldn’t easily sink them...

Moreover, while city walls are immovable, ships can move. Being careful and keeping a distance makes it difficult to hit them, unlike naval battles where both sides chase each other and brazenly attack where the enemy is most vulnerable.

As for modern warship versus shore artillery, it hasn’t reached such an exaggerated stage yet. Even in this period, ship-mounted stone throwers were slightly more powerful than those on shore, at least easier to adjust for trajectory.

”That’s indeed true. But moving our military camp here gives us some hope of catching Zhou Yu off guard. Downstream, we can only hope Xingba returns.” Guo Jia, looking helpless, lamented that even the most resourceful couldn’t cook without ingredients.

If the river couldn’t be crossed, Guo Jia’s formidable tactics would amount to nothing, leaving him staring across the river at Zhou Yu.

”So, you already have a plan?” Guan Yu’s eyebrows twitched. Though not showing delight, his tone clearly differed from before.

”Zhou Yu probably expected me to cross the Huai River, but couldn’t anticipate how I’d do it. He must be thinking more about waiting for me in the military camp across the Huai River!” Guo Jia lightly chuckled as he flicked his folding fan, realizing Zhou Yu had underestimated him.