Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1471: Chapter 1418: Pontoon Bridge Completed, Crossing the River!

That afternoon, Guo Jia openly and righteously began his arrangements under the watchful eyes of Zhou Yu’s Navy. One by one, the boats that seemed like flatboats hastily riveted together recently, which actually couldn’t participate in the battle, were ordered by Guo Jia to be hooked up with iron chains.

Dozens of them, dozens of them were linked together, densely packed in the northern waters upstream of the Huai River. This led Dong Xi, watching from the opposite side, to frown in confusion, unable to comprehend what Guo Jia was doing. Though his intelligence had decreased, he was still not someone ordinary people could fathom.

Liao Hua, Pei Yuanshao, Jiang Gong, and those landlubbers jumped on the large boats linked together, feeling somewhat grounded.

”Alas, if Military Advisor Guo had told us earlier, we could have borrowed some well-maintained large ships. With these iron chains connecting them, there wouldn’t be a problem even if we rode horses on top,” Jiang Gong sighed, saying that although he didn’t know naval warfare, he genuinely didn’t dare go into battle with such unseasoned timber.

”If we can understand it, how could Military Advisor Guo not understand?” Liao Hua retorted. ”I fear that Military Advisor Guo has other plans in mind.”

Jiang Gong and the others, hearing this, felt it made sense and immediately nodded, ”Looking at Military Advisor Guo, it seems he has major plans. I wonder if it will work this time. Last time, one guy from the opposite side stabbed me. Fortunately, I was smart.”

Sima Ju, touching his right chest, recalled how last time Sunx Ce led a sneak attack while he was patrolling and almost got killed. Luckily, the moment he saw Sunx Ce’s momentum, he knew something was amiss and rushed towards a seemingly weaker target.

The result was that Sima Ju’s experience saved him once again. Sunx Ce was not the type to gang up on someone weaker, so when he saw Sima Ju charging towards Liang Gang, he charged towards the main camp, allowing Sima Ju to escape peril.

However, Liang Gang and Lejiu were evidently not as magnanimous as Sunx Ce and attacked together without a word. Of course, Sima Ju indicated that if his brothers were around, they would attack together without hesitation too.

After watching for a long time and failing to understand what the opposite side was doing, Dong Xi finally reported to Zhou Yu that Guan Yu was still cutting wood and building boats. Zhou Yu, as usual, glanced at it and set it aside.

In the afternoon, after linking a large area of boats, Guo Jia ordered all soldiers to cook and have a full meal, and then they immediately rested.

Dong Xi did notice from afar the smoke from cooking in Guan Yu’s military camp. Eventually, fewer people went out, but Dong Xi didn’t see much reason to doubt it and just ordered people to keep watching.

That night, the moon and stars were sparse. Guo Jia was too lazy even to disguise his actions, ordering Zhou Cang and Guann Cheng to lead three hundred men to release the iron-chained flatboats.

Because of the endless rain upstream in the past few days, the Huai River had swelled. After releasing the anchor stones, the flatboats without paddles automatically began moving downstream.

Once the first boat began to move, a large group of inferior flatboats quickly followed, but due to the connecting iron chains, some boats soon ended up sideways, and the downstream boats naturally crowded together.

Before they floated a mile, the large group of boats tangled together due to collision and pulling, even causing several boats to overturn. Nonetheless, this didn’t change the fact that the large floating mass was rushing toward the narrow passage.

”General Guan, get ready. We will soon cross the river. The cavalry will advance first,” Guo Jia chuckled as he watched the improvised floating bridge made of a massive number of boats move faster and faster downstream. The narrow opening was indeed a good place; it was so narrow that it would get stuck.

Guan Yu nodded, gently wiping the Green Dragon Crescent Blade with a silk cloth. Then, holding it upside down with one hand, he gazed distantly at Sunx Ce’s camp twenty miles away. He wanted to annihilate the other side.

”Boom!” With a dull thud, the wooden island formed by many boats was finally forced to contract because of the width of the narrow opening. However, the enormous inertia kept pushing it downstream, albeit at an increasingly slower pace.

”Bang!” The wooden island slowed further as it moved through the narrow opening, causing the central part to become increasingly crowded until a dull sound signaled the collapse of the unseasoned materials under pressure.

Yet, the broken ships didn’t make room for other wooden ships to flow smoothly. They continued to move slowly until they hit the horizontal pontoon bridge already built 150 steps long, causing a lot of crude boats to get stuck on the Huai River.

Upon witnessing this, a large number of prepared craftsmen picked up planks and quickly began laying them. At this point, it was no longer about not using nails. Every second from now on was precious.

Soon, the pontoon bridge, extending hundreds of steps, was nailed with planks, and with steel cables and stakes secured, the bridge became usable.

”Fengxiao, I’ll go first. All troops listen to the military advisor’s commands!” Guan Yu pulled the reins and looked back at Guo Jia as he spoke.

Guan Yu’s war horse could fly, but advancing alone would be suicidal. Now that Guo Jia had paved the way, what was left was up to him to achieve, especially since Guo Jia had already explained the various strategies to him. He understood that he was not the commander in this battle but a valiant general!

After his words, Guan Yu didn’t wait for Guo Jia’s response and charged straight across, with more than five hundred School Sabre Bearers following him across the pontoon bridge on horseback.

”Yuanjian, I leave the river surface here to you!” Guo Jia said to Liao Hua, knowing that the boats Zhou Yu used for surveillance would likely soon patrol up and downstream to check what had happened.

However, Guo Jia was already prepared for the potential scenarios from the other side.

”I will not fail the military advisor’s expectations!” Liao Hua saluted in response.

”Pei Yuanshao, lead your troops to support General Guan. When Sunx Ce’s camp falls into chaos, your unit will charge in!” Guo Jia ordered Pei Yuanshao.

”Zhou Cang, wait for Pei Yuanshao to break into Sunx Ce’s camp, and when the camp’s situation changes, you will attack!” Guo Jia also instructed Zhou Cang, but he did not specify what he meant by a change in situation, leaving Zhou Cang a bit unsure.

”Any questions?” Seeing Zhou Cang a bit confused, Guo Jia asked immediately. ”By then, you’ll naturally understand. The two of you go quickly and don’t let General Guan fall into a trap completely!”

Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang were taken aback. To use the main commander as bait, what kind of crazy plan was this?

[Zhou Yu, I bet Sunx Ce will definitely want to duel Yunchang. Since that’s the case, I’ll play with you, a king battling a king, to see who’s better!] At this moment, a gleam flashed in Guo Jia’s eyes. This was the most likely way he could think of to eliminate Sunx Ce.

[Zhou Yu, I bet with your temperament, you will definitely see Yunchang as a whetstone for Sunx Ce. Let me see what you’ll do if the blade breaks!] Guo Jia sneered.