Yushugou-Hefei Battle -4: Zhou Yu's Blazing Sacrifice
Zhou Yu, who fully understood the spec difference between our ships and Wu's, issued the total assault order without delay.
"RAM THEM! Crush the enemy's vanguard!"
Inflicting heavy damage on the enemy's lead ships would scatter their wreckage, blocking the path of their massive fleet. The bottleneck effect grows stronger the larger the enemy's numbers.
Wu's generals had generations of naval combat experience under their belts. That accumulated know-how had elevated them to the level of true admirals.
Woooooo—!
The fog was thick, but it couldn't halt the charge of the ram ships.
Wu's sailors, seasoned by long years at sea, knew how to adjust their rudders and read the wind like second nature. This instinct, impossible to replicate through training alone, permeated their ram formation.
The ships advanced in perfect lanes, never colliding, steadfast and unyielding as they bore straight down on Cao Cao's fleet.
Using the burning abandoned ships Zhou Yu had launched as beacons, the ram ships pressed forward.
And soon enough.
Kaboom!!!
The crack of splintering timber. Screams from the rowers. Oars snapping with dull thwacks. Wails piercing the silent fog.
Plops of men tumbling into the water. The whistle of arrows slicing through the wind. The crackle of roaring flames. From a spot a little removed from the epicenter of all that noise, one voice rang out.
"NOTCH YOUR FIRE ARROWS!!!"
Zhou Yu's flagship at the vanguard, standing unprotected with crimson eyes blazing—he was the incarnation of fire itself. Even the blood he coughed up seemed like tiny fireballs, exploding on impact like a meteor from the cosmos. His thunderous roar echoed across the waters, and the ram ships erupted in flames, swallowed by the inferno.
Explosion ships.
Zhou Yu's desperate fire tactic: ships packed to the brim with straw and oil.
"FIRE!!!"
Fwooooom—!!!
A massive blast reminiscent of modern warfare.
The site of the explosion boomed like a dust detonation, flames leaping to spread everywhere. Human screams. Surviving men's cheers. The metallic gurgles of the dying. Follow-up ram ships charging with swords drawn. Cao Cao's vanguard ships already battered to hell. Those lead ships. From the rear of one lead ship, a voice cried out.
Woooooo—!!!
A colossal horn blast from the enemy lines. With majestic timbre came the enemy's overwhelming swarm. The Yangtze, littered with wrecks and debris, lay silent. The east wind fanned the flames higher. Even that escalated fire couldn't hold back Cao Cao's horde.
"Push forward! Their numbers are few!"
Commanding were Zhang Yun and Cai Mao. Watching them was one advisor.
"Engage! Unfurl the sails and swiftly encircle their fleet!"
As flags rose, from beyond the flickering fog emerged the enemy's grand armada.
Far more ships than anticipated—like they'd committed everything to total war.
An all-out assault whose scale was impossible to gauge by eye alone.
"Stand firm! The wind is on our side!!!"
Zhou Yu refused to yield.
Huang Gai, at the prow of his lead ship, etched that fiery incarnation into his eyes and bellowed.
"If this line breaks, it's over! Advance! Kill them all!!!"
The veteran of a hundred battles roared. His men responded with a frenzy. To live is to die, to die is to live. The flower that burns brightest shines most beautifully before it wilts. The enemy forces bloomed like blood-red roses across a field—mobilized en masse. Fog obscured the view, but their numbers topped 300,000 at least.
The river choked with their massive fleet, yet still more lingered beyond. The unseen terrified all the more. The void's harbinger whispered: You will lose. You will fall.
"ALL FORCES!!! We will prevail! Notch fire arrows! Mobilize every last ship!!!"
One man's noble will rose against it—a curse of obsession, fixation, madness. Zhou Yu's curse was one of fleeting life. Because he was cursed, he could roar. With life already forfeit, his death rattle became a soul's lament. That grieving spirit debated the void's messenger, answering with booming resolve.
"EXPLODE THEM AWAYYYYY!!!"
Dawn passed, the sun slowly rising. Zhou Yu donned the radiant armor of morning light, commanding from the front lines.
The pre-dawn blasts tore holes in the enemy armada like rifts from another world.
A horrific sight. Ahh. We live in an age of utmost evil.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—boomboom!!!
Massive explosions where enemies appeared. A dimensional rift. The firestorm cleared the Yangtze's fog entirely. The enemy's silhouettes emerged. No reversing now. When fleets clash head-on, someone dies. Endless fire arrows flew both ways. Mutual probes and counters. Defender and attacker. Wu, driven to defense, mounted an all-or-nothing offense for survival.
"ATTACK!!! Sweep them all away!!!"
Lu Meng's shout. His dear friend was burning himself alive. Someone had to pull him from the flames. Who empathizes with the pyre-bound by shooting an arrow through their skull?
Before Zhou Yu, resolved to die, Lu Meng swallowed tears and advanced his ships.
"Protect the flagship! Don't let them through here!"
Desperate. The sheer volume of arrows exchanged screamed hopelessness. Yet Huang Yueying had said it: these sturdy ships could hold against their horde. She was right.
"Rowers, row! All ships, ram into the enemy!!!"
Moths to the flame. Ghosts seeking their end issued a suicide charge order to the fleet. A chance for two-rank promotions. No ship would miss this opportunity.
"General! The enemy approaches!"
"Shower them with arrows!"
Eggs against a boulder. This gap wouldn't close. But wasn't it strategists who turned the impossible possible?
"DISPERSE!!!!!"
In an instant, they formed the crane-wing formation. Wu's ships charged as if to ram, then slackened speed like faltering momentum.
A chained-ring stratagem, honed by Wu's ten thousand naval veterans.
Wu's ironclad will, linked by steel chains. Thick links defied the Yangtze's currents.
"ALL FORCES!!!!! Full speed ahead!"
Chains entwined, dragging river debris to block the enemy advance.
The red-clad strategist watching forced a grin.
"ALL FORCES! Draw swords! Prepare for boarding!"
Huang Gai's roar. From behind, Lu Meng signaled, and a messenger raised the red banner.
A crimson flag atop the flagship.
"Waaaaah!!!"
With thunderous cheers, rowers' muscles bulged.
They rowed with sinews-near-snapping force.
Wu's elite craftsmanship shone—riding the wind's aid and human will, ships surged at full tilt.
With living precision, the chains ensnared enemy ships.
"ALL FORCES!!! Capture them!!!"
Spears and swords wove like bandits'. Piracy wasn't for amateurs. Immunity to seasickness and sway was their edge.
Wu soldiers were invincible aboard these decks.
Zhou Yu watched, tormented.
Is this right? I'll plummet to hell, but do I have the right to drive Wu's men to slaughter?
Yet the answer came swiftly.
What use rotting unnamed in books for a thousand, ten thousand years?
Sublimity surged within. Dawn-armored Zhou Yu gleamed divine.
'We shall surpass their grand fleet. This is a strategist's heartbeat.'
"I was commanded by Lord Sun to defend Wu at all costs!!! We cannot retreat from here!!!"
He spat blood. The battlefield felt impossibly distant. Command the people to sacrifice for loyalty. But only thus could he command. Wu's great cause guided the masses righteously. No retreat. Must they fall, letting all Wu's people suffer humiliation? If someone must do it, let it be us.
Not yet time to fall. Mountains of tasks remained. We... we must win!!!
"Advance the flagship!"
"Commander! No!"
"Hurry! At this rate, we'll be pushed back!"
"But we can't advance the flagship!"
"……"
He read his officer's face. Ah, can the tide not be turned?
Calming his fervor. His body felt strangely light.
The cool-headed strategist pondered.
Searching for one stratagem to break the deadlock.
Retreat impossible. Our vanguard locked with theirs, enemy flanks closing for encirclement.
"Haa…."
The strategist resolved.
'Even if the world points and curses, I shall be Wu's guiding light.' The kind-hearted one issued the order.
"…Load the flagship with explosives and oil. Blow it to seal the Yangtze's mouth."
"…!!! Commander!"
"If burning me can light the Yangtze, should I not gladly do so?"
"No! If you've decided that, you must escape!"
Calmer than anyone. This choice was utterly rational.
"What will the enemy think of an empty flagship? Raise the white flag. Signal retreat, but the flagship advances. Unfurl the chain to bring small enemy ships along. Huang Gai fights valiantly, but it's not enough. Tell Lu Meng and Lu Su to handle what follows."
Looking skyward, rain would fall soon.
The colossal enemy fleet bore down murderously—no countermove existed.
Yet if we broke here, Wu's doom was certain.
If staking my neck bought even a little time, I would.
I believe. If we hold, Shu will answer our hopes.
*
"Looks like rain's coming," Gan Ning said. I glanced at the sky.
With the fog so thick, it felt imminent.
For some reason, not a glimpse of the enemy.
Could Wu hold out? If they couldn't, the whole plan crumbled.
I believe. Zhou Yu will hold.