Starting from Wuangling and counting up to today, Sun Deng's experiences over the past ten days can be said to be incredibly rich. They were arranged by his father Sun Quan and the Left General Zhuge Jun.
The General Niu is also a considerate person, fearing that Sun Deng's short military career might have any omissions, so he came before dawn to give him this lesson.
The camp is in chaos. Some soldiers are donning armor, others are looking for their own superiors, and still others are panicking, picking up weapons beside them and rushing towards the direction of the enemy's attack.
Are you the crown prince?
We are facing the enemy now; this is a life-and-death situation! Ordinary soldiers have no time to worry about such things.
When Sun Deng came to Zhuge Jun's camp, Sun Quan assigned ten armor-clad soldiers to serve as his bodyguards. This was done as a precaution, but little did they know that it would be needed so soon.
Zhuge Ke's sleep is already light, and after hearing the drumming sound of Wei's army, he jumped up from his bed abruptly, ignoring his robe outside, and looked west for a few moments outside the tent before charging into Sun Deng's tent first and woke him up while he was still in a dream.
"Brother Yuansun, what's the matter?" Sun Deng, still groggy, saw Zhuge Ke's round face and didn't quite understand what had happened yet.
"There is a alarm in the army!"
Zhuge Ke, who is always quick-witted, maintains a clear order in this dangerous situation. He puts the left shoe of his foot in Sun Deng's hand and puts the other one on Sun Deng's foot: "The Wei troops are attacking at night. Prince should quickly put on shoes! Come with me!"
"Night attack?" Sun Deng was still somewhat confused: "Is the Wei army attacking me? Could it be that they're at my tent door?"
"Put on the shoes!" Zhuge Jun shouted loudly, which also scared Sun Deng and caused him to quickly put them on.
Just as they stepped out of the tent, Zhang Xu and the other three also came running over. The ten soldiers assigned by Sun Quan to serve as Sun Deng's bodyguards were also donning armor and rushing over in a hurry.
Zhuge Ke pointed to the firelight in the west and shouted, "The situation on the west side is unclear, and the prince's precious life cannot be endangered. I beg Your Highness to quickly board the boat and sail to the river, in case of danger!"
Zhang Xiu also spoke at the same time: "Brother Yuansun is right, the battles here should be under the responsibility of this battalion commander, and it is not the prince's responsibility. Zhuge Gong has placed us here as a precaution, and we should quickly board the boat!"
Gu Tan and Chen Biang also agreed.
Sun Deng looked at the anxious expressions of these four men, heard the shouting and drumming noise of the Wei army to the west, as well as the calls from various detachments and battalions in camp assembling their soldiers, saw the faint firelight in the west, took a deep breath, and then gently shook his head at the four men:
"The enemy army is just conducting a night attack, they have just reached the camp's perimeter. The army in the camp has not yet suffered a defeat, and the enemy is still far from me." Sun Deng said in a firm tone: "If my father was here, would he retreat?"
"This..."
Zhuge Ke was temporarily at a loss for words.
Whether it was him, Zhuang Xu, Gu Tan, or Chen Biang, their starting point was Sun Deng's personal safety. The fortress here, or the Wu troops in the fortress, had nothing to do with their families or careers. As long as Sun Deng was safe, any matter could be easily put aside by Wu King.
But Sun Deng is different.
Either it is the pride of being a crown prince, or not wanting to be looked down upon by his own father, or the blood of Sun House flowing in him at this moment, stirring up his courage, in short, Sun Deng rejected the proposal of the four vassals.
"I won't go." Sun Deng turned to look at the ten armor-clad soldiers: "All of you are tiger guards around my father. Hurry up and put on your armor. Will you listen to what I say?"
The leader of the armor-clad soldiers bowed and said, "Your Highness has told me that protecting the prince is like protecting yourself."
"That's good enough. I'll stay here. If the Wei army really come before me, fighting and retreating is still acceptable." Sun Deng smiled and turned to Zhang Xiu behind him: "Uncle-in-law brother, my armor is in the tent. Please help me put it on!"
Zhang Xiu felt his heart tightening, a surge of emotions, whether of empathy or awe, flooded his brain, and he nodded heavily in agreement before taking small steps towards the tent.
Zhuge Ke and the others also followed Sun Deng's order and returned to their tents to put on their armor.
At a time like this, when even the crown prince Sun Deng does not retreat, if they really flee, this matter would take another level. Even if Zhuge Jun personally intervenes, it might not be able to save his son's career. To be cowardly and afraid of battle is the first sin for the offspring of nobles.
The Wu troops blocking the front line and facing the Wei army directly were not many, most of them were hiding behind the tents, shooting arrows from a distance.
"Have all the things for starting fires been used up?" Ni Jin swept aside a long spear from a Wu soldier's hand with his sword, charged forward, and chopped towards the neck of this Wu soldier. After disposing of this person, Ni Jin asked Zhou Li beside him.
"We still need a moment, the boys are still getting fire from various firepits." Zhou Li answered while grabbing a small shield to protect himself and the general from arrows: "I see that Wu troops have already begun to gather. If the general does not wish to prolong the battle, we should probably retreat."
Ni Jin used his hand to push aside Zhou Li's shield, steadied himself and looked east for a few moments: "There are still not enough people, we cannot do anything great."
"This is an night attack after all, scaring the Wu dogs is good enough." Zhou Li said in Ni Jin's ear.
"Do you think I need you to teach me, Ni Jin?" Zhou Li looked at Ni Jin with a stern expression: "Call all the archers in your division! Go quickly!"
"Oh, good."
Zhou Li nodded, turned around, and shouted loudly: "Peng Dao, Liu Er, lead your own squad over!"
Peng Dao and Liu Er led the 20 men they were working on, dodging the sparse arrows, towards Ni Jin's direction.
"Yes, see that?" Ni Jin pointed to the brightest spot in the camp: "At that brightest spot, each man fire five arrows at it for me. After shooting, blow the horn to retreat!"
"Yes, command!" Peng and Liu Er answered in unison.
More than a dozen arrows shot in the air, scattered and hit in front of, under and beside Sun Deng and others, one of them just hit Sun Deng's feet.
The ten armor-clad soldiers given by Sun Quan saw this and raised their shields to protect Sun Deng. Sun Deng also took the opportunity to bend down and pick up the arrow, holding it tightly in his hand without saying a word.
"General, the arrows are shot!" Peng shouted loudly.
"Blow the horn, retreat!" Ni Jin shouted at Zhou Li with the same volume.
With the short and continuous sound of bugles, the Wei soldiers, seeing this, some fought and retreated, while those who had not yet encountered the enemy turned and ran.
"General is truly heroic!" Zhou Li followed next to Ni Jin, running towards the west side of the city of Xiangyang, his voice full of excitement.
"I may be brave, but I'm far from the likes of Zhang Zhen Dong," Ni Jin said. "To break through ten thousand with eight hundred men is not something a commoner can do. When I came, I boasted to Zhao Dujian that I could match Zhang Wen Yuan, but now I dare not say that anymore."
Zhou Li said: "He is him and you are you. Tonight, the Wu dog was frightened by the general. When Sun bandit learns of this after dawn, he will be so embarrassed!"
While Zhou Li and Ni Jin were running, the bugle calls from behind the Wu army's camp started again, and the campfires were brighter, with soldiers also gradually emerging from the camp's edge.
Ni Jin said: "It's like this to defend a city. If you want to hold on, you can't help but attack outwardly. You did a good job. Go back and wait for your reward."
Zhou Li became even more elated: "Thank you, general, for the reward. When it's my turn to rest, I'll also look for some young women to have more nights like this battle."
Ni Jin chuckled and didn't say anything else.
The next morning, Zhao Yanzhun and Ni Jin stood on the city wall, watching dozens of large ships sailing from the Fish Bridge Island and anchoring at the pier north of the camp.
"It must be Sun Quan," Zhao Yanzhun pointed to the east and calmly said.
"Sun Quan." Ni Jin spat towards the city and coldly snorted: "Why isn't he dead? When I was in my twenties, under the command of Lord Cao, I was fighting against Sun Quan. Now that I'm over fifty, I'm still fighting against Sun Quan."
"He's just over fifty, a few years younger than you." Zhao Yanzhun sighed and said: "Even if Wu is conquered, he is still the father-in-law of Wei."
Ni Jin nodded: "I know that, the King of Chang Le is someone His Majesty had enfeoffed. But there's something I don't understand. If I were to chop off Sun Quan on the battlefield, would I still receive a reward? It can't be that one would be guilty of committing a crime by killing a relative-in-law."
"Are you really foolish or just making me happy?" Zhao Yanzhun looked at Ni Jin with a stern expression: "Wait until you meet Sun Quan face to face on the battlefield, then come and say this again."
"Zhao Guoxi is angry, I was just saying something randomly." Ni Jin laughed: "Last night's night battle only lost about twenty brothers. I brought over eighty heads. I asked around everywhere, the Wu troops died or injured should be about two hundred."
"Good job," Zhao Yanzhun said. "Among all the battles in Jingzhou in recent years, your night raid last night was the most outstanding. I will recommend you for your achievements."
"Thank you, Lord Zhao for your support," Ni Jin said. "It's a shame that I didn't serve in the middle camp and missed the battles in Liaodong. Who knows if I could have become a marquis from Guandong instead of just a count."
Zhao Yanzhun looked at the nearby Han River and whispered: "It depends on your destiny, and how much merit Sun Quan is willing to send you."
At this moment, in the Wu army camp to the east of Xiangyang City, Sun Quan showed no anger towards his military officers, instead he publicly commended them in front of everyone:
"Zi Yu led the army, and I have always trusted him," Sun Quan said calmly, wearing a robe, standing by the destroyed camp of Wei's army last night, and addressing the generals.
"Last night, Wei troops launched a night attack, with only a few hundred men. They just wanted to win a small victory to boost morale," Sun Quan said. "I think the troops in Xiangyang City have already run out of steam."
Zhuge Jin bowed and said, "Your Majesty, when the Wei troops attacked last night, Prince Sun was calm and composed in the camp, equipped with armor and weapons to face them. It greatly impressed me."
"Zi Gao, is that what the Left General said?" Sun Quan turned to look at Sun Deng.
Sun Deng, who was not in armor, bowed to Sun Quan: "My father sent me to observe the military, when facing battle, naturally I should wear armor and hold weapons. If it weren't for the quick withdrawal of the enemy, I might have built some merits."
"Hahaha." Sun Quan laughed even more heartily, "No wonder he is my son. He's just as brave and resolute!"
"Zi Gao, you've seen the city of Xiangyang for several days now. How do you plan to deal with it?"
Sun Deng replied: "As the emperor just said that the Wei troops are depleted, I think it would be a good idea to send someone to persuade them to surrender." (This chapter ends)
