Chapter 194 188. After the Water Attack
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

At this time, on the island in the center of the river below the city, the Han army was still catching those young and strong men who had fled in all directions like catching rabbits. You must be kidding. As long as there are prisoners, no matter whether they are strong or weak, it is a military merit. Isn't it time to give the brothers military merits for nothing in this situation?
Thanks to the good military discipline of the Han army, at least there was no killing of prisoners, so most of the young and strong were willing to surrender to the Han army.

"Hey, Commander, I didn't expect the combat effectiveness of the local county soldiers to be so vulnerable."

When Bao Feng saw Ma Su following him, he simply didn't bother to chase after the pawns who had lost their will to fight, and came back to report the battle situation to Ma Su.

After all, Ma Su was a general appointed by the Grand Commander himself, and he was just a deputy general. Plus, Bao Feng was also a newcomer, so he was very polite to Ma Su.

"Haha, General Bao is truly extraordinary and mighty. He took the enemy's head amidst the mighty hostile forces. He is indeed worthy of being the Grand Commander's trusted and beloved general."

Although Ma Su was eager to prove himself and make some achievements, he was not stupid enough to offend his colleagues. He naturally reciprocated Bao Feng's kindness and praised him. For a time, the main general and the deputy general were in harmony.

"Then Commander, what should we do now? Continue to attack the city?"

After the two of them praised each other's business, Bao Feng brought the topic back on track and asked about the next steps.

"This is easy. Take the prisoners to the rear for safekeeping. We will use this island in the middle of the river as a stepping stone and march to the city of Changsha."

Ma Su was very confident. In his opinion, Han Teng was just a member of Han Xuan's clan, a defeated general under him. What wisdom and strategy could he have?
Even if there are, they are probably just some trivial tricks that I can easily see through. Now the other party is just using tactics such as feinting to the east and attacking in the west, night raids, and cutting off food supplies, but I have already been prepared. If they dare to attack, I will make them return with a crushing defeat.

"Rumble..."

Suddenly, a sound like thunder came from the far east, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and look towards the east.

This sight was not a big deal, but it made everyone's hearts tremble with fear. On the dry Liushui River bed in the east, a white line with the momentum of destroying the world rushed straight to the island in the middle of the river where everyone was.

Although these Jingzhou troops have experienced a year of turmoil and their combat effectiveness is not as good as before, they still have basic combat experience. How could they not recognize what this is?
"Water plan! It's water plan!"

Many experienced officers shouted loudly, and for a moment many soldiers of the Jingzhou army stopped trying to capture prisoners and immediately turned around and ran towards the ships on the shore. Only these ships could bring them some sense of security.

Although these small boats may be capsized by the turbulent water, they will definitely not survive if they are directly washed away by the flood. Who knows where they will be washed to by then.

"Don't panic! Get on board in an orderly manner!"

Fortunately, not everyone was so panicked. Many grassroots officers still maintained basic qualities and allowed the soldiers to board the ship in an orderly manner, preparing to deal with the impact of this water plan.

However, mental toughness could not offset the physical pain. Even though the Han army was in good order, many soldiers did not have time to board the ship. When the overwhelming torrent rushed to the island in the middle of the river, many soldiers could only wail and watch in despair as their comrades on the ship were swept away by the flood without any resistance and then disappeared.

As for the young and strong men in Changsha County, the Han army couldn't even take care of themselves, so how could they have time to care about them? Naturally, they were left to fend for themselves.

The Han army was like this, so what could these young men in Changsha who had already been frightened do? They might have been honest farmers, peddlers, and craftsmen a few days ago. Today, they had already narrowly escaped death on the battlefield. They had survived by chance and had no time to catch their breath before they had to face this desperate scene again.

"Wow, wow, wow..." Many people sat on the ground in despair and started crying. It was unclear whether they missed their families or felt that their fate was unfair.

Unfortunately, water and fire are merciless. The flood did not care about the fate of these poor people, but swallowed them all together with part of the Han army and took them away.

"Master, this..."

The county magistrate on the city wall could not bear to see this cruel scene. Many young and strong men in Changsha looked at the Changsha city wall in despair before the flood came. There was hatred, despair and struggle in their eyes, which made it unbearable for an ordinary person like the county magistrate.

These were more than 3,000 young and strong laborers. Han Teng said he would sell them? Even if we take a step back, they were still human beings, right? Using 3,000 people just to lure the Han army into the trap was too cruel.

"Hmph, kindness does not make for good military command. What do you, a scholar, know? Hurry up and mobilize the troops, horses and boats. This governor will personally go out of the city to kill the enemy!"

Han Teng became angry when he saw the county magistrate's mournful look. After scolding him, he simply ignored him and took the elite soldiers in Changsha to prepare to leave the city and pursue the victory while the Han army was in chaos.

"Hurry and save people!"

Ma Su was also panicking at the moment. He had thought of the possibility that the enemy might use a water plan, but he had never expected that the enemy would be so ruthless as to drown his own 3,000 men along with the Han army.

In Ma Su's opinion, the other party would at most deliberately expose a flaw and find a place prepared in advance to use the water plan, so Ma Su had already taken precautions. However, he never expected that the other party would actually sell his own soldiers, and even Captain Wang, as bait to him in exchange for heavy damage to the Han army.

"Commander, let's retreat first. Although saving our brothers is important, the most urgent task is to reorganize the army. Many brothers are familiar with water, and they will probably be washed downstream of the Xiang River."

Bao Feng was exceptionally calm at this moment, and pointed out that the current urgent task was not to rush to rescue people, but to regroup.

Because of this sudden water attack, the Han army's originally high morale plummeted in an instant, and the people were in panic, so it was necessary to appease the troops, otherwise changes might occur over time.

In this state, the Han army has no combat effectiveness left, so it would be better to retreat to the previous camp and defend it.

Ma Su was not a stupid man. On the contrary, it was natural for Zhuge Liang to value him. He closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, opened his eyes again and nodded.

"All troops, listen up, salvage the brothers who are close by, and then retreat to the west of the Xiang River in an orderly manner!"

Although the Jingzhou army was somewhat panicked, they still executed the order relatively well. They looked around to see if there were any lucky ones who had not been washed away, and then wanted to leave and return to the camp they had set up before.

"Kill! Don't let the bandits escape!"

However, Han Teng had already opened the city gates and boarded the prepared boats to charge at the Han army, causing the Han army to fall into chaos again.

(End of this chapter)