dognovel Chapter 733 The Cunning Sun Lang
Chapter 733 The Cunning Sun Lang
"Quick, quick, we'll be safe once we get to Queshan!"
In a wheat field that had just been harvested and was now just stubble, Sun Lang kept shouting, urging his brothers to speed up.
Tian Yu was definitely leading cavalry. They were all infantry, and their speed was not as good as that of cavalry. If they didn't fight desperately, they might really be caught up.
Despite this, Sun Lang remained relatively calm. After all, he was a seasoned bandit with far more experience in escaping than in fighting. He had already planned his escape route before taking action. As long as he escaped into Queshan and then along Queshan into Tongbai Mountain, Tian Yu would be unable to do anything to him.
With this in mind, Sun Lang led five or six hundred brothers and ran wildly through the wheat field, their speed as if they were riding on wheels of fire.
It was just past noon, and many farmers were gleaning wheat ears in the fields with their families when they were startled and ran away when they saw hundreds of people suddenly rushing towards them.
This group of people were dressed in a disorderly manner and their weapons were in disarray. They were obviously bandits. If the common people saw bandits, would they not run away quickly, but instead go up and greet them?
Seeing the people fleeing, Sun Lang quickly shouted, "Fellow villagers, don't panic! We are the Heavenly Army of the Great Han Dynasty, we will not disturb the people..."
Hearing the shouts, the fleeing civilians were all stunned. What was going on? Had the Han army already reached Runan?
Upon learning that Sun Lang was a civilian of the Han army, although they were still fleeing, they were noticeably less panicked than before. Instead, they frequently turned back to curiously observe Sun Lang's group.
It should be noted that the current emperor of the Han Dynasty is Liu Huangshu, who is known for his benevolence and righteousness, and who once served as the governor of Yuzhou.
Although Liu Bei's title of Governor of Yu Province was an honorary one given by Cao Cao, and he never actually came to Yu Province to work, the common people didn't care about that. They only knew that Liu Bei had been their governor.
If Liu Bei had faded into obscurity like other warlords, his former position as governor of Yuzhou would naturally have been forgotten. But now that Liu Bei has become emperor, his experience as governor of Yuzhou has become a source of pride for the people of Yuzhou.
After all, people are naturally inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm, and they tend to favor the rich and despise the poor. If someone you know becomes successful one day, you will definitely try to establish a connection with them.
The people of Yuzhou had this mentality: if Liu Bei died, they would naturally forget him, but if Liu Bei became the emperor of the Han Dynasty, they would naturally try to get closer to him. Since Liu Bei had just served as the governor of Yuzhou, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to build a relationship?
Upon learning that these bandits were Liu Bei's men, the people slowed their escape, and some of the bolder ones even waved to them.
"General, has His Majesty launched a northern expedition so soon? I haven't heard anything about it."
Sun Lang quickly replied, "Not yet, but soon. What are you all standing there for? Keep running! Tian Yu, the governor of Runan, is chasing me and will be here soon. Don't let him see us chatting, or he'll cause trouble for you. Run!"
Upon hearing this, the people fled in droves. They had little affection for Cao Wei, after all, they had been subjects of the Han Dynasty for four hundred years, and had only been subjects of Cao Wei for a few days.
From this perspective, the people of the world felt much closer to the Han Dynasty than to Cao Wei.
Sun Lang continued to run, but he hadn't gone far when he found that Lin Mahu was chasing after him. Sun Lang glanced back and said, "Ignore them and keep speeding up. Don't let them get you entangled."
Lin Mahu is not scary; it is Tian Yu behind him who is scary. They need to escape Tian Yu's pursuit, so they naturally cannot let Lin Mahu entangle them.
Lin Mahu, who was also leading infantry, could not catch up with Sun Lang, who had fled earlier, and could only watch helplessly as Sun Lang crossed the wheat field and the river.
At the end of the wheat field was a small river only three meters wide. Sun Lang reached the riverbank, crossed the river on a wooden bridge, burned the bridge, and continued heading towards Queshan.
Lin Mahu was a step too slow. By the time he reached the riverbank, the wooden bridge had been completely burned and was impassable. He had no choice but to wade across the river.
Before Lin Mahu could decide whether to jump into the river, he suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats behind him. Turning around, he found that it was Tian Yu chasing after him. Overjoyed, Lin Mahu trotted forward and pointed at Sun Lang's back, shouting, "General, Sun Lang has crossed the river and escaped!"
Without hesitation, Tian Yu roared, "Charge across the river! We can't let Sun Lang escape today!"
The stream in front of them was only three meters wide and a foot deep, offering no real obstacle whatsoever. The cavalry could easily wade across it, but...
Just as Tian Yu rode his horse into the river, his warhorse suddenly neighed and collapsed into the river, throwing Tian Yu out.
The moment Tian Yu fell from his horse, he noticed with keen insight that many sharpened bamboo skewers had been stuck into the river, with the thorns facing upwards. If someone fell into the river, they would definitely be pierced through the heart.
Tian Yu was, after all, a veteran who had been through countless battles. The moment he saw the bamboo skewers, he took decisive action, drew his sword and swung it forcefully into the water, cutting down all the bamboo skewers in his line of sight. Then he curled up into a ball and fell into the safe zone he had created to avoid being injured by the bamboo skewers in the distance.
He managed to dodge it, but the cavalry behind him were clearly no match for him. They screamed and fell into the river, bleeding profusely from the stab wounds.
Hearing the shouts, the other soldiers who had not yet entered the river quickly reined in their horses and dismounted to rescue Tian Yu and his teammates.
Supported by his personal guards, Tian Yu returned to the riverbank. Wiping the water off his face, he watched Sun Lang's disappearing figure on the opposite bank and cursed through gritted teeth, "Damn Sun Lang, he's too damn cunning! Clear the bamboo skewers from the river immediately, then cross the river and give chase. We can't let Sun Lang get away no matter what."
Lin Mahu asked timidly, "Still chasing? Can you catch up?"
Tian Yu gritted his teeth and said, "We have to catch up even if we can't catch up. Sun Lang has finally shown his face. We have to keep him in our sight today. Besides, I don't believe that his two legs can outrun our four hooves."
Lin Mahu dared not refute, so he went into the river to treat the wounded and clean up the bamboo sticks. Afterwards, a count revealed that as many as eighty people had been injured by bamboo sticks.
Before they could even catch up with Sun Lang, they had already lost eighty men. Tian Yu had never suffered such a loss since his debut, and he was so angry that he ordered his army to immediately cross the river and pursue them.
Across the river was also a wheat field. Tian Yu rushed into the wheat field but hadn't run far when he heard another scream behind him. Looking down, he saw bamboo sticks and iron nails stuck in the gaps between the wheat stubble, as tall as the stubble itself. They were hidden by the stubble and were hard to spot unless you looked closely.
Tian Yu's face turned pale with anger. He stared at Sun Lang's retreating figure and gritted his teeth, saying, "Damn Sun Lang! He made so many preparations beforehand, how infuriating!"
Sun Lang was currently on the run and naturally didn't have time to do these things, so it must have been arranged before the operation.
In other words, Sun Lang had anticipated that he might be pursued by cavalry, so he made preparations in advance. No wonder Sun Lang and his men's escape posture was so strange, looking like they were running on tiptoe. So that was their purpose.
Tian Yu stared ahead, pondering, "Sun Lang's target is definitely Queshan. Slow down and continue advancing. Get to Queshan first to entangle Sun Lang, then send a message to Prefect Gao Rou, asking him to bring his men to prepare to surround the mountain."
As I said before, it wasn't easy to lure Sun Lang out of my sight this time, and I absolutely cannot let him out of my sight.
The army slowly crossed the wheat fields and entered the wilderness. Tian Yu did not dare to pursue at full speed. Instead, he sent scouts to carefully explore the direction Sun Lang had fled in. Only after confirming that there were no traps did they continue to advance.
In this way, the speed advantage of the cavalry was rendered useless, and by the time Tian Yu arrived at Queshan, Sun Lang had already entered the mountains.