When the stern came close to Deng Dang's flagship, Cen Guang stood firm as the deck trembled mutely. Since the side of the building was one foot higher than the stern, he had to raise his head and look around. Just in time, dozens of heads suddenly popped up from the side of the building, seeming to be sizing up Cen Guang and his party. This made Cen Guang extremely nervous. He straightened his back, held the Zhongxing Sword tightly in his hand, and squinted his eyes to look at the expressions of the soldiers above. Unfortunately, although the fog had become much thinner, it was still not enough for him to see clearly the expressions of the people on the boat. He could only see their vague outlines, as if they were talking to each other.
Fortunately, Cen Guang was already mentally prepared when he arrived, so although he was anxious, he was not anxious. He asked his entourage to announce his name aloud and handed over his token, saying that the military situation was urgent and he had to discuss important matters with General Deng. The soldiers on the ship had heard of Cen Guang's name and had seen Huang Quan's token, so they did not doubt that he was there. They quickly lowered the sampan from the side of the ship and called for Cen Guang and others to come up.
Cen Guang originally planned to bring more people on board the ship to directly control Deng Dang. But after thinking about it for a while, he felt that this intention was too obvious and might alert others, so he temporarily changed his mind and let most of the people stay in the boat. He only took a dozen people aboard the boat.
After boarding the deck, the soldiers immediately led Cen Guang upstairs. When they reached the fourth floor, they could see a large flag with a yellow background and white edges erected high, with four big characters written on it: " Jiang Liu Han soil", that was the imperial flag given to Deng Dang by the emperor after the Battle of Chengde, to show the importance he attached to Jiangdong's recruitment. Under the flag, several people gathered around a table, discussing something in whispers. There was a map on the table, as if they were planning an advance and retreat route.
Deng Dang was tall and wearing a bright armor, making him stand out among the crowd. When Cen Guang came, he was holding his forehead in thought with a worried look on his face. When he heard the footsteps, he immediately looked up. There was obviously uneasiness and entanglement in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up again. Then he put on a smile and hurried over to greet him and said, "It's a war right now. Why is Captain Cen here? Does Mr. Huang have any instructions?"
Cen Guang did not answer immediately, but looked around carefully first and found that he had seen all the generals and subordinates here. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, clasped his fists with both hands, and said to Deng Dang: "Old General Deng, the two armies are currently at a stalemate. , neither the enemy nor we can win in a short period of time, but looking at the overall situation, our army still has the upper hand. Therefore, the governor wondered if the veteran general could come forward to persuade him to surrender. With his reputation as a veteran general, he would definitely be able to break the enemy's will to fight."
Seeing the hesitation on Deng Dang's face, Cen Guang felt murderous intention in his heart, but his face remained calm and he continued to persuade him: "The Sun family's rebellion has not surrendered yet, only because there is a supporting army of Zhou Yu. As long as this battle can be won, Jianye will surely surrender without a fight. What a great contribution! If the old general can successfully persuade him to surrender at this time, and the emperor will ask in the future, then the old general will definitely be the first to pacify Jiangnan! What is there? But what about those who are hesitant? Besides, if we continue to fight, we don’t know how many lives will be lost. The old general only cares about his former comrades, but he should not forget his love for his country."
These words obviously moved Deng Dang. Deng Dang lowered his head and looked down at his legs and feet. He didn't know how to answer for a moment. He could only say: "Let me think about it. Let me think about it."
But this attitude made Cen Guang extremely dissatisfied: The military order was like a mountain. If he was really a loyal minister, how could he push back and block him at this time? But he didn't want to be too pushy with his words. Instead, he quietly changed his posture, looking for an angle that would not be noticed. His other hand touched the Zhongxing Sword at his waist, ready to draw the blade at any time. . The air was cold and humid at this time, but Cen Guang's entourage was sweating nervously. They were waiting for the general's order, but at the same time they also hoped that the general would not issue an order. After all, there were hundreds of soldiers parading on the deck of the Guanglou ship.
While these people were silent, Cen Guang's followers, who were waiting quietly under the flagship, noticed something strange. Because gradually the sound of rowing boats came from the fog. Without knowing their bearings at first, these elite Han soldiers stood up, wearing armor and holding swords, and looked around in the fleet. Finally, three cockroaches gradually emerged from the fog in the northwest. The first cockroach carried the Han army flag at the beginning, which made them relieved. But as the second and third sterns emerged, they immediately became alert: these two ships were actually flying the flag of the Wu people.
The leader who led the way did not know that Cen Guang was coming, let alone that his own soldiers were right in front of him. When he reached the bottom of the flagship, he shouted upward: "Brothers! Governor Zhou has sent someone, come out to greet us!"
As soon as these words came out, the whole ship suddenly made a loud noise, and Cen Guang and Deng Dang above the building ship could hear clearly. Deng Dang was stunned for a moment. He raised his head and said nothing, but the first thing he saw was Cen Guang's ferocious face, and the sound of an extremely sharp sword cutting through the air sounded in his ears. Almost in an instant, Deng Dang's head fell to the ground. Not only did the other people present fail to react, but Deng Dang's own body also failed to react and remained standing motionless. Blood sprayed out immediately, like blood. Rain fell on Cen Guang's armor, sword blade, and even his face.
Cen Guang mentioned Deng Dang's head and immediately shouted to the rest of the people present: "Who dares to move! You will suffer the same fate as this thief!" As soon as he finished speaking, the rest of his followers immediately rushed over with swords drawn, and in a blink of an eye there was a confrontation. The deputy generals who were present were so frightened that they were stunned and stiff, and they were all stunned and didn't know what to say. At this time, Cen Guang changed his color again and said to Yan: "I believe that Deng Dang was the one responsible for collaborating with the traitors. If you can work together to kill the traitors, what's your fault?"
After that, Cen Guang saw that these people still didn't understand, and said angrily again: "You haven't ordered the attack yet!" These people who were held hostage by swords woke up from a dream, and immediately asked the ordering soldiers to blow the attack horn, and at the same time gave verbal orders to the soldiers on the deck. Said: "Shoot the arrow! Shoot the arrow!"
However, after the order was issued, the soldiers were still not executed. They stood around the side of the ship. Although they still held bows and arrows in their hands, they looked hesitant. Only the two personal guards brought by Cen Guang tried to block the advance of the Wu ships under the building ship. When the officers pressed again, they fired a round of arrows sparsely, with no accuracy at all.
At this moment, a man came out of the wooden roof of the Wu ship and stood on the bow of the stern. The soldiers on the building boat looked over and saw that the man was majestic, standing as tall as a withered pine. Even though he was in the rain of arrows, he did not waver at all. The most shocking thing was that the man was not wearing armor, only trousers. Wearing a cyan military uniform with a wide collar and a crimson cape, he didn't seem to be on the battlefield. When the boat got closer, the soldiers on the building couldn't help but exclaimed. It turned out that they all recognized the man on the bow: it was the guerrilla general Han Dang!
Han Dang has been following Sun Jian in his expeditions in the east and west since forty years ago. Now he is over seventy years old, with a full head of hair and gray temples. But the years have given him a strong and restrained temperament, which makes people feel ashamed at first sight, but his eyes are still as bright as they were during the Battle of Guangcheng. Because he was very senior in the army, almost everyone in Wu did not know him. Han Dang just raised his eyes and looked towards the building, but many soldiers did not dare to make any move.
Facing the two stern ships in front of him that were trying to block him, Han Dang almost didn't care at all. He glanced at the ship and immediately named a few officers and shouted to them: "Only two ships, let's get you on board." Thousands of people were frightened? Why don't you quickly fire arrows!" When those people heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other, but the morale of the soldiers on the deck was greatly boosted, and they immediately opened their bows and fired arrows at Cen Guang's stern. Just like a sudden rain without warning, Cen Guang's personal guards had no time to react, and iron arrows were nailed to every inch of the cockpit. Almost every soldier on the ship was pricked like a hedgehog at this time, and their human shape was almost unrecognizable.
These scenes were clearly seen by Cen Guang, who was at the top. As the sampan was put down, Han Dang walked onto the building boat. The Wu people and soldiers rushed to rush over, followed by waves of cheers. Cen Guang suddenly knew that the situation was over. He looked at the lieutenants who were held hostage and knew that these people were obedient and that he could not prevent the Wu people from defecting. In anger, he immediately ordered his followers to kill all these officers, then wiped the sword's edge and placed it across his neck.
The followers were shocked when they saw this, and they all grabbed Cen Guang and persuaded him to dive into the water and leave quickly, so that they could cover him. But Cen Guang shook his head slightly and smiled sadly at his subordinates: "If this battle fails, I am afraid that the army will not be able to return to the north of the Yangtze River. I have promised the governor in advance that it will succeed, but now it is irreversible. I will not be able to escape the blame for my death. And How can I keep living?" Then he said to a follower: "This sword in my hand is the sword of the late emperor and must not fall into the hands of thieves. After I die, you can either kill and return this sword to Governor Huang. Or let this sword sink in the river!"
After saying that, Cen Guang stood in a pool of blood, holding the sword in his right hand, and stroking his hair with his left hand. After touching the position, he put the sword edge against his neck again, and then cut a large gash to the left along the direction of the sword blade. Don't stop until it extends below the left earlobe.
At this time, Han Dang was already walking up surrounded by Wu people. Amidst the chaotic footsteps, the followers seemed to still be able to hear the sound of the master's blood flowing. They didn't dare to hesitate. Most of them took knives to the stairs to resist. Only one person was left to clean up the mess amidst the sound of gold and iron. The follower cut off Cen Guang's head and wrapped it with a piece of linen, and then wrapped it with the Zhongxing Sword. After doing all this, he jumped towards the river and made a huge splash. The water above and below the river gradually Become calm, no longer confused and noisy.
But this tranquility was only temporary. Soon, the Wu people's bugles sounded again on Deng Dang's flagship, and then there was the sound of oars hitting the river. The building ship named "Feiyun" moved slowly and passed in front of a group of passengers. The soldiers of Deng Dang's army who had stopped watching looked over and found that the flag of "Jiangliu Hantu" was no longer hanging on it, but a familiar flying fish flag. They immediately reacted and responded with trumpet sounds. The driving ships followed closely behind, but within three-quarters of an hour, almost all of Deng Dang's old troops had joined Han Dang's command and launched an attack on the Han warships on the flanks.
