Chapter 269: Cutting Off the Tail to Survive

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Streaks of arrow light, like shooting stars chasing the moon, shot toward the Spell Group in front of Yuan Shu.

Yet these people seemed to have been prepared long ago; two among them who had not yet moved sensed the incoming sharpness.

They immediately cast magic techniques, and layers of barriers appeared in front of the group.

However, these people underestimated the archery of Huang Zhong and Taishi Ci.

These several arrows, carrying an unstoppable momentum, pierced through the layers of barriers one after another.

"Not good!"

"Watch out!"

Yuan Zheng's expression changed wildly, and he reminded them repeatedly, yet it was still too late; the arrow light pierced through the heart of one of them in an instant, and his entire chest was left with a three-foot-wide circular hole, the wound even scorched and emitting a smell of cooked meat.

Another streak of arrow light pierced through a person's head, and that person's head exploded just like a watermelon.

Two Soul Refining experts died in just an instant, and Yuan Zheng's expression changed: "Everyone be careful, the enemy has master archers, and these two are very likely master archers at Refining Gang Level 6 or above."

When dealing with Sun Jian, they had suffered no casualties, at most losing some Soul Nourishing mages.

Not a single person in the Soul Refining Realm had been injured; they attacked from a distance, and with Ji Ling and the others blocking, it was difficult for Sun Jian and his men to get close.

This also caused everyone to overlook the thing they feared most: master archers.

Having lost two people all at once, everyone's expressions were unsightly.

But before anyone could say anything, the sound of the air being violently torn apart came again.

At this moment, everyone could no longer afford to cast magic to churn the river surface; instead, they were all on full defensive alert against the incoming arrow light.

"Haha! Satisfying!"

Huang Zhong drew his bow and continued to shoot incessantly, like shooting stars chasing the moon, as arrows crazily shot toward the cultivators of Yuan Shu's Spell Group.

He was a Martial Dao powerhouse at the peak of Refining Gang Ninth Layer, having even stepped half a foot into the Dharma Image Realm; the Martial Will imbued in these arrows was incredibly powerful.

These people needed several individuals to cast magic together just to barely block them.

Although Taishi Ci was slightly inferior, his archery was also extremely extraordinary, especially his Nine Consecutive Pearls, which were even more terrifying.

As a result, these Soul Refining cultivators had no way to cast magic to deal with the warships under Su Fan's command.

"My Lord, Yuan Shu's navy is retreating."

"Retreat? Did they ask me? Pursue them, do not let a single one go."

Su Fan smiled coldly; such a good opportunity—if they were on land, he might have suffered some losses trying to finish off Yuan Shu, especially since the opponent could rely on city walls for defense.

But here on the river, if one's strength is weak, one has not even the slightest power to resist.

How long had they been fighting? Su Fan's army had already decimated nearly a hundred of the Yuan army's scout ships.

That was nearly one-tenth.

"Gan Ning, you take command."

As an outstanding naval commander, among the generals of Donghai Ling, there were not many who knew how to fight naval battles; of course, other land generals could also command major battles.

However, Gan Ning had more experience; after all, when he was a Brocade Sail Bandit, he had been commanding naval battles the entire time.

He had stayed at Dongting Lake and Panyang Lake, and he had even roamed the Chang Jiang.

"Yes, my Lord."

Upon hearing this, Gan Ning immediately took the commander's order flag and began to command rapidly; suddenly, Su Fan's warships began to surge forward.

Su Fan's warships were superior to Yuan Shu's in both speed and size.

Coupled with long-range strikes, they were completely crushing Yuan Shu, so Gan Ning did not employ any complex naval military strategy, simply using overwhelming force to suppress them.

He controlled the distance between the two sides and then constantly had his men fire cannons, catapults, and arrows.

This method of breaking ten thousand techniques with one force was the most difficult and the hardest to defend against.

The warships in front were constantly being struck by catapults and cannons, and more and more scout ships were damaged; Yuan Shu, in the rear, grew increasingly gloomy.

"Damn it, where is Yuan Zheng? What is he doing?"

"My Lord, Yuan the Libationer and the others have been trying their best, but they have also been attacked by the enemy's fierce generals. There are top-tier master archers among the enemy forces; they have already lost two Soul Refining experts and can now only defend passively."

"Then what solution do you have now?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu wanted to curse, but he could not open his mouth; after a long while, he let out a long sigh.

"My Lord, the only plan now is to cut off the tail to survive."

After a moment of silence, Ji Ling slowly said: "Let those scout ships line up in a row and stop on the river to block the enemy's advance."

Yuan Shu's expression shook upon hearing this, and he looked at Ji Ling with a hint of disbelief; that involved hundreds of warships and nearly eighty thousand men.

To just throw them all away like that.

"My Lord, only in this way can the transport ships in the rear retreat quickly."

Ji Ling also understood that abandoning nearly one hundred thousand naval troops was truly a devastating blow; their Lord had less than three hundred thousand naval troops in total, and this time they were losing more than a third in one go.

Especially since those warships were lost, it would be very difficult to recover them quickly.

However, at this moment, they had no choice but to do so; the enemy's warships were clearly faster than theirs, and if they continued like this, the warships on the front line would eventually be devoured by the enemy, and the transport ships behind them would not be able to escape either.

Once these hundreds of thousands of troops were left behind, they would truly be severely crippled.

These were all elite troops.

At this moment of life and death, Ji Ling could no longer care about anything else.

Yuan Shu's expression shifted for a long time before he waved his hand powerlessly.

He was not a fool; he understood the current situation.

"Whose army is this, anyway?"

Even now, Yuan Shu did not know which warlord was ambushing him.

"My Lord, if I am not mistaken, this enemy force is very likely the troops from Xuzhou?"

"Is it him? I didn't go looking for trouble with him, yet he actually dares to ambush me."

Yuan Shu's expression became even uglier.

"Duke, it is useless to say these things now; please quickly board the Flying Shuttle, leave this place, and head to Jiujiang."

"Since the Xuzhou troops dared to come and ambush you, they must have prepared for the possibility of total war. Jiujiang cannot be lost; once Jiujiang is lost, Yangzhou will be in immediate danger."

"With such a powerful navy, Xuzhou will surely be able to attack the Huai Shui, pursue upstream, and at that time, they could threaten Runan and Nanyang Commandery."

Ji Ling was also feeling extremely panicked inside at this moment; their strength was currently at its weakest, and the opponent had seized the opportunity.

For them, they had truly been struck in their Achilles' heel.

Furthermore, once Jiujiang is breached, if their great army wants to return, they will have to cross mountains and ridges, which would be even more dangerous.

Especially since provisions are a problem.

But right now, he has no other way; the opponent seized the opportunity, and they seized it far too well, while they themselves had not had any precautions beforehand.