Wu Ban had already begun gathering his men while his subordinates went ahead to probe. So when he saw the signal flags, he immediately led the naval forces after the enemy.
Lu Meng had never expected what was supposed to be a sneak attack to somehow turn into a head-on battle!
And that wasn't even the worst of it. The worst part was that Lu Meng was aboard a merchant ship. For the sake of making cargo transport easier, merchant ships had barely any railings—in fact, their decks were wide open. Anyone standing on deck was a sitting duck.
Wu Ban's navy had only about two thousand men, but even so, these merchant ships were no match for them. And if the warships really started hurling fire oil, the northwest wind would carry the flames until every one of their ships was ablaze.
So when Wu Ban led the navy after them, Lu Meng had no choice but to make a painful sacrifice. He left some ships behind to resist and led the rest of his men in a hurried retreat, completely exposing their attempted sneak attack.
After Wu Ban wiped out the dozen or so cargo ships that had put up stubborn resistance, it was already too late to pursue Lu Meng. He knew there was no point in chasing him anyway, so he could only return to the naval camp in frustration and send men to light the beacon fires.
When Guan Yu attacked Fancheng, he had arranged beacon fires at various points along the route, specifically because he feared a Wu Jun sneak attack. It had originally been no more than a precaution. No one had expected that, despite the alliance, they would really be attacked.
Once Wu Ban lit the beacon fires, they relayed the warning