Seeing this, Pan Zhang realized that the city of Fankou had been prepared for them well in advance. He hurriedly tried to lead his men in retreat, but they had barely gone far when another dense rain of arrows erupted from the hills on the south bank of the Yangtze.
Pan Zhang quickly ordered the shield bearers to raise their wooden shields on the right side, allowing the army to hurry past.
But just then, more boulders came crashing down from the hills. They slammed into the wooden shields, sending the shield bearers flying.
Without the protection of their shields, the soldiers of Jiangdong were like lambs led to slaughter. Under the dense barrage of arrows, all they could do was cry out in agony before losing their lives.
Pan Zhang quickly ordered the soldiers to run toward the river, hoping to escape along the bank. The ground there was extremely muddy, so they would move more slowly, but it would also keep the ambushing archers from getting a clear shot. At last, they managed to escape the archers' range.
Of the 30,000 troops he had brought, only a little over 20,000 remained. Pan Zhang was heartbroken, but he was also relieved that his entire army hadn't been wiped out. He could only worry about Lu Xun's fate.
Meanwhile, Lu Xun wasn't faring much better. He had been lucky enough to leap into the water, and with help from some of his men, he had managed to swim beyond the range of the boulders.
But as they swam toward the riverbank, they were shocked to see figures lining both sides of the shore. It was obvious they were waiting to capture anyone who came out of the water.
In fact, they were ordinary citizens serving in the Anti-Bandit Commandant's unit.