Chapter 472 Lu Xun Leads the Troops
Liu Bei hesitated for a long time, but ultimately failed to make up his mind.
Seeing this, Wei Yan stepped forward and said, "My lord, how about I lead a group of elite troops to attack along a small road at night and see if we can defeat the enemy?"
Liu Bei heard this and pondered for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. After a long while, he said, "Wen Chang, I will give you 5,000 elite soldiers. Go and test it tonight. Remember, if it is impossible, you should retreat."
Liu Bei was unwilling to just recruit Huang Zhong like this.
Even if this can solve the crisis in Qunin County, it is not good for the overall situation. Why not give it a try first, what if the Qi army's defense is not so tight?
The key to the execution of all plans lies in people.
Everyone gets tired and lazy.
Even with the most stringent defenses, negligence can still occur.
As night fell, Wei Yan led 5,000 elite soldiers and, under the cover of darkness, quietly advanced along a small path towards the flank of Quren County.
They carefully avoided the traps that had been discovered previously and advanced along difficult areas as much as possible.
When he arrived at a valley on the flank of Qunin County, Wei Yan suddenly stopped, feeling a vague sense of uneasiness in his heart.
His intuition told him that there was most likely an ambush ahead.
There were Qi army fortresses set up in the dangerous places on both sides of the valley, and it would be troublesome if they were discovered.
But now that he was here, he had to pass through this valley. What other choice did he have except to take the risk?
"Everyone be careful and slow down." Wei Yan ordered in a low voice.
The soldiers immediately became nervous, holding their weapons tightly in their hands, looking around vigilantly, and slowly walked into the valley.
At this moment, a cry of killing suddenly rang out in the valley, and countless Qi soldiers rushed down from the hillsides on both sides.
"We've fallen into a trap!" Wei Yan thought to himself, "Oh no!" He quickly drew his long sword and shouted, "Don't panic, line up to meet the enemy!"
The two sides immediately engaged in a fierce fight.
The Qi army soldiers were well-trained and occupied advantageous terrain, and Wei Yan's army gradually fell into trouble.
"General, we are surrounded, what should we do?" a deputy general asked anxiously.
Wei Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Charge out! Go to the east, where the enemy's forces are relatively weak!"
After hunting geese all day, he was finally blinded by the geese. He was best at sneak attacks, but now he was surrounded by the enemy.
Under the leadership of Wei Yan, the soldiers bravely moved forward and broke through to the east.
Regardless of their own lives, they fought a desperate battle with the Qi army. After a hard battle, Wei Yan's army finally broke through the encirclement, but also suffered heavy losses.
When Wei Yan returned to Liu Bei's tent with the remaining soldiers, Liu Bei and others were waiting anxiously. Seeing Wei Yan's embarrassed appearance, Liu Bei's heart sank.
Wei Yan's face was filled with guilt. He knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice, "My lord, I am incompetent and fell into an enemy ambush."
Liu Bei patted Wei Yan on the shoulder, sighed softly, and consoled him: "It's not your fault. I was stubborn and took the risk even though I knew the Qi army was cautious. Now it seems that we can only consider transferring Han Sheng."
Everything happened just as Guo Jia had expected. Liu Bei had a difficult time advancing into Yizhou. He could not even take the first step and had to recall Huang Zhong.
Upon receiving the news, Zhang He's army, which had been well prepared, immediately marched northeast without hesitation, seizing the opportunity to seize the territory of Ba County and take over important roads.
What Liu Bei was most worried about happened as expected.
However, Liu Bei had no other choice at this time but to capture Quren County as soon as possible and then find a way to regain the initiative in the battle.
Otherwise, the main force would not be able to enter Yizhou. Even if Huang Zhong could be nailed to death in Ba County, what would that do? With only 50,000 soldiers, they could not do anything at all. It was barely enough to defend a county, so it was simply a fantasy to want to seize Yizhou.
At this time, Tian Ze personally led an army of 100,000 and was on his way south from Hanzhong.
"Your Majesty, is it appropriate for you to lead the troops personally?" the young Lu Xun asked worriedly.
"What? Are you afraid that I will cause trouble?" Tian Ze raised his eyebrows slightly.
His level is about the same as Liu Bei today.
He is very good at commanding troops of less than 10,000 people, but he is at a loss in a battle involving 100,000 troops.
Sometimes we have to admit that the gap between people is really big, and many times it cannot be made up by hard work.
Even after so many years of growth, Tian Ze didn't think he could command an army of one hundred thousand men.
However, the little guy next to me can barely do it.
"I dare not. But I am really worried about your Majesty's valuable body going to the battlefield in person." Lu Xun said hurriedly in panic.
Tian Ze waved his hand and said with a hearty smile: "It's okay, with the Tiger Guards and the Formation Trap, you don't have to worry about me, I will command you safely. I am here just to support you and will not interfere in the war."
Although the war in Yizhou was extremely important, so was the war in the Central Plains.
All the generals under Tian Ze's command now have their own tasks and are unable to spare the time to support Yizhou.
The situation in Yizhou was not optimistic. The intelligence sent by Zhang He and the display on the "mini map" made Tian Ze very clear about the current situation.
It is necessary to send additional reinforcements to Yizhou in order to stabilize the situation and drive Liu Bei out.
However, there were not many good generals around him. The most important thing was that the five famous generals, Zhao Yun, Gan Ning and Zang Ba were all unavailable. After much deliberation, Tian Ze had no choice but to bring Lu Xun with him.
After all, he is good at commanding small-scale battles, but for a large-scale battle like this, someone still needs to be in charge.
"Are you worried that you are not capable enough?" Tian Ze teased.
Lu Xun blushed slightly: "I am worried that I have failed your majesty's high expectations."
No matter how talented he is, he is still young after all. He has just started out and has experienced such a battle. He is directly in charge of an army of 100,000, and has Tian Ze by his side. How could he not be panicked?
Tian Ze heard this and smiled calmly: "It's normal to be nervous. Anyone would be nervous if they were given such an important task right from the start."
"But I believe in you."
"Besides, this battle is not as difficult as you think."
Tian Ze looked towards the direction of Liu Bei's army with a gloomy gaze.
"Yizhou has many natural defenses, and Liu Bei has not yet entered completely. We can rely on the geographical advantages to defend. Although we have sent an army of 100,000, this battle will definitely not be too fierce."
"Liu Bei's foundation is weak, and he can't fight this kind of battle. At most, he can use a large army to intimidate and engage in small-scale confrontations. More likely, they will fight back and forth around various dangerous places and passes."
"So, Boyan, you don't need to worry too much. In this battle, you don't need to be too sure of the opportunity, as long as you can hold your ground."
Although Tian Ze valued Lu Xun's ability, he never underestimated Liu Bei.
Liu Bei now has Pang Tong, Kuai Liang and others as military advisors, as well as powerful generals such as Huang Zhong and Zhang Fei, who should not be underestimated.
But from the very beginning, Tian Ze had no intention of fighting Liu Bei to the death, but was prepared to fight a war of attrition which he was best at.
(End of this chapter)
