After bidding farewell to Chen Ping, Zhang He took the lead with 500 cavalrymen and headed towards the intersection called Duanshankou, and set up an ambush to the east of Duanshankou.
Although there is an old saying that generals come from Guanxi and prime ministers come from Guandong, Guanxi not only produces generals, but also strong soldiers.
The so-called brave old Qin, whether it is the Mei County and Chencang area where Zhang Liao is stationed, or the Tianshui County in Longyou, they are all standard Qin territory. The two thousand cavalry under Zhang He's command were almost all recruited in Fufeng, Tianshui and other counties in the past ten years.
For many of the cavalrymen in Zhang He's cavalry, the Shu army's northern attack on Longyou was actually an invasion of their hometown. The patriotism and the desire to make achievements made the cavalrymen, who were only 2,000 people under Zhang He's command, full of fighting spirit and willing to fight to the death.
There was no need for any Wei, Shu, or Han. Zhang He did not even need to make any special pre-war mobilization, as defending his hometown was enough.
Not to mention that Zhang He calmly led his troops to ambush on the east side of Duanshankou, the 4,000 vanguard infantry under the Shu Han General Yangwu Deng Zhi had gradually moved north and approached the Jieting intersection.
Deng Zhi was not born a military officer, but a standard civil servant. He first served as a county magistrate, then a prefect, and finally a minister. Through his diplomatic relations with the Eastern Wu, he gradually gained the appreciation of Zhuge Liang.
It can be said that Zhuge Liang did use many brave generals in this northern expedition, and also trained many new generals. However, Zhuge Liang did not fully realize that not all civil officials and counselors could be as comprehensive and proficient as he was.
Deng Zhi's troops had been marching for two whole days and were actually very tired.
A few days ago, when Zhang He led his army from Longshan Road, the speed of the infantry, not to mention the cavalry, was able to reach 70 miles per day. However, this speed of 70 miles per day was due to the fact that they were within the borders and had their own generals in front of them, so they did not worry about risks such as road conditions and enemy situations.
The 4,000 infantrymen of Deng Zhi's army had to guard against any abnormal situation that might occur in enemy territory for sixty days a day, and they also had to repair the roads for the army behind them, not to mention setting up camp in time according to the regulations set by Zhuge Liang himself.
Comparing the two, the situation is still very different.
Deng Zhi was not known for his bravery, so he just marched like an ordinary general, staying in the middle of the team and moving slowly forward with the group.
As the soldiers in front slowly passed through the broken mountain pass and reported to Deng Zhi the appearance of the nearby flat land in the mountains, Deng Zhi felt a rare sense of relief and prepared to set up camp here today.
And he was indeed relieved a little too early.
As early as noon, the Left General Zhang He sent scouts to observe from a distance on the mountain next to Duanshankou. After about 2,000 of the 4,000 infantrymen had marched, the scouts waved red flags on the mountain, sending a clear signal to Zhang He.
Zhang He saw the red flag raised, waved left and right three times, and repeated it three times, knowing that the time for battle had come. Without any hesitation, he slowly raised his right hand and made a gesture to move forward. The cavalrymen lined up behind him mounted their horses one after another, silently following Zhang He's horse and accelerating forward.
The most important thing in war is to take the enemy by surprise and attack them when they are unprepared. Zhang He has both of these advantages. Not to mention Deng Zhi himself, who is now sandwiched between the two mountains at Duanshankou.
For this exhausted Shu army, the level of crisis at this moment was almost equivalent to being attacked halfway across the river!
Although there were only 500 cavalrymen, the sound of Zhang He's cavalrymen's hooves gradually speeding up and echoing in the mountains still made Deng Zhi panic. He couldn't figure out the number of enemy cavalrymen. The incident happened suddenly, so Deng Zhi had to shout orders to the messenger beside him.
"Pass the order down, let Cui Ming and Zhang Ze in front stop quickly and use bows and arrows to resist the Wei cavalry! There must be not many Wei troops here. General Ma, General Zhao and General Wang are all behind us and will surely come to our rescue in time!" Deng Zhi was half giving orders and half cheering himself up at this time.
But Deng Zhi overestimated the infantrymen under his command.
Almost all the elite troops that Shu Han had accumulated over the past twenty years were destroyed by Lu Xun and Lu Boyan in the Battle of Yiling. Although Zhuge Liang also trained some elite troops during the Southern Expedition, the number of elite troops who participated in the Southern Expedition was less than 20,000, and most of them were in the hands of Wu Yi, the Central Army.
The 4,000 soldiers under Deng Zhi were all from Guanghan County, where he had served as the prefect. These Shu soldiers had been carefully trained by Zhuge Liang, but it was their first time to participate in such a major battle. They were facing the elite cavalry from Guanxi who had followed Zhang He for more than ten years.
Before the messenger could arrive to notify them, the two thousand Shu troops who had left Duanshan Pass were thrown into chaos when faced with the five hundred cavalrymen rushing towards them from the Wei army, and their formation became unstable almost instantly.
"Don't panic! Hold up your spears, and stick them into the ground in the front row as we did in the previous training. The cavalry won't dare to come over!" Qu Chang Cui Ming shouted loudly, trying to bring some sense back to his subordinates who were in a panic.
However, it still took some time for these recruits to switch from traveling state to combat state.
Zhang He was the spearhead, wearing heavy armor and riding on a very majestic brown horse, leading 500 cavalrymen from east to west, passing through the gap between the 2,000 Shu troops in front and the rear team, cutting off a long strip of flesh at the edge of the Shu army formation like a sharp knife, and taking the lives of more than 100 Shu infantrymen. The Wei army had few cavalrymen, and Deng Zhi could see them clearly at the intersection. The infantry fighting the cavalry was to use the majority to defeat the minority, so Deng Zhi quickly ordered the 2,000 Shu troops behind him to move forward quickly and join forces with the Shu troops that had left the intersection.
To be honest, Deng Zhi's command was not wrong. Facing the threat of cavalry, joining forces to fight back was the most standard way of fighting. But the question was, could you, Deng Zhi, hastily join forces in an unfamiliar place?
From the perspective of the 2,000 Shu troops in front, the rear team where Deng Zhi was was pushing itself towards a wider flat ground. Out of instinct, the Shu troops were constantly retreating to the foot of the mountain in the west while changing their formation.
Zhang He had already returned to the east. Facing the Shu army's infantry who had reacted and were gradually retreating to the west side of the mountain, Zhang He led 500 cavalrymen to speed up forward for the second time.
However, the Shu army had already started shooting arrows to prevent the attack, and Zhang He led the cavalry behind him to turn around and return after a long distance.
But it didn't matter. Zhang He's original intention was to drive the Shu army towards the west side of Nanshan Mountain. The Shu army's conscious retreat and desire to form a battle formation against the mountain was exactly what Zhang He wanted.
When Zhang He led his cavalry to intimidate the Shu army for the third time, Chen Ping led a thousand cavalrymen in the city and rushed out from the south gate and east gate of Lueyang City, forming a huge goose-shaped formation and pressing towards the Shu army. The Shu army was in a panic and even several stampedes occurred in the army formation.
There were always some unlucky people at the edge of a 4,000-man army. Zhang He and Chen Ping attacked from both sides, leading the Shu army to charge at both sides, killing and wounding another 300 or 400 people before they slowly withdrew their troops and split into two groups to retreat back to the city.
It was already late, and it was not suitable for cavalry to attack the city at night. Deng Zhi, who had lost 500 infantrymen in the two attacks, was now taking advantage of the night to set up camp under the Broken Mountain, secretly licking his wounds.
But at this time, Zhang He was welcoming the arrival of 8,000 infantrymen several miles northeast of the city.
Yes, the 8,000 infantrymen Zhang He brought from Chencang finally arrived at the city of Lueyang on the night of the 7th after a long journey, adding fresh blood to the 2,000 cavalrymen who were alone guarding the place.
With the two thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry who had followed him for many years by his side, Zhang He had enough confidence to defend Lueyang even if Zhuge Liang's 20,000 troops attacked it.
So at midnight, Zhang He changed his rather conservative style in the afternoon and sent cavalrymen to gallop past Deng Zhi's camp every half hour until dawn.
The sound of horse hooves became particularly deafening in the dark night. Coupled with the loud shouting and yelling of the Wei cavalrymen in the Guanzhong accent, the more than 3,000 soldiers in Deng Zhi's camp almost stayed awake all night.
However, Deng Zhi had already sent a messenger at night to look for Zhao Yun and Wang Ping's troops. But his idea of seeking help was shattered by Zhang He's subsequent attack.
At daybreak, the more than 3,000 Guanghan soldiers in Deng Zhi's camp could no longer hear the sound of horse hooves, and almost all of them were drowsy. They had marched 60 miles yesterday, resisted another attack by the Wei cavalry, and built camp overnight, so these soldiers could no longer open their eyes.
Zhang He personally led 5,000 infantrymen who had rested for most of the night, and quietly formed a battle formation outside the south gate of Lueyang City. They marched towards the Shu army camp at the foot of Duanshan Mountain, one mile away.
This is the terrain here. Duanshan is one mile south of Lueyang County, and the surrounding flat land is sandwiched between the two mountains in the north and south.
By the time Deng Zhi's sentinels shouted "Enemy attack", Zhang He's 5,000 soldiers had almost reached the front of the camp from the east, north and west!
The result is self-evident when the infantrymen who had slept for one night and had fought with Zhang He for more than ten years faced off against more than 3,000 new recruits from Guanghan County under Deng Zhi.
The incident happened suddenly, and Deng Zhi's camp was shaken almost instantly. Although many soldiers fought hard with their ring-handled swords, and archers threw arrows from the camp into the Wei army in a disorderly manner.
But it was too late. The extremely exhausted Shu army was attacked by the high-spirited Wei army in almost a quarter of an hour, and the soldiers of both sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat on the edge of the camp.
Zhang He had been in the army for decades, but at this moment he felt that the hastily built camp of the Shu army was so shaky and weak that he lost interest for a moment.
"Last night, a captive told us that this Shu army was led by General Yangwu Deng Zhi." Zhang He said to a guard beside him, "Go ask Deng Zhi if he is willing to surrender."
"Yes!" After the guard knelt on one knee to receive the order, he strode towards the camp where the battle was going on.
The personal guards standing behind the battle line shouted, "Those who surrender will not be killed!" The surrounding Wei troops also shouted out the four words "Those who surrender will not be killed" almost at the same time, and repeated them continuously.
The guards continued to move forward, and when they found a gap and walked a short distance into the camp, they were unexpectedly shot by a group of archers who were ambushed in the camp. When they were rescued, their bodies were full of arrows, and it was obvious that they were beyond help. (End of this chapter)
