Wei Yan stood in the tent with his hands on his hips, squinting at Wu Ban, his eyes gradually changing from rage to calm.
Anger comes quickly and goes away quickly.
Although he was not allowed to retreat without permission according to Ma Su's order, Wei Yan had been in the army for more than 20 years since he joined Liu Bei's army in Xinye, and had fought hundreds of battles, big and small. Even if the situation was critical, there was no reason for him to despair.
"Yuanxiong," Wei Yan looked at Wu Ban with a scorching gaze, "Ma Su won't give you and me a way to retreat, and we can't just sit there and wait for death! We have to teach the Wei army a lesson, but we can't let our troops be wiped out here."
Wu Ban stood up and bowed to Wei Yan: "General, have you made a decision? I will obey you."
Wei Yan nodded and said, "Don't move your side yet. If the Wei army attacks slowly tomorrow, it will be fine. If they attack so quickly, I will make a small hole here and let the Wei army in to catch them in the trap."
"After defeating several waves of Wei troops, if it is still difficult to hold in the afternoon, you and I will form a battle formation and retreat westward!" Wei Yan said loudly: "He Ma Su is the Prime Minister's military officer, and I am also the Prime Minister's Sima! The Prime Minister will definitely not want you and me to die here!"
Wu Ban hesitated for a few moments and asked: "What if the Wei army has a lot of cavalry?"
"There is a plateau to the east of Duanshan Pass! If the Wei cavalry is powerful and there is no cover on the flat ground, they can just go straight to the plateau! They can also connect with the camps of Wang Ping and Zhao Yun and respond to each other."
Wu Ban cupped his hands and said, "All as the general says!"
……
On the second day, that is, early morning of the 22nd, the battle near Lueyang City had not yet begun, but the fighting started outside Shanggui City first.
Guo Huai had been particularly anxious these past two days. Yesterday, early in the morning of the 21st, Wu Yi, who had been besieging Shanggui City for half a month, suddenly withdrew his troops, assembled and headed north along the Longshan Road.
Only about 3,000 troops from Liao Hua's army were left guarding the west of Shanggui City, still blocking the road from Shanggui to Ji County in the west.
Last night, about 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers came from Ji County and joined Liao Hua. What was even more suspicious was that this Shu army was south of the Wei River and marched eastward this morning!
When Wu Yi left, Guo Huai was worried that the Shu army had tricked him out of the city in order to defeat Shanggui, so he sat in the city for most of the day without moving. In the early morning of today, another Shu army continued to pass Shanggui without entering, heading east to provide assistance.
Guo Huai just realized at this moment that the imperial court's reinforcements in Lueyang must have arrived, which was why Zhuge Liang mobilized so many troops to the north!
At dawn, Guo Huai stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the Shu army marching on the south bank of the Wei River, and said to Lu Pan and Hu Zun beside him:
"On the 19th, Zhuge Liang traveled east, probably towards Linwei. Do you think Zhao Ling from Guangwei County is still alive?"
Lu Pan shook his head. "Are you familiar with Zhao Ling? Anyway, I don't know much about him. Shanggui City has been isolated from the outside world for more than half a month since it was besieged on the 5th. We don't know anything about the military situation in Ji County, Nan'an County, Longxi County, Guangwei County...
Guo Huai called out to his personal guards, "Call Governor Ma over!"
After a while, Ma Zun came to the city wall and said with an apologetic smile, "Why did the envoy call me here?"
Guo Huai said with a serious expression: "Let me ask you, if you were to lead the county soldiers to defend the city, would you prefer to defend Ji County or Linwei?"
Ma Zun asked in surprise: "What do you mean, sir? As both are county seats, how can a small city like Linwei be compared with Ji County? I am definitely willing to defend Ji County!"
"I understand." Guo Huai nodded. "The city has been trapped for more than half a month. Does Governor Ma have any plan to repel the enemy?"
Ma Zun said awkwardly, "My Lord, I have only studied classics and do not know military strategy. I hope you can make the decision on this important matter yourself."
Guo Huai said expressionlessly: "Since Governor Ma has no military strategy to share, we are here to discuss matters. Please leave first."
"Of course, of course." Ma Zun laughed awkwardly, then bowed and left. Although they were both 2,000-stone officials, neither Guo Huai, Lu Pan, nor Hu Zun took Ma Zun seriously.
In wartime, it is not a fault for a person to be ignorant of military strategies, but once he is suspected of being spineless, he will already be despised by his colleagues.
The sound of Ma Zun's footsteps as he descended the tower faded away. Guo Huai took a deep breath and said, "Even Ma Zun knows that Ji County is easier to defend than Linwei! What do you think? If Zhuge Liang came to Linwei in person, would Zhao Ling still be able to hold on?"
Hu Zun, however, showed no sign of being discouraged: "Sir, if all the Shu troops head north, can we send troops to rescue Lueyang?"
Lu Pan stared at the man beside him in surprise: "We are going to help Lueyang? I am still waiting for Lueyang to help us!"
Hu Zun shook his head and pointed to Liao Hua's camp in the west: "If we can't help Lueyang, it should be no problem to deal with a mere Liao Hua, right?"
Guo Huai was silent for a moment, then he hammered the top of the city wall with force: "Well said! If we annihilate the remaining 3,000 people of Liao Hua's army outside the city, it will add fuel to the fire of the Shu army's retreat!"
"There are about 2,500 soldiers in the city who can fight." Guo Huai looked at Lu Pan and Hu Zun and said, "I will lead 1,000 soldiers, and you two will lead 500 soldiers each. How about we leave the city immediately and attack Liao Hua's troops?"
Lu Pan and Hu Zun both nodded.
It was early morning, Guo Huai led his troops to line up at the west gate, Hu Zun at the south gate, and Lu Pan at the north gate. After they were ready, the three armies marched out at the same time. The Wei army had been suppressed in Shanggui City for half a month. For the soldiers, the battle to defend the city was not only heartbreaking for their comrades who died and were injured every day, but also more tormenting because the enemy had more troops than ours and they didn't know when the city would be breached, like a sword hanging over their necks.
Today we are able to leave the city, it is time to fight hard and seek revenge!
Two thousand Wei soldiers were divided into three groups. Each of them wore double armor and held a ring-handled sword. Guo Huai also ordered his personal guards to hang a short axe on their waists, so that they were ready to attack the enemy at close range in the Shu army camp.
The west gate was the closest to the Shu army camp, only three miles away, and it took about an incense stick of time to rush in. The Shu army was caught off guard and had no time to gather outside the camp gate to fight, before Guo Huai led his personal guards and rushed to the camp gate.
Dozens of bodyguards rushed forward, pushed aside the deer antlers outside the camp gate, and then went forward to chop down the wooden camp gate.
Since December 5, when the Shu army besieged Shanggui, except for the time when Guo Huai and Hu Zun burned the camp in the middle of the night, the Shu army attacked the city and suppressed the Wei army at other times.
Today, the Wei army actually came out of the city to attack in the early morning! Not to mention that Liao Hua's army, as the main attacking party, had lost about a thousand of its 4,000 soldiers, and Wu Yi's army had already withdrawn, so the soldiers' fighting spirit and morale were even lower.
The Shu army was unprepared and was unable to organize itself in the panic. As the camp gate was breached, Liao Hua also became at a loss in the camp.
"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, please order a retreat to the west!" The staff beside him shouted anxiously, "How many soldiers can the Wei army have in Shanggui? There must be not many! We can just retreat to the west and cross the Weishui floating bridge. Do you think the Wei army dares to cross the river and chase us?"
Liao Hua hesitated and said, "That camp..."
"It's already this late, and you're still managing the camp! The General Zhengbei has already withdrawn, leaving you alone here, so what's there to worry about with just a camp? Let's go!"
Liao Hua figured out the key point and no longer hesitated. He ordered his men to use the horn to order a retreat, and ordered his personal guards to flee westward with his military flag.
With Governor Liao gone, how could the remaining Shu army still have any will to fight? They barely managed to fend off the Wei soldiers with a few swings of their swords, then immediately let go and ran westward.
The Wei army also has two legs, and so do I! They are wearing double armor, and I only have a spear, so how can I not outrun them?
After Guo Huai rushed into the camp gate, Liao Hua had already made up his mind to leave. When Lu Pan and Hu Zun, who set out from the south gate and the north gate, led their troops to attack the camp, Liao Hua was already on horseback holding a flag and was about to escape from the camp!
It can only be said that each general has different talent points. Liao Hua is not very good at leading troops in battle, but he is first-rate in making decisions on retreat and escape.
After all, Liao Hua used to be Guan Yu's chief clerk in Jingzhou. After Guan Yu's death, he pretended to surrender to Sun Quan, and fled back to Shu Han after faking his death, even taking his old mother with him!
After Liao Hua fled westward for several miles and crossed the Wei River, he looked back and saw thousands of Shu troops fleeing westward in a scattered manner.
At this time, Guo Huai, who occupied Liao Hua's military camp, did not chase after them. He ordered the soldiers to carry away the remaining military rations in Liao Hua's camp, and then burned down Liao Hua's camp.
Later today, when Liao Hua counted the casualties, he unexpectedly found that less than 200 men had died. This loss ratio was unique since the war between Wei and Shu.
Guo Huai won a victory outside Shanggui City, while on the border of Lueyang, Qian Zhao and Zhang He's military operations on the east and west sides had just begun.
After several days of fighting with Zhao Yun's troops, Zhang He's two thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry suffered nearly three hundred casualties on the cavalry and about one thousand on the infantry.
After leaving about 1,000 infantry to defend the city, Zhang He's 1,700 cavalry were in the north, Zhang He himself and 6,000 infantry formed a formation in the center, and Wen Qin's 3,000 cavalry were in the south.
The Wei general Cao Zhen was leading Fei Yao's 5,000 cavalrymen and waiting three miles to the west.
Because of the many mountains in Longyou, the terrain is quite narrow, so both the Wei army formation and the Shu army camp have a feeling of being gathered together.
Chen Ping led 1,700 cavalrymen and lined up outside the east gate of Lueyang City, while Zhang He's 6,000 infantrymen were only one mile away from the Shu army camp.
The total number of troops was about 16,000, including nearly 10,000 cavalry. In terms of combat effectiveness, it exceeded the remaining 14,000 people under Zhao Yun and Wang Ping.
Zhao Yun and Zhang He also fought many times outside the city of Lueyang, and nearly a thousand people were killed or wounded.
However, due to the fact that the number of infantry was far less than that of the Shu army, the Wei army was now confronting the Shu army camps on the west and the east that stretched from north to south.
The camp where Zhao Yun was located was built as solid and complicated as Wei Yan's. To the west of the camp were fences and fortifications, and outside the fortifications were trenches and five layers of antlers, which looked extremely difficult to conquer.
Time passed by little by little, and the sun was rising gradually. Be it Cao Zhen, Zhang He, Zhao Yun, or Wang Ping, none of them showed any intention of moving, and they just stood there confronting each other not too close or too far away.
For Zhao Yun and Wang Ping, they were already at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. If they went out of the camp to the west and fought against the infantry and cavalry of the Wei army, wouldn't they be giving up the advantage of terrain and asking for trouble?
The Wei army was also unwilling to attack the camp.
The sun was rising higher and it would be noon in more than half an hour, but both Wei and Shu were still motionless.
Cao Zhen was three miles behind Zhang He. Surrounded by his personal guards, he and Fei Yao were observing the opposing armies not far away. As they watched, they actually burst into laughter.
Cao Zhen pointed at the Shu army camp and said to Fei Yao beside him with a smile: "How stupid are the commanders of the Shu army on the opposite side?"
"I am waiting for Your Majesty and Qian Zhao to defeat Wei Yan's camp. What are they waiting for?" (End of this chapter)
