Bei Yan took two steps at a time and quickly stepped forward, grabbing Gongsun Yan's wrist:
"Old General, I came early in the morning and just saw the Wei army attacking from three directions from the watchtower. The Wei army is so powerful that we can't hold this place. How about..."
Gongsun Yan angrily shook off Bei Yan's hand and said, "Bei Hongyi, I know what you are going to say. I have been confronting the Wei army in Liaosui for more than ten days. Apart from the soldiers from several cities south of Liaosui who came to support me, Xiangping didn't send me even half a soldier. They only sent your cavalry that can withdraw at any time!"
After saying that, Gongsun Yan squeezed down the steps of the tower and pushed Bei Yan against the wall with his right elbow. Bei Yan subconsciously blocked it with his hand, but found that he couldn't push the old general:
"Tell me the truth, did Gongsun Yuan tell you to withdraw your troops at any time if the situation turned bad? Did he sell me and Liaosui City?"
Bei Yan's throat moved slightly, and just as he met Gongsun Yan's angry eyes, he moved away timidly, his eyes resting on Gongsun Yan's graying temples: "Old General, the Wei army is powerful, and we really shouldn't confront them head-on. My lord, this is also for the sake of Liaodong's foundation."
"He is defending the foundation of Liaodong. I am his cousin. I am still guarding Liaosui City at the age of 60. Isn't it also for the foundation of Liaodong? Liaodong is not just Gongsun Yuan's Liaodong, but also the Liaodong where my ancestors have lived for generations!" Gongsun Yan stared at Bei Yan angrily and said, "There is no time to waste words. Tell me the truth. What does Gongsun Yuan think?"
Bei Yan sighed: "Old General, it is difficult to disobey the Lord's order, and I also have my own difficulties!"
"Everyone has their own difficulties!" Gongsun Yan pulled back his elbow, and the anger on his face paused for a few seconds. Then, with a sigh, he turned into a plea: "The siege is still there, and the Wei army has not yet completely crossed the river. You must have the strength to fight, right?"
"We can't defend it with infantry alone. I will do my best to defend Liaosui City in front, and you can charge from the north and south. If you can't repel it, we can discuss other things. Isn't this okay?"
Bei Yan's heart was pounding fiercely. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't say it out loud: "The enemy is only ten miles away from north to south. Our camp is in the south. We will try our best to drive the Wei army to the Liao River from south to north."
"Take care, old general!"
Bei Yan bowed slightly, ran down the city wall quickly, and then mounted his horse and left the city. Gongsun Yan had clearly thought everything through just now, and since he was still determined to fight, I was afraid that I would not be able to rescue him when I left.
We have no control over the world, everything is determined by fate!
Gongsun Yan watched from the top of the city wall for a while, then used flags and trumpets to order the infantry to divide into three groups to block the enemy and strengthen the defense along the siege. Then he took his personal guards out of the city wall to command the western formation of Liaosui City.
Gongsun Yan had a watchtower, and the Wei army’s central camp had a platform made of rammed earth, on top of which was a watchtower about two meters high.
Cao Rui sat on a chair in front of the flag, with Sima Yi, Man Chong, and several attendants and cavalry standing beside him.
After watching the flags of Gongsun's army move across the river, Pei Qian asked softly, "Your Majesty, Xiahou Xian, Tian Yu, and Xian Yu Jing are crossing the river, and their front troops have already formed a battle array. Can we prepare the cavalry?"
"Need not."
"Not urgent!"
"Wait a moment."
Cao Rui, Man Chong and Sima Yi blurted out the words almost at the same time. Cao Rui glanced at Sima Yi and raised his hand to swing at him.
Sima Yi understood: "The area between the river bank and the moat is narrow, which is not conducive to a large cavalry attack. Let's wait until the infantry has opened up some gaps, and then order the cavalry to prepare. We should wait until the cavalry from both the north and south have arrived and the enemy has been routed, and then order the cavalry from the central army to pursue and annihilate the enemy."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Pei Qing is familiar with border affairs, but he has rarely led troops in person. It is inevitable that he will make mistakes here. It's just like a gambler playing a game. How can he play all the chips in his hand at once?"
"After this battle, I will teach you a game called card games. When you have nothing to do, you can play with me."
Seeing that the emperor was not in a hurry, and Sima Yi, Man Chong, and Xu Shu, who were familiar with military tactics, were not in a hurry either, Pei Qian felt relieved and tried to guess the emperor's thoughts and said, "I have heard a lot about gambling in Luozhong, but I don't know what the 'cards' your majesty is talking about?"
Cao Rui laughed and said, "I can't explain it in a few words. In short, it's a trick of comparing points, mixed with a lot of luck."
Cao Rui and Pei Qian were chatting casually when Man Chong suddenly pointed to the south: "The enemy troops in the south moved first, and they seem to be cavalry!"
The Dazhai was built on the high ground beside the river, and the watchtower was even higher. In addition, the weather today was extremely clear and bright, and the flags and human figures could still be seen moving vaguely from five or six miles away.
Cao Rui asked: "The enemy actually started from the south? Xian Yujing will suffer."
Man Chong said, "Your Majesty, why not let Sun Li go to the south to deal with it?"
Cao Rui shook his head and said, "Sun Li's troops are all light cavalry. If there are too few of them, they will not be of much use when crossing the river. If there are too many of them, it will be too late. We should send the heavy cavalry!" "Send an order! Order Lieutenant General Jiang Wei to lead his 1,500 heavy cavalry to the south and wait for an opportunity to cross the river and cooperate with Xianyu Jing's troops to counterattack the enemy. The catapults in the south can move now!"
"I will follow your majesty's orders!" Man Chong agreed immediately and pulled a military officer from behind to whisper a few words to him. The military officer went down the watchtower, and several cavalrymen with red flags on their backs galloped out of the camp.
From the perspective of Cao Rui, Man Chong and others, the battle on the southern battlefield had just begun. But for Xian Yujing, who was actually caught in the battle, it was truly a matter of life and death.
The riverbank here was a bit wide, and the distance between the Liao River and the siege was about 70 to 80 feet. Xianyu Jing's infantry spread out to the left and right, and the army in the front was close to touching the siege, but the army at the end had just crossed the pontoon bridge, and the formation was still in a scattered state.
"Hurry up! Raise your shield! Hold up your spear!"
Following a burst of rapid gong and drum sounds, the ten dubos at the southernmost part of the formation shouted slogans one after another, ordering their soldiers to change direction and head south, and to stop and respond according to the movements they had learned during training, but it seemed a little too late.
The walls of the southeastern camp were gradually pulled down by the Liaodong cavalry with ropes, and the trenches were filled with earth. After the cavalry in the front finished the earthwork, they moved to the sides, and the large group of cavalry behind them began to speed up.
About a thousand Liaodong knights, wearing heavy armor and holding spears, gradually accelerated from the river beach further south, covering a distance of a hundred steps, and then chiseled into the side of the Wei army's formation like an axe.
The sound of iron hooves rolled before their eyes like thunder. The first two rows of knights, all wearing double armor, jumped on their horses and held spears, and crashed into the shield wall of the Wei army.
The neighing of horses stabbed by spears and the sound of metal clashing echoed repeatedly. The Hejian County soldiers in the front were smashed by the cavalry, and the formation was already unstable. Xian Yujing also urgently ordered the Bohai soldiers behind him to stay behind the Hejian soldiers.
The riverbank was too narrow, only about 70 to 80 feet wide, and the Wei army's formation was stretched thicker by the shape of the riverbank. Although the cavalry in the front made some progress, the Liaodong cavalry behind them could hardly keep up, and no one wanted to charge over the bodies of their companions who were still alive.
After the 300 cavalrymen at the head were trapped, the cavalry commander of the Liaodong Army saw that Bei Yan did not give another order, so he gritted his teeth and led his troops to smash into the infantry of the Wei Army. This time, the front part broke into the formation of the Bohai soldiers, but still failed to break into the next layer of the army formation.
Xian Yujing pulled over a messenger and said, "Tell Captain Zheng that if he retreats at all, he will not be able to escape my sword!"
While Xian Yujing was trying to deal with the attack of the Beiyan cavalry, a group of Liaodong archers behind the siege joined the battle. As soon as the first wave of arrows with a certain distance were shot out, the catapults on the west bank of the Liao River threw flying stones.
Stones weighing more than ten kilograms flew with a sharp sound towards the southeastern moat of Liaoshui. Half of the catapults turned around under the pull of the soldiers and threw stones in the direction of the cavalry.
The bows and crossbows of the Liaodong Army were temporarily suspended, and the cavalry was frightened and retreated slightly.
"General, we can't charge on the riverbank like this anymore." The officer beside Bei Yan lowered his voice to dissuade him, "A thousand cavalrymen have charged in, and most of them have been trapped in the Wei infantry formation. The formation is too thick, and we can't break through it. We should let the Wei troops out of the siege before charging."
"Let them out?" Bei Yan looked at the battlefield, then turned around and asked the military officer coldly, "I have already fulfilled the old general's trust by charging this time. If you let the Wei infantry come, the Wei cavalry will follow!"
"Do you want to die here?"
"I..." The officer just opened his mouth when he heard his general ordering the guards beside him: "Retreat! Tell all the generals to follow my flag and head east. Do not fight here. Anyone who disobeys my order will be executed!"
Gongsun Yan intended to die on the battlefield, but he was still young, how could he die in such a place!
Seeing the Wei cavalry on the east side of the Liao River slowly gathering at the edge of the pontoon bridge, Bei Yan no longer had the will to fight and immediately turned his horse and rode away.
Now it was Xianyu Jing's turn to be stunned. The Liaodong cavalry was leaving now?
In fact, in most battles, it was not like the battle between the Wei army and the Shu Han army at Chiting in the past, where soldiers fought against soldiers and generals fought against generals, fighting to the extreme with their fighting will and then winning.
It was more of a three-way contest of national power, military power, and general trend. For the weaker side, once they found that they had little chance of winning, it was common for them to turn their horses and flee, and it was not uncommon for them to abandon cities and troops.
In addition, Bei Yan obtained Gongsun Yuan's permission, which made this move seem more reasonable.
The Wei army's main camp was divided into three groups to cross the river and attack. Outside the main camp, there were two detachments in the north and south, which showed that they attached great importance to the Liaodong army.
After all, a thirty-mile long camp was standing here. In this era, being able to build a thirty-mile camp was considered a rare opponent.
Who could have thought that it was all like an embroidered pillow?
After accumulating strength for more than ten days, it was like punching cotton.
The Beiyan tribe still had 9,000 cavalrymen left, the largest force on the east bank of the Liao River. The Beiyan tribe assembled in formation to the east, and even if the soldiers did not understand the general situation, they could always tell whether their own friendly forces were advancing or retreating.
The Liaodong army, which Xian Yujing was facing, suddenly lost its formation, from the generals to the soldiers. (End of this chapter)
