Things were not as Xu Shu thought.
Yesterday, Xu Shu led his army to test the enemy and then retreated, with the intention of luring the Wu army to attack. The Wu army had more troops and needed to block the reinforcements from outside the city when besieging the city. Logically speaking, their desire for battle should be stronger.
Today, to the north of Fancheng, in addition to the 8,000 men of Quan Cong's army and the 4,000 men of Bu Zhi's army yesterday, Pan Jun's army in the east of the city also sent 4,000 men.
This force, which was almost equal to Xu Shu's, lined up five miles north of Fancheng and then made no further moves, as if they were waiting for the Wei army to attack.
Zuo Shi led the cavalry to investigate the front of the battle formation. After returning to the battle formation, he dismounted and reported to Xu Shu:
"Report to Lord Xu, today the Wu army is more rigid than yesterday. They just line up and don't move north."
"Where are the troops?" Xu Shu asked softly.
Zuo Shi bowed: "It seems that there are thousands more people than yesterday."
Xu Shu nodded slightly: "Okay, I understand. You lead your troops into battle."
"Follow the order!"
After Zuo Shi entered the battle formation, Xu Shu rode on his horse and looked southward calmly. At this time, the distance between the Wei army and the Wu army was only three miles, similar to the confrontation yesterday.
Seeing that Xu Shu did not speak and did not issue any military orders, the lieutenant Wei Sheng, who had been waiting for a long time, came forward and asked:
"Let me report. Has Lord Xu issued any military orders? If you want to stay here, I can pass this message to General Shen and General Wen on the two wings."
Xu Shu was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Wei Sheng and said, "I have something to ask you."
Wei Sheng cupped his hands and said, "If Lord Xu has anything to ask, just tell me."
Xu Shu nodded gently: "I just want to ask you one question. Do you think General Shen's troops run faster, or General Wen's troops run faster?"
Wei Sheng hesitated: "What does Xu Gong mean? I don't quite understand..."
"It means exactly what it says." Xu Shu asked, "Which one runs faster?"
Wei Sheng thought for a few moments and said, "It is not easy for me to respond to Xu Gong's question. But if we were to say which one is more powerful, General Wen's troops would be better than General Shen's. And the 4,000 men I and Wei Xian have are the most useful among General Wen's 10,000 men."
Xu Shu glanced at Wei Sheng and said immediately: "Since you have volunteered, I also have something to entrust to you two brothers. You two are from the Wuwei Camp, so don't let me down."
Wei Sheng showed a hint of joy on his face, and immediately clasped his fists and said, "I hope Mr. Xu will give you an order! I will do whatever it takes."
Xu Shu stroked his beard and said, "I showed you all the maps of Xiangfan a few days ago. Have you memorized them?"
Wei Sheng patted his chest heavily: "I've made note of it!"
"Okay then." Xu Shu pointed eastward, "Fifteen miles east of here is Yukou. The Wu army has built a fort there. You and Wei Xian will lead your troops to Yukou. But don't attack the Wu army's fort. Just explore outside and come back, or you can receive my message and come back early. If you encounter the Wu army on your way back, just go northwest and don't engage in battle with them."
After receiving the military order, Wei Sheng naturally responded decisively. However, there was still a hint of confusion on his face.
Xu Shu calmly explained: "I know the geography of the mountains and rivers near Xiangfan by heart. The Wu army is across the Han River. Apart from Yuliangzhou in the middle of the river, there is no other place south of Xiangyang where the army can be stationed for a long time. And the Wu army has to take care of both sides of the Han River at the same time, so it is more likely to be stationed in Yuliangzhou."
"The Wu army is acting abnormally today." Xu Shu raised his head slightly and pointed to the south. "I'm sending you to the east to pretend to attack Yukou. If the Wu army here leaves Fancheng and follows you to the east, there will be no troops left at Yuliangzhou. If they stay here, Yuliangzhou will be prepared."
"My subordinate understands."
Wei Sheng took the order and left, while Xu Shu led Zhao Gu's two thousand soldiers here and called over all the four thousand men of Wen Dai's army on the east side.
As expected, Wei Sheng and Wei Xian had only been walking for half an hour when the Wu army in the south also changed its formation and sent out a part of its troops. The easternmost general, Pan Jun, led 4,000 soldiers to follow Wei Sheng eastward.
After hearing the scout's report, Xu Shu sneered, shook his head, and then instructed Wen Dai beside him:
"I already know the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Send someone to inform Wei Sheng and Wei Xian and have them head northwest at 3:30 pm."
Wen Dai bowed and agreed, and then asked one more question: "Mr. Xu, how should we march here?" Xu Shu chuckled and said, "General Wen, why do you have to ask so many questions? Since you are by my side, just follow my orders when the time comes."
"Yes, I understand." Wen Dai lowered his head slightly.
At 3:30 pm, the 12,000 infantrymen of Xu Shu's army who stayed in the north of Fancheng, along with Wei Sheng and Wei Xian who were further east, retreated to the northwest at the same time. Quan Cong and the other two who were further south also breathed a sigh of relief for a while.
In the east of Xiangyang, news from the King of Wu has reached Quan Cong. Today, nearly 10,000 Wei troops stormed out of Xiangyang. Four of Zhuge Jin's ten camps outside the city were destroyed by the Wei army, with about 1,000 casualties. The King of Wu's face was not good, and the overall battle situation was still under evaluation.
For Quan Cong and others north of Fancheng, it is already decent to maintain this status quo today.
……
In the city of Xuchang, more than 600 miles northeast of Xiangyang, Cao Rui had just stood up from behind the desk and was about to return to the harem for dinner when a eunuch outside the door came in to report that Liu Ye, the Right Supervisor of the Privy Council, wanted to see him.
"Let him come."
Cao Rui felt a little helpless and sat back in his chair.
Liu Ye hurried in and handed over a military report in his hands: "I have urgent military information from General Man. Your Majesty, please take a look."
"Man Chong? What kind of urgent matter could he have?" Cao Rui reached out and took the military newspaper from Liu Ye's hand, unfolded it and took a quick look at it, then closed it in silence and placed it on the table.
Cao Rui tapped the table lightly with his right index finger and looked up at Liu Ye in front of him: "You have read this military report, right?"
"Yes, I have seen it." Liu Ye replied.
"What do you think?" Cao Rui asked.
Liu Ye bowed and said, "Ke Bineng was just a Hu man, so he is dead. The Xianbei, Wuhuan and other Hu peoples on the grassland are different from those in the interior of Wei. When a leader dies, he will not leave many loyal ministers and filial sons behind him. On the contrary, there are more examples of tribes falling apart."
"The issue that needs to be decided now is how to re-select a leader from the Western Xianbei so that he can continue to receive the imperial canonization."
Cao Rui thought for a few moments and asked, "What Liu Qing means is that the Western Xianbei should be made like the Xiongnu, with all their leaders being canonized by the imperial court and this being a custom?"
Liu Ye nodded: "That's exactly what I meant. But since Kebi Neng is dead, the successor of the Western Xianbei should not inherit the title of Chanyu. It is enough to give him the title of adult and a marquisate."
Cao Rui said, "I have been to Yanmen before and know a little about the situation of the Western Xianbei. I forgot the name of the son-in-law who was somewhat unfaithful to Kebi Neng before. What was his name?"
"He Qibu." Liu Ye said, "This is Kebineng's second son-in-law. His first son-in-law, Yu Zhugan, died at the hands of Guanqiu Zhonggong in the first year of Taihe."
Cao Rui smiled and jokingly said, "So, the Western Xianbei really have a connection with sons-in-law. It would be interesting if the sons-in-law succeeded to the throne every time in this series."
After the teasing, Cao Rui gradually became serious: "I have an idea, you and Sikong should discuss it together and see how to do it."
Are we going to discuss this with Sima Yi again?
Man Chong sent a messenger from Hebei to ask for instructions on this matter. As for the future arrangements for the Western Xianbei, it was unclear whether it would be under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, which was responsible for military affairs, or the Shangshutai, which handled political affairs.
Man Chong took the initiative to take on the task. Although this matter was caused by him and he had the advantage of being brave enough to take on the task, in Cao Rui's view, the division of responsibilities must be clearly defined. This matter must be decided jointly by the Privy Council and the Shangshutai.
Liu Ye cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please give your instructions."
Cao Rui said calmly: "The Western Xianbei are now weak. The weaker they are, the easier it is for them to fall apart. If Tian Yu sends people to the Western Xianbei to contact the powerful people in the Western Xianbei, who can respond to the imperial court's call and send more cavalry to join the call, the Great Wei will support them to become the leader of the Western Xianbei. How about this?"
"This..." Liu Ye thought for a few moments: "Your Majesty, I understand what you mean. In short, we should use military force to pressure their tribes and force them to compromise, just like we did at Yanmen at the beginning of the year. The more they compromise, the more cavalry will be recruited and allocated to Wei, and the weaker their tribes will become."
"Your Majesty, I think this method is very clever. I will discuss the specific implementation with the Secretariat, and then hand it over to Captain Tian to implement."
"Very good." Cao Rui nodded slightly. (End of this chapter)
