As the sun began to set, the battle between Wu and Wei forces at the truck camp became increasingly fierce. Countless Wu forces charged towards them, while the Wei forces had to rely on temporary fortifications such as temporary camps, trenches, and deer antlers to defend themselves.
Moreover, with Zhu Xun ordering a rapid attack and the fact that Wu forces indeed had an advantage, the Wu forces' assault persisted unabated until dusk.
As the 15,000 men of Le Zhen and Xu Shu arrived, General Cao Tai's 10,000 army also reached the truck camp.
However, the task of Cao Tai's troops was not to support Man Chong, but to directly enter the mountains, follow the path southward opened by Sun Li, the Magistrate of Langya yesterday, and prepare to cross the hills from the truck at high speed heading southward, with the aim of passing through nearly a hundred miles of hills and reaching Wankou.
In the hills three li south of the truck camp at sunset on the tenth day, Wang Ling's 8,000 troops were stationed there. Although the Wu forces were numerous, they had not detected this place. Hu Zhi, Han Zong, and Dai Dan were blocking the Wu forces that came in from this side of the hills. With a force of 7,000 men, they could deter any Wu forces that tried to enter the hills from returning empty-handed.
Moreover, Wang Ling did not allow Hu Zhi and others' troops to step a single step out of the hills, so from the perspective of the Wu commander, it was merely a detachment of Wei troops placed in the hills to protect their flanks.
If there were many people in the hills, wouldn't they have already helped the truck camp? However, Lu Xun never expected that Wei troops would have so many forces and their decision to ambush.
Wang Ling saw Cao Tai leading his troops here and was quite surprised: "General Cao, how did you come to be here?"
Cao Tai smiled and said: "The emperor ordered me to attack southwards from your camp, along the road followed by Sun Li, and rush to Wankou as quickly as possible."
Seeing Cao Tai's excited expression, Wang Ling couldn't help but stroke his beard and say: "It seems that the emperor is giving General Cao an opportunity to avenge himself."
Cao Tai and the Wu army are old enemies.
Like Xia Hao, Cao Xiong, and Cao Zhen, as the second-generation generals of the Zhuge family, Cao Tai's military career was mostly spent with his father Cao Ren.
In the third year of Huangchu, the Wei troops launched a three-pronged attack on Wu. At that time, Cao Ren was still in the position of Grand Marshal and led the central army to advance directly towards Ruuxu. Cao Tai was then the vanguard of Cao Ren's troops.
The conflict dragged on into the fourth year of Huangchu, and the Wei forces' offensive on this front gradually weakened. Cao Tai, who was responsible for attacking Ruxu Fortress, was personally defeated by Wu forces led by Zhu Han, the supervisor of Ruxu, and the other two armies under Cao Ren were also successively defeated by Wu forces.
It was a great defeat for Cao Ren, and he considered it the greatest humiliation of his life. He did not consider the continuous retreats in Xiangfan faced by Guan Yu's attack several years ago to be much of a setback. But today, despite being heavily outnumbered, he was defeated by Zhu Han, an unknown name?
After the defeat, Cao Ren fell ill and died soon after, without the chance to retreat. The remaining army was led by Jiang Ji to return to Shouchun.
Having suffered a defeat, losing troops and a father, Cao Tai's hatred for the Wu army was deeply ingrained. Now the emperor had ordered him to attack Wankou and said that Sun Quan might be there. This was an opportunity that Cao Tai could not afford to miss.
Assign the outer army near Yangzhou to be responsible for direct confrontations with the Wu army to confuse them, have the regional troops handle logistics and the ambushes in the mountains, have the 50,000 central army as a last resort, and make Cao Tai, who has the strongest desire to fight, responsible for the southern surprise attack.
Cao Tai, who was about to head south, could only say that the current emperor indeed knows how to utilize people's talents well.
The narrow plain between Wuke and Wancheng is surrounded by steep and difficult-to-traverse mountains to the north, while the rolling hills to the south stretch for nearly 100 miles, although not easy to travel, but not impossible.
As Cao Tai bid farewell to Wang Ling, he said, "I will be heading south while you go north. I hope we can all converge at the same place in the end."
Wang Ling also instructed: "Since General Cao is heading south into enemy territory, you must definitely prioritize speed. Do not be stingy with people and horses."
Cao Tai laughed and said, "I am so eager for battle that I will never slow down! King, I will see you again after this victory."
Wang Ling also took his leave in this manner from Cao Tai.
After Cao Tai headed south, there was still fierce fighting at the truck camp several miles to the north.
Thanks to their numerical superiority, the Wu forces could send troops to attack continuously day and night. Although each wave of attacks in the afternoon had less than 10,000 men, the pressure on the Wei garrison was still enormous.
After nightfall, Lu Sun's offensive did not cease. Almost every half-hour, the Wu forces would launch a fierce attack on a chosen location, attempting to set fire to the Wei camp.
With 80,000 against 30,000, Wei's front line was already tottering.
By the fourth watch, both the attacking Wu forces and the defending Wei forces should be very tired. However, the Wu forces still organized another offensive. In the darkness, thousands of Wu troops advanced with torches, not only creating a very impressive visual effect but even causing some tremors among Wei's outermost defenders.
At this moment, Man Chong was commanding the troops with bloodshot eyes. Even though he had several officers responsible for specific military operations, he dared not close his eyes for a moment of rest. At the same time, General Zhu Gai was assisting in the command next to Man Chong.
However, Zhu Gai had already slept for several hours.
Man Chong looked at Zhu Gai, his voice thick with hoarseness: "The emperor's order has arrived. We are to retreat eastward at dawn. How should the order of retreat be determined?"
Zhu Gai was also serious: "Even though we have to retreat, we must do so with a method and form up in ranks. Otherwise, if the Wu troops charge, our tens of thousands could be forced to discard their armor and weapons."
Man Chong sighed: "It's been nearly two days, and there have been over 5,000 casualties on our side. I don't even know how many more will be killed or wounded tomorrow."
Zhu Gai shook his head: "What else can we do? Before dawn, while the Wu forces have not reacted, choose a few thousand men to form an array eastward several li. After the main body has retreated, if the Wu troops pursue, I will use cavalry to squeeze them from both sides. This may reduce some casualties."
Man Chong said, "That's all we can do. Tomorrow, I'll entrust it to General Zhu."
Zhu Gai replied: "How can this be said, General Man? If the Wu troops really chase eastward, it will become a major matter. The emperor's 35,000 cavalry are located 30 li to the east of the truck camp."
"If things really go bad, just drop more supplies along the way. The Wu soldiers have two legs, don't your infantrymen also have two legs? They can't be much faster than you."
Man Chong remained silent and did not respond. Two more messengers came to find Man Chong, and he continued to assign military tasks.
On January 11th, in the early morning.
In the crisp winter air, a sense of solemnity spread. Here, the two armies of Wu and Wei numbered over a hundred thousand, and the Wei army had already begun to retreat eastward, leaving behind the camp and defensive works at Huanche that they had held for two days.
The scouts promptly informed Lu Xun of this, and Lu Xun no longer hesitated. He immediately dispatched his 5,000 elite troops and immediately ordered all the other armies to move out.
After receiving Lu Xun's order, Quan Cong immediately dispatched his troops while personally riding horseback to catch up with Lu Xun's elite troops, who had already walked a li away from the main army.
Quan Cong rode quickly to Lu Xun's side: "General Lu, the Wei army is retreating so swiftly that it will take time for the other troops to be deployed. Should we wait for the other troops?"
Lu Xun rode his horse with a serious expression and looked at Quan Cong: "Why wait for them? The Wei army is only about 300,000, and they were defeated by our large Wu army for one night. They must be unable to continue. I will lead my troops to pursue them first and then all the other troops will quickly follow."
Seeing Lu Xun's determined expression, Quan Cong also dare not say anything else, but instead followed in the rear of Lu Xun's troops. As for the troops under Quan Cong's command, there was a predetermined order of march and according to the plan to be carried out.
When Lu Xun led his troops to the Wei camp, there was no one here. The casualties of the Wei soldiers in the defensive battle were also carried away by the Wei army's supply vehicles.
Lu Xun made a decisive decision. Since they carried supply vehicles, they must be slow. Lu Xun chased eastward for less than five li along the way and encountered the rear of the Wei army.
Upon seeing Lu Sun's pursuit, Man Chong hurriedly ordered his already exhausted soldiers to form into ranks to meet the attack.
Zhu Gai had nearly 10,000 horsemen deployed in columns on both sides, with Man Chong's remaining 20,000 troops taking nearly two quarters of an hour to form into ranks.
As Lu Xun's 5,000 elite troops and Man Chong, Zhu Gai, and others faced off, the rear of the Wu army gradually caught up.
With nearly 40,000 Wu troops facing off against nearly 40,000 Wei troops a li apart, as the number of forces on each side became more equal, Lu Sun led the 40,000 well-arrayed Wu troops in a flat push eastward.
The formation of 5,000 people consisted of eight military arrays, with a gap of a hundred zhang between each array. As they marched eastward with the beat of drums and gongs, they advanced slowly but without stopping, giving a sense of "Slow and Orderly" like bamboo forests.
The Wu troops kept advancing step by step towards the east. When they were only half a li apart, the formation of Man Chong's 20,000 Wei troops was already unstable. As Man Chong gave the order, Wei infantrymen left behind their supply vehicles and ran eastward.
Common soldiers do not understand any national plans or strategic strategies. In the midst of a formation, soldiers can be emboldened to fight by the number of people around them. But once they start running, all the preconceived formations will burst apart with a bang and turn into a rout.
Fortunately, Zhu Gai's cavalry was still there. Seeing the infantry in the middle begin to retreat eastward, Zhu Gai's cavalry began to converge on the middle from both sides, showing a show of force to the advancing Wu troops.
However, the Wu army had a total of 40,000 men. Zhu Gai's cavalry, which numbered less than 10,000, could only prevent the Wu troops from splitting up into small groups to pursue individually, but could not stop the advance of the Wu army's formation.
More than 20,000 people have already fled! Equipment and supplies are scattered everywhere, and many soldiers are running while throwing away their armor as they go. There's no mistaking it!
Lu Sun immediately ordered to hold 3,000 troops at the Huanche camp, while the remaining about 30,000 troops should pursue eastward at the fastest speed possible without any hesitation.
As the infantry arrays on both sides of the Wu army began to close in on Zhu Gai's cavalry, Zhu Gai no longer insisted and fell back, trailing after the eastward retreating Wei infantry.
Seeing this, the Wu army also began to run and pursue.
As the saying goes, "rejoicing leads to mourning," and "oppression brings prosperity."
After pursuing for more than ten miles, the Wu army killed many exhausted Wei soldiers along the way, but at this moment, they saw a formation of 6,000 infantrymen led by Jia Kui in the middle of the road.
The fierce general Pan Zhang, who was at the forefront of the Wu army, smiled coldly and immediately led his troops to charge towards the Wei army's camp.
The Wei troops blocking the way were only a few thousand, and he had 80,000 troops behind him. Why worry? Just charge ahead and kill as many as you can!
Pan Zhang charged into the Wei army formation on horseback, and the Wu troops that followed him in turn joined the battle. Under the continuous attacks, Jia Kui's 6,000 Yuzhou soldiers' formation began to waver.
At this moment, Lu Xun believed that the battle was nearing its end. Sitting on his horse and watching the distance not far away where Jia Kui's formation was located, the expression on Lu Xun's face changed almost instantly from a sense of achievement to hesitation and frowning, and then to sheer terror.
The reason was nothing more than that Lu Xun heard the distant sound of hooves, low and rumbling, clearly greater in number than Zhu Gai's 10,000 cavalry. It was like the sound of an earthquake, slow and gradually growing louder.
Lu Xun's eyes widened, and in the cold winter, he even broke out in a cold sweat.
Dear book lovers and masters, one zhen reports that the southern expedition is now approaching its end and will conclude in chapter 120.
Regarding the many readers who mentioned that the pace was too slow, this is my first time writing a large-scale scene and managing such situations, so I don't have much experience. The narrative has indeed been slightly weaker than the previous parts. Today's two chapters have already tried to change some of the style of writing.
As for the results of Lu Xun, Sun Quan, and other other Eastern Wu generals in this battle, will be revealed in the next two days. Please look forward to it!
(The end of this chapter)
