Wei Yan is standing with his arms crossed in the tent, squinting his eyes towards Wu Ban, and his eyes are gradually changing from rage to composure.
Anger comes quickly and goes away equally fast.
Although he was forbidden from retreating on his own accord according to Ma Su's orders, Wei Yan had been in the service for over twenty years since joining Liu Bei's army in Xinye, having participated in hundreds of battles, big and small. Even in a precarious situation, there was no reason for him to despair.
"Yuan Xiong," Wei Yan looked at Wu Ban with piercing eyes, "Ma Su did not give us a way out, and neither of us can sit idly and wait for death! We need to show the Wei army some colors, but we also cannot lose our entire forces here."
Wu Ban stood up and bowed to Wei Yan with one hand: "General, have you made up your mind? I will follow as instructed."
Wei Yan nodded: "Don't move your side yet. If the Wei army slows down its attack tomorrow, that will be fine. But if they keep attacking so fiercely, I'll make a small opening here first and let the Wei army come in so we can trap them like catching a frog in a jar."
"After breaking through several waves of Wei army attacks, if it's still difficult to defend in the afternoon, we will withdraw westward together!" Wei Yan declared loudly. "Ma Su is the military affairs counselor of the prime minister, and I am also an assistant minister of the prime minister! The prime minister definitely doesn't want us to die here!"
Wu Ban hesitated for a moment: "If the Wei army has many cavalry, what should we do?"
"There is high ground to the east of the mountain pass! If the Wei cavalry is strong and there's no cover on the flat ground, we can directly ascend to the high ground! It can also connect with Wang Ping's and Zhao Yun's camps, providing mutual support."
Wu Ban bowed his hands: "I will follow your orders!"
……
The next day, on the morning of the 22nd, before the battle near Lueyang City had commenced, fighting had already begun outside Shanggu City.
Guo Huai has been feeling particularly uneasy these days. Yesterday, that is, on the 21st morning, Wu Yi suddenly withdrew from the encirclement of Shanggu City and assembled his army to head north along the Long Mountain Road.
Only Liao Hua's force, with about three thousand troops left, was defending the west side of Shanggu City and still blocking the road westward to Jì County.
Last night, another force of about four to five thousand soldiers arrived from the direction of Jì County and joined forces with Liao Hua. More suspiciously, this group of Shu soldiers actually moved eastward in a grand manner, south of the Wei River this morning!
When Wu Yi left, Guo Huai was worried that the Shu army was tricking him into coming out of the city to attack Shanggu City and then break through it, so he remained inactive in the city for half a day. Until this morning, there were still Shu soldiers continuing to attack Shanggu City but not entering it, instead moving eastward to aid the forces.
Guo Huai only now realized that it must be the reinforcements from the court in Lueyang that had arrived, which was why Zhuge Liang could muster such a large number of troops and send them north!
As dawn was just breaking, Guo Huai stood on the city wall, watching the Shu army advancing on the south bank of the Wei River, and said to Lu Pan and Hu Zun, who were standing beside him:
"On the 19th, Zhuge Liang went east, which should be towards the direction of Lvin Wei. You two say, is Zhao Ling from Guang Wei County still alive?"
Lu Pan shook his head: "Does the commander know that person well? Anyway, I don't know much about this man. Since Shanggu City was surrounded on the fifth day, we have been cut off from external information for more than half a month. We are completely unaware of the military situation in Jì County, Nanshan Commandery, Longxi Commandery, Guangwei Commandery...…"
Guo Huai called out to his personal guards: "Send the Magistrate Ma over!"
After a moment, Ma Zun came to the city wall, smiling and asking: "What business does Your Excellency summon me here for?"
Guo Huai spoke in a serious tone: "Let me ask you this, if you were to lead the troops of the commandery to defend the city, would you rather defend Jì County or rather defend Lvin Wei?"
Ma Zun asked in surprise, "General, what do you mean by this? As a commandery's capital city, how can Lvin Wei be compared to Jì County? I would definitely prefer to defend Jì County!"
"I understand," Guo Huai nodded. "The city has been surrounded for over half a month, Magistrate Ma, what countermeasures have you against the enemy?"
Ma Zun replied awkwardly, "Your Excellency, I have always studied classics and not military strategies, so such a major matter should be decided by Your Excellency personally."
Guo Huai said without any expression, "Since Magistrate Ma has nothing to say about military strategies, while we are discussing here, I would ask Magistrate Ma to go back first."
"That's natural, that's natural," Ma Zun embarrassedly chuckled a few times before bowing and leaving. Although all three of them were commanders of two thousand Li, neither Guo Huai nor Lu Pan nor Hu Zun paid much attention to Ma Zun.
It is not a mistake to be ignorant of military strategy during wartime, but once the suspicion of being a coward is raised, it is already three parts disdained by colleagues.
The sound of Ma Zun's footsteps descending from the city wall grew fainter, and Guo Huai took a deep breath, "Even Ma Zun knows that it's easier to defend Jì County than Lvin Wei! You tell me, if Zhuge Liang himself goes to Lvin Wei, can Zhao Ling still hold out?"
However, Hu Zun had no hint of discouragement, "General, if the Shu forces fully move north, can we send troops to aid Lueyang City for a little while?"
Lu Pan was surprised to look at the person next to him: "We are going to aid Lueyang? I am waiting for Lueyang to help us!"
Hu Zun shook his head, pointing towards the camp of Liao Hua's army to the west: "Then if we can't aid Lueyang, dealing with a mere Liao Hua shouldn't be a problem, should it?"
Guo Huai remained silent for a moment before striking the city wall with his fist: "That's right! If we can annihilate this remaining force of Liao Hua's army outside the city, it would be like adding fuel to the fire for their retreat!"
"Approximately two thousand five hundred troops can still fight within the city," Guo Huai looked at Lu Pan and Hu Zun. "I will lead a thousand men, and you two will each lead five hundred men, to immediately rush out and surprise attack Liao Hua's troops outside the city?"
Lu Pan and Hu Zun both nodded.
At this time, it was still early in the morning. Guo Huai led the army to form a line in the inner western gate, while Hao Zun was at the south gate and Lu Pan at the north gate, ready to march out in three columns after being given the signal.
The Wei army has been suppressed within Shanggu City for a month and a half. For the soldiers, the siege war is not only the dead and wounded comrades every day on the city wall that tugs at their hearts, but also the unbearable agony of knowing that there are more enemy troops than our own, and wondering when they will break through our defenses, like a sharp sword hanging over our necks.
Today, being able to leave the city is the perfect time for a resounding battle and revenge!
The 2,000 Wei army soldiers were divided into three columns, each soldier wearing two layers of armor and carrying a circular saber. Guo Huai also ordered his personal guards to wear short axes on their waist, in preparation for close-combat battles inside Shu army camps.
The west gate was closest to the Shu army camp, about three li away, it would take about an incense's time to rush there. The Shu troops were caught off guard and had not yet formed a defensive formation at the gate when Guo Huai and his personal guards, led by the vanguard, stormed towards the gate.
Dozens of personal guards rushed forward, pushing aside the hornet-like obstacles outside the camp gate, and then hacked down the wooden camp gate.
Since December 5th, when the Shu forces besieged Shanggu City, it has been mostly the Shu forces attacking the city and pressuring the Wei forces to defend. Except for Guo Huai and Hu Zun burning one of their camps at night, the Wei forces have been on the defensive.
Today, the Wei forces were actually attacking at dawn! More than that, Liao Hua's force, which was attacking, had already lost about a thousand of its four thousand men. The situation was made worse when Wu Yi's troops withdrew, causing the morale and will to fight of the troops to fall even lower.
The Shu army was unprepared and, amidst the confusion, they were unable to organize themselves. With the camp gate broken down, Liao Hua inside the camp was also at a loss as to what to do.
"Commander, commander, order the westward withdrawal immediately!" The assistant by his side shouted urgently: "How many troops does the Wei army have in Shanggu City? They can't possibly have many! With a little retreat westward and crossing the ferry across the Wei River, it will be fine. How can the Wei army dare to follow us across the river?"
Liao Hua hesitated and said, "The camp…"
"What are you still worrying about the camp for at this hour! General Zhengbei has already withdrawn. If you leave the commander here alone, what concern is there for a mere camp? Hurry up and go!"
Liao Hu thought through the implications and no longer hesitated. He ordered the army to withdraw using bugles and instructed his personal guards to carry his army flag and flee westward.
Governor Liao had already left, and the remaining Shu troops had no desire to fight anymore. They feebly swung a few blows to fend off the Wei soldiers and then immediately turned tail and fled westward.
The Wei army has two legs, and I have two legs too! They are wearing double armor, but I only have a spear. How can I not be able to run faster than them?
As soon as Guo Huai rushed into the camp, Liao Hua had already made up his mind to leave. By the time Lu Pan and Hu Zun led their troops from the south and north gates to attack the camp, Liao Hua had already mounted his horse with a flag and was fleeing quickly out of the camp!
It can be said that the natural abilities of each commander are different. Liao Hu may not be very good at leading troops in combat, but he is excellent at making decisions to retreat or escape.
After all, in the past, Liao Hu served as Guan Yu's junior officer in Jingzhou, feigned surrender to Sun Quan after Guan Yu's death, escaped back to Shu Han after faking his own death, and even brought his old mother with him!
After Liao Hua had escaped several miles to the west and crossed the Wei River, he looked back and saw thousands of scattered Shu soldiers escaping in that direction.
At this time, Guo Huai who had taken over Liao Hu's camp did not pursue him, but ordered the soldiers to carry away the remaining supplies in Liao Hu's camp for themselves. Then he set fire to the camp of Liao Hu.
Later that day, Liao Hua counted the losses and was surprised to find that he had lost fewer than 200 men. This battle ratio is unprecedented since the beginning of the conflict between Wei and Shu.
Guo Huai has won a battle outside Shanggu City, while on the banks of Lueyang, Qian Zhao and Zhang He's two military operations from both sides have just begun.
After days of fighting with Zhao Yun's unit, Zhang He's 2,000 riders suffered nearly 300 dead and wounded and his 8,000 foot soldiers also lost about a thousand.
After leaving about 1,000 foot soldiers to defend the city, Zhang He's 1,700 cavalry forces took up positions in the north, with Zhang He himself and 6,000 foot soldiers forming a central column. Wen Qin's 3,000 cavalry forces were positioned in the south.
Meanwhile, the Grand General of Wei, Cao Zhen, was waiting with Fei Yao's 5,000 cavalry three li to the west.
Due to the many mountains in the Longyou region, the terrain is quite narrow, giving a cramped and compact feel to both Wei and Shu's military formations and camp sites.
Chen Ping was commanding 1,700 cavalry at the east gate of Lueyang City. Meanwhile, Zhang He's 6,000 infantry units were just one li away from the Shu camp.
The total army consisted of about 16,000 troops, nearly 10,000 of whom were cavalry. In terms of combat power, this had already surpassed the remaining 14,000 troops under Zhao Yun and Wang Ping.
Zhao Yun and Zhang He have fought several battles outside Lueyang City, almost causing a loss of over a thousand men.
But because the number of infantry was much fewer than that of the Shu troops, at this moment, Wei forces were opposing the Shu troops camped along the eastern side, extending from north to south on the west side.
The camp where Zhao Yun was stationed was also built as solid and complex as Wei Yan's. To the west of the camp were barriers and fortresses, outside which were ditches and five layers of hornet-like obstacles, making it look extremely difficult to capture.
As time passed, the sun slowly rose higher, and none of Cao Zhen, Zhang He, Zhao Yun, or Wang Ping showed any signs of moving. They remained in a stalemate, not getting any closer.
For Zhao Yun and Wang Ping, with the disadvantage in numbers, if they leave the camp and go west to fight against Wei's infantry and cavalry, wouldn't that be giving up the advantage of terrain and just causing unnecessary trouble for themselves?
And the Wei army also had no desire to attack the camp.
As the sun rose higher, it would be another half an hour before noon. Both Wei and Shu forces were still motionless.
Cao Zhen, three li behind Zhang He, with his personal guards surrounding him and Fei Yao observing the military formations not far away, was laughing heartily as he watched.
Cao Zhen pointed towards the Shu camp and laughed as he said to Fei Yao beside him, "Don't you think the commander of the Shu army across from us is rather foolish?"
"I am waiting for Your Majesty and Qian Zhao to break through Wei Yan's camp, what are they waiting for?" (This chapter concludes)
