Chapter 114 Making up for one’s faults
On both sides of a shallow river, less than knee-deep, 20,000 troops under the command of Quan Cong, the right commander of the Wu army, and 10,000 cavalry under the command of Zhu Gai, the right general of the Wei army, were confronting each other across the river.
The small river dividing the area in the middle, although it does not serve any purpose, can at least be considered a boundary. Although we know that it does not provide any sense of security, it still provides some psychological comfort.
People always have an instinctive fear of unfamiliar things.
During the Battle of Red Cliffs in the early years, many soldiers from Henan and Jizhou were sailing on the river. Faced with the vast river and the waves on the river, some were so frightened that they deserted.
The soldiers in the south were naturally afraid of cavalry. In addition to the natural fear brought by the unfamiliarity, they were more afraid of the extreme panic when they turned around and fled when faced with the cavalry's charge because they were not in the army.
To be honest, if they had formed a formation of 100 or 300 people in the face of the first wave of cavalry attacks, half of them would have survived. Why did they lose nearly a thousand bodies in just half an hour?
But it was useless to think about this. The Wu army had been lined up on the west bank of the stream for a long time, and there was no chance to pay attention to the injured soldiers in the open space to the north.
In fact, from the perspective of Quan Cong, the commander of the right wing of the Wu army, the cavalry of the Wei army on the opposite side was clearly carrying a large banner with "Grand Sima Cao of Wei" inscribed on it.
Grand Marshal Cao, of course, refers to Cao Xiu, who just took office this year. Who else could it be? In the third year of Huangchu, when the Wei State invaded the south from three directions, Cao Zhen from the west and Cao Ren from the middle returned without success, while only Cao Xiu from the east achieved a lot.
This is enough to make people fearful.
Therefore, although there was only one person coming from the opposite side, the generals of the Wu army still did not dare to neglect it. Therefore, Quan Cong ordered Zhu Ju, the two thousand stone official beside him and the Jianyi school lieutenant who came to participate in the battle with two thousand Jianye soldiers, to go, and also sent one of his trusted guards.
At this time, it was getting dark, and a man and a horse stepped out from the cavalry formation on the opposite side of the river, slowly walked to the river, and then slowly crossed the river step by step.
The Wu army formation on the west bank also slightly parted, and Zhu Ju and Quan Cong's personal soldier also rode two horses to meet them.
When they were still several feet away, Zhu Ju reined in his horse and stopped, frowning and shouting to the other side: "Who are you? Tell me your name quickly."
However, the Wei envoy did not stop. Instead, he walked to where Zhu Ju was facing him, and then said with a smile: "I am Zhou Duo, the Grand Marshal, and I have come to pay my respects to the commander of the Wu army."
Zhu Ju was about to take over the conversation, but Zhou Duo pointed at the big flag in the Wu army with his whip and continued, "I see the word 'Quan' on the flag of your central army. Is the commander in the opposite formation Quan Cong?"
The surname Quan is not common, and among the famous people in the Wu State, the only one with the surname Quan is naturally General Quan Cong of Sui Nan.
Quan Cong's trusted guards were furious at this time. They drew their swords and pointed them at Zhou Duo's face: "Who allowed you to address my general by his name? How arrogant!"
Zhou Duo shook his head and ignored the guard's reaction. He glanced at the green ribbon and silver seal on Zhu Ju's waist. Knowing that the man opposite him was a 2,000-stone official, he bowed and looked at Zhu Ju and said, "May I ask your name?"
Zhu Ju also said with a cold expression: "I am Lieutenant Zhu Ju. If you are rude again, I will chop off your head here!"
Zhou Duo shook his head gently: "I understand what you mean, but my head is not in the hands of the captain or General Quan, but in the hands of my Grand Marshal and your King Wu. Take me to see General Quan Cong as soon as possible."
Zhu Ju snorted coldly, turned his horse around and walked back to the main camp, while Quan Cong's trusted guards glared at Zhou Duo and followed him westward. Zhou Duo didn't care and followed Zhu Ju directly.
A moment later, Zhou Duo saw Quan Cong, the commander of the right wing of the Wu army, sitting on his horse. Without waiting for Zhou Duo to salute, Quan Cong spoke directly: "You are the envoy of Cao Xiu, right? Don't delay. I am in charge of the 20,000 people here. Tell me what's going on."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Duo, although he did not dismount, still bowed and asked: "General Quan, my Grand Marshal sent me across the river to ask you, where is Zhou Cang?"
Quan Cong squinted his eyes and looked at Zhou Duo. He suddenly laughed and shook his head. "Zhou Cang is from Wu. What does he have to do with your Grand Marshal? I have nothing to say to you."
Zhou Duo continued without changing his expression, "Although Zhou Cang is in Jiangdong, he admires the king's rule and has already made an alliance with my Grand Marshal. Please tell me about Zhou Cang so that I can report back to the Grand Marshal."
Quan Cong patted the dust off his arm armor, blew some air out of it, and then whispered, "Is Cao Xiu in the cavalry formation opposite?"
Zhou Duo nodded and said, "It was the Grand Marshal who sent me to ask."
Quan Cong looked up into Zhou Duo's eyes and began to make up stories: "Zhou Cang? He was chopped off by the King of Wu a long time ago and buried beside the Wan River. If Grand Marshal Cao is interested, come and get it yourself."
"That is why the King of Wu sent me to attack you."
Zhou Duo remained calm: "General Quan wants to attack Wei? In less than a quarter of an hour, thousands of corpses were abandoned. Is this what General Quan is capable of?"
Before he finished speaking, all the guards around Quan Cong drew their swords and pointed them at Zhou Duo. Quan Cong said calmly, "Go away. I am not in the mood to argue with you. Let's wait for the army to come tomorrow to help us, and see what you can do."
Zhou Duo asked again: "General Quan has a large army behind him? Who is leading them? Is it the King of Wu himself or Lu Xun? Once our Great Wei soldiers arrive..."
Before Zhou Duo finished speaking, Quan Cong looked at the guards beside him and waved his hand: "Blast them out."
Seeing this, Zhou Duo smiled slightly, bowed and said, "No need to bother you, I can go by myself. General Quan, I'm taking my leave." Then Zhou Duo, surrounded by several Quan Cong's guards, slowly walked out of the Wu army's main camp and crossed the river leisurely at the same speed as when he came just now.
The 4,000 Wei cavalry on the other side of the river did not hesitate after Zhou Duo's return and turned their troops to head towards the trailer in the northeast.
The Wei cavalry under the banner of "Wei Grand Marshal Cao" gradually moved away. Quan Cong on the west bank of the stream breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered his men to rush to build a camp before the sun set.
Cao Xiu's banner was real, but Cao Xiu was not in the camp. The so-called "Grand Marshal's Assistant" Zhou Duo was just an assistant to the Right General Zhu Gai, and the Wei army didn't care what happened to Zhou Duo.
In any case, the military order from the Wei army camp was to let Zhu Gai use Cao Xiu's name to confuse the enemy. Now it seems that the Wu army may have backup. Secondly, Quan Cong said that he was in charge of these 20,000 people, so there must be someone with a higher or similar official position who was in charge of more Wu troops.
After confirming that there were no Wu troops following behind, the Wei cavalry marched slowly for several miles until they reached the foot of the mountain on the north side. Zhu Gai summoned his trusted Sima Song Wei to his side.
Zhu Gai said to Song Wei while sitting on his horse: "You lost fifty cavalrymen before, and I want you to make up for it. Now Wancheng is cut off by the Wu army, and the Grand Marshal has ordered me to send someone to notify them."
"I have decided to have you lead 200 men to abandon their horses and go up the mountain along the mountain road to Tianzhu Mountain, north of Wancheng. Whether you make beacons or set fire to the mountain at night, you must ensure that the Wancheng defenders can see you!"
Song Wei did not hesitate and asked directly, "General, how many days do you want me to arrive north of Wancheng?"
Zhu Gai thought for a moment and said, "This place is about thirty-five miles away from Wancheng. Even if the mountain road is twice as rugged, it is only a hundred miles away. You lead 200 people and you don't need to set up camp. I will give you three days!"
"You must arrive before midnight on January 9, three days from now. Take as much food as you can from the 4,000 cavalrymen here. By the time you return here after reporting the news, the Wu army will probably have been defeated by Wei."
Song Wei had no doubt about the words of his right general, and then half-knelt on the ground to receive the order. He quickly selected two camps of 100 people from his own 1,000 people, collected food, took some fire starter, and came to Zhu Gai to say goodbye.
Song Wei hesitated for a moment and then said, "General, if I cannot come back, please take care of my family."
Zhu Gai shouted at his horse: "You bastard, do you think I want you to die? Bring all 200 men back to me, or I will chop off your head!"
After being scolded, Song Wei smiled. After saluting, he led the team to the north into the mountains without stopping.
The Wu soldiers on the west bank of the creek had just built a temporary camp. It was not yet three o'clock in the morning and most of the soldiers had just gone to bed when the rumbling sound of horse hooves came from the other side of the river.
However, it was not Zhu Gai who came in person, but another two thousand Wei cavalrymen who started from the trailer and rotated here.
The sound of horse hooves at this time woke up many Wu soldiers who were sleeping. However, due to the strict military law, they dared not shout, and they dared not sleep deeply. So they spent the whole night in fear.
At this time, in the Wei army's Wuqiangkou camp, former general Man Chong, who had just arrived at Wuqiangkou this afternoon, Qingzhou governor Wang Ling, Dongguan prefect Hu Zhi, Langya prefect Sun Li, and Han Zong and Zhai Dan, who had defected to Wei from Wu, were in the emperor's tent.
Cao Xiu, Sima Yi, and several attendants each had their own assignments. At this time, the ones assisting the emperor in handling documents in the tent were Xiahou Xuan and Jiang Wei, two attendants who were promoted from the Imperial Academy and followed the army south.
The lights in the tent were brightly on. The emperor was reading the military report, while the Palace Attendant Jiang Wei stood in front of the map, explaining the military situation of the past few days to the few people who had just arrived at Wuqiangkou today.
After a while, Jiang Wei saluted the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I have already told the generals and governors about the military situation. I hope Your Majesty will give me your instructions."
Cao Rui blinked heavily and looked at the people in the tent: "Do you all understand?"
Man Chong and Sun Li below responded one after another that they understood, but Han Zong and Zhai Dan, who had defected from the Wu Kingdom, were still a little dazed.
Cao Rui looked at the two of them with a friendly expression: "You two are Han Qing and Zhai Qing, right?"
(End of this chapter)
