Chapter 120: Defeat
On the afternoon of January 11, the armies of Wei and Wu near the trailer were engaged in a fierce battle involving more than 100,000 people.
The sunlight shone into the battlefield from the west, and the lower sun shone over the highest peaks of the Dabie Mountains in the north, and began to cast a huge shadow to the north of the battlefield.
At this time, Cao Rui and the 5,000 cavalrymen who had not yet participated in the battle were observing the dynamics of the entire battlefield.
Just after the emperor said that he would have the cavalry units force the Wu army into the mountains, Sima Yi seemed to have thought of something: "Your Majesty, even if our army does not go into the mountains to pursue, we can let Wang Ling's troops re-enter the hills south of the trailer and return to the camp they occupied yesterday and the day before."
"If we do this, we can prevent the Wu army from breaking out to the west in the direction of Wancheng."
After hearing Sima Yi's words, Cao Rui squinted his eyes and looked at the battlefield in the distance. At this time, Liu Ye, who was riding a horse behind the emperor, expressed a different opinion.
"In my opinion, I'm afraid Sikong is overthinking it." Liu Ye said with a bow.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Sima Yi raised his eyebrows and looked at Liu Ye. Since the Southern Expedition, Liu Ye had made many suggestions on military affairs, and he was the one who made the most among the four ministers. The emperor's military strategy was almost always based on either his own suggestions or Liu Ye's suggestions.
Liu Ye coughed lightly and replied, "Sikong, Wu Jun is also human. They attacked Guache yesterday and the day before yesterday, and their army is already exhausted. Not to mention that they were first pursued and then surrounded and fought hard today. How much fighting spirit can Wu Jun have left?"
"Your Majesty is here in person, and the Wei army is here. It will be sunset in an hour, and the Wu army is moving to the hills in the south. If our army continues to press, it may be a while before the Wu army's formation will be shaken."
Cao Rui instantly understood what Liu Ye meant. Liu Ye actually wanted to say that now that the Wu army was already losing, how could tens of thousands of troops listen to Lu Xun's command and go into the mountains obediently? Lu Xun was not a god!
Cao Rui looked at Liu Ye and pointed at the flag held by a knight not far behind him: "Minister Liu, do you want to use my name to scare the Wu army?"
Liu Ye smiled and cupped his hands: "The situation is already determined. If the Wu army knew that Your Majesty was here, they would definitely waver very quickly."
Cao Rui also smiled and nodded.
However, Cao Rui still spoke up and said, "What Minister Liu said is true, but the Minister of State is also a wise and mature statement for the state."
"Send an order, have Jia Kui's troops approach the trailer and be ready to take over from Wang Ling's troops at any time. Tell Wang Ling that if the Wu army enters the mountains, he should lead his troops to his own camp south of the trailer as soon as possible."
"Let the cavalry units surround the Wu army and do not engage in battle."
Cao Rui looked at his ministers and asked, "Is there anything I have missed?"
Xin Pi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the more than 20,000 troops under the command of former General Man Chong should be quickly allowed to join our camp yesterday."
Cao Rui nodded slightly: "Minister Xin is right. Let Man Chong go to our camp yesterday, and let his troops rest and wait for my military order."
After distributing the general orders, Cao Rui turned to look at Wen Qin who was standing behind several attendants: "Zhongruo, come here!"
Wen Qin, courtesy name Zhongruo, was the commander of the Five Camps. A native of Qiao County, Wen Qin was once highly trusted by Cao Pi.
Wen Qin did not dare to delay and rode quickly to the emperor's side. Wen Qin sat on his horse and asked, "What do you want, Your Majesty?"
Cao Rui said: "Raise my great banner of the emperor! Lead my five-colonel battalion to approach the front of the Wu army. I want to let the Wu army know that I am here in person today!"
Wen Qin did not hesitate and immediately led his troops south after receiving the order. The Five Schools of the Northern Army, a cavalry unit that had been passed down from the early Han Dynasty to the later Han Dynasty and was now in the hands of Cao Rui, was now slowly marching south.
The emperor's banner, nearly two meters high, was carried by four cavalrymen and was particularly conspicuous on the battlefield at this moment.
Wen Qin's 4,000 cavalrymen marched slowly in front, while Cao Rui himself, surrounded by Xiahou Xian's tiger guards, followed behind Wen Qin's five-captain camp.
However, the scene in the Wu army at this time was quite different.
Lu Xun had only two choices before.
One option is to continue to attack the trailer, but there is a risk that the attack will not be successful before dark, and there is a risk of annihilation. The other option is to lead the entire army into the mountains to avoid the Wei cavalry, but whether it can be completed calmly before dark is still an unknown.
Just as Lu Xun's 50,000-strong Wu army was at the southernmost end and about to approach the edge of the hill, a problem that had to be faced arose.
How to enter the mountains? How to deal with the situation after entering the mountains?
What's more, the Wu army didn't have much supplies at this time!
If you are not careful, you will face the same outcome as the first option, where the entire army will be annihilated.
Although from a distance, Lu Xun looked no different from his usual calm demeanor, except for a bit of fatigue and pale lips, but if you get closer and take a closer look, you will see that Lu Xun's hands holding the reins have been shaking for a long time, and it is obvious that his nerves are stretched to the brink of collapse.
However, just when Lu Xun was at a loss, he suddenly found that the Wei cavalry no longer attacked the edge of his army, but instead surrounded the north side of his army like a fan. Seeing that the Wei army's offensive had stopped for a while, Lu Xun urgently sent messengers to gather the senior generals of each army here. Before the army moved into the hills, if it could not be unified and commanded as usual, it might be in danger of overturning at any time.
Although the Wu army's formation today had moved more than ten miles away from the confrontation with Jia Kui and turned back to the west, thanks to the good maintenance of the formation, although the troops suffered heavy casualties, the generals of each unit were almost unscathed.
After a while, the generals of Wu army gathered together. Lu Xun leaned on the saddle with his hands, trying to support himself to stay sitting, and gave military instructions to the generals of Wu army.
Lu Xun said in a hoarse voice: "Now our army is surrounded, and the only way out is the hills to the south. The sun is about to set today. If we can restrain the soldiers in the mountains and attack tomorrow, we may be able to capture the trailer tomorrow."
The generals looked at each other, and no one responded for a while.
Only Hu Zong, the commander of the Jiefan Army, who had always been on good terms with Lu Xun, threw his sword to the ground in anger: "General, wake up! It's already this late, and you're still thinking about taking down the trailer! Look at the soldiers around you, how much fighting spirit do you have? How many soldiers will follow us into the mountains at nightfall?"
Lu Xun looked a little dazed: "Why not? We have 80,000 soldiers here, but it's hard to capture them today. We can come back tomorrow."
Hu Zong dismounted and quickly walked to Lu Xun's horse. He grabbed Lu Xun's left hand with both hands and said, "How can the commander-in-chief still be so confused? Can't you see that we have already been defeated today? Once we enter the hills, it will be ninety miles away from Wancheng and a hundred miles away from Wankou. How can the army survive?"
"Grand Commander, quickly escape with your guards! If you can keep yourself useful, there is still a long way to go, and you may be able to take this place back for the Supreme!"
After hearing what Hu Zong said, Quan Cong, Sun Shao, Bu Zhi, Chen Biao and others also dismounted, surrounded Lu Xun's horse, and began to persuade Lu Xun.
After everyone's persuasion, Lu Xun seemed to come to his senses after a while.
Lu Xun sat on his horse, looked up at the sky and sighed: "I have always killed people, do you want to kill me today?"
Lu Xun had been in the army for nearly twenty years, and had won countless battles, and could almost shoulder half of the weight of the Eastern Wu. Today's defeat completely shattered Lu Xun's confidence. Everyone saw Lu Xun's expression and understood his mentality at the moment, which was obviously completely confused.
However, there is no extra time to worry about it now.
It was obvious that they had lost the battle, and all the generals of Eastern Wu gathered here just to ask Lu Xun for an order to escape. This way, if they could escape alive, they could go back and give an explanation to the King of Wu.
Seeing that Lu Xun was still hesitant, Quan Cong shouted, "General, the Yangtze River is still there, Jingzhou and Yangzhou are still there, everything can be settled!"
"Cao was defeated at Chibi, and Liu Bei was defeated at Xiling. They can go back and regroup before coming back! Commander-in-chief, don't hesitate!"
Seeing that Lu Xun was about to give in, Pan Zhang, who was standing by, could no longer bear to watch and glared at his colleagues: "Your Majesty has taken care of you for twenty years, and there are still six or seven thousand men here. How could he let you abandon the army and run away! You go on your own. I, Pan Zhang, have no face to see Your Majesty again. I will fight the Wei army to the last moment!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Pan Zhang turned around and rode his horse back to the main camp, obviously ready to fight to the death with the Wei army.
After Pan Zhang left, the generals looked at each other and could no longer bear it. Quan Cong shouted directly: "General, your entire Lu family is in Wujun. If you don't come back, what will happen to your Lu family?"
Lu Xun opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but unexpectedly a stream of blood spurted out of his mouth and he almost fell off his horse.
Lu Xun forced himself to look at the generals, and nodded gently as if he had used up a lot of strength: "Don't... don't go to Wancheng, go over the mountain... over the mountain to Wankou!"
Quan Cong understood what he meant and then signaled the soldiers beside Lu Xun to lift Lu Xun up.
At this moment, the person with the highest position besides Lu Xun, Right Commander Quan Cong, looked at his colleagues and said, "If we don't go into the mountains, we will die. The commander-in-chief is right to go to Wankou. I hope you will wait until the army enters the mountains before leading your troops to leave!"
All the generals of Eastern Wu agreed.
About a quarter of an hour later, when the Wu army's formation was approaching the foot of the mountain but had not yet entered the mountain, the Wenqin unit of the Wei army, carrying the emperor's banner, slowly walked to a place not far from the Wu army's formation.
Suddenly, Wen Qin's troops began to shout.
"Go to the army in person, go to the army in person, go to the army in person!" Four thousand cavalrymen shouted together, and the shouts immediately spread to the other military formations around them.
The rest of the cavalry in the central army also understood immediately, and under the command of the officers of various units, they shouted the words "personally lead the expedition" at the same time.
The 40,000-odd cavalrymen who surrounded the north side of Wujun in a fan-shaped formation shouted "conquer in person" at the same time. Every time they shouted, the Wu army's formation was shaken.
After several shouts in succession, the Wu army's formation was no longer stable. The elite troops of each general protected their own generals and rushed out of the formation, rushing towards the hills in the south.
Obviously, when the Wu army generals heard the words "personal expedition", they knew that the Wei emperor was right across the street. They completely ignored the agreement they had made a quarter of an hour ago and hurriedly fled south.
All of a sudden, like ice and snow melting, the huge formation of the Wu army began to collapse.
(End of this chapter)
