Cao Zhen sighed and said, "Didn't the military report from Lueyang the day before yesterday say that Zhang Junyi was not feeling well again?"
"The military report says something wrong. He has 2,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry. Why don't I lead them for him?"
Qian Zhao was silent for a long time: "Then I will have to trouble you, General. The day after tomorrow, which is the 22nd, how can you and I coordinate from the east and west?"
Cao Zhen's eyes were filled with solemnity: "Zhang He and I will hold back the Shu army outside Lueyang City. If there are more Shu troops coming later, we will also do our best to resist them."
"After you join forces with His Majesty, defeat the Shu army in front of you to the south, and then join forces with Lueyang to the west! There will be no more assignments."
Qian Zhao nodded, stood up and bowed to the great general Cao Zhen in the tent: "I will definitely live up to the great general's trust!"
……
As the morning sun broke through the darkness from the east, more than 20,000 Shu Han infantry and Cao Zhen's 8,000 cavalry began to maneuver at the same time from Shanggui, Linwei to Lueyang.
Before Cao Zhen arrived, Qian Zhao always felt uneasy in his use of troops. Now that Cao Zhen has gone to Lueyang, Your Majesty will lead 16,000 troops here tonight, and Qian Zhao will start to attack the Shu army camp in the morning.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
After the sentry on the watchtower in the camp shouted loudly three times, a shrill horn sounded. The Shu Han soldiers who were preparing to eat hurriedly put on their armor and gathered to the north of the camp to prepare for defense.
Longyou is mountainous, and Lueyang is narrow. The defense line built by Wei Yan and Wu Ban only stretches three miles from east to west.
The Shu army's trumpets were clearly heard by the Wei army, and Wei Yan in the camp could hear the drums and shouts as if they were right beside his ears.
"Pass on my order!" Wei Yan instructed his guards, "The Wei army just arrived in Lueyang from Chang'an the day before yesterday, so they must be exhausted. Our army should wait for them to tire themselves out!"
"Let all camps defend behind their fortifications and do not send troops out of the camp without permission!"
The messengers scattered in all directions, and after receiving Wei Yan's order, each camp also relied on the defense of the camp and shot arrows at the attacking Wei army infantry to suppress them.
The densely packed Wei army infantrymen raised their shields and spears and formed a formation and moved forward. A few dozen steps behind them, there was a large group of archers who followed the shield soldiers and shot arrows at the Shu army camp in counterattack.
General Wei Yan, the Zhenbei General, had defended Hanzhong for eight years without encountering a major battle. During this Northern Expedition, he was most eager to achieve success and defeat the enemy.
As early as in Hanzhong, Wei Yan personally went to Huangjin, Xingshi and other places to build camps, and was very familiar with these earthworks in the army. According to the instructions of Prime Minister Zhuge and the repeated emphasis of the military officer Ma Su, the Shu army also built the camp here with great care.
Along the east and west mountains, Wei Yan ordered his soldiers to build a three-li long and half-zhang high camp. There were trenches inside and outside the camp, and five layers of antlers outside the trenches. Everything was in accordance with the military law set by Zhuge Liang himself.
But today's Wei army seemed to be rushing forward without regard for their lives. The front and rear troops did not rush to the camp at all, but only focused on pulling out and burning the antlers.
Although many corpses were left in front of the Shu army camp by the Wei army's arrows, the five layers of deer horns outside the wall had been destroyed by three of them after five waves of attacks in the morning.
"General Wei! What on earth went wrong with the Wei army today? Why are they attacking so fiercely?"
Near noon, while the Wei army was resting in camp after a wave of offensives, the anti-rebel general Wu Ban came to Wei Yan from his eastern defense zone and asked anxiously.
Wei Yan said with a straight face: "You ask me, who else should I ask? Since dawn, the Wei army has already launched five attacks."
"Five layers of antlers have been plucked out and three layers have been burned. If it's tonight, I'm afraid there won't be a single layer of antlers left!"
Facing the desperate attack of the Wei army, and having lost many archers in the shooting match, Wei Yan was not in a good mood. Wei Yan had been in Hanzhong for eight years, and he knew the names of many old soldiers, who had all died under the bows and arrows of the Wei army in the morning.
Wu Ban asked tentatively, "If the Wei army attacks again this afternoon, should we leave the camp and fight a few more times?"
Wei Yan still said expressionlessly: "Let's see what happens. If the Wei army continues to destroy the deer horns this afternoon, we will attack them before they reach the camp!"
"The general on the opposite side should be Qian Zhao. I heard that Qian Zhao has always been a safe general, so why is his attack so fierce and he totally disregards the lives of his soldiers!"
Wu Ban responded: "Then I will take action based on the situation."
"You?" Wei Yan glanced at Wu Ban and said, "I have made it clear to General Ma that it is your responsibility to defend the camp well. If you are brave enough to attack, I will not be held responsible for you!"
Wu Ban nodded slightly awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to Wei Yan's words.
Wu Ban had a long history in Yizhou. He had been a chivalrous man since his youth. In addition, his cousin Wu later married Liu Bei, so his style of doing things was quite bold and unrestrained.
Wu Ban had heard in Chengdu that Wei Yan was difficult to get along with. It was not until the Northern Expedition began and Wu Ban traveled with Wei Yan that he slowly realized that the rumors were true.
But Wei Yan's rank was higher than his, his military achievements were greater than his, he had more soldiers than his, and he was even physically stronger than his!
Wu Ban could only endure the harsh words of this person who was better than him in every way.
"Then it's up to General Wei to make achievements. I'm going back to the camp first."
Wei Yan was only concerned with observing the battlefield, and only nodded to Wu Ban. Meanwhile, near Lueyang City, Zhang He also learned of Qian Zhao and Cao Zhen's strategic moves.
Longyou has many hills and gullies. Even if there are mountains, they can only block the advance of the army. It is not difficult for a few scouts to cross the mountains. The straight-line distance between the Wei army camp where Qian Zhao is located and Lueyang City is only about ten miles.
After setting up camp the day before, Qian Zhao sent people to search for the southwest in the direction of Lueyang. After two days of exploring the route in the mountains, Lueyang City and the Wei army camp were finally able to communicate with each other through scouts.
Near noon, Zhang He received a verbal message from a scout sent by Qian Zhao in the small camp outside Lueyang City.
Zhang He stroked the general's token handed to him by the scout and said, "The general will arrive in Lueyang tonight? Your Majesty will also arrive at the camp in the evening?"
"That's right, Commander-in-Chief." The scout knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and said, "The general and Qian Zhenxi are concerned about the commander-in-chief's health, so the general will come to Lueyang in person."
"I understand." Zhang He glanced at the scout in the tent and said, "Come with me."
Zhang He walked out of the tent, stretched his muscles slightly to warm up, then took a halberd from his personal guard and swung it for nearly a hundred breaths as if it were a piece of cake. Then he stood still, raised the halberd in his right hand and threw it with all his might. The halberd flew more than three feet away.
Zhang He clapped his hands, and after seeing the scout's dumbfounded expression, he laughed, "Tell Qian Zhao, tell His Majesty! When this commander-in-chief heard that the general and His Majesty had come to Lueyang in person, all his illnesses were cured!"
"Tell His Majesty what you just witnessed, and then tell His Majesty that I, Zhang Junyi, have fought for the Wei Dynasty for thirty years and never failed anyone. I will certainly not fail Your Majesty in tomorrow's battle!"
The scout listened carefully, looked at Zhang He's chest rising and falling as he gasped, and answered earnestly, "I will definitely convey the commander-in-chief's message clearly!"
Zhang He turned and walked back into the tent, and said to the military officer Chen Ping who was following him, "This man is not bad, give him a reward!"
"Yes, sir." Chen Ping replied with a bow.
Upon learning that a major battle was about to begin and that Cao Zhen's 8,000 cavalry would arrive in the evening, Zhang He hurriedly ordered the entire army to make various preparations in the afternoon.
Wei Yan and Wu Ban's three-mile-long defense line was under fierce attacks from Qian Zhao's troops.
As soon as the previous wave of Wei troops retreated, the next wave of Wei troops arrived.
Qian Zhao's attack today did not stop at all. As early as the morning, Qian Zhao divided the army in the camp into six divisions, each led by a captain with a salary of two thousand stones.
In addition to the 3,000 soldiers that Qian Zhao left as a reserve, the six divisions of soldiers continuously attacked the Shu army's defense line. The Wei army's attack in the afternoon was more fierce than in the morning. By the evening, each of the six divisions had attacked twice, a total of twelve times.
The deer horns outside the Shu army's fortress wall had all been destroyed by Qian Zhao, and many of the ditches in front of the camp had also been filled.
Just as it was getting dark and the Wei army, which had been carrying soil to fill the ditches, was retreating, General Wei Yan, who was guarding the north, finally found an opportunity to fight. He personally led 3,000 prepared infantrymen out of multiple camp gates and attacked along with the retreating Wei army.
Qian Zhao also noticed Wei Yan's movements on the watchtower, and immediately ordered the 3,000 infantrymen who had been resting all day to go out of the camp to fight.
Three thousand Shu troops against three thousand Wei troops. The Shu army was led by Wei Yan, and they had stayed in the camp for a whole day. There was resentment among the soldiers from top to bottom, and their desire to win was quite strong.
After the two armies collided, the soldiers in the front row found gaps between their shields and engaged each other in close combat. The captains and squad leaders in the army shouted slogans loudly, trying to maintain the integrity of the battle formation.
The sounds of armor, weapons swinging, curses, shouts...the battlefield instantly became heated.
For a moment, there was a feeling that there was no clear winner.
This area is mountainous, and the camps of the Wei and Shu armies are only three miles apart from north to south.
Just as Wei Yan led his troops to push the Wei army gradually northward and get closer and closer to the Wei army camp, Wei Yan seemed to realize something was wrong.
"Pass on my order. The whole army will stop here and then slowly return to the camp. Don't get too close to the Wei army camp. I don't need to attack the camp!"
While Wei Yan was giving the orders, a horn sounded from the Wei army camp in the north, and the Shu army gradually stopped and separated from the retreating Wei army.
Both sides retreated back to camp.
At this moment, Qian Zhao had already come down from the watchtower. Under the guidance of the messenger, he led several riders to the north to meet Emperor Cao Rui himself five miles away.
After seeing the emperor's scouts from afar, Qian Zhao dismounted and stood by the roadside waiting.
Until another team of scouts came, followed by another wave of cavalry leading the way.
After waiting for a long time, Qian Zhao finally saw a knight in golden armor, sitting on a tall and majestic white horse, walking slowly towards him. The golden helmet on his head faced the setting sun, so dazzling that people dared not look up.
Qian Zhao knelt on one knee and bowed: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" (End of this chapter)
