Fei Yao, however, stared straight at the army formation in the distance, sighed softly, and said to Cao Zhen: "Today, the general can avenge his shame."
Cao Zhen put away his smile and nodded silently: "I have been waiting for this battle for eight years."
Outside Lueyang City, north of Duanshan.
In this desolate place called Jieting, General Wei and the Shu Han army confronted each other again after eight years, just like the Battle of Hanzhong.
In the spring of the 24th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao and Liu Bei fought for Hanzhong. Both sides came from far away and confronted each other for a long time on both sides of the Han River, outside Yangping Pass, and at the foot of Dingjun Mountain.
Cao Cao sent Generals Cao Zhen and Xu Huang to the west of Yangping Pass in an attempt to cut off Liu Bei's food supply.
At the same time, Liu Bei sent Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun to cut off the Wei army's food supply at the Han River.
Cao Zhen and Xu Huang failed, but Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong made Cao's army's food and grass logistics precarious through continuous raids. Cao Cao therefore withdrew from Hanzhong and gave up the fertile land that Zhang Lu had handed over to him.
Although the failure of the Battle of Hanzhong was not caused by Cao Zhen alone, Cao Cao was there in person at that time, and Cao Zhen did not have that much power and responsibility to take the blame for Cao Cao's overall situation.
But several years passed, as Cao Cao and Cao Pi passed away one after another, Cao Zhen himself once again entered Longyou via Longdao, exactly the same as before.
During the nearly half-month journey from Luoyang to Lueyang, Cao Zhen thought a lot. If he could successfully cut off the food supply of the Shu army, would he still have to travel so far today?
As the general of the Wei Dynasty at the moment, Cao Zhen, Cao Zidan, was responsible for commanding all military affairs at home and abroad for the emperor. It seemed that he took more of the regrets of the past on himself, and his eyes were full of determination.
At the same time, in the Shu army camp opposite, from Ma Su, Zhao Yun, Wang Ping to the soldiers from the Central Army, the Imperial Guards, Shu County and Baxi County, almost everyone looked nervous.
Zhao Yun's 11,000 men were indeed the most elite of the Shu Han army. Nearly 10,000 of them had accompanied Prime Minister Zhuge Liang in the southern expedition and participated in the campaign against Yong Kai, Meng Huo and other rebellious people.
But are Yong Kai and Meng Huo the same as the Wei army? Can the Shu Han army, which can defeat the barbarians in the south, definitely defeat the Wei army?
No one dares to make this guarantee.
The person opposite is the general of Cao Wei, so on our side, at least the prime minister should be there in person, right?
This is what Ma Su was thinking at the moment.
Ma Su, who was standing on the watchtower in the camp with Zhao Yun, kept looking towards the Wei army formation in the west. His hands seemed to be restless, touching here and there, and his eyes were full of nervousness.
"General Zhao, should we send someone to ask the prime minister again?" Ma Su turned and asked Zhao Yun, who was resting with his eyes closed.
Zhao Yun raised his eyes slightly, saw Ma Su who was in a state of anxiety, and shook his head: "General Ma, please do not send any more. You have already sent out three waves of messengers in half a morning."
"Hasn't the messenger we sent out last night returned? The Prime Minister made it clear that Wu Yi's troops would arrive here before tonight. Besides, didn't the Prime Minister's 1,000 cavalrymen arrive this morning?"
Ma Su sighed heavily: "The situation is really critical. There is not much shelter on the flat ground, and a few camp walls may not be able to stop the enemy."
"If Wei Yan's words were true, I'm afraid you and I would have been attacked from both sides by the Wei army! How can we wait for the Prime Minister to come? The only way now is to wait for the Prime Minister to come here to take charge of the situation!"
Zhao Yun looked at Ma Su for a long while, then suddenly sneered: "If the Prime Minister doesn't come, we will not do anything here? Ma Canjun, you can continue to watch the Wei army here. I will go to supervise the soldiers first."
Ma Su looked at Zhao Yun who was about to leave with a look of surprise: "General Zhao, please wait a moment, General Zhao..."
Zhao Yun went down the tower without looking back. The battle was about to begin, and Zhao Yun would rather stay with his guards and soldiers than listen to Ma Su's meaningless chatter.
Without stopping for a moment, Zhao Yun called to his side the captain Ju Fu, who had commanded a thousand cavalrymen under Zhuge Liang this morning.
"Xiaoxing, you have traveled a long way from Linwei to here. Do you still dare to fight today?"
Ju Fu, who was thirty years old at the time, was born into a noble family in Baxi County. He was an outstanding general among the younger generation in terms of bravery and loyalty.
Ju Fu clasped his fists and said, "How can I not dare to fight? General, please give me the order."
Zhao Yun heard this and looked up at Ma Su who was still on the watchtower. In the middle of the morning, Wei Yan's messenger had come to the camp twice to request reinforcements, but was rejected by Ma Su both times.
Zhao Yun, who was caught in the middle and was in a dilemma, could only send the only mobile force, the Ju Fu tribe, to the east to provide support.
Zhao Yun pointed to Wei Yan's camp in the northeast and said, "Now the armies are facing each other. My infantry must guard the camp walls and cannot leave without permission. Only your place can still move. Xiaoxing, you lead your 1,000 cavalry to find a place to cross the river to the east and meet up with Wei Yan three miles behind his camp."
"You don't need to fight in General Wei's camp. If General Wei retreats today, I only ask you to lead the cavalry to cover his flanks! Do you understand?" Ju Fu clasped his fists and saluted, then immediately mounted his horse and left. Today, outside Lueyang City, the silent and slightly strange confrontation between Wei and Shu actually made him think for a long time.
It seems that the key to the battle lies with General Zhenbei Wei Yan and General Suppressing Rebellion Wu Ban!
Under Qian Zhao's command, the Wei army was still divided into six groups and advanced forward, but each wave of attack had two groups on the left and right, each with more than a thousand people attacking simultaneously.
Unlike Ma Su and Zhao Yun who remained silent, Wei Yan, starting from early this morning, changed his tactics of hiding behind the wall yesterday and began to send people out of the wall to the north to meet the Wei army attacking from the north to the south.
The layer of antlers that was added last night was pulled out again, and there were many damaged areas on the wall, making it more difficult to defend.
Having repelled two waves of Wei troops in succession, the soldiers in the Shu army camp began to show signs of fatigue.
However, war is no joke. For these soldiers, there are weapons in front and military law behind! Given the strict military law of Shu Han, the only fate for those who retreat is death.
Seeing that more Wei troops were pouring out of the Wei army camp in the north, Wei Yan and Ma Dai ordered: "Pull open the wall in front of Camp Bing a little more, leaving a three-zhang width. I want to let the Wei dogs in and kill them!"
"Yes, sir." Ma Dai left and took the initiative to 'expose' the gap according to Wei Yan's instructions, but the worry on his face could not be concealed.
Perhaps more Wei troops could be killed in this way, but wouldn't it expose more loopholes to the Wei army?
However, the battlefield is not a place for reasoning. Ma Dai has no way to deal with this situation. Since Wei Yan has a solution, he just needs to follow the orders of General Wei!
This time, the two forces that emerged from Qianzhao's camp, Yin Jian attacked the east side and Pan Yi attacked the west side, and they attacked towards the Shu army camp together.
Yin Jian on the east side fought hand-to-hand with Wu Ban's troops who had rushed out of the camp, just as he had done in the previous two waves of attacks. The battle line was deadlocked about ten feet outside the camp wall, and Yin Jian was unable to push the battle line inwards at all.
When Pan Yi was fighting with the Shu army in the west, he found that the Shu army was becoming increasingly weak. After only a quarter of an hour of holding out, they had to retreat inward along the gap in the village wall.
"Send a message to all the dubos! Follow me and charge in. His Majesty is watching from the north. Don't let the central army underestimate us!" Pan Yi shouted to the messenger beside him in surprise, intending to attack through the gap in the wall where the Shu army retreated.
At this moment, between the camps of Wei and Shu, on a low hill near the west, Qian Zhao and Yang Fu were observing the developments in the south.
Yang Fu frowned and looked over: "General Qian, are the Shu army trying to show us their weakness? How come Wei Yan is better at fighting than Wu Ban here? He must be trying to trick us into going in!"
"But this gap is indeed a bit narrow. I don't know why Pan Yi rushed in so hastily."
Qian Zhao glanced at Yang Fu and said, "With a gap, three meters can become thirty meters! Send the infantry to press forward, widen and guard the gap, and then send the cavalry in to split it!"
Qian Zhao's expression showed a hint of ruthlessness: "The battle has come to this point. If he reveals his weakness, it will probably become a real weakness. Yishan, I will go and ask for His Majesty's order now!"
Yang Fu and Qian Zhao each rode a horse and rushed straight into the camp to find the emperor and explain the matter.
Cao Rui stood up without hesitation and looked at the ministers in the tent who were eager to try.
"Dian Man! Haven't you been asking me for a fight? Now that Qian Zhenxi's troops have breached the Shu army camp wall, you will be the vanguard, set out immediately to open up a path for the army!"
Dian Man stepped out of the line, and responded with an excited look on his face. His grin made his beard grow wider: "I obey your order! I will definitely serve your majesty!"
Sima Yi stood in front of Cao Rui with his hands behind his back and added: "All 3,000 soldiers under the command of the Commandant, dismount and fight on foot with spears, bring ropes and equipment, and aim to destroy the fortress wall!"
"Your Majesty, I have understood." Although it was Sima Yi who added the details, Dian Man still saluted the emperor and then strode out.
"Xiahou He, Cheng Xi!" Cao Rui looked at the two generals standing on the right side of the tent and said, "Each of you will lead 3,000 cavalry and line up in the south of the camp. Once Dian Man stands south of the Shu army camp, we will divide the Shu army into two parts, east and west, from north to south!"
"As ordered!" Xiahou He and Cheng Xi saluted, turned around and walked away. The emperor spoke in detail this time, and Sima Yi had nothing to add.
"General Qian, how many people are left in your camp who can fight?" Cao Rui asked.
Qian Zhao bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, there should be more than 6,000."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Leave one thousand to guard the camp, and the rest of the soldiers will set off behind me!"
Sima Yi seemed to not believe his ears at this moment. He did not move his body, but slowly turned his head to the emperor, and asked with eyes wide open: "Your Majesty, are you going to the battlefield in person? How can you move lightly?"
"That's right." Cao Rui raised his eyebrows and said, "Haven't I already moved here from Luoyang? What is Sikong worried about? Is he worried about my military strength or my safety?" (End of this chapter)
