After Cao Rui and Cao Zhen discussed it, they decided on a reply to Zhang He. From Qishan to Wudu, it was only 140 miles away, and the cavalry could send a message in one day.
After receiving the emperor's edict, Zhang He immediately summoned Dian Man into his tent and prepared to order him to lead his 2,000 cavalry to march to Xiabian early the next morning.
The imperial edict did not specify how many troops Zhang He was to send. In Zhang He's opinion, there was not much difference between sending 2,000 cavalry and 5,000 cavalry.
Zhang He sat in the tent with a dignified look on his face, and gave the order: "Your Majesty has issued an edict ordering this commander-in-chief to send cavalry to Xiabian and Hechi to investigate. Dianman, you will lead your troops ahead tomorrow."
"I will obey the commander-in-chief's orders!" Dian Man's eyes were full of joy.
Before Dian Man turned to leave, Zhang He gave him one more instruction: "If you encounter the Shu army face to face, there is no need to engage in battle. If you report the information back to the governor, it will be considered a meritorious service for you."
During the battle of Huainan last year, Dian Man only fought with the majority of the central army and had no chance to lead troops alone.
When he went south in the second year of Huangchu, Dian Man was only a Thousand Stone Sima, and was promoted to Duwei after returning. In the two subsequent expeditions to Wu, he did not even fight a battle.
Last year in Luoyang, Dian Man even tried to get close to Guanqiu Jian in the hope that he could lead troops independently one day. Dian Man was already satisfied when he was able to capture Lueyang.
Dian Man was overjoyed when he was ordered to serve as the vanguard of the army today.
Rather than being happy to hear about the war, it is better to say that Dian Man and Dian Zi'an, the sons of Dian Wei, understood the principle of gaining military merit immediately.
His father Dian Wei risked his life to save Emperor Wu and gave him a position as a military commander. He was over 40 years old, and his only son Dian Heng, who was already 20 years old, was still a commoner.
I must earn him a fortune!
Although Dian Man was full of confidence, his many years of military training in the central army still made him lead his troops forward cautiously. They only marched fifty miles a day, which could even be said to be overly conservative.
After returning to Luoyang from Huainan last year, Your Majesty personally visited the central military camp several times and often discussed military strategies with the generals.
These military teachings are secondary. After all, after Emperor Wu wrote the New Book of Military Strategy, he gave lectures on it many times in the central army. The military strategies that Your Majesty mentioned are mostly based on the New Book.
But what is different from before is that since Your Majesty set out from Luoyang, whenever there is a mobilization or a battle, he will explain the current situation, the comparison between the enemy and us, and the strategic and tactical objectives to all the two thousand stone generals one by one.
Therefore, even Dian Man, the captain of the Tiger Guards, knew that it would take more than 20 days for Xiahou Ru to reach Hechi. Zhang He had not yet given an order to send troops, so Dian Man was not in a hurry.
The troops set out on the 16th, but Dianman did not arrive until noon on the 18th, fifteen miles outside Xiabian City.
"General Feng, why are there so many abandoned camps and forts here?" Dian Man asked General Feng Hua beside him with a puzzled look on his face.
During the Battle of Xiabian in the past, Feng Hua also came here with the army. He was sent to Zhang He's army by Cao Zhen, and then followed Zhang He's orders and marched forward with Zai Dianman's army.
Feng Hua replied, "Captain Dian may not know that about a hundred years ago, there was a governor here in Xiabian named Yu Xu. He led his army to recapture the Wudu County from the Qiang people and built many camps and forts in the county to defend against the Qiang people."
"I have seen this abandoned camp before when I was here before. It was not so dilapidated then. Perhaps it was re-used by the locals when the Qiang rebellion broke out several decades ago."
After all, it happened a hundred years ago, so Dian Man was still a little curious: "There are very few people in Wudu County now, how many people were there in Wudu County back then?"
Feng Hua thought for a few moments, frowned and replied: "Before the troops were dispatched from Luoyang, Emperor Wu ordered the secretaries to look up old events in the classics and told us a lot of old stories about Wudu County."
"I can't remember the exact number, but there are about 40,000 households, right?"
"Guangwu City has more than 40,000 households?" Dian Man exclaimed: "I heard from people in Shanggui that the newly established Qinzhou now has only more than 30,000 households!"
"If it weren't for these separatist bandits, the country might have been unified long ago. Why did we have to relocate the people of Wudu?" Feng Hua replied.
Dian Man curled his lips and said, "This time I'm going to take the heads of these Shu thieves to make a contribution!"
While the two were talking, the scouts ahead reported that the four gates of Xiabian City were closed, but they had no idea whether there were anyone guarding inside.
Dian Man snorted, "If there is no ambush, then it would be like Jianwei and Wudu in the past, both cities are empty!"
"Send an order, have Zhai Sima lead 500 cavalry as the front. If they find no one guarding the city, they should enter the city immediately and search the entire city!"
The scout took the order and left. An hour later, Dian Man also entered Xiabian City.
Feng Hua bowed and asked, "Captain Dian, should we inform the governor first? We have been on the road for three days."
"The governor ordered me to investigate Xiabian and Hechi. I just took Xiabian today. I will report back after I take Hechi back!"
Feng Hua had no choice but to obey.
The next day, that is, the morning of the 19th, when it was just dawn, Dian Man continued to lead his troops eastward. When he returned on the 21st, in the afternoon, Dian Man's scouts found that the gate of Xiabian City was wide open, and it seemed that it had been breached by the Shu army!
Dian Man entered the city with a frown, only to find that nearly half of the 500 cavalrymen left behind in the city had been killed, and their bodies were placed in the empty government office.
The whereabouts of the rest of the cavalry were unknown.
Dian Man was greatly alarmed, and hurriedly led his troops out of the city through the west gate, intending to return westward. Less than three miles out of the city, he discovered that a formation of Shu troops emerged from the northern mountain valley, blocking the road that was less than 30 feet wide.
The chief commander of this Shu Han infantry was none other than General Zhenbei Wei Yan. Wei Yan spat and cursed in a low voice: "The Prime Minister ordered me to lead 8,000 men to ambush here using the bait, but I didn't expect to only get a few Wei dogs."
"Pass on my order. Beat the drums and blow the trumpets. Order the soldiers lying in ambush in the city to rush out. What can the cavalry do?"
Xiabian faces a river to the south, the road to Wudu to the west, and flat land to the east and north.
Now that the road to the west was blocked, the two thousand soldiers ambushed in the city blocked the Wei army's way back, and Dian Man was surrounded by the Shu army.
"These Shu bandits are blocking my way? There must be enemies in the city. I'm afraid it's going to be very dangerous." Dian Man frowned and cursed.
"What should we do?" Feng Hua asked anxiously.
Even as the two were talking, the gates of Xiabian City had been closed, and the gap between the city and the foot of the mountain on the northwest side was gradually occupied by the Shu army infantrymen pouring out of the city.
"I don't know which general is leading the Shu bandits on the opposite side, but they have forced me to this point." Dian Man tightened his grip on the reins: "General Feng, you asked me what to do, but I want to ask you!"
Feng Hua sighed: "Are you and I going to die here?"
Dian Man stared at Feng Hua for a few moments, then burst into laughter: "How could it have come to this? Look how scared you are, are you about to cry?"
Feng Hua was stunned: "Where is the way out? The way forward and the way out are all blocked."
Dian Man sneered: "Don't forget that I am the captain of the Tiger Guards, and the cavalry under my command are the old Tiger Cavalry!"
"If we rush out, there will be a way out, right?"
Just as Feng Hua was about to ask more questions, Dian Man turned his horse and walked back, shouting loudly to the messengers: "Switch the front and rear armies and change to the spearhead formation!"
"Tell Sima Liu! This captain will follow him in the army as the vanguard, while Sima Chen and Sima He will follow behind!"
Before Feng Hua could react, Dian Man grinned and clenched the halberd in his hand, tapping the horse's belly lightly, and the brown horse under his crotch gradually quickened its pace.
By the time Dian Man arrived at the rear team, the rear team led by Sima Liu had become the front team and began to walk in small steps towards the east.
The horses gradually sped up, first walking briskly and then trotting, and after less than a mile, their speed gradually reached the speed of a charge.
Feng Hua was trapped in the army. The cavalrymen in the central army, who usually treated him with great respect as a soldier, now ignored his fear and panic.
It was just as they had trained in the martial arts field outside Luoyang. The cavalry followed the squad leader, the squad leader followed the captain, the captain looked at the Sima's flag, and the Sima followed the captain who was charging in the front.
With 1,500 elite cavalrymen at our disposal, no matter what the situation, how could we easily admit defeat?
The sound of horse hooves rang out like low thunder, and the infantry formation of the Shu army, which had just been hastily set up between Xiabian City and the mountain, was also quite unstable.
The Hanzhong soldiers under Wei Yan's command had been wiped out in the battle of Lueyang, and the infantry under his command were merely the troops taken over from Wu Yi.
The generals are not the ones he trusts, and the soldiers are not the ones he leads.
Although there were 8,000 infantrymen, they were divided into two groups. The 6,000 infantrymen on the west side that blocked Dian Man's way back were already in battle formation, but when Dian Man's entire army rushed eastward, how could they catch up with the speed of the cavalry?
The captain Ju Fu, who was guarding the eastern city and the open space between the mountains, volunteered to ambush in the city after hearing Wei Yan say that an ambush here would bring great merit.
Who knew that they would encounter an attack from the Wei cavalry?
These soldiers had been led by Wu Yi before and had not experienced the battle of Lueyang. Although they were lined up on the flat ground with a large number of spears, they also carried many bows and crossbows.
But the bows and crossbows only fired three random rounds, killing and wounding more than a hundred riders. The Wei cavalry then rushed towards the Shu army formation like a wave.
Dian Man rode his horse in front, bent forward, held the halberd with his right hand horizontally, and used the tip of the blade as the front edge, and thrust it straight into the formation of the Shu army's infantry.
When there was still a distance of two meters, the soldiers at the front of the Shu army, who were holding their spears tightly according to their past training and lying on the ground ready to meet the cavalry's charge, saw Dian Man's face with his eyes wide open and his voice roaring.
As the son of Dian Wei, he had served in the Central Army for nearly twenty years. Although he had always been frustrated, he just had no chance to lead the army alone.
But anyone who underestimates his bravery will surely suffer the consequences.
Almost in an instant, this Shu army infantryman, who was less than 20 years old, was overwhelmed by the momentum of Dian Man's charge. He stood there with his muscles stiff and at a loss.
The next moment, the tip of the halberd slashed across the throat of the Shu army infantryman, taking the life of a boy under the age of twenty.
Although the cavalry in the central army is elite, they are not meant to attack the infantry formation like this.
But now is a critical moment. If we don't charge forward and find a chance to survive in the collision between the cavalry formation and the Shu army, how can we find a way to survive? (End of this chapter)
