The messengers reporting back from Xianyu Jing and the short and fierce trumpet sounds all reported the sudden collapse of the Liaodong Army in the south.
It’s not even an hour before dawn!
The Liaodong Army was so weak that the high-ranking Wei Army officers in the central army camp were speechless for a while.
"Your Majesty," Man Chong said decisively, "The army is advancing on three fronts. If we break through the south, the enemy will be defeated. We should order all the cavalry to cross the river, surround the enemy infantry and cavalry, and seize Liaosui City!"
Sima Yi also interrupted and said, "General Man is right. We cannot let the Liaodong army enter Liaosui City, or else there will be more changes!"
Cao Rui did not hesitate and stood up and said, "Approved. Order the cavalry to cross the river according to their own units. The Yulin Left Army will surround Liaosui City and retain the enemy's defeated soldiers. The Central Commander Guanqiu Jian's troops will line up to the east of the battlefield to stop the enemy from attacking!"
At the same time Cao Rui gave the order, the Hu cavalry on the south and north sides arrived at the battlefield almost at the same time.
Cao Shuang was at the front of the cavalry. Although he was unaware of the details of the battlefield, the cavalry in the northeast direction did not move westward, but continued to move northeast.
Isn't this far away from the battlefield?
Cao Shuang looked at it carefully for a moment, without any hesitation, he immediately turned his horse around and galloped straight to the front of Kebineng's army.
"Chanyu, the enemy cavalry is retreating eastward for some reason. Do you dare to follow me and pursue them?"
Hearing the word "pursuit", Ke Bineng naturally nodded and responded: "Captain Cao, what do you want?"
Cao Shuang said, "Lieutenant Duan and I will lead 2,000 cavalrymen to the north, and you will stay in the south. How about we work together to surround this group of enemy troops and drive them eastward?"
"That's a good idea." Ke Bineng asked, "How far do you want to drive?"
Cao Shuang thought for a moment and said, "At least fifty miles! We must prevent this group of cavalry from coming back!"
"Okay!" Kebineng did not bow, but responded with a fist according to the etiquette of the grassland. Then he raised his horse whip inlaid with gold threads, whipped the air a few times, and shouted loudly in the Xianbei language.
Bei Yan had just led his troops for less than five miles when he discovered that Wei cavalry were chasing them. He did not even bother to look at the Wei army's flag and galloped towards Xiangping in an increasingly hurried manner.
Cao Shuang had learned the art of war, and the enemy was almost in a state of collapse, so he should pursue them relentlessly. Kebi had fought numerous battles on the grassland, and cavalry pursuit was commonplace for him, so he instinctively made the decision to pursue them.
The Liaodong Army also collapsed across the board in the Liaosui battle.
The battle progressed rapidly. At noon, just as Cao Rui climbed up to the top of Liaosui City, Tian Yu brought Gongsun Yan over.
The iron helmet on Gongsun Yan's head was gone, and most of his hair was loose, with his gray hair covering half of his face.
"Your Majesty, the Liaosui commander, Gongsun Yan, has been escorted here. Please have a look."
Cao Rui turned his gaze away from the battlefield under Liaosui City. The Wei soldiers there were cleaning up the battlefield. There were two areas of the Liaodong Army surrounded in the south and north of the city. The Liaodong Army soldiers who knelt down and begged for surrender were having their weapons confiscated one by one by the Wei soldiers.
"Are you Gongsun Yan?" Cao Rui asked, "Who led the cavalry that escaped?"
Gongsun Yan was forced by the tiger guards to kneel on the ground with his arms held down. He did not raise his head and did not speak a word.
Cao Rui stared at Gongsun Yan's armor, which was different from the armor worn by the Wei army. "I'm asking you this carefully. If you have anything to say, say it now. I may be able to spare your life."
"Who is leading that cavalry? There are so few troops here, where is Gongsun Yuan's headquarters?"
Gongsun Yan suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes and swaying white hair made him look like a ghost. He shouted, "Cao thieves! You led your army to invade our borders, you will not die well! Liaodong is the ancestral home of our Gongsun family, get out of here and return to the Central Plains as soon as possible!"
"You are still acting like this in front of me?" Cao Rui shook his head, not even showing any anger on his face: "Prince Kong, what's going on? Why do people all over the world curse me as 'Cao Thief'? Was it the same during the reign of Emperor Wu?"
Sima Yi glanced at Gongsun Yan awkwardly and said softly, "During the reign of Emperor Wu, I held a low position and could not follow the emperor like today, so I did not know." "Forget it." Cao Rui shook his hand and said, "Gongsun Yan, I asked you with good intentions but you scolded me. I wanted to spare your life to see what would happen next, but I can't spare you anymore."
After saying that, Cao Rui waved his hand towards Tian Yu and said, "This man is determined to die, but we can't let him die like this. Let's kill him together with the Gongsun clan later."
"Yes, sir." Tian Yu skillfully took out a handkerchief from his arms, covered Gongsun Yan's mouth, and pulled Gongsun Yan out together with the Tiger Guards.
The city became much quieter.
Cao Rui asked, "What are the movements of the various cavalry units?"
Man Chong cupped his hands and said, "Sun Li's troops from the Left Army of the Imperial Guards, Cao Shuang and Duan Mo's troops from the Five Colonels Camp, and the Xianbei Kebineng's troops have gone to pursue the Beiyan troops. The Xianbei Budugen and other troops, and the Xiongnu Liu Bao and other troops are all helping to supervise the enemy's surrendered infantry."
"The rest of the generals, including Wen Qin, Dai Ling, Jiang Wei, Huan Fan, Guanqiu Jian, etc., are waiting outside the city."
Sima Yi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this place is about 110 miles away from Xiangping. The enemy's situation is unclear, so we should not chase them too far. We should order them to return to Liaosui before nightfall."
Cao Rui nodded slightly: "What do you think?"
Man Chong said: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Works' words are appropriate, and I second the proposal."
The same is true for Xu Shu, Pei Qian and others.
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Okay, let's rest for a day at Liao Tunnel today, and then march eastward tomorrow."
"As you wish, I'll arrange it right away." Man Chong replied with a bow.
After more than ten days of preparation, it took only one morning to break through the Liaosui defense line, but Cao Rui did not feel much satisfaction.
One third of the army was transporting supplies across the Liao River, one third was reorganizing prisoners and cleaning the battlefield, and one third was chasing the fleeing Beiyan tribe.
After nightfall, Cao Rui had just finished his dinner when Man Chong and Sima Yi hurriedly brought someone over from outside.
"Bo Ming?" Cao Rui looked at Zhen Xiang, who was supposed to follow Liu Ye in the northern route, in surprise. He stood up and asked, "Shouldn't you be with Liu Ye's army? Why are you here?"
Zhen Xiang bowed his hands, took a deep breath, and bowed: "Your Majesty, Gongsun Yuan led his army eastward to Goguryeo, intending to hide in the mountains of Goguryeo!"
"General Liu learned of this in the Goguryeo city of Xuantu County and hurriedly sent me as an envoy to inform Your Majesty. Xiangping is empty, so quickly attack Gongsun Yuan!"
"Are you serious?" Cao Rui stared at Zhen Xiang with burning eyes.
"It's absolutely true!" Zhen Xiang said with his chest heaving, "General Liu abandoned Xuantu County and wanted to follow Gongsun Yuan in pursuit. He should have led his army to the vicinity of Xiangping now."
Near Xiangping? Wouldn't that mean they ran into the Beiyan tribe that returned to Xiangping today?
Cao Rui was a little undecided for a moment. He walked a few steps in the hall with his hands behind his back, then turned back to look at Sima Yi: "Sikong suggested at noon that I recall the light cavalry. Do you have any plan now?"
Sima Yi gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, please give me a few moments to think about it."
"Okay!" Cao Rui nodded.
Sima Yi took a few deep breaths, then cupped his hands and said, "Gongsun Yuan first abandoned Liaosui City, then abandoned Xiangping and headed east, disregarding his foundation and only seeking to escape. Although he is alive now, he is actually no different from a dead person."
"Gongsun Yuan is like this, how much fighting spirit can his subordinate Bei Yan have? I think that if we select all the cavalry to march at night and reach the outskirts of Xiangping before tomorrow morning, the enemy will surely be terrified and flee!" (End of this chapter)
