"This..." Zhao Yan pulled over a soldier standing behind him and said in a deep voice, "Go and invite Yin Shuping over. Go quickly and don't delay!"
"Yes, sir!" After receiving the order, the soldier ran. Soon, Yin Fan hurried to the top of the city wall.
"Greetings, Lord Zhao and General Niu. Does Lord Zhao have anything to ask me?" Yin Fan asked calmly.
Before Zhao Yan could speak, Niu Jin, who was more impatient, said directly: "Shu Ping, why are there catapults in the Wu army? You came from Sun Quan's army, do you know about this?"
Yin Fan smiled bitterly and said, "General, I have only lived in Wu for a few months. How could I have come into contact with such things? It is not easy to know the general movements of Sun Quan and the details of the officials and generals of Dongwu."
Niu Jin smacked his lips and said, "That's strange. Historically, only the Wei Dynasty has used catapults. The last time I heard the word catapult in a battle example was when Zhang Zhengxi attacked Zhuge Liang in Qinzhou two years ago."
"Zhuge Liang?" Yin Fan frowned and asked, "General, are you saying that the royal army used catapults when they attacked Shu in the second year of Taihe? Is it possible that the Shu army got the catapults of the Wei Dynasty?"
"How do I know this?" Niu Jin was about to explain, but Zhao Yan, who was standing by, stopped Niu Jin and said:
"I know the details of this matter. It is clearly written in the documents of the Privy Council that when Zhang He attacked Zhuge Liang in the Chiting River Valley, the Shu army retreated all the way and did not deserve the catapults of the Wei Dynasty."
Yin Fan shook his head and said, "Shu and Wu are allies, but Wu has never used it. The last person who saw Wei attack with a catapult was Zhuge Liang of Shu."
"This man is known for his wisdom and ingenuity. Everyone in Wuchang knows about this. Maybe Zhuge Liang imitated the function of the catapult of Wei Dynasty and built it in Shu, and gave the manufacturing method to Sun Quan?"
Zhao Yan shook his head slightly and said, "In my opinion, things may not be as Shuping said. I haven't heard of Wu Jun sending stone carts in the past few days. Lu Shi is stationed in Fancheng, so I'm afraid it will be more difficult."
Zhao Yan, Niu Jin and Yin Fan in Xiangyang city, separated by the Han River, figured out the whole situation with just a few words.
Yes, the method of making a catapult was invented by Zhuge Liang and brought to Sun Quan from Baishui by the envoy Jiang Wan as a gift. There had been no significant progress in the attack on Fancheng in the past few days, and Lu Shi had done his duty in resisting. Thanks to Shi Yi's reminder, Sun Quan remembered this matter.
"The top of the city is dangerous! General, don't go up!" Inside Fancheng, the military officer Sun Ke grabbed Lu Shi who was walking up the stairs to the city wall. He said loudly: "The Wu army is firing stones and bullets at the top of the city. The top of the city is the key point to be attacked. Don't miss it. The lives of all the soldiers in the city depend on you, general!"
Although this person also has the surname Sun, he has nothing to do with the Fuchun Sun family. Wei also had officials with the surname Sun, such as the current Yanzhou governor Sun Zi and the central army general Sun Li.
Lu Shi turned back and looked at Sun Ke coldly: "If I, as a general, don't dare to go to the top of the city, how can the soldiers dare to defend? My life is life, but their lives are not lives? Let go, don't say anymore!"
Sun Ke looked at his general's fierce face, and reluctantly let go of his hand. He then said, "Do we need to light the beacon fire again today? We have been lighting it every day at si hour for the past few days, but we have not waited for the reinforcements to arrive."
"Keep burning!" Lu Shi said viciously, "Shen Dan has been living in Xinye for more than ten days. Even if he could crawl there, he still hasn't come to rescue us. Let's see how long he can drag it out!"
Just when Lu Shi's mentality was getting worse and he stood on the city wall to boost morale in person, braving the arrows and stones to prevent the Wu army from taking advantage of the situation, Xu Shu finally waited for Wen Dai's troops who had arrived from Jiangxia in Deng County, fifteen miles to the north.
The 10,000 men under Wen Dai's command were all foreign troops from the Wei Dynasty, and their combat effectiveness was much stronger than the soldiers from the prefectures and counties under Shen Dan's command. These were the reinforcements that Xu Shu had been waiting for in Deng County, and they were also an army that could change the situation on the battlefield in Fancheng.
As he continued to gather information, the situation on the battlefield gradually became clearer in Xu Shu's eyes:
From Shandu upstream of Xiangyang to Yuliangzhou at the bend of Xiangyang, the river of more than 100 miles was under the control of Wu Jun. In addition, Wu Jun also built a fort at Yukou to wait for the enemy to attack, while Wu Jun outside Fancheng was still attacking the city.
In the third year of Huangchu, tens of thousands of Wei troops led by Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, and Xu Huang attacked Jiangling. Zhu Ran was able to hold out in the city for half a year with only 5,000 men. Although Fancheng was smaller and more dilapidated, and there were more Wu troops outside the city, it was no problem to hold out for 20 days.
That's right, Xu Shu gave Lu Shi a deadline of twenty days. If Lu Shi, with five thousand soldiers, couldn't even hold out for twenty days, then he deserved to die for his incompetence.
This deadline was the time Xu Shu got for the arrival of the Xuchang Qianzhao Army after calculating the time required for the envoys to travel. Wendai's 10,000 foreign troops could allow Xu Shu to implement his plan a few days earlier.
"General Wen, please accept my condolences. General, you are a trustworthy minister of the country. I believe the court will certainly provide you with relief and posthumous titles, so that you can live with honor and die with sorrow." When Xu Shu first met Wen Dai outside the city of Deng County, he bowed with a solemn expression.
Wen Dai knew that Xu Shu was not offering this gift to him, but to the recently deceased General Wen Pin and Wen Zhongye of the Wei Dynasty. As Wen Pin's eldest son, Wen Dai immediately knelt down and bowed:
"Please ask Lord Xu, General Xiahou has taken charge of all military affairs in Jiangxia and has specially sent his subordinates to lead 10,000 foreign troops here."
"Please stand up quickly. The messenger has already informed me of this, so there is no need for us to repeat it." Xu Shu helped Wen Dai, who was kneeling on the ground, up and asked immediately, "Can your 10,000 troops stand up for a fight? If you don't need to rest, go with me to Fancheng to relieve the pressure!" After Wen Dai stood up, he took out the military token that commanded the 10,000 foreign troops from his arms, and handed it to Xu Shu with both hands respectfully, just like he had handed it to Xiahou Ru at the beginning:
"Whether to fight or defend, I will follow Mr. Xu's orders!"
Xu Shu did not hesitate at all. He took the military token and held it in his hand, saying directly: "In this case, in half an hour, the entire army will march to Fancheng! General Wen, I will lead your 4,000 soldiers to the east as the left wing of the army."
"I will follow Mr. Xu's orders!" Wen Dai bowed.
"General Shen," Xu Shu turned to look at Shen Dan who was standing aside, "You lead 6,000 soldiers to the west as the right wing of the army. The remaining 2,000 soldiers of your army will defend Deng County as the retreat route of the army. I will lead 6,000 foreign troops as the central army."
"As ordered!" Shen Dan bowed slightly and said no more. When there were only 8,000 troops, it was reasonable to just wait and see. Now that there are 10,000 reinforcements, it would be a bit too much if he didn't move forward.
Xu Shu looked at the two men and said, "Today I will lead my army outside Fancheng. I do not want to engage in a battle with the Wu army. If the Wu army attacks, we will defend on flat ground. If the Wu army does not attack, we will return to Deng County in the evening. Do you understand?"
Wen Dai was a little confused and asked:
"Mr. Xu, if we don't attack the city, how can we rescue the defenders? Wouldn't that discourage the defenders?"
Xu Shu glanced at Wen Dai and said, "The Wuwei Camp led by Zhenxi will reach Deng County in two days. In fact, in my opinion, the troops you two lead do not have much chance of winning against the Wu army. We need to bring Zhenxi here so that we can attack the enemy head-on."
"Qian Zhenxi is coming?" Wen Dai exclaimed, but his expression became more relaxed and relieved: "If the Wuwei Battalion reaches Fancheng, there will be no worries!"
……
In the afternoon, Bu Zhi's troops of the Wu army who were besieging Fancheng on the west side received the news from the scouts. He immediately wrote a short message and sent someone to deliver it to Sun Quan's camp in Yuliangzhou.
The dock west of Fancheng was only a dozen miles away from Yuliangzhou. The boats were moving very fast down the river. About half an hour later, Sun Quan, the King of Wu, in the camp, knew about the reinforcements from the Wei army.
"I have been waiting here for half a month, and finally saw a Wei army coming to help." Sun Quan handed the military report to Quan Cong: "Zi Huang, take a look, do you have any ideas?"
General Quan Cong of Sui Nan was originally responsible for the defense of Yukou. After the construction of the temporary fort was completed, Quan Cong left a thousand soldiers on each side of the east and west banks of Yukou for defense. He brought all the 8,000 soldiers under his command back to the Wu army camp on Yuliangzhou, and did not participate in the siege by Bu Zhi and Pan Jun.
Sun Quan's military strategy this time was generally conservative. Before Sun Quan sent troops to Wuchang, he also explained this to his ministers.
If everything went well, Sun Quan hoped to occupy both Xiangyang and Fancheng. If the Wei army came to the rescue in time and Fancheng could not be captured, then using the navy to block the Han River and relying on the defense system of Yuliangzhou and Yukou to calmly besiege Xiangyang would also be an acceptable result.
If Fancheng could not be taken, the armies of Wu and Wei would inevitably be stuck in a long-term stalemate, which was equivalent to Sun Quan attracting Wei's troops here.
Prime Minister Zhuge, who commanded the troops at Baishui, was also able to calmly launch a northern expedition against the Wei State in Guanxi in Yizhou.
Although Wu and Han were two countries, they were one.
Zhuge Liang saw this matter clearly, and so did Sun Quan.
"Your Majesty, the Wei army is coming from the northwest, and most of the Right General's troops are besieging the city, and the army camps are scattered. How about letting me lead the army by boat to the west of Fancheng to assist the Right General in dealing with the Wei army?"
"Zihuang's words are appropriate." Sun Quan nodded and said, "Whether the Wei army wants to withdraw their camp or enter Fancheng, I can't let the Wei army get what they want. Zihuang, go quickly. If you have any news, report back to the camp at any time."
"As you command!" Quan Cong stood up and saluted. (End of this chapter)
