Chapter 510: Arriving at the City
If you want to attack a city, you must first lay siege.
North of the Han River, the Wu army camp under the city of Fancheng stretched for ten miles, trapping Fancheng from the west, north and east.
Over the past few days, 20,000 Wu soldiers, under the command of Wu's right general Bu Zhi and general Pan Jun, calmly attacked the city.
Although the soldiers were constantly driven, they were generally worry-free. The psychological advantage of the attackers was much greater than that of the defenders. Not to mention that Fancheng was close to the Han River, and the soldiers could see the ships and warships patrolling back and forth on the river, which gave them a full sense of security.
But when the sound of Wei cavalry's hooves was heard, the Wu army's calm mentality was immediately broken.
The horn ordering the troops to return to camp was blown everywhere in the military camp under Fancheng. The commanders of the troops, Qu Chang and Du Bo, shouted orders to be on alert. The right general Bu Zhi himself walked out of the tent wearing a helmet and armor, and led more than a hundred guards to the center of the camp to wait in full battle array.
"stop!"
The cavalry commander Qu Changzuoshi, who was riding on a large bay horse, raised his right hand high, and held the reins with his left hand. The warhorse under him also raised its two front hooves and then stopped steadily. The more than one hundred cavalrymen following behind him also stopped at the same time as if they were moving their arms and fingers.
"General, what should we do next?" A trusted sergeant named Jiang Wu beside him looked at Zuo Shi and asked in a deep voice.
Zuo Shi pointed to the Wu army camp wall a hundred steps ahead and snorted coldly, "Lord Xu ordered me to lead a hundred cavalrymen here, not to kill the enemy, but to damage the morale of the Wu army and tell them that the imperial army has arrived! I will be the spearhead, and you will be the two wings behind me, and we will circle the Wu army camp outside Fancheng to show off our military strength!"
"Yes!" Squad leader Jiang Wu bowed and asked, "Does the general want us to insult the Wu army?"
"No need, just follow me on horseback." Zuo Shi said calmly.
Zuo Shi was a trusted cavalry commander in Guanqiu Jian's Zhongling Army Camp. When Xu Shu came down from Yecheng to Jingzhou, the emperor sent Zuo Shi to lead a hundred cavalry guards, and today all of them were sent to the front by Xu Shu.
One hundred cavalrymen formed a spearhead formation and set out from the infantry positions of the Wu army in the west. They gradually increased their speed and galloped past the Wu army camp, which was more than a hundred steps away. A strong knight behind Zuo Shi was holding Xu Shu's general flag in his hand as he rode his horse.
As the sound of horse hooves approached, the soldiers of the Wu army behind the wooden fence of the camp occasionally cried out in surprise. Soon, the sound of the cavalry gradually moved away to the east, and Bu Zhi's face became more and more ugly.
"Pass on my order! Order Lieutenant General Cai Sheng to lead 2,000 soldiers and stand firm one mile outside the camp. Do not allow the Wei cavalry to act so rampantly again!"
"Yes, sir!" The messenger took the order and left.
Since the Wu army was the one besieging the city, their forces were evenly distributed outside Fancheng. Bu Zhi and Pan Jun's troops were scattered over a length of ten miles, and the forces in each place were not strong enough. The two thousand infantrymen from Cai Sheng's army that Bu Zhi had just summoned were all his reserve forces.
This is also the reason why he quickly informed Sun Quan of the military situation.
At this time, General Xu Shu of Ningyuan had already set up his battle array seven miles northwest of Fancheng, waiting for the arrival of the Wu army. There were 16,000 infantrymen, 6,000 prefecture troops under Shen Dan in the west, 4,000 foreign troops under Wen Dai in the east, and Xu Shu himself leading 6,000 foreign troops as the central army. The three divisions formed a goose feather shape and stood on the plain.
It is said to be a plain, but in fact it is all wasteland.
In the fourth year of Taihe, the farmland in the inland prefectures and counties was not enough to be cultivated. The people near Xiangfan either moved to Nanyang or Yuzhou, and the fertile fields were turned into wastelands overgrown with weeds.
Xu Shu was not idle either. Instead, he called three captains in his army to come and chat with him.
"Zhao Gu, Wei Sheng, Wei Xian, did I call you the right names?"
Xu Shu looked at the three officers standing solemnly in front of him and asked one by one from left to right.
"Mr. Xu, I am Zhao Gu."
"My name is Wei Sheng."
"My name is Wei Xian." The three of them answered one after another. Xu Shu asked again, "Wei Sheng, Wei Xian, your names are similar and your looks are not much different. Are you brothers?"
Wei Sheng bowed and said, "Xu Gong, I am your wise judge. I am a cousin of Wei Xian and I am from Chen County, Yuzhou. I am forty-six this year, two years older than Wei Xian."
Wei Xian added, "Mr. Xu, my subordinate and I were both officers in the Wuwei Camp. In the first year of Huangchu, we were appointed by the court to Jiangxia."
In the first year of Huangchu… This was when the previous emperor Cao Pi had just ascended the throne. Did he place people around Wen Pin at that time? The Wuwei Camp was said to be led by Xu Chu, but in fact it was also the direct line of the Emperor Wu and Emperor Wen. There were countless people from the Wuwei Camp who were appointed as generals.
It was obvious that the two of them were explaining their backgrounds to Xu Shu, trying to show that they were trustworthy people.
"What about you? Where are you from?" Xu Shu turned to look at Zhao Gu.
"I am from Anlu County, Jiangxia Commandery. In the 19th year of Jian'an, I joined General Wen's army." Zhao Gu replied.
Xu Shu chuckled and nodded slightly.
In fact, Xu Shu didn't really care about the origins of the three men. Although he could use military law to restrain his subordinates when he was in front of the enemy, Xu Shu himself had no personal soldiers, so it was very necessary for him to communicate well with the three captains.
"It is already 7:45 ." Xu Shu pointed at the sun in the sky and said, "In another hour and a half, at 3:45 ., whether the Wu army comes or not, I will order the army to withdraw."
Wei Sheng asked, "Lord Xu, then we won't fight the Wu army today?"
Xu Shu said, "Whether to fight or not is not up to me. It also depends on how the Wu army responds. In short, the 10,000-man Wuwei Battalion led by Qian Zhenxi will reach Deng County in two days. Today, I will take you to test the courage of the Wu army."
"Yes, sir. Please give your instructions, Lord Xu." Wei Sheng replied.
Zuo Shi galloped on his horse under the city of Fancheng, and naturally he could not escape the sight of the defenders in the city. After receiving the message from the officer, the defender Lu Shi did not stop for a moment and hurried to the north wall. Looking at the cavalry figures outside the Wu army camp in the north of the city, he laughed with relief.
"What's going on, General?" asked Sun Ke, a military officer standing by, puzzled.
Lu Shi rolled up his sleeves, put his hands on his waist, and said with a smile: "Don't you understand yet? Shen Dan doesn't have cavalry in Xinye. This cavalry must have come from Xuchang! According to the date, the reinforcements should arrive soon."
"Tell the four Simas that reinforcements from Xuchang have arrived and Fancheng is saved! Even if you have to hang your head on your waist for the next two days, you must keep your eyes open and guard it well. Don't fall down at the critical moment!"
"Yes, sir. I'll inform them one by one right away." Sun Ke accepted the order and could not hide the joy on his face.
On the top of the Fancheng city wall, everyone cheered from where Lu Shi was standing. The sound rose and fell along the top of the city wall, and the morale of the people in the city was immediately boosted.
The two thousand soldiers that Bu Zhi sent out to form a battle array ultimately failed to encounter the Wei cavalry.
Zuo Shi's 100 knights were all experienced in riding and controlling horses. They probably calculated the range of the Wu army's bows and arrows, and probed about 100 steps to deceive the Wu army's arrows, but none of them hit them, and then they left calmly to the north.
Zhao Gu and Wei Xian returned to their respective camps, and Xu Shu also stayed in the front of Wei Sheng's army. After a long time, no Wu soldiers came to respond. Xu Shu waited for more than half an hour and said to Wei Sheng:
"Pass my order, the army advance one mile!"
"Follow the order!"
The 16,000 Wei troops immediately advanced forward and stopped six miles northwest of Fancheng.
(End of this chapter)
