Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1262 Trap
Because the ice and snow were slippery in winter, the Xianzhen Camp did not wear a full set of heavy armor. They replaced the inner armor with warm cotton coats, and then put on the outer lamellar armor to facilitate movement.

But even so, it was still not something that the Xianbei cavalry's bows and arrows could penetrate. Moreover, in the extremely cold weather, the bow's elongation and toughness were greatly reduced. Often, the Xianbei cavalry pulled too hard, and the fragile bow arms would suddenly break with a snap in the cold weather.

Moreover, in the cold wind, the Xianbei cavalry were exposed outside and their hands gradually froze. Not to mention aiming, even the action of drawing the bow was distorted.

In contrast, the Xianzhen Camp had put on leather and cotton gloves in advance, holding long spears, and under the protection of armor, they stabbed the Xianbei cavalry from a high position, killing the first wave of Xianbei cavalry and making them defeated. In less than half a moment, the hillside was covered with corpses.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Suonu blew the horn to order the soldiers to retreat. At the same time, he rode his horse to report to Zhu Luohou, saying that Bailang Mountain was difficult to capture and suggested thinking of another way.

After hearing this, Zhu Luohou frowned and said, "How can we rush to Xuwu Mountain if we can only reach Bailang Mountain Pass?"

Suonu suggested: "Why don't we retreat first and join forces with Louban, then form a battle array together, defend against the sudden attack from the mountain, force our way through Bailang Mountain, and fight a decisive battle with the Jin army?"

Zhu Luohou said: "The Jin army is probably aware of this and will definitely harass and delay us until the reinforcements arrive. If we waste time now and they bring a large army with them, our chances of winning will be greatly reduced."

"This group of people should have come here first. The main force of the Jin army still has several days of journey ahead. We can only pass through quickly, kill the defenders of Xu Wushan, and occupy the Xu Wushan Pass. Only then can we take advantage of the terrain when fighting against the main force of the Jin army. So we must go to Xu Wushan as soon as possible!"

Suonu said, "Then your Majesty, do you mean to ignore the Jin army infantry on White Wolf Mountain and charge straight ahead?"

Zhu Luohou sneered, "That's right. Just now, the spies reported that there are only a few thousand soldiers stationed at the White Wolf Pass. We have more than 20,000 people here. How can we be afraid of them?"

"I have just learned about the situation on the mountain. The flag is high, which should be the Jin army's trap camp, led by General Gao Shun, with a total of about 800 people."

"Let's ignore them. They can't catch up with our cavalry on foot. Moreover, there are soldiers from Louban coming from behind. If the Xianzhen Camp wants to go down the mountain, they will inevitably be surrounded from front and back, which is tantamount to seeking death."

"So what we have to do now is to gather all our forces, rush through the Bailang Mountain Pass defenders as quickly as possible, and then clear the Xuwu Mountain Pass!"

After hearing this, Suonu immediately praised: "Your Majesty is wise!"

But he always felt something was wrong. These soldiers added up to several thousand people. If Xu Wushan's garrison arrived ahead of time, were there really no other people behind them?
If not, how many people are there in Xu Wushan’s garrison?
He hesitated again and again, but still expressed his doubts. Zhu Luohou was quite unhappy when he heard it, "You don't think that the reinforcements of the Jin army arrived ahead of time, do you?"

"When we came, we marched at full speed to Liucheng, and we took a shortcut through the Wuhuan River estuary. Since then, there has been no news of any attacks at the river estuary, which means that the Jin army can only take the Xuwushan route."

"No matter how fast they walk, it will take several days to arrive. Unless they travel a hundred miles a day, no soldier can withstand such a march for three days!"

After hearing this, Suonu was convinced and said, "Your Majesty is right. I am willing to be the pioneer!"

Zhu Luohou nodded vigorously, "Okay!"

"You lead 10,000 men to break through the mountain pass. Don't worry about anything else, just charge forward and then cut off the Jin army at Bailang Mountain Pass. I will lead the central army to surround them and wipe them out!"

After hearing this, Suonu immediately mounted his horse and led the Xianbei cavalry to charge directly at the Jin army at Bailang Mountain Pass. Tens of thousands of cavalry charged together, with such momentum that the sky and the earth changed color for a moment.

Suonu rode on his warhorse, trying his best to speed up. The Jin army formation at Bailang Mountain Pass was getting closer and closer. He saw from afar that there were thousands of Jin troops lined up at Bailang Mountain Pass, which was several miles long. But they could not cover such a long battle line, so they only sent six or seven layers of soldiers. Behind them was a flat area!
When the Jin army soldiers saw the Xianbei cavalry attacking, they pushed out their logistical baggage vehicles and lined them up in a row to block the cavalry's charge. When Suonu saw this, he sneered in his heart. He had seen this kind of chariot formation many times and had already figured out a way to restrain it!
He immediately gave an order, and the war horses gathered into two arrows, one on the left and one on the right, and pressed against both sides of the mountain pass. This was because the chariot formation on the flank was weak, and even if it could be blocked, as long as brute force was used to break through, or the horses were dismounted and pushed away, the chariot formation would be completely useless!
Seeing that the Xianbei cavalry was getting closer, the Jin army was commanded by Qian Zhao. He gave an order and the soldiers began to reinforce on both sides, leaving a gap in the center.

When Suonu saw this, he was even more delighted. The enemy had made a stupid move, so wouldn't it be a breakthrough for him?
Following his command, a group of troops were separated from both sides and they began to join forces to break out towards the center, determined to start from wherever they broke through first!

The soldiers of the Jin army placed their spears on the chariots and were ready for battle. Zonu looked at the densely packed spears without fear, but accelerated as fast as he could, and then when he was within range of one shot, he shouted out orders.

The Xianbei cavalry took out the bows and arrows behind them and shot. For a moment, the arrows rained down, shooting the chariots in front of them like hedgehogs, and the Jin soldiers had to shrink their bodies to avoid them.

Zonu keenly found the most suitable breakthrough point. Under his leadership, in just a dozen breaths, the arrows of the attack pierced into the Jin army's defense line and then passed through without any stagnation.

Countless war horses either knocked over the carriages or jumped over them, completely breaking through the Jin army's formation. However, when they landed on the ground, they were knocked over by ropes and pits buried in the snow. Hundreds of cavalrymen fell heavily to the ground at once.

Suonu was not moved at all when he saw this. This amount of loss was almost negligible. All that was left was to rush over a few miles and completely surround the Jin army! He rushed forward and looked back, only to find that the Jin soldiers were not panicked at all. No one even turned around, but just focused on dealing with the enemy in front of them.

Before Suonu could think about it, he gave an order, preparing to let the cavalry turn around and deal with the infantry on the defense line. However, at this moment, he found that hundreds of cavalry were running towards him from a distance, led by a general wearing a silver helmet and riding a white horse, running towards him with a spear in hand, and on the flag behind him was a big word "Zhao"!

A thought came to Suonu's mind: could the other party be Zhao Yun, the governor of Youzhou?

The two sides had fought several times before. Seeing how brave Zhao Yun was, Suonu didn't have the courage to fight him and subconsciously wanted to retreat. Suddenly, his body shook. Wait, shouldn't Zhao Yun be in Yijing?
Suonu instinctively sensed that something was wrong, and he subconsciously wanted to spurr his horse to avoid it. However, Zhao Yun had already arrived on his horse, thrusting his spear at him. However, Suonu was extremely cunning. He feinted a shot, rode away, and had his men avoid Zhao Yun's cavalry and continue to rush towards Xu Wushan.

He knew very well that he could not be blocked here by Zhao Yun, otherwise he would be in the narrow strip of land behind the Jin infantry. In this way, the cavalry would not be able to speed up and would only be slowly eaten away.

So his choice was to charge forward at full speed, then outflank the enemy and trap Zhao Yun's cavalry and Jin's infantry in the middle.

Sun Nu had a good idea, but as he accelerated and sprinted past Zhao Yun's cavalry, another direction appeared in the distance.

Bailang Pass is a passage several miles wide and more than ten miles long. The Jin army soldiers previously guarded the entrance, Zhao Yun guarded the middle, and the narrow exit at the back was blocked by Zhuge Liang himself.

Looking at the dense trenches and chariot formations in front of Zhuge Liang's army, as well as the dozens of densely packed infantry behind them, Zonu's scalp went numb. It would definitely be more trouble than gain if he charged into the formation again, and his hope of breaking through was not great.

He made a choice immediately and prepared to turn around and fight Zhao Yun. As long as he waited for the army of Zhu Luohou to arrive, he would be able to break through the Jin army at the entrance, advance step by step, and rescue himself!

However, when he turned his horse around, he was surprised to find that Zhao Yun did not entangle with him, but rushed out of the mountain pass through the gap opened by the Jin army and attacked the main camp of Zhu Luohou!
Only then did Suonu realize that the Jin army had hidden their cavalry in the mountain pass and lured him into a passage where the cavalry had difficulty speeding up, leaving him in a situation where he was sandwiched on both sides by the Qi infantry formation.

The Jin cavalry rushed out of the mountain pass and went directly to engage in a cavalry duel with the main force of Zhu Luohou's central army!

Suonu's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. Although the Jin cavalry had only a few thousand people, far less than the main force of Zhu Luohou's central army, there was still the Jin army's trap camp on the hillside over there, eyeing them covetously. It turned out that the enemy was planning to attack Zhu Luohou's central army!

But Zonu was also very confused. Where did the enemy get the confidence to surround a larger force with a smaller one?

As long as Zhu Luohou breaks through the mountain pass, won't these scattered soldiers of the Jin army be at the mercy of their own forces?

His question was soon answered. The Jin army soldiers on the Bailang Hill began to use small catapults to project explosive bamboo tubes, causing them to explode continuously in the central army formation of Zhu Luohou.

The Xianbei cavalry's horse formation was instantly in chaos.

In ancient times, very high requirements were placed on war horses. They were required not to be frightened by loud noises, nor to be distracted by the sights in front of them. For this reason, war horses' ears had to be plugged and their eyes blindfolded, especially those responsible for charging into battle.

The Xianbei cavalry's war horses often harassed the border, and most of them were archers, usually not blindfolded, so they had to train their courage from a young age, but they were careless and unprepared when it came to their ears.

The Xianbei war horses were quite familiar with the sounds of war drums and shouts of killing, and would not lose control because of them. Moreover, the Jin army did not use gunpowder in the previous battle between the two sides.

But this time it was different. Unfamiliar loud noises kept exploding, frightening the Xianbei horses and making them fall into chaos. However, the Jin horses led by Zhao Yun had already plugged their ears, and were not affected at all as they launched flank fire at the Xianbei army formation, causing a chain reaction in the center of the Zhuluohou army for a while.

Zhu Luohou was furious, but he was trapped between the hillside and the inner side of Zhao Yun's attack direction, unable to turn around for a while. He hardened his heart, made a decision immediately, and charged directly towards the mountain pass.

Zonu in the passage also reacted and prepared to attack from both sides. Zhuge Liang on the other side naturally would not give him this opportunity. He immediately ordered the army to move forward, trying to squeeze the cavalry led by Zonu to death in the passage.

The two sides were like several layers of pancakes. As the formation advanced, they gradually became more and more pressurized and became a ball, and a melee broke out.

Seeing that the Jin army was mainly composed of infantry, which restrained their own cavalry, Marquis Juluo felt it was difficult for him to break the deadlock. He couldn't help but feel annoyed, wondering if he could only rely on the reinforcements from Lou Ban at the back to break the deadlock.
Little did he know that the Louban squad in the back was also in trouble.

(End of this chapter)