Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1463 Interception
In the past, Xiahou Shang would have naturally believed that this was a divisive plot by the State of Jin, but the evidence listed in the letter, coupled with his current situation, made Xiahou Shang suspicious.

It was very simple. The Jinniu Road was cut off by the Jin army, but no scouts from Sima Yi's subordinates along the way came back to warn people. This was suspicious enough, not to mention that before Lu Xun completely occupied the Chuanzhong Road, the spies sent back by Xiahou Shang reported that the plank road had collapsed in many places. It was not known whether it was caused by rain erosion or deliberate destruction.

Anger surged in Xiahou Shang's chest. If Sima Yi did this on purpose, what on earth did he want to do?
However, the situation did not give him any time to think further, and the next day the Jin army launched a full-scale siege on the city.

Hanzhong has a flat terrain and is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It has the Qinling Mountains to the north and the Bashan Mountains to the south. It is a veritable land of abundance with the Han River running through it.

However, its strategic location lies in the natural barriers of the mountains and Han River surrounding it. But now that the Jin army has pushed the city to the gates, there is no place to defend it. Instead, the surrounding plains have become an excellent position for the Jin army to dig trenches and set up construction equipment.

The spring rain had not stopped yet. In the drizzle, the Jin army hammered thick wooden stakes into the ground to support the catapults. At the same time, they pushed rafts connected by chains into the Han River to cross the moat and approached the city of Hanzhong.

In the end, even the wheeled well fence with a thick tree trunk at the bottom was pulled across the Han River by the warships and close to the Hanzhong city wall. The soldiers climbed up and launched a series of fierce attacks.

Although the most powerful firearms of the Jin army could not be used due to the rain, the rain also caused great damage to the bowstrings of the Wei army. Often at the end of the day, many bows and arrows were soaked and damaged by the rain.

The Jin State had made sufficient material preparations. Not only were the bowstrings and bow arms waterproofed, but there were also a large number of spare parts for replacement. The logistical gap between the two sides was so large that it could no longer be made up by local combat advantages. Soon the outer wall of Hanzhong City was captured by the Jin Army, and the Wei Army was forced to retreat to the inner city.

At this time, the generals and their staff began to find Xiahou Shang to discuss whether to defend or retreat. Xiahou Shang saw that most of the old Wei generals had died, and the remaining ones were mostly Yizhou generals, so he said, "You know, if Jin takes Hanzhong, you locals will not have an easy time either."

"They have conscripted more than 100,000 civilians this time, apparently planning to cultivate the land there. If so, can you still keep your land?"

"Besides, your families are all in the rear. If you can repel the Jin army, you will be able to give your wife and children titles. If you die in battle, the Wei Dynasty will not treat you unfairly."

The generals of Yizhou looked at each other in bewilderment and could only say, "We are willing to defend the city for you, General!"

The next day, the generals of Yizhou bravely took the lead and launched a fierce counterattack against the State of Jin. The Jin army was caught off guard and was almost pushed back. When Zhao Yun, who was supervising the battle, saw this, he immediately ordered Zhang He and Xu Huang to lead the troops to attack on the flanks respectively, while he himself defended the front. After a day and night of fierce fighting, Zhao Yun and the other two were all injured, and the Yizhou generals on the opposite side were almost wiped out. The Wei army was forced to retreat.

When Xiahou Shang heard the report that among the Yizhou generals, Liu Gui, Ling Bao, Wu Lan, Lei Tong and others were all killed in the battle, he did not take it seriously. After all, many generals had died on both sides in recent years, so a few more people would not make a difference.

The only remaining generals in Yizhou were Zhang Ren and Deng Xian. They came back and discussed the matter privately.

Deng Xian said: "I thought we could hold out for a few days, but I didn't expect the Jin army's crossbows to be so formidable. As soon as Liu Gui and Ling Bao got on, they were shot into sieves!"

"We'll end up the same way if we go up there tomorrow, so we might as well make plans early!"

Zhang Ren sneered, "What are you planning? Our lord surrendered in the beginning, what can we do now?"

Deng Xian frowned and said, "I'm always unwilling to wait for death here."

Zhang Ren said: "Who can be willing?"

"But now it's too late to do anything. Xiahou Shang is clearly going to perish with us. It doesn't matter if we die, but is there really a future for us if we remain loyal to Wei?"

Deng Xian said: "Why don't we just surrender?"

Zhang Ren thought for a moment and said, "Lord Liu is still in Chengdu. I must go back to see him at least. I want to die in front of him."

"If the city is captured, you can join the Jin army."

Deng Xian remained silent, but that night they received an urgent order.

When they arrived at Xiahou Shang's place, Xiahou Shang said straight to the point: "You two, one will stay here to cover the retreat, and the other will go to Jinniu Road to open the way. I am going to prepare to retreat back to Chengdu."

After hearing this, the two men cursed in their hearts, "If you don't want to live and die with the Han Communist Party, then why don't you preserve your manpower and bury most of them here?"

Now most of the young and strong soldiers in the city are dead or wounded, and you want to leave at this time?

What is the significance of the Yizhou generals who died in the previous battle?
Xiahou Shang also had his difficulties. He had expected the Jin army to be much more prepared. If this continued, the Wei army would just be defeated. In this case, it would be better for them to set up defenses at Jinniu Road to block the Jin army's advance.

Although there were Jin troops at Jinniu Road, Xiahou Shang guessed that there would be no more than 3,000 of them. Compared with the tens of thousands of Lu Xun troops blocking Micang Road, they were already the best choice. Now he still had more than 10,000 Wei troops. As long as he defeated Wei Yan, there was still hope of retreating. Zhang Ren and Deng Xian looked at each other, and Deng Xian understood and said, "I will cover the rear."

Xiahou Shang patted Deng Xian on the shoulder with great satisfaction and said, "After I return, I will definitely submit a memorial to His Majesty to ask for a reward for your merit."

He turned to Zhang Ren and said, "Then you go to Jinniu Road and clear the way. I will follow you."

Zhang Ren took one look at Deng Xian and immediately took orders, leading 3,000 soldiers and horses to retreat all the way to Jinniu Road. Xiahou Shang followed with 8,000 soldiers, leaving Deng Xian with only thousands of wounded soldiers in the city.

The next morning, when the Jin army attacked the city, they found that the Wei army put up a little resistance, so they opened the inner city gate and surrendered. Deng Xian and Lao Rui's remaining soldiers directly surrendered the city.

When Zhao Yun learned about this, he hurried to report to Zhuge Liang, saying: "The Wei army has simply abandoned Hanzhong. They still have more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. I am afraid that Wei Yan will not be able to stop them."

Zhuge Liang said: "It will only take one night. Let Zhang He and Xu Huang lead the troops to chase them."

After receiving the military order, Zhang He and Xu Huang quickly assembled 5,000 elite soldiers and rushed to Jinniu Road in the rain. They traveled for two days and two nights before they caught up with the Wei army who were fleeing for their lives. They could not help but sigh at how quickly the Wei army escaped.

At this time, the Wei army had encountered Wei Yan's army before and was surrounded, and was severely defeated by Wei Yan's army.

Just as Xiahou Shang had expected, Wei Yan's army traveled light in order to cross the mountains and hills. Many of the 3,000 soldiers were separated on the road, and there were only more than 2,000 people when they arrived at Jinniu Road.

Wei Yan knew that if the Wei army retreated on a large scale, he would not be able to stop them with just his own men, so when he saw the muddy mountain road washed by rain, he immediately came up with a plan.

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He originally wanted to destroy the mountain road, but digging holes alone had limited effect. If the Wei army repaired the road while marching, they would not be able to keep up with the enemy's speed. So Wei Yan gathered all the hundreds of explosive bamboo tubes he brought this time and buried them under the several-mile-long plank road.

The so-called plank road is a wooden passage built on one side of the hillside, with one side against the mountain and the other side against a cliff. If this plank road is destroyed, the Wei army will surely be alerted and climb up the hillside to find a way.

Although it has been raining, the explosive bamboo tubes buried under the plank road can conveniently block the rain. Of course, if the bamboo tubes fall into water, the gunpowder cannot be ignited, which means all the work is in vain.

With Wei Yan's character, he naturally wanted to take a big gamble, so after he buried the explosives, he personally watched with a telescope. After two days, a Wei army came over.

Seeing that most of the Wei army had walked onto the plank road, Wei Yan quickly gave a signal, and the soldiers hiding under the plank road quickly lit the fire and then fled down the mountain along the ropes.

Fortunately, the fire signal was still effective. With continuous explosions and flames, the several-mile-long plank road was completely destroyed. More than a thousand Wei soldiers fell off the cliff and died. Even Zhang Ren, who was leading the way in the front, was not spared and was smashed to pieces.

The remaining soldiers panicked and climbed up the steep hillside to escape. Wei Yan immediately led his troops up the mountain and started chasing the fleeing soldiers.

The two sides fought for two hours before Xiahou Shang, who was at the rear, arrived. He had been marching day and night and was now exhausted. Eight thousand men kept falling behind and fleeing, and now there were less than five thousand left.

Seeing the plank road in such a state, he was furious and urged his soldiers to go up the mountain to attack Wei Yan's army. The two sides fought for a day. Zhang He and Xu Huang had already arrived from behind and blocked Xiahou Shang's thousands of troops on the mountain.

Xiahou Shang was also furious and urged the Wei army and the Jin army to have a decisive battle. His main attack direction was naturally Wei Yan's direction. As for the pursuing Jin army, he could not care about it and had no time to spare.

Looking at the speed at which the Jin army was chasing him, he realized that Deng Xian had obviously surrendered not long after he left, otherwise the other side would not have come so quickly. He couldn't help but feel angry. The generals of Yizhou were indeed unreliable!
He did not see Zhang Ren and thought that the enemy had either escaped or surrendered, so he immediately led his troops to fight a life-and-death battle with Wei Yan's army.

When Wei Yan saw the appearance of the Wei army, he knew that the other side was going to fight to the death, so he drew his sword and went into battle, hacking and killing their way forward with his personal guards. From time to time, people on the steep hillside were stabbed and tumbled down the hillside.

Falling from this height would almost certainly mean death, and the ground was slippery due to rain, so both sides lost men very quickly. Not long after, Xiahou Shang and Wei Yan met their end.

By the looks of each other's attire, they recognized that they were the other side's generals, and they all led their troops to rush over, and the two sides fought in a group.

Wei Yan had to use one foot to prop up the tree roots and one hand to hold the trunk to steady his body, leaving only one hand to swing the knife. In this situation, he could only exert 20% of his strength. What he feared most now was that a soldier from the other side would grab him around the waist and they would die together. That would be too embarrassing a death.

Over there, Xiahou Shang took the spears handed over by his subordinates and kept throwing them at Wei Yan. Wei Yan dodged several of them. Looking at the spear left in his hand, he immediately put his back foot against the tree trunk to stabilize his body and stabbed Wei Yan continuously.

Wei Yan blocked a few times with his long sword, but was stabbed in the chest by a spear. Although he was protected by armor, he felt a black screen in front of his eyes. He immediately became furious and jumped up to pounce on Xiahou Shang.

(End of this chapter)