My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 218 General Game
After heavy rain, it was sunny with clear skies for several days.

Wei's main force of 16 troops is marching from Luyang. The [-] troops of Wu and Yue are located in the west. The [-] soldiers and horses of the capital and the [-] Tiefeng Yijie Army are located in the middle. The [-] soldiers and horses of Sui and Qingzhou are located in the middle. East location.

16 people, horses, chariots, shafts, and various equipment spread across this plain mixed with hilly landscape, extending for a distance of more than 20 miles from left to right.

The banners stretched endlessly, blocking out the sky and the sun. Even if they were separated by several miles, the march of the armies and the splashing dust that filled the sky were clearly visible like a sandstorm.

The [-] soldiers and horses of the capital in the center are the main force this time. The flag with the character Wei and the big flag with the character Zhao are flying in the wind. Along with the advancing road, sitting on a chariot pulled by four horses, Zhao Guangshi, who is over seventy years old, is full of body. Wearing armor, he sat on a chair and wiped the sweat from his forehead from time to time. Scouts were running around him.

Various reports described the surrounding landforms and the situation of enemy scouts. On both sides of the chariot were the generals from the capital brought out from Luyang, as well as a group of subordinates he had trained in Huizhou who were capable of fighting. One of them was extremely suitable for charging into battle. , holding a big ax, bravely championing the three armies, the first-level masters in the world are no more than fifty enemies in his hands.

"Mengtuo, the soldiers and horses of the Yan State are very capable of fighting. The generals are not only good at commanding, but they are also good at charging into battle. After encountering them, follow the orders and do not act recklessly."

A few steps away from the right side of the chariot is a burly figure on horseback, wearing black iron armor and a pair of ferocious beast heads on each shoulder. This man has disheveled hair, a red ribbon on his forehead, a ring of cheeks on his chin, and a majestic appearance. The next one is a brown horse with a long-handled ax hanging upside down.

Hearing Master Zhao Guang's words, he nodded silently, but his eyes showed excitement.

At this time, another scout handed in information. After being received by the guards, it was forwarded to the general, Zhao Guangshi. His gray brows frowned slightly, "2 people?"

At the moment, the scouts in front are already fighting fiercely, racing against time to convey their own messages.

Scouts from both sides could be seen spying on each other and then clashing in the fields, woods, and hills. Occasionally, several riders would quickly pass by, chasing down a Wei scout.

Rushing out of the forest, arrows shot in the sky. Scouts from the nearby Wei State formed a small team and came for reinforcements. Most of the two sides were dressed in short clothes and leather armor, but they were skillful in drawing bows. The pursuing scouts from the State of Yan saw that there were many people on the other side, so they shot a few arrows. After that, he turned around and left.

There were also those who couldn't escape. They also shot loud arrows and attracted nearby comrades. The two sides chased each other in the wilderness and started riding and shooting. The good horses in the north and the Bingzhou army scouts had also been trained by Lu Bu. For riding and shooting, they were better than the scouts from the Central Plains. Quite a few.

In the two days when Wei State advanced northward, only 45 scouts were killed and 72 injured, which made it more difficult for Division Zhao Guang, who was heading north, to understand the surrounding intelligence.

"2 people?"

Zhao Guangshi narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the content written on the note, and pointed his finger on the armrest of the chair, "More than 2 soldiers and horses from the Yan Kingdom marched south. There were also injuries in the process, but they will not be able to use 16 to resist my [-]." Soldiers and horses are interesting, generals, what do you see?"

On the left is a group of generals from the capital of Luyang. Naturally, they command [-] soldiers and horses from the capital. They still dare not neglect the emperor's uncle, Zhao Guangshi.

A general named Yu Zangbing raised his hand and said: "Back to the capital, only 16 troops and horses are left here. Naturally, they are not used to resist the [-] army. It is estimated that the formation will be suspicious and delay our army's march."

"Well, I think so too." Master Zhao Guang nodded and looked at the Huizhou generals he trained on the right, "Mengtuo, what do you think?"

Among the generals on the right, a general named Meng Tuo thought for a moment: "Although I agree with the general's statement, since it is a suspicious soldier, the other party will definitely not dare to fight, so don't pay attention to it and just push it forward. "

Master Zhao Guang laughed, but there was still a look of disappointment in his eyes. He continued with a smile: "Yes, since we have set up the suspicion formation, we can just push it through. But you have to know why he set up the suspicion formation. Is he going to fight or not?" Retreat? If we fight, where should we fight? The Qiliang [-] troops in the northwest, or should we bypass our main force, harass the rear, and cut off our army's food routes?"

"Why not withdraw?" Meng Tuo pursed his lips and asked.

"More than [-] soldiers and horses have come to attack us. We have been fighting until now and we are calling for withdrawal. If you were the Xia King of Yan State, would you be willing to do so?" Master Zhao Guang, who is over seventy years old, cannot see clearly. If he comes to destroy our great Wei Dynasty, if he only takes a few counties, he can attack the cities and territories in the three states on the south bank of the Hun River!"

The old man stood up with his sword in hand.

"So I set up a suspicious formation, but actually attacked the flanking army. I sent my order to the generals of Qi and Liang, asking them to capture Guangfu within five days with [-] troops. The troops of Yue and Wu on the left, Sui and Qing on the right Horse, move closer to the center!"

"What do you mean, Grand Governor?" asked another general from the Gyeonggi general on the left side of the chariot.

The old man looked at an eagle flying across the sky in the distance and smiled.

"The enemy must be saved when attacking. Guangfu City is the main route to the north. If it is lost, his suspicious soldiers will be meaningless, and their purpose is nothing more than to attack our partial army and cut off my arm! Keep moving forward, we Go and see what the Yan army blocking the front looks like!"

The sky was bright and the vast wilderness stretched as far as the eye could see. The two wings advancing along the center were still moving forward slowly before receiving the order.

Facing the approaching Wei army, the Bingzhou army standing in the front was divided into three groups under Zhang Liao's command, evacuating all the way back, and the other two groups dispersed in the east and west directions.

The two armies clashed, each showing their own abilities. Zhao Guangshi, the veteran general in charge of the Wei army, remained unmoved and continued to advance slowly, approaching Guangfu City four hundred miles away with a sweeping attitude.

However, in the vast wilderness, the scouts on both sides were still catching each other and fighting. Perhaps knowing that the Yan scouts were more capable, the Wei army sent light cavalry to assist. Zhang Liao also asked Lu Bu to disperse the wolf cavalry to assist the Yan scouts in chasing down the opponent's cavalry. From time to time, small-scale cavalry battles broke out in the wilderness, fields, and mountains and forests.

The Wei army lost more and won less, and the subsequent advance began to reduce the presence of scouts and light cavalry.

On the third night of the advance, in the southeast, in the mountains and forests connecting the hills and plains, groups of soldiers, and then horses, were led through the woods and shrubs, and then more soldiers continued to move southward. Come over.

The monkey sleeping on the treetop looked at the torrent passing below in amazement. He tried to keep walking as quietly as possible and came to the edge of the forest. In his eyes, on the plain in the distance, makeshift camps and simple fences were scattered all over. The soldiers held their weapons in their arms or fell asleep with their weapons on their pillows.

In the burning bonfire in the camp, the patrolling soldiers were alert to the movements in the night, and the archers on the sentry tower occasionally looked towards the mountain forest with the sound of monkeys.

"Damn, this Sui and Qing two state soldiers and horses actually deviated from the direction."

"Maybe he received the general's order and moved towards the middle road."

"Grand Master, they are close to the main force of Wei State. Should we fight?"

"Ask Xia Houyuan, it was that guy who came up with the idea!"

In the darkness, there was a rustling movement. Someone walked through the forest hunched over. When they reached the other end, they got the answer: "Why not fight?"

Soon, lurking figures moved toward the edge of the forest with the sound of footsteps. Then, the infantry slowly walked out, followed by the archers, picking up arrows wrapped in oilcloth.

In the forest, figures leading horses one after another, under the signal of the generals with lion helmets and white horses and silver armor raising their guns, mounted their horses one after another.

Out of the relatively gentle slopes of the forest, slowly moving figures spread slowly like a quiet lake, approaching the simple camp. The horses had their muzzles uncovered, swaying their heads and breathing heavily, and stepped forward. Horse hooves stepped out of the edge of the forest.

The archer broke off the fire break, blew on it, and placed the weak flame on the oilcloth wrapping the arrowhead.

……

In the distance, on the sentry tower that was not too high, the archer looked around. In his peripheral vision, he could vaguely detect a dim light in the darkness.

The moment he tilted his head, the fire became more intense, and dense fire spots spread out under his eyes, and then... they flew up into the sky one by one. As countless fire spots streaked across the sky, they also reflected the dark figures walking around below.

He hurriedly drew his bow, and the arrows flew into the sky with a roar. At the same time as they exploded, a rain of flaming arrows poured down from the sky. During the camp in Sui Qing Erzhou, the soldiers who were lying on their backs or resting on their sides had no time to react. Many people He was directly nailed to death by falling arrows, or fell on tents and ignited fires.Sneaking figures followed Dong Zhuo and Xia Houyuan's screams, roaring like the tide, and rushed towards the camp gate on the east side of the camp. Among the Xiliang soldiers, there were two-sided swords in their hands, one foot long, with long handles and long blades. Dozens of soldiers directly cut off the simple fence.

The moment the fence was torn down, the waiting men wearing iron masks, Le Jin, led the Xiliang Army, and Zhang He, led the Qingzhou Army, swarmed in like a flood breaking a dike. In addition to the more than a thousand soldiers holding Mo Dao, there were five others who rushed to the front. Xiliang soldiers with repeating crossbows hanging on their waists raised their repeating crossbows and fired fiercely at the Wei soldiers who woke up or ran around in panic to form formations.

The crossbow arrows were powerful, with more than ten shots fired at a time. Many Wei soldiers were shot to the ground while running, and a large area of ​​the hastily formed formation was also shot over. It was not until the infantry shields arrived and a shield wall was erected that they were stabilized. However, the east camp gate was opened by Qingzhou soldiers, and the Western Qiang cavalry who had been waiting for a long time roared in. They did not engage with the formation, but only chased the fleeing Wei soldiers in the camp, or shot arrows and lit fires.

The camp of [-] soldiers and horses, which stretched for five miles, suddenly burst into flames and screamed, creating a scene of chaos.

The rising and flying sparks streaked across the fighting figures, and the firelight illuminated the plump figure on horseback. Dong Zhuo's beard was bulging, holding a serrated knife in his hand, laughing ferociously, and beside him, his eyebrows were raised, his eyes were raised. The gloomy Xia Houyuan.

"Haha! Have fun! Keep killing--"

Unlike Dong Zhuo's fanaticism, he calmly observed everything in the camp. After a moment, he raised his hand and summoned the messengers.

……

Almost at the same time, a series of footsteps and horse hooves rushed out from the larger camp to the west, rushing towards the burning military camp of Suiqing Erzhou soldiers and horses.

The camp of Wei State.

Master Zhao Guang did not fall asleep. He was sitting in the commander's tent waiting for something. Half an hour later, a fierce general named Meng Tuo handed over his weapon at the entrance of the tent, lifted the curtain and strode in.

"how?"

"Sure enough, it was as expected by the governor. Unfortunately, we arrived a step too late. The Yan army only charged halfway and suddenly retreated."

Master Zhao Guang nodded and calmed down.

"Very cautious... You must have sensed the trap I set. How many casualties were there?"

"There are more than a thousand people. According to the soldiers over there, the Yan army's crossbows are particularly powerful and they can be fired continuously... Most of the 1000 people died under these crossbows."

"The soldiers are strong and the horses are strong, and the weapons are sharp. No wonder they are ambitious!" The old man pondered for a moment, "Be wary of that Yan army, it may come again."

"Yes!"

Meng Tuo accepted the promise with his hands raised, and then turned around and went out of the tent, asking Ling Qi to send the order to the Suiqing and Second Prefecture armies.

Far to the east, the two retreating armies hid in the darkness of the forest. The scouts sent out came back after inquiring and reported on the situation of the camp they had just attacked, which made Xiahou Yuan, Dong Zhuo and Ma Chao feel pity.

"The opponent's general has no less experience than me. I'm afraid he won't be able to attack the camp for the second time. The opponent is already on guard."

Xia Houyuan rubbed a piece of grass in his hand, "The Qingzhou soldiers will stay, and Grand Master Dong will lead the Xiliang army to join the king. Can you think of a way to confuse the Wei army general into thinking that the main force has returned to the Bingzhou army in the middle?"

"..." Dong Zhuo bit the grass root and was silent for a moment, then spit it out, "Like what I did when I entered Luoyang? If it doesn't work, just use the method of increasing the stove!"

The so-called increase of stoves is actually the reverse application of the strategy of increasing troops and reducing stoves, making the Wei army think that there are more stoves. They mistakenly believe that the Yan army who attacked Sui Qing's two states returned in vain, and merged with Su Chen's middle road, which is the main force of the Yan army. .

"That's it. The grand master asked your Xiliang soldiers to leave dry food for two days."

In the darkness, Dong Zhuo and Xia Houyuan exchanged blows, and the two armies immediately separated. The Xiliang army quickly traveled north. In the middle of the night, they found the Bingzhou army's scouts twenty miles away, but they were not in a hurry to return to camp. They looked for tree branches and thatch weaving straw figures on the spot. At dawn the next day, they asked the soldiers to hold one flat and use their bodies to block their vision. From a distance, the 2-person military formation seemed to have turned into tens of thousands. .

In the afternoon, the Wei army received news that the Yan army was retreating. In the abandoned camp, the scouts checked everything inside and brought the news back to the advancing Wei army.

Zhao Guangshi looked at the note in his hand silently, "The army that came back should be the one that attacked the soldiers and horses of Sui Qing's two states last night. It looks like they are about the same size, and there are a lot more earthen stoves in the camp. It seems that the Yan army has merged Along with other troops and horses, plus the troops stationed in Guangfu, the main force should be here."

"That's not enough for a hundred thousand!" Yu Zang said as he rushed to the side.

"It is indeed not enough, but have you generals forgotten? The soldiers of the Yan army are also human beings. After fighting for so long, there were no casualties anywhere. The bodies were collected by them and either buried or stored in Guangfu City. They will never let our scouts see or touch them. Find out how many soldiers they have left."

Master Zhao Guang gently stroked his long beard. He was still somewhat confident in his own judgment.

"Send the order and form an array on the spot. We will not force the Xia King of Yan Kingdom. Now, we will wait for Qi Liang to attack the city and see if he is in a hurry to withdraw. If he withdraws... haha... the whole army will cover up and kill him!"

……

News came that the Wei army had stopped advancing. Su Chen, who was sitting on his ancestral coffin, was discussing with Dong Zhuo and other generals. When he heard the news, he frowned. After a moment, he still let out a deep breath: "This Wei veteran general It’s a bit difficult.”

"Let the scouts return to Guangfu and check the situation!"

He ordered to Wu Zixun.

……

Guangfu City.

In the wilderness to the west, the white horse righteous soldiers were running across the field, and they were inseparable from a group of light cavalry coming from the northwest. They fired arrows at each other, and then the galloping horses circled around to form their own formations.

It was an army divided into two large formations standing in the wilderness to the west, and a large number of equipment was being assembled.

Guan Yu stood at the foot of the city tower, stroking his long beard, closing his phoenix eyes, listening to the rapid sound of horse hooves outside, and shouting loudly.He couldn't help but think of the scene in Maicheng, and his cheeks bulged slightly.

"Unexpectedly, the scene from that year reappeared in front of Guan. If the city is broken, there is only death..."

"Second brother, I don't want to talk about this, but I'm with you this time!" Zhang Fei walked back and forth excitedly behind the wall with his snake spear, punched the wall with his fist, and said loudly: "There are Zilong and Zilong outside. Zhang Yi!"

"This time, Cang will defend the city wall no matter what!"

Zhou Cang stood behind Guan Yu carrying Qinglong Yanyue and also laughed.

Soon, the armies of Qi and Liang began to attack the city. Several catapults followed several battalions of military formations and advanced.

(End of this chapter)