Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 522 Refusing to be fooled
To the west of Ji County, Fa Zheng raised his hand to cover his brows and stared into the distance with narrowed eyes.

On both sides of the river, the Youzhou knights heading south marched in a line.

There was no neat formation to speak of, just large and small groups of knights, but they were all wearing armor.

"Mostly Tuqi."

A shogunate guard with excellent eyesight observed carefully and said to Fa Zheng: "Sir, there are no less than 3,000 people. Judging from the troops behind them, there are about 7,000 to 8,000 people this time."

"Wait for their rear guard to pass through the city and head south, then light the signal smoke in the city; if their troops exceed 10,000, then light the signal smoke in the east and west cities."

After Fa Zheng made the arrangements, he immediately said to Lu Cui, the military strategist, "Select fast horses to report to the emperor that the rebels are heading south. Also, the knights and charioteers left in the city should put on their armor and be ready to go out of the city to meet the rebels."

Different from Fa Zheng's seriousness and meticulousness, most of the old men in the shogunate near the city wall had an indescribable playful attitude.

He seemed to not care about the Youzhou knights outside the city, and there was contempt in his eyes.

This made Fa Zheng feel even more solemn. The core of the shogunate was already filled with a mentality of underestimating the enemy, and he couldn't just act out.

After all, he lacked military merit, and now that Black Bear was gone, some people's thoughts and attitudes became less concealed.

Near noon, more than 20 miles north of Fanyang City.

Yuan's army was divided into three horizontal armies, with Yuan Shang personally commanding the central army; behind them were the rear three armies led by Yuan Xi.

The entire Yuan army was divided into six combat groups, each of which was equipped with both infantry and cavalry and had complete battlefield execution capabilities.

There were scouts constantly traveling back and forth between the north and the south, and there were messengers running east and west between the various camps of Yuan’s army, delivering various information.

At noon, a scout galloped to Yuan Shang's chariot and banner, jumped off his horse and shouted loudly: "Report! The enemy troops are lingering and gathering twelve miles away!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shang looked around and asked, "Why is this happening?"

Li Fu glanced at the Youzhou envoys Tian Chou and Guo Huai, and took two steps forward: "My lord, our army is well-organized, and the black bandits are cunning, so they may want to retreat. It is also possible that the Youzhou cavalry appeared behind them and have been discovered, so the black bandits may want to retreat."

Tian Chou spoke up at this time: "The general has been killing and wounding the black bandits. Now he has only 4,000 cavalrymen under his command. This time, more than 10,000 cavalrymen are heading south. Even if we cannot cut off their way back, we can delay them for half a day. Please send a strong force to go ahead!"

Yuan Shang did not rush to reply. While he was thinking about judging the black bear's purpose, another scout came on horseback from the north, followed by a group of knights in pursuit.

Seeing this scene, the shield soldiers, spearmen, halberds, and crossbowmen on both sides of his chariot began to close together horizontally.

Almost at the same time, teams of hundreds of people on both sides of the chariot moved forward together to fill the vacant positions.

As the troops on both sides began to move, the troops behind the chariots also moved forward one after another to reinforce the two sides and make way for the rear passage.

The changes in the military formation were skillful, obviously well-rehearsed.

Guo Huai, who was a dull person, observed silently. Seeing Yuan Jun's skillful changes in military formation, he felt that the Youzhou soldiers were in trouble.

But his face was expressionless, and his mood was calm.

Soon, Yuan's scouts passed quickly through the gaps in the formation, while the pursuers were shot back by a volley of bows and crossbows.

When the pursuing soldiers were shot back and stopped chasing, more than a hundred cavalrymen on each side of Yuan Shang's central army rushed out and killed them. Seeing this, the pursuing soldiers turned their horses and fled, but the two groups of hundreds of cavalrymen followed and killed them, and both the men and horses were excited.

According to common sense, the enemy's troops are tired after chasing them for such a long distance, and their numbers are small, so isn't this a military achievement delivered to you?
Stimulated by their hunting instinct, more than 200 riders continued to chase.

At this time, the scout who had escaped was helped to the front of Yuan Shang's chariot. The scout covered his bleeding arm and said, "The enemy army stopped, but a huge chariot came along the way. It was pulled by more than 20 horses and was extremely huge."

Yuan Shang and his men looked at each other in bewilderment on and off the chariot.

It was this huge chariot that appeared in Xu Du, which led to Cao Hong being killed in battle and triggered a huge disaster in Xu Du.

At this time, Li Fu stepped forward and bowed, "My lord, Taishi Wengong is extremely brave and fierce. In my opinion, this must be a trick by the black bandits to lure us. At Xudu, Cao Hong underestimated the enemy and was not careful for a moment, so he was attacked and killed by Taishi Wengong. Now my army is in full order. If I don't move, the black bandits will never be able to shake it. Even if Taishi Wengong can split himself into more than a hundred people, he can't do anything to my army. Wait for the Youzhou cavalry to arrive, surround the black bandits from the front and back, and they will definitely surrender."

Yuan Shang also had concerns and said, "If I don't move, and let him shout in front of the battle, it will inevitably hurt morale." Li Fu remained silent, and Tian Chou also saw that this was not about hurting morale, but about hurting his reputation as a general.

More than 50,000 troops went out of the camp and lined up, but they were afraid that the other side had less than a hundred people. When people talked about it in the future, even if they won the battle, it would become an everlasting joke.

Tian Chou glanced at Guo Huai at this time. Guo Huai understood and stepped forward to bow. "General, you also know that the black thief is cunning and treacherous, and is definitely not a hero. He came with a small number of troops, probably to provoke you to meet him in front of the battle. With the bravery of Tai Shi Wengong, whether you agree or refuse, you will fall into the black thief's plan."

Yuan Shang nodded slowly: "Yes, I have the same concerns."

Tian Chou spoke up at this time: "This is the cunning of the black thief. He seems to be sincere, but in fact he is full of evil schemes. Just like he pretended to be the descendant of King Chen, he never said it to his face, but secretly instructed his followers to spread it secretly, and used it to deceive the loyal officials of the Han Dynasty. He is extremely treacherous and evil!"

As they were talking, Lu Bu came forward on horseback, wearing a white robe and golden armor, with two flags on his back, which were nearly five feet higher than the top of his helmet.

The handwriting was not clear, but the horses were driven closer. The archers of Yuan's army on the front line just aimed and did not fire without orders.

Their troops were well-organized and their numbers were greater, so they could calmly watch Tai Shi Wengong's heroic appearance in front of the battlefield. At the moment, they were more out of curiosity.

When I got closer, I saw the flags on the left and right behind me, which read: Number One in the World and Tai Shi Wen Gong.

When he was about forty steps away from the battle formation, he reined in his horse as if he was inspecting the army, and walked slowly around the formation, holding the Fang Tian Ji in his right arm and pointing it diagonally at the sky above Yuan's army.

His arrogant attitude caused some Yuan army archers to lower their bows and crossbows so that they could get a closer look.

Yuan Shang stood on the chariot, his handsome face slightly gloomy at the moment: "How hateful! This man actually despises our army so much!"

"Thief general! Give me back my brother's life!"

Suddenly, there was a shout from the front, and Lu Xiang rushed forward with his spear in hand: "Leaders and subordinates! Follow me to kill this thief!"

Lu Xiang led dozens of cavalrymen to charge forward, but they were only 20 to 30 steps away from each other, making it impossible for them to charge effectively, let alone adjust their attack formation.

They rushed forward and surrounded Lu Bu in the middle.

Lu Bu did not retreat either. He drove his horse around in place, holding the Fang Tian Ji in both hands and began to slash across like a windmill.

The knights of Yuan's army were unable to slow down or were blocked by their companions and could only crash into the enemy.

In an instant, there were casualties everywhere, and no one could get within three steps of Lu Bu.

Soon more knights followed the charge and surrounded them, but they just couldn't get close.

As soon as he got closer, he was chopped by the rapidly spinning Fang Tian Ji, and the armor on his body became like paper.

The Yuan army's archers were alerted and took aim, but their own knights surrounded Lu Bu in seven or eight layers, riding their horses back and forth, disrupting their sight, so they did not dare to shoot easily.

At this time, Black Bear's chariot stopped about 150 steps to the north. He stood on the roof of the chariot, looking at Yuan Shang behind the Yuan army's formation from afar.

Yuan Shang said to his attendants: "Taishi Wengong has the courage of a tyrant. Even if I have ten thousand soldiers, I cannot get close to him."

Li Fu advised: "Now that things have come to this, we can only send knights to capture and kill the black thief in order to force Taishi Wengong to leave. If he withdraws to rescue us, our officers and soldiers will have the opportunity to take advantage of it."

Yuan Shang thought about it and nodded: "Yes."

Li Fu turned and ordered the flag officer: "Left and right armies advance!"

The flag officer immediately waved his long flag to give orders, and a messenger drove his horse straight to the left and right army formations.

Anyway, the central army cannot move and must maintain the neatness and order of the formation.

Seeing the two wings of the front army advancing in the rear, Yuan Xi immediately ordered his own two wings to move forward to fill the positions.

Even if the central army can move, Yuan Xi's rear central army must not move!
This is the fundamental guarantee for Yuan’s army to survive defeat.

(End of this chapter)