Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 538 The Eve of the Decisive Battle
"It's really a Jedi."

North of the water, on a cliff.

It is normally difficult to climb here, so they must have used a cheating method to throw Taoist soldiers carrying ropes onto the cliff.

Tian Yu's troops had lost their desire to fight, so this time Zhang Liao didn't have to stay in the camp, so he followed them.

Now that they were there, they saw that the black bears were wearing armor, with ropes around their waists, and were being pulled up the cliff by seven or eight brave warriors.

Zhang Liao had no choice but to follow suit. He tied a rope around his waist, held on to another rope with both hands, stepped on the stone wall with both feet, and climbed steadily up. From time to time, gravel fell.

As soon as he came up, he saw the black bear pointing to the north.

Zhang Liao was breathing heavily, and his already dark red face now looked abnormally pale.

He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat off, and couldn't help but look back, and suddenly felt dizzy.

He turned his head and looked in the direction the black bear was pointing, and saw the enemy in the distance carrying stones and wood, relying on the terrain in the narrow mountain road, as if they were building a dam.

The terrain there was very narrow, and the two sides met on flat ground. Two heavily armored infantrymen could fight each other until they were exhausted, but it would be difficult for them to break through each other.

The mountains on both sides are steep, but the enemy has built plank roads and various suspended small enemy towers, which should be used to house archers and crossbowmen, and even traps with rolling stones and wooden beams.

In front of the even more desperate narrow ditch, that is, in the northeast direction of sight, is a large lake. The lake is densely covered with reeds. The reeds on the edge have been harvested by the other side, revealing a wide circular water surface.

Black Bear watched for a long time, and sighed softly: "If our army reaches here, there will be no way to retreat. Tian Yu is not fighting back now, but holding on tightly, which is a gamble here. Not only him, but also Yuan Shang will send his entire army here when our army arrives. Yuan's army can catch up in two days and one night, but Tian Yu only needs one day."

This was also Zhang Liao's first time here, and he was shocked by the extremely harsh terrain before him.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Since this road is blocked, we should turn back and defeat Tian Yu, march quickly to Dushan, break through the pass, and enter Dai through Juyongkou."

"That's too late."

"Our army is now like an arrow that has been derailed. If we turn around now, the enemy's morale will rise sharply, making it even more difficult for us to escape."

Black Bear said calmly, "We will charge straight in here, and we will not lose our determination. Even if Tian Yu catches up with us, he will not dare to take the initiative to move forward. They will use the Xianbei to wear down our army."

Zhang Liao said it differently: "If we pretend to retreat and attack Tian Yu, maybe we can attract the enemy troops here to come to our aid?"

"The floating bridge is controlled by our army, they will not take the bait easily. Even if we defeat Tian Yu, the defeated soldiers will be recruited by Yuan Shang. Given Yuan Shang's character, he will definitely force the Youzhou soldiers to fight to the death. In this case, the Youzhou people will have no choice but to fight to the death."

Black Bear had a plan in mind, and said to Zhang Liao: "If we keep Tian Yu, his troops will become a hindrance to Yuan Shang. I will launch a strong attack with Grand Historian Wen Gong tonight, and the army will cross the river at four o'clock tomorrow morning. General, you must hold on until noon."

While the entire army is crossing the river, someone must stay behind.

Fortunately, during this period of rest, two fences were built at the southern end of the mountain road.

The outer perimeter is a warning horse-proof fence, which is not very tall and is equipped with an equally low, flexible antler fence.

This was the position where Zhang Liao needed to garrison and cover the rear; the inner fence was not very tall and strong, but when the entire army evacuated, all kinds of wood cut down during the garrison would be transported here and piled up into a mountain.

The horse oil, horse manure, dry and wet firewood accumulated during this period will be piled here. As long as Zhang Liao passes by, he will set this place on fire, blocking the road and vision with flames and smoke.

This is the fastest way, and it can also delay Tian Yu's pursuit time by a day.

Excluding the time it took Tian Yu to set up camp again, it would take him three days to bring his troops up; but he could not delay Yuan's army, because when Tian Yu came, Yuan's army would also arrive together.

After the discussion, Zhang Liao no longer expressed any objections and descended via the rope again. Black Bear's method of descent was more graceful and swift.

At this moment, on the northeast road of Ji County.

The Wuhuan army from the three eastern counties rolled in endlessly, and the cavalry in the front alone could hardly take care of the front and rear. The smoke and dust raised obscured the vision, and the entire marching column looked like a dragon in the clouds with only a small group of cavalry on both sides from time to time.

Wei Yan stood in front of the city wall with his helmet in hand, squinting his eyes and looking with his head held high and his chest puffed out. He felt that he had already possessed 30% of the spirit of Yun Chang Gong.

Yuan Chen was already a little exhausted, and said in a hoarse voice: "This is at least 30,000 soldiers and horses."

"Not only that, this battle is related to the survival of the Donghu. Judging from the smoke and dust behind them, I think they must have a large number of beasts following them." Wei Yan said calmly: "Looking at the momentum of the Wuhuan people, we can also know Kebineng's mentality. After all, this is a battle related to the survival of the tribe."

Then he turned around and instructed the military officers following him: "Fill in the tunnels of all the city gates with earth and rocks, leaving the North Gate open. All the people in the city who want to leave the city will be allowed to pass. After dark, close the tunnel of the North Gate."

"Here."

The military officers bowed their heads and said that there was no shortage of food in the city, but Wei Yan had to prepare for the worst.

With the solidity of the city of Ji County, he would have nothing to fear even if there were another 30,000 Wuhuan people, let alone 30,000 of them.

If Tai Shi Wengong and Gan Xingba, who are good at attacking tough targets, lead the army here, he will still have some worries and concerns.

At this moment, he just needs to follow the conventional methods of defending the city. As long as he holds Ji County, his status will catch up with Zhao Yun.

From then on, whenever General Zhenbei held a banquet, he would be able to sit at the last seat and eat in the main hall.

The arrival of the Wuhuan people immediately boosted the morale of Tian Yu's troops that night.

Many hesitant people became resolute and began to slaughter horses on their own initiative.

During this period, the besieged Black Bear's troops slaughtered a huge number of horses every day.

From the initial 2,000 horses a day, it dropped to 1,000 a day. In the six days before and after, at least 10,000 horses were slaughtered.

From the initial injured, sick and weak horses, to the later large-scale slaughter of castrated old horses and male horses.

Although they occupied the nearby valleys to graze horses, they still could not keep up with the consumption. As a last resort, they had to slaughter the horses before they became too thin, then salt and smoke them.

However, Tian Yu's troops and the surrounding small villages did not enjoy their happiness for long. In the first half of the night, two more small villages caught fire and were breached and burned.

Probably because of the shortage of food supplies, the Guanzhong soldiers who broke into the stronghold seldom pursued the defeated soldiers in depth, but would withdraw after collecting horses, food, fodder and grass.

While Black Bear continued to attack the mentality of Tian Yu's troops in the south, his entire camp began to prepare to break camp.

Various straw mats soaked with horse oil were set on fire in preparation for the night battle. Under the illumination of the abundant campfire, they began to dismantle the military tents and carry the wood.

Fa Zheng rode his horse around everywhere, keeping abreast of the progress of the camp breakout.

Seeing that the attack on the camp from the south was successful, the entire army withdrew from the camp in an orderly manner.

While on patrol, Fa Zheng came to a small camp where horse meat was processed.

The smoked and dried horse meat strips will be crushed here, and when they are distributed to each century-man team, they are actually minced meat particles packed in long cloth bags.

Just sprinkle a handful when cooking soup, or you can hold it in your hand and eat it slowly while marching. Hold it in your mouth until it softens before you can chew it.

When he patrolled here, Fa Zheng had an illusion that the auxiliary soldiers working here were very reluctant to move away.

"Da Sima is back!"

A military officer behind him called out to him. Fa Zheng turned around and saw a fire dragon formed by knights holding torches moving quickly from south to north.

When they passed the camp, they threw off the spoils carried on the horse harnesses, and the captured horses were also carrying several bundles of grass.

Black Bear rode away from the team on his way and handed a scroll of bamboo slips to Fa Zheng: "Take a copy. This is the list of what General Taishi's troops captured tonight."

"Yes, Your Majesty, won't you take a rest?"

"The military situation is urgent. I will leave the follow-up matters to you, sir, and General Wenyuan."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty!"

Fa Zheng gritted his teeth and his voice trembled.

Running back and forth between the north and the south, leading the elite soldiers to fight in person, wasn't it just to help them face less resistance and difficulties when they broke camp?
(End of this chapter)