Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 527: Three Strategies to Seize the Pass
"Go back!"

Zhang He cried out in surprise, and the 20,000 Jizhou soldiers retreated in haste.

But no matter how fast a person's legs are, how can they be faster than a bow and arrow?

Just as they were in a panic, arrows from the Shenji Camp fell one after another.

Zhang He hurriedly waved his weapon to block, but those ordinary soldiers did not have such skills.

Screams rang out one after another around Zhang He.

Zhang He resisted the rain of arrows while retreating in a hurry.

After three rounds of arrow rain, the attack of the Shenji Camp suddenly stopped.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Zhang He turned his head in confusion and saw that Guan Yu and others had all retreated to the rear, while two troops were charging towards the city gate.

The two troops, one riding on tigers and the other holding huge iron hammers as weapons, soon arrived in front of the Jizhou army.

Although these two armies were not numerous in number, they allowed Zhang He to experience what it meant to be "a wolf among a flock of sheep". The 20,000-strong army had no ability to resist at all in the face of these mere hundreds of cavalrymen.

"Quick, Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

Zhang He no longer cared about military achievements. He could only maintain his strength first, otherwise Huguan would be lost soon.

After leaving no less than five thousand corpses outside the Great Wall, the Jizhou army finally retreated back into the Great Wall and closed the city gates.

Zhu Ye and Cheng Liang heard Zhang Yong's order to withdraw behind them. Even though they had not killed enough enemies, they had no choice but to retreat in disappointment.

In Changzi City, all the generals gathered together.

Guan Yu was very excited and grabbed the hands of Cheng Liang, Zhang Yong and Zhu Ye.

"Good, that's great. I didn't expect that my elder brother would send all three of my brothers to Shangdang. You and I, brothers, have not seen each other for several months. I miss you so much."

"Haha, ever since my second brother led the Purple Gold Dragon Cavalry to hunt down Ke Bineng, I and the others have been through a lot of blood and gore with my eldest brother in Luoyang. We are really angry. Now we can take it out on the Jizhou army."

Cheng Liang seemed very excited.

Guan Yu looked at Ye Xiang, full of satisfaction: "Yuan Qing's archery skills are becoming more and more superb. He was able to reach Zhang He's arrow after firing it at a distance of more than 200 steps, and shot it in half. Brother was determined to let you learn archery, which was indeed extremely wise."

Although Ye Xiang is now a dignified Shesheng Captain, he still maintains the attitude of a junior in front of Guan Yu and others.

"My lord has ordered me to leave 5,000 of the 20,000 Shenji Battalion in Luoyang to help maintain law and order after the chaos. The other 15,000 will all be brought to Shangdang and will be at the disposal of General Guan."

Guan Yu smiled and said, "We are all family here, Yuanqing, why bother to say such strange words. Now we have your 15,000 Shenji Battalion, and my fourth brother's Jindao Battalion has brought 10,000 men, and we have my third and fifth brothers' cavalry. If we brothers work together, it will be no problem for us to capture Huguan."

"Second brother, I think this matter should not be rushed."

If someone else had said this, Guan Yu would have probably gotten angry and scolded him on the spot, but when he saw that it was Zhang Yong who said this, he naturally didn't get angry anymore.

"Does Fourth Brother have any suggestions?"

Zhang Yong was not polite in front of his brothers: "Now our army has cavalry, archers, infantry, and city defenders, but we lack siege soldiers. Shangdang County's siege equipment is also very scarce and of a single type. The soldiers have no experience in siege warfare. Facing such a natural barrier as Huguan, if we want to capture it, we will inevitably suffer great losses."

Guan Yu still listened to Zhang Yong's words. Although no one died in the battle today, more than 3,000 people were injured. Zhou Yuan and Yan Quan were so seriously injured that they were only half a step away from death. This made Guan Yu gradually calm down.

"Then what should we do, my fourth brother?"

"Yeah, Huguan has been occupied by that bastard Yuan Shao for several months. It's time to take it back, right?" Cheng Liang is extremely resentful towards Yuan Shao. The Luoyang Rebellion and the Yellow River bursting their dikes are all related to him. When this name is mentioned, Cheng Liang becomes furious.

Zhang Yong pondered and said, "Originally, the enemy's main general was Yan Liang, who has a violent temper and is stubborn. It was the best strategy for my second brother to lure him out of the pass twice for a decisive battle. But now Yan Liang is seriously injured, and the military affairs of Huguan will definitely be controlled by Zhang He. This man is brave and resourceful, with extraordinary courage and calmness. He can be called a great general, comparable to Yuan Qing, Wen Yuan and other generals. What's more, Yan Liang was tricked and injured twice when he went out of the pass to fight. Zhang He must have learned his lesson. No matter how we lure the enemy, he will never be fooled."

Guan Yu said with some regret: "If I had known this earlier, I should not have been so harsh on Yan Liang. Alas, it is too late to regret now."

"Don't blame yourself, second brother. Jizhou has many wise men. Yuan Shao must have thought of this when he sent Zhang He to lead Yan Liang as the vanguard. Otherwise, Yan Liang would not have led only 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers and horses twice, and Zhang He would not have led the troops alone to support him. Even if Yan Liang can still lead the army now, I'm afraid it will be the same."

"Report... After our army retreated, a group of soldiers came out of Huguan Pass and were building sentry posts and arrow towers along the mountain on both sides of the pass."

The news brought by a messenger made everyone frown even more.

"A great reputation is a great honor. Zhang He's ability to lead troops is much stronger than Gao Lan's. It seems that if we want to capture Huguan, it will be more difficult than I expected."

Ye Xiang nodded and said, "Zhang He is an excellent archer. I'm afraid the archers he brought with him are not weak either. Huguan alone is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Now he has built arrow towers according to the terrain. Once our army attacks the city, thousands of arrows will be fired from all directions, making it impregnable."

Cheng Liang was getting impatient. "Ah, I don't like to hear you talk about boosting others' ambitions and destroying your own prestige. I don't believe that a mere Huguan Pass can stump us brothers. Fourth brother, just tell us what we should do now. Among us brothers, besides the eldest brother, you have the smartest brain. You say one word and we brothers will listen to you."

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Yong.

"In the current situation, if we want to capture Huguan, we should have three strategies: the best, the middle and the worst."

When everyone heard this, they became interested.

"Oh? You actually have three brilliant ideas. You are worthy of being our fourth brother. Tell us quickly."

Cheng Liang urged.

"The worst strategy is to storm. Right now our army is in high spirits, but the enemy is timid. With today's defeat, Zhang He will surely expect our army not to storm again. Our army is doing the opposite, attacking the enemy when they are unprepared, and we will surely succeed. However, this method is the most dangerous. Although we have a great chance of winning, with Zhang He's current layout, the casualties will surely be over 10,000, or even more. Once reinforcements come from Jizhou, our army will be in danger."

"As for the middle strategy, it is to launch a surprise attack from a detour. Most of our soldiers are from Bingzhou, and many of them grew up in the mountains since childhood. Select a group of strong men who are familiar with the mountains, contact the Baibo Army, offer them money, and ask them to send troops to help. Then go around Huguan and launch a surprise attack, attacking from both sides."

At this point, everyone looked surprised.

"This is a brilliant idea. Although the Baibo Army is a bandit, they are quite loyal and righteous. They helped our army to repel Zhang Yan in Taiyuan County that day. They can be used."

Qin Chu clapped his hands and cheered.

Among all the generals present, only Guan Yu and his brothers, as well as Ye Xiang and Zhang Liao, knew about Xu Huang. Meng Jian and Shi Tao also knew about it, but they were urgently transferred by Liu He to personally escort a batch of money and grain to Xihe County, so they were not in Changzi City.

So Zhang Yong only talked about bribing the Baibo Army with money at this time, but did not directly say to give orders to Xu Huang.

Zhu Ye said happily: "The middle strategy is so brilliant, what about the best strategy?"

When he asked this, Guan Yu and other generals looked at Zhang Yong expectantly.

Zhang Yong laughed and said, "This strategy is actually not worthy of its name. Although this strategy can easily capture Huguan, the key to its success does not lie with me, but with Yuan Shao."

The generals were puzzled.

"Fourth brother, stop keeping us in suspense and explain it to us quickly."

Cheng Liang was most afraid of using his brain, so he hurriedly asked.

Zhang Yong did not want to keep the audience on suspense any longer and said, "The plan is to have Yuan Shao replace Zhang He with a general to lead the Huguan army."

"Ah?" Everyone was dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)