Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 585: Battle (Part )

Those old farmers who have been working on the crops in the fields for a lifetime can accurately know when to sow seeds based on the soil moisture and weather, even if they don't look at the calendar and the solar terms.

Famous generals who led troops in battle often had similar abilities. Just like drawing an arrow and bending a bow, knowing when the arrow is fully charged and ready to be shot is an instinct. The same intuition applies to when two armies will engage in battle.

The emperor's edict did not arrive after all, as the distance of two thousand miles was simply too difficult to overcome.

On the morning of November 13th, east of Xiabian.

Among the low hills, three valleys were evenly arranged from north to south, and there was a mountain range of two or three miles between each valley. The three Shu army camps from north to south were led by the Shu Han General Ma Zhong, the General Wang Ping, and the General Gao Xiang.

The armies of Wei and Shu had been fighting here for nearly a month and were already familiar with each other's military camps.

According to the marching strategy agreed upon by Wei Zhen, Guo Huai and Fei Yao yesterday, Fei Yao led the general's headquarters in the north to attack Ma Zhong's camp. Wei Zhen led 5,000 foreign troops to attack Wang Ping's camp. Guo Huai led 5,000 Qiang soldiers to feint and attack Gao Xiang's camp in the south.

Advance in three directions, two real and one fake.

Right Yu Lin generals Cheng Xi and Cheng Shenbo left 2,000 cavalrymen to guard the main camp, and the remaining 7,000 elite cavalrymen followed Fei Yao.

That's right, the Shu army set up camps on three routes, and the camp guarded by Ma Zhong in the north was the focus of the Wei army's advance. Although Qinzhou was mountainous, the cavalry could not drive forward to split the enemy army like in the plains, but relying on the mobility of the cavalry to go around the rear and dismount to fight on foot was the only place where the Yulin Right Army could be used.

When Liu Bei retreated to Baidi City after his defeat at Yiling, he saw Ma Zhong and said with emotion: "Although Huang Quan is gone, Hu Du is back. There is no shortage of talented people in the world."

In the same year that Liu Bei passed away, Zhuge Liang opened a government office and appointed Ma Zhong as the governor of the imperial court. Ma Zhong later participated in the Southern Expedition and was appointed by Zhuge Liang as the governor of Zangke County. He was called up again before the Northern Expedition this year and was a rising political star in the court of Shu Han.

Ma Zhong was a wise man and a talented general, but just as Wei Yan, Wu Ban, Zhao Yun, Ma Su and other generals witnessed the combat effectiveness of the Wei army for the first time when Zhuge Liang launched the Northern Expedition in the second year of Taihe, Ma Zhong, on the watchtower in the camp, saw for the first time the Wei army formation coming slowly from the east with the sound of gongs and drums, almost covering the entire valley, and he couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

This army was completely different from the rebels in South China that Ma Zhong had dealt with for a long time before, both in terms of momentum and appearance.

"Send a message to Sima Chu, and order him to lead his troops to meet the enemy!" Ma Zhong walked to the front of the camp and gave the order loudly.

"Yes!" The messenger ran quickly, and Sima Chucheng led his troops to drag out fifty large wooden carts from behind the front wall, filling the narrow valley of about fifty feet wide.

The first row behind the chariots were strong and sharp soldiers wearing full armor and holding swords and shields. Behind these sword and shield soldiers were faces that were either young or old. Under the cover of the chariots and their comrades in front, although they could not see the situation of the enemy in front, everyone pricked up their ears and held the crossbows tightly in their hands.

"Adjust the crossbow's teeth!" the squad leaders urged loudly.

After a short but intense drumbeat, the Sima named Chu Cheng shouted loudly: "The enemy is one hundred and twenty steps ahead, one shot, shoot!" The crossbowmen who had been prepared long ago held the crossbow trigger and found the right angle. They shouted "kill" in unison and released the trigger in their hands. The crossbow arrows poured out like rain and attacked the Wei army.

The soldiers in iron armor at the front of the Wei army raised their huge wooden shields, slightly withstood the rain of arrows, and then continued to move forward.

There was another drum beat that was slightly different from the previous one, and with a chorus of "Yu", the crossbowmen all loaded new arrows on their crossbows. With the next drum beat and the "Kill" shout, another round of arrows was fired.

In front of Ma Zhong's camp, it was not just the chariot array at the front that could resist the Wei army. Forty steps behind the chariot array was a low wall where another thousand crossbowmen were ambushed. When the Wei army array came within range, these crossbowmen began to fire in unison.

There was visible panic among Fei Yao's front troops.

According to previous combat experience, in such a narrow area, even if the enemy had bows and crossbows, there would not be so many! Often, warriors were selected from the army, wearing iron armor, helmets, and holding shields, and running forward under the rain of arrows until they were close enough that the bows and crossbows could not reach them. This was considered a success.

According to experience, it is enough to shoot three rounds. But today, the Shu army has too many arrows!
The first 300 soldiers holding oars and shields bravely moved forward, withstanding six rounds of arrows. By the time they reached the front, nearly 100 of them were killed or wounded. When they approached the Shu army's wooden carts, many more were killed in the fight by sword and shield soldiers who jumped out from behind the carts. At this time, Fei Yao had just sent out the second wave of soldiers. Seeing this, he immediately sounded the horn to withdraw his troops.

Of the first wave of 300 soldiers, only less than 80 escaped.

Cheng Xi's cavalry was in the rear, but he himself followed Fei Yao in the front army to watch the battle, so as to decide the right time to use troops at any time. Seeing this scene, Cheng Xi also took a breath.

"General Fei," Cheng Xi said in a low voice, "The Shu army's arrows are too dense. If we still use the method of the central army attacking in a narrow area as before, it will be a bit difficult."

Fei Yao frowned, squinted his eyes and stared at the Shu army formation in the west, and said in a deep voice: "There is something strange about the Shu army's chariot formation. There are too many crossbowmen behind the chariots. There must be another group behind this group of crossbowmen. The soldiers who just withdrew told me that the Shu army's crossbows fired six times!"

"Six times?" Cheng Xi thought for a few moments and said, "The Shu army has been prepared for this. It is not feasible to charge straight in. General Fei, why not send a thousand men to the mountains on both sides and advance through the woods. This may save some bows and crossbows from being lost."

Fei Yao shook his head. "I only have 5,000 men. If we send out 2,000 men, we won't be able to break through the Shu army's front camp! If we can't break through the front camp, what can we do even if we have 2,000 men on both sides?"

Cheng Xi thought again and again: "General Fei, the cavalry in the central army is elite, and they must not dismount and fight on foot unless it is absolutely necessary. But now the situation is critical, General Fei and I are facing the Shu army here, and General Guo and Wei Pushe are in the south, so they will definitely not be able to break through.

"How about I lead two thousand men to dismount and fight on foot to support General Fei? If it becomes too difficult, I can send another thousand men!"

"General Cheng, are you serious?"

"Really!" Cheng Xi nodded in response.

(End of this chapter)