Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

On the battlefield, due to the limitation of visual angle, no general on either side can get a full picture and can only judge the battle situation based on little information and their instinct.

Chen Ping rode his horse closer to Zhang He and pointed at the thousands of Qiang cavalrymen standing in formation on the gentle slope to the south. He said in a deep voice:

"Mr. Zhang, the four generals He An, Guo Ling, Zhao Buqi and Jia Long are at the front, fighting the Shu bandits in a stalemate, and it is hard to tell who will win. But Lu Huqiang's troops are still standing in formation, just waiting to see the outcome! Mr. Zhang, please quickly order the Qiang cavalry to penetrate, harass from behind or attack the flanks, which is much better than standing still!"

Under the three-meter-high general flag, Zhang He sat on his horse motionless. Three thousand elite soldiers with him as the center were lined up behind the four generals He, Guo, Zhao and Jia, supporting them from behind like a backer.

Due to the terrain here, it was extremely difficult for the infantry of both sides to break in from the north. The place where Zhang He's headquarters was located was closer to Lu Xun in the south, so Chen Ping could see it clearly.

Zhang He was silent for a moment, his eyes moving back and forth several times between the gap between Lu Xun's flag and the Shu army. He took a deep breath, looked at Chen Ping and said:
"At the moment, our army is in a stalemate with the enemy troops and cannot move. Lu Boyan is at the key point of the stalemate between the two armies. He can see it more clearly than I can. He is the general appointed by your majesty to protect the Qiang. Your majesty trusts him, and I trust him too."

Chen Ping sighed, "I hope General Lu can live up to Mr. Zhang's expectations."

Zhang He nodded and continued to look at the empty space.

If it was an ordinary battle, the commanders of both sides would definitely send some more troops from the rear to suppress the enemy infantry from the side along the gentle slope to the south, and strive for victory for their side. But now this gap that looked like a flaw seemed to be a bait set by Zhuge Liang, glaring and provocative, waiting for someone to take the bait.

The entire Wei army marched out of the camp at 9:00, and the infantry of the two armies had been engaged in full-scale fighting for more than half an hour. For the 16,000 infantrymen who had been caught in the battle, any strategies and tactics were useless at this time. They had to try their best to maintain their formation and fight hard with the help of their comrades to win a glimmer of hope for themselves.

At three quarters past noon, the sun reached its highest point, and Lu Xun finally waited for the opportunity to mobilize his troops.

"it's time!"

Seeing from afar the Shu army's front infantry formation moving forward, and a slightly smaller formation behind the Shu army moving towards this gap, Lu Xun held the sword in his right hand and without hesitation, called He Tang and Cao Ping to his side:
"Hetang, you have been with me for two years and you are my direct descendant. There are a million Qiang people in the territory of Wei, and you and Zhi Wudai are the only two who can lead the troops. Don't betray me today!"

Hetang suddenly pulled off the cloak tied to his armor and threw it on the ground. The Qiang cavalry general, who was more than 30 years old, had his eyes wide open, his cheeks tense, and pointed to the sky in a rage:
"Mr. Lu, there are Hetangs who died in battle today, but there are no Hetangs who retreat!"

"Okay!" Lu Xun nodded. "Hetang, I just want you to follow this gap and charge eastward. If you encounter Shu bandits along the way, shoot them with cavalry! Stay behind and harass them. I don't ask you to charge in forcefully. If you can hold off one or two army formations, I will recommend you to be a marquis!"

"Yes, sir!" He Tang responded with a fist bump, his tone trembling with nervousness and excitement.

"Cao Ping." Lu Xun turned his gaze to this man and said, "You are the nephew of the general, so I won't say any more unnecessary words! Do you see the Shu bandits' army formation approaching? Go past them from both sides, then rush behind them and attack their backs. We must fight to the death today!"

"Don't worry, General." Cao Ping was always steady and taciturn. After he bowed in response, he immediately turned around and rode back to the formation, and began to give orders to the cavalry Simas, Quchangs, and Dubos under his command.

Of the seven thousand Qiang cavalry, Lu Xun had already thrown four thousand eastwards. Whether it was good or bad depended on God's will.

Looking at the large group of cavalrymen beside him rushing eastward, with a slight wisp of dust rising from the ground and the sound of horses' hooves like thunder, Lu Xun chuckled without even realizing it.

Zhou Duo looked at his commander in a slightly strange way, thinking that it was General Lu who was in charge of the strategy and commanded the troops with ease and smiled calmly.

But Lu Xun was thinking about the uncertainty and tricks of fate. How did he, a man from Wu County, Yangzhou, end up in the situation he is in today, leading a group of Liangzhou Qiang people to attack the Shu army? It's not that Lu Xun has never fought against the Shu army before. When he faced Liu Bei, he encountered the most difficult situations.

Today I am not the commander-in-chief, and the army I lead is not very strong. I just need to do my best and live up to Your Majesty. What else do I have to worry about?

The Qiang cavalry were good at archery and horsemanship. Although they had often been defeated by the Wei cavalry and infantry before, their shortcomings were not in their riding and archery skills, but in their organization in persisting in combat and the objective fact that they had not received full-time training.

After these Qiang cavalrymen enlisted, they followed Lu Xun to station in Dazhong. In two years, they practiced military tactics and battle formations and could be considered a qualified light cavalry.

As Hetang and his personal guards fired their arrows, the Qiang cavalrymen on the side close to Chen Shi's army formation shot arrows on their horses, which drew arcs and fell into one side of the army formation.

"Stand up! Raise your shields!" Chen Shi shouted orders in the army.

Facing the harassment from the side by the arrows of the light cavalry, although it was not fatal to the Shu army soldiers who were fully armored, it would more or less affect the stability of the army formation. Especially at this moment when the Shu cavalry just came out, how could Chen Shi know whether there would be more cavalry coming from behind?
The Qiang soldiers who were riding on horses and shooting arrows had no intention of shooting a second arrow, but followed the flag to the east without hesitation.

After Hetang, Cao Ping's 2,000 light cavalry also arrived. Cao Ping followed the military order and did not pay any attention to Chen Shi's troops who had already stood still and were shooting crossbow arrows in the middle of the army formation. Instead, he split into two groups and rushed towards the moving Ju Fu's troops from the left and right.

The horse speed has been increased, and Cao Ping, surrounded by guards, galloped forward in the army. When he was getting closer and closer to the Shu army, he found that there was no place to attack!
Although cavalry is more expensive and requires more training and command skills than infantry, different types of cavalry have different strategies when facing infantry.

Crashing head-on into the enemy and piercing through the enemy's territory is the romance of the armored cavalry wearing heavy armor. When faced with the forest of swords and spears coming forward to meet the enemy from the infantry formation, ordinary heavy cavalry and light cavalry would not fight in this way. They would attack from behind to disrupt the enemy's formation, and when the enemy's formation was unstable, they would attack from the side or back to win, and use the speed of the horses to gain victory in the pursuit battle. This is the usual use of cavalry.

What Hetang had to do was to rush forward to harass the Shu army from behind. The task that Lu Xun gave to Cao Ping was to roll over the two sides of this smaller Shu army formation and tear off the flesh of the Shu army like a knife scraping fish scales.

When Cao Ping approached, he was shocked to find that the two wings and the rear of this Shu army were actually made up of wooden carts!

Although war horses are taller and have greater potential energy than infantrymen, they are still living creatures after all. They are helpless against these wooden carts that are only ten feet high, and the lances in the hands of the cavalry are also unable to attack them!
The cavalrymen at the front had no choice but to hang their lances on the side of their horses and shoot arrows at the Shu army. There was no other way. The cavalrymen were difficult to command and they also threw arrows.

Lu Xun looked at this place from a distance. Although he couldn't see clearly from a distance, he knew clearly the speed of cavalry fighting. There was no sense of deceleration or stagnation of the army formation. In this case, there must be no battle!

Lu Xun's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and his expression became serious.

"Left and right!" Lu Xun shouted loudly.

"I'm here!" a trusted sergeant beside him responded.

"Hurry up and tell General Zhang that there is something strange about the Shu army's formation and they can't break through for the time being. I will lead Zouping's 2,000 cavalry to rush behind the enemy to provide support. Only Zhou Duo's 1,000 cavalry will be left here. Have him quickly move over!"

After he finished speaking, he sent the messenger away and hurriedly gave Zhou Duo a few words. After Lu Xun drove his horse back to the Zouping formation, he drew his sword from his waist for the first time in this battle, pointed it diagonally forward, and roared loudly:

"Follow my flag, charge forward!"

Two thousand Qiang cavalrymen slowly accelerated behind Lu Xun's flag, and the sound of horse hooves resounded around them again. Chen Shi's troops had just moved for a short while when they had to stop again to deal with the passage of Lu Xun's cavalry.

The cavalry formation where Lu Xun was located was like a gust of wind blowing eastward, just like Cao Ping just now, split into two halves and swept through the two sides of the Jufu chariot formation. It did not throw arrows or attack the formation, but came to the rear of the Shu army formation as the headquarters of General Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang.

As Lu Xun's position continued to move forward, the overall deployment of the Shu army in the rear also came into Lu Xun's sight. As Lu Xun watched, he clenched his teeth and felt a sense of powerlessness.

Regardless, as the commander of the 7,000 cavalry, Lu Xun's personal entry into the enemy camp and joining forces with his 4,000 cavalry was a correct move. The closer to the front line, the more comfortable a general is in commanding.

Lu Xun galloped all the way here and took in the entire situation.

In the east, Hetang's 2,000 Qiang cavalry seemed to have surrounded a small infantry formation at the rear of the Shu army. That was the army of Tiger Infantry Commander Meng Yan. Hetang's troops circled around Meng Yan's troops, but under the protection of the chariot formations on all sides, Hetang had no other means to use except to continuously shoot arrows inward.

Chen Shi's troops, which had been confronting Lu Xun, continued to move forward after the cavalry passed. The 3,000 men of Huang Xi's troops behind Chen Shi, under the command of Zhuge Liang's central army flag signals, gave up the idea of ​​following Chen Shi, and instead turned their formation and headed north, towards Zhuge Liang's direction.

If Huang Xi could gain a firm foothold in this gap, Lu Xun and the 6,000 cavalrymen of Hetang and Cao Ping would never be able to return, as their way back would be completely blocked by the Shu army!
In the Han army.

The 4,000 men under Wu Ban served as Zhuge Liang's main force in this battle. Like Zhang He's 3,000 elite troops, they formed a reserve force behind Wei Yan and Liu Yong.

Zhuge Liang and Yang Yi, the Prime Minister's Chief Clerk, stood side by side on the wooden cart. Yang Yi looked at the cavalry that passed by Huang Xi's army from afar, pointed at the flag and said loudly: "The Wei cavalry participating in the battle here are all Qiang cavalry. That's the flag of the commander. It must be Lu Xun himself! We can kill him today!"

Zhuge Liang said calmly, "If we can't get a deer today, do we want to get a roe deer? Well, order Ju Fu to move slowly southwards, and our formation will also move closer to Ju Fu. Order Huang Xi to push all the wooden carts in the formation to the periphery and join Ju Fu!"

"Yes, sir!" Yang Yi clasped his fist and responded loudly, then turned around and got off the wooden cart. After giving an order to Wu Ban, the entire battlefield slowly began to move.

When Lu Xun saw this, he knew that he could not delay any longer, and hurriedly ordered his personal guards to rush to the camp of He Tang and Cao Ping.

After hearing the order, Cao Ping's 2,000 cavalrymen all came to Lu Xun's side. He Tang left 1,000 cavalrymen to continue besieging Meng Yan's troops, and the remaining 1,000 cavalrymen were also sent to Lu Xun's side.

A cavalry formation of nearly 5,000 people slowly took shape to the east of Zhuge Liang, Ju Fu, and Huang Xi. Although there were nearly 10,000 Shu troops in front of him, and they were about to close in on Lu Xun's way back, Lu Xun still stood still.

"General, what should we do now?" Cao Ping rushed from the main camp to Lu Xun's side. At this time, the most important thing was to hear the commander's order as soon as possible.

Lu Xun's face was expressionless. He pointed at the gap on the north side and said, "Does Zhuge Liang really think that the three formations combined into one can stop me? Today, you and I will not return from the original route, but break back from the north!"

"North?" Cao Ping was shocked. "There is no way to the north. The Shu bandits and Captain Zhao's troops are fighting along the mountain. The outcome has not yet been decided! How can a battle array of 2,000 people be broken through in such a short time?"

"What do you think?" Lu Xun sneered, "If you can't even get through from the back, then you and I, five thousand men, will die here today."

Cao Ping gritted his teeth and said, "General, what about Hetang?"

Lu Xun glanced at Cao Ping and said, "This is not something you should ask. Just follow me and charge forward. Don't worry about the rest. The two military formations on the south side and in the center are both chariot formations, but Zhuge Liang's main force is not a chariot formation!"

"General, you want to..." Cao Ping couldn't help but blurt out.

Lu Xun said, "Before you rush forward, follow me and charge Zhuge Liang's main formation from the side!"

"Yes, sir!" Cao Ping responded with a fist salute.

Lu Xun did order He Tang to stay behind. In the current situation, if the Wei army had one more thousand cavalry, it would not have much impact on the overall situation. If the Shu army had one more thousand troops, they would definitely move closer to Zhuge Liang's headquarters and block the gap. So the messenger sent to He Tang's army just now told He Tang to hold on there, and after Lu Xun's headquarters dispersed, he could go to the lower direction to join Wei Pushe and Guo Zhengshu. In any case, the marquis of the court would be with him.

Unexpectedly, Hetang waved his spear in anger and shouted at the envoy: "Although I am a Qiang, I also know loyalty and righteousness. If I don't have the title of Marquis, will I not fight? General, you underestimate me!"

The envoy immediately dismounted and bowed, then followed the Hetang army.

As Zhuge Liang's main force slowly moved, Lu Xun no longer hesitated and ordered all 5,000 cavalry nearby to move forward and rush towards the north of Zhuge Liang's army, that is, the gap between the northern mountains and Zhuge Liang.

"Lord Wei, Lu Xun has already decided on a direction, and he is heading north." Zhuge Liang said calmly to Yang Yi while riding on his horse, "I am surprised that he has the courage to escape by seizing the road instead of fleeing along the original route when our army has not yet gathered."

Yang Yi thought for a few moments, then asked, "Lu Xun is definitely going to charge at General Liu's back. The cavalry has already moved, and it's too late for the Prime Minister's troops to move north. What should we do?"

"What do you think?" Zhuge Liang said, "It's fine if Lu Xun leaves. My infantry can also push forward to repel Zhang He. It's just a matter of whether we win against Zhang He or Lu Xun. It makes no difference."

With the arrival of Lu Xun's headquarters, the sound of 5,000 cavalrymen's horses' hooves approached the Shu army. Even though Zhuge Liang's army was elite, there was still a hint of panic on the faces of the soldiers.

After the thousand Qiang cavalrymen in the front galloped past, the Shu army, which had hurriedly stood still, was not in a panic at all. When Lu Xun's flag passed by, the crossbows in the Shu army's formation actually shot out arrows at the same time. In addition to these ordinary feather arrows, there were also dozens of large-scale strange crossbows fixed on the wooden carts near the north end of the formation, which shot arrows like rain, directly in the direction of Lu Xun's flag.

As luck would have it, Lu Xun was under the protection of the cavalry and was on the side far away from the Shu army. However, under the continuous crossbow shooting, a crossbow arrow still hit Lu Xun. After more than ten riders fell beside him, the neck of the horse under Lu Xun was also hit by an arrow. The severe pain caused the horse to fall suddenly, and Lu Xun himself was thrown off the horse.

From the perspective of Zhuge Liang and Yang Yi, Lu Xun's flag suddenly stopped for a moment, and then tilted forward, as if it was about to fall to the ground.

"Oh?" Zhuge Liang asked, "Is it possible that you are so lucky?"

Yang Yi cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, why don't we send a group of elite troops to go forward and see what's happening there."

"it is good……"

As soon as Zhuge Liang said the good word, Lu Xun, who was pinned under his horse, struggled to climb out with the help of the soldiers beside him, pointed at the general holding the general's flag behind him and cursed: "I fell down, but I am not dead. Why should I move the general's flag? Put it up!"

"Yes." The hundred generals responded one after another and raised the flag upright again.

"This is..." Zhuge Liang paused for a few moments and sighed, "Oh, forget it. Quickly order Ju Fu and Huang Xi to change their formation and push forward, and then order Chen Shi to move forward quickly. We must march forward despite casualties. It's time for the general attack!"

"What about Captain Meng behind? What about General Liu?" Yang Yi asked.

Zhuge Liang glanced eastward and said, "Let Meng Yan go. There is no time to take care of him. As for Liu Yong, it depends on his luck. Send the order quickly. The whole army will move forward immediately. The army will win!"

"Follow the order!"

Even though the Wei army's cavalry was light, Liu Yong's troops, who had been deadlocked on the front line for two and a half hours, could not resist. In addition, the cavalry attacked from behind, stretching like a tide, and Liu Yong's front line was finally torn open from behind.

Just like ants gnawing at a dam, a small gap was created, which continued to expand under the desperate charge of the cavalry until the dam burst. Thousands of cavalrymen broke through Liu Yong's army, and this veteran general who had been with Liu Bei in Xinye and a fellow townsman of Wei Yan and Wei Wenchang was afraid of the military order and dared not retreat. He was killed by the charge of the cavalry, and was gradually torn into pieces by the countless horses' hooves.

After Lu Xun broke through the front line of the battle between the two sides, before he had time to catch his breath, he passed through Zhang He's army under the escort of hundreds of cavalry.

How could Zhang He not know about the battle ahead? At this moment, Zhang He was commanding his soldiers to attack Chen Shi's army. When he saw Lu Xun coming back, he lost his usual demeanor and shouted angrily:
"Lu Boyan! How did you break through from the north? Can't you even stop the enemy from the rear? Your troops are cavalry, cavalry!"

Lu Xun said breathlessly: "General Zhang, it's not my fault. The Shu bandits deployed chariots, and my Qiang cavalry is completely useless! If I hadn't rushed in quickly, these cavalry would have been defeated in the east."

"General Zhang, retreat quickly! There is a camp six miles behind us. Reorganize the army and wait to occupy the east! There are many Wei people there!"

Zhang He drew his sword and was about to chop in rage, but he held back. The veins on his forehead bulged. He paused for a long time before he lowered his voice and roared from his throat:
"I'll hold on here. You set up a battle formation in the north first, and then have the four generals in front retreat!"

"I understand!" Lu Xun replied with difficulty.

As soon as Lu Xun's cavalry formation was established, even without Zhang He's order, the front formation was about to become unstable. As soon as the order to retreat was given, these soldiers fled backwards.

The cavalry formation that Lu Xun hastily formed was ultimately unable to hold its ground in the face of Zhuge Liang's larger and slowly approaching main force and the remaining troops, and continued to retreat.

Even though there was a camp seven miles away as a support, Zhang He still chose to abandon the camp more than an hour later when facing the attack from Zhuge Liang's vanguard.

Zhuge Liang continued to pursue the enemy, and when it was getting dark, the front of the fleeing Wei army had almost reached the narrow mountain. Zhuge Liang himself also followed the army and pressed forward.

But at this time, Zhuge Liang received a military report from the rear.

"What? Did Xiabian get lost?" Zhuge Liang was shocked. (End of this chapter)