I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 335 Rescue of Wang Taocheng

Seeing Wang Kui's actions, Cao Cao deeply felt that the Yixin Society was truly a place where hidden talents roamed.

The fact that an ordinary member could manage the defense of a city so well and win the respect of everyone demonstrates his ability and the awesomeness of the Yixin Society.

This military officer's abilities are more than enough to qualify him as a captain.

Following Yuan Shuzhen was the best decision he ever made.

Wang Kui's series of preparations were not in vain, or rather, the Tianxiong Army officers in many counties, including Wangtao County, did not waste their efforts, because the Xianbei cavalry quickly crossed the Great Wall and entered the heart of Yanmen County, and then frantically searched for easy targets everywhere.

They divided their forces and searched for Han Chinese settlements. After searching for a long time, they finally reached the county town. Seeing the banners fluttering on the city walls and the chevaux-de-frise pits below, the Xianbei people were completely stunned.

Hulanji soon learned that the Han people had all swiftly and nimbly hidden behind the city walls, and that every county town was guarded by Han soldiers with banners flying and the city walls filled with Han soldiers, while the city walls were filled with barricades and hidden pits.

These defensive facilities were clearly not as formidable as those in Qiangyin County, but seeing this formidable array, the group of men who had suffered a crushing defeat at the gates of Qiangyin County couldn't help but suffer from PTSD. Everyone was afraid to advance and did not want to attack the city.

They dared not attack the city, and the villages and settlements without cities were deserted. Even the rats had fled because they couldn't find food. What were they going to do?

On the sixth day of the twelfth month, Hulanji, after synthesizing information from various departments, generally determined that the Han people in the entire Yanmen Commandery should have all taken refuge in the cities. In some cities, such as Yinguan County and Mayi County, the number of Han soldiers was significantly larger. In other places, the number of Han soldiers was smaller, but there were signs that they were holding their positions.

Hulanji's men were very worried that every city would be as strong as Qiangyin County, which would cause them to suffer heavy losses and lose everything. They all had second thoughts and wanted to retreat.

However, Hulanji refused to accept this. He could not bring anything back from his trip south, and many people had died because of it. How could he convince the people?
If he goes back like this, how can he continue to be the powerful leader who commands all others?

We must bring something back no matter what! We must conquer a city no matter what!
So he searched everywhere and finally set his sights on Wangtao County.

Cao Cao and Wang Kui were also unlucky. Wang Tao County was a small county town with a dilapidated city. It looked like the easiest to bully and had the weakest defenses. As a result, it became the target of Hulanji's anger and was surrounded by the Xianbei army, who were preparing to attack the city.

At the same time, in order to prevent Han troops from coming to their aid and hindering his operations, Hulanji dispatched several cavalry squads with a large number of flags to make a show of force and appear around the other county towns as a deterrent. In this way, the Han troops in each city would only care about their own safety and would not come out of the city to help.

He believed that this would give him enough time to capture Wangtao County, thus making up for his failure and preventing him from losing his position as soon as he returned.

So, starting from the eighth day of the twelfth month, Hulanji began to lead his troops to attack Wangtao County. In order to boost morale, he announced to his soldiers that after the city was breached, they would not sheath their swords and could kill as they pleased, and plunder the city's wealth as they pleased, without caring about anything else.

If you can grab it, it's all yours!
Thus, the slight PTSD caused by the strong Yin County was quickly suppressed by greed, and more than 8,000 Xianbei soldiers began to launch a fierce attack on Wang Tao County.

It must be said that this puts a lot of pressure on Wangtao County. They didn't have enough time to prepare, their forces were not as numerous as those in Qiangyin County, and their elite troops were insufficient, so their defensive capabilities were naturally far inferior to those of Qiangyin County.

Cao Cao and Wang Kui had a total of 400 Tianxiong Army soldiers. Including the more than 700 armed forces inside the city, they had a total of more than 1,100 men. This was sufficient for the defense of a small city, but there were more than 8,000 enemies outside. An eight-fold difference in troop strength was still fatal.

Cao Cao and Wang Kui watched as a dark mass of Xianbei people swept in, and they immediately began to attack the barricades outside the city. While ordering the firing of arrows, they also sensed the severity of the situation.

However, they were not too worried because Yuan Shu had promised them that he would personally lead his cavalry to their rescue if they were besieged. Therefore, he told them to hold the city, fight bravely, and not give up.

Given Yuan Shu's reputation, Cao Cao and Wang Kui had no reason to doubt him. So they drew their swords and went up to the city walls to join the defense, constantly boosting morale and hoping for Yuan Shu's reinforcements.

Yuan Shu was stationed in Yinguan County. He had been closely monitoring the movements of the Xianbei army since they moved south. His scout squads, which moved around everywhere, could quickly relay relevant information back, ensuring that his communications were always smooth.

So he quickly learned that Wangtao County was under siege, while at the same time, no related news came from the other counties, only some news about "a large number of Xianbei cavalry roaming and scouting outside the city".

After thinking for a moment, Yuan Shu realized that something was wrong.

There couldn't possibly be that many Xianbei cavalry. The initial information he received was that "about 10,000 Xianbei cavalrymen marched south." If there were so many that they could divide their forces into four or five counties to surround and attack them, that would clearly not make sense.

The weather is cold now, deep winter, and it's a bit strange that the Xianbei are only coming at this time. A large-scale mobilization would also carry the risk of horses and people being injured or killed by frostbite, which is obviously too great. The Xianbei are poor and should not do this.

If they really mobilized 30,000 to 40,000 people, that would be all the mobile forces the Xianbei would normally have. So many people coming to Yanmen County together?

Yuan Shu convened a military conference, summoning a team of military advisors including Xun You, Zhang Hong, and Zhong Yao. They brainstormed together and unanimously concluded that the Xianbei were bluffing, trying to deceive the Han army with a small force, making them believe that they had a large army preparing to besiege and attack the city, so they held their ground.

In reality, the Xianbei people would only concentrate their forces to attack one place and would not randomly divide their troops.

Wangtao County should be their target.

These county towns could only be defended by a little over four hundred regular soldiers. Their forces were insufficient, and if they were besieged for a long time, even if the Xianbei people's weapons were not up to par, they would still be at risk of being breached. Yuan Shu agreed with the staff team's assessment, so he made up his mind to take the initiative and mustered four thousand cavalrymen to prepare for the expedition. He himself also donned his armor and helmet, ready to embark on the expedition.

Zhong Yao objected, advising Yuan Shu not to personally lead the attack.

Yuan Shu insisted on his own opinion.

“When I sent my troops out to attack, I promised that if they were surrounded by the Xianbei, I would personally lead the army to their rescue. Now is the time for me to fulfill my promise. Is it right for someone in a high position to break their promise and seek personal gain?”

Yuan Shu used this to refute Zhong Yao's suggestion. Zhong Yao had nothing to say and could only agree, but he also expressed that he would go with the army to protect Yuan Shu's safety.

Zhong Yao, who has not yet joined the Yixin Society, developed a sense of acknowledgment and protection for Yuan Shu because of his recognition of Yuan Shu and his admiration for his personal charm. He was willing to live and die with him, which made Yuan Shu very happy.

Yuan Shu then granted Zhong Yao's request and allowed him to join the army.

Although the Han cavalry numbered only four thousand, Yuan Shu did not believe that the Han cavalry were inferior to the Xianbei cavalry in combat effectiveness. The Xianbei cavalry were only fast, but most of them were light cavalry and lacked heavy equipment for melee combat, so their melee combat ability was not as good as that of the Han cavalry.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Xianbei cavalry besieged and attacked the city, the main force of the Han cavalry should launch a surprise attack and break through, which should yield significant results.

It's time for his elite troops, whom he has carefully trained for so long, to be put to use in the war to defend their homeland!
On December 11th, Yuan Shu personally led four thousand cavalrymen out of the city toward Wangtao County. The day was bitterly cold, so Yuan Shu ordered his soldiers to eat their fill and his warhorses to be fed fine feed to conserve their energy and strength. At dawn, they braved the cold wind and launched a swift attack.

At the same time, the defense of Wangtao County had entered its fourth day. The blockade line set up by the Han army outside the city had been completely destroyed by the Xianbei army. Now the Han army had to rely on the not-so-high city walls to block the Xianbei people.

Cao Cao and Wang Kui took turns fighting, each holding out for six hours before the other took over to rest. The two of them took turns commanding the army on the front line to ensure that the city's defenses would not fall.

It must be said that a small city also has its advantages. The defensive surface on the city wall is relatively narrow, and it can accommodate fewer people at the same time. Although the Xianbei people are numerous, only a limited number can climb up the city wall. This means that if the two armies were to engage in a head-on battle, the defending Han army would always outnumber the attacking Xianbei soldiers.

The Xianbei soldiers used siege ladders to climb the city walls. On average, each soldier had to face the defense of four or five Han soldiers. Before reaching the top of the city wall, they also had to deal with attacks from arrows, rolling logs and stones, and molten metal. It was very difficult and resulted in heavy losses.

The Xianbei suffered fewer losses than in Qiangyin County because the number of Han troops in Wangtao County was not large. Nevertheless, after four days of fighting, the Xianbei army had more than 200 dead and many more wounded.

What's even more alarming is that those who survived the burns from the molten metal in Qiangyin County are now starting to fall ill and die one after another, sometimes dozens a day. The scale is so large that it has caused widespread panic in the military camp.

The number of casualties had already exceeded 800, and now with the addition of 60 to 70 wounded soldiers dying every day, the total number of casualties will soon be close to 1,000.

That's a thousand able-bodied men!
A thousand able-bodied men!

These are exceptionally precious young men for any grassland tribe!

They just died like that, and we didn't gain anything. If this continues, something really bad is going to happen!
Hulanji grew increasingly impatient and anxious, so he frantically deployed more soldiers to attempt to attack Wangtao County.

If there weren't enough siege ladders, they would cut down trees to make temporary replacements, and do everything they could to send more people to the city walls so they could fight the Han army on the walls. They thought that even if it was a matter of numbers, they would take the city.

His actions did indeed put greater pressure on the garrison of Wangtao County.

The Han soldiers and able-bodied men of Wangtao County also began to suffer greater casualties. Wang Kui was slashed in the arm, and Cao Cao was accidentally cut on the face while fighting with a Xianbei soldier, and his face bled a lot.

However, they persevered and never retreated, holding firm on the city walls and inflicting heavy casualties on the Xianbei people, driving them off the walls multiple times.

Just when they were finally about to give up, on the morning of December 13th, the reinforcements led by Yuan Shu finally arrived.

Four thousand Han cavalry swept in like a whirlwind, charging directly towards the Xianbei army surrounding the county town. They quickly engaged in fierce combat, inflicting heavy casualties on the Xianbei army.

However, it must be said that before the Han army's iron cavalry charged, Hulanji had already learned of this news from the scouts and was very anxious, ordering the soldiers to quickly mount their horses and prepare to meet the enemy, and to forget about any siege mission.

However, their movements were slow and inefficient. So when the Han cavalry charged in, more than half of the Xianbei soldiers had not yet mounted their horses. Those who had mounted their horses did not have time to create distance and engage in classic mounted archery tactics with the Han army. They were directly forced into close-quarters mounted combat.

At this level, the Xianbei army was far inferior to the Han army, especially the elite cavalry under Yuan Shu.

Thus, the one-sided battle naturally unfolded.

(End of this chapter)