Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 127 The Face of the Suanni
Thin willow.

Wei River.

Xianyang Bridge.

Today is the tenth day of the fifth month of the sixth year of Jianxing.

Liu Shan made no stops along the way, passing through three camps in succession, and finally followed Zhao Yun to Caoqu Camp, located in the northeast corner of Chang'an.

Under the astonished gazes of the soldiers guarding the camp, he arrived outside the central command tent beneath the Zhao-character banner.

Zhao Yun lifted the curtain and entered.

Zhao Guang and several Longxiang Guards followed closely behind.

Liu Shan followed him inside, and upon entering the tent, he saw several familiar faces.

When General Fu Qian, General Feng Hu, General Yang Qun, and General Deng Tong saw the General of the East enter, they intended to leave their seats to greet him.

However, as soon as they stood up, they froze in place.

The guards who should have been protecting General Zhao were nowhere to be seen; instead, there were eight or nine imposing men in full armor.

What was surprising was not the size of these men, who were all over eight feet tall, but the lion-like beast masks covering their faces.

This animal-faced design is made of brass and painted.

Its fangs were exposed, and its eyes were wide open in anger.

It was truly majestic and awe-inspiring.

"General Zhen Dong... what is this?" Feng Hu, who was confused, was the first to step forward and asked in a deep voice.

"This...is His Majesty here?" Fu Qian looked at the person leading behind General Zhao and felt that the man's figure was quite similar to that of the emperor, but he was also vaguely more robust. He exclaimed in surprise.

There was no one in the army who had ever heard of anyone's men wearing animal masks, so these imposing men with animal masks on their faces were most likely the newly established Dragon Guard by the emperor.

Considering that General Zhao had first ordered his cavalry to sweep the surrounding area, preventing Wei scouts from approaching, and then personally led his guards to meet them...

In a flash, Fu Qian immediately stepped forward, made way for General Zhao, and bowed to the eight-foot-tall man standing right in the middle of the tent.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw the leader jump away and quickly remove the beast mask.

It turned out to be Zhao Pijiang, the second son of General Zhao.

Fu Qian, who had already bowed and clenched his fists, paused, straightened up, and looked somewhat embarrassed.

Zhao Guang, sitting opposite him, also looked embarrassed.

Generals Feng Hu, Yang Qun, and Deng Tong, who were initially astonished by Fu Qian's words, were inexplicably relieved when they saw that the person in front of Fu Qian was not the emperor but Zhao Guang.

Not to mention that the emperor should not risk his life by going to the front line, even if he did go to the front line, he should stay in Xiliu or Jimen.

This canal fortress was only five or six miles from Chang'an, and it was the first place to be hit by the Wei army.

It is highly likely that Sima Yi will not go to Xinfeng, but instead attack the camp first, which is somewhat dangerous.

Fu Qian's expression was far from relaxed as he asked, "Bijiang? His Majesty has personally come to the front lines?"

He couldn't help but be nervous.

The Dragon Generals, who are responsible for protecting His Majesty and are inseparable from him, are all here. His Majesty is probably in one of the fortified cities behind.

Before Zhao Guang could reply, an eight-foot-tall man wearing a lion-faced beast mask stepped out from behind Zhao Guang's attendant.

As he removed the beast mask, he spoke:
"Why are you so worried, Gongquan? With all of you loyal ministers and generals here, how could I possibly be in any danger?"

As the beast mask was removed, what appeared before the generals was a face that was even more heroic and masculine than when the emperor had just led the expedition.

Generals Fu Qian, Feng Hu, Yang Qun, and Deng Tong were all stunned for a moment before hastily stepping forward and bowing in respect.

"Your subject Feng Hu greets Your Majesty!"

"Your subject, Fu Qian, greets Your Majesty!"

"Your subject Yangqun greets Your Majesty!"

"..."

"Alright, no need for formalities." Liu Shan casually hung the lion-faced beast mask on his waist, and then suddenly chuckled a moment later.

"There's no need to be so loud. You were just worried that I might be in danger if I went to the front lines. Now, aren't you afraid that the soldiers passing by outside the tent will hear me calling you 'Your Majesty' and 'Your Majesty'?"

"And then some people with ulterior motives sell the information to Sima Yi?"

Upon hearing the emperor's words, Feng Hu, who had been the loudest during the audience, nearly popped his eyes out and strode out of the tent without saying another word.

Meanwhile, the generals and officers in the tent, including Yang Qun, Deng Tong, and Yan Zhi, looked at each other in bewilderment.

The emperor didn't mind and said with a smile, "From now on, you can call me General Liu. There's no need to address me as 'Your Majesty' when you pay homage. Keep everything simple."

Upon hearing the name General Liu, General Zhao paused slightly.

When the late emperor was in Yuzhou, he was appointed General of the Left and Marquis of Yicheng. Before he was proclaimed King of Hanzhong, many of his civil and military staff referred to him as General Liu.

"Your Majesty, there weren't many people passing by outside the tent just now, and I've taken care of them all!" Feng Hu entered the tent, but forgot to lower his voice. Seeing the strange looks in the eyes of the people inside, he quickly turned around and ran out again.

When he returned to the tent, he saw His Majesty already seated at the head of the table, looking at him with a slight smile.

He returned to his seat and sat down, and Fu Qian immediately whispered something in his ear.

He listened intently, looking as if he had just realized something, and then secretly glanced in the direction of the emperor's seat, nodding repeatedly.

The emperor suddenly spoke up: "Now that we're all here, let's get straight to business."

"I want to know the current balance of power between the enemy and ourselves, how they are distributed, and what our next steps are?"
"Has the Prime Minister given us any important instructions?"

Many of the generals and officers in the tent had not yet recovered from the complex emotions arising from the emperor's personal campaign, so the emperor asked them several questions in a row, and they all straightened their postures.

Feng Hu was the first to speak: "Your Majesty... General Liu, Sima Yi sent 14,000 to 15,000 troops from the garrison in Chang'an last night to fight us."

"Among them, there are less than three thousand who can be called elite soldiers. The rest are a bunch of mediocre people. Perhaps because of the repeated defeats, their morale has been greatly damaged. They are not even as good as the Han Dynasty's garrison troops."

"We beheaded over 1,500 and captured over 1,000. If Sima Yi's Jing and Yu armies hadn't arrived in time and formed ranks to meet us, our victory could have been doubled!"

Liu Shan nodded.

Pursuing the defeated enemy to expand the victory would inevitably lead to the loss of formation. Sima Yi dared to launch a night attack because he had something to rely on.

Seeing that Feng Hu had missed the point, Zhao Yun took over the conversation and said, "According to the confessions of the captured mid-level Wei officers, there were originally more than 24,000 garrison troops in Chang'an."

"However, an epidemic broke out in the city, and more than two thousand people died from the disease. In addition to the loss of more than two thousand people last night, there are still about 19,000 to 20,000 soldiers guarding Chang'an City."

"The garrison commanders are Xiahou Mao, Xiahou Ru, Xiahou Bao, Guanqiu Jian, Linghu Yu, and Qin Lang, but there are no veteran generals on the battlefield."

"Sima Yi's Jingyu army, which entered Guanzhong, originally numbered 30,000 regular soldiers, in addition to the more than 2,000 cavalrymen who entered and occupied Xinfeng."

"We fought General Liu at Wuzhangyuan, losing nearly two thousand men. In addition, several hundred died from the plague, leaving us with around twenty-seven thousand men."

"Among the generals who led the army, those with commendable victories include Zhou Tai, Sun Li, Wang Guan, Zhou Dang, Jia Xu, and Wei Ping..."

Liu Shan was slightly taken aback:

"The situation in Chang'an can be referenced by the confessions of prisoners, so it is normal to know the details."

"How does General Zilong know so much about Sima Yi's background?"

Zhao Yun smiled:
"Your Majesty... General Liu, as the art of war says, in matters concerning the three armies, nothing is more intimate than the secret agents, no reward is more generous than the secret agents, and no matter is more confidential than the secret agents."

"Wherever an army wishes to attack, a city to be besiege, or a person to be killed, it must first know the defending general, his attendants, his messengers, his gatekeepers, his servants..."

Liu Shan suddenly realized: "So it's using spies?"

Zhao Yun nodded: "There are many people in the Wei army who are looking for money. Our army has been operating near Chang'an for more than a month and has obtained a lot of information. In addition, the Prime Minister previously seized a lot of documents at the Fengshui camp. After verifying them many times, we have roughly guessed the truth."

After Zhao Yun finished speaking, he took out a silk scroll from his sleeve.

Zhao Guang, who was standing beside the emperor, stepped forward, took the document, and handed it to the emperor.

Liu Shan unfolded it with some curiosity, only to find that it was a defense map of Chang'an.

It meticulously depicts where troops can be hidden and ambushed along the main roads of Chang'an, the number of guards at each city gate, and the names of the commanders. This type of city defense map is highly time-sensitive, especially since the city's defenses would certainly have changed after Sima Yi entered Chang'an.

But we can still glean a lot from it, such as the fact that the distribution of streets in the city will not change.

Chang'an is such a large city; if the defending troops were truly determined to hold it to the death, they could fight for days just in the streets.

Knowing the street layout allows for more targeted attacks during urban warfare.

It seems that most of them are no longer needed now.

But what does it mean to be prepared for any eventuality? This is what it means to be prepared for any eventuality.

Military strategy states: "Only the wise and sagacious can employ spies; only the benevolent and righteous can use spies; only the subtle and ingenious can obtain the true nature of spies."

Not everyone can use spies well. General Zhao spent more than a month in Xiliu, and the information he obtained through spies must have been far more than this. He had to rely on his experience and wisdom to distinguish between the true and false information. What he can now say and show to himself must have been verified.

Zhao Yun continued:
"There are about four thousand soldiers and more than four thousand laborers in Baling City. The generals in charge are Wang Chang, Niu Jin, Niu Gai, and Yin Damu. The city's defenses are even stronger than those of Xinfeng and cannot be taken down."

"Xinfeng has over five thousand soldiers, and the garrison commanders are Hao Zhao, Wang Shuang, and Wen Qin..."

Liu Shan calculated for a moment and said:
"The garrison at Chang'an numbered 19,000, the army from Jing and Yu numbered 27,000, and the army from Baling and Xinfeng numbered 9,000."

"In that case, if Sima Yi were to launch a full-scale attack, he would be able to mobilize around 55,000 soldiers."

“Aside from the soldiers guarding the fortresses, our Han Dynasty has around 50,000 regular soldiers available for field battles, and... our cavalry is actually more numerous than that of the Wei invaders.”

"The Cao Wei army is truly numerous," Liu Shan remarked.

Despite suffering so many defeats, there are still so many people left.

It is estimated that there are still four or five thousand garrison soldiers in Zheng County, Huayin, and Tongguan behind Xinfeng.

Zhao Yun slowly shook his head: "The Wei bandits number more than 55,000, and our cavalry may not even outnumber them."

Liu Shan paused, then asked, "Is there news from Bingzhou?"

Zhao Yun nodded:

"I only received the news from Bingzhou yesterday."

"Qian Zhao wanted to go to Shengle to attack the Xianbei royal court, but Kebineng led 30,000 light cavalry to Yanmen Pingcheng to intercept him."

"As a result, they were surrounded by Tian Yu and Qian Zhao, leading to a crushing defeat."

"The two generals beheaded tens of thousands and returned south in great victory."

"This battle took place on April 20th. Judging by the time, they should have already arrived in Hedong. Sima Yi was probably waiting for them to come to their aid."

Beheading tens of thousands?

Liu Shan was taken aback.

Qian Zhao and Tian Yu truly deserve to be called famous generals of the northern frontier; their battle record is simply too dazzling. It's unclear whether it's purely cavalry fighting cavalry or a combination of infantry and cavalry.

But it also shows that the Xianbei's tactical level was indeed poor, and they were still fighting on instinct. Otherwise, how could they have been beheaded thousands of times while riding a horse?
Fu Qian sighed, "If the Prime Minister hadn't forced the two thousand-plus cavalry of the puppet Wei into Xinfeng, this next battle would still have been difficult."

Feng Hu chuckled:
"Your Majesty has accepted the surrender of more than 2,000 Qiang cavalry and more than 2,000 Xiongnu cavalry."

"The Prime Minister also persuaded the Qiang and Di heroes of Longyou to submit, and gained another four or five thousand cavalry."

"Our great Han now has nearly ten thousand cavalrymen, how can we be weaker than the pseudo-Wei?"

Nearly ten thousand cavalry?

Upon hearing this, the generals, who had not carefully examined their own accounts, were all surprised and moved.

Has the Han Dynasty suddenly become so strong in just a few months?
Although these Qiang and Di peoples are mostly fickle, as long as the Battle of Chang'an is won, they have no reason to betray the Han and defect to Wei again.

The next step is to gradually absorb them.

The Prime Minister was able to recruit even the Southern Barbarians and the Cong Barbarians, and train an invincible flying army for the Han Dynasty.

The two barbarian generals, Meng Yan and Cuan Xi, were also able to fight to the death for the Han Dynasty on the battlefield.

Wang Ping, a man from the Ba people, also possesses the talent of a great general. Now, he is highly regarded by the Prime Minister and the Emperor, and has risen from a subordinate general to a general with a title.

Yang Tiao, the Qiang King of Anding, made an indelible contribution to the Han Dynasty's recapture of Guanzhong. Without his initiative in offering a thousand cavalrymen to the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty would have been passive in every situation and would never have achieved its current status.

The Qiang, Di, Man, and Xiongnu peoples now all gather under the banner of the Han Dynasty, shedding blood and sweat for the Han.

what is this?
This is a sign that all foreign tribes have submitted!
Zhao Yun said, “Tian Yu and Qian Zhao are renowned in the northern frontier and have won the hearts of both the Hu and Han people in Bingzhou. If they were to personally lead several thousand cavalry from Bingzhou, it would indeed make us wary. However, I think Cao Rui would never send these two to Guanzhong.”

"Why?" Fu Qian asked, somewhat puzzled.

"With tens of thousands of Xianbei beheaded by the two generals, they are probably no longer able to threaten the northern border of the pseudo-Wei. They should be able to escape and come here, right?"

Zhao Yun said with some regret:

"This matter is related to the late emperor."

"Qian Zhao and the late emperor became sworn brothers in their youth. Tian Yu entrusted himself to the late emperor when he was young, and the late emperor valued him highly."

"Cao Cao was suspicious. Seeing that many heroes in Guanzhong had betrayed Wei and returned to Han, he probably saw everyone as a traitor."

"These two famous generals from the northern frontier are exceptionally talented, yet they hold only minor official positions as prefects and colonels, and are not given the opportunity to fully utilize their abilities."

"In my opinion, it is because the two men had a close relationship with the late emperor that the Cao family dared not use them lightly."

"From this perspective, although Tian Yu and his two generals achieved a great victory over the Xianbei and greatly increased the military's prestige, the Cao family may not necessarily give them important positions because of this."

"We dare not send them now. If our Han Dynasty were to capture Guanzhong, the Cao family would certainly not allow the two of them to remain in Bingzhou."

"Most of the time, it was a promotion in name only, and they were transferred to the Central Plains or to the front lines of Eastern Wu."

Neither of them ultimately followed the late emperor; one followed Yuan Shao, and the other followed Gongsun Zan. In the end, they both surrendered to Cao Cao. Despite their numerous merits, they were not given important positions by the Cao family, which is truly lamentable.

All the former officials who followed the late emperor through hardships and wandered in various places, regardless of their abilities, were never mistreated by the late emperor. If these two had been able to follow the late emperor, their circumstances would probably have been very different.

Feng Hu said nonchalantly, "Even if these two personally lead ten thousand cavalry to reinforce us, our Han cavalry is no less than theirs, and we also have the advantage of bows, crossbows, and chariots. Why should we be afraid of them?"

Fu Qian shook his head: "The Qiang and Di tribes have just submitted; they may not be suitable for service."

Feng Hu said, "If Your Majesty had not gone to such lengths, they might not have been capable of serving you."

“But now that His Majesty has come to the front lines and they have already surrendered, after weighing the pros and cons, there is no reason for them not to fight to the death.”

That makes some sense. Most of the Qiang and Di people submitted for their cause. What could be more beneficial than risking one's life for the emperor who was personally leading the campaign?

Liu Shan repeatedly stroked the bronze lion-shaped mask hanging at his waist, and after a moment asked:

"Is the Prime Minister's army resting and recuperating during the day, or has it already begun its attack on Xinfeng?"

Zhao Yun replied, "The Prime Minister's intention is to rest and recuperate during the day and fight again at night."

"Firstly, the soldiers were exhausted after a night of marching and fighting, and they definitely needed to rest and recuperate."

"Secondly, it is not easy to detect the deployment of troops at night. As the defender, the Wei invaders will inevitably be overwhelmed and will easily make mistakes."

"Thirdly, our soldiers have been drinking pine needle water for over a month, and their night blindness is much milder than that of the Wei army, which is beneficial for night battles."

"Where is Sima Yi? Has he not made a move yet?" Liu Shan asked.

Zhao Yun shook his head: "No, as I predicted, he will not make any move until the Prime Minister's army attacks Xinfeng."

into the night.

Changan.

Sima Yi stood on the city wall observing the Han army camp. Behind him, a man dressed as a farmer seemed to be reporting news to him.

After the man left, Sima Yi gazed at the lights in the north as if talking to himself and murmured:
"Did the dragon banner of Liu Shan rise at Su Shiwu?"

"And another dragon banner came with the grain transport team to Chang'an?"

"Is Liu Shan going to personally visit Chang'an? Is he trying to buy time for Zhuge Liang?"

(End of this chapter)