Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 138 A Thousand Armies Repel
Shen Shi.

The sun was setting further west.

When the massive clash between the Han and Wei armies ended in defeat for the Han army, over 20,000 Wei infantry and cavalry, escorting Sima Yi's banner as General of the Cavalry, charged towards the Han army's crescent-shaped formation.

Wei Yan's elite central army also quickly gained the upper hand in the previous round of strong attacks.

Finally, after this General Zhenbei personally killed a rank-two-thousand-stone lieutenant general wearing a silver seal and blue ribbon, the central army under his command completely crushed and routed the Wei army's formation positioned in the southwest corner.

Wei Yan led his troops in pursuit for half a mile. Countless Wei soldiers abandoned their armor and dragged their weapons as they fled. The Han army had neither the time nor the inclination to pursue them too far, and let them go before returning to their lines.

By this time, the outer Han troops, who had been fighting hard for a long time to create an opportunity for Wei Yan's central army, had suffered heavy losses, were suffering from hunger and thirst, and were also suffering from the scorching heat. They could no longer sustain their efforts, both mentally and physically.

Therefore, the elite troops of the central army who had just broken through the enemy lines had to temporarily take over from the Han soldiers on the outer perimeter, allowing them to enter the battle in rotation, drink water, and rest.

Wei Yan then delegated command and was about to lead over a hundred elite personal guards to rush to his aid when he suddenly received a message that shocked him.

He immediately reined in his horse and rode through the many lines of defenses to the north of the Bagua Formation.

He first turned his head east indifferently, glanced at the Deng-character general's flag that had come to provide support, and then looked northeast towards the canal.

Around Zhao Yun's platform, dozens of five-colored dragon banners, in shades of blue, white, red, yellow, and black, were faintly visible, fluttering in the east wind.

In addition, there was indeed a three-tasseled Golden Guard banner that displayed the emperor's majesty, surrounded by dozens of five-colored dragon banners, which were fluttering fiercely.

With the dust still rising, it was difficult to discern the exact number of Wei infantry and cavalry, but they were now closing in on Zhao Yun's Crescent Moon Formation.

Behind the Crescent Moon Formation, south of the canal about twenty paces wide, there were about one or two thousand armored soldiers surrounding the banners of officers and generals bearing the characters Zong, Feng, Fu, and Liu, arrayed along the canal facing north.

Although it is not very clear, one should know after a little thought that they must be archers and crossbowmen providing long-range support for Zhao Yun's Crescent Moon Formation.

Chinese army.

The Grand Chancellor of the Han Dynasty stood on the rammed earth platform, strategizing and directing the troops. Although his temples were frosted with gray, he exuded an awe-inspiring presence, displaying an imposing aura without needing to be angry.

Messengers ran back and forth on the platform, and soldiers who received orders retreated from the front lines to the central army to catch their breath, while soldiers who had recovered their strength and energy ran out of the formation after receiving orders.

Just then, Wei Yan returned to the central army.

He strode up to the platform and, without saying a word, asked Prime Minister Zhuge:

"Prime Minister, what exactly is going on with the dragon banner in General Zhen Dong's army? Has His Majesty really come to the front lines?!"

When Wei Yan asked his question, the old prime minister's gaze was fixed on the east of the great formation. Only after Wei Yan finished speaking did he shift his gaze back, then guide Wei Yan's eyes to the east again, saying:

“Wen Chang, the hundred or so Longxiang Lang there are led by Xingye. Cuan Xi’s attempt to come to their aid has been blocked. We need you to lead two hundred men there to relieve the siege.”

Half an hour ago, the hundred-odd heavily armored Longxiang warriors led by Wei Chang were cut off from the flank by several hundred elite Wei troops because they had gone too far in.

The four hundred reinforcements sent out from the central army were also fiercely intercepted by another elite Wei army, who were determined not to give up until they had completely annihilated the Longxianglang who were surrounded by them.

Both sides were heavily armored, and a stalemate ensued.

Wei Yan's mind was completely focused on the Golden Guard banner. He only glanced at it briefly before turning his head back immediately, his voice urgent: "Prime Minister, is His Majesty truly at the front lines? Is he on that command platform in Zhao Zhendong's camp?!"

The Prime Minister then nodded slightly.

Wei Yan was incredulous: "When did they arrive? Did you, Prime Minister, invite His Majesty here?!"

The Prime Minister slowly shook his head and said:

"It was His Majesty who insisted on leading the Tiger Warriors and the newly annexed Longyou Hu cavalry to this place to assist in the battle."

"His Majesty had already arrived when Sima Yi attacked the two fortresses of Chang'an the night before."

"I only found out when the old general came to see me early this morning."

Wei Yan paused for a moment, then looked northeast.

A moment later, for some reason, his hair stood on end, and he glared angrily, cursing:

"If Your Majesty were there, how could you have seen Sima Yi cross the river to the north and still sent Deng Bomiu to the south to provide reinforcements?!"

"Why are you still displaying the dragon banner?!"
"Is this a deliberate attempt to lure Sima Yi to the right flank, thus relieving pressure on this area?!"

After asking the question, Wei Yan straightened his armor, gripped his sword, and strode away.

A foul wind blew, stirring up a cloud of yellow dust.

The swift, heavy footsteps left a clear trail of footprints on the earthen platform.

After he stepped down from the platform, he did not go to the place where Wei Chang was surrounded. Instead, he stood there for a moment and looked at the two Wei army formations to the southeast. Then, he suddenly turned around and looked at the Han prime minister on the platform.

He raised his voice and requested the order:

"Prime Minister, give the order!"
"I saw what happened with Wei Chang. Wei's army was very strong and there was no way to break through. He could only bring a few hundred men to break through from the front. It was difficult to move. It would take at least a quarter of an hour to break through and rescue him!"

He then turned and pointed southwest: "My two elite troops are currently in the southwest. We can quickly attack the two southwestern formations of the Wei bandits. After winning, we can circle around to the southeast and behind the Wei bandits. Since their elite troops are all around Wei Chang, the outcome of the battle on my southern front is already decided!"

Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister paused slightly, gazing thoughtfully into the distance.

What Wei Yan said was indeed true. The decisive opportunity had appeared. With Sima Yi gone, the Wei army was now making its last stand.

They just don't know themselves and their enemy, and therefore don't think so.

Wei Yan remained standing with his hand on his sword. Seeing that the prime minister seemed hesitant, he immediately glared at him.
"Kongming!"
"You have always been selfless, how come you are now going to show favoritism for me?!"
"The emperor can repeatedly risk his life and endure arrows and stones for the sake of this world!"

"Do you think I, Wei Yan, would let this golden opportunity slip away for the sake of my own son, and let this battle be delayed for even a quarter of an hour longer?!"

"Let me tell you, Kongming, I have plenty of sons!"
"But now, there is only one emperor who dares to come to the front lines to fight!"
"If you don't give the order, I'll go myself!"

After speaking in a loud voice, Wei Yan led his troops away, heading southeast.

On the platform, beside the Prime Minister, Fei Yi, Hu Ji, Yang Xi, and other officials of the government were all speechless upon seeing Wei Yan's words and actions. Afterwards, they all turned their gazes to the Chief Secretary Yang Yi.

Meanwhile, Yang Yi, Wei Yan's archenemy, who had just devised a plan for the Prime Minister to launch a general offensive while Wei Chang and over a hundred of his elite troops were surrounded and all of Wei's elite forces had been deployed, watched Wei Yan's retreating figure with a complex expression and remained silent.

The Prime Minister, who hadn't heard the name Kongming for many years, finally broke his silence and solemnly commanded:

"Order all those in the central army who are capable of fighting to be fully armored and placed under the command of the General Who Guards the North!"

Once the word is spoken, the military order is signed.

The three or four thousand soldiers in the central army, all those who were able to fight, regardless of whether they were tired or thirsty, all donned armor and took up arms, and marched south in formation.

Wei Yan rallied his four hundred elite troops and charged out of the passage first.

The war drums beat wildly, and the command flags waved in front.

"—Kill!" The swordsmen and shieldmen advanced in a wall formation.

"—Kill!" The ring-pommel sword slashed down diagonally.
"—Kill!" The bright silver spear thrust out from the side of the shield.

It shot out like lightning.

This group of battle-hardened soldiers, who had trained under Wei Yan for over a decade, relied on their honed muscle memory to mechanically and precisely attack all the parts of the Wei soldiers' armor that were not covered by their armor.

Face, neck, sides, thighs, and even feet.

The screams were endless.

The sounds of knives and spears piercing flesh rang out continuously.

Liver and brains were splattered on the ground, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and the stench of filth.

Like a hot knife slicing through butter, it swiftly and smoothly cut a passage twenty or thirty paces wide through the Wei army's formation.

The two southwestern battle formations, previously held by nearly four thousand men under Wei Yan's command, began to disperse under the urging of war drums and command flags.

They transformed into arrowheads and charged forward, penetrating deep into the passage between the two Wei armies that were supporting each other, launching a fierce attack on the Wei army from the flank.

In an instant, the Wei army was divided and surrounded by Wei Yan's main force, forming a shape resembling the Chinese character "山" (mountain). The Han army was in front, on the left flank, in the middle, and on the right flank as well.

As Sima Yi led his troops north, Jia Xu and Zhang Jing, who thought the key to the battle was no longer here, obviously did not expect that the Han army still had the strength to launch a fierce attack.

They never expected that the Han army would dare to penetrate deep into their formation, risking being attacked from both sides. Caught off guard and unable to react in time, they were terrified.

When they finally realized what was happening and tried to urge the two armies to attack from the middle, they found that they couldn't move an inch at all.

Within half a quarter of an hour of engaging in battle, the southwestern and western formations had suffered more than 10% casualties and were on the verge of collapse. Meanwhile, Wei Yan's main force of more than 3,000 men fought with increasing ferocity, completely dispersing their original formation and leaving the Bagua Formation.

After Wei Yan's two formations dispersed, the Han soldiers who came up from the top of the central army moved forward to fill the gaps.

By this time, the central force of the Eight Trigrams Formation was completely hollowed out. If a single elite Wei army unit were to manage to break through and capture the enemy generals and flags, the consequences would be unimaginable. However, the elite troops capable of special operations had already been led by Sima Yi to the north of the canal.

...

The Han formation is located to the southeast.

Due to the distance and the presence of smoke and dust, Zhou Tai and Wei Ping, who had failed to notice the dramatic changes in the southwestern battle situation, were still directing operations from the rear.

The two Wei generals, Hao Zhao and Wang Shuang, led their personal guards and more than 400 elite soldiers sent by Zhou Tai and Wei Ping, and fought with all their might to divide and annihilate the more than 50 heavily armored Han soldiers.

Conversely, while Hao Zhao, Wang Shuang, and others cut off Long Xianglang, who was clad in heavy armor, and surrounded him from all sides, they, who broke in from the middle, also faced a situation of being attacked from both sides.

Having already resolved to fight to the death for their country, Generals Hao Zhao and Wang Shuang took the initiative to undertake the most dangerous infiltration mission. Naturally, they led from the front and fought desperately. By this time, their personal guards had been almost all killed or wounded, with only a few remaining.

Nearly a hundred of the personal guards and elite troops sent by Zhou Tai and Wei Ping were killed or wounded.

Despite the heavy losses, it was difficult to quickly resolve the battle against the heavily armored warriors who were like iron cans.

The besieged numbered only fifty-three or fifty-four. After a fierce close-quarters battle lasting more than a quarter of an hour, there were still more than thirty people left. Under the organization of Wei Yanchang, Wei Chang, and Wei Xingye, they formed a dense circular formation and fought back from all sides.

The ring-pommel steel swords were wielded and slashed, the long spears thrust out like dragons, and crossbows were occasionally used to secretly fire at the Wei army's junior officers who were commanding the troops, forcing the Wei army to retreat frequently and suffer greatly.

"How dare you, Wei dog!" Wei Chang was now bloodthirsty. Seeing that all the Wei soldiers in front of him had retreated, only one dared to step forward. He immediately roared and thrust his spear forward, piercing the soldier's face. The spear pierced through the back of the man's head.

Upon seeing this, the Wei soldiers in the front ranks were so frightened by the Han army's bravery that they retreated several steps again.

Wei Chang withdrew his spear, but instead of retreating to the circular formation, he roared and continued to charge forward recklessly with his spear. The spear danced wildly, and although he did not kill anyone, he caused the Wei soldiers in front of him to retreat again.

Meanwhile, several Wei soldiers and Han soldiers on the flanks broke away from their formation and rushed forward, stabbing at the man's face, arms, thighs, and other parts that were not heavily armored.

Liu Tao, who was guarding the other side of the circular formation, had just killed one person and didn't care about Long Xianglang, who seized the opportunity to leave the formation and kill the enemy.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that it was Wei Yan's son again. He quickly roared and led several Longxianglang warriors forward, disregarding the Wei bandits' swords, spears, and clubs. He then dragged Wei Yan's son back into the circular formation while parrying attacks from all sides.

"General Wei! Deng Yangwu's reinforcements are almost here! Why are you rushing out like that?! Do you really want to die?!" Liu Tao couldn't help but curse.

His Majesty appointed him to serve under the Prime Minister, who in turn appointed him to serve under the General of the North. The General of the North then placed his son, Wei Chang, in the Longxiang Guard to fight alongside them.

As it turned out, this guy was a suicidal fool. He charged forward faster than anyone else in a bloodthirsty frenzy, and in no time he was deep into the Wei army's ranks. He couldn't possibly watch the eldest son of the army's third-ranking leader die in battle, could he?!

Having been shot several times, with blood gushing from his arms and legs, Wei Chang cursed, "It's my fault for underestimating the enemy and advancing recklessly, which led to this predicament! Even if I die here today, I have nothing to say. I only regret that I have harmed you bunch of dragon-like men, and I have no face to see His Majesty again!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Liu Tao yelled.

"Even if we die here, it won't be a wasted death because we've tied down so many of Wei's elite troops!"

"Not to mention Deng Yangwu's reinforcements have arrived, you're going to die..."

Before he could finish speaking, an arrow pierced through Long Xiang's throat from both ends.

The man was stunned for a moment, then stared wide-eyed with resentment, his eyes turning increasingly bloodshot. Apart from gurgling sounds coming from his throat, he could not utter any more words, and finally collapsed backward due to exhaustion.

Wei Chang felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer. First, his mind went blank, then his breath caught in his throat. Instinctively, he knelt down to support the slumped Jie Conglong Xiang, and then covered the man's throat with his hand.

Extremely bright red and scalding hot blood flowed from between his fingers.

His mind went blank for a moment. He wanted to ask what the dragon was called, but felt it was meaningless. He then wanted to ask if there were any last words.

Before he could speak, Jie Conglongxiang had already breathed his last and could no longer answer him.

Wei Chang's mind went completely blank.

However, this incident of Longxiang's death did not cause panic among the other Longxiang guards.

He simply kept blocking the swords and spears that were thrust at Wei Chang, waiting for General Yangwu Deng Zhi to come to his rescue.

On the other side, Hao Zhao, whether from the near-total loss of his personal guards or from the bloodlust of the battle, showed no joy upon seeing Wang Shuang nock another arrow after his first successful strike. He simply roared:
"The person kneeling on the ground must be the core of this group of iron turtles. As long as he is beheaded, there is no reason why this group of iron turtles cannot be defeated!"

Having said that, he didn't think of anything else, but rushed forward with his gun, followed closely by his last few guards.

However, just as he rushed to Wang Shuang's side, the world suddenly slowed down. A blood-stained arrow suddenly stopped near his eye, and still-warm blood splattered on his right cheek.

The momentum propelled him forward several steps. When he turned around, he saw Wang lying dead on the ground amidst a cloud of dust, his eyes wide open.

If a sharp arrow enters a person's right brain and exits through their left brain, there is absolutely no chance of the person being revived.

Hao Zhao looked around blankly, as if searching for where the arrows came from, only to find that three or four thousand elite Han soldiers were already charging from the eastern flank of his formation.

Meanwhile, the rear of the army formation where Zhou Tai and Wei Ping, who had originally been holding him back, were engaged in fierce fighting with Han soldiers who had appeared from nowhere and at some unknown time.

He turned around and, without further thought or hesitation, continued to charge forward with his spear.

Suddenly, however, the battlefield, which had been somewhat quiet and dull, was suddenly filled with a series of extremely high-pitched and passionate shouts, as if thunder had struck, almost reaching the heavens and shattering rocks and clouds.

A moment later, the entire battlefield seemed to be infected, with all the Han soldiers becoming excited and intense.

The battlefield, which had remained scorched by the sun all day without boiling over, suddenly became boiling and fervent in just a few breaths.

"Dragon Flag!"

"It's His Majesty's dragon banner!"

"With the dragon banners in battle, our Emperor is victorious!"

"The great man is victorious!"

"kill!"

A jumble of different accents and words, after a dozen or so breaths, either transformed into an exhilarating cheer of "Victory!" or simply into a single, powerful shout of "Kill!"

The sound shook the world.

Beneath the banner of the General Who Guards the North.

Wei Yan, who was fighting on the front lines, was initially bewildered by the sudden burst of cheers.

After finally understanding what these shouts were actually saying, the fierce and ruthless Tiger-Bear General, whose aura was like that of a demon, was speechless with astonishment.

Rein in the horse and climb higher.

The banner that originally bore the character "Deng" was nowhere to be seen; the banner that belonged to Deng Zhi was nowhere to be found.

The three yak-tail banners have taken their place, standing in the middle, two in front and one behind, two high and one low, two old and one new, two broken and one whole, fluttering fiercely in the east wind.

A single, focused gaze.

But then they saw a banner that was hung slightly ahead and higher than the brand-new and intact Golden Guard Banner. Although it was faded and mottled, and riddled with holes, it was undoubtedly a proper imperial banner.

The banners that stand at the same height as this slightly worn-out Golden Guard banner, though also faded and mottled, and also riddled with holes, are by no means of the form of the Emperor's Golden Guard banner.

As Wei Yan pondered something, he looked at it again as if trying to confirm something, and then suddenly froze.

Sure enough, the banner had five characters written on it:

Liu Bei, King of Hanzhong

He rode around in circles, bewildered.

Long-forgotten memories gradually surfaced.

Whether it was a few breaths or dozens of breaths, when Wei Yan finally snapped out of his distant memories, he suddenly let out a thunderous shout.

"I dare to devour it for Your Majesty!"

After drinking, he spurred his horse fiercely, raised his great spear, and charged fearlessly towards the Wei formation.

The Wei army was shocked.

There's no way to avoid it.

After one round of charging, the man turned his horse around.

After retreating more than a hundred paces, he roared again.

"I dare to swallow it for Your Majesty!"

He thrust forward with his spear.

A thousand troops retreated.

(End of this chapter)