Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 143 An eye for an eye
Meanwhile, Wen Qin, Lü Zhao, and Yin Damu, who had previously rescued Sima Shi, led a group of Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and Bingzhou Cavalry, fighting intermittently with the Qiang, Di, and Hu cavalry that were pursuing them, and marched eastward.

Just now, seeing Sima Yi leading two or three hundred scattered soldiers and soldiers in front, raising flags to gather troops, beating drums and forming ranks, he rode his horse all the way there, intending to join forces with Sima Yi and his few hundred men.

Unexpectedly, the cavalry banners and hundreds of armored soldiers in front were all Sima Yi's bait!
Sima Yi managed to fool even them, so how could he not fool the Qiang, Di, and Hu people?!

When more than two thousand light cavalry from Bingzhou, who had been lying in ambush at Hongmen for a day, rushed north, several thousand Wei soldiers, who had been left behind by the Qiang, Di, and Hu cavalry, suddenly beat drums and advanced, blocking the road with their bodies.

Sima Shi suddenly realized that although they had been defeated today, the few thousand rebel cavalry who had come deep into the enemy territory to pursue them were bound to stay here.

No wonder his father didn't stay behind to gather the fleeing soldiers and organize a retreat, but instead fled for more than ten miles without looking back.

One problem was that the narrow and chaotic corridor between the Wei River and the canals made it difficult to organize a counterattack. However, after reaching Hongmen, the Wei River suddenly turned north, and the narrow corridor between the Wei River and the canals opened up from a cramped terrain of four or five li to a wide area of ​​twenty or thirty li.

The two were the two thousand Bingzhou cavalrymen who had been left as a backup by Du Xi, Zhang Hu, Zhu Shu, and others, and had originally been lying in ambush at Hongmen to provide support.

It's unclear whether they anticipated this defeat or had other plans.

Regardless, when Wen Qin, Lü Zhao, and others led more than two thousand cavalrymen to turn around and charge towards the Qiang, Di, and Hu cavalry, Sima Shi, dressed in plain soldier's armor, was also swept up and chased by the galloping cavalry.

He was not afraid, after all, he was a year younger than Emperor Liu Shan of the Han Dynasty, and was at the age of passion. Otherwise, he would not have whipped his father to cover the rear.

Today, the defeated army is being pursued by the Shu cavalry. It is truly reminiscent of the Great Wei's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, which marched three hundred li in a day and night to capture Liu Bei at Changban Slope. Who knows, there might even be a great general of Shu among these pursuing barbarian cavalry!
Upon realizing this, Sima Shi mustered all his strength and spurred his horse forward. He saw that, apart from a few who were unable to rein in their horses in time, most of the Qiang and Di cavalry had turned around and were galloping north along the Wei River.

If his cavalry continued to charge towards the barbarian cavalry, they could at most cut them in half.

In this way, the first one or two thousand Hu cavalry could continue to flee eastward, making it difficult to catch up.

With this thought in mind, Sima Shi spurred his horse forward, galloping to Wen Qin's side and shouting into the wind:
"General Wen, do not head straight west again. If you quickly turn your army northeast, you will cut off the enemy's escape route to the east and will surely exterminate the rebellious enemy here!"

In fact, Wen Qin had the same idea. Before Sima Shi could finish speaking, he turned the flag diagonally, reined in his horse, and led his troops to make a detour to the northeast.

Although the two thousand-plus Wei cavalrymen had circled around, the traitorous Hu cavalrymen still followed the Wei River northward, showing no intention of trying to escape to the northeast.

Wen Qin and Sima Shi were greatly encouraged by this.

Generals Yin Damu and Lü Zhao, having suffered repeated defeats, were already deeply frustrated and disheartened.

Seeing that the pursuing Hu cavalry had fallen into Sima Yi's ambush and were forced to flee blindly northward, he finally felt a little more emboldened and led his troops to follow closely behind Wen Qin's more than a thousand cavalrymen, heading northeast to encircle them.

Without a doubt, if the Hu cavalry had headed straight east, there was still a chance that half of their men could have escaped.

However, heading straight north would inevitably lead to being surrounded by the armies of the Great Wei, trapped on the banks of the Wei River, with no way to escape except to drown oneself.

At the end of the narrow corridor flanked by the Wei River canal.

Sima Yi, Sima Zhao, and Du Xi, who had been appointed as the military advisor of the General of the Cavalry by the emperor before the battle, along with several dozen cavalrymen, stopped their horses on the south bank of the Wei River.

Seeing that the Hu cavalry did not break through to the east to escape, nor fight their way to the west to join the pursuing Han army, but instead headed north.

Sima Yi, unfamiliar with the terrain, frowned and then looked at Du Xi beside him:
"Military Advisor Du, the barbarians are advancing northwards. Could there be a bridge there?"

The strategist of the Flying Cavalry, who had considered defeat before victory and deliberately left two thousand cavalry at Hongmen as a backup plan, rode forward, also puzzled:

"When I came from the west, I ordered my scouts to advance along the Wei River."

"According to the reports from the scouts, only a few wooden bridges have been built between Xiagui and Zheng County, which are fifty miles downstream, to connect the north and south."

Upon hearing this, Sima Yi suddenly had a bad feeling. After thinking for a moment, he thought of something and then summoned his personal guards: "The barbarians are trying to escape by wading through the water. Order Qian Hong and Zhang Hu to stop hesitating and hurry up and chase after them!"

Du Xi was taken aback, then spurred his horse forward and cast a questioning look at Sima Yi: "Lord Sima, did you escape by wading through the water?"

Sima Yi's expression was somewhat unpleasant: "A few days ago, the Shu bandits fought against Wang Chang and Niu Jin at the Ba River. Hao Zhao and Wen Qin returned to reinforce Xinfeng, but as a result, several thousand Hu cavalrymen emerged from behind Generals Hao and Wen."

"At the time, I thought they crossed the river south from the bridges between Xiagui and Zhengxian counties, but now it seems that I may have been wrong."

Upon hearing this, Du Xi paused again and abruptly turned his head to look in the direction of the Hu cavalry.

A quarter of an hour later, Wen Qin's more than two thousand cavalrymen were the first to rush to the banks of the Wei River, completely blocking the Hu cavalry's eastward advance.

However, the Hu cavalry still showed no intention of heading east, but instead headed north, finally stopping about four or five miles to the west.

“No…” Sima Shi paused slightly.

"Why are the barbarians stopping there? Is there a bridge over there?"

Wen Qin was also momentarily stunned.

However, this confusion did not last long, because he soon vaguely saw a few Hu cavalry appearing on the north bank of the Wei River.

Sima Shi gazed at the scene from horseback for a moment, then his pupils suddenly widened: "This is bad! That place is precisely where the Wei River bends, and the silt and sand have accumulated excessively. The barbarians are wading across the river!"

Sima Shi was right. The Wei River originally ran parallel to the canal from west to east, but it suddenly made a sharp turn at Hongmen, turning into a north-south direction.

The place where Yang Tiao and his Hu cavalry are now is precisely the turning point where the Wei River, which flows from north to south, suddenly bends and turns east again.

Moreover, the turning point there is not a sharp turn like the "『" symbol, but rather a protrusion like a pacifier droplet, or the character "区".

Two thousand Hu cavalrymen squeezed into the middle of the "qu" character and calmly crossed the river to the west. They faced the enemy on only one side, and the opening on the enemy side was only about a mile wide.

When Wen Qin, Lü Zhao, Sima Shi and others arrived with their cavalry, two or three hundred warhorses were already blocking the opening.

Half of the Hu cavalry remained where they were, while the other half were either wading across the Wei River or had already successfully crossed it and were waiting on the other side with their bows drawn.

A light brown plume of smoke, slightly lighter than the thick smoke from burning firewood, rose from behind the warhorses blocking the road, appearing in about a dozen places.

A peculiar, burnt smell wafted through the air.

The warhorse suddenly became restless.

Wenqin and his cavalrymen reined in their horses about two hundred paces away from the defensive line formed by the Qiang and Di warhorses.

After spinning around in place, he shouted an order to the riders behind him:
"Block the road and advance to shoot the horses!"

After saying this, he took the lead and charged forward, followed closely by hundreds of riders.

However, before they could advance a hundred paces, the two or three hundred warhorses blocking the road suddenly seemed to be startled and charged towards them with howls!
Wen Qin was startled and immediately spurred his horse to take a detour.

However, the cavalrymen who were following him and accelerating forward were caught off guard and their momentum was halted by the oncoming Hu horses, disrupting their formation.

The hundreds of Wei cavalry following Wen Qin were instantly crammed together, and dozens fell off their horses.

Just then, in the depression of the Wei River, more than two hundred riders who had been hiding behind the barbarian horses blocking the road seized the opportunity and charged forward with a banner bearing the character "Yang".

The vanguard led by Wen Qin was already crammed together after being disrupted by the Hu cavalry, unable to advance or retreat. Now, with the sudden charge of more than two hundred cavalrymen, they were completely powerless to deal with it.

Including Wenqin, the vast majority of people instinctively turned around and tried to turn their horses around and retreat.

How narrow was the section of the Wei River that more than a thousand Hu cavalry occupied, which was only one li in length?

How formidable were the three or four thousand cavalrymen from the Wei army who came to encircle them?

With such a large force, they were all blocked in front of this section that was only one mile wide. The troops could not look back or forward, stretching for more than a mile. How could the vanguard retreat as they wished?
In an instant, as Wen Qin's vanguard was driven backward, the three or four thousand Wei cavalrymen were almost all crammed together in a chaotic mess.

Wen Qin, Lü Zhao, Yin Damu, Zhang Hu and others originally intended to bully others by relying on their power. They never thought that a mere one or two thousand Qiang and Di cavalrymen, trapped in the Weiqu area, could actually resist.
Within moments, the Wei army suffered over a hundred casualties and was unable to mount any resistance.

Yang Tiao, Li Yong, and other powerful chieftains won a small victory, but they dared not let their horses slow down to engage the enemy. Instead, they rode their horses around to the side of the Wei River.

Meanwhile, in the Wei River valley, Lei Ding, the Di king of Yinping who had fought alongside the late emperor against Wei, led his two hundred cavalrymen, carrying their own Lei-character king banner, and continued their charge towards the Wei cavalry.

He circled around to the side of the Wei army's formation, a few dozen paces away, and unleashed two volleys of arrows. The Wei army finally managed to fire some arrows, but they were still unable to move, and were hit by countless arrows, becoming increasingly chaotic.

Lei Ding had achieved his goal and was about to retreat back into the Wei River from the side like Yang Tiao, but unexpectedly, his warhorse suddenly neighed, reared up, and threw him heavily to the ground.

After a moment of dizziness, he rolled over and got up. Still feeling dazed, he suddenly felt another sharp pain, and his vision went red. As if by instinct, he quickly covered his right eye with his right hand.

The incident happened so suddenly that the warriors who had been protecting their Di king were terrified. Just as they were about to pull their horses to protect the Di king, they saw that an arrow had struck the Di king right in the eye socket. They were even more horrified and finally stood still on the spot.

His son, Lei Ze, saw it clearly and was immediately enraged. He spurred his horse to protect his father while simultaneously drawing his bow and shooting an arrow at the soldier who had shot his father in the right eye.

Although dressed as a common soldier, the Wei man, whose face alone revealed him to be no ordinary soldier, was caught in the middle of the cavalry, unable to move forward or backward, with nowhere to hide. He fell off his horse, but then quickly mounted it again.

Just then, an arrow struck the warhorse squarely in the neck. It neighed in pain, reared up, threw the soldier off, and charged to the side. Almost simultaneously, dozens of arrows were hurled from elsewhere toward the Lei father and son.

The Di king was instantly riddled with arrows, but he didn't fall down for a moment. He just roared, forcefully pulled the arrow out of his eye socket, tearing his eyeball out completely. Then he roared again and charged towards the soldier who had been thrown off his horse.

The soldier was caught off guard and was tackled by the Di king.

In an instant, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the arrow with its blood-red eyeball was seen being fiercely thrust into the eye socket of the lowly soldier by the Di king, who was riddled with arrow wounds.

The pawn was instantly killed.

The Di king pulled out an arrow, ripped out the man's eyeball, and flung it forcefully into the dust.

He calmly beheaded the man and then walked towards his son, Lei Ze.

He hadn't walked more than a few steps when he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The young master of the Yinping Di tribe roared and led his cavalry to charge forward.

First, he ordered his men to take away his father's body. Then, he chopped off his father's head several times. After hesitating for a moment, he picked up the head by the hair and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, in the Wei army formation, Wen Qin, who initially couldn't tell who the soldier was due to the distance, was finally startled and looked at the headless corpse in astonishment after being reminded by Yin Damu's astonished voice.

The magnificent robes beneath the armor unmistakably identified the corpse as Sima Shi.

Before long, Yang Tiao, Li Yong, and Lei Ze left two or three hundred warhorses on the spot, blocking the narrow exit of the Wei River, which was only about a mile wide.

Finally, several hundred Hu cavalrymen calmly crossed the Wei River.

Those without horses rode in pairs with others, and were the first to return west.

Those who still had warhorses waited for the enemy on the west bank of the Wei River to see if the Wei army had the courage to cross the river.

...

In the middle of a narrow corridor between the Wei River and the Cao Canal.

With an unstoppable and invincible momentum, the banners of the King of Hanzhong and the banners of the late Emperor Jinwu pressed relentlessly towards the fleeing Wei soldiers.

Clad in full armor, with eyebrows and beard like halberds, Zhao Yun, as brave and strong as ever, thrust out his spear with all his might, piercing through a Wei army officer.

He then exerted all his strength, took a tiger-like stride forward, and pushed forward the torso of the officer impaled on the silver spear. The Wei army's routed soldiers were pushed back repeatedly, their steps unsteady.

Finally, amidst the officer's horrified and powerless expression, he struggled to pull out his silver spear, then swung it around twice, felling seven or eight Wei soldiers.

Before he could stand up again, he was instantly killed one by one by the personal guards following closely behind Zhao Yun.

The surrounding hundred or so Wei soldiers immediately collapsed and fled.

Zhao Yun's chest heaved violently as he rested for a moment.

Looking north, they finally saw the Qiang, Di, and Hu cavalry appearing on the north bank of the Wei River.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Wei Yan glanced casually at Weibei and leaned forward: "Zhao Zhendong is as mighty as ever."

Zhao Yun smiled and said, "If I were truly as mighty as ever, I would have thrust my spear straight at Sima Yi's banner and presented his head to His Majesty. Alas... I am powerless to do so."

Wei Yan was speechless upon hearing this.

In fact, even he was exhausted from chasing for more than ten miles while wearing such heavy armor.

However, given the circumstances, we must maintain our pursuit and not allow Sima Yi's defeated troops even a moment's respite.

"Wen Chang... After this battle, it will be your turn to shoulder the burden for the Han Dynasty."

When Zhao Yun's earnest words reached him, Wei Yan was startled and looked at Zhao Yun in astonishment.

After observing Zhao Yun and finding no injuries, they breathed a sigh of relief.

He was always aloof and difficult to get along with, and he didn't have much of a relationship with Zhao Yun.

In fact, as the late emperor's personal bodyguard, Zhao Yun should not have had a deep relationship with him, an outsider general.

Regardless, he did have some respect and admiration for Zhao Yun.

Who wouldn't love such a man whose martial virtues and personal morality are almost perfect?
With his expression softening considerably, Wei Yan sighed aloud:
"The reason why Lian Po is not used is simply because he is out of luck and does not meet a wise ruler."

"The current emperor relies on Zhao Zhendong as his right-hand man and pillar of strength. Compared with Zhao Zhendong, Lian Po is worlds apart and far inferior."

"This weighty responsibility must be undertaken by General Zhen Dong; I dare not accept it."

Zhao Yun slowly shook his head:

"Wen Chang... I'm an old man, and I really don't know when I'll have to go to see the late emperor."

"This heavy responsibility, whether I want it or not, whether you want it or not, it's your turn."

Wei Yan hesitated.

Zhao Yun reached out and gently patted Wei Yan's arm:

"The late emperor was always very good at judging people. When he appointed Wen Chang as the governor of Hanzhong, the entire army was astonished."

"Only I know that the late emperor had long ago determined that Wen Chang would be a pillar of the middle generation."

"In other words, the late emperor had already entrusted Wen Chang with the responsibility of leading the middle generation."

"As for the Battle of Yiling... only Wen Chang was capable of shouldering the responsibility, and there was no one else."

At this point, Zhao Yun sighed:
"The younger generation surrounding His Majesty still needs a few more years of training to mature."

"And if His Majesty had not personally led the expedition, these young and strong men would not have had the opportunity to distinguish themselves."

"I hope that Wen Chang will take good care of them in the future."

Upon hearing Zhao Yun's heartfelt words, Wei Yan was filled with emotion.

After a moment, he said, "General Zhen Dong, rest assured."

Zhao Yun smiled, picked up his spear again, and commanded his troops to charge forward.

As Wei Yan watched Zhao Yun's retreating figure and gazed at the mottled beard and hair being blown backward by the wind, a feeling he couldn't quite describe suddenly arose in his heart.

If Zhao Zilong of Changshan were to also go with the late emperor, then besides him, Chen Dao of Yong'an would be the only other general whom the late emperor had trusted before entering Shu.

Chen Dao is getting old.

One by one, the heroes of yesteryear have fallen from grace.

A new generation replaces the old, and a new era is about to begin.

...

On the east side of the battlefield, before Sima Yi even reached the Wei River bend, he saw the Qiang and Di cavalry crossing the Wei River. He was filled with regret and shame.

Needless to say, the people who came to pursue us today must include a leader of the Qiang and Di cavalry who have submitted to the Han. If he can ambush and capture the Qiang and Di leader and several thousand cavalry, then the Qiang and Di in Longyou and Anding will be severely weakened.

Cavalry is not easy to raise, and warhorses take several years to mature. If Shu loses the assistance of these thousands of Hu cavalry, even if Wei retreats to Tongguan, it can still send light cavalry to invade Guanzhong in the future, preventing Shu from settling down and cultivating land in Guanzhong.

This is his last gamble today.

Moreover, once the Han army lost its cavalry, the routed Wei army would be able to retreat to Tongguan more easily in the following days.

However, when he arrived at Weiqu, he saw Wenqin, Yin Damu, and others who seemed hesitant to speak.

A moment later, led by Wen Qin and others, he arrived at the headless corpse and stood there in a daze.

(End of this chapter)