Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 413 Plan

"General... I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old son. My whole family is waiting for me at the door..." Gongsun Biao shamelessly came up to beg for mercy.

Going to Fangtou would be a perilous journey, and given his cowardly nature, he naturally didn't want to go.

Liu Daogui looked at him and said, "It seems that General Gongsun still harbors wishful thinking. Don't you think that if Tuoba Si wins, will he still keep you around?"

Tuoba Si sent him to reinforce Fangtou, but he encountered the Jin army on the way and surrendered without a fight...

Gongsun Biao trembled all over.

Liu Daogui said, "Only by following us and winning this battle will you have a chance to survive and become a human being, instead of being a dog for the Xianbei!"

The soldiers around him looked at him with deep contempt.

Even his retainers' eyes changed; just because he was willing to be a dog didn't mean his retainers were.

"What the General says is very true. I am originally a Chinese, and my ancestors Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Du were also heroes of their time!" Gongsun Biao spoke with much more confidence.

"What do you have to do with Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Du? Don't try to make connections with them." Liu Daogui looked suspicious.

Gongsun Zan was defeated by Yuan Shao and his entire family committed suicide by burning themselves alive. Gongsun Du's descendants had long been wiped out by Sima Yi.

"We all share the surname Gongsun, so we're all one family..." Gongsun Du chuckled dryly.

"You've got some nerve," Liu Daogui said, moving a little further away from him.

Unexpectedly, this fellow had no self-awareness whatsoever. He shamelessly approached and said mysteriously, "I have a plan that can defeat the Wei army!"

"You have a plan too?" Liu Daogui looked at his long face and felt that he was unreliable.

"To be honest, I traveled around studying in my early years and became very learned. I was promoted to the position of Minister by Murong Chong, the ruler of Western Yan. After Western Yan was destroyed, I joined Later Yan and later Northern Wei. I served as a Doctor of the Imperial Secretariat, General of Wu Army, and Governor of Guangzhou!"

Gongsun Biao showed off with a smug look on his face.

This guy is also a figure who has weathered many storms in this chaotic world. He must have some skills to have survived until now.

"No wonder you lose more than you win. Why did you choose to lead troops into battle instead of being a proper scholar?" Liu Huaijing couldn't help but say.

"It's not that I'm incompetent, but that the General's military strategy is divine!" Gongsun Biao said with a fawning expression.

"Alright, alright, you've given me goosebumps." Liu Daogui felt nauseous.

Both Xie Hui and Gongsun Biao flattered each other, but Xie Hui's flattery was refreshing and pleasant, while Gongsun Biao's flattery only made people feel nauseous.

“Every word I have said is true. In the thirty years since the Great General began his military campaigns, only Murong Chui and the Great General have done so; there has been no one before them…”

Liu Daogui interrupted him before he could finish, "Don't you have a plan? Tell me quickly."

Gongsun Biao then said seriously, "General, your cavalry launched a long-range attack, first defeating Daxi Jin, and then trying to persuade me to surrender. Fangtou is more than 400 li away from here, so they should not have noticed. General, you can use my name and pretend to rush to the aid of the enemy to launch a surprise attack on the rear of the Wei army!"

"Wonderful!" Liu Daogui couldn't help but look at this person with newfound respect.

Although he was terrible at leading troops in battle, he was certainly full of wicked ideas.

Many are good at planning, but few are good at making decisions.

Some people in this world are only suited to be strategists, while others are only suited to be on the front lines.

Very few people can make the right decisions.

Gongsun Biao clearly chose the wrong profession.

The annihilation of the Daxi Jin and the surrender of Gongsun Biao took only five days. The Fangtou side should not have received the news yet. As long as we act quickly enough, the chances of success are extremely high.

Although there are certain risks involved, it's worth a try compared to the potential rewards.

Even if they encounter any trouble, their own troops are cavalry, so they can simply turn around and run away, making the cost of trial and error extremely low.

"Are there any Wei scouts patrolling nearby?" Liu Daogui asked Meng Ganzhi.

Meng Gan said: "Our army moved into Hebei undetected by day and night. The Wei scouts were all concentrated in Fangtou Liyang and only appeared on the battlefield where Daxi Jin was destroyed yesterday."

In this era, the transmission of information relies entirely on people.

The fleeing army of Daxi Jin included cavalry, which may have spread the news of Daxi Jin's complete annihilation, but the news of Gongsun Biao's surrender certainly didn't spread so quickly.

"Everyone mount up, discard the Jin army flags, take only ten days' worth of rations, and follow me to reinforce Fangtou!" Liu Daogui made a decisive decision.

When cavalry marches north, they naturally rely on speed to defeat slow forces.

Otherwise, with only 15,000 men, it would be difficult to defeat the Wei army of over 100,000...

Fangtou (枋头).

In fact, the situation was not as bad as the scouts described.

When the Wei army launched a fire attack, Liu Yu decisively ordered his soldiers to drag the grain ships ashore. The grain and military equipment were plentiful, and all the more than two thousand supply ships and soldiers on the warships were also brought ashore.

The soldiers and boatmen dismantled the boat, made deer antlers from them, and dug a small earthen city.

The current situation is quite similar to the pursuit of the demon bandits in Haiyan back then.

More than 100,000 demon bandits launched a counterattack. Liu Yu, with less than a thousand soldiers, built an earthen city on the ruins of Haiyan. He launched several surprise attacks and killed the demon bandit general Yao Sheng. The stalemate lasted for four months, exhausting the demon bandits.

Knowing that the city was difficult to conquer, Sun En turned to cross the sea and launched a surprise attack on Dantu.

Liu Yu followed closely behind and decisively defeated Sun En at Suanshan... Compared to back then, Liu Yu now had more troops, better equipment, and higher morale.

Fangtou refers to the back of a large dam, deep canal, and high embankment.

Liu Yu's main camp was set up on the embankment, at the junction of the Qi River and the Baigou River. Surrounded by water on two sides, the Wei army's cavalry had no use for their strength, no matter how many there were.

"After more than ten battles, the Wei army has suffered at least 15,000 casualties, which has severely damaged the Wei army. It is time to withdraw the troops." Liu Juanzi advised Liu Yu for the fourth time.

"Only 15,000 men, not enough to cripple us. This time, I will exhaust Wei's strength!" Liu Yu lay reclining on the soft couch.

A dozen or so human heads, all of them generals of the Wei Kingdom, were hanging on the flagpole in front of the couch.

The highest head hanging there was the head of Abogan, the assassin from Jizhou of Wei, who had been killed by the valiant general Meng Longfu three days earlier.

Liu Juanzi gasped, "Your ambitions are far too great. You think you can accomplish this with just five or six thousand men?"

Liu Yu's eyes gleamed with a fierce light. "Success depends on Heaven, but planning depends on man. This place is the Canhe Slope of the Tuoba clan!"

"But what if the Wei army retreats?"

The Wei army had another option: to retreat to Ye City.

With only a few thousand men under Liu Yu's command, they would certainly not be able to break through.

"This battle involved hundreds of thousands of infantry and cavalry. They can't just come and go as they please. Don't forget the Battle of Fei River."

In the Battle of Fei River, Fu Jian ordered his entire army to retreat, and the hundreds of thousands of troops immediately collapsed.

If the Wei army retreats, Liu Yu will inevitably launch a follow-up attack, at which point these hundreds of thousands of troops may collapse.

In the past few days of fighting, the morale of the Northern Army has been rising higher and higher, while the morale of the opposing side has been declining.

Under these circumstances, the Wei army certainly wouldn't dare to retreat easily.

Retreating is tantamount to admitting defeat.

Even if they successfully retreat, the blow to morale will be fatal. Once the Northern Army takes Guanzhong, consolidates its forces, and marches north with the momentum of a great victory, Wei's situation will become even more difficult.

Liu Juanzi sighed, "You've gone to great lengths to scheme."

Liu Yu laughed: "Don't forget, I'm a gambler by nature. I have to calculate every step, or I'll lose everything."

Liu Juanzi teased, "Back when you were on the scales, I never saw you so shrewd."

"Those were the days..."

Perhaps it was because of the fruitful results of the past few days that Liu Yu looked increasingly better and was full of energy.

Just as they were chatting, bugle calls sounded repeatedly from the north.

The Wei army attacked once again.

It was dark and gloomy, like dark clouds obscuring the sun.

This time they were smarter; they drove the Jin infantry forward, carrying large shields, followed by catapults.

A few terrified foot soldiers were a little slower and couldn't keep up with the formation. They were immediately beheaded by the Xianbei cavalry with a single blow...

As soon as they got close, the Northern Army unleashed a thousand crossbow bolts. Even with large shields, they couldn't defend against the heavy arrows fired from the crossbow carts. The Wei army's arrows were far inferior to the Northern Army's in both range and speed.

The unique formation of the Crescent Moon Formation made the advancing Wei army's formation increasingly dense.

Ding Wu ordered his soldiers to bring over a thousand long spears, cut them into three or four-foot lengths, and attach them to the crossbows on the carts. They were then struck with a large hammer, and each spear could pierce through three or four Wei soldiers with a single strike.

Blood flowed like a river on the battlefield, and Wei infantrymen fell in droves.

Some people couldn't bear the brutal massacre and turned to flee, but they were met by the Xianbei cavalry who were supervising the battle. They rode up at full speed, and with a flash of cold light, their heads fell to the ground.

The Xianbei cavalry never showed mercy to the Jin infantry.

Initially, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Wuhuan tribes were the ones who died in battle. Later, due to the heavy casualties, the Jin people from the north were driven onto the battlefield.

It seems they wanted to use this method to deplete the Northern Army's arrows.

Liu Yu frowned. There were already few Jin people in the north. If they continued to kill like this, they would become extinct. Every Jin person who died would strengthen the power of the Hu people.

"Xu Yizhi, listen to my command. Immediately lead a thousand elite troops across the river from the rear, bypass the battlefield from the west, burn all those catapults, and bring back some fresh horse meat for the brothers to enjoy."

"Tooth Sacrifice" was an old military custom. On the second and sixteenth days of each lunar month, livestock would be slaughtered to sacrifice to the flag, which was called "Tooth Sacrifice". The soldiers would share the meat from the Tooth Sacrifice and eat it, which was called "eating Tooth Sacrifice meat".

"Understood!" A burly, dark-faced general stepped forward, pointed his long spear, and waved the command flag. More than a thousand men from the left battalion followed him toward the white ditch behind the camp.

More than a hundred bamboo rafts silently sailed westward.

Half an hour later, shouts and neighing of horses came from behind the Wei army's infantry formation, and thick black smoke billowed out, indicating that a great fire had indeed broken out.

The Northern Army's camp was wide open, and Meng Longfu and Ding Wu led armored soldiers out of the camp to meet Xu Yizhi.

The Wei infantry were attacked from both sides and collapsed immediately.

"That's about enough for today. Tell Long Fu and A Wu to stop while they're ahead and preserve their strength." Liu Yu stretched, lay down on the soft couch, and quickly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

(End of this chapter)