Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 147: Attack the City at Yin Hour
The surprise attack was launched by the 2,500 troops led by Yan Yi.

In order to lure the enemy into attacking the city, he did not rush into the battle so as not to alert the enemy. Instead, he lurked fifteen miles west of Qiantang until his own line was in danger. Then he launched a surprise attack and wiped out a 500-man enemy unit in an instant. Then he took advantage of the situation to attack the enemy's central army.

Yu Fan remained unfazed. He chose a steady advance, rather than leading his troops directly deep into enemy territory. This was precisely to guard against sudden attacks and encirclements, and he had already made thorough preparations. Seeing the enemy's formidable force, and knowing that his own army, though numbering only four or five thousand men, was already exhausted and unable to withstand the enemy, he ordered his entire army to form a battle array and slowly withdraw.

After Yan Yi discussed with Xu Sheng, he ordered his troops to pursue the enemy for three miles and recapture a large dock.

At this time, Yu Fan had already lined up in front of another small dock and was defending. Although Yan Yi was confident that he could defeat him, his own army would also suffer heavy casualties. So he ordered the entire army to withdraw to the dock and consolidate the line.

Yu Fan ordered the wounded soldiers to enter the fort to recuperate, and the rest of the soldiers set up camp next to the fort. At the same time, he sent people to urge reinforcements to arrive and assemble as soon as possible.

He was quite satisfied with the outcome of today's battle. Despite heavy casualties, he had advanced to within fourteen miles of Qiantang. If he could tie up a portion of the enemy, the remaining forces would be unable to capture Qiantang. If the enemy recklessly launched a full-scale assault on the city, he could follow suit, either attacking the city during the assault or leading his troops to lay siege after the enemy had captured Qiantang.

By then, the Yan family will be threatened by both him and Wu Jing and may be destroyed at any time. Yan Yi can only lead his troops back to Wucheng to preserve the foundation of the Yan family.

He didn't want to kill Yan Yi. If he killed him, who would resist Wu Jing?
Now, he just needs to sit in this fort and wait for the arrival of subsequent reinforcements. Within two days, Yan Yi will definitely retreat!
However, Yan Yi did not seem to want to let him live in peace. Just after the evening of Xu time, he ordered the four generals Xu Sheng, Si Qing, Li Chou and Fan Yi to lead their troops to the enemy camp to challenge them to a battle.

Yu Fan had not yet received any new reinforcements, and his soldiers were extremely tired, so they naturally did not want to fight. Instead, he calmly ordered the entire army to defend the forts and camps.

He scaled the fort's wall and looked out. He saw enemy soldiers, torches in hand, standing at the foot of the wall, their faces filled with murderous intent. Their formation was like a fortress, unmoved. He finally understood why Zhou Xin's army had been so easily defeated, and exclaimed, "What a magnificent army!" He grew even more hesitant to fight.

Turning his gaze to the two wings of the enemy formation, he saw two groups of elite cavalrymen wearing heavy armor. He couldn't help but curse Shang Sheng in his heart for saying that he had "almost defeated the enemy cavalry" and glanced at him coldly.

However, their army already had seven or eight hundred cavalrymen at this time, so they were not afraid of the enemy.

Yu Fan observed for a moment, then walked down the wall and continued to urge the soldiers to strengthen the camp.

A quarter of an hour later, seeing that the enemy was slow to respond, Si Qing and his men led two thousand infantrymen back to the fort, leaving only Xu Sheng to lead the cavalry to patrol near the fort.

Another half hour passed, and there were flickers of fire on the east side of the fort. More than a thousand soldiers in leather armor held torches high and marched towards the fort in a somewhat disorganized formation.

Although the scouts under Yu Fan's command could not get close to the fort, the formation of more than a thousand people marching with torches was too conspicuous. After taking a few glances from afar, they immediately returned to the camp and reported to Yu Fan.

Yu Fan led the generals to the fort wall again and looked for a while until the fire dragon in the distance entered the fort. Then he withdrew his gaze and asked for the opinions of his subordinates.

Shang Sheng thought for a moment and said, "The enemy is accustomed to using weaker troops to defend the city and stronger troops to fight in the field. This group of troops should be a weaker brigade coming to relieve the enemy. The enemy's elite troops should not stay in the fort for long."

The generals all agreed with him, and Yu Fan nodded slightly, agreeing with his point of view.

At that moment, Yan Yi was personally welcoming this unexpected group of troops inside the fort. He bowed deeply to everyone, his tone filled with deep apology: "Fellow countrymen, I was forced to act today. There is no need to panic. Tomorrow morning, I will let you all return home, and I will also give each of you two thousand coins as compensation. I apologize for any inconvenience."

He felt extremely guilty because the thousand-man "troop" standing in front of him were not soldiers at all, but civilians "invited" from the surrounding areas of Qiantang. A small number of them came voluntarily for money, and most of them were innocent people who were forcibly abducted.

Seeing this, Si Qing, Li Chou, Fan Yi and others beside him hurriedly followed suit and bowed.

Yan Yi sighed deeply, his heart swirling like a raging sea, unable to recover for a long time. He had never imagined that one day he would actually kidnap people. Although he was forced to do so, the fact was the fact, and it weighed heavily on his heart, like a huge rock.

In troubled times, people's hearts are easily changed, and the changes are as great as the changes in the world. The person of the past is no longer the person of today.

As he concentrated on himself, he felt a strange sense of alienation towards his former self, as if the once steadfast self was gradually fading away. At this thought, an indescribable fear suddenly surged within him, a chill that pierced his bones like ice, causing him to shudder. The captives were unaware of his changing mood, but they only felt the young commander's composure. The sincerity and apology in his words touched them deeply, and the promise of two thousand coins eased their fears. They silently followed the instructions of the surrounding soldiers and ascended the fort's walls for patrol.

At six quarters past midnight, Yan Yi led two thousand elite infantrymen and five hundred military slaves northward and hid in a dense forest about a mile north of the fort.

In the dense forest, Chen Gan had led five hundred lightly armed infantrymen, escorting two thousand captured civilians and waiting quietly.

Yu Fan was once again alarmed by the large-scale march of the enemy army and hurriedly put on his clothes and went out.

He Xiong asked from the side, "Lord Yu, the main force of the enemy has left. Should we attack the fort at night?"

Yu Fan frowned and thought silently.

Shang Sheng was quite afraid of Yan Yi, so he said without hesitation, "Lord Yu, the enemy is marching through a dense forest. I'm afraid they're setting up a trap. If we attack the city late at night, we'll be ambushed!"

Another general said, "Shang Jun is absolutely right. Our army has been fighting for a day and the soldiers are exhausted. They are not strong enough to fight again. If we fall into an ambush, the consequences will be disastrous."

Yu Fan was silent for a long time, then slowly gave the order: "Immediately gather three thousand soldiers and follow me into battle. The rest of the soldiers will defend the camp. If the enemy is ambushing, retreat immediately. If not, follow my orders."

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the generals stopped talking and went to their respective units, calling up the soldiers who had been complaining one by one. They gathered 3,000 soldiers and marched out of the camp towards the enemy's fort.

When they marched about a mile west of the fort, they saw shadowy figures in the firelight on the fort wall, as if they were drawing a bow and arrow.

The soldiers were in a state of panic. After walking a few hundred steps, they saw the tall walls of the fortress in front of them and saw arrows being shot down from the front. They stopped in a hurry.

Yu Fan ordered his troops to form their battle lines and was about to launch a tentative assault when suddenly a deep drumbeat pierced the night air, rumbling through the hearts of the crowd like thunder. Immediately afterwards, a deafening roar like thunder exploded, startling countless soldiers so much that their faces turned pale and they turned to look in the direction of the sound.

A few miles to the north, countless torches lit up in the originally pitch-black dense forest. A rough look revealed that there were at least two or three thousand people, shaped like a fire dragon, approaching their army.

Before Yu Fan could speak, the generals around him shouted, "General, the enemy has set an ambush! Please retreat immediately!"

Seeing the overwhelming number of enemy troops, Yu Fan finally nodded and said, "Retreat!"

As the military order was issued, the three thousand soldiers retreated to the camp quickly like a tide.

Yu Fan was riding on his horse, looking back from time to time. He saw that the enemy army stopped after chasing for a while, and the troops moved in a scattered manner towards the fort and entered the fort from the west gate.

A trace of doubt flashed through his mind, and he intended to lead his troops back to find out what was going on. However, he saw that the soldiers around him were like frightened birds and had no desire to fight. He had to give up his doubts and return in disappointment.

It must be said that Yu Fan's "sense of smell" was extremely sharp. The ambush troops that entered the fort this time were not the main force that had just left the city, but a decoy force consisting of two hundred soldiers, five hundred military slaves and two thousand civilians.

At this time, Yan Yi was leading two thousand elite soldiers hiding in the dense forest. Seeing that all the enemy troops had returned to the camp, he quietly headed towards Qiantang.

A military order was quickly passed to all the troops: "At 4:00 AM, attack the city!"

The fourth quarter of the Yin hour is almost four o'clock in the morning in later generations. Yan Yi chose this time to attack the city, which was beyond everyone's expectation.

(End of this chapter)