Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Shu, Loyal Officials of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 138 Xu Sheng: General Dian, do you recognize the Iron Wall of Jiangdong!
"General Dian, thank you for your trouble this time."

Upon hearing Yue Jin's words, Dian Wei nodded slightly.

"General Yue, rest assured, I am just a rough man, I will only follow orders."

"But if you have any instructions, just tell me."

Seeing this, Yue Jin finally spoke.

"The commander of Yuan's army this time is none other than the traitor Xiahou Dun!"

If given the opportunity, we should share our lord's burdens and kill this traitor to vent our lord's hatred.

I know this man well; he is always steady and cautious in his military tactics.

I have ascertained his true strength and weakness; he has no more than 30,000 troops.

Right now, he is tasked with guarding the vast Yingchuan region, encompassing seventeen counties. If he were to divide his troops to defend the cities, we could unite our forces and defeat them one by one.

If he adopts a scorched-earth policy and abandons the remaining cities and counties, while defending Yangdi and Xuxian, he will fall into the same passive predicament that led to our army's previous defeat at Yingchuan.

Therefore, I predict that he will definitely send troops to fight, with 30,000 against 30,000, to decide the outcome of the battle on the Yingchuan Plain.

Dian Wei wholeheartedly agreed, "General Yue is absolutely right. Just tell me directly, what do you need me, Old Dian, to do?"

"My intention is to use 25,000 men, pretending to be 50,000, to advance steadily and honorably, feigning an attack on Xu County in order to welcome Xiahou Dun's main force."

General Dian can lead 5,000 elite soldiers on a surprise attack, hiding by day and moving out at night, to lie in ambush outside Yangdi City.

"Once the traitor Xiahou leads his main force out of Yangdi to fight us in Xu County, General Dian can seize the city and take it in one fell swoop."

"it is good!

"Follow this plan, General Yue, rest assured. I will strictly order my soldiers to avoid being seen or heard, and to ensure that this plan fails."

With General Dian here, I have nothing to worry about.

After the two had discussed and decided on their plan, Dian Wei went to the army to select five thousand elite veterans and divided them into several groups.

Le Jin then led 25,000 men, coerced the masses, and created a disturbance of 50,000 people, claiming to have 100,000 troops, and marched in a grand procession toward Xu County.

Unexpectedly, after only two days of this march, instead of hearing any movement from Xiahou Dun, they received a plea for help from Dian Wei.

It turned out that ever since Dian Wei led his troops away, he had been trying to avoid being seen and had been heading into the deep mountains and forests.

When they were thirsty, they drank from the stream; when they were hungry, they hunted tigers and bears. At first, they did not notice anything unusual, but soon they lost their way.

Fortunately, Dian Wei was not without experience; he had already captured several local guides and was now busy calling them out to lead the way.

Faced with Cao Cao's army's advance, how could the guide dare disobey? He hurriedly pointed out the way, saying:

"General, you may take this side path!"

This path was initially extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. After walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up, revealing a fortified camp with deep moats and high walls.

The camp was teeming with people, all peering out. The vast sea of ​​people made it impossible to count how many soldiers there were.

Dian Wei exclaimed, "This is bad! We've fallen into a trap! Retreat immediately!"

At the same time, he glared angrily and drew his halberd, ready to kill the guides.

"You scoundrel, how dare you bully me!"

Unexpectedly, the guides remained fearless, meeting his blade with cold smiles.

"Has Cao Cao's army finally met its match?"
Do you remember the grudge of the burning of Yangzhai Purgatory?

After saying this, he suddenly shouted loudly, "Cao's army is coming and will massacre the city!"
Cao Cao's army has arrived; they are about to massacre the city!
Cao Jun

Before he could finish speaking, he was beheaded by Dian Wei with a single halberd strike. At this moment, the densely packed bunkers and fortifications around him surged like ants, and plumes of beacon fires and smoke rose straight into the sky.

Dian Wei, realizing he had been ambushed, dared not hesitate and hastily led his troops to retreat, but by then it was too late to leave.
His retreat seemed to give the massive "army" in the camp great confidence. Countless people shouted the slogan, "When Cao's army arrives, they will massacre the city!" and pushed out one huge vehicle after another.

Dian Wei was horrified when he saw them. They were actually rows of Lu Gong chariots, each several meters tall. Around them, siege towers, war chariots, catapults, and crossbows were being pushed out one after another, leaving him overwhelmed with the sight.

Using large siege engines to attack my mere infantry is just too much of a bully.

It turns out that Yuan Shu had previously used the work-for-relief program in Yingchuan to build a large number of bunkers, fortifications, and large siege weapons.

But after he withdrew his troops, there was a surplus of production, and there simply weren't enough troops to use them.

Isn't this a coincidence?

Because of the destruction caused by Cao Cao's scorched earth policy during the relocation, the rural people had no place to live.

So, their kind, selfless, and benevolent Lord Yuan waved his hand and directly ordered the people to move into the fortified camps and bunkers they had built themselves.

Each district is headed by a district chief, who leads two to three hundred soldiers and is responsible for regulating and governing the people.

As for those abandoned large siege weapons, they should not be wasted. Every ten districts were set up as a large district to store the surplus materials produced by the people.

The regional commander led a thousand soldiers to guard the town.

At this moment, the guide leading Dian Wei was to a region he was familiar with: the Eastern Region of Yangdi.

After all, Dian Wei traveled through deep mountains and forests to avoid being seen, and Yuan's army did not know he was coming, so how could they have laid an ambush in advance?
Luring him to a heavily guarded area while simultaneously sending a message to Yuan's army was the best option he could make, knowing he was doomed.

As for drawing away Yuan Jun's main force, it wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. As an ordinary citizen, the district chief was the most powerful person he could come into contact with in his daily life.

At that moment, Xu Sheng, the district chief who was sleeping at home, suddenly heard people say that Cao Cao's army had arrived. He almost thought he had misheard.

He was originally a soldier who joined the army in Jiangdong after Liu Yao's defeat. Because he was unknown, his reputation had not yet reached Yuan Shu's ears. However, he fought bravely and made meritorious contributions, and was awarded the rank of military marquis.

Previously, Yuan Shu led 100,000 men north to attack Cao Cao in order to seize Lei Bu and Chen Lan's Runan army.

Therefore, he assigned 30,000 troops from the northward-bound army to Taishi Ci to garrison Runan, while Yuan Shu himself led Lei Chen's army to continue northward.

Xu Sheng, an unknown minor military officer, was among these 30,000 men.

Later, Yuan Shu withdrew his troops from Yingchuan and transferred 30,000 men under Taishi Ci to the north to garrison the area. As a result, Xu Sheng was transferred to Yingchuan as well.

Because Yingchuan was in dire need of reconstruction and lacked manpower, he was appointed by Military Advisor Yang as a military commander, leading a thousand troops of his own, and promoted to regional commander, stationed in the eastern region of Yangdi.

From then on, he spent his days either resolving disputes for ordinary people or handling trivial cases from the common folk.

Whenever he heard of Yuan Gong's successive victories in Chen State, and heard of General Ji Ling's unparalleled achievements, he felt extremely envious and wished he could personally go to the battlefield to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions.

Unexpectedly, just when he was regretting that he could not follow Lord Yuan in battle and make a name for himself, the enemy dared to come to his door.

Xu Sheng immediately lit beacon fires to send messages to all sides, while simultaneously preparing his troops for battle. He planned to use the advantages of the fortified camps and fortifications, along with the bodies of his thousand men, to build an impregnable fortress and prevent the invading Cao army from advancing any further.

Just then, he suddenly saw the invading Cao army shouting that they had fallen into a trap and fleeing in a panic.

When the guides who shouted that Cao Cao's army had arrived were brutally murdered, he saw the deep-seated hatred and anger in the eyes of the people.

He then thought of the large pieces of equipment stored in his warehouse that were about to get moldy!
At that moment, a daring plan emerged in Xu Sheng's mind!

If he could teach these invading Cao army to never return, he seemed to see a promotion of at least three ranks beckoning to him.

A true man's fame will be made in this moment!

(End of this chapter)