The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 157 Best and Worst Strategies
After a half-day march, Yang Fu finally made it back to the Jieting camp in the afternoon.

He was actually mentally prepared for the grain depot to be looted.

however.

The grain depot was intact.

The defenders said that the enemy cavalry only circled the nearby gullies briefly before quickly returning south.

Not only did they not head east, they didn't even touch the edge of this camp.

A feint.

"Oh no, Lord Guo!"

Yang Fu suddenly realized that he had made a huge mistake.

Or rather, it was a serious misjudgment of a matter.

He thought that the Shu bandits had fled back to Longyou only to escape the pursuing troops in Guanzhong and find a way to escape.

If you can escape, why must you rely on hiding?

Why not directly thwart the Wei army's offensive through a successful decapitation strike?

In fact, why bother trying to escape?
This is a group of desperados.

He once risked his life to hunt down Zhang Ji.

Why can't we risk our lives again to hunt down Guo Huai?
Once Guo Huai dies, there will be no Cao Wei generals stationed west of Longshan for a short period of time!

"Prepare the troops and horses, and hurry south to rescue Governor Guo!"

At this point, Yang Fu no longer cared about being cautious in his march; he only wanted to make amends for his mistake as quickly as possible.

However, his troops had already marched for half a day.

If we act hastily at this point, it's inevitable that things will become disjointed.

Yang Fu was, after all, knowledgeable in military affairs.

So we decided to set up camp and rest for the rest of the night.

The next day, they ate breakfast early and hurried south.

During this period, he sent letters south day and night, hoping that Guo Huai would take precautions as soon as possible.

They continued their pursuit until late the next day, by which time the soldiers were exhausted and hungry.

Suddenly, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves came from the mountain pass ahead.

Before long, more than two hundred riders arrived, kicking up dust.

Among them, a large flag with the character "麋" (mí) stood out prominently.

Upon seeing this, Yang Fu was not surprised but delighted, and burst into laughter.

Those around them, seeing this, were both surprised and suspicious:
"Why is Your Excellency laughing at the ambush set up by the Shu bandits?"

Yang Fudao:
"The Shu bandits didn't ambush me intentionally; they had a backup plan!"

"If I don't come, his best course of action is to launch a surprise attack on Governor Guo!"

"If I pursue them, they will turn around and kill me; that would be a poor strategy!"

"Now that I have risked my life to come here and forced him to resort to this desperate measure, how can I not laugh?"

And said:

"I am now just a recluse living in a foreign land. Although I am worth two thousand shi of grain, I would not regret dying!"

"If we can perish together with the bandits and relieve Lord Guo of his worries, it will be worth it!"

The group understood what was said, but their hearts were heavy with sorrow.

After all, judging from Yang Fu's words, he clearly intended to sacrifice himself to help Guo Huai.

Yang Fu, of course, saw through the thoughts of those around him and advised them to reconsider:
"Liu Bei's ability to bewitch people is rarely seen in the world."

“In Longyou, the only two people who can rival him are Zhang Derong and Guo Boji.”

"Now that we have lost Zhang, we cannot afford to lose Guo."

“You two or three share the court’s salary with me, and should fight for the king’s cause. How can you care about my withered bones in the tomb?”

Yang Fu wanted to explain to his men why Guo Huai was able to somewhat counter Liu Bei's tricks, but the enemy cavalry was already close, and there was no time to say more.

In haste, they could only order their troops to form ranks and meet the enemy.

He then ordered the swordsmen and shieldmen to cover the archers and crossbowmen, and to shoot at the enemy's warhorses.

But the results are minimal.

It turns out that the enemy's front-line knights were all wearing horse armor!

Arrows struck the hard leather at high speed and bounced off easily, hardly causing enough damage to the warhorse.

After two volleys of fire, the enemy cavalry suffered only minor losses.

But they finally broke through and fiercely penetrated the weak point in the army's formation.

For a moment, screams of agony rose and fell from the ranks.

Yang Fu felt a sharp pain in his heart.

They were all his personal guards whom he had personally trained from Wudu!
Following the armored cavalry came even more numerous assault cavalry.

Faced with the now loosened infantry formation, the knights showed no mercy, charging forward with their spears.

While unleashing waves of blood, it also shattered the great formation into pieces.

At this moment, the destructive power of the cavalry against the loosely packed formation was fully demonstrated.

If Yang Fu's army had not had a numerical advantage, and if his soldiers had not been loyal to their leader and remained united despite being scattered, this first wave of attacks alone would have been enough to end today's battle.

Yang Fu was already prepared to die, but seeing that the morale of the army was still usable, he simply boarded the chariot and beat the drum to regroup the troops.

You know what, the moment he started drumming...

The parts that had been scattered slowly began to reassemble.

However, just when Yang Fu thought he might be able to escape death, a group of enemy cavalry, turning back, charged fiercely towards the drum cart before the other friendly forces could regroup.

The face of the leading cavalry general was obscured, but the flag bearers behind him were clearly carrying a flag with the character "horse" that Yang Fu recognized all too well.

"Ma Chao!"

I think of that famous general from Yongliang, a blood feud and sworn enemy.

Yang Fu, who had been calmly giving instructions, suddenly lost his composure.

To the left and right paths:

"This general must be a relative of Ma Chao, and I will not escape death today."

"If I die, I only ask that you two or three sons bury my remains back in Ji County. I have no other wishes!"

After saying this, he mounted his warhorse again and led his few dozen riders in a counterattack.

The last time we charged into battle like this was probably ten years ago, right?
Unfortunately, since Cao Cao withdrew from Hanzhong, he has been living away from home and has not been on the battlefield for many years.

But I wonder if my skills have become rusty?
As they pondered, the cavalry of both sides clashed.

Yang Fu thrust out his spear, striking the enemy general squarely in the ribs.

Become!

Yang Fu was overjoyed and was about to draw his spear and withdraw.

But as the enemy general fell, he clung tightly to the spear shaft.

Yang Fu was quite old, and in a moment of carelessness, he was dragged off his horse by the other party, falling and getting completely disoriented.

However, before he could get up, a thunderous shout suddenly rang in his ears:
"Yang Fu, you scoundrel, do you still remember the Ma family?"

The next moment, a spear suddenly thrust down, striking Yang Fu squarely.

It was Ma Dai, disguised as an ordinary knight.

Ma Dai hit him with his spear, but he was still not satisfied.

He reined in his horse and kicked it again, trampling the seriously injured Yang Fu until the latter was completely silent.

This move undoubtedly enraged Yang Fu's personal guards, who roared and charged forward to attack.

Caught off guard, Ma Dai was trapped and in grave danger.

Fortunately, Miwei saw this and immediately ordered his men to step forward and shout:

"If you want to retrieve Yang Fu's remains, surrender immediately!"

After giving the order dozens of times, Yang Fu's remaining troops finally quieted down.

By the time they were relieved, Ma Dai was covered in bruises.

……

Treat the wounded, disarm prisoners, and collect spoils of war.

After nightfall, Miwei finally finished taking stock of the battle damage.

Only a little over a hundred men were still able to mount their horses and continue fighting.

And they were all injured.

Even Mi Wei himself was hit by two arrows in the arm.

Fortunately, the armor plates prevented it from going too deep.

The real problem is the war situation.

In this battle, he originally planned to lure Yang Fu away, launch a full-scale attack on Guo Huai, and then take advantage of the enemy's leaderless state to rush through the blockade line in disarray.

However, Yang Fu proved to be a wise and brave general of Cao Wei, relentlessly pursuing him.

Ultimately, only a suboptimal solution can be chosen.

They then turned around and ambushed and killed Yang Fu.

Of course, it's pointless to dwell on these things now.

The key is to find a way out.

It is certain that if we encounter a pursuer of Yang Fu's size again in the future, we can only flee, not fight.

Now they've truly become bandits.

Looking at Yang Fu's mutilated body, Meng Da couldn't help but sigh with regret:
"If we can capture this man alive, we might be able to use him as a hostage to get Guo Huai to spare our lives and allow us to return south!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Dai immediately blushed.

Miwei waved his hand and said:
"In the midst of chaos, it is already difficult enough to kill a general and seize a flag; how can we demand to capture him alive?"

Meng Da sighed softly, then turned and left.

Mi Wei said to Ma Dai:

"How badly are you injured? Are you still able to ride a horse?"

Ma Dai shook his head and said:
"They can only lie on horseback and cannot fight."

Seeing that Mi Wei remained silent, Ma Dai continued:

"Today I have killed the enemy and avenged my brother, and I have no regrets. Rather than remain a burden, I will lead a contingent of Qiang cavalry south in a grand manner to draw away the pursuers for my elder brother!"

Upon hearing this, Mi Wei pointed to Meng Da, who had not yet gone far, and said:
"He just now deliberately made you feel guilty so that you would come up with this plan yourself and not embarrass me."

Ma Dai was taken aback upon hearing this, then burst into laughter:

“It’s rare that this man is willing to play the villain for you, elder brother. You are now a commander who can ‘win people’.”

And said:

“Longyou is different from Guanzhong. Not only are the Qiang and Di peoples living together, but there is also no strict registration system.”

“I understand the Qiang language and am familiar with the customs of the Hu people. If I stay here, I still have a chance to escape.”

At this point, Ma Dai composed himself and said:
"If I'm not mistaken, will you, elder brother, go back into the pass again?"

(End of this chapter)