Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1394 Death Fight
Sima Yi returned two hours earlier than expected because he had planned to turn back when he crossed the river, so he only left behind a few dozen boats to move more than a thousand old and weak soldiers back and forth in order to confuse the oncoming Jin army, while he himself led the main force to retreat as quickly as possible.

In order to keep this plan secret, he did not tell anyone. This was because Sima Yi believed that the Jin army could transmit messages too quickly, and one day was too long to create a gap for the Jin army.

Therefore, Sima Yi only left a gap of six hours, which allowed him to rush back as quickly as possible to join forces with Guo Huai and attack the remaining Jin army. This was the result of careful consideration. He considered the Jin army to be strong enough and reserved enough time for reaction. It can be said that he went all out.

However, the turn of events was far beyond his expectations. When he returned to Wancheng at dawn, he heard almost the worst news for him.

Liang Ji's Xu Miao was killed in the battle, and Guo Huai was defeated and fled to Funiu Mountain.

Sima Yi was stunned. There were not many soldiers left by the Jin army. How could they lose like this in just a few hours?

After the defending general explained the whole cause and effect, Sima Yi finally understood that although Liang Ji and Xu Miao were talented, they were too eager for success, which led to them falling into an ambush and dying.

Sima Yi kept them by his side because he thought the two men had great potential. However, Sima Yi overlooked the fact that he was too young and his military achievements far exceeded those of his peers. As a result, Xu Miao of Liang Ji, who was the same age as Sima Yi, had an illusion that as long as he seized the opportunity, he could also achieve great achievements like Sima Yi.

When they were being brought along by Sima Yi and were still far from knowing how terrifying the Jin army would be, the sudden appearance of Guo Huai caused the two of them to have even deeper misjudgments and illusions. If Guo Huai could do it, why couldn't they?
So driven by the idea of ​​quick success and instant benefits, the two men made an extremely risky move, that is, they went out of the city themselves to grab the credit, and then unfortunately encountered an ambush by the Jin army, and both died in battle.

Sima Yi was so angry that he kicked the table aside. He was still inexperienced and felt that the two men could be trusted, but he did not do anything in front of them that would intimidate them, so he had not yet established his prestige. This led to the two men acting on their own!
The death of the two also put Guo Huai in a difficult position. Even if he fell into the trap, he could have held on to Wancheng. As a result, Guo Huai was forced to enter Funiu Mountain ahead of time, which was undoubtedly very dangerous compared to retreating to Wancheng.

But Guo Huai did this in order to open up a retreat route for the Wei army and ensure that Sima Yi could withdraw at his own risk. Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help but become anxious. Subordinates like Guo Huai, who are both loyal and talented, are the trusted subordinates Sima Yi really wants to recruit. This man must not die. As for the dead Liang Ji and Xu Miao, it can only be said that they were too arrogant and would have their own way to die.

Sima Yi immediately made a decision and ordered that only a small number of old, weak and disabled soldiers be left in Wancheng, while he himself led all the elite troops out of the city and headed straight for the Funiushan Pass to meet Guo Huai.

A lieutenant general heard this and said, "The Jin army has already gone to pursue General Guo. It would be a good idea for the general to help at this time."

"But if the Jin army returns, they can attack our rear army or Wancheng. How should we respond?"

Sima Yi's face was gloomy. "Chang'an can no longer be saved, what is the point of Wancheng?"

"It is our real responsibility to protect the Funiushan Pass. If we lose this road, Wuguan Pass and Qingni Pass will be taken by others, and we will be buried in the wilderness!"

"You can stay and defend the city if you want. As long as you hold out for three days, you can surrender to the Jin army. How do you think?"

Seeing that the lieutenant was speechless for a moment, Sima Yi turned around and said to the guards: "Take him away and chop him off."

The lieutenant shouted a few times and then lost his life in a daze. Sima Yi's face was cold. The lieutenant had hesitated just now, and it was obvious that he was thinking of surrendering to the Jin army. If he did not establish his authority at this time, I am afraid that all the Wei soldiers would run away on the road!
Sima Yi looked at the soldiers around him with awe and hesitation, wondering if the Wei Kingdom was really on the verge of collapse. He thought that he might not be able to stop the morale of the people. If he killed one such person today, ten would appear tomorrow. The most urgent task was to win a battle and boost morale.

He immediately issued an order and led most of the soldiers to leave Wancheng and break out towards Funiu Mountain.

At that time, there were not many garrison troops left in the camp by Huang Zhong. The garrison commander was Tao Sheng, a former general of the Jizhou Army. When he saw the Wei army coming out, he thought they were attacking him and was very nervous for a while. But then he saw the other side heading towards the Funiu Mountain, so he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly sent two groups of people, one to Huang Zhong and the other to Zhuge Liang to report the news.

The messenger who was looking for Huang Zhong soon disappeared in the dense forest of Funiu Mountain, but more than an hour later, Zhuge Liang returned with his army and the messenger.

Tao Sheng was quite surprised when he saw this. Zhuge Liang explained, "Sima Yi pretended to cross the river, but the soldiers he left behind turned back when they entered the dense forest. The scouts found something wrong with the direction of the footprints and reported it to me, so I hurried back."

"I already know what happened last night. General Huang did a great job. Since Sima Yi wants to cut off his retreat, I won't delay any longer and will lead the army to pursue Sima Yi now."

"As for General Tao, he will stay here and garrison there. After two days, he will go to Wancheng to solicit surrender. The other side should open the city gates and surrender."

Tao Sheng was skeptical but still obeyed the order. He watched Zhuge Liang lead his troops hurriedly into the Funiu Mountains.

He thought to himself that it was going to be a lively scene. Four groups of people entered the narrow Funiushan Passage. If a fight broke out, the hundreds of miles of Funiushan would turn into a huge chaotic battlefield. Tao Sheng waited obediently for two days, and then led his troops to Wancheng to ask for surrender. To his surprise, the Cao army on the opposite side really opened the city and surrendered.

Tao Sheng was naturally delighted that he got the credit for taking Wancheng without mobilizing any troops. He was an old subordinate of Yuan Shao and his martial arts skills were very average. He just saved Yuan Shao's family in the Black Mountain attack on Yecheng. So Yuan Xi later returned the favor and recruited Tao Sheng after the collapse of the Yuan family.

But under Yuan Xi, the generals were judged based on their military achievements, so Tao Sheng was never promoted or demoted. Zhuge Liang understood this, so he found an opportunity to let Tao Sheng get some insignificant credit.

What Tao Sheng didn't know was that while he was taking Wancheng effortlessly, a series of battles were taking place in Funiu Mountain, the ferocity of which was rare in recent years.

The reason for this was that Guo Huai, who was leading the way in the front, was blocked by an unexpected Jin army. Guo Huai could not advance or retreat, and had to grit his teeth and fight like a trapped beast.

The Wei soldiers also knew that if they did not defeat the Jin army blocking the road ahead, they would have no hope of escape, so they became more ferocious and fought a life-and-death battle with the Jin army.

When Guo Huai, who was supervising the battle, learned about the situation on the opposite side, he was already discouraged because the person blocking the road was Wei Yan, who was supposed to attack Wuguan.

The other side did not go to Wuguan, nor to Qingni Pass, but was waiting for me on this Funiu Mountain Road!

This was Guo Huai's biggest miscalculation. The information he had previously obtained was that Wei Yan and Guan Ping entered Funiu Mountain from two directions, and their purpose must be to take one of the two passes between Wugu Pass and Qingni Pass.

For Guo Huai, the best outcome was that Wei Yan and Guan Ping went to the same place, so that he could take advantage of the situation to occupy another passage and then turn back to support Sima Yi.

The worst case scenario is that Wei Yan and Guan Ping each attack one pass at a time. Guo Huai also has a plan for this. First, the pass may not be lost so quickly. Second, he can find the weaker side, attack its rear, and defeat it. Although it may not succeed, when Sima Yi arrives, the two sides will work together and there will always be a good chance of winning.

As for the Jin army pursuers following behind him, Guo Huai did not feel much of a threat. At worst, he could turn around and attack from the front and back with Sima Yi. How could the enemy deal with the two-sided attack at the same time?
However, his plan was completely shattered by the sudden appearance of Wei Yan. It was obvious that the enemy had been lying in ambush in the mountains for a long time. While Guo Huai was in a hurry to travel, they launched a surprise attack on both sides of the mountain road, separating Guo Huai's front and rear armies.

However, as Guo Huai was a rare general in the Wei army, his potential was also stimulated. Under his leadership, although the Wei soldiers were at a disadvantage, the Jin army, which was not superior in terms of manpower, fought for a day and a night but failed to defeat Guo Huai's army.

Wei Yan stretched out his front foot and stepped on a rock. He looked at the soldiers on both sides of the mountain road below, charging in formation. He became more and more annoyed. Was he no longer capable? He couldn't even take down a single general of the enemy even after fighting like this!
Soldiers from both sides are now confronting and attacking each other on a mountain road that can only accommodate seven or eight people, but in fact it has already turned into a messy battle. The tactics of both sides are the same. The heavily armored soldiers in the front row hold large shields, put the shields against the ground, and advance forward in a row, while the soldiers behind push the people in front forward.

In this situation, both sides were like a shield wall, and even spears could not penetrate, so they could only compete in strength. The archers on both sides were afraid of hurting friendly forces, and were very cautious when shooting arrows. After all, they were facing the unprotected backs of friendly forces.

During this day, Wei Yan tried several methods, all of which were defeated by Guo Huai. Wei Yan naturally knew that if he continued like this, the enemy would be the one that would be anxious, because the first ones to arrive would most likely be the friendly forces of the Jin army. But the problem was that Wei Yan could not guarantee 100% that there would be no accidents along the way for Zhuge Liang. What if it was Sima Yi who came?
Thinking of this, Wei Yan could no longer hold back. He drew out the ring-handled sword from his waist and said to the lieutenant beside him: "Call fifty elite soldiers and follow me!"

The deputy commander beside him heard this and hurriedly advised: "General, why do you have to take the risk yourself? If we fight for another day, the enemy will definitely not be able to hold on. Wouldn't it be better to launch a general attack then?"

Wei Yan waved his hand and said, "No, there are too many variables!"

"I can't put my hopes on reinforcements. We have to fight quickly and decisively!"

"If you are not afraid of death, follow me!"

He was good at commanding the army and was loved by his subordinates because of his humble background. When he gave an order, his subordinates shouted in unison and followed Wei Yan, holding long swords and rushing forward.

Guo Huai on the opposite side saw this and knew that the moment of life and death had arrived. He immediately stood up, raised his long sword high, and shouted: "Follow me to block the other side, our reinforcements will be here soon!"

"Fight them off!"

(End of this chapter)