Wei Ni

The men in the army are the most heroic and passionate.

They can share the same responsibilities with their friends when they are short of food and clothing, they can sacrifice themselves for others when they are on the battlefield, and they can face death bravely when they are in desperate situations. But they cannot accept being abandoned.

Betrayal is like an extremely sharp knife, which can cut off all their previous efforts with a light swing and turn them into complete fools.

Yes, what is the meaning of their sacrifice?
After the third field battle, after Bei Yan Yang Zuo led the defeated army to escape into Xiangping City, the more than 5,000 wounded soldiers who remained in the simple camp of the Liaodong Army looked at the Wei army that was plundering the battlefield and slowly encircling them, and their hearts were dead.

Some people seemed to have lost their souls, with their mouths open blankly, not knowing what they were thinking, and they didn't even realize that their saliva was dripping.

Some people seemed to have all their bones pulled out, and they collapsed to the ground, sobbing softly in suppressed and miserable voices.

But more people were jumping around or pounding the ground, spitting like shrews, and cursing Bei Yan, Yang Zuo, Gongsun Yuan and their families with all the vicious words they could think of.

Because they all knew that they were going to be slaughtered.

If they were captured, they could still be recruited as slaves in the army to survive; but as wounded soldiers, they were a burden in the eyes of the victorious side, and their only use was to build the Jingguan.

That's why they act like mad.

However, what they waited for was not the butcher knives of the Wei army, but captured comrades.

These comrades were gathered together, and a man who looked like a general of the Wei army was saying something. The wounded soldiers who had been prisoners before recognized him.

The commander of the Wei army seemed to be named Xiahou Hui.

His appearance made all the wounded soldiers hold their breath, prick up their ears and crane their necks to look, with a glimpse of hope to stay alive in their eyes - he had repatriated prisoners and wounded soldiers several times, so he should not allow his soldiers to kill this time, right?

Soon, the prisoners poured into the wounded camp in twos and threes.

"Those who can move should be driven to the left, and those who cannot move should wait for treatment on the spot."

"Soldiers who are affiliated with or know Liao Sui's garrison commander, come closer to me."

"Those who are from Xinchang, please follow me."

“Native place in Anshi”

"Those whose native places are in Wen County and Pingguo County."

These disarmed captives were divided into several small teams just like the Wei army. As soon as they entered the camp, they ran around in the tents, shouting loudly and enthusiastically.

A few brave wounded soldiers grabbed some individuals and anxiously asked what happened.

The answer put everyone at ease.

It turned out that the commander of the Wei army once again claimed that the Luoyang court was only here to punish the chief culprit Gongsun Yuan, and did not want to kill the soldiers who had been captured. However, Bei Yan and Yang Zuo had both fled to Xiangping City, and he could no longer release the captives and wounded soldiers. However, he assured everyone that the Wei army would allocate food and medicine to them to feed and treat them.

However, the Wei army, which had come from afar, had limited food and fodder and could not supply so many prisoners and wounded soldiers.

Therefore, he planned to let some captives and wounded soldiers who were still able to walk accompany the Wei army to persuade the Liao Sui garrison commander and soldiers from the southern counties of Liaodong County to surrender, so that they would have sufficient food and could return home to recuperate.

Yes, the commander of the Wei army released them again.

And it would be better to just take off your armor and return to the countryside, never again to risk your life.

This decision made many wounded soldiers burst into tears. They prostrated themselves on the ground in the direction of Xiahou Hui, sobbing and muttering various words of gratitude.

Throughout history, there are only a handful of enemy generals who can be as kind as Xiahou Hui.

How could they not be moved?
Especially since they had just been abandoned by their generals.

They also followed orders obediently and quickly divided into several teams according to the instructions of their captured comrades.

The person who led them south was Sima Chen Qian, who led a thousand soldiers from the Zhenyue Camp.

Just before he set off, he gave Xiahou Hui a deep look, and said in a somewhat ambiguous tone, "Today I know why Your Majesty treats Zhiquan with such special care and always lets him take on the position of a close minister."

Xiahou Hui was stunned and speechless for a moment.

He knew that Chen Qian was praising him, and he also felt that there seemed to be something else behind Chen Qian's words, but he couldn't figure out what the subtext was for a moment.

And Chen Qian didn't give him a chance.

He sighed and then bowed and said goodbye, "General, please be at ease. I will not fail in your mission this time."

Well, he had three tasks when he led his troops south to meet up with Xiahou Ba.

Needless to say, the first was to try to persuade the southern counties and the Liao Sui garrison commanders to surrender and prevent them from burning grain and fodder; the second was to occupy the mouth of the Liao River to allow the Bohai County and Qingzhou ships to transport grain and fodder smoothly.

The final task was to deploy defenses in advance and lie in wait, always on guard against possible attacks by the Wu army.

Most of the territories of Lelang County and Daifang County are in mountainous areas. If the Wu soldiers came to plunder, they would definitely not choose these two counties.

If nothing unexpected happens, they will choose counties near the sea with more people, such as Pingguo County, Wen County and Xi'anping. Among them, Xi'anping is far away at the mouth of the Mazi River (Yalu River), too far away for the Wei army to reach, so let Xiahou Ba and Chen Qian guard the counties at the mouth of the Liao River.

It just so happened that the envoys sent by the Wu soldiers to Liaodong had all gone via the Liao River.

It is very likely to "revisit the old place".

After Chen Qian led his troops south, he and Guanqiu Jian and others led their troops to advance to the foot of Xiangping City and set up camp, preparing to besiege the city.

Along the way, Fu Gu, who was somewhat bored, whispered and teased, "To force people with emotions, it is best to attack their hearts. Zhiquan is well versed in the art of war."

"Hahaha~" Xiahou Hui laughed loudly at first, then glanced at him unhappily, "If Lanshi wants to call me cunning, just say it directly. Why do you praise me against your will?"

"Ha ha!"

Fu Gu was also happy.

In fact, even with the captured prisoners and wounded soldiers from Liaodong, the Wei army still had enough food and fodder.

Because several years ago, the government, under the advice of Xiahou Hui, infiltrated Liaodong through business matters and allowed some powerful families to stockpile grain in advance.

It wasn’t much, roughly enough for the Wei army to eat for ten days.

In addition, the army already had half a month's worth of food, which was more than enough to feed thousands of prisoners and wounded soldiers.

Furthermore, it rains every afternoon now, which means the rainy season is approaching. It is inevitable that the Liaoshui River will surge within half a month. The ships transporting grain and fodder will be able to reach Xiangping City directly, so there will be no worries about grain and fodder.

There was no shortage of food, so the prisoners and wounded were released.
Keeping them here would be a burden.

If they kill him, it will certainly arouse the hatred of the soldiers in Xiangping City, making it more difficult to capture the city.

But if they didn't kill them, where would the Wei army get the extra troops to guard them?
After much deliberation, Xiahou Hui used the excuse of insufficient food and fodder, put on a righteous face, and asked them to go south to help persuade Liao Sui and the counties to surrender.

The strongest fortress is always conquered from within.

The same is true for persuading surrender.

When Gongsun Yuan was surrounded in Xiangping and the outcome of the war became clear, most people would take advantage of the situation and surrender according to the persuasion of their comrades.

Fu Gu teased him for being cunning.

No shame!

He actually spoke ill-intentioned words with a righteous look on his face and in a high-sounding manner.

Naturally, Xiahou Hui took it as a compliment, and he was not in the mood to pay attention to it at the moment.

When the army arrived at the city of Xiangping, Guanqiu Jian thought of building trenches to besiege the city and spreading scouts everywhere to guard against the Liaodong army's breakout. He also brought some captives and wounded soldiers who were left behind due to mobility problems to the city to complain about the misery of being abandoned by their comrades, in order to undermine the morale of the army in the city.

But Xiahou Hui's opinion was to build a camp first.

He declared solemnly that Gongsun Yuan would never be able to break out now.

The reliance is the rainy season.

Liaodong had three bargaining chips to rely on to resist the Central Plains dynasty.

They are the remote geographical location isolated from Haidong, the Liaoshui River and Liaoze, and the rainy season with heavy rains lasting for half a month, which can cause the Liaoshui River to flood and the ground to accumulate three feet of water.

Coincidentally, there are flat farmlands and villages under the city of Xiangping.

There are no high hills to shelter from the water.

So, Gongsun Yuan was actually waiting as well.

The Wei army waiting outside the city, unable to bear the suffering of the rainy season, voluntarily gave up the siege and moved their troops to set up camp on higher ground.

In this way, they could take the opportunity to send most of the troops out of the city to Xuantu County and other places to find food, thus alleviating the burden of food and fodder in the city. Moreover, the Wei army was not large, and Gongsun Yuan only needed to leave more than 10,000 troops to defend the city.

Based on this, Xiahou Hui ordered his soldiers to build camps in front of the city walls in advance, so as to survive the rainy season and announce to the people in the city their determination to attack and kill Gongsun Yuan, leaving them without support.

The city would also run out of food, which would induce the Liaodong soldiers to turn against Gongsun Yuan and cause him to collapse without a fight.

Of course, the barracks built on the road also have rules.

After sneaking across the Liao River, Xiahou Hui did not burn his boats, but destroyed the small boat, raft and horse-hide boat.

The purpose is to use these boats, rafts and baggage carts as the foundation of the camp, and raise each barracks four feet off the ground, so that each barracks is built as a mansion for storing food and fodder.

Guanqiu Jian still had objections to this.

This construction method is too time-consuming and labor-intensive, and will cause complaints from the soldiers.

But Xiahou Hui's next words made it impossible for him to refute.

"Brother Zhongrong, you and I are not veterans in the army, and we have no prestige. Although Your Majesty has granted us the title of Grand Master, if we follow the example of Rang Ju beheading Zhuang Jia and Wei Jiang killing Yang Gan, I am afraid that the soldiers will become alienated! The rainy season has not yet arrived. If we do not prepare for flooding, the Liao River will spread several feet above the plain, and the soldiers will suffer and ask to move camp. What should we do?"

Guanqiu Jian remained silent.

In the end, it was suggested that Xiahou Hui send cavalry from various units to stand guard outside the gates of Xiangping and drive out the Liaodong troops who sneaked out to collect firewood and herd horses; then he set an example by personally taking the axe and building the camp with the soldiers.

It was he who first instigated Emperor Cao Rui to launch the war against Liaodong.

Now that they have marched to the city of Xiangping and are at the critical moment, he will not allow a small accident to cause the army to fail.

Xiahou Hui naturally joined in.

In fact, he was not worried that the soldiers of the Zhenhu Department would complain. The soldiers and generals carefully selected from the Luoyang Central Army were already accustomed to military orders. He was worried about the Liaodong border troops and the Xianbei and Wuhuan cavalry who were recruited to help in the war.

However, as the rainy season arrived as expected, his worries melted away. (End of this chapter)