Ji Han Liu Zhang

Outside Xiangwu City.

"Han Sui is getting anxious!" Liu Zhang climbed up a small hill and looked at the Liangzhou bandits who were attacking the right side camp of the Shu army. The Liangzhou bandits' offensive was like a tide, one wave after another, from morning until noon today. Now the Liangzhou bandits are still attacking tirelessly, which shows that the Liangzhou hero Han Sui is now in a desperate situation.

However, this was also something Liu Zhang had expected. The counties occupied by Han Sui were Longxi and Jincheng, where the land was poor and the population was sparse, so the food and grass reserves were insufficient. Now that the two armies had been deadlocked for a long time, how could Han Sui hold on? It was time for him to fight for his life.

Wu Yi, Gan Ning, Wen Pin, Ma Chao, Zhang Xiu, Yin Pu, Xu Meng and other generals stood behind Liu Zhang. Seeing this, Wu Yi, as a general, stepped forward and said, "Mingsir, the Liangzhou bandits are attacking Meng Da's camp very urgently. Should we send troops to rescue one or two?"

Liu Zhang shook his head calmly. He raised the jade ruyi in his hand and pointed at Meng Da's camp on the right side of the camp: "Meng Da is not a mediocre general. He can still withstand this kind of force. We should not rush to send troops to rescue him, but we can lend some support."

After considering for a moment, Liu Zhang called out names: "Xingba, Zhongye, Mengqi, Youwei, the four of you can lead the troops out of the camp and set up a battle array. Don't rush to attack, but set up a battle array in front of the camp so that Han Sui will be hesitant and dare not attack Meng Da with all his might... If Meng Da is in danger, you can help him a little."

"Yes." Upon hearing this, Gan Ning, Wen Pin, Ma Chao and Zhang Xiu all bowed in agreement, then turned down the hillside and walked towards their troops.

And just as Liu Zhang said, Meng Da in the right camp did not join Liu Bei's army as in history, so he did not change his name to Zidu to avoid the taboo of Liu Bei's uncle Liu Zijing. When facing the fierce attack of the Liangzhou bandits, Meng Da Meng Zijing was in a situation of ease.

"Shoot, shoot." Meng Da ordered loudly. When the Liangzhou bandits were far away from the camp, he ordered his soldiers to shoot. When the Liangzhou bandits approached, he shouted sternly: "Bowmen and crossbowmen, step forward."

With powerful bows and crossbows and countless shots, Meng Da's operation made the Liangzhou bandits fall to the ground, with corpses everywhere. If it were in the past, the Liangzhou bandits would have retreated after suffering such injuries to avoid the attack of the Shu army. But today, the Liangzhou bandits retreated slightly and then rushed forward again, charging towards the camp where Meng Da was.

As the Liangzhou bandits fought desperately, the distance between them and Meng Da's camp soon closed. Meng Da, who was knowledgeable about military affairs, understood that it was time to withdraw the bows and crossbows as long-range attack weapons and it was time for the spearmen to step forward. He did so. At a command, the Shu army archers retreated and the spearmen lined up and moved forward to attack the Liangzhou bandits who were trying to overturn the deer horns and destroy the camp gate.

It was rare that the Liangzhou bandits who came to attack the camp today were wearing armor and helmets, and most of them held spears in their hands, fully armed, unlike the previous ones who were incompletely armored and had no head protection. The well-equipped Liangzhou bandits came forward and stabbed the Shu army. A small number of Liangzhou bandits held sharp axes and ring-handled swords, and took advantage of the gaps to approach and destroy the deer horns and the camp gates.

"Don't stop shooting arrows." Seeing this situation, Meng Da knew that it would be difficult to resolve the situation today. He first instructed the archers who had retreated to the rear, asking them to keep a distance and shoot arrows upwards to attack and kill the Liangzhou bandits at the camp gate. Even if they could not kill the Liangzhou bandits, they would at least create some obstacles for them.

Then Meng Da stepped forward, stood in the army formation and commanded his soldiers. He shouted, "Stab." He commanded the spearmen to stab out and retract together, harvesting the Liangzhou bandits at the camp gate as smoothly as harvesting wheat.

Under Meng Da's command, his Shu army stabilized its formation and always held the camp, not giving the Liangzhou bandits any opportunity to exploit. The camp's gate has not been destroyed by the Liangzhou bandits until now, and they have not been able to enter the camp.

Such a brutal attack and defense made Liang Yinghu, the leader of the Qiang and Hu tribe of the Black Tiger, who was leading the army, inevitably want to retreat. If the fighting continued like this, even if they could break through the camp of the Shu army, most of his men would be killed, and his Black Tiger tribe would decline and be swallowed up by other Qiang and Hu tribes.

With this thought in mind, Liang Yinghu hurriedly rode his horse to the rear where Han Sui, Song Jian and others were watching the battle. He bowed to the nominal commander Han Sui and said, "General, my men have suffered heavy casualties. Please sound the horn to withdraw."

"Why are you so cowardly? The war is at its most intense, how can we retreat now? Please go back and supervise the battle so as to capture this camp of Shu army as soon as possible." Before Han Sui could reply, Song Jian heard Liang Yinghu's words, he looked displeased and reprimanded him.

"General Qu." Compared to Song Jian's harsh tone, Han Sui's tone was calmer, but his wording was exactly the same as Song Jian's: "During a great battle, how can you leave the battlefield so easily? Please go back and supervise the battle... I promise that I will repay you tenfold for your losses today."

"General Han, if you continue to attack, only two or three out of ten of my men will survive. I will not be able to face returning to the tribe one day. Even if I get a reward, the men I raised with great effort will not have the chance to enjoy it." Liang Yinghu said bluntly.

Then he suddenly became depressed and lost his respect in words. He said to Han Sui, Song Jian and others, "No more fighting, no more fighting. You are just watching from here while I have to bleed. It would be better for me to lead my men away. Please take my leave now."

After saying this, Liang Yinghu pretended to withdraw his troops and disband the alliance. At the same time, he glanced at Han Sui inadvertently. He was sure that Han Sui would definitely give in and would not let him leave and weaken the strength of the allied forces.

In order to make the gesture more realistic and force Han Sui to submit, Liang Yinghu even pretended to turn his horse around and leave, slightly turning the horse's head and moving his body sideways towards Han Sui and others.

What Liang Yinghu didn't expect was that Han Sui didn't say anything to appease him for leaving. Instead, he said calmly, "I made it clear yesterday that everyone should obey my orders. Those who don't will be punished by military law."

"Hmm?" Liang Yinghu made a strange sound when he heard this. As a leader of the Qiang and Hu tribes, he was used to being free and easy, and often acted on his own. If Han Sui had not used kind words to entice him and offered him money and silk, he would not have led his troops to help. Now, when he heard Han Sui's threatening words, he suddenly looked unhappy, and he was about to refute...

But Han Sui said, "Liang Yinghu, you deserted the battlefield and shook the army's morale. Military law is unforgivable. I sentence you to death..."

"Han Sui, how dare you..." Liang Yinghu responded sternly with a look of horror on his face. However, he had only said half of his words when he saw Yan Xingyu, a fierce general under Han Sui's command, riding forward and getting close to him. The spear in his hand shot out like a dragon, and a big hole was immediately made on Liang Yinghu's chest. Then Liang Yinghu fell off the horse with dull eyes and a look of confusion and disbelief, and fell to the ground in vain.

Liang Yinghu fell to the ground, which brought about a series of chain reactions. The Xiaozhong Qiang Hu leaders were terrified. They swallowed their saliva secretly and lowered their heads slightly, not daring to look up at Han Sui. Song Jian and the Dazhong Qiang Hu leaders Shaodang, Diao Hujin, and Canmuda smiled, looking at Liang Yinghu who had not closed his eyes on the ground, with a sarcastic look in their eyes. Yesterday, they privately agreed with Han Sui that today they would kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, and use killing to intimidate the Xiaozhong Qiang Hu leaders who were not attentive and did not work hard, but they had not yet decided on the "chicken". Now Liang Yinghu jumped out to be the "chicken", which made them happy.

At this time, the troops under Liang Yinghu's command who were attacking the Shu army camp in the front seemed to have noticed that Liang Yinghu had fallen to the ground, and guessed that something had happened in the rear, so their offensive could not help but stagnate, and the attack on the Shu army camp slowed down a little.

"Yan Ming." Han Sui shouted sternly. He took off the sword from his waist and handed it to Yan Xingdao: "Lead a team of soldiers to supervise the battle. Anyone who dares to retreat, shake the morale of the army, or disobey orders will be beheaded with this sword."

"Yes." Yan Xing respectfully took the sword from Han Sui, called a team of soldiers, and stepped forward to supervise the battle.

With the addition of the supervision team, the Qiang and Hu who were attacking the Shu army camp could neither advance nor retreat, like mice in a bellows, and suddenly lost their sense of direction. The Qiang and Hu first tried to retreat, but under the ruthless attack of the supervision team led by Yan Xing, they had to turn around and attack the Shu army camp, and rushed forward desperately in order to survive.

As a result, the pressure on Meng Da's troops suddenly increased. The Qiang and Hu people rushed forward fearlessly and broke through the deer horns, fences and other objects that were used to block their footsteps. A gap appeared in the originally solid camp, and the Qiang and Hu people rushed towards the Shu army camp through the gap, like travelers seeing a lake in the desert.

Seeing this situation, Meng Da's face remained calm and he did not show any sign of anxiety. He took the helmet from the hands of his personal guards and put it on, took out the ring-handled sword from his waist, and as the commander-in-chief, he led a group of personal guards to kill the Qiang and Hu who had rushed into the camp.

The commander's personal guards are often the most valiant soldiers in the army. At least ten men are selected as personal guards, and some personal guards consist of hundreds of men. With the commander Meng Da leading the charge, the morale of the personal guards was boosted. After the two sides fought, in an instant, the Qiang and Hu people who had infiltrated the camp through the gaps in the camp fell to the ground one by one, and turned into cold corpses.

After dealing with the Qiang and Hu who had rushed into the camp and slightly slowing down their offensive, Meng Da led his personal guards to use deer horns to block the gap in the camp and blocked the Qiang and Hu outside the camp gate, preventing them from setting foot into the camp and losing the opportunity to break through Meng Da's camp.

From afar, Han Sui first saw the Qiang and Hu people open a gap and rush into the Shu army camp, and then saw the gap in the Shu army camp being blocked. He sighed silently in his heart, as a great opportunity was lost.

At this moment, the sound of gongs and drums was heard from the Shu army camp. Four teams of soldiers and horses turned out, two infantry teams and two cavalry teams. They set up battle formations in front of the Shu army camp, but did not approach. They just watched the battle situation here.

The Shu army was waiting for an opportunity to strike on the side. In this situation, it would be difficult for Han Sui's side to just attack Meng Da's camp. After all, if there was any gap during the attack, the Shu army that had left the camp and set up battle formation might seize the opportunity, and the situation would be dangerous at that time.

As Han Sui's side was unable to attack Meng Da's camp with all their strength, the pressure on Meng Da was suddenly reduced. He was no longer attacked by the Qiang and Hu people and his camp remained firmly held until dusk, when the Liangzhou bandits sounded the retreat.

……

Xudu, Sikong Mansion.

"Where is the Jingzhou army?" Sikong Cao Cao inquired.

The counsellor Cheng Yu responded, "According to the news sent by General Cao Zixiao who is stationed in Wan County, the Jingzhou army has passed through Xinye and is now in Wan County. In a day or two, they will reach Xudu."

"Not slow at all." Cao Cao replied. He was waiting for the Jingzhou army to arrive to help, and then he would send troops to Huainan to attack Yuan Shu. Now he was commanding the princes on behalf of the emperor. If he did not lead the army to attack a rebellious person like Yuan Shu, the emperor's prestige would decline, which would not be a good thing for him, a powerful official who was in charge of the government.

Of course, conquering the rebels was just an excuse. Cao Cao actually wanted to annex the land of Huainan. His current stronghold, Xudu, was a place surrounded by wars and connected in all directions. He needed to guard against the front, back, left and right. If he wanted to live in peace, he had to eliminate the enemies on all sides.

Yuan Shu, as the enemy in the east, was naturally within Cao Cao's calculations. A few months ago, he led his troops to successfully capture Wan County, ensuring the safety of the south of Xu Du, and asked Cao Ren to station troops in Wan County to guard Jingzhou. Now, he felt that the time was ripe and it was time to take action against Yuan Shu in Huainan, and he was waiting for the soldiers from Jingzhou to arrive to support him.

"Is Lu Bu of Xuzhou willing to send troops into battle?" Cao Cao asked with concern about Lu Bu's movements in Xuzhou.

Cheng Yu shook his head when he heard this. He replied, "According to the information handed over by Chen Gui and Chen Deng, you issued an imperial edict to Lü Bu to attack Huainan under the pretext of the emperor. Lü Bu was tempted at first, and with the advice of Chen Gui and Chen Deng, Lü Bu was about to agree. But Chen Gong said that if Yuan Shu was defeated in Huainan, Xuzhou would be isolated and alone to face you. This made Lü Bu hesitate and unable to make up his mind, so he did not mobilize his troops to attack Huainan."

Cao Cao was silent when he heard this. The word "Chen Gong" touched his heart. Liu Dai, the former governor of Yanzhou, died in the hands of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou. Yanzhou was without a master. Chen Gong joined hands with Bao Xin to welcome him into Yanzhou, allowing him to control a state. He was grateful for Chen Gong's kindness and liked Chen Gong very much. He thought that the relationship between the monarch and his subject should last forever.

"What a pity." Cao Cao sighed in his heart. Later, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao, and Lu Bu took advantage of his expedition to Xuzhou to avenge his father and started a rebellion, which almost made him lose Yanzhou and become homeless. But he did not have too much hatred for Chen Gong. Instead, he hoped that Chen Gong would return to his side. Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, it was difficult to achieve.

After a moment, Cao Cao regained his vigorous demeanor. He smiled faintly and said, "With Chen Gui, Chen Deng and Chen Gong rebelling against each other, Lü Bu must be hesitant. He will neither help me nor send troops to help Yuan Shu. This time, we don't have to worry about Xuzhou when we conquer Huainan." (End of this chapter)