Ji Han Liu Zhang

The fourth year of Jian'an, mid-September.

In Zhongyang County, Taiyuan Commandery, a great offensive and bloody battle was being prepared. In front of the Shu army's camp, teams of Yuan army soldiers wearing helmets and armor and holding sharp weapons were lined up, waiting for Yan Liang, the commander of the central army, to give the order to attack.

Yan Liang, who had mobilized his troops in anger over a reply letter from the Shu army, now looked at the Shu army's solid camp and the spirited soldiers, and suddenly he wanted to retreat.

A strong fortress cannot be attacked. This is common sense in military strategy, and Yan Liang knew it. When the Shu army's camp was well defended and the morale of the Shu army was good, attacking the Shu army's camp was not a wise choice.

In particular, there is a warning in the Art of War: "The lord should not raise an army out of anger." At that moment, Yan Liang made the decision to attack the Shu army camp out of momentary indignation and anger, falling into the inferior position of the Art of War and doing something that the Art of War taboos.

But the army has already set out and lined up here. If we don't go up and attack the Shu army's camp, how can we justify today's big fuss and mobilization of troops?

"I heard that there are many upright men under the command of Liu Bao, the Left Wise King. If we want to avenge Liu Bao, we should let Liu Bao's troops go first." After some consideration, Yan Liang gave an order, asking the flag bearer to signal the arrival of a flag, mobilizing Liu Bao's troops to go forward and fight.

"Yes." After a loud response from the flag bearer in the army, he waved the red and blue flag in his hand and rushed forward. Then, a team of soldiers in a square formation stepped forward in front of the army.

Unlike the Hun soldiers who rode on horses in the past, the Hun soldiers who served as the vanguard today all abandoned their horses. They wore leather armor, held wooden shields covered with cowhide in their hands, formed a dense formation, and fought in imitation of the Han army's formation.

The movement in the front line caught Yan Liang's eyes. It was the troops left behind by the Left Wise King Liu Bao marching at a leisurely pace, with the leather-covered wooden shields in their hands tilted upwards to defend against the arrows of the Shu army that might attack at any time, with a cautious posture.

"After migrating inland for a long time, the Xiongnu people have learned a few tactics from our Han soldiers." Yan Liang chuckled and said, "I just don't know how well they have learned and whether they can help me break through the Shu army's camp."

Guo Yuan was accompanying Yan Liang. He echoed, "The troops under the command of Zuo Xian Wang Liu Bao are angry about Zuo Xian Wang's death and hate the Shu army to the core. This time they will attack the Shu army camp without hesitation. It would be a bit of a stretch to say that they can break through the Shu army camp in one fell swoop, but a fierce battle with the Shu army is foreseeable."

"What General Guo said is true." Yan Liang nodded. He was not very optimistic about the Huns breaking through the Shu army's camp and creating an opportunity for him to defeat the Shu army.

After all, the Shu army was also elite, and the Huns were not good at attacking cities and strongholds. The probability of Zuo Xian Wang's troops breaking through the Shu army camp with just their bloody anger was not high.

Without saying much, Yan Liang and Guo Yuan focused their eyes on the battlefield, carefully observing the war that was about to begin.

Liu Erhu, who was currently in charge of the troops of Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, was currently in the formation, urging his men to move forward and get closer to the Shu army's camp.

Although he was the first one sent out to launch a tentative attack on the Shu army camp, Liu Erhu felt not hesitant or worried, but excited and joyful.

After all, when Left Wise King Liu Bao died and he had no children, his men had no place to go. If he made some achievements today and won Yan Liang's favor, he might be able to fill the position of Left Wise King with Yan Liang's support and become a nobleman among the Xiongnu.

"You will be crowned king today." Liu Erhu's heart was burning, as hot as a rising sun. Yan Liang had given him a chance to lead the attack on the Shu army camp. He should do it beautifully and perfectly to win the position of Zuo Xian Wang.

"Hold the formation and move forward with me."

Although Liu Erhu was greedy for merit, he still maintained a cautious attitude. While urging his men to move forward, he did not forget to remind them not to relax their formation.

Under the command of Liu Erhu, the Huns continued to approach the Shu army's camp.

One hundred and twenty steps.

One hundred steps.

Eighty steps.

When he stepped within a hundred steps of the Shu army camp, Liu Erhu suppressed his burning desire for the position of Zuo Xian Wang and concentrated his whole body and soul on the current battlefield.

This is because a bow and arrow can fly over a hundred steps and take a person's life. So if you step within a hundred steps of the Shu army's camp, you have to be careful because the Shu army may rain arrows at you at any time.

"Gather the formation, don't disperse." Liu Erhu warned loudly. The Han army's so-called battle formation, relying on a tight and flawless formation, can exert tremendous combat effectiveness in attack and defense. Liu Erhu had experienced this in the past. He learned from his mistakes and naturally learned some knowledge of fighting in formation from the Han army.

Now they were within the attack range of the Shu army's arrows. In order to prevent being hit by the Shu army's arrows, Liu Erhu gave the order to close the formation which had become slightly loose due to the march.

Seventy steps. After reaching the Shu army camp seventy steps, Liu Erhu's troops had not shot a single arrow. The Shu army camp had no countermeasures for their approach. There was only silence and great stillness.

Liu Erhu frowned slightly. He felt uneasy about the eerie silence in the atmosphere. There must be something wrong. The Shu army was unable to respond to their approach. This was not normal, but rather too abnormal.

Sixty steps, and then ten steps closer to the Shu army camp. When they were only sixty steps away from the Shu army camp gate, Liu Erhu's troops were still safe and sound, and there was no movement in the Shu army camp.

After so easily advancing sixty steps into the Shu army camp, Liu Erhu did not feel happy, but increasingly uneasy. As the saying goes, a biting dog does not bark. The Shu army remained silent, and he was afraid that they were planning some evil tricks.

At this time, perhaps we should stop and wait and see the Shu army camp, and then make a decision to see if we can proceed. But although Liu Erhu was uneasy, he was greedy for the position of Zuo Xian Wang, so he still urged his troops to continue moving forward.

At this moment, Liu Erhu first heard three drum beats in the Shu army camp, and then heard several thunderclaps. He looked up at the sky in confusion, but saw that the autumn sky was not as bright as the summer sky, but there was no leaden clouds before a summer thunderstorm. He didn't know where the thunderclap came from.

But soon, Liu Erhu had no time to think about the reason for those thunderous sounds. He saw several black shadows shooting out from the Shu army camp and attacking his formation.

Liu Erhu concentrated his attention, staring at the black shadows, and saw only the speck-sized black shadows coming from the Shu army camp, which gradually grew larger and filled his eyes. Soon, Liu Erhu couldn't help but widen his eyes, and his expression showed panic. The black shadows coming from the Shu army camp were not arrows, nor crossbows, but pieces of polished smooth stones.

In an instant, stones as big as millstones were thrown out from the Shu army camp and landed in the formation where Liu Erhu was. Although Liu Erhu's troops had leather-covered wooden shields as a defensive weapon, the leather-covered wooden shields might be effective against arrows and bows, but they could only be smashed to pieces against the huge rocks carrying a thousand pounds of force.

Flying stones would often not stop after hitting a Hun's raised shield, but would continue to roll forward until the tremendous force they carried was blocked and eliminated, and then they would stop moving forward.

In an instant, a series of shrill cries from Liu Erhu's troops reached the sky. This was because the Huns who were hit by the boulder were either directly crushed to death and uttered their last cries before death, or were touched by the edge of the boulder and had their limbs broken, wailing weakly.

Liu Erhu listened to the wailing and wailing of the men around him. At this moment, he no longer had any ambitions or desires for the throne of Zuo Xian King. Right now, he only wanted to stay away from the camp of the Shu army, away from the Shu army that was as powerful as ghosts and gods.

The Shu army's skills of flying stones a hundred steps away and killing countless people were, in Liu Erhu's mind, magical skills that only ghosts and gods could possess, and they were not something that a mortal like him could resist.

"Retreat, retreat, retreat quickly." Liu Erhu shouted, and then he turned around and ran away without caring about his men, in order to get away from the Shu army's camp as soon as possible.

As for the Shu army, a round of flying stones shot out, and soon, another black mass of flying stones came out from the Shu army camp, launching a fierce attack on the Huns who had no time to escape.

At the same time, when Liu Erhu's troops were more than fifty steps away from the Shu army camp, the Shu army did not forget their bows and crossbows and arrows, and they launched a rain of arrows from their powerful crossbows.

Flying stones, arrows, and powerful crossbows, under the warm hospitality of the Shu army, more than a thousand Huns who came to attack the Shu army camp fell down in the blink of an eye. The rest of them only wished that their parents had given them two more legs, and ran madly in the direction away from the Shu army camp.

Yan Liang, who was in the center of the army and observing the battle from afar, saw the tragic situation of the Huns running around. He also heard the continuous sound of thunder in the Shu army camp. He gritted his teeth and said, "It's the thunder chariot."

"It must be the Thunderbolt car." Guo Yuan's face was heavy as he responded to Yan Liang.

As an enemy of the Shu army, Hebei naturally collected intelligence related to the Shu army. They knew that the Shu army had a powerful weapon called the Thunderbolt Chariot, which could fly stones a hundred steps away with a sound like thunderbolt.

In the past, Yan Liang thought that the Shu army was just bragging and boasting. There was no magical weapon in the world that could fly stones a hundred steps away. However, when he saw it today, he could only sigh. The Shu army's Thunderbolt Chariot was indeed worthy of its reputation and was actually as powerful as thunder.

Without lamenting the thunder chariot for too long, Yan Liang gave an order and a team of soldiers from the front army stepped forward to meet the fleeing troops of Zuo Xian Wang, preventing the fleeing soldiers from attacking the army formation and causing major unrest.

It was at this time that the autumn sky became gloomy, dark clouds occupied the sky, a cool breeze blew, and an autumn rain came unexpectedly and landed on the battlefield.

"Sound the horn to call back the troops." Yan Liang sighed, and at the same time, he was also thankful in his heart. The Xiongnu who attacked the Shu army camp as the vanguard were defeated and returned with low morale. He should have retreated, but he didn't want to retreat at first. After all, he didn't gain anything after all the great battle today. Retreating? It would be too unworthy of his title as a famous general in Hebei.

Fortunately, an autumn rain fell, and Yan Liang could use the name of the autumn rain to call back his troops, without having to worry about what others would gossip about. After all, fighting in the rain is not what a good general does.

The Yuan army retreated, and the Shu army did not chase them, but let them retreat. Neither side had the intention to continue fighting in the autumn rain, and the battle ended with a whimper.

When Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou who stayed in Zhongyang County, saw Yan Liang returning to the city in a bad mood, he knew his limits and did not go up to him to say anything congratulatory or auspicious, so as not to offend Yan Liang.

Gao Gan simply pulled Guo Yuan over and whispered to him about today's battle. Then he said to Yan Liang, "An autumn rain has disturbed the general's efforts to defeat the enemy."

Blaming Yan Liang's defeat today on the weather, Gao Gan said worriedly, "I've heard that the Shu army has a weapon called the Thunderbolt Chariot. Unfortunately, the Shu army has very strict control over the Thunderbolt Chariot, and outsiders are not allowed to approach the Thunderbolt Chariot easily. Therefore, my Hebei spies in Guanzhong don't know how to build the Thunderbolt Chariot, otherwise they could use the Thunderbolt Chariot against the Thunderbolt Chariot today."

Yan Liang cursed: "To be honest, the craftsmen in Hebei are not as skilled as those in the Shu army. My Excellency had foresight and ordered the craftsmen to build a weapon like the Thunderbolt Chariot so that we will not be at a disadvantage when we fight against the Shu army in the future."

"Who would have thought..." Yan Liang shook his head and said, "The Thunderbolt Chariot built by the military artisans can only throw rocks 50 steps away, and the size of the rocks is only about the size of my fist. It is far inferior to the Thunderbolt Chariot displayed by the Shu army today, which can throw rocks 100 steps away, and the rocks are as big as millstones."

Gao Gan consoled him, "General Yan, don't get angry. As the saying goes, a big reward will bring brave men and wise men. I'm offering a reward of 100 gold coins to the army to build a Thunderbolt Chariot as powerful as the one used by the Shu army. This way, we will not lose to the Shu army when we fight against them tomorrow."

"That's right." Yan Liang responded.

The autumn rain was continuous and never stopped for five or six days. The Yuan army and the Shu army facing each other in Zhongyang County gave up their desire to fight and waited for the rain to stop before continuing the battle.

Shu army camp.

"What did your letter say?" The autumn rain stopped the war, and the warmongering Gan Ning was a little bored. He could only bow his head to his desk and deal with some miscellaneous matters in the army.

Only today, an urgent letter was delivered from Guanzhong, giving Gan Ning something else to do. Gan Ning speculated on the content of the letter: "But what military orders does Mingshou have?"

"Ming Gong has a mission for us." After reading the letter, Jia Xu stroked his beard and replied in Gan Ning's expectant eyes, "It's not a military order, but a deal."

"What deal?" Gan Ning was a little confused.

Jia Xu smiled faintly and said, "Use the head of Zuo Xian Wang Liu Bao in exchange for a woman from the Southern Xiongnu."

Gan Ning leaned forward slightly. He couldn't suppress his curiosity: "What kind of woman do you want in exchange?"

"The daughter of Cai Zhonglang in the past, Cai Yan." Jia Xu did not give any riddles: "Cai Yan encountered a chaotic situation and fell into the hands of the Southern Xiongnu. My Lord, considering Cai Zhonglang's loyalty and integrity, he planned to save his daughter." (End of this chapter)