Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 462 General’s Strategy
In September, Guan Yu followed Sima Yi's strategy and was defeated at Wancheng, and withdrew his remaining troops to Xinye; Xu Huang and Cao Zhen led the southern reinforcements and pursued them to Xinye.

In the same month, Zhang He and Yang Qiu's troops from Guanzhong made a long-distance attack on Champion City.

Previously, Guan Yu went north to Wancheng, and ordered Meng Da and Fu Fang to march out of Nanxiang, pass through Yin County, and reach Champion County, and plunder several counties to the west of Wancheng in order to respond.

Meng Da was unprepared and was shocked to see the troops and horses of the Guanzhong Army commanded by Zhang He and Yang Qiu. Afraid of Zhang He and Yang Qiu's military strength, he abandoned his baggage and abandoned the city and left.

Zhang He led his cavalry to pursue Meng Da personally, and defeated Meng Da by the river twenty miles west of the city. Fu Fang, the governor of Nanxiang, was beheaded. Meng Da's whereabouts were unknown, and the entire army was almost wiped out. Only a small number of defeated troops fled to Xiangfan.

In early September, Zhang He and Yang Qiu received military orders and set out from Huaili with more than 10,000 troops on foot. They passed through Chang'an and Lantian, followed by Wuguan and Danshui, and finally arrived at Guanjian County, a distance of more than 1,300 miles.

Zhang He marched at an extraordinary speed, covering more than a hundred miles each day. He marched for eight days and attacked for more than 1,300 miles. He attacked Mengda outside Champion City and won a complete victory.

Then, Zhang He stationed his troops to rest in Champion, gathered the stragglers, and sent scouts to send a message to Xu Huang and Cao Zhen.

Now the news that Guan Yu's ambush was defeated and Meng Da's entire army was annihilated reached the Han army in Xiangfan, and the generals were shocked.

Outside Fancheng, the Han army camped.

In the large tent, Lu Meng looked at the picture with his hands behind his hands. Civil and military officials on the left and right sides of the tent were discussing secretly. Some people looked worried or excited, and each had different expressions.

Fei Yi looked worried and said: "General, Junhou and Mengda each sent their troops north. Junhou was wounded and defeated and retreated to Xinye; Mengda's entire army was wiped out, and Nanxiang is no longer owned by our army. What should we do now?"

Lu Meng looked calm and said: "Although the two armies were defeated, it did not harm our army's current situation. The two cities of Xiangfan were surrounded by our army, and the main force of the army was still there. The two thieves Zhang He and Xu Huang advanced together, and our army divided its forces. You can control it, so why worry?"

Although Lu Meng in this plane is not as appreciated by Sun Quan in history, he is appointed as the governor and takes charge of one side. However, he was appreciated by Guan Yu and tempered by a lot of wars. Although its ability may not be as strong as in history, it is not much weaker. After all, Guan Yu's ability to hand over the heavy responsibility of siege to Lu Meng explains everything.

At present, Guan Yu was injured and defeated, and Meng Da's entire army was wiped out. The news seemed shocking, but in fact, the current situation in Xiangfan in the Southern Han Dynasty was still under control.

Although Jinjin Wancheng was defeated, Guan Yu retreated to Xinye, which was not unacceptable. Mengda's entire army was wiped out, but because his generals had few troops, as long as they were properly deployed, they could still stop Zhang He from reaching the upper reaches of the Han River.

"May I ask the general, what should we do now?" Tai Shiheng asked:

Lu Meng pondered for a while and said: "According to the letter from the prince, there are still four thousand soldiers under his tent, and the thieves are said to have twenty or thirty thousand. However, according to your majesty's belief, Vice Governor Pang has already arrived with ten thousand people." . Looking at it this way, the increase of six or seven thousand people and monarchs is enough to allow the monarchs to temporarily guard the new field."

As he spoke, Lu Meng paced back and forth and said: "Zhang He and Yang Qiu will send their troops to the champion, and they may go south from the champion, go to Yin County, and cross the Han River. Now sending a general to guard the south of Han Dynasty may be able to stop Zhang He from the north. , waiting for the arrival of His Majesty’s army in person.”

"Your Majesty is here personally leading the army?" Fei Yi asked in surprise.

"Exactly!"

Lu Meng paced in the tent and said: "Your Majesty's Northern Expedition is to attack the Xiangfan army. Now that Xiangfan is in turmoil, Your Majesty will march westward in the near future in order to defeat the two cities of Xiangfan."

Lu Meng previously sent a letter to Liu Bei, detailing Xiangfan's military situation and Guan Yu's Northern Expedition. Liu Bei also wrote back to Lü Meng. In addition to explaining that Pang Tong would lead his troops to march westward, he also reassured Lü Meng that if there was a change in Xiangfan, he would lead his army to march westward and stabilize the war situation in Xiangfan.

"If your Majesty will march the army westward, Xiangfan will have no worries!" Taishi Heng said happily.

Lu Meng looked around at everyone and said, "If you all have no objections, Meng will follow this order!"

After everyone hesitated for a while, Ma Liang said: "Today, the new field troops are exhausted, and we only have six or seven thousand more soldiers. I am afraid that the monarch will not be able to stop the traitor army."

Lu Meng sighed slightly and said: "Our army only has more than 30,000 troops. Now we have divided our troops to besiege the city and support the new fields from the north. There are many troops but there are insufficient troops. Now we have more than 30,000 troops. With the ability of the princes, It's enough to temporarily hold back the bandit army in the north. In just a few days, when Pang Du's troops arrive, the new country will be safe!"

Although the Southern Han Dynasty was still in control of the situation, its military strength was already stretched thin due to the defeat at the front. More than 30,000 people want to surround Xiangfan, reinforce Xinye, and block the upper reaches of the Han River. It will be very difficult for Lu Meng.

"The general has made arrangements, and Liang has no objections," Ma Liang said.

"good!"

Lu Meng ordered: "The tiger infantry led by General Taishi is an elite force commanded by your majesty. Now the general will lead five thousand tiger infantry and send thousands of county troops north to the new wilderness. Report the current affairs to the king and wait. Governor Pang led troops to reinforce."

"No!" Tai Shiheng responded after taking the order.

"Where is General Pang?"

"exist!"

Pang De stood out from the crowd and held his hand.

"The general is famous for his bravery in Guanxi. Now that Zhang He has arrived at Nanxiang County, I will send three thousand elite troops north to garrison Hannan. They will use bluff to prevent Zhang He from crossing the river. If we are defeated, please send me a letter quickly. I will Lead your troops and march westward," Lü Meng said.

Pang De accepted the order and said: "No!"

"From now on, the stoves and flags will be as they were in the past. If it is not enough to surround Fancheng, we will send Xiangyang sergeants to Fancheng to ensure that Cao Ren has no chance to breathe." Lu Meng said.

"promise!"
-
When Guan Yu defeated Wancheng, he ordered his scouts to pass the news to Xiangfan first, and then led his troops to withdraw to Xinye.

Xinye City, government office.

Guan Yu leaned on the couch, with his strong chest bare, and allowed the doctor to apply medicine and treat him. The nerve pain in it made Guan Yu frown slightly.

Compared with Xu Huang who was shot in the liver, Guan Yu was both unfortunate and lucky. Fortunately for him, the sharp arrow penetrated the armor and did not hit the heart or lungs, but hit the ribs.

But his unlucky thing was that due to Guan Yu's old age and lack of calcium, coupled with many days of running around after the war, the small sections of his ribs were broken by arrows. After the doctor's operation, the arrow cluster was taken out for Guan Yu, but the ribs were stuck in the chest. Unless later thoracotomy was performed, the broken ribs could not be removed.

He applied herbal medicine to the inflamed wound, and the doctor bandaged Guan Yu's wound.

Guan Yu moved his arm lightly. In addition to the squeezing pain of the wound, he also felt a stinging pain in his chest. He was still having difficulty breathing. He asked, "Doctor, why did you take out the arrow cluster? It's still difficult to exhale smoothly. It seems that there is a foreign object in the chest."

The doctor looked troubled and said: "The reason why the prince cannot exhale smoothly is because the arrow broke the sternum, and the wound was abscessed. Someone took out the arrow cluster for the prince, but he was unable to remove the sternum for the prince."

Guan Yu's expression darkened and he asked, "But chest tightness and shortness of breath are difficult to cure?"

The doctor hesitated a little and said: "The king is old and frail, and it is difficult to recover from the broken sternum and ribs, unless the chest is opened to remove the bones. If the chest is opened to remove the bones, the king will die!"

"Open the chest to remove the bones?"

After hearing this, Guan Yu was silent for a while and asked: "How long can a bone live in the chest?"

The doctor shook his head and said: "My medical skills are not good, and I don't know where the broken bone is. You should take care of your body and avoid getting angry or lifting heavy objects. Maybe you can live for a hundred years!"

"This~"

Guan Ping looked worried. He held the doctor's hand and asked, "Since you are not good at medical skills, do you know that there are people in the world who can open the chest to remove bones?"

The doctor smiled bitterly and shook his head, and said: "I once heard that Hua Tuo in Qiao County has unparalleled medical skills. With his talent, he may be able to open his chest to remove bones. However, Hua Tuo has been killed by Cao Cao. It is expected that there is no one in the world who can open his chest to remove bones!"

Hua Tuo was a fellow villager of Cao Cao. Cao Cao had a headache, and Hua Tuo treated him. Unlike in the novel, Hua Tuo said that only by picking things at the beginning can he cure his headache.

Historically, Hua Tuo said that the disease of head wind was difficult to cure in the short term, and long-term treatment could only prolong life, so Cao Cao accepted Hua Tuo into his mansion for treatment. However, Hua Tuo had been away from home for too long. Because he missed his hometown, he returned home to visit his family after getting Cao Cao's permission.

However, after Hua Tuo returned home, he did not want to return to Xuchang, so he deceived Cao Cao on the pretext of his wife being ill. Cao Cao was furious and ordered Hua Tuo to be executed, despite Xun Yu's advice.

When he heard that Hua Tuo was dead, Guan Ping looked depressed if he had something to lose.

Guan Yu laughed boldly, put on his outer robe, and said: "Birth, old age, illness, and death are all determined by the commander's orders. How can anyone calculate them? Doctor Wu is now being rewarded with money and food, and his responsibility cannot be held accountable."

"Thank you, Lord!" the doctor said gratefully.

"Father?"

After the doctor left, Guan Ping looked worried and said, "There are many capable people in the world, so why not search for famous doctors to treat my father's illness?"

Guan Yu coughed a few times and scolded: "Now that the enemy is approaching, how can you care about your own safety and forget about the important things of the country? My father has been on the battlefield for decades, and he has been wounded by swords and arrows in no less than twenty or thirty places, many times. What's there to be afraid of when you're wandering between life and death?"

"What I'm worried about right now is that before Xiangfan is conquered, the enemy troops are approaching and they want to break the siege of Fancheng!"

"Please remember your father's warning!" Guan Ping replied.

Seeing that Guan Ping was in a low mood, Guan Yu asked: "How is the enemy's situation now? Has Ziming sent reinforcements north?"

Guan Ping pondered for a while and said: "The bandit general Cao Zhen has camped twenty miles outside Xinye City as a vanguard, and his army will arrive at Xinye City in the near future. According to the scouts, General Ziming has sent the Yuan Futong Tiger Infantry to the north for reinforcements. At the same time, Governor Pang of Jianghuai will lead his army to Jingxiang in the near future."

Guan Yu sighed and said, "As a father, I wish I would not listen to what Zi Ming said. Even if Wancheng is defeated, Xinye is in danger now because of my fault!"

Guan Ping hesitated for a long time and said: "Father, according to the scouts, Meng Da and Fu Fang went north from Nanxiang and met Zhang He in Guanzhong. He rushed to the championship. Meng Da was unprepared and was defeated by Zhang He. Fu Fang was beheaded by Zhang He. More than three thousand people were wiped out, and Meng Da's whereabouts are unknown."

"Cough cough!"

Hearing this, Guan Yu wanted to say something loudly, but felt uncomfortable in his chest. He coughed several times and said, "Young Mengda, you are in vain as a man who knows the military. I have warned him many times that when he goes north to Nanxiang, he should be on guard against the enemy coming from Guanzhong. But now he has He was defeated by Zhang He, his troops were wiped out, and Fu Fang was beheaded."

"too fast!"

Guan Ping shook his head and sighed, and said: "For more than 1,300 miles, Zhang He sent troops slower than Xu Huang, but they arrived at the same time. His rushing speed was too fast, and it is normal for Mengda to be unprepared."

Guan Yu walked slowly and said: "Zhang He is good at running and attacking. Xia Houyuan is very good at running on the right side of Guan. It is mostly thanks to Zhang He as the vanguard. How can Xia Houyuan understand the essence of running and attacking with his talent?"

Xiahou Yuan's record of Hubu Guanyou is true, but the person he relied on was Zhang He. Zhang He often led the vanguard to lead the battle, and he supervised the transportation of grain from behind, and then joined forces to defeat the enemy invaders. Leaving Zhang He, Xia Houyuan thought that it would not be that simple to pass the right step by step.

"What's Ziming's plan?" Guan Yu asked.

Guan Ping thought for a while and said: "To inform my father, General Lu ordered General Pang to lead 3,000 infantry to Hannan to guard against Zhang He crossing the river. If the situation is critical, General Lu will march westward from the generals and personally control Zhang He's troops."

"Now we are moving three thousand troops to the west and six thousand to the north. Fancheng's army is only about 20,000 strong. General Lu will reduce the troops in Xiangyang but not Fancheng."

Listening to Lu Meng's orderly arrangements, Guan Yu nodded and sighed slightly, and said: "The battle situation is critical, Ziming's arrangements are orderly, and he has the strategy of a general."

While he was talking, the attendant came into the hall to report and said: "To report to the lord, Cao Zhen is riding outside to provoke him. He heard that the lord is excellent in martial arts, and he wants to ask for advice in person."

Guan Yu raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "This is a strategy to lure the enemy. We must defend the city and not go out!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)