Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 704: The Plan Has Come to an End
March is spring, everything comes back to life and the weather turns warmer.

Huo Jun was stationed on a high hill by the Si River, looking out over the Wei army camp stationed between the mountains and plains on the south bank. But he saw Wang Ling building a camp on the mountain, overlooking the Si River, trying to use the cliff strategy to resist the Han army.

"Mingsir, during the confrontation between our army and Wei, although the soldiers avoided the severe winter cold, many Wei troops came to support us. Now looking at Wang Ling's troops, there are no less than 70,000 of them. The soldiers may not be elite, but they are more numerous than our army."

Zhou Cang pointed at the distribution of the Wei camp and said, "If our army wants to defeat the Wei army, we should not force a crossing of the Si River, but attack when they are weak."

Huo Du thought for a moment and said cautiously: "In order to defeat Wang Ling, it is better to recruit the troops of Qingqi to avoid the danger of defeat due to the large enemy numbers and our small numbers."

Huo Jun raised his whip and pointed to the Wei camp on the south bank with a smile, saying: "Henan is vast. If the bandits can take advantage of the steep terrain, our army will have to fight hard for one or two years to defeat them. Now that all the troops have gathered under Wang Ling's command, I can save the trouble of fighting. If we defeat them in one fell swoop, Si and Ji will be safe!"

As he spoke, Huo Jun smiled and said to everyone, "When Han Xin recruited soldiers, the more the better; now that I have defeated the bandits, the more bandits there are, the better."

If Wang Ling's troops were elite troops of the Wei army, Huo Jun might have been a little worried. However, most of Wang Ling's troops were from powerful families and clans. They could fight well in favorable situations, but most of them would surrender if the situation turned against them.

The more troops and horses gather under Wang Ling's command, the more time it will save for the Han Dynasty to occupy various areas in Henan if Huo Jun can be defeated in one fell swoop.

Seeing Huo Jun was confident, Zhou Cang asked, "Now the enemy is defending in a strategic location. How can you defeat them?"

"Since the bandits rely on the river to defend themselves, we should leave them without any defense!"

Huo Jun hesitated for a moment and said, "Tonight I will lead my troops across the river and raid the Wei Beishan camp. We will advance to Si Nan and confront their Wangying camp, forcing the enemy to leave the camp for a decisive battle."

"Beishan Fort and Sinan Camp are the bases for the enemy to occupy our territory. If we can cross the river and occupy the mountain fort, the enemy will have no dangerous places to use. This plan is feasible." Zhou Cang said with deep approval.

The mountain range occupied by Wang Ling was not a single mountain range, but the remnant of the Nishan Mountain Range. It stretched from southeast to northwest in a straight line, and the shortest distance from the Sishui River was only four or five miles. Wang Ling led the Wei soldiers from the Sishui River to the mountain range, which was dozens of miles away, and set up camp according to the terrain of the mountains and rivers.

Si Nanying was a camp stationed on the banks of the Si Shui River to prevent the Han army from crossing the river.

Beishan Fort is a fort located northeast of the main camp, more than ten miles away from Sinan Camp. It is used to monitor the transportation of grain and grass of the Han army. If there is an opportunity, the troops will be led to rob the grain and grass in Hejian.

Wang Ling's army was stationed in the plains and low hills between Si Nanying and Beishan Fort. If the Han army could occupy Beishan Fort and gain a foothold, the Wei army would have no choice but to fight the Han army in the field because they would have lost the Sishui River and Beishan Fort.

"good!"

Huo Jun held the reins and said, "Tonight, gather 10,000 elite infantry and cavalry. Gather at the second watch, march out at the third watch, and attack the Beishan camp."

"promise!"

Two updates, that is, between 19:23 and 23:1; three updates, that is, between : and :.

Therefore, when they gathered at the second watch, it was already dark.

Huo Jun had a quick meal, arranged the affairs of each department, and then ordered the drums to be beaten for assembly.

At the first drum beat, Pang De and Yu Shao's troops gathered with flags, and the firemen prepared night food; at the second drum beat, the soldiers finished their meals, prepared their armor and arrows, and gathered in units; at the third drum beat, the two troops had arrived at the assembly point and were ready to set off.

After the three drum beats, Huo Jun led his personal guards to follow the army, while Pang De and Yu Shao led 10,000 elite infantry and cavalry to set off.

Zhou Cang followed the army as a military officer. Seeing that Huo Jun did not use the Hun Hu Army and that Ding Feng and Jiang Ji had not been seen all day, he asked, "Sir, the raid on the Beishan Camp is important now. Why don't you appoint General Ding as the commander?"

Huo Jun rode his horse forward and said with a smile, "Chengyuan has his own military duties. The raid on Beishan Camp now needs to be handled by Generals Pang and Yu."

Probably because he could tell that Huo Jun wanted to protect the secret, Zhou Cang did not dare to ask more questions.

Under the cover of night, 10,000 infantry and cavalry were divided into 10 teams, each led by a brave man, and each holding a torch. The infantry and cavalry held their mouths shut and the horses wrapped their hooves. 10,000 people were running, and only the rustling of footsteps and the dull sound of iron hooves could be heard. Looking down from the sky, it looked like a fire dragon cruising under the cover of night.

The Si River that separates the two banks has now been built into five floating bridges using bamboo rafts, which can be used by the Han army's infantry and cavalry in surprise attacks.

Not far from the floating bridge, there is a small hill. On it, the Wei army is stationed, and lights are flickering in the dark night. This is Beishan Fort. Beishan Fort stretches for more than 20 miles to the southwest, and there are many camps guarded by the Wei army.

As time went by, the Han army's infantry and cavalry continued to approach the Beishan Fort. The torches that illuminated the way for the army gradually went out, and the fire dragon disappeared, leaving only a few points of fire flickering in the dark.

There were lights flickering in the fortresses on the north mountain below, and vaguely one could see Wei soldiers standing on the watchtowers, looking out, and even patrolling around the camp. It looked like the defenses were quite strict, and it was obvious that the Wei army had taken precautions against a night attack by the Han army.

Suddenly, the Wei soldier on the watchtower discovered something while scanning the outside of the village and shouted, "Is there anyone outside the village?"

The Wei soldiers guarding the deer horns outside the village became alert, and following the dim firelight outside, they sent three or four people to carefully move into the darkness.

"Enemy attack!"

The Wei soldier who was investigating seemed to have discovered something and shouted in fear.

"Whoosh!"

Several cold arrows were shot from the darkness, killing the three Wei soldiers who were investigating. Only one Wei soldier fled back to the camp in a panic.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Wei soldiers on the watchtower beat the golden drums to symbolize an attack, and the sharp sound echoed throughout the Beishan fortress.

The patrolling Wei army entered a state of war, shrinking from the periphery to the center of the camp and lighting up the braziers; the sleeping Wei army was awakened by the urging, and had no time to wash up, but to look for swords, spears, bows and crossbows.

Knowing that they had alarmed the Wei camp, the Han soldiers did not dare to waste time and launched a surprise attack directly.

In the dim firelight, arrows intersected each other, and the sound of drums and trumpets resounded through the night. Han soldiers climbed the mountain with shields, and Wei soldiers shot arrows at them. However, the deer horns outside the Wei camp became an obstacle for the Han army. Those deer horns were divided into two layers, blocking the Han army's way to the Wei camp. The presence of the deer horns made the Han soldiers become targets for the Wei army's archers.

However, how could the mere antlers stop the Han army's advance? The Han army officers, who had been prepared, shouted loudly: "Light the fire, burn the antlers!"

Deer antlers are made of wood and are very flammable due to long-term exposure to wind and sun. Under the command of the Han army officers, the Han soldiers threw torches at the deer antlers.

In an instant, the flame on the torch ignited the deer antlers, and under the blowing of the night wind, the flames continued to devour the antlers.

In order to prevent the Wei army from putting out the fire, the Han army's archers poured out arrows and shot them at the Wei army inside the wall. The Wei army was afraid of fire and arrows, so they could only fight back with arrows and

Arrows were flying around in the darkness, making it difficult for both sides to see each other. Occasionally, soldiers would be injured or killed by the arrows and cry out in pain.

Although burning the deer antlers was a good method, it also gave the Wei army in Beishan Fort time to assemble, and also helped Beishan Fort convey the news that it was attacked by the Han army at night.

Inside the Wei army camp, the attendants hurriedly broke into Wang Ling's tent.

"General, the Beishan camp was attacked!" the attendant shouted anxiously.

Wang Ling was awakened from his sleep, opened his hazy eyes, and asked, "What's the matter?"

"The North Mountain was attacked by the Han army and now there is a big fire. I don't know the details." said the attendant.

"Beishan Camp was attacked?"

Wang Ling got up from the couch with a start and asked, "How many soldiers does the enemy have?"

"The details are unknown. We are sending scouts to investigate!" the attendant replied.

Wang Ling sat barefoot on the edge of the couch with a serious expression.

Feeling that his brain had not been awakened, Wang Ling ordered, "Bring me some cold water, so I can wake up!"

"promise!"

Soon, the gatekeeper came with a basin of cold water. Wang Ling wet his face with both hands so that he could wake up more and think about how to make a decision.

At the same time, Linghu Jun heard the news and came over, asking, "Uncle, Beishan Fort was attacked. Should we send troops to rescue it now?"

Linghu Jun, Wang Ling's nephew, was changed from Jun to Yu by Cao Rui because of improper law enforcement in history. However, in this dimension, the name change did not happen, and the Central Plains was in turmoil. In order to make the best use of his talents, Linghu Jun went to Wang Ling's tent to take orders.

Wang Ling, who had regained his composure, said, "The commander of the Beishan Fort is Wen Qin. Although he is a tough, arrogant man, he is extremely brave and skilled in military affairs. The Beishan Fort he built has high walls and the soldiers are well-defended. How could it be easily breached by the Han army?"

Wang Ling then ordered, "Gongzhi, lead your troops to light torches and head toward Sishui, to show your intention to burn the bridge. When the enemy attacks across the river at night and sees that the pontoon bridge is cut off, they will be terrified and flee, and will not dare to stay for long. This way, the siege of Beishan Fort can be lifted."

"If the enemy does not come to rescue us, we can burn the floating bridge, inform the main camp, and then attack the enemy from both sides."

Linghu Jun was eager to try, and asked, "If we encounter the enemy army, can we fight them?"

"No!"

Wang Ling shook his head and said, "You have few soldiers and don't know the enemy's strength. It's not appropriate to fight with them. Moreover, although our army has many soldiers, they are not well versed in night fighting. We may suffer a defeat, so we should not fight."

"Yes!" Linghu Jun responded in a deep voice.

After Linghu Jun left, Wang Ling said in a deep voice: "Strictly order all troops not to move out lightly, and soldiers to wear armor and be ready for battle."

"promise!"

Not long after, Linghu Jun led thousands of infantry and cavalry with torches, like a fire dragon dancing quickly in the dark, without any fear of being discovered by the Han army.

Linghu Jun's actions were quickly detected by Han scouts, who reported it to Huo Jun who was supervising the battle.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the enemy army is not coming to our aid, but is heading towards Si Shui," said the scout.

"Heading to Sishui?"

Zhou Cang was shocked and said, "Could it be that they want to destroy the floating bridge and cut off our army's retreat?"

Zhou Cang reacted and said quickly, "Mingsong, you should send troops back to rescue the floating bridge and not let the thieves burn it."

Huo Jun looked calm and asked, "Lingming, how is the battle going now?"

Pang De bowed his head and said with shame: "Mingsir, the antlers have been burned, and many soldiers have been killed in the North Mountain Fort. But the defending general Wen Qin is very powerful and has led his troops to defeat our army repeatedly. It will take a long time to break through the mountain fort."

After a pause, Pang De pleaded, "I am willing to issue a military order. I hope you will wait for a moment."

"No need, let's go back to camp!"

Huo Jun jumped on his horse and said with a smile: "Our army is a feint. Now the plan is complete, we can return to the camp!"

(End of this chapter)