Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 493 487. Siege
On the battlefield.

The flash of swords was like a rising cloud, covering the flat open space. The weapons of both sides flew, sparks flew, and screams were heard from time to time.

In the smoke and dust, the Han army, wearing armor and apricot-yellow lining, and the Wei army, dressed in black, fought desperately, and people fell to the ground from time to time.

"General Chang, follow me and break through! This Han army is extremely powerful, and we can't hold on any longer!"

Zhuge Qian came to Chang Diao, wiped the blood off his face, and persuaded Chang Diao to retreat with some lingering fear.

A few hours ago, Chang Diao led his army to the city of Shu County. The terrain of Huainan is mainly composed of mountains, hills and various water networks, but there are also plains.

Shu County, as the seat of Lujiang County, is located in a plain. On the left is Niuwangzhai, a remnant of the Dabie Mountains, and on the right is Chaohu Lake. The open plain in the middle is the only route for the army to reach Wanxian and other cities south of Chaohu Lake by land.

Needless to say, the importance of Shu County is self-evident. If you attack the south from the north, there is a plain behind Shu County, as well as counties such as Wanxian, Juchao, and Linhu. If you attack the north from the south, then Shu County is the only way to attack Hefei by land.

Unfortunately, the Han army was caught off guard and the Wei army had not fought a war for several years, so they became a little slack and were captured by the Han army that crossed the river, including Shu County.

The Wei army did not have too many troops here, only a few thousand county soldiers, so it was normal that they were crushed by the Han army at the first touch.

It’s not that Cao Xiu didn’t make defensive preparations, but the Han army had been making a big fanfare and gathering troops in Jianye, as if they were going to cross the Yangtze River to attack Guangling and Liyang. Plus, Cao Wei had only recently arrived in this area, so even Cao Xiu didn’t take it too seriously. He didn’t expect that the Han army would start their attack from here.

Li Yan also had his own considerations on this point. The area around Wan County was originally the territory of Sun Wu. The soldiers were familiar with this place. Moreover, revisiting the old place would always give them a different feeling. Whether it was to vent their anger or take revenge, there was always motivation.

The arrival of Chang Diao naturally attracted the attention of the Han army. After learning that Chang Diao's total number of troops was not too large, the former Jiangdong general Ding Feng proposed a plan. After discussing it with Hu Ji and Zhu Yi, they felt that the plan was feasible, so they led their troops to make arrangements without mentioning it.

Chang Diao arrived at the city of Shu County and found that the Han army on the city wall was holding its ground and had no intention of leaving the city to meet the enemy. He was so angry that he could only order the soldiers to cook first and then attack the city after eating. Although Chang Diao did not bring any siege equipment, he still had ladders, which were more than enough to deal with the not-so-high city walls of Shu County.

As a result, before lunch was ready, there was a sudden chaos in the rear army, which prompted Chang Diao to immediately send people to find out what happened. It turned out that a Han army had taken the water route from Chaohu Lake to the rear of the Wei army, intending to cooperate with the Han army in the city.

"Don't panic! Since the enemy came by water, their number cannot be too large. Our army is large and powerful. Zhuge Qian, you take 5,000 troops to defend Shu County to prevent the enemy from attacking from inside and outside the city. I will personally lead people to destroy this Han army."

However, Chang Diao was still quite capable, otherwise he would not have been able to become the commander of a region. Although he did not expect that the Han army could use Chaohu Lake to raid his rear army, he immediately realized that the number of Han troops behind him could not be too large.

After all, it is still very difficult to transport a large number of troops in this era, and we can only rely on some ships to travel back and forth.

"Kill!" As smoke signals rose in the city, another Han army rushed out from the north of Yefu Mountain in the east of Shu County and charged straight for the flank of the Wei army. The Wei army, which had just reorganized its army and had not yet had time to split into two, was attacked again and was already in a panic.

What Chang Diao had worried about before happened again. The gates of Shu County were wide open, and countless Han troops rushed out. They surrounded the Wei army on three sides at once, causing panic in the Wei army. There were shouts of killing everywhere, and they could not determine the number of Han troops, making them feel at a loss.

Fortunately, the Wei army's daily training was effective. Under the scolding of officers at all levels, the Wei army soldiers seemed to wake up from a dream, picked up their weapons, and prepared to fight the Han army.

But it was obvious that their past experience in dealing with the Wu army was of no use at all. Before the three Han armies came close, the Wei army was already dazed by the overwhelming rain of arrows.

How could they have experienced this feeling when they fought against the Wu army in the past? The bows and crossbows of the Eastern Wu were not very powerful, and the density was low. As for the combat effectiveness, it was even worse. Basically, as long as the Wei army launched an attack, the Wu army would be defeated.

Thanks to Feng Xi's change of the timeline, the Wei army, which was supposed to have fought back and forth with the main force of the Wu army during this period, did not experience any battles at all, and even its level against the Wu army remained at a very early stage.

Now the firepower coverage of the Han army made the Wei army soldiers feel terrified. How to defend against this black cloud of arrows? How to defend against it?
After two rounds of arrow rain, large numbers of Wei soldiers fell to the ground, and their courage, which had just risen, was lost a lot. Fortunately, they soon entered into close combat. Although the Han army still had some bows and crossbows for support, it was estimated that their comrades would certainly not be as unscrupulous as before.

But even so, the weapons of the Han army were so sophisticated that they were beyond the imagination of the Wei army. When the two sides chopped with the same broadsword, the Han army's broadsword could directly cut a large gap in their broadswords. Ordinary wooden shields were even directly split in two.

The iron-clad shields in the hands of the Han army could not only block stray arrows, but also block incoming weapons, with no signs of damage at all.

In addition, the quality of the soldiers on both sides has not been much different after the training of the Han Army, so the Wei Army has no advantage at all in this situation.

The quality of the individual soldiers they relied on was worn down, their weapons were not as sophisticated as the enemy's, and they were also besieged from three sides. It was inevitable that the battle began to slowly fall into a disadvantage.

What followed was the same scene as at the beginning. Zhuge Qian killed his way to Chang Diao's surroundings in the chaos. Only then did they realize that this Han army was not the same Wu army as before. If they didn't do something, something might really happen.

"…The enemy did not have time to close in on us from the northwest, so we immediately broke out from the northwest and headed back to Hefei."

Chang Diao thought for a while and made a quick decision. The Han army was besieging him from the southwest, southeast, and north, but there was absolutely no one in the northwest. So if the Wei army pulled like this, the Wei army, which was originally besieged on three sides, would become a one-sided enemy with the Han army. In this state, the forces that both sides could deploy were limited, and the Han army could not do anything if the Wei army wanted to leave.

"Yes, I will immediately organize people to break out."

Zhuge Qian nodded, and began to organize generals at all levels to prepare to execute Chang Diao's orders.

(End of this chapter)