Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 506. Northern Expedition
"General Gao, the Han army has breached the city gate!"

A soldier covered in dust and blood stumbled into the governor's mansion of Deng County. At this time, Gao Qian, the governor of Deng County, and his deputy Shi Jian were sitting in the meeting hall of the city lord's mansion. Their faces were gloomy, their brows were black, and they looked dead.

Just yesterday, the Han army suddenly launched an attack. The 30,000-man vanguard of the Han army crossed the Han River and surrounded Deng County. Although Deng County was the frontline position of the Wei army, Xiahou Shang had just died this year, and Man Chong's temporary governorship of Nanyang was too short, and he had not yet finished dealing with Xiahou Shang's mess.

Cao Pi also died suddenly and the Han army spread rumors. These problems one after another made the Wei army soldiers in Nanyang low in morale and full of panic.

At this time, the Han army suddenly launched an attack without declaring war. Deng County defenders Gao Qian and Shi Jian had no chance to ask for help and were surrounded by the Han army in three layers.

At this time, the disadvantage of Cao Wei's long front line was revealed. It was obvious that Deng County and Xiangyang were almost separated by a river, and the speed at which the Han army came to Deng County was definitely much faster than the Wei army's reinforcement.

Previously, Fancheng was the first line of attack blocking the Han army. However, in the Battle of Xiangfan a few years ago, Fancheng had been reduced to ruins by the explosion. Subsequent attempts by both sides to repair it failed due to the interference of the other side, and the ruins of Fancheng just became a blank buffer zone.

But in the same way, the fortress that the Wei army used to block the Han army's crossing of the river also disappeared. This was one of the reasons why the Han army had no obstruction this time.

Gao Qian and Shi Jian are also among the characters "saved" by Feng Xi. These two were originally under Cao Ren's command. If Feng Xi hadn't been there, they would have been transferred by Cao Ren in the original timeline and would have joined Cao Pi in the army to attack Sun Quan.

But the answer is naturally that the two retreated and finally "only escaped with their lives". They never appeared in historical records again, probably because they were punished for this defeat, or even executed.

But now Sun Quan had been defeated long ago, and Cao Ren's main force in Nanyang had also been crippled by Feng Xi. Cao Pi had not even had time to lick his wounds, so how could he have the time to lead the army to attack Wu?
As a result, the two of them lived in peace. Based on their seniority, Cao Ren appointed them as the defenders of Deng County and have been resisting the Han army on the front line until now.

But unfortunately, Feng and Xi accidentally extended the political life of the two for a few years, and now it is time to get it back with interest.

On the first day when the Han army surrounded Deng County, Gao Qian ordered his men to raise the beacon tower, hoping that the Wei army would see it and come to rescue as soon as possible. However, Gao Qian also knew that since the previous defeat, the Wei army's main defense had been pulled back to Chaoyang and Xinye, and Deng County was just a nail that Cao Wei had to hold back the Han army.

After Cao Ren was defeated, the Han army quickly seized the territories west and south of the Mian River. The two sides confronted each other with the Mian River and the Han River as the boundary, and Deng County was the tip of this protruding part. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a death trap.

Therefore, Cao Ren gave Gao Qian 10,000 elite troops to guard Deng County. The military strategy says to surround it with three times the force and capture it with ten times the force. In Cao Ren's mind, even if Deng County fell, it would definitely give the Wei army in other areas enough time and information to prepare for the attack.

However, neither Cao Ren nor Xiahou Shang, who also died, could have predicted what would happen after their death, that is, the current Han army was much more terrifying than they had imagined, so terrifying that it could overturn some of the old military strategies.

Almost all the troops of Jingzhou came out this time. Except for the Governor Huang Quan, the Chief Clerk Liao Hua, the Sima Wangfu and others who stayed in Jingzhou to manage the logistics, Feng Xi personally commanded the troops, appointed Xu Shu as the military advisor, and had generals such as Ma Su, the Bao brothers, Shamoke, Xiang Chong and others under his command. He led an army of 100,000 northward.

Gao Qian and Shi Jian originally saw that the Han army only besieged the city and did not attack on the first day, and they thought that the Han army did not have enough troops and did not dare to attack the city easily, which would only increase the losses.

But it was not until the next day, when the Han army arrived, that they realized they were wrong, and very wrong.

The "catapult" that could hurl explosive bombs nearly a hundred feet away, because this catapult was obviously specialized and was only used to hurl the gunpowder weapons of the Han army;
One explosion could launch hundreds of small steel balls, explosive bombs that would leave bloody holes all over a person's body; explosive packs and projectiles with astonishing explosive power...

Gao Qian originally thought that with the help of the city wall of Deng County, he could at least hold out for a few days, even if he had to rely on it to repel the Han army.

However, the Han army only took one morning to break through all four gates of Deng County. The city gates were blown open by the Han army, and the crooked and damaged gates could no longer block the enemy.
The soldiers on the city wall were blown to pieces by several rounds of projectiles fired by the Han army. Even the battle-hardened old soldiers of Cao Wei were about to vomit at the sight.

Blood was everywhere, and the blown-off hands, feet, and arms were scattered everywhere, even twitching slightly due to the remaining electrical signals in the severed limbs.

As for those who had their stomachs ripped open or half of their bodies missing, there were countless of them. Wailing sounds could be heard from all sides of the city wall, and those who died on the spot were considered lucky.

The remaining Wei soldiers were already scared out of their wits by the sight of this. This situation was unheard of, so who would have the courage to resist the Han army?

Although Cao Ren told Cao Pi about the Han army's tactics and later trained the Nanyang Wei army under his command, training is training. When faced with the scene of a sea of ​​blood after the loud noise and flash, ordinary soldiers really could not bear it.

Fortunately, this pain will not last long. After the city gate was blown open by the Han army's blasters, the Han army rushed into Deng County, where the city wall had basically stopped resisting.

The remaining soldiers in the city hastily responded to the battle, but the fierce street fighting did not slow down the pace of the Han army. The area actually controlled by the Wei army became smaller and smaller, and in the end they could only defend the area around the prefectural governor's mansion.

"Listen carefully, soldiers of the Wei army. Considering that we are all descendants of Yan and Huang and citizens of the Han Dynasty, as long as you put down your weapons, hold your heads and squat, and do not make any unnecessary resistance, our army will spare your lives! But if you insist on resisting, don't blame us for killing you mercilessly!"

The Wei soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment. At this time, there were only about 2,000 Wei soldiers left, and almost all the rest had died or surrendered in the city walls and the street fighting just now. Of course, there were also some clever ones who became deserters and hid in civilian houses, so they could not be checked.

Now their few remaining troops were surrounded by the Han army. If it really was a fight to the death, they would probably be the ones to die in the end.

"Put down your weapons. We surrender."

After a while, Shi Jian came out of the governor's mansion and gave the other soldiers an order to surrender with a grim look on his face. The Wei army soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and laid down their weapons as if they had been pardoned. There was no other way. The Wei army had strict military discipline. If it weren't for Shi Jian's order, they really wouldn't dare to surrender while their superiors were still alive.

"Who are you? Where is Gao Qian, the governor of Deng County?"

Feng Xi asked as he looked at Shi Jian who was being escorted over.

"General Gao committed suicide for his loyalty to his country."

(End of this chapter)