Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 514 508. Battle of Wancheng (I)

In Luoyang, the newly-appointed Wei Emperor Cao Li was already in a state of confusion. Liangzhou was attacked by the Han army, and the situation was unclear; Hebei was incited to revolt again; the Han army in Huainan had increased its forces again, and the Wei army was now stretched to its limits and could only defend important cities such as Hefei and Shouchun; the Han army in the Central Plains was advancing triumphantly all the way to Wancheng.

Cao Li did not experience at all the feeling of being above everyone else as he imagined, but all kinds of messes made him exhausted both physically and mentally.

"Let me see... humph... the Sima family is really courageous..."

Cao Li took a memorial, which recorded the situation of suppressing the rebellion in Hebei. Although Hebei took advantage of the chaos to rebel again, what kind of waves could a few farmers cause? It was quickly suppressed, and many people were killed.

However, these are secondary. According to the leading bandit leaders, some sneaky people found them and provided them with intelligence about the Wei army, with only one condition, which was that they obey the orders of the Sima family after the mission was accomplished.

Combined with the rumors about the Sima family that Cao Li had heard before he ascended the throne, he became increasingly wary of the Sima family, always feeling that the Sima family was secretly plotting something behind his back.

"Your Majesty! Something bad has happened!"

A voice came from outside the hall, making Cao Li frown. The person who came was a deputy general wearing armor, who looked familiar upon closer inspection.

At Cao Li's instruction, the man rolled on the floor of the hall, pissing and shitting, with fear in his eyes.

"What's going on? You're so flustered, how can you be so unbecoming!"

Cao Li scolded him harshly, but the man's expression did not change at all, which made Cao Li even more curious and angry.

"Tell me, what's the news?"

Seeing this, Cao Li was too lazy to argue with the other party, but instead wanted to see what the other party could come up with.

"Yes... yes, Your Majesty, I am the deputy general of Guangcheng Pass. The Han army attacked Wancheng a few days ago. Because of the urgent situation, I was sent out to help Lord Man Chong. But before I could set off, there were defeated soldiers from Wancheng. They said... said..."

The deputy general swallowed and seemed to be organizing his words.

"I forgive you, speak."

"Yes... yes, Your Majesty. The defeated soldiers said that Wancheng was captured by the Han army, and all our main generals in Nanyang were killed... The Han army also said... that this was the retribution for the late emperor's usurpation of the Han Dynasty, and from now on, anyone who follows Your Majesty will be punished by heaven..."

The deputy general was obviously very frightened. The fall of Wancheng and the death of so many generals were both a further blow to the current Wei Dynasty.

"All of them? Where are my Tiger and Leopard Cavalry? Where are my favorites?"

Cao Li was a little bit unbelievable, and stood up with his hands on the table.

"They all...all died for their country."

The deputy general lowered his head and answered in a low voice.

"me……"

Cao Li was so angry that he collapsed back on his chair and even forgot to say "I".

"How is this possible! How could this be! Didn't I send the elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to support us? Why?!"

Cao Li yelled hysterically, but unfortunately no one could answer his question. Nearly a month ago, when Zhuge Liang's Sichuan Army had just set out from Hanzhong, the Jingzhou Army had already captured Xinye and officially began to attack Wancheng.

The two defense lines of Dengxian and Xinye barely bought some time for Wancheng. Man Chong acted decisively and gathered troops from all over the place. At the same time, he ordered Wen Pin and Xiahou Ba to lead 20,000 troops each and set up camp in the southwest and southeast of Wancheng to form a pincer attack.

Now Wancheng has a large number of soldiers and generals, and has gathered 80,000 troops from Nanyang, including famous generals of Cao Wei such as Man Chong, Xiahou Ba, and Wen Pin. In addition, Man Chong had already asked Cao Li for help, so Cao Li intended to send the elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to support Nanyang.

The reason for this consideration is naturally because Huainan has many hills and water networks, and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry cannot move freely. However, the Nanyang area is flat, so it is natural for them to bully the Han army with ease.

When Feng Xi led his army to the city of Wancheng, the Wei army was already ready for battle, with Wen Pin on the left, Xiahou Ba on the right, and the Wancheng defenders led by Cheng Wu in the middle.

"Man Chong, old thief, how come you are still like that after all these years? You just sit in your turtle shell and don't move. Have you been lying on the beach for two and a half years? Today the waves hit you and you turned over?"

Seeing that Man Chong was still squatting in the city and had not come out, Feng Xi simply picked up his tin horn and started to criticize Man Chong on the city wall.

"Master Man Chong, do I need to scold you back?"

Hu Zhi, who was holding the hilt of the sword, frowned. He naturally understood Feng Xi's insults, which were nothing more than saying that Man Chong was a coward.

"Why bother with him? If he can kill someone just by scolding him, what's the point of us waiting for him?"

Man Chong was indifferent to this. He was not the kind of man who would get angry if he was scolded.

"Feng Xi, is it possible that after all these years you are still only good at talking?"

Xiahou Ba in the eastern camp was a little angry. He rode his horse to the front of the camp and pointed at Feng Xi and shouted.

The two had some conflicts during the Battle of Xiangfan that year. Feng Xi disguised himself as Zhang Nan and plotted against Xiahou Ba, seriously injuring him and forcing him to stay in bed for a long time before recovering.

"Hey, isn't this Xiahou Ba? You should kowtow to me twice to thank me for saving your life."

When Feng Xi saw that it was Xiahou Ba, he raised his eyebrows and began to laugh at Xiahou Ba.

"If I hadn't shot you so hard that year and asked you to recuperate in the rear, you would have had to go to Fancheng. If you were unlucky and died on the spot like your old friend Niu Jin, wouldn't that be the end?
But it’s hard to say. If you go down early, you can meet your father Xiahou Yuan, and maybe you can feel the fatherly love that you haven’t felt since childhood.”

Feng Xi's two words made Xiahou Ba's eyes bloodshot, and he wanted to tear Feng Xi into pieces. Needless to say, Xiahou Ba's biggest knot now is naturally the death of his father Xiahou Yuan, and Feng Xi opened the wound and rubbed salt here, how could Xiahou Ba not be angry?

"How about this, forget about the kowtow. I have a proposal that will please everyone. Why don't you come over here and let me kill you and hang your head for the public to see. If I'm satisfied, you can go down and reunite with your father Xiahou Yuan, uncle Cao Ren, brother Xiahou Shang and other deceased people, and by the way, you can also see your old friend Niu Jin."

However, Feng Xi seemed not to notice Xiahou Ba's expression and continued to talk to himself. His words became more and more outrageous, and he even included Cao Ren and Xiahou Shang.

"Every man is looking for death!"

Xiahou Shang couldn't bear it any longer, his eyes turned red and he cursed loudly, then he rushed straight towards Feng Xi.

"Are you anxious now? Don't be anxious. When you die, your brothers will have to hold a funeral for you just like they held a funeral for your father. They will cry when the time comes."

Feng Xi laughed loudly and waved his hand. Bao Feng rode out on his horse and intercepted Xiahou Ba and started fighting.

(End of this chapter)