dognovel Chapter 230: The Final Battle (3)
Chapter 230: The Final Battle (3)
While the Han and Wei armies fought a desperate battle in front of the Han army camp, other areas were also bustling with activity.
In the southwest direction of the Wei army camp, Cheng Ji, Feng Xi, and Zhang Nan led their troops on a rapid march, stretching for several miles. Feng Xi led the way and Zhang Nan brought up the rear. The commander, Cheng Ji, stood on the outer perimeter and kept urging, "Hurry up, hurry up! If we're late, the strategist will have finished the battle. By then, we won't even have soup, let alone meat."
These words give the impression that our army has already secured victory, and that going there now is not for fighting, but for dividing up the spoils of victory.
Upon hearing this, the soldiers thought, "What are we waiting for? Let's speed up and charge! If we're late, all the credit will be stolen by our allies!"
With this in mind, Cheng Ji's army rushed to Baliwan at top speed, and upon approaching the Wei army camp, they saw that the camp was still ablaze with flames.
The Wei army has too much food; the food supplies haven't even run out even though both sides have started fighting.
Moreover, the Wei army acted very dishonestly. When they burned the grain, they did not clear away the surrounding vegetation, causing the fire to spread freely and burn the entire mountain.
Feng Xi grinned as he looked at the flames and said, "So much grain and fodder have been burned. What a tragedy!"
Food is the most important thing for people. The resources of the Han Dynasty were not as abundant as in later times, and hunger was the norm. Even Liu Bei and Cao Cao went hungry, let alone others.
Therefore, the people of the Han Dynasty cherished grain more than gold. Seeing so much grain being burned, even if they knew it belonged to the enemy, still pained them.
Cheng Ji glanced around and said, "Stop talking nonsense. Send a troop to scout out if there's an ambush. If there isn't, charge out of the mountains and attack the Wei army's rear."
The Wei army's supplies were located relatively far back, about three or four miles from the mountain pass, so they couldn't be burned here for the time being.
Cheng Ji's mission was to first seize the Wei army's temporary camp at Baliwan Pass, completely cutting off the Wei army's retreat, and then attack the Wei army's rear to strike at their morale.
But Zhang He was an experienced veteran, and Cheng Ji did not believe that Zhang He would send out all his troops, leaving no garrison for the main camp.
“Look…” Feng Xi mustered five hundred soldiers and personally led the attack, but they were ambushed as soon as they entered the camp. They were defeated and forced to retreat in a sorry state. He said indignantly, “There was an ambush, but the Wei army’s ambush troops were originally facing north. They only turned around to attack us when we arrived. So I guess they were on guard against the Third General who came from Jieting.”
Cheng Ji gritted his teeth and said, "Who cares who they're guarding against? Let's wipe out this ambush force and seize the Wei army's camp first. Let's do it."
If he can't wipe out the Wei troops left in the camp, he won't dare to break out of the mountain pass and fight the Wei army to the death. If you dare to ignore the Wei troops guarding the camp, they will dare to attack you from behind at the crucial moment of your decisive battle and teach you a lesson.
Moreover, once you leave the mountain pass, you'll find yourself on a plain, which is the domain of cavalry. If you rashly charge out, you'll definitely be attacked by Wei cavalry. If the Wei troops defending the camp then attack from the rear, Cheng Ji will have nowhere to escape.
Therefore, to complete Zhuge Liang's mission, we must first capture the Wei army's camp before breaking through the mountain pass.
Feng Xi didn't mince words. After observing the terrain from a high vantage point, he immediately organized a large army to launch an attack on the Wei army's camp. The two sides quickly clashed, their battle cries deafening. Now, the Wei army's last escape route was also gone.
……
Let's go back to before the war.
After receiving Zhuge Liang's order, Zhao Yun led his personal guards along the narrow path that Jiang Wei had led him along, and rushed to Dawanchuan as quickly as possible.
Upon arriving at Wang Ping's camp, they discovered that Zhang Fei had also led his troops to join Wang Ping.
Zhang Fei was even more overjoyed than him, and ran up to Zhao Yun excitedly, saying, "Zilong, you're finally back! You could have just sent someone to deliver the message, why did you have to come all the way here yourself?"
He had arrived at Dawanchuan some time ago. When he met up with Wang Ping, he was taken aback to learn that Zhao Yun had gone to report the battle situation to Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Did Zhao Yun really need to go there personally to report such a trivial matter?
Zhao Yun shook his head and said, "This battle is of utmost importance. We must coordinate perfectly with the strategist. Therefore, I must personally report to the King and the strategist, and at the same time follow the latest orders from the King and the strategist. Only in this way can we ensure that the orders are transmitted without error. Don't worry about this. The King has given new orders."
Zhang Fei, Wang Ping, and the others quickly steadied themselves and assumed a posture of obedience.
Zhao Yun said with a solemn expression, "When I bid farewell to the strategist, the Wei army was already preparing their last meal. I estimate that the two armies have already started fighting. The strategist's order to us is not to hold back anymore, but to attack with all our might and fight to the death."
Zhang Fei and Wang Ping bowed simultaneously and said, "Yes..."
Zhao Yun asked, "Yide, you've been here for so long, you can't have been idle. Tell me about the current situation and your plans."
Zhang Fei summoned his generals to sit in a circle, spread a map in the center of the circle, and said, "Xiahou Ba has already established a position five miles away to block us, and General Wang Ping has thoroughly investigated the terrain around the Wei army's position."
"After I arrived, I followed Boyue again and, under Boyue's guidance, sent out multiple troops to block all the roads on the east and west sides. If Xiahou Ba wins, that's fine; if he loses, he can only retreat south to the Wei army camp."
"Xiahou Ba only has a little over ten thousand soldiers, fewer than ours. Everything is under our control now, and we can launch an attack at any time."
Zhao Yun's eyes gleamed with intense fighting spirit, and he said with a murderous look on his face, "Then there's no need to hesitate. Let's do it. Defeat Xiahou Ba as soon as possible and join up with the King's strategist. Let's try to annihilate the Wei army in the Xianhe Valley."
After saying that, he got up to leave, but Zhang Fei suddenly reached out and grabbed his cloak, and said with an embarrassed smile, "Well, Zilong, Xiahou Ba is my brother-in-law after all. If you run into him on the battlefield, try to capture him alive. Don't kill him."
Zhao Yun: "..."
You little rascal, you've done all that wrong. Now look what you've done, the boomerang you've been carrying has pierced your own backside.
This story begins in the fifth year of Jian'an (200 AD). That year, the secret edict in the belt was leaked, and Liu Bei and Zhang Fei fled Xuchang to seek refuge elsewhere. When they passed through Qiao County, Zhang Fei encountered his wife, Xiahou, who was out gathering firewood. Seeing that Xiahou was beautiful, he was overcome with lust and abducted her on the spot.
At that time, Zhang Fei was already over thirty years old, while Xiahou was only thirteen years old. In later years, she would have just started junior high school. Is this something a human being would do?
It was later learned that Xiahou Shi was the daughter of Xiahou Yuan's younger brother, that is, Xiahou Yuan's niece. Moreover, during the famine, Xiahou Yuan gave his young son's food rations to this niece in order to preserve a bloodline for his brother, which led to the young son starving to death.
In other words, Lady Xiahou was both Xiahou Yuan's niece and his adopted daughter, and she was also related by blood to Cao Cao, who was adopted by the Xiahou family to the Cao family.
Because of this relationship, after Xiahou Yuan died in battle at Dingjun Mountain, the Xiahou clan pleaded with Liu Bei to give Xiahou Yuan a proper burial.
At that time, Cao Cao had already assembled a suicide squad to seize Xiahou Yuan's body, but upon learning that Xiahou Yuan had been given a grand burial by Liu Bei, he did not go.
Today, Zhang Fei encountered the Xiahou family again on the battlefield. How could he dare to kill them?
Zhao Yun stood up, brushing the dust off his backside, and said, "I know. I'll try my best to capture him alive and not hurt your brother-in-law."
On the battlefield, swords have no eyes; capturing an enemy general alive is no easy task.
However, it depends on who you're fighting. If Zhao Yun were to fight Xiahou Ba, he would say he would face no pressure at all.
Zhang Fei grinned foolishly and deliberately emphasized, "Remember, it's better to let him go than to kill him. He's our brother-in-law."
Zhao Yun said speechlessly, "Enough with the nonsense, just tell me how to fight."
The battle plan had already been formulated. Upon hearing this, Zhang Fei immediately gave the order: "Jiang Wei, you will lead the charge to probe the strength of the Wei army. After you have ascertained their strength, I will attack from the front. Zilong, you will attack from the west. Wang Ping, you have been holding out all night and are exhausted, so you do not need to attack. Just hold the east side to prevent the Wei army from escaping. Move out."