dognovel Chapter 118 Pig-like teammates
Chapter 118 Pig-like teammates
After a quick packing at daybreak, Guan Xing led his army on another expedition, heading straight for Xie Chong's camp at top speed.
On the way, Gan Xun asked worriedly, "General, we've sent out all our forces without leaving any blocking troops. What if Chunyu Shi manages to break out of Shanyin City?"
Such a large-scale operation could not possibly have escaped Chunyu Shi's notice. Once Chunyu Shi received the news, he would definitely react. If they broke out of Shanyin City and cut off their retreat, it would be a real problem.
Being cut off from the rear has a huge impact on morale, and could potentially lead to the collapse of the army.
Guan Xing laughed indifferently, "Why are you worried about Chunyu Shi? He's the least threatening person right now."
“Chunyu Shi doesn’t have many troops, at most three or four thousand. With that many troops, he can barely defend the city, let alone launch an attack.”
"In my opinion, Chunyu Shi's reaction can only be threefold. First, he should defend Shanyin to the death and not come out. He is the prefect, not a general. As long as he holds the city and does not lose it, he has no responsibility. As for whether Zhang Cheng lives or dies, what does it have to do with him?"
"Secondly, blocking the ancient road entrance will cut off our retreat, but after defeating Zhang Cheng, we will return to Wushang from Shan County. We will not return by the same route. Blocking the ancient road entrance will only be a waste of our time."
"Finally, they'll be chasing after us, rushing into the ancient road to attack Zhang Cheng from both sides. But what can he do with so few men? We can easily defeat him by sending out a few troops. So don't worry about Chunyu Shi. Just rush over and meet up with Lao Xie as quickly as possible."
Gan Xun said excitedly, "This humble general understands, General is wise."
Guan Xing's explanation put the army at ease, and they began to rush towards Xie Chong's camp with all their might.
While they were running wildly, Chunyu Shi was caught in a dilemma, standing on the city wall of Shanyin, unable to make up his mind.
Chunyu Shi received news last night that the Han army had arrived at Gudaokou from Zhuji, but he was worried about the city being attacked and did not dare to fight his way out. Besides, his small number of troops did not allow it.
At daybreak, news arrived that the Han army had stormed into the ancient pass. This made things even more complicated. What should they do?
Should they defend the city and pretend they didn't hear it, or should they fight their way out and join Zhang Cheng?
He didn't really want to leave the city. There were only so few troops inside, and it would be pointless to fight his way out. It might even give the Han army an opportunity to launch a surprise attack. The Han army was elusive and unpredictable; who knew which direction they would come from? So it was safest to stay in the city.
But Zhang Cheng is Zhang Zhao's son after all. If Zhang Zhao knew that he didn't care about his son's life or death, would he be happy?
After much deliberation, Chunyu Shi suddenly thought of someone: Zhang Zhi.
On that day, Zhang Zhi was ordered by Zhang Cheng to gather the remnants of Quan Cong's army. He had almost finished gathering them, but fearing that the remnants might speak recklessly and affect morale, he did not go to Zhuji to meet with Zhang Cheng. Instead, he stationed himself in Fuchun County, which was nearby.
Now that the Han army has broken out of Zhuji, Zhuji must be vulnerable. If Zhang Zhi takes the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Zhuji and then march on Shan County...
Just do it.
Chunyu Shi made a decisive move, wrote a letter and sent it to Zhang Zhi as quickly as possible, then mustered two thousand soldiers and marched out of the city toward the ancient road pass.
He dared not and did not want to fight the Han army, but he would stay behind the Han army and carefully observe. If the battle was favorable, he would go up and take advantage of it; if the battle was unfavorable, he would retreat quickly.
More importantly, this can avoid post-war accountability. I've already left the city, so Zhang Zhao has nothing to say, right? As for failing to rescue Zhang Cheng, that's a matter of ability, not attitude.
Your son Zhang Cheng's tens of thousands of troops couldn't defeat Guan Xing, do you expect me to capture Guan Xing with only two thousand men?
With this in mind, Chunyu Shi went out of the city thinking three steps ahead for every step he took, and sent out countless scouts, but the marching speed was slower than a snail.
Guan Xing was different. He advanced at full speed and arrived at Xie Chong's camp in less than three hours. Upon hearing the battle cries, he immediately roared, "Attack..."
Gan Xun brandished his longsword and charged forward, but the assault captain, Deng Hong, shouted urgently, "Quickly, put on your armor!"
The infantry armor made by the steel mill was too heavy; it was impossible to march quickly while wearing it, so they had to be pulled by carts on the way here.
While this method is convenient for marching, it makes it difficult to engage in combat in a timely manner when war breaks out.
As a result, before he could even put on his armor, Gan Xun had already engaged in battle with the Wu army.
Gan Xun quickly rushed to the front lines. Seeing that the Wu army had their backs to him and were launching a full-scale attack on Xie Chong's camp, he immediately accelerated and shouted at the top of his lungs, "The Han army has arrived! Surrender at once! The Han army has arrived..."
When the Wu army, which was attacking, heard the shouts and turned around, they were all dumbfounded. Then they were caught off guard and at a loss for what to do.
Standing atop the arrow tower, Xie Chong, who was directing the attack from above, saw the Han army charging and excitedly shouted, "Brothers, our reinforcements have arrived! General Guan has come to our rescue! Wang Tao, charge out of the camp and wipe out the Wu army!"
Upon hearing this, the Han army's morale soared. They took the initiative to move the deer antlers aside, rushed out of the camp gate, and followed Wang Tao to attack.
The outcome of the battle was never in doubt; the Wu army surrendered in less than 15 minutes, allowing the two Han armies to join forces smoothly.
Xie Chong, accompanied by Wang Tao, hurried to Guan Xing and said excitedly, "General, you've come so quickly! I thought you wouldn't arrive until tomorrow."
Guan Xing laughed and said, "You're risking your lives on the front lines, how can I slack off in the rear? How are things? Are you injured? How many casualties have the soldiers suffered?"
Xie Chong shook his head and said, "Not much. Zhang Cheng chose to launch a fierce attack on Shan County and did not send reinforcements. Given our advantageous terrain, how could we allow ourselves to suffer losses against an enemy of equal strength?"
Guan Xing laughed and said, "That's good. You leave two thousand soldiers to guard the prisoners and at the same time guard against Chunyu Shi who may come to attack. I will take the rest of the troops and rush to Shan County immediately. There are too few soldiers in Shan County and too many enemy troops. I'm afraid Meng Jun won't be able to hold out for long."
"Yes..." Xie Chong did not refuse. Logistics was his job, and he was only put in charge of the troops this time because there was really no one else available. Now that Guan Xing had arrived, he naturally had to go back to his original job.
After a short rest of 15 minutes, Guan Xing led his troops and Wang Tao's 3,000 troops, totaling 8,000, and set off again.
The target this time is Shan County, and the mission is to fight a decisive battle with Zhang Cheng.
At this moment, the battle outside Shan County was far more brutal than that at Xie Chong's camp. Zhang Cheng was launching a frenzied and relentless attack on the county town.
Meng Jun, who was defending the city, was beaten like a lone boat in the sea, seemingly about to capsize at any moment, but he always managed to stabilize the situation again at the critical moment.
This game, where you're hanging on by a thread and seemingly about to die but never actually do, is driving Zhang Cheng to the brink of mental collapse. He experiences alternating waves of excitement and despair, making for a truly stimulating emotional rollercoaster.
By 5 PM, the city still hadn't been breached. Zhang Cheng was getting impatient and was about to personally lead an attack to boost morale when a scout rushed over and shouted urgently, "General, something terrible has happened! The Han army is coming! They have a massive force of seven or eight thousand men, led by Guan Xing. They're less than twenty li away!"
Zhang Cheng's mind went blank for a moment, his ears were ringing and stars were popping out of his head. Even the noise of the battlefield seemed to come and go, as if he were in a different time and space from them.
"General, general..."
Zhang Cheng was called countless times before he gradually came to his senses. Looking at the scouts in bewilderment, he asked, "How could the Han army have arrived so quickly? Zhang Ming has tens of thousands of troops, yet he couldn't even hold off Guan Xing for two days?"
The scout could not answer and could only remain silent.
Zhang Cheng finally understood what it meant to fear not god-like opponents, but pig-like teammates.
Look at Meng Jun, he managed to keep the county town completely sealed off with just two thousand men.
Then look at that beast Zhang Ming. Tens of thousands of men couldn't stop a few thousand Han soldiers. What can you do besides wasting food?