Chapter 653: Deception
Man Chong estimated that even if his memorial arrived in Luoyang, it would have no effect.
At that moment, he quickly wrote a letter and asked it to be delivered to Cao Xiu quickly, telling Cao Xiu his worries.
Cao Xiu has been fighting for many years, and to be able to become the Grand Sima, he still has the basic qualities that a general should have.
After reading Man Chong's letter, he first sent people to guard Wuqiangkou, and then sent people to Wuqiangkou to inquire ahead and confirm that there was no ambush in the trailer or the rocks, and then he continued to move forward with confidence.
But soon, when he was about to arrive at Shiting, the sentinel finally sent word that Wu Jun had a large army waiting in Wancheng.
This was a big surprise for Cao Xiu.
Hand and right advised, "Wu Lu is ready. It seems that the bream of Zhou must be pretending to surrender. The general must not advance lightly."
However, Cao Xiu still had a chance and asked Dong Cen and Shao Nan, his close confidants sent by Zhou Li, to come forward and said, "I personally led the army into Anhui this time to meet General Zhou, but now there are Wu prisoners in Wan City. What’s the big army?”
The two looked at each other and saw Dong Cen saying respectfully, "Da Sima led an army of 100,000 tigers and wolves and drove in. Those who heard it were frightened. How could they not take precautions when the news spread to the south?"
“Since Wu Lu is prepared, what should I do?”
"We should attack and defeat it! Moreover, General Zhou has made preparations for action in Poyang. Once Da Sima engages in battle in Wancheng, General Zhou will take the opportunity to attack behind, and then the success will be accomplished."
Cao Xiu was overjoyed and said, "Okay, then I will let you go back and tell Zhou Li that I will fight with the Wu Lu in Wancheng in the near future, so he must not miss the promise."
At that time, he wrote a handwritten letter and stamped it with the seal of the general, telling Dong Cen to deliver it to Zhou Li personally.
As soon as Dong Cen left, Shao Nan smiled and said to Cao Xiu, "Congratulations to the great Sima for his unparalleled achievements in the near future."
Cao Xiu was still laughing at Yan Yan, but suddenly he became cold. He looked at Shaonan, with uncontrollable anger in his eyes, "What do you have to do with your immortal achievements?"
Shaonan was stunned for a moment, feeling something bad in his heart.
Just heard Cao Xiu order, "Come here! Capture this Wu Lu spy!"
The cronies swarmed up and **** Shaonan tightly.
“What does Da Sima mean by this?”
Shaonan shouted loudly.
Cao Xiu, who was above me, was furious. He gritted his teeth and said, "Are you really deceiving me for being ignorant? At this time, how could I not know that Zhou Li is pretending to surrender?"
You must know that the year before last, he personally led troops to break through Wancheng and killed the defender of Wancheng, Shende.
At that time, he led the army southward, advancing and retreating freely, and Wu Lu didn't react at all.
How could it be like now, when a large army was ready in advance?
Therefore, Zhou Li was most likely faking surrender. Even if he was not faking surrender, things must have changed.
I saw Cao Xiu drawing his sword and pointing it directly at Shaonan. His eyes widened with anger and he said in a hateful voice, "I treat people with sincerity, but I didn't expect Wu Lu to be so cunning!"
When Shao Nan saw Cao Xiu's appearance, he thought that the fake surrender had been revealed. He stood up straight with a sneer on his face, "Soldiers are deceitful. Cao Xiu is ignorant, but he blames others for deceiving you. ? Ridiculous, ridiculous!”
As soon as Cao Xiu heard that the other party admitted his suspicion, his anger rose to the sky, and he wanted to stab him with a sword.
Shaonan's expression remained unchanged, he closed his eyes and waited for death.
The tip of the sword reached his chest, and Cao Xiu asked, "Aren't you afraid of death?"
Shaonan opened his eyes and laughed, "Since I arrived at Cao Camp, I never thought I could get out alive."
"Okay! Okay!" Cao Xiu laughed angrily and nodded repeatedly, "Then don't blame me for being cruel!"
“Cao thief, if you want to kill or behead me, it’s up to you!”
Shaonan looked calm.
“I won’t kill you, I won’t chop you into pieces, I will steam you!”
Cao Xiu smiled ferociously and said, "Come here, set up a cauldron and boil water!"
After Shaonan was taken down to be cooked, someone advised Cao Xiu, "Since Da Sima knew that Wu Lu was pretending to surrender, why didn't he withdraw his troops?"
"If we retreat at this time, Wei will become the biggest joke in the world!" Cao Xiu gritted his teeth and said, "We must not retreat immediately!"
Hate flashed in his eyes, "I have asked Dong Cen to deliver a message, saying that I will lead troops to fight Wu Lu in the near future, and asked him to come quickly to respond."
Speaking of this, a gloomy smile appeared on his face, "When Wu Lu saw my letter, he must have thought that I had fallen into the trap. Just wait for them to come and see how I can break it!"
The troops mobilized by the Wei Dynasty this time totaled 150,000 to 60,000 from Yangzhou, Yuzhou, and Jingzhou.
It cost a lot of money to mobilize troops and troops. The emperor placed high hopes on it, and even the Henan area of the Wei Dynasty was disturbed by this.
I never thought that in the end, it was just a conspiracy of Wu Lu.
This made Cao Xiu, who was dedicated to promoting this action, not only feel shameless at this moment, but he even thought of the ridicule he would face in the future.
This is one reason why we cannot retreat easily.
But a more important reason is that the forward sentry investigation found that there are only 30,000 troops in Wancheng.
Although there were ambushes on both sides, they were only a few thousand. Calculating this, Wu Lu's troops in Wancheng do not exceed 40,000 at most.
Cao Xiu relied on the fact that he had more soldiers and horses than Soochow, and they were all elite soldiers. In addition, he had defeated the Wu army many times in the past, so he felt that the Wu army was not good enough.
So he knew that Soochow was prepared ahead, but he still tried to fight it.
He led the army to Shiting, and first set up camp to prepare for the Wu soldiers. At the same time, he sent his left and right armies to ambush on both wings. He waited until the Wu soldiers were in a stalemate or defeated the Wu soldiers, and then he could cover up and pursue them.
On the other side, Dong Cen took Cao Xiu's letter and returned to Wancheng overnight to report to Zhou Li.
As soon as the generals of Soochow heard that Cao Xiu had arrived at this time, they still didn't know that they had fallen into the trap and actually dared to continue leading the army. They all laughed and ridiculed him.
Only Lu Xun frowned after reading the letter. After a long time, he sighed, "Shaonan's life is at stake!"
When Zhou Li heard this, his heart skipped a beat, "Why did the Governor say this?"
Lu Xun slowly explained, "Cao Xiu followed Cao Cao for many years in his early years. He defeated Wu Lan, defeated Zhang Fei in Wudu, and defeated the late Sima Lu Ziheng in the battle of Dongpu."
"The year before last, when Cao Rui ascended the throne, Cao Xiu led his troops to break through Wancheng and kill Shende. So even if he is not a wise and brave general, he is not an ordinary person. How could he trust General Zhou even though he knew that Wancheng had a large army? Talk of surrender?"
After hearing what Lu Xun said, some of the generals immediately understood, "What do you mean, the Governor-General, is Cao Xiu a deceiver?"
"Of course it's a deception." Lu Xun smiled lightly, with a hint of relief on his face, "He has led the army so far, and I have always been afraid that he will turn around immediately after he finds out that he has been deceived."
“I didn’t expect him to be so confident and dare to come even though he knew it was a trick. This shows that our strategy of showing weakness to the enemy was successful.”
The Wu army in Wancheng was divided into three groups. Lu Xun personally led the army in the middle group, with Zhu Huan as the left governor and Quan Cong as the right governor. Each group had 30,000 troops, totaling 90,000.
But in front of Cao Xiu, there were only Lu Xun's 30,000 central troops and thousands of ambushes who were deliberately exposed. Therefore, Cao Xiu believed that he had a great advantage. Even though he knew that he had a plan, he still wanted to use countermeasures and try to use them.
Just when Cao Xiu and Lu Xun were about to fight in Wancheng, Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou, ordered Manchong to lead 10,000 troops to attack Xiakou. Then he personally led 6,000 troops to go south from Xiyang and take a shortcut to attack Dongguan.
Just last year, Jia Kui wrote a letter to Wei Emperor Cao Rui, saying that Sun Quan had a large army stationed in Wuchang, Dongguan. If the Wuzhi invaded the border, they would always go from Xiakou to the west and Lujiang to the east.
The state's expedition to Soochow also came from the Huai River in the east and the Mian River in the west.
Yuzhou, which is located between the two places, is obviously facing Wuchang, the important town of Soochow. However, because there are mountains blocking it, transportation is inconvenient, so Sun Quan never worries about the direction of Yuzhou.
On the contrary, he can easily concentrate his troops to rescue the east and west fronts from Dongguan.
So Jia Kui suggested building a road directly to the river, so that the army could march from Yuzhou to attack Dongguan of Soochow, directly threatening the heart of Soochow.
At that time, if Sun Quan defends Dongguan, he can send other troops to attack from the east and west, and Sun Quan's east and west fronts will not be rescued.
If the east-west line can be captured, Dongguan will become an isolated stronghold for east-west flanking attack, and it will be easily accessible.
Cao Rui appreciated this suggestion very much.
For more than a year, Jia Kui has been asking people to survey the terrain in the south of Yuzhou, and at the same time recruiting civilians to build roads.
At present, the road from Yuzhou to Dongguan cannot pass tens of thousands of troops, but if there is no obstruction from Dongwu, five or six thousand people can still pass through.
This time Jia Kui attacked Dongguan Wuchang from Xiyang County, Yuzhou, and took the newly built road.
As he expected, Dongguan was not heavily defended, so he easily led the army into Wu territory. However, he did not look happy at all. Instead, he frowned.
"General Jia unexpectedly led his troops to the gates of Dongguan City. Why is he not happy but worried?"
Hu, the governor of Dongguan, asked.
Jia Kui sighed, pointed to the south and said, "Dongguan is an important town of Sun Quan, and there used to be a large army stationed there. Now there are only soldiers guarding the city in Dongguan. Where are the rest of the army?"
"So in my opinion, there is only one possibility, that is, Sun Quan has transferred his army to Wancheng. If Da Sima goes deep into the army alone, he will definitely be defeated."
Hu Zhi was shocked when he heard this and said anxiously, "If this is really the case, I'm afraid Da Sima is in danger."
Jia Kui looked to the south, where there was Wuchang City built by Sun Quan. There must not be many troops in the city at this time.
If it can be captured, even if it cannot be defended in the end, setting a fire to burn it to the ground will definitely be a major blow to Sun Quan.
It's a pity that this city is strong, and with thousands of people, I'm afraid it will be difficult to capture it.
Moreover, Cao Xiu in the east was in danger and could not afford to delay for a moment.
So Jia Kui decisively gave up the extremely tempting idea of capturing Wuchang, and ordered his soldiers to collect ships everywhere, advance by waterways, double the route, and rush to Wancheng to rescue Cao Xiu.
On the flat ground, the two armies collided violently, like two huge waves crashing into each other, causing a **** mess.
Although they are of the same species, their ferocious faces, high-pitched howls, **** knives, swords, spears, and even simple bone weapons and even sticks all indicate that both sides want to kill each other.
Just like there is a sworn hatred, they will never stop until they kill each other.
This is a life-and-death battle, and there can be no hesitation or mercy.
The entire battlefield was enveloped and annihilated by the tragic atmosphere of this primitive fight...
On a hillside next to the battlefield, Feng Yong was sitting on a rock without any image, holding a bag of candied dried apricots in his hand, and putting them into his mouth one by one.
Occasionally there was a "click" sound, which was when he bit into the apricot kernel and looked for the almonds inside.
Then with a "plop" sound, the finely chopped apricot kernels were spit into the air.
The disappearance of lives under the mountain did not seem to affect his appetite.
“There, right there, the leader of the Han people is right there, hurry up, rush over, rush forward!”
On the other side of the mountain, on the right wing of the battlefield, a group of cavalry suddenly appeared. The Qiang and Hu leaders were shouting loudly, leading the warriors of the tribe to rush toward the hillside that they wanted to tear into pieces.
“General, there is an enemy situation!”
Huo Yi, the Qiang guard who was guarding Feng Yong, quickly pointed to the right and shouted.
“Yes, they also know how to attack in the east and attack in the west.” Feng Yong took a look and smiled, “The Qiang Hu in Longyou are more powerful than the Yi people in Nanzhong.”
Sima Jufu, who was guarding the Qiang captain, had already begun to adjust the soldiers on the mountain.
Feng Yong's attention turned to the front battlefield again.
From here, you can clearly see that behind your own military formation, there is a phalanx whose weapons are particularly reflective. That is the Mo Dao team who became famous in the battle at Jieting.
Now they are sitting quietly at the back, watching the Qiang and Hu in front of them fighting each other.
At the front of the battle line, there is a horseman who is particularly eye-catching. Even in the diffuse smoke, you can see that man waving his long horse. Wherever he goes, the enemies will automatically retreat, forming a No circle of people.
Liu Hun felt like his blood was boiling all over his body at this moment. He actually felt a kind of crazy intoxication during the battle.
Everything was rising and flashing in front of his eyes, heads were flying, horses fell to the ground with a clatter, and they killed everyone they met. He could no longer even hear the screams of the murdered people.
The long horse's thorns are extremely flexible and can be stabbed...
This is a truly high-quality horse spear. When Liu Hun held it in his hand, he seemed to hear the horse's excitement, just like the excitement in his own body.
The front of the battlefield is being fiercely fought, and the Qiang and Hu cavalry on the right wing of the battlefield have begun to speed up. It seems that they are preparing to charge up the hillside.
This hillside is not high, it can be said to be very gentle. Normally, it would be easy to climb up on horseback.
But today, there are five hundred Han soldiers guarding the hillside.
When I saw that the Qiang and Hu cavalry who were preparing to attack were still two hundred steps away, drums suddenly sounded on the slope, and Jufu shouted, "Let go!"
The crossbow arrows were flying like locusts, and they were shot from a high position, covering the ground. The Qiang and Hu cavalry rushing at the front fell off their horses one after another.
Even the war horses kept screaming and knelt on the ground. Affected by inertia, their huge bodies rubbed against the ground and rushed out for a distance.
“General, we can obviously defeat them directly, why does it take so long?”
Huo Yi looked at the tragic battle below and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.
"Huo Zhengyi, you have grown up in the palace since you were a child. It is normal that you do not understand some things. In this world, no one will cherish anything that is given for free."
“The Longyou Qiang and Hu people want to get benefits from the Han and become the true subjects of the Han, then they must prove their loyalty to the Han.”
At this point, Feng Yong pointed down, "This is a way for them to show their loyalty. They are the people of the Han Dynasty, so they should fight **** battles for the Han Dynasty."
“Only what they have exchanged with their lives and blood will make them feel that this is the most precious thing in the world, and it is worth their efforts to protect. This is human nature.”
It is nothing more than the same thing.
Being too nice to him and responding to his requests will only make him feel that you are taking it for granted.
As long as something is slightly wrong, he will feel that he is being persecuted, and he will feel resentful and repay kindness with hatred. Feng Yong has seen this kind of thing too many times.
The Qiang and Hu who made a sneak attack charged three times in a row, but never could make it beyond the last fifty steps. After leaving behind a large number of wounded and dead horses, they fled one after another.
Feng Yong spit out another apricot kernel and said with disdain, "A bunch of trash!"
Then he turned to Huo Yi and said, "Go and tell General Zhang that I'm hungry and ready to pack up and go back to the camp for dinner."
After a while, the sound of gold rang out from below.
Liu Hun strode back to the rear camp. There were drops of blood condensing on his skirt. "General Zhang, why do you call me gold?"
"You have been fighting for long enough. Feng Langjun sent an order to us to fight quickly." Zhang Ni said, and asked someone to put on armor for him, and picked up the Modao, "Leave the rest to us Come on. Take a rest and prepare to pursue."
The Qiang and Hu servants who had been fighting for most of the day began to disperse to both sides, revealing the middle position.
I saw a thicket of snow-white knives pushing forward in rhythm.
Although they are only advancing slowly, their impressive momentum makes it seem like they will crush everything in front of them.
After the Battle of Jieting, the Modao team suffered heavy casualties.
However, thanks to the Nanxiang medical system, the mortality rate of the wounded has been greatly reduced compared with before.
Veterans who can return to the battlefield are the best guarantee of the combat effectiveness of the army.
Today's Mo Dao team is no longer the team composed of mostly new recruits a few months ago.
Thanks to Feng Yong’s emphasis on post-war summaries, the Modao team has become calmer and more unstoppable from top to bottom.
If the Battle of Jieting were to happen again, the commander might have become more stable and would no longer be impetuous, but he would still be a country bumpkin who only looked at the scenery with a telescope and had no progress in commanding military formations.
As for the Modao Team, if Zhang He really dares to lead the attack in person, they are confident that they can chop Zhang He into pieces on the spot.
(End of this chapter)