In the distance, a long black line appeared where the land meets the sky.
The black line drew closer, and the ground began to tremble gently, a deep and solemn sound like thunder on a rainy night, waking the Wu and Wei armies engaged in fierce battle on the battlefield.
The sound of horse hooves seemed capable of tearing apart the entire earth. On the flat ground to the east of fifteen miles from the coach, the Wei army's three thousand horsemen galloped in, each side bringing a thousand and five hundred riders, coming straight for the west from the north and south.
Both the troops led by Jia Qi, who were engaged in battle with the Wu army, and the troops led by Man Zheng, Le Xiang, and Xu Shu, who were fleeing eastward and discarding their armor and supplies, as well as the troops led by Zhu Gai, who had been fighting continuously for several days and were already exhausted, were all boosted by the arrival of Wei's central forces.
Meanwhile, General Man Zheng, who was fleeing eastward and was being accompanied by his personal guards, hurriedly waved the military flag and struck the golden drums, ordering the disheveled army that had already failed to flee properly to gather around him. Zhu Gai's cavalry also used the speed of their horses to drive the scattered infantry back towards the center.
Previously, more than an hour ago, when facing the Wu army, they had collapsed en masse before even engaging in battle, with over 20,000 people. At this moment, after seeing their own mounted troops charging westward like waves, they miraculously steadied down. They quickly found their military flags and gathered more than 10,000 people in half an hour.
Without morale, nothing matters. But once some courage is restored, everything can be calculated again.
But in contrast to the excitement of the Wei army, the situation of the Wu army was entirely opposite.
After all, Lu Xun was a renowned general. In the face of such shocking battlefield changes, he almost instinctively made the correct response.
The man sat on his horse with his eyes wide open, realizing that the Wei army's tens of thousands of cavalry was attacking to the west. After just a moment of shock, he immediately gave orders to his personal guards, telling them to stop their movement and form defensive positions. He was waiting for further instructions.
However, the Wu army had been chasing the retreating Wei army, with the ranks stretching over five miles long. Although Lu Sun had given the order to stop immediately, how could it be as easy as commanding his subordinates with a wave of his hand?
While sending messengers behind to report, Lu Xun ordered people to urgently wave the military flag and strike the golden drums, signaling the units behind to stop advancing.
The Wu army had suffered more than 7,000 casualties in the battle to capture the Wei camp west of Guazhu yesterday. With 3,000 troops left at Guazhu, there were a total of seven million Wu troops on the battlefield. But even with seven million troops, facing the surrounding force of 30,000 cavalrymen, Lu Xun did not feel very secure at this moment.
Lu Xun's own force of 5,000 troops had just finished forming their ranks, and Pan Zhang's troops were beginning to withdraw slowly from their battle with the Wei army. The Wei cavalry surged past like a flood, racing westward from both north and south sides.
Lu Xun thought, although he encountered so many Wei cavalry at this moment, he still had 70,000 troops, and there was still a chance for survival!
Lu Xun was a native of Jiangdong.
Throughout Lu Xun's twenty years of military career, he first suppressed rebellions and fought against the Shan Yue, then attacked the cities in Jingzhou where people were disorganized, and finally achieved a great victory by defeating Liu Bei at Yilin. Lu Xun's military experience cannot be called unrich or unskilled in battle.
However, Lu Xun had a natural weakness. As a native of Jiangdong, he had never faced a large-scale cavalry charge before.
Wei, relying on the entire nation's strength, was able to sustain a cavalry force of 55,000 men. The five states of Yangzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Xuzhou contributed 15,000 riders together. Apart from the 10,000 riders led by General Zhu Gai who have been in combat for several days under his command, the remaining 5,000 riders joined with the central troops of 30,000 men. They have been refining their strength at Wujiangkou for many days.
Farmers from Qingzhou, hunters from Jizhou and Youzhou, well-born men from the Three Fealties, and herdsmen from Bingzhou all gathered in the central army. Guided by the flags, they charged westward.
At this moment, it was the best time for mounted troops to show their worth.
The open land between the mountain range in the north and the hills in the south is about eight or seven li wide, while Lu Xun's infantry extends over five li. If viewed from above, the Wu military formation is a narrow strip within the open land.
The 15,000 riders on the southern side galloped towards the west of the Wu army formation, using spears and halberds to deal with the Wu soldiers who had not yet formed up and were still in a disorganized state.
On the northern side, the 15,000 riders chose a weak point around two li away from Lu Xun, dividing the Wu army's uncompleted formation in the middle.
The Wu army had suffered a setback since its outset, but this could very well be their last one.
Lu Xun was so desperate among his own 5,000 troops that he felt like he was vomiting blood. Never having faced such a large-scale cavalry force, and today being the first time he had encountered it, could this be the day of his demise?
Lu Xun had just reached for his sword handle with his right hand, and suddenly woke up as if he had been shocked. At the moment, the Wei army was only dividing and separating themselves. If their foot soldiers formed up later, the Wei cavalry would not be able to do much damage. It seemed there was still a chance for hope.
Moreover, the retreat route was still open. Three thousand troops were still guarding at Guazhu. As long as they fought hard to the west at this moment, there was a chance that they might not be caught and could escape!
While the Wu army was struggling to form their ranks and trying to retreat westward amidst cavalry charges, the situation at Guazhu was an entirely different battlefield.
The 3,000 Wu soldiers who were left to guard Guazhu were ordinary people. In their eyes, the Wu army had already achieved a great victory, the commander had already gone east to pursue them, and they had been fighting hard for two days. How could they not rest for a moment?
So were the soldiers in Guazhu. Xian Yu Dan, the senior general in charge of 3,000 infantrymen at Guazhu, thought so too.
Xian Yu Dan chose the largest and most spacious tent, and after assigning his subordinates to clean up the battlefield and collect scattered military supplies, he ordered his personal guards to prepare some soup dumplings for him to eat, with a few eggs added in.
While Xian Yu Dan was lying in the tent that belonged to Jia Qi, he was barely asleep for less than an hour when he heard the panic outside from his personal guards.
Xian Yu Dan was woken up by the commotion, just after stepping out of the tent and ready to scold his personal guards, but as he followed the direction indicated by his guards' fingers, he was stunned into silence.
For some reason, from the south, an endless expanse of rolling hills was being flooded with the Wei army, which surged out without pause. From west to east, following the direction where the Wu army had charged into the Wei camp a few hours earlier, they were coming towards his position.
Xian Yu Dan was greatly alarmed.
The Wei infantrymen emerging from the hills were precisely the troops hidden by Wang Ling, Han Zong, Zhai Dan, and Hu Zhi. They amounted to a total of 15,000 soldiers.
In fact, when the main body of the Wei army retreated eastward this morning, the camp fortifications at Guazhu were still intact. If Xian Yu Dan had rallied his troops and occupied the narrowest bottleneck at Guazhu for defense, he might have been able to hold out until Lu Xun returned with his troops.
However, the difference between a renowned general and an ordinary general is not in their bravery during battles in favorable conditions, but rather in their choices and judgments during critical moments.
Xian Yu Dan failed to realize that this was Wei's strategic maneuver to envelop and block Wu's forces. Instead, he believed that he could take over Wei's former camp and hold out for a while.
A moment's hesitation doomed the last hope of the Wu army.
Wang Ling led his 8,000 infantry troops to easily find a weak point in the defense and charge into the original Wei army camp. Once they occupied the narrowest passage at Guazhu, they turned to attack Xian Yu Dan's 3,000 troops from behind.
At this moment, inside the battle formation, Xian Yu Dan saw that the troops rushing towards him had a banner reading "General Han of Annan" at the back of their leader.
Xian Yu Dan was filled with anger. Knowing that he was surrounded by a force several times larger than his own, and that there was no way to escape a death anyway, he might as well take down the Eastern Wu traitor and Han Dang's son, Han Zong, with him.
Xian Yu Dan gathered his troops to meet the incoming attack from Han Zong, completely disregarding that Wang Ling's troops were right behind him. With Han Zong's 4,000 troops and Xian Yu Dan's 2,000+ troops, they had a somewhat even battle formation for a moment.
Before half an hour had passed, the junior general of Wu's central troops, Xian Yu Dan, was killed in the chaotic battlefield. However, before he died, Xian Yu Dan had pierced Han Zong's chest with his sword.
Han Zong's round eyes, filled with resentment, stared fiercely at Xian Yu Dan's face, whether it contained anger over dying just before the impending great victory or hiding his hatred for Xian Yu Dan for ruining his rise to fame. And on the face of Xian Yu Dan as he was about to die, there was slowly a hint of a smile.
After the commander died, the remaining over a thousand Wu soldiers also lost their fighting spirit and threw down their weapons to kneel and surrender.
Wang Ling, after ordering his subordinates to surround and take over the surrendered Wu troops, slowly rode to the battlefield where the previous fight had taken place with his personal guards surrounding him.
Upon seeing the bodies of Han Zong and Xian Yu Dan, Wang Ling couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, "One died for wealth and fame, while the other was willing to die for loyalty and righteousness."
After that, Wang Ling said to the attendant beside him, "Immediately record the battle here and send it eastward to the emperor. Inform the emperor that Wang Ling has occupied Guazhu according to military orders and is ready to block Wu's forces."
The attendant received the order and departed.
At this time, the battlefield between Wei and Wu was in a stalemate. The Wu army had been divided into two parts by the Wei's cavalry interception just now.
One part was on the west, it was the Wu army that chased too slowly, with about 40,000 men. The other part was on the east, it was the vanguard just now. Lu Xun was among these troops.
At this moment, Lu Xun was frantically commanding in the ranks, trying to maneuver his several large formations of the 30,000 men on the east towards the west to join with the remaining 40,000 Wu troops.
However, Lu Xun's efforts had some effect. Every time Wei's cavalry approached, the bows in Wu's ranks shot out like rain, hitting many Wei riders off their horses.
But Wu's arrows were finite. As the arrows in Wu's ranks became sparse, the cavalry from Wei's side, with each charge killing more and more Wu soldiers.
Not far from Lu Xun, over a li away, Cao Rui was leading 5,000 central cavalry troops, including 4,000 riders from the camp of the five commandants and 1,000 tiger guards led by Xiahou Xian, observing the entire battlefield from the north.
(This chapter is completed)
