"Here are my Tiger Leopard Horsemen, the elite cavalry of my central army. Where else in the world is there a safer place than within the Tiger Leopard Horsemen? Is it this fort here guarded by mere remnants?"
Sima Yi was momentarily taken aback, not knowing what to say.
Cao Rui's face was suffused with a smile, glanced at the rack on the left hanging armor, and slowly stretched his arms sideways.
Seeing this, Chen Jiao and Wang Su on either side of him hurried to the rack and fetched the emperor's golden armor, one after the other, to fasten it on Cao Rui. While Wang Su was tightening the belt of the golden armor, Chen Jiao fetched the helmet as well, offering it with both hands in an utmost respectful manner.
Although they were both Imperial Messengers, what they were doing at this moment was the very purpose for which the position was established during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
Cao Rui took the helmet with one hand and said in a loud voice, "Sun Li will lead three thousand cavalry for the emperor's advance. The emperor and Gua Fan will lead four thousand cavalry behind you."
Sun Li and Guan Fan replied in turn, and Cao Rui turned his side, raising the corner of his mouth to look at Sima Yi and Yang Fu.
Yang Fu unconsciously swallowed his saliva, stepped forward half a step, cupping his hands, and said, "I am from Long You. Although I am over fifty years old, I can still don armor and wield a spear to protect Your Majesty!"
Sima Yi also hurriedly added, "I also request to be by Your Majesty's side!"
"All right!" Cao Rui nodded slightly.
Just as everyone was preparing to set out for battle, and Dian Man had already led three thousand men out of camp at a rapid pace, Jiang Wei, also known as Jiang BoYue, arrived alone at the outside of the central army's command tent.
Thanks to the fact that during the New Year's campaign against the Huainan region in the early days of this year, Jiang Wei had been responsible for sorting out important documents in the emperor's army, he had gotten to know some of the tiger guards who were stationed outside the tents, and he had not encountered much resistance. However, without permission, he was not allowed to approach the emperor.
Just as Cao Rui, along with Yang Fu and Sima Yi, all donned armor and emerged from the command tent, Jiang Wei immediately shouted from a distance of several paces.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I also wish to accompany Your Majesty. I can fight too!"
Cao Rui squinted his eyes to clearly identify the speaker, seemingly recalling something, and then laughed again: "Is it you, Bo Yu? Let him come over!"
The tiger guards made way, and Jiang Wei quickly ran over. Before Cao Rui could ask him anything, he knelt straight in front of the emperor.
"Your Majesty!" Jiang Wei looked up seriously and said, "I have overstepped, but please allow me to accompany Your Majesty in protecting you!"
"I was originally from Tianshui Ji County, and the court's army has come here for the campaign in the remote Long You region. How could I possibly sit idly in the camp? I am also trained in martial arts and able to fight!"
Cao Rui looked down at Jiang Wei's sincere face, moved forward two steps, and gently raised him up.
"Bo Yu, you have a brave spirit! But I must correct you on one point," Cao Rui said with a calm expression, looking directly into Jiang Wei's eyes: "Long You is also my land. I am here for the stability of the Great Wei, not just for Long You. Do you understand that?"
Jiang Wei stood up and retreated half a step, bowing in respect: "I understand!"
"Yuan Ze." Cao Rui called out softly to Guan Fan: "Send someone to provide him with armor, weapons, and horses. Let Jiang Wei ride alongside me for protection!"
Guan Fan nodded in agreement and promptly sent someone to take care of it.
However, as the army from the South camp suddenly rushed in, Xiao Yi gradually realized that something was wrong. There were no Sichuan army figures in either of the tents on the left and right.
With Xiao Yi having already passed through the camp wall, the soldiers following him were also continuously pushing forward. The emperor was right behind him, and he couldn't retreat under any circumstances.
Pan Yi could only instruct the soldiers to destroy and tear down the fortifications while simultaneously forming a square formation to counter any potential enemy attacks.
As the Western and Eastern army's soldiers hiding behind the tents simultaneously shouted, a heart-wrenching horn blast sounded. With over half of Pan Yi's troops having already entered the camp, they were now facing an attack from the two sides.
Pushing down the walls and flattening the fences, the Sichuan troops who had been guarding this place for several days poured out one after another, their shouts and cries never stopping.
After a day and a half of defense, the eight thousand soldiers under Wei Yan's command had suffered no more than eight hundred casualties. Compared to the heavy losses the Wei army had incurred yesterday and today, the importance of the camp and defensive works became even more pronounced.
After leaving five thousand soldiers south of the camp to form a line and prepare for retreat, Wei Yan personally led two thousand soldiers to hide on both sides of the gap.
After a morning of fighting, Wei Yan had already figured out the pattern: one group of Wei troops had no more than about one and a half thousand people.
Two thousand men are enough! The camp is narrow; any more troops wouldn't be able to deploy properly.
The Sichuan army soldiers formed an attack towards the center, and Xiao Yi, who had a fierce determination, did not retreat. Instead, he continued to struggle to maintain the formation in the face of the Sichuan army's onslaught.
But not all soldiers were like Xiao Yi. Most soldiers, upon seeing the Sichuan army's attack, were thinking of nothing but fleeing back. The soldiers in the north wanted to join the battle by running south through the camp, while those in the south wanted to escape back to their own camp in the north. This resulted in a large cluster as they jammed together amidst the chaos.
At this moment of distress for Xiao Yi, a detachment of elite Sichuan soldiers clad in all black armor slipped through the gaps in the formation, as if strolling leisurely. They pierced through the disoriented Wei army and directly approached Xiao Yi who had fallen behind.
In his panic, Xiao Yi only noticed that the leader of the unit was holding a red-ribboned long spear, with a helmet adorned with feathers like a crest, and a very eye-catching feather inserted. He was charging at Xiao Yi like a tiger.
Before Xiao Yi could even identify the man, his throat was slashed by the sharp tip of the spear, and he collapsed onto the ground, with a look of reluctance in his eyes.
Wu Yan wiped the blood splashed on his face, his face contorted with ferocity as he pointed his spear forward: "The enemy general is dead! Have all these enemy soldiers stay here, and then push them back!"
The surrounding Sichuan army loudly responded, and the soldiers from Jingzhou who saw the Xiao Yi dead could not bear it. At this time, Wu Yan was completely unaware that the Wei officer he had just killed was actually a native of his county.
The narrow open area of the Sichuan army camp now seemed like a bloody meat grinder, squeezing inward from both the east and west sides, almost instantly crushing Xiao Yi's forces.
Although Xiao Yi was dead, he had not died in vain. He had used his own blood and flesh to gain valuable time for the Wei army.
Just as the Wei army was about to be annihilated by the Sichuan troops, a lookout on the watch tower blew a horn to alert of an enemy attack.
Wu Yan was puzzled and, in his haste, he didn't have time to ask. He could only order his personal guards to prepare the army behind him and then rode alone to the watchtower at the back.
Only when Wu Yan saw the mass of Wei troops forming up in the distance, with many more troops gathering in front of the Wei camp, did he realize that a sudden chill shot through him. It was as if an ice blade had cut across his brain.
"Quickly, strike the gong and drum to retreat!" Wu Yan shouted to the messengers and his personal guards: "Go and tell Wu Ban not to fight anymore. Hurry over here and merge with me!"
The scouts rushed out, and the Sichuan soldiers who had just emerged from the fortifications were driven back.
Wu Yan watched as the commanders of his troops were directing the soldiers to form a new formation. He stood there with his hands on his waist, looking up at the sky, but his eyes were filled with a sense of melancholy.
It was not Wu Yan who initiated the retreat.
The situation is stronger than people, since yesterday, Xuan Yan's forces were as if they didn't care about their lives. They pushed through the archers of their own army and destroyed all the palisades and ditches outside the camp. Wu Yan had already had such a feeling.
Just now, from the watch tower, I saw clearly that the batch of Wei troops from the north had different armor and clothing colors from Xuan Yan's forces. Xuan Yan's army was mostly brown in color, while the infantry and cavalry on the opposite side were all wearing black clothes. As they slowly advanced from north to south, it looked like a wave of black water spreading out.
Without the palisades and ditches, what is a single wall worth?
At this time, Wu Yan did not even hate Ma Gu. He knew that Ma Gu's forces only had about 15,000 soldiers. Even if Ma Gu were to give him another 5,000 soldiers, it would still be difficult to withstand such a large army on the opposite side.
No matter what, the loss of Lueyang is a loss. There are still two cities, Liulei and Xiaoli, along the 120-li-long Lingshan Pass to the south, and the Prime Minister is also behind us. We can always consider it in the long run!
Wu Yan knew in his heart that the northern campaign was for the sake of capturing Long You and Liangzhou to strengthen Han, not to engage in meaningless battles that would deplete the army.
Thinking had already been made, Wu Yan led the unformed army to slowly retreat. Knowing that something was wrong, Wu Ban's unit did not even have time to form an army formation before retreating. Almost all of his 2,000 soldiers were running towards Wu Yan's army formation left behind, according to their original distribution, in teams of one hundred.
Just as Wu Yan was slowly retreating, Ma Dai, who led five thousand infantry behind him, sent someone to give Wu Yan a new piece of news.
"Is it Zhao Yun who sent Ju Fu with a thousand cavalry to assist me?" Wu Yan grasped the messenger's cloak and stared at the young corporal in his twenties. "Go tell Ma Dai to tell Ju Fu, and also to tell Ma Gu and Zhao Yun, that I can no longer hold this camp!"
"I know that they have more troops on their side and should not be lightly provoked. I will lead my army to move towards the Pass of Cut-Off Mountain, allowing Zhao Yun and Wang Ping to prepare in advance!"
The messenger nodded slightly, and after Wu Yan repeated it, the messenger finally took the order.
Compared to Pan Yi, Commander Yin Jian was indeed a lucky man. He had been assigned to the east by Qian Zhao during the advance, avoiding Wu Yan's surprise attack, and now he had calmly crossed the camp and reached the Sichuan army camp.
Dian Man was on the west side, and when he arrived at the camp, he did not encounter any Sichuan troops. Yin Jian was on the east side and had already reached the south of the fortification.
With these two groups of infantry, the walls were torn down and destroyed from both east and west sides, leaving a large opening that was about a quarter mile wide. The situation gradually became clear.
The true way of military strategy is to defeat the few with the many.
That's right. The "many" referred to here means the superiority in military power. Sometimes, with fewer troops, one can have more combat effectiveness because of factors such as better organization, better weapons and armor, and excellent command by the leader.
However, at this time, the camp north and south along the northeast side of Lueyang, where the Wei and Sichuan armies had been fighting for several days, was at a disadvantage in terms of both numbers and strength.
"Pass on my command," Cao Rui said softly as he saw the camp wall gradually breached. "Order Xiahou He and Cheng Xi to advance from both east and west respectively, to charge southwest and do their utmost to block the way of these two Sichuan armies heading west!"
"Tell Sun Li to follow Cheng Xi, and I will be behind him!"
