"Bēi yǎn sān bù bàng zuò liǎng bù kuài shàng qù, chè zhāo gōng sūn yán de shǒu bǎn:"
"General, I arrived early this morning. Just now, from the lookout tower, I saw three prongs of Wei troops attacking. Wei's forces are formidable; it is certain that we cannot hold this place. It would be better to..."
Gōng sūn yán fèn fèn shuǎi kāi bēi yǎn de shǒu shǒu: "Bēi hóng yì, wǒ zhī dào nǐ shuō shéi. Wǒ lái liáo suì yú Wei jūn duì zhì zhé yúshí bǎo, chūjǐ nián cài le jīng cháng dào shàng shàng wàng diāo le wǎn, tāmen jué de bù cái pài wǔ de bù duì. Wǎnba, nǐ zhī máiyǒu suí xíng de qí mò jǐ, de cǐ chá qí!"
After speaking, Gong Sun Yan moved down a step along the stairs of the city tower, using his right elbow to push Bēi Yǎn against the wall. Bēi Yǎn instinctively used his hand to block it, but found that he could not push this old general:
"Be honest with me, Gong Sun Yuan didn't order you to withdraw troops at any sign of trouble? Did he sell me out and abandon the Liaotun City?"
Bēi Yǎn's throat moved slightly, and when he looked into Gong Sun Yán's angry eyes, he felt a bit scared and moved away. His gaze stopped on Gong Sun Yán's white temples: "Old General, the Wei forces are formidable, and it is truly not suitable to face them head-on. The Lord also has concerns for the foundation of the Eastern Campaign."
"He did it for the foundation of Liaodong, I am his cousin, still defending this Liaotun City at the age of sixty. Isn't that also for the foundation of Liaodong? Liaodong is not only his Púng Sūn Yuān's Liaodong but also my father and ancestors' home for generations!" Gong Sun Yan fixed his gaze on Bēi Yǎn angrily: "There's no time to waste on words. Just tell me the truth, what is Púng Sūn Yuān thinking?"
Bēi Yǎn sighed, "Old General, it's difficult to go against the Lord's orders, and I also have my own troubles!"
"Everyone has their own troubles!", Gong Sun Yan pulled back his elbow, and the anger in his face subsided for a moment. Then, with a sigh, it turned into an appeal: "The encirclement is still there, and Wei forces have not yet crossed the river completely. There must still be some fighting force left!"
"We can't rely solely on infantry to defend this city. I'll do my best to hold the front of Liaotun City, and you make a charge from both the north and south. If it's really impossible to repel the attack, we'll discuss other options. How about this?"
Bēi Yǎn's chest was pounding fiercely, and he was about to say something, but he never managed to get the words out: "The enemy forces are no more than ten miles north and south, my camp is to the south, so try to drive the Wei troops towards the Liao River from south to north."
"Take care, old General!"
Bēi Yǎn slightly bowed, quickly ran down the city wall, and then mounted his horse and rode out of the city. Just now, Gong Sun Yán had clearly thought everything through, and since he was still determined to fight, he probably couldn't save him when he left.
Fate is not in our hands, all things are determined by destiny!
Gong Sun Yán watched from the city head for a moment and then, using flags and horns on the city head, ordered the foot soldiers to split into three columns to block along the encirclement, strengthen their defense along the embankment, and immediately followed with his personal guards and rode out of the city to command in the Western Battlefield of Liaotun City.
Gong Sun Yán gazed out from the lookout tower. In the middle of Wei's troops, there was a bulldozed platform made of compacted earth, and on it was a watchtower about two zhang high.
Cao Rui sat on the chair in front of the flag, with Sima Yi, Man Chong, and several ministers and eunuchs standing at his side.
After seeing the movement of Gong Sun's army flags on the riverbank opposite, Pei Qian whispered, "Your Majesty, Xia Hou Xian, Tian Yu, and Xian Yu Jing's three divisions are crossing the river. Their front divisions have already started forming arrays. Are we ready to deploy the cavalry?"
"No need."
"Not in a hurry!"
"Wait a moment."
Cao Rui, Man Chong, and Sima Yi nearly said at the same time. Cao Rui glanced at Sima Yi with a sidelong look and waved his hand to him.
Sima Yi understood: "The area between the riverbank and the embankment is narrow, which is not conducive to a large-scale cavalry charge. Wait until the foot soldiers have opened up some gaps, then prepare the cavalry. We should wait for the cavalry from both north and south to arrive and for the enemy troops to disperse before letting the central cavalry pursue and annihilate them."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Pei Qin is familiar with border affairs, but he commands fewer troops. Mistakes are inevitable when betting. The chips in our hands cannot be thrown out all at once."
"When this battle is over, I will teach you a card game called paper play. Ministers, eunuchs, and riders can accompany the Emperor to play a game when they are free."
Seeing that the Emperor was not in a hurry, and knowing the military strategies of Sima Yi, Man Chong, and Xu Shu also did not rush, Pei Qian felt at ease while also trying to guess the Emperor's intentions and said, "I have heard many methods of card games in Luoyang, but I don't know what His Majesty means by 'paper cards'."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "I cannot explain it in a few words. It is a game that compares the size of points, but also incorporates many elements of chance."
Cao Rui and Pei Qian were chatting casually when Man Chong suddenly stretched his finger towards the south: "The enemy troops have moved first to the south. It seems to be cavalry!"
The main camp was built on high ground by the riverbank to begin with, and the watchtower is even higher. Additionally, today's weather is extremely clear and transparent, allowing one to still see the blurred movement of flags and figures from a distance of five or six miles.
Cao Rui asked, "The enemy forces actually started from the south? Freshman Jing will have a tough time."
Man Chong said, "Your Majesty, it might be better to send Sun Li to deal with the situation in the south?"
Cao Rui shook his head: "Sun Li's division consists mostly of light cavalry. They are not very useful if there are too few, and it's too late if there are too many. The heavy cavalry should be sent instead!" "Order! Send Lieutenant General Jiang Wei with his division of 1,500 heavy cavalry forward to the south, to cross the river and coordinate with Xian Yu Jing's troops for a counterattack. The catapults on the south side can start operating!"
"I will comply with Your Majesty's orders!" Man Chong agreed at once and whispered a few words to a young officer behind him. The officer then descended from the lookout tower, followed by several mounted soldiers flying out with red flags on their backs.
From the perspective of Cao Rui, Man Chong, and others, the southern battlefield had only just begun to engage. But for Xian Yu Jing, who was truly caught in the heat of battle, it was the moment of true life-or-death struggle.
The riverbank here is somewhat wide, and the distance from the embankment to the Liao River is about seventy to eight tens of yards. The foot soldiers of Xian Yu Jing's division were spread out on both sides; the front of the army had nearly touched the embankment, but the troops at the end had just crossed over a pontoon bridge, and their formation was still disordered.
"Halt! Raise shields! Prepare spears!"
With a sudden burst of gold and drum beats, the ten dobro (a type of bronze drum) players at the southernmost edge of the array shouted out their battle cry in unison, commanding their troops to turn south and stop according to the drill movements. However, this seemed too late.
The camp wall on the southeast side was gradually pulled down by the Liao Dong cavalry using ropes, and the moat was also filled with earth. After completing the earthwork, the front cavalry made way to the sides, and a large group of cavalry following behind immediately began to speed up.
About a thousand Liao Dong riders, dressed in heavy armor carrying long spears, gradually accelerated from the southern riverbank. They covered a distance of about a hundred steps before suddenly striking like a chisel into the side of the Wei military array.
The iron hooves thundered like rumbling thunder right in front of them, with the first two rows of riders all wearing double layers of armor. They leapt on horseback, brandishing spears, and crashed into Wei's shield wall.
The neighing of horses wounded by spears and the clanging sound of metal clashed repeatedly. The soldiers from Hejian Commandery at the front were crushed by the cavalry, and their formation had become unstable. Xian Yu Jing urgently ordered the Bohai soldiers behind them to tightly pin down the soldiers from Hejian Commandery.
The riverbank was too narrow, only about 70-80 yards wide. The Wei army's formation was also made thicker by the shape of the riverbank. Although the frontal cavalry had some success, the subsequent Liao Dong cavalry were unable to keep up. No one wanted to charge over the corpses of their fallen comrades.
The cavalry commander at the front of three hundred cavalry soldiers fell in and, seeing that Bēi Yǎn had no second order, gritted his teeth and led his troops into the ranks of Wei's infantry. This time, the front line crashed into the formation of Bohai soldiers, but still failed to break through to the next layer of the formation.
Xian Yu Jing pulled over a messenger: "Tell Captain Zheng that if he retreats even slightly at this moment, he won't have any chance of escaping from my sword!"
While Xian Yu Jing was struggling to deal with Bēi Yǎn's cavalry charges, a group of Liao Dong archers joined the battle behind the embankment. The first wave of arrows to determine the distance were shot out in a sparse manner, and throwing stones from the catapults on the western bank of the Liao River began.
One after another, the stones, each weighing about ten to fifteen catties, flew towards the southeast of the embankment behind the Liao River. The other half of the catapults were turned around with the help of the soldiers and began to fire stones in the direction of the cavalry gathering.
The Liao Dong army's archers were momentarily thrown off balance, and the cavalry ranks were startled into taking a step back.
"General, we cannot keep charging on the riverbank like this. The situation is becoming dire. Over half of our mounted archers have been trapped in the Wei army's infantry array. With the army formation being too thick, it's impossible for us to break through. It would be better to let the Wei army out of the encirclement before charging again." The officer beside Bēi Yǎn spoke in a low voice, trying to persuade him.
"Let them out?" Bēi Yǎn looked out at the battlefield, then turned his head and coldly asked the officer, "I have already fulfilled my duty in charge of General Xiahou Dong's entrustment by charging this time. If I let Wei's infantry come over, Wei's cavalry will also follow!"
"Do you want to die here?"
"I..." The officer was just about to say something when he heard his general ordering his personal guards beside him, "Halt! Tell all the generals to follow my standard to the east and not linger here, or they will be beheaded for disobedience!"
Gong Sun Yan intended to die on the battlefield, but Bēi Yǎn was still young and could not be defeated in such a place!
As the Wei cavalry on the eastern side of the Liao River slowly gathered to the edge of the pontoon bridge, Bēi Yǎn lost all will to fight and immediately turned his horse to retreat.
Now it was Xian Yu Jing who was taken aback. The Liao Dong cavalry were leaving so soon?
In most battles, it's not always like the battle between Wei and Shu at Chi Ting, where troops face each other and generals confront each other, fighting to their utmost with combat willpower and then emerging victorious.
More often than not, it is a triple contest of national strength, military power, and overall situation. For the weaker side, once they realize that they have little chance of winning, it is common to turn their horses and flee. Abandoning cities and armies still occurs frequently.
Furthermore, Bēi Yǎn had obtained the permission of Gong Sun Yan, making this move seem more reasonable.
The Wei army's main camp is divided into three routes to cross the river for the attack, and there are also two diversionary troops in the north and south outside the camp. This is a great emphasis on the Liao Dong army.
After all, a camp stretching for thirty miles is right here and in good condition. In this era, being able to construct a camp of thirty miles is a rare feat, making it a formidable opponent.
Who would have thought that it was as soft as a pillow?
Stored for more than ten days, it seemed like a punch was hitting on top.
The remaining nine thousand cavalry of Bēi Yǎn's force are the largest group of troops on the eastern bank of the Liao River. As Bēi Yǎn's forces regrouped to the east, even though the ordinary soldiers might not understand the overall situation, they could still tell whether their own allies were advancing or retreating.
Xian Yu Jing's Liao Dong army suddenly became unbalanced in front of him. (Chapter Complete)
