Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

"I will obey the general's orders."

"General, give the order."

"This humble general is willing to die alongside the general!"

As the various commanders of the thousand-stone rank around him echoed their sentiments, the torchlight flickered, yet it illuminated the bright eyes of the men. It seemed that yesterday's surprise attack by the Wei army had not dampened their morale; on the contrary, it had stirred up the fighting spirit of their troops.

"Good, morale is high!" Sun Shao, though middle-aged and somewhat overweight, still stood tall and proud. "The Wei army has set up camps in the west, south, and east. Judging from the situation, it seems that the Wei army has the largest force on the west side and fewer on the east and south sides to prevent us from withdrawing."

At this point, Sun Shao snorted coldly, put his hands on his hips, and looked at everyone: "Isn't the Wei army worried that we will escape? The more they worry, the more we must blunt their edge. Only in this way can we hold the city! This is how Zhu Xiumu and Zhu Yifeng defended the city in the past, as did Cao Ren and Zhang Liao, generals of the former Wei state. If we succeed in our night raid on the Wei camp tonight, we will surely terrify the enemy and prevent them from attacking. If we hold out for at most ten days, the imperial reinforcements will surely arrive along the river."

"You are of advanced age." Sun Shao looked at the person beside him.

"Your subordinate is here." A burly man, over eight feet tall and fully armored, responded.

Sun Shao said, "Ten years ago, you led five hundred daredevils in a night raid on Cao Pi, capturing his secondary carriage and feathered canopy, which terrified the Wei bandits. You were promoted from a mere troop leader to a commander of a thousand-stone army and were even granted the title of Marquis within the Pass. Today you are a lieutenant general with a salary of two thousand stones. Do you still possess the same fighting strength?"

Gao Shou clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Further words are useless. General, please observe the outcome of my battle!"

“Good!” Sun Shao nodded: “The Wei bandits set up camp hastily yesterday and must be unprepared. Each commander should draw two hundred elite troops from his own unit, for a total of two thousand men. I will lead one thousand men to launch a night raid on the south side of the city, and Gao Shou will lead one thousand men to launch a night raid on the west side of the city. Everyone should go out with their mouths gagged and each carry a tinderbox!”

"Yes, sir!" everyone responded in unison.

The essence of a night raid lies not in the number of troops, but in the suddenness of the attack and the harassment of the enemy by making a great show of force at night.

At the beginning of the Yin hour, before dawn, Sun Shao and Gao Shou divided their troops into two groups and launched a simultaneous attack on the Wei army camp from the east and south sides of the city.

Regarding the troop deployment at this time, the western part of Dantu City was temporarily garrisoned by the naval forces led by General Yue Chen. The reason for such a large force was twofold: firstly, to ensure the safety of the Wu troops within the city and prevent them from escaping westward to join the Wu forces in Jianye; and secondly, for Yue Chen, this was a temporary mission. After daybreak, once Lu Xun had transported Guanqiu Jian's troops from Guangling on the north bank of the Yangtze River to Dantu, Yue Chen's forces would withdraw from this location, following Lu Xun's orders to continue their upstream assault.

The area south of the city was under the command of Hu Zhi.

Hu Zhi was recommended by Lu Xun. Since his troops were the first to board the ship in Guanqiu Jian's army, and Lu Xun was also good at dealing with people, he sent Hu Zhi to disembark and attack first yesterday, thus making him the de facto vanguard in this battle.

To the east of the city were Wang Ling's five thousand infantrymen of the Valiant Guard. The five thousand Valiant Guards only crossed the river gradually after Lu Xun occupied the dock, so they only claimed the nearest position.

In addition, Lu Xun stayed on a warship at the dock in accordance with military law, while Guanqiu Jian stayed on the north bank to supervise his troops.

Sun Shao's thousand elite soldiers, divided into five squads, advanced towards the hastily constructed Wei army camp. Before the soldiers at the forefront even touched the hastily erected wooden palisade, a unified shout erupted from within the camp. Indeed, it was a shout from within the camp, not from Sun Shao's troops outside. Sun Shao, dressed in the same armor as his ordinary soldiers, was quite surprised. Just as he was at a loss, the wooden palisade was easily pushed down from the inside out, and a thousand heavily armored soldiers, wielding long halberds, appeared before Sun Shao's troops.

Although they couldn't see clearly, the Wei army's halberds reflected the firelight inside the camp, which terrified the Wu soldiers in the front ranks, making them almost unable to move.

Behind this heavily armored soldier stood Wang Ling, clad in gleaming great armor. Sitting on a wooden chair, Wang Ling pointed westward and addressed the soldiers around him:

"The vanguard position was taken by Hu Zhi by some twist of fate, and my anger has not yet subsided when these Wu dogs come knocking on my door. They dare to launch a night attack on the very first night! Don't they even open their dog eyes and see that I am a member of the Valiant Guard! One of the strongest soldiers in the central army of the Great Wei! Who gave these Wu dogs the audacity? Sun Quan?"

"Pass on my orders." Wang Ling waved his hand: "The crossbowmen will fire three arrows at the calibrated angles, and the halberd battalion will advance to within one arrow's distance of the Wu army's city wall. There must be no mistakes!"

"Yes, sir!" The military advisor accepted the order, and then the bugle call from the central command pierced the night. The crossbowmen fired arrows, and the halberd battalion launched an attack, leaving the Wu army in a dilemma.

Commanding at night is the most difficult task. Although the Wu soldiers are brave, they cannot receive orders from their general instantly.

Upon hearing the battle cries, Sun Shao knew that the Wei army was prepared. In a moment of panic, he dodged the arrows and then ordered his personal guards to beat the drums and signal a retreat.

Once the order to retreat was given, everyone from the various commanders to the ordinary soldiers of the Wu army knew that the night raid was going to fail. So they rushed to turn their backs to the Wei army and retreated towards the city, which was the only way out.

For General Wang Ling, this level of victory was insignificant; the well-prepared night raid failed to achieve any results. But for General Hu Zhi, it was a completely different story.

Hu Zhi led 5,000 of the weakest troops from Yangzhou. This was unavoidable; the better-trained armies in Yangzhou and the surrounding areas of Qing and Xu had been converted into naval forces since the sixth year of the Taihe era, and his soldiers were no match for the elite guards.

In addition, Hu Zhi's troops were extremely exhausted from crossing the river by boat, besieging the city, and building camps during the day, so when Gao Shou's troops attacked, Hu Zhi's troops were almost unprepared.

Unlike Sun Shao, Gao Shou first ordered one hundred soldiers from each side to advance to the front of the camp and feign an attack on the west and east sides of Hu Zhi's camp. Waiting for the Wei army inside to awaken and reinforce the two attacked locations according to the night raid plan, Gao Shou led one hundred of his most elite armored soldiers as the vanguard, breaking through the camp from the middle, and then directly launching a surprise attack on the central command tent!

The torches in the camp, the torches in the hands of the soldiers of Gaoshou, and the flames from the burning areas in the camp intertwined, making the atmosphere even more solemn and grim.

Ten years ago, Gao Shou, a mere brigade commander, led five hundred soldiers in an ambush on the road and dared to launch a surprise attack on Cao Pi's carriage, capturing his secondary carriage before returning. Today, facing Hu Zhi's troops, who are already disoriented by the night attack, how can they possibly stop Gao Shou from leading his elite forces in a surprise attack under the cover of darkness and chaos?
"The enemy is approaching the central army! Quickly form ranks and follow me to meet them!" Hu Zhi had only been awakened from his dream for a short while. He had just commanded his soldiers to meet the enemy and, with the help of his personal guards, had fastened his armor. Hu Zhi did not lose his courage and immediately prepared to organize his troops to meet them.

But it was still too rushed.

The hastily assembled battle formation, under Gao Shou's charge, crumbled like a boulder thrown into water, instantly overwhelmed. In the chaos, General Zhenwei Hu Zhi himself was killed by an unknown Wu soldier, as silently as the other soldiers who perished that night. (End of Chapter)