Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Facing the gazes of Zhu Ran and Hu Zong, Zhang Cheng gritted his teeth and said, "Either break out of the city and head east, or attack the Wei army to demoralize them!"

"Gentlemen, I've figured it out." Zhang Cheng pounded the door frame heavily with his hand: "If we don't act today, and don't wait until tomorrow or the day after, even if you and I want to fight, how much fighting spirit will the soldiers in Wuhu City have left? By then, there will be no more Ruxu Central Island or Wuhu City waiting for us to escape to. After the city is breached, do you think the Wei army will leave us alive?"

Zhu Ran, his face also grim, slowly said, "I have the same thought!"

"Ruxu Dock is divided into two parts, and both sides are surrounded by water, making it difficult to launch an attack from outside the city. Wuhu City is wide on all sides, and we have already observed the general layout of the Wei army from the city walls. We can launch an attack from outside the city! However, we cannot abandon the city. His Majesty appointed me to handle Ruxu and appointed Weize to handle Wuhu. If His Majesty sails east, and we are not in Wuhu, how can we face others?"

Hu Zong nodded in agreement: "I'm not good at field battles outside the city, but you can leave the city defense to me!"

"Alright!" Zhu Ran made a quick decision: "Next, we should discuss how to attack..."

Three important officials in Wuhu City were pondering how to fight. One was a general of chariots and cavalry, one was a general of the rear, and the other was a minister in charge of the army. They were all determined to die, but the emperor they longed for was still heading west on the river!

Quan Cong's order yesterday to move the entire army to Chaisang was clearly an act of usurpation that violated Sun Quan's wishes.

However, once Sun Quan's initial anger subsided and he calmed down, he had no choice but to accept Quan Cong's approach. War is a dangerous affair, and one should proceed with caution when engaging in battle. Regardless of whether the opposing commander was Lu Xun, such encounters that gamble with the fate of the nation should be avoided as much as possible.

Moreover, there is no safe haven on this vast river. If the fleet encounters an accident, there will be nowhere to anchor! Finding a major port as soon as possible is the right choice.

Neither Sun Quan nor Quan Cong explicitly stated their intentions. Although they insisted on fighting the Wei army, their westward turn instead of eastward revealed their cowardice and fear. If they went west, they could still retain Jingzhou and Jiaozhou. But if they were defeated, Sun Quan himself would likely die. What use would talking about the fate of the nation then be?
For some reason, perhaps it was because of the national crisis that Sun Quan thought of his generals, but he often thought of Zhou Yu's heroic figure.

If Quan Cong were truly six or seven parts as capable as Zhou Yu, he would surely be extremely confident in leading his ships into battle. Why should I avoid the Wei army? Why wouldn't the Wei army avoid me?
But Quan Cong was ultimately not Zhou Yu. Such a general, who could deploy troops swiftly and lead thousands of soldiers with unwavering courage, was a rare find, and having one could bring prosperity to the nation.

This shows that destiny did not lie with Wu.

Night falls in Wuhu.

The Wei army's catapults had been hurling stones for most of the day, but stopped as dusk approached. Scouts on the city walls reported this, so Zhu Ran and his men reorganized their troops in the city to prepare for a night attack.

Zhu Ran's face was solemn: "Zhongsi, I'm entrusting the matter in the west to you. Proceed according to the plan."

Zhang Cheng nodded: "General, rest assured. I will handle the western affairs myself, and the eastern affairs will be taken care of by you, General."

"Okay." Zhu Ran said, "Open the city gates, let's go."

Zhang Cheng, fully armored, clasped his hands in a fist salute and then strode away.

Two thousand Wu soldiers marched out of the city with great fanfare and attacked the Wei army camp to the west of Wuhu City.

Wuhu City was built along the river, with the river to the west, and the area between the river and the city was not very large.

Here, approximately two thousand men under Bei Yan's command were responsible for operating the catapults, and another two thousand soldiers from Wang Qi's Wuwei Army were stationed. Compared to the troops in other directions around Wuhu City, the Wei army in the west of the city was the smallest in number.

Zhang Cheng rallied his troops, but upon reaching the Wei army camp, instead of attacking, he shouted and insulted them before retreating back into the city. This spectacle was repeated every half hour, disturbing the Wei army camp and creating a tense atmosphere.

The Wei army's central camp was located south of the city, not far from the west. However, due to the narrow terrain along the river to the west, Cao Zhen could not send reinforcements to the west to assist in the defense. Instead, he told Wang Qi that he had ordered 500 cavalry to prepare for battle and that they could quickly intercept the enemy if a battle broke out.

Wang Qi replied that he would obey the order. Five hundred cavalrymen were sufficient for the narrow strip of land west of the city.

Minister of War Wang Ji accompanied the army south. Although he held no official post, he was ordered by the emperor to stay by Cao Zhen's side, much like a military advisor. When Wang Ji heard the Wu army's second commotion, he told Cao Zhen that something was amiss. Cao Zhen shared the same feeling and immediately ordered scouts to spread the message from the southern camp to the east and north of the city.

For a besieging army nearly three times the size of the city's forces, the troops inside the city would have little chance of escaping, but that did not mean they had to give up and wait to die.

Just as the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) arrived, Zhang Cheng reinforced his troops to three thousand men and once again led his soldiers out of the west gate of Wuhu City, attacking the Wei army camp. This did not resemble a sneak attack, but rather a daytime assault on the camp. Both Wei and Wu forces unleashed a barrage of crossbow bolts, and the Wu army, aided by the firelight from the city walls and the Wei camp, charged towards the western Wei camp with shields.

Cao Zhen had not yet gone to sleep when he heard the news. He waved and summoned Wang Ji: "Boyu, I will give you another five hundred cavalry. Go to the west to check the situation and assess the circumstances. If it is time to move, order these thousand cavalry to charge from south to north. If they cannot break through, do not force it. Just set up camp at the northern camp and return at dawn."

"As you command." Wang Ji bowed and left. Logically speaking, Cao Zhen's response was flawless.

But Wu Jun was risking his life.

Zhu Ran, Zhang Cheng, and Hu Zong all believed that if they could not win tonight, Wuhu City would have no hope. Therefore, the west side of the city was just a pretense, and Zhu Ran's real main attack direction was the east side of the city.

“Even if the Wei army has many soldiers, they can’t be mobilized too quickly at night. When I charged through the Wei camp at night at Ruxu, I couldn’t break through from the front.” Zhu Ran patted Ding Feng’s shoulder hard: “Now, among the generals in the city who can charge into battle, Cheng Yuan is the best choice. I’m entrusting to you tonight!”

"Your humble servant accepts the order!" Ding Feng clasped his hands in acknowledgment and then said, "General, you have given me a thousand elite troops. We will be taking a detour at night. I believe the entire army should discard their armor and don helmets, each carrying short weapons. I hope the General will grant my request."

Zhu Ran nodded in agreement, then put his hands on his hips and looked around at the generals who were going to battle that night, encouraging them one by one for a long time.

The night near Wuhu City became completely noisy and bustling.

In the west of the city, Zhang Cheng was leading three thousand men in a night attack on the camp. The dark night was not a good fighting environment for either the attacker or the defender.

In the east of the city, Zhu Ran personally led four thousand elite troops selected from his army, similar to Zhang Cheng, to directly attack the front line defended by the troops of Dian Man, a deputy general of the Wuwei Army.

After receiving a report from Dian Man through his scouts, General Cao Zhen, who was stationed in the south of the city, sneered: "Is that all Zhu Ran is capable of? Where is the spirit he had when he was defending against me in Jiangling? On the first day of the siege, he's already trying to launch a feint attack to break into my camp?"

"Prepare armor!" Cao Zhen suddenly stood up and ordered his attendants, "Tell Cao Tai that I will personally lead the vassal state troops and the Imperial Guard to guard the camp. Order him to send 1,500 cavalry from south to north, and under the cover of night, to carve out a good chunk of flesh from Zhu Ran!"

"Yes, sir!" As the scouts departed, the entire southern camp immediately came alive.

It's unrealistic to expect everyone to stay awake in order to prevent night attacks. Whether it's the Imperial Guard, the vassal state troops, or the elite cavalry of the central army, apart from the portion responsible for night watch, the rest of the troops need time to assemble and prepare.

Within this timeframe, Wu Jun's Zhu Ran unit unexpectedly clashed with Dian Man's Wuwei Army unit, which was defending the eastern camp of the city. As before, while the Wuwei Army was elite and valiant, not all its soldiers were on night duty.

Relying on the defenses of the camp and the support of crossbow bolts, the approximately 500-strong night watch force of the Wuwei Army barely withstood the first wave of attack. As Dian Man led the rest of the troops to don their armor and join the battle, the momentum of Zhu Ran's elite troops charging into the camp was finally halted, and the battle line quickly descended into a stalemate.

The protagonist tonight is destined not to be Dian Man, nor to be Zhu Ran or Zhang Cheng from the Kingdom of Wu.

It was Ding Feng.

The Wei army has only been besieging the city for a short time, and has not yet had time to completely encircle the city with fortifications. At present, the Wei army's main defensive focus is on the catapults and the surrounding area. There is still a gap of about half a mile between the two camps to the north and east of the city, which can be clearly seen from the city walls.

This is why Zhu Ran and his group were in a hurry to launch an offensive.

A distance of more than half a mile is nothing during the day, but it is an excellent gap in the dark, allowing Wu's army to flank from behind.

Besides General Zhang Cheng leading 3,000 men to attack the Wei army's western camp, Zhu Ran also dispatched a lieutenant general with 2,000 men to feign an attack on the Wei army's northern camp, while he himself led 4,000 men to charge the eastern camp from the front. Including Ding Feng's 1,000 men, the force totaled 10,000.

To launch a night attack on the Wei camp with 10,000 men from all sides, and to do so on a whim, requires extremely high qualities from the commander-in-chief. Such night battles have been rare in the past twenty years, but in terms of organization, Zhu Ran can indeed be considered a famous general of Wu.

Only through such chaotic nighttime battles can the disparity in troop strength be effectively bridged.

The three sides of the city—west, north, and east—were locked in a stalemate. The Wei army in the north was under the command of Li Ji, a subordinate general, and was furthest from the main camp in the south. Therefore, Li Tong's son dared not act rashly and, in accordance with previous orders, relied on the city for defense.

Commandant Cao Shuang, leading 2,500 Liaodong infantrymen, was stationed at the catapult position east of the city. With Dian Man's elite Martial Guard Battalion at the front, Cao Shuang was able to calmly arrange for his soldiers to don their armor, with fifty men guarding each catapult as per the daytime arrangement. There were forty catapults east of the city, and Cao Shuang himself could lead 500 infantrymen to guard the rear, making the position virtually foolproof.

On the battlefield, you're dealing with whatever the odds might be; any low-probability event can happen.

Cao Shuang sat on a low stool, behind him were five hundred soldiers in full armor, lined up in battle formation, sitting on the ground. This level of preparation was sufficient.

But the soldiers in the eastern watchtower began beating their small drums at an urgent pace. (End of Chapter)