Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Xiaoting.

More than ten years ago, during the Battle of Yiling, Xiaoting was the headquarters of Lu Xun's army. Xiaoting is about sixty li away from Xiling City. It is surrounded by mountains on the north and east sides and the Yangtze River on the west side. With the advantage of a navy, it is an invaluable place to station troops.

Lu Xun understood Xiaoting's geographical advantages, but to reach Xiling City from Xiaoting to the north, one had to pass through the Tiger Tooth Mountain and the Linjiang River, which stretched for more than ten miles from north to south, before reaching the hills where Xiling City was located... Such terrain, if the defending troops were determined to defend, would not be a good thing for the attacking side.

"So, Boyan, you think the Wu-Shu allied forces are quite well-defended? And that a strong attack might be hindered?" Cao Rui asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That is exactly what I meant.” Lu Xun replied solemnly: “Back then, I led 50,000 troops to attack Liu Bei from this very spot, and I know the terrain in detail. If we want to attack Xiling, we must cross Tiger Tooth Mountain and advance northwards, and we also need to occupy Gucheng Island in the river, and then go straight to Xiling City along the river.”

“According to what Bu Chan said the day before yesterday, the combined forces of Wu and Shu have more than 100,000 troops and more than 100,000 laborers. Two hundred thousand people are crammed into an area of ​​forty miles from north to south and twenty miles from east to west, and they have set up many camps for defense. If they are harmonious and do not break the rules…” Lu Xun cupped his hands and said, “I am afraid that it will be extremely difficult to launch a strong attack.”

Upon hearing this, Cao Rui frowned thoughtfully, then asked, "Can't the navy conquer this ancient city island?"

Lu Xun swallowed hard and explained earnestly, “Your Majesty, when I passed by Gucheng Island by boat, I took a close look. It was originally a sandbar, but it seems that a small city has been built there in just a few months. It is nearly three zhang high, with all the watchtowers and battlements on it. Outside the city, there are moats and walls, which almost cover most of Gucheng Island.”

"Forgive my bluntness, but the strength of the Wei navy lies in its ships; fighting on board is not its forte. If the rest of the Wei infantry were to sail ashore to attack Gucheng Island, even if we led our troops to repel the Wu and Shu navies on the water, Gucheng Island's narrow terrain and numerous Wu and Shu fortifications would make it difficult to even launch an attack or garrison our troops..."

“Guchengzhou…” Cao Rui repeated the name of the sandbar in the river, then waved his hand with a hint of helplessness: “Guchengzhou is built in such a hedgehog shape that it will not be easy to attack it with either the navy or the infantry. This must be Zhuge Liang’s idea. Such a large-scale fortification would cost a lot of money. I don’t believe that Sun Deng, who is scared out of his wits by me, would make such preparations in advance.”

What His Majesty said must be true, and Lu Xun also deduced the same thing. In his opinion, Zhuge Jin, Bu Zhi, Sun Deng and others would never have the courage to expend such military and civilian resources.

Just as Lu Xun continued to explain to Cao Rui the layout of the gorge and the reasons why it was difficult to attack, the vanguard Cheng Xi's troops also sent back the intelligence they had gathered at Tiger Tooth Mountain. After discussing it with Liu Ye and Wang Ji, Cao Zhen, like Lu Xun, came to the emperor's tent together.

Cao Rui rubbed his forehead, looked at the three people bowing to him, and asked with a slightly helpless expression, "Is Tiger Fang Mountain also difficult to attack?"

"Your Majesty's foresight is truly remarkable," Cao Zhen quickly replied.

"What do you mean by being a prophet?" Cao Rui scoffed. "It's clearly Zhuge Liang and Sun Deng leading nearly 200,000 men to cower in Xiling. What other choice do they have but to defend Xiling like a tortoise shell?"

“Since they are so determined to hold their ground, I will confront them head-on.” Cao Rui’s brows gradually relaxed, but his expression remained cold, without a trace of a smile: “The army here consists of nearly 20,000 cavalry and about 40,000 infantry.”

"They want to wear us down, don't they? Issue an edict to transfer all 20,000 troops under Wang Ling and Xiahou Ru from Jiangling. 10,000 surrendered Wu soldiers and 10,000 weak Jiangxia soldiers—I'm not afraid to wear them down!"

"As you command," Cao Zhen replied, bowing respectfully.

Lu Xun asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, since Your Majesty intends to confront the Wu and Shu armies at Tiger Tooth Mountain, what should be done with the navy under my command?"

Cao Rui glanced at Lu Xun: "What do you think should be done?"

Lu Xun cupped his hands and said, "I am still unclear about the details of the Wu and Shu naval forces and ships. If the enemy's navy holds firm at the gorge and does not come out, I will find it difficult to attack for the time being. I would like to try my best to probe and lure them out, and see if I can draw the enemy ships out of the gorge and the vicinity of the water fortress, and then see whether to launch a full-scale attack or use a trick."

"Since Minister Lu has made his decision, then proceed with it." Cao Rui nodded. "Until Wang Ling and Xiahou Ru arrive, the Imperial Guards will remain stationary. The General will command the remaining infantry to attack Tiger Tooth Mountain." "Your subject obeys." Cao Zhen replied earnestly.

Of the 60,000 infantry and cavalry in this army, cavalry made up a small portion, totaling 23,000. This force consisted of 5,000 cavalry under General Wen Qin of the Left Feathered Forest Guard, 3,000 cavalry under Marquis Li Tong of Jiayun, who was directly under His Majesty's command, 10,000 cavalry under Cheng Xi of the Right Feathered Forest Guard, and 5,000 cavalry under General Bei Yan of Fengyi.

The remaining 37,000 infantrymen consisted of 10,000 Guanzhong soldiers under General Fei Yao, 5,000 Jingzhou soldiers under Man Chong, 7,000 Wancheng soldiers under Huan Fan, the Wuwei Army under Cao Tai, and 5,000 Liaodong soldiers under Jiang Wei. All of them were elite infantrymen of the Great Wei.

Since His Majesty has clearly stated that the Wuwei Army will not be moved, Cao Zhen will naturally choose from the more than 20,000 soldiers to select the 10,000 Guanzhong soldiers under his old subordinate Fei Yao for this matter.

On September 1, after being received by the emperor, Fei Yao led his troops northward to attack. About five miles into Tiger Tooth Mountain, they encountered several camps built by the Wu-Shu allied forces against the mountain. Seeing that the terrain was treacherous and difficult to defend against, they immediately set up camps for defense.

On September 2nd, a feigned attack was launched, but the allied forces of Wu and Shu did not respond.

On September 3rd and 4th, Fei Yao changed the direction of attack four times, but still failed to find the weak point of the Wu-Shu allied forces.

The same thing happened on the fifth, sixth, seventh...

On September 8th, Fei Yao led his main force in another probing attack, but to no avail. On the same day, Huan Fan and Jiang Wei each led their main forces to outflank the Wu-Shu allied forces from the east, only to find that the two most strategically important valleys in the rear were fortified by the Wu-Shu allied forces, making a direct assault difficult.

On the 9th and 10th, General Fei Yaoqi's troops were withdrawn by Cao Zhen, and Man Chong personally led 5,000 Jingzhou soldiers, while simultaneously supervising Wang Ling and Xiahou Ru's 20,000 troops to besiege the camp.

The Allied camp stretched across a mountain fortification nearly a hundred paces wide, with watchtowers and walls built on both sides of the mountain, making it extremely well-defended.

General Wei Yan, watching from the watchtower on the western mountaintop, saw the Wei army launching a massive attack. He spat with a hint of disdain, snorted coldly, and said to his adjutant beside him, "Now that the insignificant Fei Yao is gone, I wonder who Wei has sent this time."

"Go to the rear and report back to the Prime Minister that the Wei army has reinforced this place and it is no longer defensible. According to the previous agreement with the Prime Minister, my troops should retreat five miles to the next camp to rendezvous with Wu Ban's troops."

"Your subordinate obeys!" The military advisor hurriedly left, and Wei Yan also commanded the troops in this camp and several nearby hilltops, totaling about 15,000 men, to slowly retreat.

Upon learning of Man Chong's arrival, the Wu-Shu allied forces retreated. Cao Zhen immediately ordered his troops to continue their advance, but they only advanced five li before being blocked again by the even stronger allied forces relying on the mountainous terrain.

The army took ten days to capture only a small portion of Tiger Tooth Mountain. After suffering approximately six thousand casualties in the assault and spending five days, the army was finally able to pass through Tiger Tooth Mountain and reach the vicinity of the Xiling Hills, where the Wu and Shu armies were stationed.

The military intelligence from that location was quickly relayed back, revealing that the Wei army was met with a long encirclement stretching for dozens of miles. Behind this encirclement lay a dense, impenetrable defense, as hard as a tortoise shell.

During the past two weeks, Lu Xun tried every means to provoke Lu Xun to fight at the mouth of the gorge, but there was no response whatsoever.

The situation gradually reached a stalemate. (End of Chapter)