Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chengdu was actually located on the western side of Shu, and the Jinniu Road, which led to Jiange, Baishui, Yang'an, Hanzhong and other places to the north, also extended in a northeast direction.

Jiangyou Pass is about 500 li from Chengdu and is under the jurisdiction of Zitong County in Yizhou. However, Jiangyou Pass is not a big deal in Zitong County and is only garrisoned by 1,000 Shu soldiers.

This is not due to strategic shortsightedness or any oversight in the layout; it is simply because there are too many famous passes in Zitong County. The four most important passes in northern Shu, Yang'an Pass, Baishui Pass, Jiameng Pass, and Jiange Pass, are all within the jurisdiction of Zitong County.

There were over 50,000 Wei troops outside Baishui Pass, while Zhuge Liang himself only had over 20,000 men at Baishui. Where would he find the spare strength to deploy more troops in remote places like Yinping and Jiangyou? It was already a decision made with all his might to allow Jiang Wan to place 20,000 troops in Fuxian as the general reserve!

Jiangyou is upstream, and Fuxian is downstream. Both are located on the banks of the Fu River, but are more than 200 li apart.

On August 28th, Deng Ai's troops arrived at Youguan Pass in Linjiang.

Despite its name, Jiangyou Pass was actually just a small town nestled in the Fushui Valley, barely a mile in circumference, with walls no more than ten feet high. Even so, as Deng Ai gazed at the walls of Jiangyou Pass from afar, he felt a sudden sense of powerlessness.

The Yinping Road was extremely rugged and difficult to traverse. Nearly twenty days of marching and fighting through the mountains had exhausted the soldiers' physical strength and morale. The more than seven thousand packhorses brought from Yinping were not with the army on the way; some were injured on the mountain roads and could no longer continue, while others were unable to cross the mountains and had to stay in the area. In short, by the time Deng Ai's troops arrived in Jiangyou at the end of August, they were running out of food.

General Deng Ai summoned five of his commanders to his side and said earnestly, “A few days ago, our army defeated two Shu armies on the way. They will surely report back. If I am not mistaken, the Shu reinforcements will arrive here in no more than two days.”

"Gentlemen, you all know the situation in Yinping Road. Going back is impossible. The army's provisions can only last for three to five days. If we do not quickly capture Jiangyou, all of us will die here."

A military officer named Zhang Wu clasped his hands and said, "We have followed the general for so many days, hoping to achieve great feats. How can we give up halfway? This humble general is determined to fight to the death for the general in attacking the city!"

"This humble general is also not fit to die here. It would be better to die in battle and gain fame!" Sima Fengtao followed suit, clasping his hands in response.

"The same goes for me," the remaining three Sima Zhang Ji, Chunyu Ben, and Zhao Liao replied in unison.

"Good!" Deng Ai nodded slowly: "Since you all share this ambition, and we are of one mind, the small city of Jiangyou is nothing to worry about! Most of the Shu army is tied down at Baishui Pass by His Majesty. If there are troops defending this place, they certainly won't outnumber ours. We should wait until nightfall..."

Several Sima nodded in agreement with Deng Ai's strategy.

Deng Ai's troops were almost all the former direct troops of Wei Zhen when he was in Chencang and Xiabian. They were all elites, and their combat strength was only slightly inferior to that of the central army, far superior to that of ordinary prefectural and county soldiers.

The Shu army in Jiangyou and Guanzhong numbered only a little over a thousand and was not an elite force. After discovering Deng Ai's troops, they hurriedly requested the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Jiang Wan, to come to their aid from Fuxian. They then closed the city gates and lined up their troops on the city walls, taking precautions.

As for where the elite troops are... they're definitely in Baishui Pass!
7 PM, 9 PM, 11 PM, 1 AM, 1 AM... As time gradually passed and dawn drew closer, the Shu army in the city temporarily relaxed its guard. Unexpectedly, just as 3 AM arrived, at the moment when the soldiers were most exhausted, Deng Ai's troops suddenly poured out and attacked the city with fire!

By daybreak, Jiangyou Pass had fallen.

Deng Ai, disregarding any need for rest, personally inspected the grain storage area in the city after disarming the remnants of the Shu army and killing Wang Fang, the garrison commander of Jiangyou.

"Reporting to the General," Sima Chunyu Ben said, bowing, "the grain and fodder in the city have been counted and can supply our army for two months." "Good!" Deng Ai's face showed not only the fatigue from leading troops in battle, but also the sense of relief after the night raid and capture of the city: "Sima Chunyu, later you will lead your main force, with two hundred men, lightly armed, back to the route we came from, and find the packhorses left behind! My main force only has two thousand packhorses; the rest were borrowed from the state by me, relying on my reputation. If we fail to repay even a fraction, our entire army's military merit will be diminished!"

Chunyu Ben nodded earnestly: "Your subordinate understands."

Chunyu Ben had just left when Deng Ai was still carefully checking the grain in the granary. This was his duty when he was stationed in the fields. Grain was the lifeblood of the army, and he couldn't be at ease until he had checked it carefully.

Just over an hour later, around noon, Sima Zhangwu hurriedly came to Deng Ai's side and whispered in his ear, "General, the Shu reinforcements have arrived and are only three miles from Jiangyou Pass!"

Deng Ai took a deep breath: "It's alright, this city is now mine, and the Shu army is powerless to do anything about it!"

……

The situation on the eastern front remains complex, both for Shu and Wei.

Shu general Zong Yu was besieged in Jiangzhou. Jiang Wei had already led his cavalry to trap the city. After several unsuccessful attempts to persuade them to surrender, he decided not to attack again. He then sent scouts to report back to Man Chong on the way back and urged Xiahou Xian's troops behind him to come as soon as possible to prepare to attack Jiangzhou.

It's better to leave the siege to the more specialized infantry.

Several days later, in early September, Shangguan Qi from Dianjiang and Qian Hong from Lecheng reported back one after another. Qian Hong said that there were no garrison troops in Lecheng, and the local officials surrendered. Qian Hong entered the city directly and asked Jiang Wei for instructions on how to proceed with the army.

Shangguan Qi reported that he encountered Guo Huai's troops, who had occupied the city of Dianjiang, and they exchanged information about the battles on the eastern and northern routes.

This was the first meeting between the Eastern Route Army and the Northern Route Army in Sichuan after two months of fighting, and it was of great strategic significance. However, many problems still existed in terms of specific tactics.

On the one hand, Guo Huai did not expect that Yang Yi would abandon Dangqu and lead 10,000 troops directly south to confront him north of Dianjiang City, rendering his 8,000 infantry and cavalry unable to move.

On the other hand, Guo Huai learned from Shangguan Qi that Man Chong was still on his way from Baidi City to Jiangzhou, and that Jiang Wei's military actions required Man Chong's consent and could not be taken rashly. Therefore, it was impossible to join forces with him now to seek an opportunity to annihilate Yang Yi's troops. Time was fleeting; if this window of opportunity for internal coordination within the Shu army passed, it would be difficult to find such a gap again.

On September 4th, Man Chong was still on his march, having just reached Linjiang City, where he received Jiang Wei's second report. This was Guo Huai asking Jiang Wei to inquire with Man Chong whether Jiang Wei's troops could be quickly dispatched to assist Guo Huai in defeating Yang Yi's Shu army outside Dianjiang City.

Huang Quan was also in Man Chong's tent. After listening to the military advisor's report, he turned his attention to Man Chong.

Man Chong remained silent for a long time, his face much thinner, but his eyes were still bright: "No! Tell Jiang Wei to keep all his troops stationed in Jiangzhou, and we'll discuss everything after I get there!"

Huang Quan took a slight breath, seemingly unsurprised by Man Chong's reply. (End of Chapter)