My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 556: Slipping Away
Xu Huang and Le Jin agreed on a plan and prepared to take advantage of the favorable conditions that the heavy siege weapons had been almost completed to storm and capture Hechi County.

Killing Wei Yan and destroying the nearly 10,000 Liu Bei troops in the city would at least help to save face for the death of Pang De and the defeat of the Xiliang Army's vanguard, which lost more than half of its troops.

However, even if we want to launch a violent attack, it will take at least one or two days of mobilization and preparation. It is not something that can be launched immediately.

Especially since Yang Qiu escaped with more than 6,000 remnants, Xu Huang and Le Jin had to properly settle these defeated friendly troops, eliminate the morale impact caused by the defeat and escape of the friendly troops, and re-mobilize and reward the soldiers who were about to participate in the attack, all of which took time.

If they didn't do that, the bad news of Yang Qiu's defeat and Pang De's death would be enough to make Xu Huang's troops panic for several days. Once morale is low, how can they fight a tough battle?
Xu Huang finally decided to launch a general attack on Hechi County the day after tomorrow morning after making all preparations. Before the attack, he would give the entire army a feast to ensure that everyone had enough food and even some wine and meat to eat, and then start the battle.

……

Xu Huang has his own plans, and the world has other plans.

Just after Xu Huang and Le Jin had prepared for a day, another army of more than 10,000 people from Cao's army arrived near Hechi County in the afternoon of the next day.

The nearby army has reached as many as 90,000 people, almost filling the small basin formed by the confluence of two valleys where Hechi County is located.

When Pang De first arrived, he only surrounded the northeastern two sides of Hechi County with his army. Now there are too many people to be stationed, and even the west of the city has been completely surrounded, and some troops are stationed further west near Wudu and Xiabian.

The military strategy says that if there are ten of them, surround them; if there are five, attack them. Pang De's army was no more than five times that of Wei Yan. If he wanted to completely surround and annihilate him, it would cost a lot.

But now Cao's army in the Hechi battlefield is ten times larger than Wei Yan's, and the situation has obviously changed.

Cao's army was not satisfied with just capturing the city and forcing Wei Yan to abandon the city and escape. What they wanted was to capture and kill all of Wei Yan's troops and force them to land here.

However, for Xu Huang and Le Jin, the most important thing about the arrival of the new reinforcements was not the further increase in the number of soldiers, but the fact that the rear had sent counselors and generals to help them with planning. Among those who arrived with the latest 10,000 reinforcements, there was Cao Cao's military advisor Guo Jia.

When Xu Huang and Le Jin heard that Guo Jia had arrived, they naturally went out of the camp to greet him in a very grand manner.

"I didn't know that Mr. Fengxiao had arrived here first. I apologize for not welcoming you from afar. I hope you will forgive me. Mr. Fengxiao has always been by the Prime Minister's side. Why did you arrive here first?"

Guo Jia didn't look well either. He kept coughing weakly and sweating after walking a few steps. Because of the hot weather, he had to fan himself with a small paper fan.

After catching his breath for a while, Guo Jia casually responded to Xu Huang: "The Prime Minister's army is only two days away from here. The day before yesterday, at midnight, after hearing the bad news that Pang De, who was sent back by the front army, was killed and Liang Xing surrendered to the enemy, the Prime Minister was furious and wanted to personally lead the army and march twice as fast to fight Liu Bei.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister was upset by the news of the defeat, and his headache worsened. He needed to recuperate for a few days and could not travel fast. He was also worried that you were not good at strategy and would be tricked by the enemy again, so he asked me to rush to the front of the army alone to check for loopholes and fill in the gaps. "

Xu Huang and Le Jin were also ashamed when they heard this. Pang De had indeed underestimated the enemy and was too eager for success.

It is normal for an army of 200,000 to be hundreds of miles apart and have a travel time difference of more than ten days. It is also impossible for the counselors around Cao Cao to be distributed to each unit in a meticulous manner.

In Cao Cao's original consideration, he felt that this small problem was not a problem and would not cause any harm.

But Liu Bei's army won the battle so quickly. In less than ten days, Pang De was killed and Cao's vanguard was severely damaged. Who could bear such a speed?

Cao Cao learned a lesson from his failure, so he immediately sent Guo Jia to the front line to supervise the army, so as to avoid wasting his talent by keeping him by his side.

……

Guo Jia's wisdom and strategy were obviously much greater than those of Xu Huang, Le Jin and other generals. After he arrived, he immediately asked Xu Huang to report and sort out the details of the recent battles, and then found many problems.

For example, Guo Jia soon discovered that when Yang Qiu, who had retreated back, reported the defeat in the battle with Zhang Fei, many details did not match up.

In particular, there was a considerable discrepancy between the casualties in each battle that he reported at the beginning and the actual number of remnants he brought back.

At first, Xu Huang and others were so confused that they didn't pay attention to these details and were fooled by Yang Qiu. However, Guo Jia questioned them carefully and found some useful information.

"Didn't you say that when you retreated from Zhang Fei's stronghold 70 miles northwest of Yangping Pass, you successfully evacuated more than 8,000 remnants? How come only 6,000 returned to Hechi?"

Yang Qiu was a little flustered by the question. He was also a frightened bird at the beginning, so it was inevitable that he would leave flaws in his words. At this moment, he hesitated: "Did I...did I say that more than 8,000 people were evacuated? Maybe I made a slip of the tongue and didn't count carefully at the time. Please forgive me, Guo Jijiu..."

Guo Jia: "What's the point of saying forgiveness or not? Just say whatever you want to say. We have already been defeated. There is no point in trying to cover up our mistakes!"

Yang Qiu was repeatedly questioned by Guo Jia, who brought up many unreasonable points for cross-examination. He was soon defeated and admitted obediently: "In fact... when we withdrew from Zhang Fei, there were indeed more than 8,000 people.

But after retreating more than 50 miles, less than 100 miles from Hechi, I encountered another enemy army that suddenly ambushed and killed me. My army was panicked and in chaos, and they all tried to escape, resulting in the annihilation of 2,000 soldiers in the rear army again... I am deeply ashamed and did not elaborate on this defeat, but it should have been the pursuit arranged by Zhang Fei."

Xu Huang and Le Jin, who were standing by, also felt ashamed when they heard the new information from Guo Jia's interrogation. It had been two days since Yang Qiu retreated here, and he had actually not noticed these details or investigated them in detail, and had just muddled through.

After hearing this, Guo Jia slammed the table in frustration and said, "What a fool! Pang De led 30,000 troops to advance along the Chencang Valley Road. The search along the way must have been thorough. How could Zhang Fei send troops to bypass and ambush in advance?
Besides, can Zhang Fei guarantee that he can defeat Pang De in the frontal battlefield? If he is not sure of victory, why doesn't he leave more troops to participate in the decisive battle and concentrate superior forces? Let me ask you, how did this army that ambushed you halfway do it? Did they intercept you from the front, cut off your waist, or just chase you from behind? "

Yang Qiu recalled it and this time he did not dare to hide anything. He said with certainty: "The enemy did not dare to cut us off from the front or the back. They simply waited until our army had almost passed, then suddenly rushed out and chased us."

Guo Jia frowned. "It seems that the commander of this ambush army is not sure that he can defeat you, otherwise he would just block your way and attack you. The strength of the ambush army should not be as large as your defeated army, right?"

Yang Qiu became more and more ashamed: "Thinking back, I think they really don't have as many soldiers as me... So I am deeply ashamed and didn't want to say much at first. Please forgive me, Master Guo!"

Xu Huang, who was standing by, combined what Yang Qiu said with the incident that happened the day before Pang De was defeated, when the grain transport team he had obtained was robbed and fled back. After connecting the two, Xu Huang immediately came to the conclusion:
"So, the enemy troops that Captain Yang encountered during his retreat should be the same enemy troops that ambushed our baggage train two days ago! I have also asked the defeated soldiers carefully. Those enemies crossed mountains and ridges as if they were walking on flat ground, and their accents were mostly difficult to understand. They must be the Bantun Barbarians led by Wei Yan's deputy general Wang Ping!"

Wang Ping intercepted Xu Huang's baggage train that was delivering supplies to Pang De. This seemed to have happened quite a while ago, but it was actually only three days. It can only be said that the battlefield was too vast, and there were multiple operations, so it seemed a bit confusing.

It was completely normal that Xu Huang did not replay the last minor defeat of Yang Qiu until this moment. In actual military operations, both sides opened the "fog of war", so there was no real-time perspective.

After hearing this news, Guo Jia immediately became alert: "You are too careless! Such important information, why didn't you tell me earlier! Since Wang Ping is Wei Yan's deputy general and has the ability to cross mountains and ridges, how do we know that Wei Yan's own troops are not capable of crossing mountains and ridges?
I have always felt that it was unreasonable for Liu Bei to leave Wei Yan alone in Hechi. The walls of Hechi were not strong and could not withstand the strong attack of heavy ladders and battering rams. It was not Liu Bei's style to let Wei Yan die just to delay our central army and disconnect the vanguard from the central army.

Now it seems that we have to be on guard against Wei Yan abandoning the city and escaping after wasting enough time! By the way, have you guys blocked the south of the city tightly?" Xu Huang and Le Jin looked at each other in surprise. After a moment's pause, Xu Huang immediately replied, "Hechi County is only surrounded by basins on the east, west and north sides, and the terrain is open. The south of the city is all mountains, and it is not easy to set up camp, so we just divided our troops to block the city gates."

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia immediately stood up and said firmly: "Not enough! Completely surround the south of the city immediately and leave no room for Wei Yan to retreat! Then launch a strong attack! We underestimated Liu Bei's mountain warfare capabilities after entering Shu from the beginning, and we will suffer a great loss!"

Xu Huang and Le Jin certainly did not dare to ignore this opinion, and immediately sent people to do it.

……

Two hours later, in Hechi County.

As usual, Wei Yan personally inspected the city’s defenses and soon arrived at the south of the city.

Recently he has been conducting personal inspections every day to check changes in enemy deployments.

Wei Yan knew very well that his mission was only to delay the enemy and drive a nail behind the enemy to cause a disconnect between the enemy's vanguard and the central army, rather than to defend it. The city of Hechi County was too simple, and it would definitely not be able to be defended after the heavy siege weapons were mass-produced.

These precautions were repeatedly told to Wei Yan by his military advisor before he came to Hechi. Wei Yan did not dare to forget them for a moment and strictly followed them every day.

"Captain, look! There is a new sentry post on the southern hill!"

Wei Yan was on patrol when an officer in charge of lookout beside him, who had very sharp eyesight, happened to notice this situation and quickly spoke out to remind him.

Wei Yan became alert and looked in the direction the other party pointed. He really saw the shadowy figures of the army moving on the hill to the south.

"What's going on? It seems that Cao's army has finally begun to be wary of our army's ability to fight in the mountains. Do they think we may be able to break through the mountains? Could it be that Wang Ping has won a few small victories outside, forcing them to do so?"

After a brief calculation, Wei Yan came to the same conclusion.

"Then how should our army respond?" The officers around Wei Yan also hoped that the commander would come up with a decision.

Wei Yan held the hilt of his sword tightly and thought: "The enemy has been besieging the city for quite some time. Even though there are not many large trees around Hechi County and they need to be cut down from a distance, the heavy siege equipment should be almost ready. Once the enemy completely surrounds the city and launches a general attack, our army will definitely be defeated. In this case, we should cross the mountain tonight and break out! Abandon the city directly!"

"Abandon the city? We abandon the city without the enemy even attacking? Will our lord or military advisor blame us when we return?" Some irresponsible officers around him were immediately shocked by Wei Yan's statement.

According to traditional thinking, we must always try to resist and use defensive battles to kill more and consume more enemy troops.

Several other officers took into consideration the isolation from both inside and outside information, and they did not know how the battle between Wang Ping and Zhang Fei was going. If they abandoned the city, would it have a negative impact on the overall situation?

They reminded him worriedly: "Captain, if we abandon the city and break out, what if General Zhang is still fighting with Pang De? After Xu Huang takes Hechi, he can completely open up the retreat route. By then, all Xu Huang's troops will be pressed on General Zhang. How can General Zhang resist?"

Wei Yan waved his hand decisively: "This is not something we need to consider. The Lord originally asked us to delay the consumption, and did not say how long it should be delayed. We just need to do our best.

If General Zhang fought slowly and was attacked by Pang De and Xu Huang, he would have to abandon the camp and retreat to the main camp at Yangping Pass, or even to Yang'an Pass. That was General Zhang's problem.

I just need to be responsible for the troops assigned to me by the Lord. Everyone should stay in their positions and do their own duties. Listen to me and prepare to break out tonight!"

Wei Yan was still so decisive. He always believed that the war could not proceed completely according to plan. In this case, everyone just needed to do their own tasks. If the friendly forces failed to complete the task as planned, it was the friendly forces' problem. Otherwise, everyone would think too much and everything would be messed up.

So, at the second watch of the night, the remaining 8,000-plus men of Wei Yan's army were all ready to break out. They took all their equipment with them, including two pots of arrows and some dry food per person, and abandoned all other heavy items.

In order to avoid disturbing the enemy and causing them to take precautions in advance, Wei Yan did not even set fire to the worthless materials that could not be taken away when abandoning the city. He just threw some of the things into a dry well or dug a big pit to bury them.

The people in the city had already evacuated before the war. Apart from the army, there was no one else in the city, so there was no need to worry about retaliation from Cao's army.

Wei Yan also observed the enemy's encirclement in advance and specially chose the southwest corner of Hechi County where the enemy had not yet completely surrounded him - to be exact, the western section of the southern city wall. Then, under the cover of darkness, he used hundreds of thick hemp ropes to lower the soldiers out of the city one after another.

Wei Yan's troops had already gone more than halfway out of the city when Cao's army discovered something was wrong. They quickly raised the fire signal to warn and then ordered nearby troops to come and surround them.

However, although Cao's army was large in number, they were widely distributed in all directions of Hechi County. It would take a lot of time to gather them in a hurry.

Seeing that they had been exposed, Wei Yan immediately and decisively ordered an attack and led the troops to break out.

"Brothers, follow me and fight our way through the enemy! If we fight our way to Qinling Mountains, Cao's soldiers won't be able to catch up with us! Don't worry about the reinforcements coming from the east and west! Just focus on the south and fight your way through!"

Seeing Wei Yan's decisiveness and the example he set, the morale of the soldiers was boosted. These soldiers were all Danyang soldiers who were good at mountain warfare. They wielded swords and shields or hammers/axes/shields, and leaped up and down to kill the enemies blocking their way.

"Stop Wei Yan! Reinforcements from General Xu and General Le will arrive soon! We can't let this guy break through!" The Cao army general in charge of blocking the road in this area was just an unknown captain. Seeing Wei Yan coming with great momentum, he also tried his best to resist, just wanting to delay until the friendly forces arrived at the battlefield.

Unfortunately, his troops were not as good at mountain warfare as the Danyang troops, and they were outnumbered in this local battlefield. Wei Yan made a desperate move and rushed forward quickly, quickly reaching him, chopping off the Cao army captain with a single blow, and then broke through and fled.

Half an hour later, Xu Huang and Guo Jia arrived at the battlefield one after another, but Wei Yan had already run away and disappeared. The two could only look at each other in bewilderment.

This is another trick played by Liu Bei's army. It's so frustrating!

However, Xu Huang was still too eager to make progress. He thought about it for a while and discussed with Guo Jia: "Guo Jijiu, I have strictly implemented your deployment. The final result is like this... It is not the fault of Zhan.

Fortunately, this Hechi County was finally taken, and it can be considered an explanation to the Prime Minister. How about reporting that 'our army severely damaged Wei Yan in Hechi, annihilated most of the enemy, and easily captured the city. Our army suffered very few casualties, and Wei Yan relied on the darkness to escape and barely escaped.'"

Guo Jia's mouth twitched and he sighed, "For the sake of the Prime Minister's health, I'll report it like this. The Prime Minister really needs some good news to relieve his headache."

(End of this chapter)