My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 819: Returning Home in Glory

The tenth day of April, the first year of Zhangwu.

Xunshi County, Shangdang County, Bingzhou.

Hundreds of thousands of troops confronted each other here. Both sides were well-equipped and had strong camps. A murderous atmosphere enveloped the whole area.

As an aside, Xunshi County, which is Gaoping County in later generations, was renamed Gaoping during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Later, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Chai Rong of the Later Zhou fought the founding battle against the Northern Han army from Shanxi in Gaoping.

Therefore, Xunshi or Gaoping has been the throat of the Central Plains regime from Henan to attack the separatist regime in Shanxi since ancient times. No matter who comes to attack, the war will start here.

Going back further, the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao during the Warring States Period was also fought in this place. Perhaps the location of the main battlefield would not be so exactly the same, but the error would never exceed the scope of a county.

Therefore, this war cannot be avoided no matter what.

On the Cao army side, Xiahou Dun also knew the seriousness of the situation, so he personally brought more than 40,000 main forces and most of his capable generals to Xunshi County to defend it.

Xunshi County is located in the Danshui River Valley and is surrounded by mountains, but the river valley is not narrow enough to be blocked by a wall or a city. Instead, fortifications must be built in the wild, and the strength of the fortifications is not as good as that of a city defense.

There is no way around this. Lian Po and Zhao Kuo were unable to build a city to defend against Bai Qi back then. So how can Xiahou Dun build a city to deal with Zhang Fei today?

There is a rammed earth wall, some pointed wooden fences, antler barricades, and several layers of deep trenches formed when taking earth in front of the rammed earth wall. It is already worthy of Xiahou Dun.

Lian Po’s camp back then was not as good as this.

Opposite Xiahou Dun was Zhang Fei's army of 100,000, which was at least twice as many as Xiahou Dun's, and nearly 2.5 times as many. However, Zhang Fei was the attacker, and he had to attack the camp by force, so he suffered a little disadvantage in terms of terrain. Xiahou Dun could hold on for the time being.

……

"Although Xiahou Dun is not good at fighting, he is determined to defend. It seems that he is quite popular."

After the initial exploratory attack failed, Zhang Fei did not hesitate and withdrew directly that day, allowing his troops to adjust their condition in preparation for the next battle.

He knew very well that his goal was to stick to Xiahou Dun and attract as many troops as possible from Cao's army, not to defeat the enemy immediately.

But now that he is here, he must act more realistically and not slack off, otherwise he will not be able to fool Xiahou Dun.

Liu Bei's army was already better equipped with weapons than Cao's army, and was good at attacking strongholds. Zhang Fei ordered his men to openly and ostentatiously build siege equipment to put enormous psychological pressure on the enemy.

All these tasks require time, but what Zhang Fei has the most right now is time. He only seeks to make all these actions visible so that Xiahou Dun can see what he is doing.

Sure enough, Xiahou Dun noticed all this the next day and felt very uneasy.

Zhang Fei ordered people to build heavy catapults on a large scale, as well as trench bridge vehicles and battering rams, obviously in an effort to completely destroy Xiahou Dun's camp.

The progress of construction is also visible to the naked eye every day.

Three days later, Zhang Fei's first batch of catapults was hastily built, and then he started to fight against Xiahou Dun - Xiahou Dun also had catapults on his side, of course, and Xiahou Dun was fighting on the interior and fighting a defensive battle, so it was easier for him to dispatch equipment than Zhang Fei. However, the engineering and technical level of Cao's army has always been inferior to that of Liu Bei's army, so they could not gain any advantage in a fight.

Starting from April 15th, the two armies began to engage in a war of attrition.

Zhang Fei had dozens of catapults, which continuously bombarded the opposite side with stones weighing more than ten or twenty pounds each. Each stone was the size of a football.

When the arrow towers and towers of Cao's army were hit, the wooden pillars broke, the towers collapsed, and the crossbowmen on top also fell down with screams.

The impact on the rammed earth wall was not significant, just a small dent, and the rammed earth loosened to the sides, dissipating most of the force. However, the wooden picket fences and antler barricades could not withstand such bombardment. The battlefield was soon filled with damaged debris.

The Cao army's battle against Zhang Fei was of course able to damage many of Zhang Fei's fortifications, and occasionally they were even able to counterattack and destroy Zhang Fei's trebuchets - but for every trebuchet Xiahou Dun destroyed, he would lose at least three of his own.

But Zhang Fei was very happy to see such an exchange. He was not afraid of Xiahou Dun in terms of technology and equipment consumption. And he didn't care at all if Xiahou Dun destroyed his camp wall.

You are the attacking party, so just break the camp wall a little bit. If you have the guts, Xiahou Dun, take advantage of the fact that my camp wall is broken and rush up to attack me directly.

It's simply a dream come true.

After two days of "fire preparation", Zhang Fei launched another strong attack. Thousands of elite swordsmen wearing steel armor and tens of thousands of halberd soldiers wearing breastplates, under the cover of countless crossbows, lined up and moved forward, ready to charge at any time.

The range of the divine arm crossbow was two to three hundred steps, and they all chose to throw it high and shoot upward to ensure that the trajectory passed over the heads of their own soldiers. Moreover, before the charge, a corridor would be specially reserved between the formations of melee soldiers for the divine arm crossbowmen to stand.

Such a relatively loose formation is actually a bit dangerous if the enemy rushes out to counterattack. The crossbowmen can retreat quickly, but it is easy to leave too large a gap between the melee soldiers' formations, which can be penetrated and divided by the enemy.

Unfortunately, Xiahou Dun did not have the courage to do so at this moment. Even if Zhang Fei left a big gap between the army formations, Xiahou Dun would only think that Zhang Fei was deliberately leaving a flaw to lure the enemy.

He didn't dare to take the risk of counterattack with the few elite cavalry left under his command.

Then he could only watch helplessly as the rain of arrows from the crossbow came crashing down on him.

It had been a long time since Cao's army had fought an offensive and defensive battle with Liu Bei's army in the wild, because Cao's army had been obviously weaker than Liu Bei's army several years ago, and Cao Cao did not have the courage to fight in the field.

It has been three years since Liu Bei launched his second Northern Expedition in the 16th year of Jian'an. Most of the wars of attrition fought between Cao's army and Liu Bei were sieges.

When attacking a city, the range advantage of the Shenbi crossbow is not very obvious, because the defenders have battlements as cover, and there is also a clear height difference advantage, which can make up for the range difference of dozens of steps.

But today is a rare guard camp. Although the defenders have a wall, the altitude of both sides is almost high. In this case, the range advantage of the Shenbi crossbow over the traditional step-down crossbow is very obvious.

Xiahou Dun also ordered his archers to shoot back as hard as they could. But before Zhang Fei officially charged, he ordered his melee soldiers to keep a distance from Xiahou Dun's camp wall. Xiahou Dun soon found that he was being shot at in vain.

This situation is similar to the Battle of Guandu when Cao's army was suppressed by Yuan Shao. The key difference is that when they were suppressed, Cao's army at least had the advantage of catapults, but now they are lagging behind in both crossbows and catapults.

After some of Cao's archers were killed or injured, the remaining crossbowmen realized that such resistance was futile. They could only hide behind the deer horns and rammed earth walls, holding their heads in despair and giving up shooting arrows. For a time, their morale reached its lowest point.

The situation where one side is attacked unilaterally and cannot fight back is always the most demoralizing.

After Zhang Fei confirmed through the telescope that the enemy's bows and crossbows had been suppressed, he ordered his men to wave the flags and move forward with all their might.

The morale of Liu Bei's soldiers was high, and the enemy's long-range firepower had been greatly weakened, so the attacking side became even more courageous.

"Kill! Kill!"

"Kill Xiahou Dun! No matter who surrenders!"

"The Cao bandit only has two states left. He will surely perish! Don't work for him!" As the soldiers charged forward, they shouted slogans according to their pre-war instructions, further shaking the morale of the defenders.

Hundreds of trench bridges made of tied logs were built directly on the trench, and a tide of swordsmen and halberd soldiers rushed forward along the trench bridge.

Originally, this should be the most vulnerable time for the attacking soldiers, and they could easily be hit by the crossfire of the defending crossbows. However, the crossbowmen under Xiahou Dun were severely suppressed, and at least two-thirds of them missed this round of killing opportunities, allowing Zhang Fei's men to easily rush through the trench.

The sound of weapons clashing soon resounded throughout the battlefield. On the front line that stretched for miles, thousands of soldiers from both armies were brandishing swords, slashing at each other, stabbing with halberds and spears, and fighting hard.

Xiahou Dun's soldiers, relying on the height of the rammed earth wall, could barely gain an advantage of several feet in height and attack from a high position. But this advantage was not enough to make up for the difference in manpower, equipment, and morale. After a bloody battle for a while, Xiahou Dun's men gradually became exhausted.

The key point was that morale was extremely low. Everyone thought that Cao Cao had no hope. Although they did not turn against their allies on the battlefield, they could not stop retreating.

Fortunately, Xiahou Dun's camp had more than one line of defense. Even if some soldiers escaped and retreated to the second line of defense, at least they would not lose the entire defense area at once. Historically, when Lian Po was defending Bai Qi in Changping, he also had three lines of defense in front and back. This kind of setting was still very common in offensive and defensive battles in fortified areas in the wild. After all, rammed earth walls and trenches were much cheaper than city walls, so they could be built as spare parts.

Cao's army was soon defeated by Zhang Fei, and the battle line was jagged. Cao's army, which could not escape in time, was cut off by Zhang Fei's troops who broke through the first line of defense, and soon collapsed like ice and snow melting, and thousands of soldiers had to surrender.

"Xiahou Dun is a common man. He can manage the finances and internal affairs, but it is really difficult for him to fight such a life-threatening battle."

Seeing his men breaking through the enemy's defense line, Zhang Fei laughed with satisfaction and did not forget to mock the other side.

When it comes to fighting tough battles, Zhang Fei thinks he is far better than Xiahou Dun.

After losing a line of defense, Xiahou Dun had to shrink his defense zone as much as possible and desperately defend it layer by layer. He finally managed to hold out until dark that day and was not completely defeated by Zhang Fei.

But the morale of Cao's army had dropped terribly, and Xiahou Dun himself was dejected and depressed after returning to the city.

He had to start considering defending Xunshi County to the death and gradually abandoning the camps outside the city.

However, just as he said this thought, his subordinates and staff members reminded him:

"General! If we abandon the long fort in the south of the city and focus on defending the city, what if Zhang Fei bypasses the city and surrounds our army? Our army has no choice but to leave the city and defend it, crossing the Danshui River Valley, just in case Zhang Fei detours and cuts off our way back!"

Xiahou Dun suddenly woke up and realized that he was indeed frightened by today's bloody battle and was a little distracted.

He had no choice but to fine-tune the plan. On the one hand, he forcibly mobilized auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers to work day and night to build more camps and fortifications on the east and west sides of Xun's County to ensure that the Dan River Valley was completely cut off and Zhang Fei could not sneak across.

On the other hand, he also spared no effort to pull as many troops as possible from his own command to reinforce, just to hold on the front battlefield.

During this process, some staff members also reminded him to be wary of the enemy's feint to the east and attack in the west.

But unfortunately, there is no way to guard against such things.

Because the opinions of his staff were not unanimous, some reminded him to pay attention to Jingxingkou or Huguan, the easternmost of the Eight Passes in Taihang Mountains, while others mentioned the relatively inconspicuous Chenguan Pass in the southwest.

After all, there are a total of eight Taihang Eight Passes, and even among them, there are four or five that border Liu Bei’s military defense zone.

There are no top-notch strategists around Xiahou Dun. With Liu Bei's strength, Liu Bei's army can definitely flourish everywhere. Who can guess which of the five passes Liu Bei will attack from even if he has another army?

But if we deploy troops to defend all five places, it would be equivalent to not defending them at all.

But Xiahou Dun really had no choice.

……

"Xiahou Dun should have been transferred by my third brother, and he has been holding my third brother back in the Xuan family for almost half a month. He should be feeling the luckiest right now.

He must have thought that after Cao Cao had repelled the attacks of Xingba and Zijun (Wang Ping), he would come back to rescue him, so now is a good opportunity for our army to attack Chenguanxing. "

After the battle in the direction of Shangdang County fell into a temporary stalemate, Guan Yu led 30,000 people to the direction of Chen County in Henei County. After confirming all the news, he quickly made his own assessment and then suddenly launched a quick surprise attack.

Quiet like a virgin, moving like a rabbit.

It is slow as a forest and fast as the wind.

Because it was a quick attack, it would certainly not be easy for Guan Yu to carry heavy siege weapons with the army, so in the end he chose to start the first battle with a night attack.

As for the weapons for attacking the stronghold, they only brought simple bamboo ladders, a few battering rams that they would cut temporarily, and a large number of grappling hooks and ropes that were equipped with the army.

The place called Chenguanxing is a dangerous and narrow valley. During this period of time, Guan Yu had already secretly understood the local terrain through scouts.

He also knew that a big difficulty in night raids was that the vision was poor at night and it was difficult to march quickly at night. Therefore, he made careful preparations and selected soldiers with strong night vision in advance.

These soldiers often have a more balanced nutrition and a better diet.

After Guan Yu picked out these people, he made sure they were well fed and well-dressed for half a month while preparing for war. Every meal included beef, mutton and pork liver fried with oil made from rice bran - this was also a little trick Zhuge Jin taught him to supplement some nutrients that enhance night vision.

Of course, Zhuge Jin would definitely not say words like "Vitamin A/E", as long as Guan Yu could understand it.

After doing all this, Guan Yu's night attack team was more confident.

On the night of April 20th, Guan Yu's vanguard team of 1,000 soldiers, led by Gao Shun, took advantage of the cover of darkness and quietly rushed to the front of Chenguan Pass.

The Cao army patrols and scouts on the periphery had been "inadvertently" wiped out by Guan Yu in the battle many days ago.

Therefore, no unexpected events occurred during the raid, and Gao Shun arrived at the city smoothly.

"Wait for the patrol to pass, then set up the hook! Divide into 300 people, with archers in the rear to support the enemy. If the enemy does not find anything unusual, do not shoot. But if there is a clamor and shouting on the top of the city wall, and close combat begins, all archers will follow the sound and shoot with all their strength!

Don't be afraid of accidentally hurting our own people in the dark. Our army is well-equipped with armor. Today, I specifically asked you to bring only short bows and no strong crossbows, just to avoid accidentally hurting our own people."

The archers suddenly realized what was going on. They had never expected General Gao to have such considerations. He was truly courageous and resolute. In order to win the battle quickly, he had even considered the issue of "it might be difficult to distinguish between the enemy and ourselves if we randomly shot arrows in the dark".

There will certainly be some accidental injuries, but all of this is to end the suffering of the people of the world as soon as possible. Even if it is only for the fate of this assault team itself, this tactic is the most effective in reducing casualties. After all, it can significantly shorten the fighting time and speed up the progress of the battle.

After Gao Shun finished giving the order, the soldiers under his command quickly began to execute it. Dozens of grappling hooks were quietly thrown up and stuck on the top of the city wall when there was no opportunity.

The soldiers tested the pulling force, then held the rope tightly with their knives in their mouths and climbed up with all their might.

(End of this chapter)