Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 22 The First Battle
March 5th.

The night has not yet completely faded.

Perhaps because they knew there would be a battle in the next few days, smoke from cooking fires rose from the Han army camp earlier than usual.

Cao Zhen learned the news in the general's tent, climbed onto the platform and looked towards the Han camp in the west. After thinking for a moment, he did not immediately wake up the soldiers in the camp, but chose to let the soldiers continue to recuperate.

More than half an hour later, smoke from Cao's camp began to rise.

After another half an hour, the whole army had a full meal.

Cao Zhen finally issued the first military order of the day:
He ordered the general Sima Hao Zhao to lead the five divisions of the army, totaling 10,000 infantry, to move one mile forward from the camp, while the rest of the troops remained in the camp to recuperate.

Since the distance from the camp is not far, there is no need to use baggage carts to transport armor and soldiers.

After these 10,000 troops left the camp one mile and formed their battle formation, they were quickly arranged by the captains of each unit to sit down and rest.

Everyone at the level of captain knew that the war would not start until at least noon.

Because the emperor's two thousand tiger and leopard cavalry were scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m.

It was as if the Han army wanted to wait for a flood to wipe out most of Cao's main force.

Cao's army also wanted to wait for the two thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in Chang'an to suddenly appear on the battlefield and wipe out the Han army in one fell swoop.

As the saying goes, it is better to cut off one of his fingers than to hurt ten of them.

A war of attrition or a tug-of-war is not the effect that the commanders on both sides want at this time.

They all wanted to fight a war of annihilation and destroy the enemy's vitality as much as possible.

However, to the surprise of the captains, Cao Zhen's military order soon came down from the earthen plateau more than ten feet above the ground at the foot of the Qinling Mountains.

He ordered Captain Le Lin to lead 2,000 men as the vanguard to occupy the slope in the middle of the battlefield, which was three or four miles long from north to south and more than a hundred steps wide from east to west.

The war unfolded so uneventfully.

On the edge of Yushan Terrace, under the Jinwu Banner.

The Han emperor, who was rather upset, came to the general's platform wearing armor and carrying a bow just as the five battalions of Wei army left the camp, and stood there watching.

When the centralmost group of Wei troops began to move towards the center of the battlefield, he calmly put his hands into the sleeves of his cloak outside his armor to make himself look calmer.

Cao's army moved slowly, and dust and smoke gradually rose.

On the general's platform, Zhao Yun gave the order.

He ordered Captain Feng Hu to lead a thousand elite troops on the left, and the Military Farm Commandant Zong Qian to lead five hundred brave veterans on the right, with another five hundred brave young and strong garrison troops in between, to fight with Cao's army for the only earthen slope in the ten-li battlefield.

This slope is four miles east of the Han army camp and six miles west of the Cao army camp. If it can be occupied, it will also create some advantages in commanding troops.

"General Zilong, doesn't the art of war say 'use the normal to unite and the unusual to win'? Didn't we release Feng Polu and those brave veterans and garrison troops in the first battle?"

With Zhao Yun in command, Liu Chan's brain stopped thinking and he asked questions subconsciously.

Because of the amazing compensation he promised before the war, many brave warriors have come forward to ask the leaders of various departments to fight in the past few days.

This part has about 4,000 people.

According to Zhao Yun's words to comfort the emperor, those who did not stand up voluntarily were not necessarily unwilling to die, but at that time their life and death were not yet imminent, and they were still somewhat afraid of death.

Once they engage in battle with the enemy, they will die if they advance, and they will die if they retreat. Thinking that they will have no worries after death if they die in battle, more people will be willing to stand up and fight for him, the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the enemy outnumbers us, and we are weak. If we are defeated in the first battle, it will certainly have a serious impact on our army's morale.

"Also, I have no idea whether those veteran soldiers who have come forward can fight or not, or what their combat capabilities are, so I let them go up and engage the enemy first to test the odds."

The old general answered solemnly.

The Han emperor, standing alongside the old general on the platform, didn't understand the old general's reply. He simply stared at the Han army array moving eastward on the battlefield and nodded in confusion.

Although both were located at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains, the general platform on the plateau where the Han army's flag was raised could not be seen due to the obstruction of mountains and forests.

General Cao Zhen, with his waist folded, also stared intently at the only local battlefield at the moment.

Over the past five years, the Shu army has laid down its arms and retired to the mountains. Everyone feels that the pseudo-Han regime without Liu Bei would no longer be able to fight.

Finally, he typed it out.

Although Longyou had been won, according to Zhang He's letter, Zhuge Liang's command of troops and construction were all based on the key points of military strategy, which made Zhang He feel ashamed of himself.

In addition to what Du Xi said in the morning that there might be some tricks and schemes in Xieshui, Cao Zhen had to put aside his strategic contempt for the pseudo-Han monarch and his ministers, and take the Shu army in front of him seriously tactically.

Sending Le Lin with two thousand men to fight for the land was to test the quality of the Shu army.

If my guess is correct, the Shu army will certainly send out its elite troops to fight in order to avoid defeat in the first battle.

A quarter of an hour later, the Han army arrived at Banpo first, occupied the advantageous terrain and lined up to wait.

Another quarter of an hour later, Wei general Le Lin arrived with his troops.

After only three waves of arrows were fired at each other, the two armies officially engaged in battle.

Wei general Le Lin was the son of Le Jin, one of the five best generals. He inherited his father's legacy of being the first to charge into battle. Relying on his sharp spear and strong armor, he took the lead in charging the old soldiers on the right wing of the Han army on the gentle slope, trying to break through this obviously weak flank and then cut the Han army down from the slope like peeling skin.

The two thousand men under his command, including those above the team leader, were all generals of the Le family. They had fought against Guan Yu in Qingni and Sun Quan in Hefei. After Le Jin's death, they followed him back to Luoyang.

Now that military achievements are right before their eyes, everyone is extremely excited, without any frustration of being sent out as cannon fodder in the first battle.

As for the two thousand Wei soldiers, their advantage seemed very obvious. Their overall armor rate was better than that of the Han army. And because their family members were taken hostage, they could fight to the death as long as the military judges were still able to maintain order.

The two armies fought against each other.

On the general platform of Yushan, Liu Chan clearly saw that half of the right wing of the Han army had been cut off without Zhao Yun's explanation. Together with the people who had just fallen in the arrows, it was estimated that nearly a hundred people had been killed.

The Wei army was still cutting through the Han army's formation, although the progress was slow. However, according to the speed, in another quarter of an hour, they would be able to directly cut through the right wing of the Han army under the charge of the Tuntian Duwei Zong Qian, and then surround the Han army formation.

The battlefield was gradually filled with smoke and dust, and Liu Chan lost part of his vision.

So he looked to the east, but saw that Cao Zhen had not sent out any other troops, and it was obvious that he wanted to let this Wei army fend for itself here.

Let’s look back at Tsuchizaka.

There was smoke and dust rising everywhere, and the sound of killing was deafening.

Liu Chan's palms began to sweat slightly, and he was a little nervous, but he also knew that he should not abuse his power to ask what to do or whether he should send people for support.

However, he can sit still, but some people cannot.

"Commander, do you want to send people to support us?" Feng Hu's military commander Liu Yin asked nervously. He really didn't trust those old and weak soldiers.

Zhao Yun immediately shook his head: "No need."

Then everyone looked towards the battlefield again.

Another half a quarter of an hour passed, just when the left wing of the Wei army was about to completely cut off a layer of skin from the right wing of the Han army and was preparing to go around the right wing of the Han army to encircle and kill the Han army from the rear, the left wing of the Han army, which had been in a stalemate with the enemy and had not made any progress, suddenly moved.

Thousands of elite soldiers on the left wing of the Han army, who had been deadlocked with the Wei army, suddenly launched a fierce charge under the leadership of a flag with the word "Feng" on it. The sound of shouting and killing shook the earth. However, in just a few dozen breaths, they had completely driven the enemy in front of them back to the foot of the slope.

Afterwards, they directly split their troops into two groups. One group completely blocked the Wei army in the front, while the other group maintained its formation and turned around to rush up the slope. It was obvious that they wanted to surround and kill the hundreds of Wei soldiers who had rushed into the Han army's formation and carried out the skinning tactics among the Han army!
The general's platform in the east.

Cao Zhen didn't react much when he saw this scene, as if he had expected it.

At the same time, a part of Cao's army, totaling 2,000 men, who had been lined up in front of the camp, had no idea when they had set out and were less than three miles away from the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)