Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 38 The Late Emperor's Spirit
In fact, Cao Zhen's judgment on the flood was basically correct, and his approach to dealing with the flood was also basically correct.

The valley is wide, the water volume of the rocky stream is small, and the water released from the dam is not a real mountain torrent after all.

But the only thing Cao Zhen didn't take into account was that the terrifying flood yesterday had planted the seeds of fear in the minds of the Wei soldiers. When they saw the flood coming again, they no longer obeyed orders.

Because the water volume could not be replenished, when the water level of the dam dropped, the water pressure decreased, and the flood discharge rate began to be slower than the drainage rate of Shimen Pass, the water level in the valley, which was already a vast ocean, finally slowly dropped.

But at this moment, there were only a little over 10,000 Wei soldiers left out of the original 26,000 to 27,000.

Almost three or four thousand people were so panicked that they could not find a place to stand, and were immediately swept away by the increasingly fast torrent in the middle of the river.

Almost five or six thousand people, due to excessive fatigue and hypothermia, finally slipped and fell into the brown and black turbid current with a normal flow speed and a depth only up to their waists.

Countless others were squeezed, trampled and drowned while fighting for a foothold with their comrades.

Of the last 10,000 or so people who had managed to escape the mountain torrent by chance, crowded on the gentle slopes of Nanshan Mountain, more than half were still soaked in the shallow muddy current.

This even included Cao Zhen, Du Xi and their personal soldiers.

The Shu army's dragon flag pressed forward.

It was impossible to tell whether the Shu army had several thousand or tens of thousands of soldiers. They tread on the shallow water, maintained their formation, and slowly approached the Wei army.

The weapons and armor are excellent.

aggressive.

"Military Advisor, could you have imagined that the Shu invaders would actually use this second water attack?" Cao Zhen's tone was completely exhausted.

There was no place to retreat behind him, and the soldiers in front of him dared not advance.

He could almost see the end.

At this moment, he finally understood what Yu Jin felt when his seven armies were overwhelmed by Guan Yu.

"General, what?!"

The waves are rolling and the voices are noisy.

Du Xi couldn't hear what Cao Zhen was saying at all.

Cao Zhen did not repeat it again.

Du Xi came to his senses after a moment, his face looking bitter and difficult:
"General, I have thought about this.

"But their defeated soldiers and wounded filled the mountains and valleys for miles. How could such a defeated army be faked?
"We captured many captives, but no one knew that the false emperor had this water attack plan. When the flood came, many Shu invaders were also washed away!"

Having said this, Du Xi said nothing more.

Who could have imagined that the Pseudo-Emperor would keep this secret so long? Who could have imagined that the Pseudo-Emperor would be so ruthless?

This is not the Han Chinese style at all.

This is the legacy of Emperor Taizu of Wei!

"Since Shu has such a madman, my Great Wei is in trouble." Cao Zhen, who had lost all his strength, sighed suddenly, not knowing whether it was because of the defeat or because he was too tired.

Du Xi was stunned when he heard this, but saw that the general's eyes were red for some reason.

"Great General!

"Where there is life, there is hope!

"The water level is receding now. We'll be able to wade back to the plank road in a little while. Then we can tear it down and the Shu invaders will be helpless!"

The water that had just reached their thighs now only reached their knees.

It would probably take them less than half an hour to wade across.

"General, let me exchange armor with you!" said a royal guard who was also a bit fat as he began to take off his armor.

Before Cao Zhen could react, several of his bodyguards had already squeezed out a space for him, then took the initiative to remove Cao Zhen's armor, and finally put on the ordinary-looking tube-sleeved armor for Cao Zhen.

"General, please take care of yourself!"

"General, the military advisor is right. As long as there are green mountains, there will be no shortage of firewood! If the Wei Dynasty loses you, half the sky will fall!"

"General, I don't know if those cowards dare to fight the Shu bandits, but I will fight them to the death!"

"Humph! The great general has kept us here for just this day! All we have left is a fight to the death!"

"Listen up! Someone will definitely escape by wading through the water soon. The rest of you will escort the general and follow him. We'll cover you!"

For a moment, the personal guards around Cao Zhen chattered and followed suit.

Although it was passionate, it also indirectly illustrated one thing: everyone could see that the Wei Dynasty had been defeated.

...

...

"Your Majesty, please stop here and don't go any further!" A young general in a green robe and armor stretched out his arms to block Liu Chan.

At this moment, the Jinwu flag, which symbolized the emperor's authority, was only a mile away from the front of Cao's army.

Liu Chan paused and finally nodded.

Guan Xing felt relieved and turned around to kill forward.

This time, Liu Chan did not move forward secretly again.

With Zhao Guang and Zhao Tong guarding him, there was no chance for him to sneak forward. "This battle...should we win?" He looked anxiously at Dong Yun, the Tiger Guards' Lieutenant General.

The day before yesterday, this Tiger Guard General finally led 4,000 imperial guards to the Chi'an of Jigu, and finally received an order from Liu Chan that he no longer needed to leave Xiegu and could use it as a surprise attack.

This was beyond Liu Chan's plan.

According to Liu Chan's own idea, he wanted Dong Yun to join the main battlefield with 4,000 tiger guards.

Because there were too many old and weak soldiers on the main battlefield, he was afraid that the so-called feigned defeat would turn into a major rout, and the so-called strategy to defeat the enemy would end up being laughed at.

Finally, Zhao Yun made the decision and swore that he would definitely be able to hold the main battlefield and prevent a major collapse.

It was also Zhao Yun's analysis that Cao's army would definitely pursue the Han army all night without giving them a moment's respite, and then use the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to recuperate for a night before rushing out of Xiegu to attack, so the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were needed to hold the fort as the last insurance for the Han Dynasty.

Even Zhao Yun could not predict what kind of momentum mobilizing nearly 10,000 Hanzhong laborers to build a dam to store water would create, and what impact it would have on the war situation.

What about Liu Chan?

As for using the miles-long wounded and fleeing soldiers as the final deception to confuse Cao Zhen, neither Liu Chan nor Zhao Yun said it out loud, but they both knew it tacitly, knowing that only this would be enough to lure Cao's army into throwing everything they had.

However, Zhao Yun personally led Fu Qian, Zong Yu, Liu Yin, Zong Qian and other generals and the last two or three thousand Han troops to take the risk of fighting to the death to stop the enemy, without any discussion with Liu Chan at all.

Liu Chan knew nothing about this.

This was not a sure win ambush.

This is a gamble that involves the fate of the country.

Just as Liu Chan's vision was blurred and his expression was dazed, the Huben Imperial Guards engaged in battle with Cao's army.

Dong Yun, the Tiger Guards' General, finally looked towards the nearly exhausted emperor and nodded vigorously, "Your Majesty, this battle is certain to be won!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Chan trembled again.

But this time, it was really just because of the cold.

"Take off my armor for me." He stretched out his arms.

The silver armor of the previous emperor, which he had worn for three days and nights without taking off for a moment, finally completed its mission at this moment.

Is the late emperor still alive?

...

...

East, downstream.

Cao's army collapsed at the first touch.

In other words, it collapses if not touched.

What is there to say?
After two days and one night of continuous fighting and raiding, they were starving and freezing, and more than half of their comrades were killed or wounded in the flood, which was either sent from heaven or by God. No one knew whether they would be stepped into the water by the people around them in the next breath.

If they had not surrendered, the world would have been unified by the Wei Dynasty long ago.

After only four or five hundred of them were killed or wounded by the Han army in a fit of rage, thousands of Wei soldiers in the front abandoned their weapons and armor and raised their hands in surrender.

rear.

Hundreds of war horses carried their masters into the water.

Thousands of Wei soldiers waded through the water to catch up.

Nearly half of the people were submerged by the muddy current.

Hundreds of Cao Zhen's assassins were finally able to disperse and form a battle formation in the muddy current to resist the fierce attack of the Han army's tiger guards.

All died.

Half an hour passed.

The water level at the valley mouth dropped significantly.

It is now possible to wade across the river.

Guan Xing, the military supervisor, led a thousand brave soldiers across the muddy stream, pulled up the corpses, built a human ladder, and climbed up the plank road that had been damaged in a small section.

Half an hour passed.

The energetic Huben caught up with hundreds of Cao's soldiers fleeing on the plank road and started killing them indiscriminately.

Another half hour.

There are few people on the plank road.

A fat man wearing ordinary Wei soldier's armor chopped the plank road with a knife with red eyes.

When the young general in green robes who was leading the pursuit was more than ten steps away from him, he finally gave up the chopping and roared loudly with his last bit of strength:

"I have been humiliated by the Shu dogs, I cannot be captured by them again!"

After saying this, the man kicked over the wooden fence, faced the deep valley, and committed suicide with his sword.

The body fell into the water.

The young general in green robe only took a look at the water level in the deep valley below the plank road, then took off his clothes and armor and resolutely jumped into the muddy stream to fight for the corpse.

(End of this chapter)