Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 76: Are we really going to capture the king?

The northern part of the Han village.

Six hundred elite Han troops hid inside the large fence, ready to fight and conserve their energy.

Outside the big fence, Xiahou Ru's troops had finished filling the trenches and were now using their most elite soldiers to withstand the counterattack of the Han army and cover the sickle soldiers who were removing the deer antlers blocking the main road.

Fortunately, the Han army in the north was already in retreat, and the removal of the deer antlers went quite smoothly. Soon, a path was cleared for the army to advance or retreat.

Riding on horseback, Xiahou Ru looked at the seven or eight watchtowers in the Han army camp and began to search. He also listened carefully to the Han army's war drums and soon guessed where the general's flag was.

"Order the soldiers to charge and seize the stronghold. The credit for beheading the general and seizing the flag today must go to our Chang'an defenders!" Xiahou Ru quickly issued the order for a general attack.

Once the army rushes into the stronghold and the defenders are caught up in the melee, the command system will inevitably be at risk of paralysis, and the Shu troops in the west and east will definitely send troops to support.

In this way, Niu Jin and Guanqiu Jian could take advantage of the situation and break into the stronghold.

Xiahou Ru's military order was quickly conveyed, and more than 3,000 Chang'an defenders began to change their formation, from a wide formation to a long formation, in order to pass through the narrow passage obtained by removing the deer antlers.

As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. While the deer antlers had just been pulled out and the Shu army's subsequent reinforcements were unable to arrive in time, and before the rear soldiers of the Wei army had successfully formed a battle formation, the elite troops in the front had already rushed towards Yamen like a whirlwind.

Except for a small group of elite Shu bandits who fought desperately, the rest were almost unable to organize a decent counterattack.

The Shu army was defeated step by step, and the Wei army was unstoppable. In a moment, they reached the dozens of steps before Yamen.

The two or three hundred elite soldiers in the front of the Wei Dynasty quickly defeated the Shu army guarding the gate and rushed into the Shu army camp.

Xiahou Ru stopped his horse again and squinted at a watchtower in the Shu army camp. Sure enough, he found that the flag that was suspected to be the general's flag was now fleeing towards the Wei River!

"Order the soldiers behind to form a formation quickly and catch up! Kill the general and seize the flag, today!" Xiahou Ru's heart was filled with emotion. He never thought that the first achievement of capturing the stronghold would belong to him.

Unexpectedly, before the man finished speaking, he suddenly heard a deafening loud bang.

In horror, he felt that his vision in front of him was completely blocked, and he could no longer see the scene inside the Han army camp.

The air was originally filled with only a thin mist, but with that loud bang, for some unknown reason, a huge cloud of dust suddenly rose up!

"kill!"

Amidst the yellow dust and smoke, a burst of high-pitched and orderly shouts of killing were heard. The warhorse under Xiahou Ru's crotch suddenly became restless, but he no longer had the heart to calm the horse and just looked around blankly.

However, he saw that the Chang'an defenders around him were panicked and in chaos because of this sudden change.

The battle formation, which had not yet been formed, became even more chaotic because no one knew what kind of ambush was behind the yellow dust.

"Keep calm, don't panic!" Xiahou Ru shouted repeatedly, trying to stabilize the morale of the army.

But it was in vain.

But in a moment, an unknown number of Han soldiers rushed out of the smokescreen and charged towards the Wei army with great momentum!
The Chang'an defenders, who had lost too much energy from filling trenches and pulling out deer antlers, were now a little listless. When they saw the Han army appearing in billowing smoke and dust, they were instantly terrified!

Earlier, the smoke screen had clearly risen from a massive wooden fence more than a mile wide. The Han army bursting out of the smoke screen before their eyes was like a ghost suddenly emerging from the ground!
At that moment, the crowd was in an uproar and fled in all directions. Countless people trampled on each other in the crowd and struggle to get through.

At the eastern perimeter of the camp, Guanqiu Jian also heard the loud noise. He then turned his head to the north, and the sky full of dust from the northern perimeter of the camp immediately filled his sight, making him inexplicably stunned.

He knew that the Shu army would seek an opportunity to break through from Xiahou Ru, but he never expected that they would create such a huge momentum?

Even the soldiers around him were shaken by the huge noise and the yellow dust in the sky, and felt a little scared.

Guanqiu Jian looked at the wooden fence of the eastern part of the Han camp in front of him again, and immediately realized what had happened in the northern part of Xiahou Ru's camp, and thought to himself that something was wrong.

"Let's go! Follow me to Beiwei!" Guanqiu Jian gave the order hastily and rode away. More than a thousand soldiers who had already freed up their hands looked around first, and then followed closely behind him.

The distant sky had already been dyed blood red, and a crescent sun finally appeared in the east, and the sky gradually brightened.

On Wuzhangyuan, Liu Chan was finally able to see the Han army’s camp in Weibei through the mist.

The loud noise just now even reached Wuzhangyuan. This was not planned, and Liu Chan didn't know what the sound was.

At this moment, he finally saw the thick yellow dust rising around the north of the camp, and he finally had some guesses in his mind.

But it is really not known whether it was the Han army that overturned the fence and killed their way out, or the Wei army that overturned the fence and killed their way in.

"Your Majesty, it is my Han soldiers who are chasing the Wei invaders!" Zhao Guang's voice was excited for a moment. Although he could not see clearly, he could see that the Wei invaders were being chased and scattered in the wilderness north of the camp.

After a while, as the sun gradually rose, the sky and the earth became brighter and Liu Chan could see it.

There are indeed many yellow and black strips and blocks, which are now wriggling in all directions.

The red and black team is in full formation, chasing the enemy to the north.

The State of Wei called itself the Land of the Earth, and its soldiers wore yellow clothing.

The Han Dynasty was born under the sign of fire, and its soldiers wore crimson clothes.

"Your Majesty, the Wei invaders who attacked the East Encirclement seem to have gone to support the North Encirclement!"

Guo Youzhi sounded a little flustered, and at the same time he looked towards the west, only to see that the area was obscured by the thick smoke from the Han boats.

Although the wind is blowing from the east at this moment, in fact the smoke is not blown blindly to the west by the east wind.

The smoke was thickest above the Wei River, but a small amount of smoke continued to diffuse to the north and south banks of the Wei River after settling.

"Your Majesty, look, all the fire ships of the Wei invaders on the Wei River are out of sight!" Chen Zhi pointed at the Wei River with one hand and exclaimed in amazement.

The Majesty beside him had apparently succeeded in using smoke to put out fire.

On the Han ships, the billowing smoke produced by the smoldering of various wet fuels was blown away by the air-blowing devices placed on the huge rafts by the Wei army, but rose high into the sky under the influence of the southeast wind.

At first, it continued to drift westward from the top of the Wei army's rafts crowded with straw men. However, as the smoke produced by the Han army's ships became thicker, the smoke of various colors, including black, white, yellow and blue, began to sink towards the Wei army's rafts!

Its force was so heavy that there was no sign of it being blown back by the Wei army's wind. Instead, it continued to slowly sink from the sky and sweep upstream.

Then something happened that surprised most of the people in the pavilion.

The raging fire on the Wei army's raft was quickly suppressed by the thick smoke of various colors after it collided with it!
In less than half a minute, the people on Wuzhangyuan could no longer see the fire.

At first, the Wei army on the raft seemed to be trying to add fuel to the fire. Because the straw men were filled with flammable substances such as ointment, half of the straw men on the boat began to burn violently again.

But after a while, the fire gradually died down after hitting the thick smoke that could not be blown away. Although it was not completely extinguished, only a small flame could be seen on Wuzhangyuan.

In fact, the Wei people still had two rows of rafts that were blocked by the front raft and did not connect with the Han smoke ship.

However, when the Wei people on the boat saw that the fire on the front ship had died down again, they either decided to throw the can down the drain or something else, and finally set fire to all the remaining rafts.

At first, the flames were blowing towards the southeast under the influence of the wind, but not long after, the figures who were originally working on the raft disappeared one by one, as if they had jumped into the Wei River.

With no one on the raft blowing air, the smoke rolled westward even faster, and the fire on the raft was quickly brought under control, leaving only a small flame.

Chen Zhi was amazed at this moment because the last raft of the Wei people was covered by thick smoke and no trace of fire could be seen anymore.

Guo Youzhi withdrew his gaze from the Wei River and looked at the Han emperor who was sitting on the wooden chair, calm and composed, as if everything was under control. After hesitating for a long time, he finally opened his mouth:
"Your Majesty, now the smoke boats have blocked the water and the river, and the fire rafts of the Wei invaders have all been submerged. Your Majesty's strategy of using smoke to overcome fire is truly remarkable!
"I wonder if this is your Majesty's own idea, or if it's a precedent from ancient times?"

Although the emperor had previously devised a brilliant plan to defeat Cao's army in Xiegu, as one of the only two ministers of the Han Dynasty, Guo Youzhi still found it difficult to adapt to the great changes in the emperor.

Liu Chan looked at the thick smoke covering the sky and the sun over the Wei River and said slowly:
“I don’t know if there was such a precedent in ancient times, but I have noticed this situation and kept it in mind.

"And the day before yesterday, in order to prevent the enemy from setting fire, I told them about this situation.

"Then, together with Minister Dong, Deng Yangwu, and General Zong, we went into the sloping water in the valley and tried it out in a small boat. We found that it was indeed feasible.

"But we never expected the Wei invaders' raft to be so large, the straw men to be so numerous, and the fire to be so intense. It was only a stroke of luck that this was successful."

Liu Chan pretended to be cool without showing any emotion, but in fact he was already feeling uncontrollably excited.

If the pontoon bridge is preserved, the army in Weibei can withdraw to Weinan at ease.

Even if the Wei army attacked from the east and west, they could still cope with it with ease relying on the fortifications in Weinan, and were basically invincible.

As for the precedent asked by Guo Youzhi, there should have never been one in recorded history before, but it did exist in later generations.

Liu Chan was not sure about the principle of using smoke to make fire, but he knew it was feasible. However, he thought that it was nothing more than using the various inert gases and solid particles in the thick smoke to isolate the oxygen in the air, thus achieving the purpose of flame retardancy.

Furthermore, the fuel on the ship has been completely soaked, and a large amount of water vapor will be released when it is smoldering, which can absorb the heat released by the burning enemy ship and reduce the temperature of the explosion zone.

The day before yesterday on Xieshui, he and Dong Yun, Deng Zhi, and Zong Yu had witnessed during an experiment that the thick smoke produced by this smoldering fire could indeed greatly reduce the intensity of the fire.

Because this smoke would settle, he proposed adding sulfur.

After all, no one knew what kind of boats Cao's army would use, nor how many groups they would attack in. Incomplete combustion of sulfur would produce toxic gases, and now there was an east wind. If the Wei army on the river inhaled any more toxic gases, they would lose their combat effectiveness.

The Wei army finally jumped off the boat and escaped, probably because of this poisonous gas.

"Your Majesty, Zhang He's men have arrived." Zhao Guang suddenly spoke in a calm voice.

Liu Chan, who was originally paying attention to the battle on the north bank of the Wei River, turned his head slightly to look west.

The thick smoke on the Wei River has spread to the north and south banks of the upper reaches with the southeast breeze, and is becoming thicker.

At this moment, on the south bank of the Wei River, a large number of Wei troops broke through the smoke and came only two or three miles away from the Han fortifications.

"The Wei invaders' plan to burn the pontoon bridge has failed. I wonder if they will retreat because of this." Guo Youzhi was a little hopeful.

Zhao Guang first glanced at the position of the Wei army, then at the position of the floating bridge, and said:

"Probably not. The thick smoke from the Wei River obscured the Wei invaders' vision. They probably didn't know that my floating bridge hadn't been burned."

In fact, Zhao Guang’s judgment was not wrong.

Zhang He's personal guard captain Zhang Yu was now breaking through the fog with ten thousand armored soldiers.

The man only saw thick smoke rising from the surface of the Wei River, and he didn't even know where the Central Continent was.

As for the situation of the Han army camp north of Zhongzhou, no one knew what was going on, as the view was completely blocked by thick smoke.

"Why is there so much smoke but no fire? Did Niu Jin do it on purpose?!" Lu Pan, who was also a lieutenant general, asked Zhang Yu.

Niu Jin and others were responsible for building large boats to cut off the return route of the main force of the Shu invaders.

But how they carried it out specifically was unknown when they came from Chencang.

Zhang Yu looked eastward and saw the Han army, two or three miles away, leaning against fortifications and ready for battle. He frowned and said,

"I didn't expect the Shu invaders to react so quickly. Judging from the current situation, it seems that they are not in chaos because of my sudden attack!
"Perhaps it's just as the Right General expected. They've already made preparations. General Lu needs to be careful!"

Lu Pan had obviously also seen the Han army behind the fortifications, which seemed to be at their leisure, but his thoughts were different from Zhang Yu's:

"Bo Yu, what is meant by this is to fill the void with substance, and to fill the void with substance.

"If I were a bandit from Shu, and if I had anticipated this, I would have pretended to be unprepared and defeated, thus luring the Wei army to attack, and then setting an ambush!

"But now the Shu invaders are on full alert, seemingly fearless. In my opinion, they are just trying to scare us off. Bo Yu must not fall for their trick!"

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and nodded slightly:
"General Lu, please command the remaining 8,000 troops to attack the Shu invaders' center and right wing.

"I will lead two thousand halberd warriors to seize the banks of the Wei River and support the troops of Linghu Gongzhi and Xiahou Zizang!"

These two thousand halberd-wielding soldiers were either elite warriors who had surrendered to Cao Cao with Zhang He at Guandu, or their children, all of whom were Zhang He's personal soldiers.

They are the most elite and trustworthy, and we will use them as the spearhead today.

On Wuzhangyuan.

Liu Chan saw the Wei army, which had just broken through the smoke, paused for a moment by the Wei River before reorganizing its troops and charging forward.

Zhao Guang looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, the troops closest to the water are well-organized and powerful. They must be the elite troops of the Wei invaders!
"Now General Zong and Deng Yangwu have not returned to help, and the Wei invaders are numerous and powerful!
"I request to lead a thousand Tiger Guards down to the plateau to help Minister Dong strengthen the defense!"

Now, Dong Yun was the only one in charge of the Weinan battlefield below Wuzhangyuan, with three captains and 6,000 troops.

But two thousand had already gone to the east to guard against Cao's army coming by boat.

There are only 4,000 troops capable of dealing with Cao's army in the west, and they are not elite troops.

Knowing that the Wei army on the south bank was exhausted from the long attack, all the elite troops were sent to the Weibei battlefield.

Liu Chan looked at the Wei army standing in strict formation on the banks of the Wei River, and after a moment he said slowly:
"Okay, please ask Lieutenant General Longxiong to lead a thousand Tiger Guards down to the plateau and observe the situation from the bottom of the plateau first.

"If Minister Dong is losing, and Deng Yangwu and General Zong's troops are unable to return to support him, we will look for another opportunity to attack."

"Yes!" Zhao Guang took the order and left.

The ministers under the pavilion looked at Zhao Guang's departing back, each of them extremely stunned.

There were only 3,000 defenders on the plateau. Zhao Guang took away 1,000, leaving only 2,000!

What's even more terrible is that once Zhao Guang leaves, if the people below the plateau fail to defend against the Wei army and the Wei army blocks the road, there will be no one on the plateau to command!
Guo Youzhi was worried and wanted to dissuade him:

"Your Majesty, it seems that the situation has not yet reached its final stage. How can you send General Longxiong to the lower reaches of the plateau?
"The Wei invaders are numerous and powerful. If they seize the opportunity to block the passage to the upper plateau and cut off communication between the upper and lower plateaus, who will be able to command the defenders on the plateau to resist the enemy?!"

Liu Chan sat upright and looked north, his eyes fixed straight ahead:
"Minister Guo, don't worry. Didn't I order Lieutenant Longxiong to wait and see at the foot of the plateau?
"While I am here, even if Minister Dong and Lieutenant Longxiang risk their lives, we will not allow the Wei invaders to block the passage to Shangyuan.

"If we are truly blocked, I, the Emperor, will personally don armor and wield a spear to defend the plateau for you gentlemen. There is no need to panic."

When the ministers under the pavilion heard the emperor's words, they looked at each other in dismay and stood dumbfounded.

It was the Minister Chen Zhi who reacted first, and immediately raised his sleeves and said:
"Han officials stand at the foot of the pavilion. How can we expect the emperor to stand before us, wearing armor and holding sharp weapons, stepping on arrows and stones, to protect us officials?

"Though your humble mind may be dull, I am willing to lead the charge for Your Majesty and even risk my life for you!"

Hearing Chen Zhi's words, many people couldn't help but roll their eyes at him, but many people also admired his quick reaction and hurried to catch up.

For a while, voices such as "I dare to die for Your Majesty" were heard everywhere in the pavilion.

Liu Chan remained indifferent and continued to look north.

Now that the overall situation has been decided, how can the Wei army be allowed to rush onto the plateau?
The only uncertainty is whether Deng Zhi and Zong Yu can behead more Wei people after leading the elite troops back to Weinan.

After all, although the Wei army was large in number and powerful, they must have been exhausted after a night of attack and it was unlikely that they would have much combat effectiveness.

The reason they came was simply because they thought the Han army's main force was unable to return to Weinan for support because the pontoon bridge was burned.

Right now, the Han army is well-rested and their morale is at an all-time high, almost becoming arrogant. As long as they don't make any low-level mistakes, they won't be easily defeated by the Wei army.

Soon, Zhao Guang, the Zhonglang of Longxiang, led a thousand tiger guards to the bottom of the plateau and began to wait and see.

The 4,000 soldiers guarding the stronghold, led by Dong Yun, soon relied on fortifications to engage in battle with the Wei army in the west.

To the east of Xieshui, the Wei army's grain transport boats had already docked.

Wei soldiers continued to climb onto the battlefield of Xieshui where the Han army had previously fought with Cao Zhen. They were still seven or eight miles away from Xieshui, so there was no need to worry for the time being.

"Your Majesty, the Weibei camp is on fire!" Chen Zhi, who had already leaned against Liu Chan's side, said in surprise.

Liu Chan looked sideways and saw that the Han soldiers who had just rushed out of the camp to pursue the enemy had now returned to the camp safely.

Fires broke out on three sides of the camp, and the fire on the north was particularly strong. Needless to say, this was done to stop the enemy and protect the soldiers so that they could retreat safely to Weinan.

This is indeed part of the plan.

Suddenly, Liu Chan's pupils shrank, and he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye that further northeast of the Weibei Han camp, the Cao army camp in charge of Guanqiu Jian, Linghu Yu, Lu Zhao and others was also on fire!

I turned my head slightly, squinted my eyes and looked hard. Those balls of fire running across the wilderness, were they the so-called fire bulls or something else?!

"What is An Guo going to do?" Liu Chan said and looked to the side, then realized that Zhao Guang had already gone down the plateau, and fell silent for a moment.

However, he was suddenly startled a moment later.

In the wilderness as far as the eye could see, Guan Xing's thousand-plus cavalrymen did not follow the fire bulls to attack Cao's camp to the south, but instead suddenly headed northwest, towards where the Huns were!
Is this...really going to capture the king?

(End of this chapter)