Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 78 The Destiny of the Great Wei
It's almost noon.

The war is over.

The troops of Zhao Guang and Deng Zhi pursued the defeated army westward and killed nearly a thousand people, captured more than a thousand, and seized more than two thousand armored soldiers.

The defeated army was finally taken away by Cao's army who came to meet them in battle array.

The front of the Han army lost its formation due to the pursuit. Zhao Guang led the Tiger Guards to test it but gained no advantage and slowly retreated.

Linghu Yu and Xiahou Bao in the east initially wanted to organize their troops and fight and retreat.

However, momentum is something that is hard to explain. In addition, they came by boat, which was almost a fight with their backs to the river. In order to seize the boat and escape, the soldiers ran faster than anyone else.

But when they ran to the side of the canal boat, problems soon arose.

This is not a ferry, the ship's side is some distance from the shore, and boarding requires a longboard, so the boarding process is slow.

Due to the crowd, many Wei soldiers fell into the water.

The Han army rushed to challenge, and the Wei soldiers, knowing that there was no hope of boarding the ship, began to flee eastward.

At this point, the Wei army, knowing that they would die if they did not resist, finally formed a formation to resist under the organization of Linghu Yu.

As for Xiahou Bao, he had already abandoned his troops and fled on a boat. After all, he was the son of Xiahou Dun, and his crime against the law did not deserve the death penalty.

Seeing the stubborn resistance of the Wei army, the Han army turned around and seized the grain boats anchored on the banks of the Wei River, capturing 92 boats and more than 2,000 dan of grain.

At noon, Liu Chan went down to the plateau to reward his troops.

Zong Yu, Deng Zhi, Dong Yun, Zhao Guang and others gathered in one tent.

"Your Majesty, so, An Guo really said that he surrendered to Liu Bao and took Liu Bao's troops to Chencang to relieve the siege?"

Zhao Guang's face was filled with disbelief and unconcealable excitement.

The people who had left the plateau were unaware of the commotion caused by Guan Xing and others.

At this moment, everyone was extremely surprised when they heard what the emperor said.

"That must be the case." Liu Chan nodded with a smile on his face.

“An Guo led over a thousand cavalrymen and entered the Xiongnu camp, but nothing happened.

"After that, they all went their separate ways. It's impossible that An Guo and Yang Tiao were completely wiped out, or that they surrendered to the Xiongnu together, right?"

Everyone in the tent burst into laughter for a moment, and then nodded in amazement.

Although we don’t know what Guan Xing actually did, the fact that he actually captured the king as he said he would is truly admirable.

"I just don't know why An Guo led his cavalry eastward?" Dong Yun said and looked at another minister, Guo Youzhi.

"It can't be true that he went to Chang'an City as Youzhi said?"

Guo Youzhi was silent for a moment and then shook his head:
“I was just surprised and spoke out of turn.

“Although Cao Rui returned to Luoyang, I believe that in addition to Xiahou Mao, there must be other experienced and prudent people left in the city to defend it, and there should still be more than 10,000 defenders.

"The Central Supervisory Army has no more than a thousand cavalrymen. With such a small number of people going to Chang'an, they can't accomplish much."

Zhao Guang's expression changed. "The Xiongnu came here to protect the grain route. Could it be that An Guo led the Xiongnu to rob the grain?"

Zong Yu frowned and thought for a moment before nodding:
"It is indeed possible that when An Guo fled eastward, the Wei invaders near the Wei River could not see him.

"Perhaps it's just a matter of time. After all, apart from the Xiongnu, the Wei invaders have almost no cavalry available in Guanzhong at the moment.

"If An Guo leads his cavalry eastward, he can easily cut off the traffic between Meiwu and Chang'an.

"If there are grain ships downstream coming westward against the current and seeing the Xiongnu following orders to protect the grain route, they will be caught off guard and it will be easy for An Guo to capture them."

After Zong finished his prediction, everyone nodded in agreement.

Guan Xing seems to be very good at fighting information warfare by relying on time difference and speed.

When Cao Zhen was beheaded that day, Guan Xing was the first to send people to attack the post station and kill the messenger sent by Cao Rui to Longyou, thus buying precious time for the subsequent attack on Jieting.

Speed ​​was of the essence at this moment. Before anyone could react, he led his light cavalry to cut off the connection between Meiwu and Chang'an.

I don’t know if Guan Gong’s defeat taught Guan Xing a painful lesson.

When Lü Meng crossed the river in white clothes, he killed scouts along the way, cutting off the traffic between Jiangling and Xiangfan. Deng Zhi looked slightly excited and said:

"After this battle, regardless of whether An Guo succeeded or not, since he had ridden eastward, the Wei invaders in Meiwu had no choice but to return east.

"The Wei invaders under Chencang will inevitably return eastwards. They can no longer ascend Longshan. The Han Dynasty already has Longyou!"

Hearing this, everyone was excited.

It is two hundred miles from Chang'an to Meiwu, and another hundred miles from Meiwu to Chencang. The only way to transport the food is by land. There is no one to stop the two or three thousand cavalry, and the food supply route of Cao's army in Longyou is completely cut off.

Not to mention that Cao's army in Guanzhong had been defeated repeatedly and its morale was low. Forcing their way to Long would only mean death.

Unless a meteorite falls from the sky and kills all of the Prime Minister's tens of thousands of troops, it is only a matter of time before Longyou is captured.

Liu Chan was so excited that he didn't care whether champagne would be opened at halftime. He said directly:

"Longyou is now largely stable, but I don't know if we can keep all the more than 10,000 Wei invaders on the south bank of the Wei River.

"They haven't withdrawn yet. Perhaps they haven't realized that Liu Bao has returned to Han and that changes are imminent in Chencang."

Zhao Guang immediately bowed:

"Your Majesty, I think we should chase them from a few miles away, not engage them in battle! Nor should we give them the opportunity to build a bridge and cross the river!
"If An Guo can lift the siege of Chencang, all he needs to do is dismantle the Chencang pontoon bridge. This will cut off the supply routes and forage routes of the tens of thousands of Wei invaders, and they will surely collapse without a fight!"

Liu Chan also meant this. Seeing that no one had any objection, he nodded in agreement.

...

...

Ten miles upstream.

Wei army camp.

The commander of Zhang He's personal guards burst into tears:
"Right General, we are defeated!
"Not only did the Shu invaders anticipate our attack, they also anticipated our use of fire! What...what should we do now?"

Zhang He, who had barely managed to save his life for a few days by breaking a leg, knew that he was defeated today. When he heard Zhang Yu's report again, he was almost out of breath.

His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a single syllable.

If it weren't for that arrow, even if the Shu invaders sank their boats and blocked the water, cutting off their food supply, he could still choose to abandon Longyou and lead 40,000 troops back to Chang'an to settle his own affairs and wash away the shame.

But he was dying.

In the end, is it to leave some usable soldiers for Cao?

Or should I gamble with the fate of Wei State, take a chance, and let myself die with dignity and like a hero?

He chose the latter.

"Zhao...Zhao Yun." After a long time, Zhang He finally uttered two syllables.

"Zhao Yun?" Zhang Yu asked doubtfully while sobbing, and came to his senses after a moment.

"Right General, are you trying to lure Zhao Yun out and then kill him?!"

"Hmm..." Zhang He struggled to speak.

Zhang Yu was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to lure Zhao Yun to his death.

A moment later, a personal soldier came running over to the Wei River:

"Right General! Lord Zhang! General Niu Jin just sent someone to report to us!

"The Xiongnu... the Xiongnu have rebelled against Wei and defected to Shu, heading towards Chencang!"

"What?!" Zhang Yu's eyes suddenly widened, filled with shock and anger.

"Military Advisor Du and Lieutenant General Guanqiu also said...they also said that the army can no longer reach Chencang to provide support. Please, General Right, quickly lift the siege and return east!"

When Zhang Yu heard this, his hands and feet trembled violently, his face turned pale, and finally he turned to look at Zhang He in a daze.

Zhang He's eyeballs bulged, his pale face suddenly turned red, and he convulsed and vomited several mouthfuls of blood.

When he had vomited no more, he finally ran out of breath and died on the spot without closing his eyes.

(End of this chapter)