The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 94 Encounter on a narrow road

Xu Huang deliberately lured the Xiangyang garrison out of the city!

After a moment of realization, everyone was secretly alarmed.

Especially Yang Yi, who just suggested launching a pincer attack from outside the city.

I thought Xu Huang was just a fierce general who could lead a thousand cavalrymen from a hundred miles away to meet the enemy.

Unexpectedly, the other party was also quite cunning.

I almost fell for it!
For a moment, Yang Yi felt her mind was completely muddled, and even her breathing became somewhat sluggish... Of course, it could also just be because of a cold.

While Xiang Chong felt relieved, he was equally helpless.

Mi Wei wasn't as surprised as the two people beside him.

After all, in his previous life, Xu Huang had successfully repelled Guan Yu and relieved the siege of Fancheng by using a feint attack.

It also gave rise to the idiom "to drive straight in" for later generations.

He was originally a person of both wisdom and courage.

However, he had mostly followed Cao Cao in the past, so his brilliance was always overshadowed by the latter.

Furthermore, Miwei had little belief from the beginning that reinforcements on land would arrive sooner than those on water.

He still has that much confidence.

Now that it has been confirmed that Xu Huang was bluffing.

So Miwei naturally began to ponder the reason behind it.

Xu Huang only needed to build for one more day to securely blockade Xiangyang and isolate it from the outside world.

Why are we suddenly putting on this show again?

Is there a possibility.

Are reinforcements really arriving soon?
It was just reinforcements from the Han River direction, not from land?

At this time, it was blocked by Mount Xian in the southern suburbs.

It was not possible to directly monitor the dynamics of the lower reaches of the Han River in the southeast from within the city of Xiangyang.

Previously, Mi Wei had taken advantage of the cover of Xian Mountain to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang in one night and succeeded.

Now, Xu Huang can also use the same mountain to stage a grand drama of feigning defeat and attacking from the east while attacking from the west.

It can only be said that the other party truly deserves to be a famous general from the north, personally promoted by Cao Cao.

The three of them remained silent for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.

Miwei decided he couldn't just wait idly, so he said:
"Now that the enemy forces that have crossed the river have gathered in the western suburbs, and the remaining troops are left to guard the northern suburbs, they cannot attend to the southeast for the time being."

"I intend to send a group of men out to the southeast under cover of darkness tonight to climb Mount Xian."

"One purpose was to go to the mountaintop to observe the military situation downstream of the Han River, in order to confirm the truth of Xu Huang's deployment."

"Secondly, we should place the general's flag in a prominent position on the mountain...it might have a miraculous effect!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Yi and Xiang Chong pondered for a moment, then their eyes lit up.

I won't go into detail about reconnaissance; it's absolutely necessary.

The key is the second one.

After two days of defending the city.

The actor on the city wall, who always had his back to the crowd, had already aroused suspicion among the people in Xiangyang.

Some clever people, such as the three elders from the village who had come to visit earlier, saw through it on the spot.

But what if Guan Yu planted his banner on Mount Xian in the southern suburbs?
Firstly, that's indeed the direction from which reinforcements should come, which aligns with most people's intuition.

Secondly, the fact that people in the city cannot go out to investigate adds to the mystery and also increases the hope.

And this small, subtle sense of hope.

No matter how insignificant.

For the current defense of the city, the more the better.

Of course, this could very well attract the attention of the enemy forces in the west of the city, who might come to investigate or even seize the flag.

But so what?

If we can make the enemy spend half a day investigating and looking around, then it's a win.

What we're fighting for now is just a day or two.
The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, so we should act swiftly.

Mi Wei ordered Yang Yi to stay behind to oversee the defense of the city.

Then he ordered Xiang Chong to select three hundred elite soldiers from his ranks and bring along all fifty repeating crossbows that Zhang Yi had sent.

As soon as it got dark, he and Xiang Chong took a small boat and went up the mountain in the dark.

Xu Huang's military tactics were extremely deceptive.

He couldn't feel at ease without personally going up the mountain to investigate.

Besides, Xiang Chong was not his true subordinate.

They always made the other side risk their lives to leave the city, while they themselves remained comfortably inside.

If this happens too often, it's inevitable that resentment will arise.

……

Although there is no major river like the Han River in the southern suburbs of Xiangyang.

But in this era, there was a large area of ​​interconnected lakes. Locals generally called them Xiangyang Lake, and they were also known as "Xiangshui".

The area south of a mountain and north of a river is called "yang," and that's how the name "Xiangyang" came about.

In short, the group was already skilled at crossing the Miwei Pass in the dark, and with Xiang Chong leading the way, they quickly arrived at the northern foot of Xian Mountain.

However, just as everyone was climbing a gentle slope...

Suddenly, a group of people of unknown origin followed from behind.

Unlike the Miwei tribe, which deliberately concealed their whereabouts.

The other party was openly and brazenly coming up the mountain.

From afar, one could see an exceptionally beautiful banner bearing the inscription "General of Chariots and Cavalry" fluttering in the firelight.

The General of Chariots and Cavalry here could not possibly be Sun Quan, who was far away in Jiangdong.

He has long since changed his title and no longer uses it.

And since it wasn't Sun Quan...

There is only one answer.

The general appointed by Cao Pi after he ascended the throne.

General of Chariots and Cavalry with the authority to act as commanders-in-chief, overseeing the military affairs of Jing, Yang, and Yi provinces, Marquis of Chen, Cao Ren, Cao Zixiao!
Everyone was momentarily filled with surprise and uncertainty.

Given the circumstances, Cao Ren might very well turn around and reinforce Xu Huang.

Normally, shouldn't he have gone to Fancheng to oversee things first?

How did we end up at the foot of Mount Xian?

Should we go up the mountain overnight?

But soon, as the size of the enemy force became clearer, it was also composed of people from the three villages. Both Mi Wei and Xiang Chong instantly understood.

It wasn't Cao Ren himself who came!

It's even quite possible that they weren't even part of his retinue.

Instead, both sides came to the same conclusion tonight!
Mi Wei saw the strength of Cao Cao's army, and Cao Cao's army quickly noticed the enemy hiding in the darkness.

With just one glance, both sides knew each other's intentions.

Nothing said.

When two armies meet on a narrow path, only one battle remains.

Xiang Chong immediately ordered the front-line soldiers to form a battle formation and raise their shields, while the crossbowmen in the rear were cocked.

Mi Wei even personally beat the drum to boost morale.

The enemy general on the other side also made similar moves.

In the midst of the chaos, neither side engaged in a reckless and chaotic battle.

Instead, they first formed a stable formation.

Under the cover of night, visibility was limited, and once the soldiers were scattered, it was difficult to regroup them.

Clearly, the opposing general was also an experienced one.

To be honest, quickly deploying soldiers under the cover of night and switching from marching formation to attack formation requires considerable skill.

This is a crucial test of a general's organizational skills.

In this respect, Miwei clearly had some advantage tonight.

Because he brought with him the very "capable" Xiang Chong and his troops.

However, it took the opposing team a short while to finally arrange their front-line shield bearers.

The order to fire has been given to Xiang Chong.

The enemy was caught off guard and had no choice but to launch a hasty counterattack.

In the darkness, arrows have no chance of hitting their mark.

Both sides had the mentality of "blindly stumbling upon a dead mouse".

Whoever shoots faster and more often will hit more enemies.

At this point, the advantage of the repeating crossbow in rapidly projecting "firepower" becomes apparent.

The opposing team hastily fired two rounds of shots.

The repeating crossbows on Miwei's side have completed a full volley of shots.

A casket of ten arrows is equivalent to ten volleys of fire.

For a moment, the sounds of soldiers falling to the ground, wounded by arrows, could be heard from both sides.

But the enemy soldiers were clearly screaming in agony more.

Soon, the enemy's arrows became sparse and no longer threatening.

Miwei made a decisive move, ordering the spearmen and swordsmen in the front row to charge.

After the three drumbeats, the enemy troops were pushed back into the lake behind them, leaving them with nowhere to stand.

The momentum of defeat was difficult to stop.

Some threw themselves into the water, while others knelt down in surrender.

A sudden, small-scale night battle ensued.

With better preparation and more timely response, Miwei emerged victorious!
(End of this chapter)