Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Huayin City was built against the backdrop of Mount Hua in the south. It had four gates in the east, west, south and north. The city wall was over three zhang high. The south was close to the five peaks of Mount Hua, and the Xiyue Temple was built at the foot of the mountain. The terrain was relatively narrow and completely unsuitable for combat.

Originally, Huayin did not have a south city gate, but Emperor Wu built the Xiyue Temple and opened a gate to facilitate sacrifices.

Except for the south, the terrain on the other three sides is very vast.

Ten miles east of Huayin City, there is another camp with 3,000 cavalry stationed there. Looking at the fluttering flag, there is the word "Taishi" written on it.

Being able to lead 3,000 cavalrymen alone and guard such an important place as Huayin, this officer must have held a high position. Han Sui studied for several days after arriving in Huayin, but still did not know which general in Bingzhou had the surname Taishi.

We don't even know this person's name, let alone his abilities and fighting style.

Han Sui felt that this military expedition was a bit too hasty. The intelligence collected on Bingzhou was not complete enough. He was not even sure about the number of troops in Hedong and Huayin, or who the generals were. It was really impulsive to rely only on his own understanding and Li Su's unreliable intelligence.

Han Sui did not want to follow in Ma Teng's footsteps. Although he told Ma Teng that they would go down the city with all their strength today, he only sent a small number of people to test the waters at the beginning, and the main force stayed in the rear on standby. He stood on a dirt hill in the distance and looked into the city. He roughly estimated the number of troops mobilized in the city and the defenders on the city wall. The number was not much different from what was said in the intelligence.

"There are three thousand Bingzhou cavalry outside the city, nearly ten thousand defenders inside the city, and also the Yang family's troops. This is really too difficult!" Han Sui frowned and said to Ma Teng who was following beside him.

Ma Teng also knew that it was really difficult. If he attacked by force, he would not be able to take it without sacrificing tens of thousands of lives.

"Are you going to stop fighting? Are you leading tens of thousands of people here for an outing?" He knew it in his heart, but said it with a hint of sarcasm.

This time, Ma Teng lost 30,000 troops in Puzhen, and his most capable son Ma Chao was captured. His strength was greatly damaged. If Han Sui retreated to Liang Province without fighting, Ma Teng had no doubt that the first thing his former good brother would do when he returned was to annex his power and become the sole master of Liang Province.

Ma Teng had few troops left in Liang Province. Now there was only Pang De's troops who were temporarily following Han Sui. They had 6,000 cavalry and 4,000 infantry, and were no match for Han Sui at all.

The more he thought about it these past two days, the more he regretted it. Why didn't he wait for Han Sui to take action together? Even if he lost, it was better for two people to lose together than for him to lose alone.

"Then tell me how to fight? Are you really going to sacrifice human lives?" Han Sui asked in return.

Ma Teng knew that sending Han Sui on a blitz would be impossible. He thought for a moment and said, "This time, you and I each brought 10,000 cavalrymen. Together with Li Jue's 3,000, we still have nearly 20,000 cavalrymen. Sending 10,000 to deal with the Bingzhou cavalry outside the city will be more than enough. If we can destroy this cavalry, even if we can't take Huayin, it won't matter. My army can advance eastward first, leaving 10,000 men to build an earthen embankment and dig trenches in the narrow terrain east of Huayin to cut off its connection with Hongnong County."

"Given the severity of this year's famine, Huayin's food supply route has been cut off. Within two months, or at most three months, it will fall without a fight. This will open up our retreat. After plundering Hongnong, we can continue our march eastward, first to Hangu Pass to capture Zhang Ji, and then into Henei. By then, Yuan Benchu ​​will have launched a counterattack, and we can seize Hedong and Henei."

The narrow area that Ma Teng mentioned is the location of Tongguan which is currently under construction.

Han Sui pondered for a moment, his eyes lighting up. This solution seemed feasible! Although Huayin was a fortress, it wasn't a pass. A wide passage to the north led to Hongnong. Previously, he had worried that if he couldn't capture Huayin City and rashly entered Hongnong, his retreat would be cut off. However, if he could eliminate the Bingzhou cavalry, which posed the greatest threat, and leave some men to cut off Huayin from Hongnong, then once Huayin finally surrendered, his worries would be gone.

Han Sui was about to make the decision when his general Yan Xing objected, "My lord, you're cutting off your own retreat by doing this! Don't forget, Pujin hasn't been taken yet, and Linjin has already been lost. His Bingzhou army could easily cross the river from Pujin to support our rear at Huayin. They can also cross the river from Maojin in Shan County ahead, and Hangu Pass to the east is still in Zhang Ji's hands. You're just playing a trap by doing this."

After his reminder, Han Sui reacted with a start and glared at Ma Teng with some dissatisfaction, "That's right, Pu Jin hasn't been captured yet, so this method won't work at all!"

Ma Teng said, "Lü Bu won't be able to capture Yuan Shao anytime soon. Where will Bingzhou get enough troops to support him? If not, leave another 5,000 men to watch the Wei River. I want to see how his Bingzhou reinforcements cross the river."

If time was not so urgent, Ma Teng and Han Sui, with their complete military advantage, could have chosen to besiege Huayin City while cultivating land on the Wei River Plain to support themselves. This was also a common method of siege warfare in ancient times.

The specific method was to build a long dike around the city with trenches inside the dike, and then use the idle troops to cultivate land. After the defenders' resources were exhausted, the city would fall without a fight. Sima Yi's attack on Liaodong was a classic example of a siege and a city being broken.

However, it is not possible now, because if the time is delayed for too long, Yuan Shao will definitely not be able to hold on. Once Lu Bu captures Weijun, he can withdraw tens of thousands of troops to deal with them here, so this time they only prepared enough food and grass for barely three months. One is to take Hongnong for replenishment, and the other is to quickly advance and occupy Hedong and Henei.

Therefore, the army could not spend too much time in Huayin, so Ma Teng came up with the idea of ​​leaving part of the army to besiege and isolate Huayin, while the rest went to plunder Hongnong.

However, Han Sui was much more cautious than him. After being reminded by Yan Xing, he thought of the 5,000 troops who suddenly appeared in Puzhen before. What if they had a backup plan? Doing this would indeed cut off his own retreat.

Seeing Han Sui's hesitation in answering, Ma Teng knew he didn't want to accept his advice. He continued, "How about we first eliminate the 3,000 cavalry outside the city? You wouldn't dare to fight such a small force, would you? If there are soldiers from inside the city to support us, that would be even better. We can eliminate them and perhaps Huayin will be captured."

The Bingzhou cavalry is powerful, and their Liangzhou cavalry is not weak either. It is no problem for three of them to beat one person.

Han Sui nodded and said, "Let's do as you say and attack the Bingzhou cavalry first."

In view of the fact that Ma Teng had already lost so many men, Han Sui was reluctant to let Pang De's troops contribute too much, so he took the lead, providing 6,000 cavalry, while Pang De and Li Jue each provided 2,000, for a total of 10,000 troops.

Ma Teng and Li Jue disagreed. Ma Teng cried out in dissatisfaction, "I've already lost 30,000 men, why are you still asking me to send troops?"

"That's not how it's calculated. If you had taken the Puban, I would have definitely not asked you to contribute any more. Now that you haven't done anything, how can you just stand back and watch?"

Ma Teng retorted, "When I was fighting in Pujin earlier, weren't you also here watching?"

Han Sui said with a matter-of-fact expression, "You said earlier that you could take 30,000 men with you to Pujin, leaving Pang De and his men to follow me to capture Huayin. Since you are following me, you must contribute to this battle."

Ma Teng's lips moved slightly, but he didn't know how to refute. At that time, he kept Pang De here for selfish reasons. He thought that after Huayin was broken, he would let Pang De and Han Sui attack Hongnong together, and he would attack Hedong alone, so that both sides would benefit. Unexpectedly, Puzhou was not taken.

Ma Teng was speechless, but Li Jue was. He said, "I only have 6,000 soldiers and horses in total. Why should I contribute 30% of them?"

Han Sui said, "General Wei, ever since you followed me, your army's food and fodder have all come from me. Now that we need you, I think you should do more."

Han Sui was quite polite and also respectfully called Li Jue General Wei. However, for Li Jue, who was living under someone else's roof, this title was full of irony at the moment.