Cao Rui rode his horse forward slowly, neither hastening nor slowing down. The red and black interwoven flags fluttered in the cold winter wind. Just as the tiger guards surrounding him dismounted from their horses to verify Qian Zhao's identity, Cao Rui stretched out his right hand and signaled the tiger guards to step back and stop. "The military situation is urgent, so there is no need to be polite. General Qian, please stand up and lead the way for me!" Cao Rui looked down at Qian Zhao, who was kneeling on one knee in front of the horse, and said indifferently. "Yes, sir!" Qian Zhao did not hesitate. He stood up, jumped on his horse, and galloped to a place three feet in front of Cao Rui. Upon seeing this, Cao Rui spurred his horse to catch up, and behind him, a group of important officials of the Great Wei followed the emperor's horse and headed towards the Wei army camp in the south. It was only five miles of road, and it would only take a moment for the cavalry to reach the destination. After the emperor and his entourage arrived at the Wei army camp, the news began to spread wildly among the various armies and camps. Qian Zhao's troops set out from Chang'an and, after sixteen consecutive days of travel, fought several small battles the day before yesterday and yesterday, and today they attacked the Shu army camp from north to south for a whole day. It was indeed a tough battle. The 15,000 infantry were divided into seven groups, one group stayed in the camp, and the remaining six groups took turns to attack the camp. First they pulled out the deer horns, then filled the gullies. The casualties of each group of 2,000 people were close to 500 or 600, and the total loss was close to 4,000, which was more than 25%.
If the battle had not been fought in sections and batches, Qian Zhao's entire army would never have been able to accept such high casualties. After a day of hard fighting, the soldiers in the camp were either exhausted or still thinking about the battle situation during the attack on the camp. But just when morale was low and they were exhausted, the arrival of the Emperor of Wei instantly ignited the dull atmosphere in the camp. "Long live! Long live! Long live!" Upon learning that His Majesty had come to the camp in person, the soldiers went from not daring to believe what their chief said to being almost excited and jubilant, but it only took a few dozen moments. The sound of the mountain shouts echoed among the mountains and could be heard for miles away, even in the Shu army camp in the south. The troops under Qian Zhao's command came from the most diverse backgrounds. The 20,000 foreign troops in Chang'an were originally drawn from Yangzhou and Jingzhou by the Luoyang court. When they came to Longyou to fight, everyone felt somewhat helpless. In addition, Qian Zhao was in a hurry today, and more than 3,000 soldiers paid the lives but were only able to clear the outside of the Shu army camp and destroy the outer fortifications through the Shu army's wall. Therefore, from the lieutenants to the garrison commanders, the dubo and the sergeants, there was a lot of resentment in the army. Now that the emperor has come in person, all the casualties today seem to be understandable. Your Majesty is in the camp right now! The Central Army's cavalry is also here! It's time to be the first to capture the flag and to be honored with a wife and son! Cao Rui sat at the head of the big tent in the camp, while Qian Zhao and all the generals in the camp stood with their hands clasped in the tent. The generals who were originally dissatisfied with Qian Zhao's urgent military orders today, now all shut their mouths and stood quietly behind Qian Zhao. Cao Rui glanced from left to right. The seven two thousand stone generals standing behind Qian Zhao were either lieutenant generals, deputy generals, or captains. Cao Rui had carefully read the resume of each of them when he was in Luoyang. "He An, Guo Ling, Zhao Buqi, Jia Long, Yin Jian, Xue Ding, Pan Yi." Every time Cao Rui read out the name of a general, one of them would kneel on one knee to salute. "Your Majesty actually recognized me?!" Pan Yi, whose name was called last, even trembled slightly. He was originally a Sima with a salary of 1,000 stones. Before the 8,000 foreign troops from Jingzhou were transferred to Chang'an, he was promoted to a lieutenant with a salary of 2,000 stones by Chen Qun. He never thought that His Majesty would recognize him. Cao Rui was unaware of Pan Yi's thoughts at the moment. He sat on the first seat in the tent and said loudly, "Qian Zhenxi has already told me about today's battle situation on the way back to the camp. You seven generals have fulfilled your duties today, and I am very pleased." "I have arrived today. Tomorrow I will personally lead the generals to the south to break through the Shu army's defense line and join forces with Lueyang City." "Let's see what you can accomplish tomorrow!" "We will follow your majesty's orders!" the seven two thousand stone generals replied in unison. Cao Rui waved his hand, and these generals walked out of the tent tactfully. Qian Zhao, who was in the tent, bowed to the emperor in front of Sima Yi, the four attendants, and the other officials, and said, "I am incompetent. Today I am leading the generals to attack the camp southward. Your Majesty, please help me reassure the generals."
Cao Rui laughed and looked at Qian Zhao: "The army you command is also my army, why do you have to be so formal with me? Today, your troops attacked the Shu camp and suffered many casualties. It is only right that I personally comfort them." Qian Zhao bowed and asked, "How would you like me to attack tomorrow, Your Majesty?" Cao Rui and Sima Yi looked at each other, and Sima Yi coughed lightly: "General Qian, we have already looked at the geography, camps, and maps here, and have also drawn up a strategy for attack." "How much fighting power do you have now?" Qian Zhao replied sternly, "There are at least 11,000 soldiers who can charge the camp!" Sima Yi nodded, turned sideways and bowed to the emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, I suggest that General Qian's troops continue to attack tomorrow regardless of casualties. If they still haven't taken the city by noon, send 5,000 Central Army cavalry to dismount and fight on foot." "The remaining 10,000 cavalrymen are on standby at any time, ready to charge southward at any time after the infantry opens a gap, and cut off the connection between Wei Yan's Shu army and Zhao Yun's army here!" Qian Zhao's expression was a little gloomy at first, but then he regained his composure. What Sima Yi said was actually right. As the general said, the cavalry in the central army can dismount and fight on foot, but it is always more cost-effective to consume the infantry in the attack camp than to consume the dismounted cavalry. Qian Zhao still understood this principle. Qian Zhao did not hesitate and responded with a folded hand: "I second your proposal. I will lead the way for Your Majesty tomorrow!" Cao Rui nodded: "As it should be! How is Zhang Junyi now?" Qian Zhao replied, "An envoy has just returned, saying that Zhang Junyi is completely fine and can still wield the halberd for a hundred breaths!" Cao Rui laughed and said, "He, the governor of Yongliang, still makes me worry. Let's see if I can meet Zhang He in person before tomorrow night!" …… At this time, in the Shu army camp in the south, Wei Yan was also frightened. He turned to his chief secretary Ma Dai and asked, "Zhongwu, the Wei army in the north is shouting long live the king! Why is that?" "Qian Zhao drove his soldiers like crazy today. I have been confused for a whole day. What happened now?" Ma Dai was stumped by Wei Yan's question. After thinking carefully for a moment, he actually remembered something that happened nearly twenty years ago. "General, I once confronted Cao's army in Weinan with my cousin and former Ma Hussar. You know about this battle, right?" Ma Dai asked cautiously. "I know." Wei Yan nodded. "I heard from the Prime Minister that Cao Cao poured water to build fortifications in winter." Ma Dai continued, "That day we failed to charge Cao's camp on the south bank of the Wei River. The next day, Cao's army crossed the Wei River and settled on the south bank. There was also such cheering among the army that day." Wei Yan frowned and said, "I was wondering why I didn't see Cao Zhen's army today. Such cheers of "Long live the emperor" are definitely not what Cao Zhen, a useless general, would have." "Could it be..." Wei Yan and Ma Dai looked at each other, both of them showing horror in their eyes. Wei Yan immediately stood up and stepped forward, stuffed the token on his waist into Ma Dai's hand, grabbed Ma Dai's shoulder and said, "It must be the little emperor of Wei!" "Zhongwu, take my token and go find General Ma and General Zhao! Tell them that we can't defend this camp! If Qian Zhao attacks us recklessly tomorrow, as long as there are two or three gaps, I'm afraid that the Wei cavalry will charge in and Wu Ban and I will be killed here!" Ma Dai thought for a moment and said, "General, why don't you write a military report for General Ma to keep?" "It's already this late and you're still writing a military report? Go quickly, go quickly!" Wei Yan urged. As soon as Ma Dai left, Wei Yan, in a hurry, sent someone to call Wu Ban over, and then began to inspect the camp. There were three camps of Shu Han near Lueyang. Wang Ping's 4,000 men set up camp and garrisoned at the broken mountain pass, which controlled the army's approach and retreat routes.
Half a mile north of Wang Ping's camp, Zhao Yun's 11,000-man infantry camp wall stretched for two miles, from the south to the river in the north. If you calculate carefully, the one-way distance of Ma Dai is only about seven miles. In less than an hour, Ma Dai himself rode back to Wei Yan's camp. When he entered the central army tent panting, Wei Yan was discussing military situation with Wu Ban and the other two generals with frowns on their faces. Wei Yan stood up suddenly without any hesitation, stared at Ma Dai and asked directly: "What do Ma Su and Zhao Yun say? Can we leave the camp and retreat?" Ma Dai looked gloomy, smiled bitterly and shook his head: "General Ma doesn't allow it. He said that General Zhao's camp is long and narrow, and he can only look west, but can't stop the Wei army coming from the east. And if the general retreats, it will be too late to set up camp tonight." "He also said that he had just received an order from the Prime Minister, saying that the Prime Minister personally led 8,000 infantry and cavalry, and Wu Yi's remaining 13,000 soldiers in Shanggui to march north today, the 21st." "General Ma said that the Prime Minister did not issue any military order to change the camp. He said, he said that since the general's losses today were not great, he asked the general to hold on for two more days and not to be afraid of difficulties..." Before Ma Dai could finish his words, Wei Yanzhang, with veins bulging on his head and in a rage, kicked over the desk in front of him, spilling the military documents the two men were reading all over the place. "You bastard, you bastard!" Wei Yan roared in the tent, pointing his finger at Wu Ban: "How could this Ma Su know how desperately we were attacked today? Moreover, the reinforcements of the Wei army seem to be arriving. If we attack again tomorrow as quickly as today, the wall of the camp will surely be lost in half a day or even a day!" Wu Ban's face almost flushed. He and Wei Yan were guarding the same place, and they were worried about the same things, but he didn't know how to respond to Wei Yan's words. "Zhongwu!" Wei Yan narrowed his eyes and looked over: "Have you told Ma Su about the reinforcements from the Wei army?" Ma Dai spread his hands and said, "I did! But Ma Canjun said that Cao Zhen's troops have just arrived at the edge of Lueyang City, and he is unable to send more troops to the general." "They won't allow me to retreat, and they won't send me reinforcements. What should I do tomorrow?" Wei Yan was struggling with this, and turned to look at Wu Ban: "Yuanxiong, you are the emperor's uncle after all. Tell me, if you and I withdraw our troops tonight, how will the court and the prime minister deal with us?" Wu Ban smiled bitterly and shook his head: "There is no order from the Prime Minister, nor from Ma Su, the commander of the Eastern Army. If we retreat tonight and suffer any defeat, I'm afraid we will all die!" (End of this chapter)