My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 624 Dilemma
Huo Du showed no disappointment at all.

The smoke from the campfires south of the pass could be faintly heard even at the foot of the mountain, and the sounds of battle could be heard in the distance. If Cao Cao's army in the north were still sound asleep, this formidable pass would have changed hands long ago.

Several bonfires were lit on the open ground in front of Niutou Mountain, burning brightly in the night. Huo Du himself stood outside the gate of Tianxiong Pass, his iron armor gleaming coldly in the firelight.

He raised his sword high and shouted sternly, "Whoever breaks through Tianxiong Pass will be promoted three ranks, rewarded with one hundred gold pieces and twenty bolts of silk! Gentlemen, wealth and fame can be gained on horseback. This is the time to repay General Zuo. How dare we fear death!"

"To serve General Zuo, how could I fear death!"

A thousand armored warriors, fully armored, roared in unison, their voices echoing through the valley.

Huo Du shouted sternly, "Set up the cloud ladder! Bring up the battering ram!"

Dozens of soldiers, armed with rattan shields and bamboo fences, led the charge, while another dozen men carried a dozen or so makeshift ladders straight up the wall.

After a short while, the siege ladder was brought down to the city wall and set up against the top of the wall. The iron hooks at the top of the ladder dangled on the parapet, making it difficult for the defenders to remove it.

After the ladder was quickly erected, the armored warriors following behind, with short swords in their mouths and shields in their hands, climbed upwards fearlessly.

"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow!"

Cao Jun's garrison commander shouted and ordered his men to fire arrows, while also ordering his soldiers to throw stones at the siege ladder.

Arrows rained down, and several armored soldiers were hit and fell, but many more continued to climb, shields in hand.

Huo Tao, a cousin of Huo Du, even climbed a ladder himself, accompanied by his personal guards, steadily ascending amidst the tremors of arrows piercing the wooden ladder.

"kill--!"

As Huo Tao climbed to the top of the city wall, he dodged a spear thrust with a quick movement, and before the opponent could turn around, he leaped onto the wall, his sword sweeping across, instantly decapitating the spearman opposite him.

Immediately afterwards, the remaining armored soldiers followed, surging up the city wall like a tide, and engaged in a bloody hand-to-hand battle with the defenders.

Huo Tao charged left and right, attempting to expand the area he could scale the city walls.

However, Cao Jun was no pushover. Seeing Huo Tao's impressive martial prowess, he set up a spear formation to restrict him, which forced Zuo Mu's army to lose their footing.

Just as Huo Tao and his men were about to be driven off the city wall, archers from below arrived to provide support and unleashed a barrage of arrows at the city wall, instantly killing two or three Cao soldiers.

Huo Tao seized the opportunity, roared, and charged into the enemy ranks, finally creating an opening.

But before the Left Army could rejoice for long, a military commander arrived with dozens of armored soldiers and immediately launched a counterattack.

Unfortunately, the area controlled by the Left Guard Army on the city wall was too small and lacked depth. Despite their fierce fighting, they were eventually driven off the city wall. Huo Tao was even stabbed in the arm and shot in the lower right rib.

After stepping down, Huo Tao was replaced by Huo Du to have his wounds bandaged, and a new force was brought in to continue the fierce attack.

The battle between the two sides reached a fever pitch, with both sides fighting to the death. There were even scenes of Cao's soldiers falling off the gate wall while holding onto Zuo Mu soldiers.

Wei Duwei stood atop the city wall, while Huo Du stood below. Both sides continuously redeployed their troops and maneuvered their forces. One side was searching for weaknesses in the other's defenses, while the other held their ground, waiting for reinforcements to return.

The battle lasted for an hour, and overall, the casualties of the Left Guard Army were higher than those of Cao Cao's army.

This outcome is actually quite reasonable. It is not because the Left Guard Army was weak or because the Left Guard Army under Huo Du and Zhou Tai was less powerful, but because of the geographical environment.

The terrain of Tianxiong Pass rendered counterweight catapults useless, and even large siege weapons such as siege towers, ladders, and battering rams could not be moved up in a short time.

Therefore, the Left Army essentially attacked Tianxiong Pass using only their own bodies and the simplest siege ladders and ramming machines, so the casualties were naturally considerable.

Even if the troops guarding the pass were weak forces like the Hanzhong Army, as long as their fighting spirit was firm, the Left Guard Army would not have an easy time taking it down.

Within an hour, the Left Guard Army had suffered more than 300 casualties, while Cao Cao's army had also suffered more than 200 casualties, demonstrating the intensity of the battle.

With such a casualty ratio, Cao Cao's army undoubtedly gained a great advantage. The casualties of the Left Guard Army were all elite armored soldiers. There were more than twenty sets of armor left on the city walls, all of which were left by the fallen soldiers.

Cao Cao's army held firm at the pass, with all kinds of military equipment and supplies readily available, while Huo Du's supplies had to be transported up the mountain path for three or four miles. Moreover, Huo Du's casualties had exceeded three hundred, accounting for 30% of his total strength. If this were an ordinary army, it would have been exhausted long ago.

However, Huo Du's troops showed no signs of discouragement and continued their relentless offensive. Even the lightly wounded joined the battle, and Huo Tao, who had just finished bandaging his wounds, once again led his troops to scale the city walls.

Overall, the situation was more favorable to Cao Cao's army, but the Wei commander's face showed deep worry.

It has been a full hour and a half since Cao Ding led his army south, but no news has been sent back.

Although the Left Guard army under the city had suffered heavy casualties, they were not the entirety of the Left Guard army. There were at least five or six thousand men inside Jiameng Pass, and even if half of them were used, there would still be at least two or three thousand reinforcements. He himself only had a reserve force of a little over two hundred men left.

Wei Duwei's worries soon became a reality.

A long line of troops appeared on the mountain road to the south. Zhou Tai had led four thousand reinforcements to aid Huo Du, a truly audacious move, leaving only two thousand troops to defend Jiameng Pass. Zhou Tai dared to take such a risk because Jiameng Pass was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there were no strong enemies to the north, so he had no need to worry about them.

Just when Commander Wei was feeling desperate, a long line suddenly appeared from the north. Yang Huai, the general of the Hanzhong army, actually led three thousand soldiers to his aid, much to Commander Wei's delight. He truly hadn't expected Yang Huai to dare to send troops to his rescue, and his heart was filled with gratitude.

Just a moment later, Wei Duwei's blood cooled down.

Yang Huai was stationed on the opposite bank of Jiameng County, which was far from Tianxiong Pass and the road was difficult to travel.

If reinforcements had arrived earlier, it would have been fine, but now Tianxiong Pass is under the control of the Left Army. Even if Yang Huai's troops arrive, they will likely be suppressed at the foot of the mountain and unable to climb up.

Fortunately, even so, Yang Huai's troops numbered three thousand, which should be able to draw away a lot of the Left Guard Army and relieve some of the pressure on him.

"Someone is coming."

Wei Duwei suddenly summoned his trusted confidant and whispered, "You must immediately head south to the South Pass to find General Cao and inform him that the Left Army is launching a massive attack on the city. Our troops are fighting to the death, but we are outnumbered. The Left Army has already numbered five thousand, and we are outnumbered. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible."

At this moment, Wei's commander was hoping that Cao Ding would quickly retreat with his entire army and join forces to defend the pass to the death. Although this was a dead end, it would at least allow them to hold out for a few more days, and perhaps a turning point would come. But if they continued to divide their forces and truly lost Tianxiong Pass, Cao Ding's troops would be annihilated immediately.

Upon receiving Wei Duwei's order, the trusted confidant immediately left the city, found horses, and galloped towards the South Gate.

The two places were only a few miles apart. Galloping on horseback, in just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they saw Cao Cao's army arrayed in battle. The situation at the South Pass was exactly the same as at the North Pass; both sides were fighting with all their might, resulting in a bloody battle.

While the Zong soldiers were indeed fierce and fearless, Cao Cao's army was also ready to die for their cause.

The broken spear was stuck diagonally in the bloodstains, the lamellar armor plates were split open, and the two armored soldiers were already rolling around in a heap.

The shield walls clashed amidst deafening shouts. The spears of the front-line armored soldiers emerged from behind their shields, thrusting like venomous snakes towards the opposite side with a piercing roar.

Sparks flew from the ridges of the shields, and the knuckles gripping the shield handles turned white from the force. Long halberds and spears from the rear row thrust out diagonally from the gaps in the shields, their tips whistling as they plunged into the armored formation opposite, only to be blocked by the edges of the enemy shields. Two halberds became entangled, and the armored soldiers grunted as they struggled, the halberd shafts bending into bows, and fine cracks seeping from the wood.

The left-wing formation suddenly contracted inward, like a clenched fist.

The armored soldiers at the front knelt on the ground, their iron shields sloping to form a ramp. Their comrades behind them leaped over the shield wall, stepping on their shoulder armor. The lamellar armor made a crisp clattering sound as they jumped. The ring-pommel swords in their hands slashed out in a bright silver arc, striking the neck armor joint of an armored soldier opposite them. The crisp sound of the armor plates being split was mixed with the muffled sound of bones breaking.

However, the right wing was breached by the other side.

An enemy soldier's iron spear pierced through a gap in the shield formation and plunged into the abdomen of an armored soldier. The soldier groaned and bent over, but grabbed the spear shaft with his other hand. His comrade behind him immediately filled in for him, and a halberd pierced through the spear shaft, penetrating the enemy soldier's breastplate.

Blood flowed down the spear shaft, accumulating into small puddles on the ground, where it was crushed into bloody mud by the constantly passing iron boots.

The flag bearer behind Cao Ding held the general's flag high. The flagpole was hit by a stray arrow, and wood chips flew everywhere, but he did not move an inch. His armor was already splattered with dark red bloodstains.

The armored soldiers around them raised their shields to protect him and Cao Ding.

The battle here had reached a fever pitch. Cao Ding, the commander-in-chief, was covered in blood and had a scratch on his forehead from a stray arrow, which showed how fierce the battle was.

The messenger merely swept the ground and saw hundreds of corpses piled up on the battlefield. At least three or four hundred people had fallen on both sides. Even some of the wounded could not be pulled back to the rear of the lines and could only lie in the center of the battlefield, howling and struggling, trying to avoid being trampled by the armored soldiers.

The messenger dared not look again and hurriedly rode towards Cao Ding's banner.

Before he could get close, he saw several armored soldiers approaching him, their eyes filled with wariness and killing intent.

The messenger hurriedly tumbled off his horse, shouting, "I am the commander of the second garrison under Commandant Wei. Quickly take me to see General Cao. I have important matters to report to the general on the orders of Commandant Wei."

After verifying his identity, the general brought him before Cao Ding.

Before Cao Ding could ask any questions, the messenger spilled the beans, recounting all of Wei Duwei's instructions.

Upon hearing Wei Duwei's desperate plea for help, Cao Ding's face turned extremely grim, and he nearly burst into a tirade. "You were the one who vouched for me so highly earlier, Wei Duwei! And now, at this critical moment, you're asking for help?"
But soon, upon hearing that Zhou Tai and Huo Du had mobilized their entire forces, totaling five thousand men, to storm Niutou Mountain and launch a fierce attack on Tianxiong Pass, the curses that Cao Ding was about to utter froze in his throat.

If he were to defend the pass with his entire army, he could hold out for several days even with 10,000 men, let alone 5,000.

After all, the walls of Tianxiong Pass are only so wide, and the battlefield can only accommodate seven or eight hundred men at most. The advantage in troop strength cannot be demonstrated, and they can only rely on attrition warfare. But now Guanzhong only has a thousand men under Wei Duwei, how can they withstand the full force of the Left Army?

But if we withdraw our troops now...

Cao Ding turned his gaze to the battlefield where the fierce battle was raging, and at this time Cao's army had gradually gained a certain advantage.

Although the Ba people were fierce and brave, their discipline, weaponry, armor, and teamwork were inferior to Cao Cao's army.

This was not because Liu Feng discriminated against the Ba people, but because the raid was along rugged mountain roads, so the Ba people were only given the best leather armor, not iron armor.

Although Cao's army did not have many iron armors, they still had some, and Cao Ang's troops, being elite, received even more iron armor than other troops.

Cao Dingjun had a full two hundred sets of iron armor, and it was precisely because of these armored soldiers that he was able to suppress the Ba people and gain some advantage.

If we retreat now, not only will all our previous efforts be wasted, but we will also likely be pursued relentlessly by the Zong soldiers.

Cao Ding hesitated.

Retreating is not only a matter of whether one is willing to do so, but the risks involved are terrifying.

If we don't retreat, and Tianxiong Pass falls, even if we kill all the Ba people in front of us, it will be of no use.

With such a small force, how could they possibly conquer Jianmen Pass from the front?
"General, we must make a decision quickly."

The soldier quickly tried to persuade him, saying that at this moment, even the worst decision was better than no decision at all.

After much hesitation, Cao Ding finally sighed and said, "Withdraw the troops!"

Tianxiong Pass cannot be lost; even if it's a desperate measure, we must hold it until the very last moment. There are still over ten thousand friendly troops in Hanzhong Commandery to the north. If we can hold out until their reinforcements arrive, there is still a chance to turn the tide.

After making up his mind, Cao Ding began to arrange the withdrawal of troops.

Because Cao Cao's army had the advantage and the mountain roads were treacherous, the retreat was much easier than expected.

However, this also caused a drop in the morale of Cao Cao's army. The soldiers did not understand why they suddenly had to retreat when victory was in sight. Some of the more astute ones even speculated that something had happened at Tianxiong Pass.

As a result, Cao's army's morale was naturally dealt a significant blow. On the contrary, the enemy's soldiers, under Wang Ping's urging, rallied their morale and caught up again, forcing Cao Ding to leave some troops behind to cover the rear.

As Cao Ding fought and retreated, when he was less than a mile from Tianxiong Pass, he suddenly received terrible news.

Tianxiong Pass has fallen, and Wei Commandant was personally killed by Huo Du. The city gates have been opened, and the remnants of Wei Commandant's troops are fighting desperately inside the pass.

Cao Ding was stunned and speechless for a long time.

"General, give the order quickly!"

Han Qin and the others urged him repeatedly, and Cao Ding finally calmed down: "Commander Han, you take your troops back to reinforce first, and you must drive the Left Army out of the pass."

"Here!"

Han Qin immediately accepted the order and led his troops ahead, leaving only the last captain to lead his troops in a step-by-step resistance along the rugged mountain road.

(End of this chapter)