Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

After a brief halt for half an hour, the two thousand Qiang cavalry set off and continued their march towards Wujie in the southwest.

Ten miles of land is just a moment for the cavalry.

Four or five miles away from Wujie, Lu Xun, who was leading the troops in the front, noticed a shadowy figure on the stone hill beside the road, as if someone was hiding there.

As several columns of thick smoke rose, the Shu army camp several miles away also sounded the horn to meet the enemy and began to be on alert.

He Tang came over and said, "General, should we drive away those Shu scouts on the mountain?"

"Forget it." Lu Xun said, "There is no place to hide in this kind of mountain. It is so rugged and rugged that no general would ambush us. They are just a few scouts. We can't catch up with them. There is no need to worry. Let's keep moving forward."

"Yes, sir." He Tang replied.

As the two thousand cavalrymen got closer and closer to Wujie, the positions set up by the Shu army here gradually unfolded in front of Lu Xun.

From the east side where the mountain slopes down gradually to the west side where the Qiang River is, there is a visible wall that stretches across the area, about a mile wide and about one person tall. In front of it are countless deer antlers.

The biggest function of building a wall is actually to block the view.

If we don't send troops closer, we will never know what is hidden behind this wall. It may be other walls, or many trenches have been dug, and flammable objects have been placed, all of which are unknown.

When Lu Xun saw this wall and these deer antlers, he already had some guesses in his mind.

However, if we want to make a specific judgment, we need to investigate further.

"Hetang!" Lu Xun shouted in a low voice.

"I'm here." He Tang clasped his fists in response.

Lu Xun said, "Before I set out, I asked you to carry wooden shields on your horses. Now is the time to use them. Quickly order Fa Tong to lead 500 men to dismount and form a battle formation. Holding shields, slowly advance toward the left side of the Shu army's camp until they are a hundred steps away."

Hetang hesitated for a moment: "General, are we going to attack the camp?"

Lu Xun said, "I said as long as you are a hundred steps away. Don't you understand Chinese?"

"Yes." He Tang bowed his head slightly and clasped his fists in response.

Soon, the 500 men of Fa Tong formed a formation and moved forward. As they got closer and closer to the Shu army camp, the Shu army archers deployed behind the wall also shot arrows at the first opportunity.

Fatong's troops moved slowly, and the Shu army had just fired the second wave of arrows when Lu Xun ordered his men to recall Fatong's troops. The Shu army only had time to fire two waves of arrows, which was only a moment.

He Tang was a little puzzled and asked carefully: "I don't quite understand, what does the general mean?"

Lu Xun said calmly: "I led 2,000 cavalry here, less than two miles away from the Shu army camp. The Shu army did not dare to fight, but just hid behind the camp. Either they were short of manpower or they did not want to fight at all."

"I just asked Fa Tong to lead his men to give it a try. The Shu army responded by firing arrows from behind the left side of the camp. Judging from the volley of arrows, there are at least 500 archers on the left side."

He Tang's eyes widened: "General, you are indeed wise and decisive. You can see this. I only saw the arrows flying out and couldn't tell the difference at all."

"You will understand after seeing more." Lu Xun was unwilling to waste words with He Tang: "Wait for Fa Tong to return quickly and mount your horse. I have another order for you."

"Yes." Hetang replied in a low voice.

After all the troops who had fought against Tong returned, Lu Xun instructed Hetang:

"Hetang, I order you to lead a thousand men to cross the river from here. The water is shallow and there is a sand bank in the river, so it should not be difficult. After crossing the river, you only need to bluff and pretend to walk south along the river bank. When I raise the red flag as the order, you can return."

"As you command, I understand."

Hetang led a thousand cavalrymen, and led their horses across the river in groups of a hundred men.

When the first two groups crossed the river, there was no reaction in the Shu army camp. When the fifth group crossed the river, Lu Xun saw from afar in the north that the Shu army camp actually brought out the well-built floating bridge and began to arrange it on the surface of the Qiang River, where the water flow was not strong. Hundreds of armored soldiers followed closely behind and quickly crossed the river to the west along the built floating bridge.

After roughly estimating the time and the number of people in his mind, Lu Xun whispered, "Please keep the whole army on alert. Wave the red flag again to call Hetang's troops back."

"As ordered."

The accompanying soldiers held up a 3-meter-high slender flagpole with a red flag on it and waved it. Seeing this, Hetang immediately ordered them to return and continue crossing the river in batches of 100 people.

Lu Xun continued to stare at the Shu army camp, but still did not see any soldiers from the camp sent out to fight.

When Hetang's entire army crossed the river and returned, and Hetang himself came to Lu Xun's horse to report, Lu Xun just said a few words lightly:
"Let's go, the whole army returns."

The light cavalry left, and since the Shu army was composed entirely of infantry, there was no way they could catch up, as two legs are never as fast as four legs.

The team was heading northwest. Many soldiers and officers were confused. He Tang came to Lu Xun and asked for advice:
"General, are we heading to Dazhong now?"

"That's right." Lu Xun nodded: "I have seen the strengths and weaknesses of the Shu army. It is useless to stay here any longer. It is better to return quickly."

Although Hetang was not very smart and not very tactful, he had one good point: he would ask questions whenever he had them. Perhaps because Lu Xun was far away from his hometown and felt sympathy for the Qiang people, he was always willing to give advice. Hetang sat on his horse and asked Lu Xun, "General, I don't quite understand. How did you see the strengths and weaknesses of the Shu army? I don't understand at all."

Lu Xun laughed and said, "If you lead the army for twenty years, you will understand it. However, there are still clues this time."

"Take the Shu army's archery at the beginning for example. I can see that this is a round of projectiles by 500 people, and this is only the arrangement behind half of the Shu army's wall. There should be more than 1,000 archers on both sides. 1,000 archers should be matched with 2,000 to 3,000 infantry, so the Shu army has about 3,000 to 4,000 people."

"When I sent you across the river, the Shu army immediately took out a pontoon bridge to cross the river. It was obvious that they were prepared. When you withdrew, the Shu army did not leave the camp to meet you. This shows that the Shu army never planned to leave the camp."

He Tang frowned, still a little confused: "What does this mean?"

"It shows that the Shu army has no intention of attacking from here after they captured this place. The generals here must be reliable generals ordered by Zhuge Liang to defend the place firmly. Most of Zhuge Liang's troops must have gone in the direction of Wudu."

"Wujie is a three-way intersection, connecting Dazhong, Wudu, and Baishui. Zhuge Liang had no other tactical options except this division."

"Wudu?" He Tang's expression gradually became serious: "Then how should we deal with it? There are not many troops in Wudu and Xiabian. Zhang Zhengxi is in Qishan City, and the general is in Chencang. It's hard to take care of them all at once!"

"What should I do?"

Lu Xun glanced at He Tang and said, "What should we do? Of course, after I return to Dazhong, I will mobilize most of the troops and take a detour from the north to Qishan!"

"Isn't this a bit too far? What about the local Qiang people?" He Tang asked.

Lu Xun said with a relaxed expression: "This is easy. Let the Qiang people disperse to the mountains. In one month, or at most two months, the army will surely win. Then I will return with my entire army, and the Qiang people can go home."

Hetang sighed, "I just don't know if the Shu army will kill the people if they come."

Hetang's question was the result of Lu Xun's proper education. The Qiang people here were not of the same tribe as Hetang, and even their dialects were different. Hetang was able to take the Qiang people into consideration and treat them as common people, which just shows that he had integrated into the thinking of the Wei generals.

Lu Xun said: "The Shu army has great ambitions, and they have no intention or time to pursue us in the mountains, so there is no need to worry. Also, the Shu army has always advocated benevolence and righteousness, so they would not do such a thing. Or rather, no one would do such a thing right now."

"I understand. Thank you for your guidance, General." He Tang said seriously.

"It's okay." Lu Xun nodded.

……

When Lu Xun led two thousand Qiang cavalry back to Dazhong, Man Chong, the former general of the Wei Dynasty, finally led most of the troops who were sent to conquer Liaodong and arrived outside the city of Xuchang.

Pei Qian, the imperial attendant, once again represented the emperor and went ten miles outside the city to greet him. Since there was only one imperial attendant, Pei Qian, he always did the job.

But Pei Qian often enjoyed it and never felt bored. Being able to perform such ceremonial activities for the emperor was in itself a sign of favor and treatment.

The last person to play this role was Xin Pi Xin Shizhong, who has now become Weiwei, one of the Nine Ministers.

Seeing the army approaching, Pei Qian rode forward and came in front of Man Chong and others.

"General Man, how are you?" Pei Qian smiled and bowed, "Your Majesty sent me here today to welcome General Man. We have set up a ceremonial guard and drums in front of us. Please come into the city in style."

Man Chong, who was originally sitting on his horse, heard Pei Qian's words and immediately dismounted and bowed respectfully in the direction of Xuchang City: "Your Majesty, I, Man Chong, thank you!"

After thanking him, Man Chong returned to his horse and bowed to Pei Qian with a smile, "Thank you very much, Minister Pei. Your Majesty and I haven't seen each other for several months. Although we have often exchanged letters in the meantime, I can't hide my longing for you."

"How is your Majesty?"

"Your Majesty's body is worth a ton of gold, so of course it's safe." Pei Qian responded with a smile, and glanced at Bei Yan who was sitting quietly on his horse behind Man Chong, and then asked:
"General Man, has Minister Lu returned with the army?"

Man Chong nodded and said, "Two days ago, Minister Lu led the Xiongnu light cavalry and just caught up with our army. Now Minister Lu is in the Xiongnu army behind us. I will summon him later."

"Very good, very good." Pei Qian still smiled and greeted Bei Yan again.

Bei Yan was waiting for this sentence, and immediately returned the greeting to Pei Qian.

The group continued to move forward, with drums and music and guards of honor in front, creating an extremely spectacular scene.

However, Man Chong did not care about these empty formalities, but asked Pei Qian, who was traveling side by side with him, about the recent situation in Xuchang:

"May I ask Minister Pei if there have been any changes in the war situation in Yangzhou and Jingzhou recently? The last time I received a letter from Liu Ziyang about the war was five days ago. According to the date, it should be seven or eight days ago."

Seven or eight days already?

Pei Qian heard the time and secretly noted it in his mind, then said, "Yes, I should tell General Man. Perhaps General Man doesn't know that Xu Yuanzhi led his troops to break the siege of Wu's army outside Fancheng. The danger of Fancheng has been resolved, but there is still a Yukou Fort to the north of Han River, which still needs to be removed."

"In Yangzhou, Chen Situ has personally led an army of 30,000 to march south to attack Ruxu. Yangzhou Governor Jiang Zitong is in charge of repairing the city. Yangzhou is also busy at this time."

Man Chong sighed: "During my absence, the Central Government has done a lot of things and failed to help Your Majesty. I feel guilty!" (End of this chapter)