Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 282: Attacking the Enemy at Night
Ju Su was dumbfounded and asked quickly: "Why can't the central army defeat the Qingzhou cavalry? Where are the hundreds of halberd soldiers? Where are the cavalry? Where are the crossbowmen?!"

The middle-aged official said with a sad face, "They are gone, all gone. The crossbowmen and halberd soldiers were all sent to the front army to break Liu Xuande's chariot formation. The Qingzhou people nailed the Wugang chariots with wooden nails and soaked the curtains with water to prevent our army's fire attack. The infantry shield formation is extremely solid, and the morale is high. They fought to the death and even dared to charge out of the chariot formation.

In order to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible and prevent Liu Bei from responding to the main camp, Lord Yuan sent almost all his infantry and sent people to cut off the Qingzhou army camp. I didn’t expect the enemy cavalry to be so swift and powerful, and it seemed that they had endless strength. They defeated our cavalry several times. When I left the army, the Qingzhou cavalry was still chasing me, chasing Lord Yuan all the way back to the north..."

"What?!" Before he finished speaking, Ju Shou immediately took two steps at a time, supported the other person's arms, and said in a panic, "Mr. Yuan is still in danger, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

What a point! If Yuan Gong is captured by Liu Xuande, the counties in Hebei will immediately fall apart, and the governors in various places will either establish their own regime or surrender to Liu Bei.

Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang and others did not have the prestige to lead Ji and You provinces to fight against Liu Xuande, a relative of the Han royal family, and compete for the world.

The Yuan family will surely disappear like the wind and die in an instant.

Ju Su was extremely anxious, but he was still far away from the city of Ge County, and distant water could not quench his immediate thirst.

After thinking for a long time, he looked up and said to Zhang He: "Junyi, you are a frequent commander and have participated in the campaign against Gongsun Zan in Youzhou. You know a lot about the habits of brave generals like Zhang Liao from border counties. You can pretend to be suspicious and then withdraw the troops and retreat back to Bohai."

"At this moment, Yuan Gong is in great danger. I will lead hundreds of cavalrymen in the army, carrying dry food and water, and rush to the direction of Dongwucheng in Ganling day and night. I will first follow the western bank of the Huanshui River to look for horse hoof footprints to protect Yuan Gong. If there is really no news from him and I cannot find him for many days, I will cross the Huan River to the north and return to Xindu."

"Junyi, what do you think of this strategy?"

Ju Su couldn't help but ask.

Although Zhang He felt that it was inappropriate to let the military supervisor take all the war horses away, how could he stop Zhang Wenyuan? Zhang Wenyuan was good at using cavalry and needed to be controlled by cavalry.

But he couldn't save face when the words came to his lips. He couldn't say that he kept the cavalry because he was afraid that Zhang Liao would break through the formation.

A real man born in this world should be resolute and swift, defeat the enemy and show his sharp edge. Why should I be afraid of him?

Zhang Junyi was also a famous general in Hebei. Even if he was not as good as Qu Yi, he believed that he was not inferior to Yan Liang and Wen Chou. If he really fought in the battlefield, how could he be defeated by the vulgar Zhang Liao?

Zhang He hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind, clasped his hands and said loudly: "The military supervisor can go to rescue Lord Yuan. I and the 8,000 infantrymen in Hebei are more than enough to deal with Zhang Liao."

"Ever since I followed Lord Yuan to fight against the Gongsun clan in Hejian County, I have only been responsible for chasing the enemy. Why should I be afraid of the enemy's attack? If Zhang Wenyuan dares to come, I will attack him with a strong crossbow."

"Okay, Junyi is worthy of being my Hebei general. I will leave this place to you. I will immediately organize the troops and horses, feed them beans, grass and water. I will not bring more pack horses. After leaving Pingyuan County, ponds will gradually become scarce. More horses will require more water, which will not be convenient for our army to move forward quickly with light equipment."

Even though he was an opponent, Ju Su could not help but praise Liu Bei for his efforts to build many ponds and canals.

Since we marched into Pingyuan County, everything we have seen and heard has been refreshing.

The princes of the world were only concerned with conquest and plunder, and rarely considered benefiting the people and farmers. Only Liu Xuande had such courage and ruled the people with great virtue rather than small favors. Liu Bei accumulated kindness and virtue, and the people would surely repay his kindness. No wonder his name was known throughout the world.

It's a pity that our paths are different, otherwise I would really like to meet this hero.

See if he is as broad-minded and magnanimous as Guangwu, and has the same great principles as Gaodi.

……

While it was still dark, the sound of hundreds of horses' hooves could be heard as they quickly took a detour and galloped off to the west.

Zhang Liao, who was resting against the parapet of the city wall, vaguely heard a dull sound coming from the field. He immediately stood up and looked into the distance. In the dim light, there seemed to be some black spots moving away.

Zhang Liao was overjoyed. It might not be clear to others, but he, who was used to seeing cavalry, could tell at a glance that this was a scene of cavalry fleeing. Instead of attacking the city at night, they led the cavalry westward. It must be that something happened in the plains, and they needed to lead the cavalry to support it.

If the main force of Yuan's army is lost, Zhang He's troops will definitely withdraw and return to Bohai. If they retreat during the day, they are afraid that I will lead my troops out of the city to pursue them. So they will pretend to attack the top of the city tonight, but actually lead their troops to withdraw quietly.

The opportunity to win a battle is fleeting, and a general cannot hesitate for even a moment.

Zhang Liao immediately dispatched 400 soldiers to dig up the mound behind the north gate, and he personally went to check the saddles, reins, and horse tacks of the horses, as well as the bows, quivers, and blades carried by the cavalry.

The key to a night raid is how to build momentum, charge into various locations, and shoot arrows to terrify the enemy and make them dare not respond.

The enemy was in front of the bonfire and could not see the darkness in the distance, while his cavalry was hiding in the dimness and could shout in unison, which was enough to shock Yuan's army.

Suddenly, a gust of north wind blew past, making the "Han" flag flutter.

Zhang Liao couldn't help but secretly said: "Liao will rise from the dust and defeat Zhang He's troops. We will assist you in restoring the Han Dynasty and reorganizing the Han country. The gods and ghosts in heaven and earth can bear witness to this."

The flag still swayed in the wind, as if in response.

Two hours later, dusk fell and the moon rose and the stars appeared.

Fierce shouts and drum beats were heard again under the city of Ge County, and dense arrows flew towards the top of the city.

This time, not only the north side of the city wall, but also the west and east sides were attacked by Yuan's army. The rain of arrows was sometimes dense and sometimes sparse, making the defenders on the city wall feel as if they were facing a powerful enemy. They braved the arrows and moved the stones on the top of the city wall closer.

As soon as the enemy showed signs of climbing up to attack the city, they would immediately raise stones and smash them down. After all the stones were smashed, they would dismantle the wooden pillars in the city.

Yuan’s army is not afraid of death and dares to come. What awaits them is a devastating attack.

As a result, after waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the enemy's infantry pushing ladders to attack the city.

Zhang Liao was certain that Yuan's troops were feinting an attack, so he immediately assembled 300 cavalrymen, suddenly opened the north gate, rode out of the city, divided the cavalry into three groups, and launched a surprise attack from behind on Yuan's troops who were attacking the city with torches in hand.

"Hoo ho ho..."

The sudden fierce sound of horse hooves threw the retreating Yuan army into chaos after completing the feint attack. The sound seemed to be coming from the front and behind. In the dark, they could not tell how many troops and horses were rushing out of the city, and they could not help but scream in fear.

"Run!"

"Run!"

"I can't stop it."

Zhang Liao easily killed the auxiliary soldiers of Yuan army at the city gate, forcing them to retreat and flee in all directions, abandoning their weapons and armor.

But this group of defeated soldiers was not his target. His real target was Zhang He, who had already withdrawn his troops.

Since the other party is already on guard now, then do the opposite.

After some thought, Zhang Liao decided to bypass the rear army which was on high alert and chase the enemy's front, then break through the enemy's formation and defeat them.

(End of this chapter)