My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 567: Great Victory at Dingjun Mountain

To be honest, before Wang Ping tried to go down the mountain for the first time to attack Xiahou Yuan's camp surrounding the mountain and blocking the road, Xiahou Yuan was still very alert.

He always ordered his soldiers to be on high alert and cautious. Even when they were digging trenches and repairing antlers, they had to keep their weapons and equipment within easy reach, and they would immediately line up to defend and fight as soon as they heard the enemy's situation.

However, after Wang Ping's attempt failed and he was completely defeated, Xiahou Yuan quickly relaxed.

"It seems that the enemy has been discouraged and will not cause trouble again in a few days. Let the soldiers work quickly and try to complete the first line of antler fortifications today so that we can have a good sleep."

Xiahou Yuan was filled with such thoughts in his mind. While making plans, he personally inspected the Lujiao construction site and encouraged everyone to work harder.

When the Cao army soldiers saw General Xiahou personally patrolling the camp and supervising the construction, they did not dare to be negligent. They worked three or four times faster than usual, all wanting to perform well in front of the general.

There was nothing to trace in the remaining time of the morning, and we passed it peacefully in this stalemate.

However, there were still capable people among Cao's army. In the afternoon, Xiahou Yuan's main strategist Jia Xu also hurried to the foot of Dingjun Mountain and brought Xiahou Yuan a batch of reinforcements and food to help consolidate the siege line.

Seeing Xiahou Yuan repairing the bridge without sparing the soldiers' physical strength, Jia Xu could not help but give him a few words of advice: "General, you are repairing the bridge so hard and wasting the soldiers' physical strength. I am afraid you can't last long. It is better to divide the troops to be on guard and rest in batches."

Xiahou Yuan listened to this advice and didn't take it seriously at first: "Wenhe is worrying too much! We have been very cautious this morning and have already repelled the enemy's first attempt. The enemy will be frightened and will not dare to act rashly again."

Jia Xu shook his head. "General, have you forgotten what I predicted for Zhang Xiu back then: victorious troops chasing retreating troops will be defeated, while defeated troops chasing victorious troops will win? Although Wang Ping has been defeated for a while, Wei Yan may still have some strength left. We need to be on guard against him deliberately losing a little to lure you to let down your guard."

Xiahou Yuan was very disappointed by what Jia Xu said, but since the other party had reminded him to this extent, he could only accept his advice humbly.

However, Xiahou Yuan couldn't help thinking in his heart: Jia Wenhe, no matter what situation he encounters, always advises people to be careful first.

In this way, as long as the other party is careful, he will not have to bear the responsibility even if he is careful in vain and even misses the opportunity to fight. It is better to be safe than sorry. And if he is really right and being careful works, then he is a prophet... Who wouldn't say this kind of nonsense that makes people be careful at all times!

But there was no other way. Jia Xu said that Xiahou Yuan still had to be careful, so he asked some soldiers to take a nap in the afternoon while others continued to trim the antlers. They would take turns when it was getting dark.

……

Everything was supposed to go smoothly.

But in the afternoon, Cao's scouts discovered some unusual movements of the enemy on the mountain. Xiahou Yuan quickly sent people to scout carefully and investigate closely, and then received a report:
"Reporting to the general, our army found Wei Yan cutting down trees and digging trenches on the mountain."

Xiahou Yuan was stunned: "Why is Wei Yan building so many projects? Is he afraid of my defeat and wants to hold on to his position to buy time? Take me to see!"

As he said this, he took his guards and asked the scouts to lead the way, and went to inspect in person. As a result, he really saw with his own eyes that Wei Yan's troops were repairing fortifications halfway up the mountain and building a second forward defense line.

The scene was just like Xiahou Yuan digging trenches and repairing deer horns at the foot of the mountain, and Wei Yan was doing the same thing halfway up the mountain.

Seeing this, Xiahou Yuan was completely relieved: "It seems that the number of troops that Wei Yan and Wang Ping sneaked across Micang Mountain is not large. They are also afraid that the old camp on the top of the mountain is not strong enough to hold on, so they want to set up defenses halfway up the mountain to delay time and block our army. In this way, I have nothing to worry about. When Wen Lie's reinforcements arrive first, they will be able to swallow up Wei Yan's troops!"

He didn't expect that Wei Yan used the excuse of trimming deer antlers at the uphill intersection halfway up the mountain to cut down trees on a large scale, especially heavy trees, and actually used them for other purposes.

As for the actions of digging pits and trenches in front of the deer horns in front of Cao's army, it was just a slight waste of manpower for a show.

Anyway, the Cao army scouts could only see so many enemies digging trenches. As for how deep the trenches were and how much soil was dug out, it was impossible for them to get close and see clearly.

……

Xiahou Yuan relaxed a little, and time soon came to late night.

The sky always gets dark very late in the summer. In the middle and late seventh month of the lunar calendar, it still gets dark at the beginning of the Xu hour (around 7 or 8 at night).

A "tyrant" like Xiahou Yuan certainly couldn't bear to see ordinary soldiers resting too early. They had to work hard before it was completely dark. Even if it was completely dark, they had to work a little harder with the light from the first batch of torches burning out.

So it was not until the end of the Xu hour that the Cao army soldiers who were responsible for digging ditches and repairing deer horns went back to rest like dogs. And those soldiers who got a day off in the daytime got up in batches to stand guard and provide nighttime vigilance.

Time soon came to Haishi, which was about an hour after the main force of Cao's army went back to sleep. Most of the soldiers were sleeping like dead pigs, while the Danyang soldiers under Wei Yan's command on the mountain began to hide during the day and move at night.

Yes, in the afternoon, Wei Yan did bluff and had a considerable number of soldiers pretend to cut wood and dig ditches.

But Wei Yan had twice as many soldiers as Xiahou Yuan, so he had enough soldiers to act out. Those who had participated in logging and digging ditches in the afternoon could now go back to sleep or patrol at night, but at least they didn't have to perform combat missions. Soldiers who performed combat missions had all gone to bed in advance during the day, and now they were fully rested. One hour before the attack, they had specially eaten dry food and drank salt water to adjust their condition.

At the hour of Hai, Wei Yan followed the route he had explored during the day and deliberately avoided the main road down the mountain, instead choosing a steeper slope on the west side of the road.

It was more difficult to climb there than on a normal mountain road. It was almost impossible to climb up without tools. If you were not careful, you could easily fall down the mountain. However, the troops Liu Bei assigned to Wei Yan and Wang Ping were carefully selected soldiers who were the best at climbing mountains.

They also changed into specially customized thick-soled straw sandals. Long before this battle, Zhuge Liang had prepared suitable equipment for these climbing troops. Under the soles of those straw sandals, a whole piece of rough leather with high friction was nailed, and the nail tips were specially pierced and exposed to the ground, and then hammered with hammers to bend and roughen the hair to increase friction and grip.

With carefully selected mountain soldiers and carefully selected hiking shoes, their obstacle-overcoming capabilities certainly far exceeded Xiahou Yuan's imagination.

So, Wei Yan led the surprise attack troops and suddenly attacked down the mountain through a small path that Xiahou Yuan had never expected, or rather, a steep slope on the flank that could not even be considered a road.

"Release the rolling log! Knock all of Cao's antlers off!"

Following Wei Yan's order, some huge logs that had been quietly transported to this area before dark were quickly pushed down the steep slope by the Danyang soldiers under his command.

The huge tree relied on its own gravity and inertia to roll down and smash everything, sweeping away even the few small bushes that were not cleaned up and were directly crushed.

With a series of loud "boom" sounds, trees thicker than a person's waist hit the antler fortifications directly, knocking over the antlers that had just been rammed into the soil during the day.

Afterwards, the Danyang soldiers, as powerful as a tiger descending from a mountain, rushed directly through the gap created by the rolling logs and headed deep into Cao’s mountain camp.

"Enemy attack! Quickly form a formation!"

The Cao army reacted quickly. After all, Xiahou Yuan left enough men for night watch and patrol. So before Wei Yan's soldiers rushed into Cao's camp, the Cao army had already responded and tried to reinforce the defense.

As soon as they heard the loud noise of the huge tree hitting the deer antlers, they came over and formed a battle line.

The other Cao soldiers who were still asleep also tried their best to get up as quickly as possible, picked up their weapons and rushed out.

However, no matter how fast they moved, they could not compare to the state during the day. Moreover, the troops hastily assembled in the dark could not form a strict battle array and support each other shoulder to shoulder.

Whether it's the spearmen or the halberdmen, they can only fight on their own.

"Kill! Kill!" The Danyang soldiers wielding swords and shields and hammers and round shields rushed in directly from the gap in the defense line smashed open by the giant tree and engaged in close combat with Cao's soldiers.

The relatively cramped terrain, the steep slopes, and the scattered battle formation made Cao's spearmen completely lose the powerful force they had when they fought in formation during the day.

The Danyang soldiers' round shields were deflected and several long spears were blocked to the outside. Then they jumped forward and used short strikes, stabbing, and cutting to kill the Cao soldiers who had not yet put on armor on the spot.

The fighting between the two sides became more and more chaotic. The Danyang soldiers only focused on attacking and rushing deep into the enemy territory, and the two sides soon engaged in a chaotic battle in which both sides were involved.

In the darkness, the battle lines were intertwined, and it was difficult to distinguish between the enemy and ourselves. Both sides fought instinctively. Whenever the sword and shield soldiers and hammer shield soldiers encountered someone holding a spear, they would just hack at him without any regard, and the spearmen would just stab at anyone holding a shield without being able to tell the situation at all.

But Wei Yan came prepared tonight. All he sent out were soldiers from Danyang, not a single one of whom could use spears. They had climbed over the Micang Mountain, so it was impossible for his troops to carry spears.

In contrast, although Cao's army was mainly composed of spearmen and halberd soldiers, it was not possible for them to be 100% long weapons. Many grassroots officers still commanded battles with swords such as ring-handled swords.

In such chaotic and indiscriminate killing, some grassroots officers of the Cao army, who were wearing iron armor and wielding ring-handled swords, fell behind and were not with their own troops. They fought on their own and were mistaken for enemies by the Cao army soldiers, who stabbed them indiscriminately.

In a short period of time, more than a dozen grassroots sword-carrying officers of the Cao army were killed or injured due to accidental injuries. Without the command of so many grassroots officers, Xiahou Yuan's makeshift defense system became increasingly collapsed and was finally torn apart by Wei Yan.

"Kill Xiahou Yuan! Follow me to Xiahou Yuan's central army tent!"

Wei Yan personally wielded his precious sword and shield, flying up and down and knocking down several Cao army officers. He raised his arm and led a group of Danyang soldiers to charge straight into Xiahou Yuan's tent.

In the darkness, Xiahou Yuan saw a large number of enemies rushing towards him by the light of the fire. His blood rushed to his head and he was about to grab his spear and mount his horse to call on his men to fight. But thanks to Jia Xu's calmness, he quickly came over and grabbed Xiahou Yuan's reins:

"It's urgent! The enemy is strong, General, you must not act rashly! It's better to flee back to Mianyang or Yangping Pass and make long-term plans!"

(End of this chapter)