Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 121 People's hearts are in turmoil
When the victory was won at Zuoyuan, the Han army at Youyuan was caught in a pincer attack because its flank was broken.

Qubei led the cavalry from the flank and charged directly at the bulk of the central army. The Han army, which was unable to respond in time, was hit and fell into chaos.

Wang Ze and Feng Bo, who were previously responsible for leading the elite assault, saw that the situation was not good and were worried that they would be wiped out in Youyuan, so they ordered a withdrawal one after another.

The Xiongnu commander Xubu Chanyu was overjoyed. He seized the opportunity to win and ordered his troops to chase and kill the Han army.

The Huns had more cavalry than infantry, and when they pursued, they no longer had spears or bows to fear, so they quickly cut through the enemy formation. Even though the Han army withdrew some troops to stay behind to block the attack, facing the overwhelming Huns and their frightened colleagues, they could only resist for a moment before being defeated.

The Xiongnu soldiers turned their horses and rushed to kill the fleeing Han soldiers. The Han soldiers lost their organization and, in order to escape the Xiongnu soldiers' swords, they crowded together and ran backwards frantically, like a flock of sheep being hunted on the grassland.

But unlike a flock of sheep, the collapse of tens of thousands of Han soldiers was far more spectacular. In order to survive, the Han soldiers either fled through the mountains or tried to wade through the Lishi River to escape.

Many of those who tried to escape by wading across the river were caught up by the Hun cavalry, and were shot to death with bows and arrows or stabbed to death with spears. The river was covered with blood and their bodies floated downstream. It was a horrific scene.

During the pursuit, Xubu Chanyu was worried that his formation would be dispersed due to the fierce pursuit, and the Han army would seize the opportunity to win.

But unexpectedly, Qu Bei sent someone to bring news that the Han army's main general, Bingzhou Governor Zhang Yi, was killed by a mob of cavalry, and the Han army was now leaderless.

Upon hearing the news, Xubu Chanyu was no longer polite and ordered his troops to disperse and pursue the enemy, determined to defeat the Han army.

The Xiongnu soldiers chased until the sun set, from the flat plain to the dark depression. The Han army was in disarray, and many were trampled on and drowned. Not to mention the Han soldiers who could not escape in time, who threw away their armor and knelt down to beg for surrender.

Protected by their attendants, Yanmen prefect Wang Ze and his brother Wang Rou fought as they fled, crossing mountains and ridges.

"The Huns are chasing us!" the servant shouted in horror.

Wang Rou looked back and saw more than a dozen Xiongnu cavalrymen, relying on their superior riding skills, daring to run on the mountains and pursue their defeated army.

"General, go first!"

The attendants drew their bows and shot arrows back at the pursuing Xiongnu cavalry, trying to buy time for their commander to escape.

Wang Rou angrily cursed, "Wei Xuan is a coward. He fled in the face of battle, abandoning the safety of the army and ruining the lives of our soldiers. His crime is unforgivable!"

"Let's go!"

Wang Ze pulled Wang Rou's sleeve and sighed, "Escape from the Xiongnu's pursuit is the most important thing right now."

Before he could finish his words, arrows shot from the Hun cavalry broke through the air and shot into the ground beside Wang Ze. Wang Ze was so frightened that he didn't care about his guards and ran away immediately.

Before Wang Ze could run a few steps, he heard the sound of horse hooves in the front and saw more than a dozen Han cavalrymen coming towards him.

The leading cavalryman was seen riding a white horse and coming majestically. He raised his hand to draw the arrow and shot the Hun cavalryman who was charging in the front to the ground.

The rest of the cavalry received the order and rode forward quickly, shooting and killing the Xiongnu cavalry who were about to pursue them. When the Xiongnu cavalry saw that there were Han soldiers to support them, they gave up the pursuit and turned their horses to flee.

"Jian!"

Wang Rou, who had escaped death, looked carefully at the cavalry commander's face and said in joy: "Ji'an, save me!"

Zhang Yu stopped his horse, his expression solemn, and said: "I have set up a flag two miles away. You two can gather the defeated troops along the way and take refuge under the flag."

Wang Rou hurriedly asked, "Will Ji'an not retreat with me?"

"No!"

Zhang Yu pointed at the defeated Han army in front and said, "Now our army is defeated. If we don't repel the defeated army, I'm afraid the lives of our Bingzhou soldiers will be in danger!"

The situation was so chaotic right now that Wang Rou was unaware of the changes on the battlefield and had to follow Zhang Yu's arrangements.

After thanking Zhang Yu, Wang Rou led his men to flee. Not long after he left, Wang Rou heard the sound of drums, flags fluttering, smoke and dust billowing, and the sound of horses' hooves.

Seeing that they had a large army on their side, Wang Rou and the others calmed down a little. Under the guidance of the cavalry, Wang Rou fled to the military flag to rest and began to gather the fleeing Han soldiers.

Shortly after Wang Rou left, Zhang Yu joined forces with Shi Yi and Hao Zhao, and led hundreds of cavalrymen under his command to shoot and pursue the Xiongnu cavalry.

Zhang Yu even took advantage of the fact that the Hun cavalry was in disarray due to the pursuit and led dozens of cavalrymen to charge against the trend, catching the Hun soldiers off guard because they had pursued too deep, and curbing the momentum of the Hun soldiers' pursuit.

When Qu Bei led his cavalry in pursuit, he learned that there were Han troops ahead, so he led his own cavalry forward.

But I saw that eight hundred cavalrymen had already formed a cavalry formation on the plain, with flags flying behind them and military trumpets sounding continuously. In the mountains and forests on the plain, smoke and dust were billowing, and among the sounds of horses' hooves, hundreds of cavalrymen were stationed outside the forest, looking down from the heights.

"Your Majesty, the Han army is cunning and their battle array is massive. The soldiers and horses are hiding in the mountains and forests. You can't advance without permission!" The attendant looked at the situation in front of him and said worriedly, "It's getting late now. It's better to withdraw the troops first."

Qu Bei narrowed his eyes and looked at the Han army formation in front of him. He was full of fear. He looked at the darkening sky and said, "To prevent the Han army from ambushing, order all troops to withdraw and return to the camp."

"promise!"

When the retreat horn was sounded, the Xiongnu tribes stopped pursuing the Han soldiers. Some even took turns to cover the rear for fear that Zhang Yu would lead the Han soldiers in pursuit.

Seeing the Xiongnu pursuers retreat, Zhang Yu exhaled a long breath, and finally managed to scare off the Xiongnu soldiers with his bluff. He was really worried that the Xiongnu would be stubborn and chase him to death. If that happened, he would probably have no choice but to lead his cavalry to retreat.

Zhang Yu held the reins and ordered, "Shi Yi will lead the rear guard, and the other troops will gather the defeated soldiers and withdraw slowly."

"promise!"

As night fell, the troops under Zhang Yu's command dispersed, waving their flags, blowing their bugles, and gathering the defeated soldiers in the river valley.

Soon, as the Han cavalry searched, Taiyuan County Magistrate Feng Bo, Dingxiang Prefect Guo Wei, Bingzhou Governor Li Jin and other Bingzhou officials successively joined Zhang Yu's troops.

Zhang Yu chatted and asked questions to everyone, and was able to piece together how the army was defeated.

As Zhang Yu had expected, the Xiongnu planned to attack the Han army from the flank, so Qubei led the Xiu Tu Hu to attack. Shangdang governor Wei Xuan led troops to guard the flanks, and according to the orders of the main army, the soldiers and officials of various units guarded the dangerous places.

Qubei led the Xiongnu troops to launch a fierce attack, while the Shangdang troops took advantage of the terrain to hold on, and the battle between the two sides was tense for a while. In order to break through the Han army's defense line, Qubei personally led the charge and sent the Shanhu troops to attack, and once killed them near Weixuan.

Wei Xuan had no experience in large-scale fighting. Seeing the enemy approaching the army formation with smoke and dust billowing all around, he was terrified and led his troops to flee first. The troops on the flank were leaderless and thus suffered a great defeat, and were defeated by Qu Bei in one fell swoop.

After Qu Bei penetrated the flank, he went around and hit the center directly. Zhang Yi was killed by the Xiongnu cavalry in the chaos, and then the whole army was defeated.

After learning that Zhang Yi had died, everyone was deeply saddened. However, apart from being sad, everyone was more at a loss. Not only was the army defeated, but the commander was also killed on the battlefield. It was already difficult to compete with the Huns.

Seeing that everyone was frustrated and frightened, Zhang Yu, with everyone's consent, led his troops to retreat overnight, and continued to gather the defeated soldiers along the way.

During this retreat, the crowd ran for dozens of miles until noon on March 5, when the troops retreated to the city and stopped.

As for leaving the city, the generals were furious when they learned that Wei Xuan had arrived in the city faster than them, took away the baggage in the city, and fled directly back to Shangdang.

After reorganizing the troops, the generals regained their morale and discussed countermeasures in the county government.

Because Zhang Yi was killed in battle, the main seat was vacant. Below the main seat, the two deputy generals Zhang Yu and Wang Rou sat on the left and right, while the governors found their own seats.

"Your Majesty ordered me and Ji'an to be deputy generals, and I am a little older, so I dare to preside over the military meeting today." Wang Rou coughed and said, "Because Wei Xuan escaped without permission, General Zhang was killed in the battle. My army suffered heavy casualties and the morale of the troops was low. I wonder what you think?"

Wang Ze frowned and said, "The Xiongnu have many soldiers and horses. With the current situation of our army, I am afraid it will be difficult to compete with them. So I think it is better to abandon Licheng and retreat to Zishi to avoid the rebels for the time being and wait for the imperial court to dispatch troops."

After a pause, Wang Ze said angrily, "In addition, we need to impeach Wei Xuan and order His Majesty to imprison and execute him, so as to comfort the soldiers who died today and comfort the spirit of Envoy Zhang in heaven."

"I have no objection to impeaching Wei Xuan!"

Guo Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "But I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to abandon Yuli. Yuli is a strategic point in the middle of Jin and the gateway for the Three Jins to defend against the Xiongnu. If we give it to the Xiongnu now, won't the Xiongnu army head straight to Taiyuan?"

Wang Ze raised his voice and asked, "Our baggage is almost completely destroyed, and our soldiers have suffered heavy casualties. We went to the battle with more than 15,000 troops, but now we have less than 7,000 soldiers available. How can Guo Dingxiang fight against tens of thousands of rebels? Why not retreat to Zishi, use the Luliang Mountains as a safe place, and wear down the Xiongnu's spirit?"

At present, there are more than 7,000 Han troops in Zishi City. Counting the surviving soldiers and horses under Wei Xuan, there are at least 8,000 or 9,000. But even so, today's battle caused more than half of the army to be lost due to the narrow terrain, which can be regarded as a great defeat.

Guo Yu did not want to argue with Wang Ze, but looked at Zhang Yu and Feng Bo and asked, "What do you think?"

Feng Bo shook his head and said, "Although the Xiongnu won today, they are not invincible. If Wei Xuan had not fled in the face of the enemy, how could the Xiongnu be so violent? In my opinion, it is better to stop them in Li, use the advantage of our Han soldiers to defend the city, kill the enemy, and force the Xiongnu rebels to retreat."

Although Yuli could communicate with Lishi, it was under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan County. As the governor of the county, Feng Bo had the responsibility to guard it. If he abandoned Yuli and released the Xiongnu soldiers into the Fen River Valley, it would damage Feng Bo's political achievements.

In addition, as Feng Bo said, the Huns are not good at attacking cities. If we defend Yulicheng now, the Huns may not be able to take it down.

"What do you think, Captain Zhang?" Feng Bo looked at Zhang Yu and asked.

Not only Feng Bo looked at Zhang Yu, but everyone in the hall looked at Zhang Yu, hoping to understand Zhang Yu's attitude.

After all, since the beginning of the expedition, whether it was offering strategies to defeat the enemy, or fighting in battle array, or what he did when the army was defeated, everything was telling everyone that Zhang Yu had the potential to be a famous general and his military ability was superior to theirs.

Therefore, for everyone, Zhang Yu’s current attitude is extremely crucial!

(End of this chapter)