Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 441 Rescue and Siege

While Zhang Yu was worried about the military situation in Hanzhong, Shi Yi led his troops first along the Xie River, and then turned to the Bao River to continue their journey. After eight days of rapid marching, Shi Yi's troops finally arrived at Baozhong City.

A few miles from Baozhong City, a Shanxi army of several thousand men led their horses and walked through the Shimen Tunnel. Although the soldiers were weary from their journey into unfamiliar territory, their morale was high, and they were eager to make a name for themselves on the land of Hanzhong.

Baozhong City is located at the southern entrance of the Baoxie Road. It is named Baozhong City because it is right at the mouth of the Bao Valley. Shimen is a tunnel that was carved through the mountains by order of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Although its total length is only about six zhang (15-16 meters), it is the ancestor of tunnels.

The stream murmurs through the mountains, flowing into the Bao River and carving out the Baokou. While autumn has already arrived in the north, the plank road remains flanked by verdant mountains and trees, the air thick with moisture, and a cool breeze blowing through.

Looking at the scene in Hanzhong, Shi Yi never imagined that such a place existed in the world.

When he was in Longshang, autumn had already brought a mix of yellow and green, and the wind carried a dry scent. But in the northern frontier, the weather would likely be getting colder, and greenery would be hard to find. If a strong wind were to blow, sand and gravel would probably rise everywhere, terrifying both people and livestock.

No wonder Sichuan and Chongqing are known as the Land of Abundance. With such lush vegetation, how could the harvest be bad?

If you, my lord, can conquer Ba and Shu, you'll have more grain than you can eat!
"General!"

While Shi Yi was lost in thought, he saw Qiu Lang from the Zhongtiao Army riding his horse through the complex plank roads, and he had already arrived in front of Shi Yi.

"What's the situation at the front?" Shi Yi asked, snapping out of his reverie.

Qiu Lang cupped his hands and said, "My brothers and I captured a Shu army scout. According to what we learned from interrogating the scout, Sun Ce broke through Yangping Pass and is now leading a large army to besiege Nanzheng. Fearing that our army would come to Nanzheng's aid, Sun Ce sent his troops to block the valley entrance, which is about ten miles from here. To the west of the valley entrance is Baozhong City, which is guarded by a colonel of infantry, numbering about nine hundred."

"Where is Nanzheng located?" Shi Yi asked.

Qiu Lang said, “The Bao River flows out of the valley and into the Han River. Nanzheng is located on the north bank, about 20 li west of the Bao River. The city of Baozhong is about 30 or 40 li away from Nanzheng, and it takes only one or two hours for cavalry to reach it.”

After a pause, Qiu Lang added, "General, if we wish to relieve the siege of Nanzheng, we may need to occupy Baocheng first. Otherwise, Baocheng, situated at the mouth of the valley, will block our army's exit from the valley."

Shi Yi pondered for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Does Master Qiu have a plan?"

After considering for a moment, Qiu Lang said, "Although Bao City is not high, it is not advisable to launch a direct attack because Sun Ce's main army is in Nanzheng. Therefore, it would be better to send the Zhongtiao Army first to lure the defenders of Bao City out of the city. Once their army is defeated, you can take advantage of the situation and break through the city."

Qiu Lang was no longer the naive young man on the grasslands a few years ago. Through systematic elite education by the Han people and numerous battles with various nomadic tribes, he had gradually shown his talent in military strategy and was now an officer commanding a hundred men. Faced with Shi Yi's scrutiny, Qiu Lang reported his long-held thoughts.

"Can!"

Seeing that Qiu Lang had figured out a way to break the deadlock, Shi Yi said with satisfaction, "You lead three hundred men forward to lure the enemy, and I will lead the soldiers to support you later."

"promise!"

Qiu Lang responded and then called his colleagues to follow him.

The greeting was filled with joy. Qiu Lang had been to the battlefield many times, but most of them were minor skirmishes. Now, however, the attack on Bao City was a battle that would determine victory or defeat, and the enemy's scale was several times larger than before.

Soon, the three hundred Zhongtiao cavalrymen changed into more deceptive cloth armor, and the group slowly made their way to the outskirts of Bao City.

At this moment, because the Shu army scouts on the mountain ridges discovered the Shiyi troops, when the Zhongtiao cavalry arrived, the Shu army closed the Baocheng gate tightly, and many soldiers on the city tower were watching the situation outside the city.

To lure the Shu army out of the city, three hundred cavalrymen went to the city walls and shouted insults for a while. Seeing that no one in the city came out to fight, the three hundred cavalrymen played around for a while. Then they went to the banks of the Bao River, removed the saddles from their horses, and let the warhorses roam freely.

Seeing the three hundred young cavalrymen so arrogant and seeing no reinforcements, the Shu army on the city wall, aiming to kill the enemy and gain merit, led five hundred elite troops out of the city to capture and kill the three hundred cavalrymen.

When the Shu army came out of the city to attack, the three hundred cavalrymen pretended to be panicked, as if they had abandoned their saddles in haste. Then they ran towards the herd of horses in a panic, luring the Shu army to a distance away from the city.

As the Shu army moved a short distance from the city, the three hundred cavalrymen suddenly blew whistles, and their horses galloped off to find their masters. The young men, without saddles, mounted their horses, drew their bows, and launched a rapid counterattack against the Shu army. By the time Shu officer Wu Kang reacted, the three hundred Tang cavalrymen had already surrounded the Shu troops, using an arc-shaped siege tactic. After only a few volleys, they had thrown the five hundred Shu soldiers into disarray. Then, Qiu Lang, with his superb horsemanship and wielding a ring-handled sword, led his cavalry in a charge against the Shu army's ranks.

Before they had even met, the Shu army, which had never seen so many cavalrymen before, scattered and broke apart when the Tang cavalry charged into their ranks. Shortly afterward, three hundred cavalrymen surrounded and killed five hundred men, and the five hundred infantrymen and cavalrymen either died or surrendered. Only Colonel Wu Kang managed to escape with a few cavalrymen in the chaos.

After defeating Wu Kang, Shi Yi led his army to besiege Baozhong City and planted flags in the mountains to make it appear as if he had a large army.

When the city's garrison saw that the captain had fled and that there were too many enemy reinforcements, they feared they could not hold Bao City, so they surrendered the city. Shi Yi was then able to lead his troops into the city and control the entrance to Bao Valley.

When Shi Yi took control of Bao City, Wu Kang had already fled on horseback to Sun Ce's army and reported to Sun Ce that the Tang army was coming to their aid.

Inside the main tent, Sun Ce, his expression furious, kicked Wu Kang, who was kneeling and begging for mercy, and cursed, "I entrusted Baocheng to you to defend, and repeatedly instructed you to hold your ground if you encountered enemy troops, and wait for me to lead my army to reinforce you. Now you are greedy for merit and act rashly, which has ruined my grand plan. You can only atone for your sins by dying."

Sun Ce was furious. Zhang Lu had requested reinforcements from Zhang Yu, sending dozens of cavalrymen, ten of whom Sun Ce intercepted. Upon learning of Zhang Lu's plea for help, Sun Ce dispatched troops to block the valley entrances of Hanzhong. Because the direction of the approaching enemy was unknown, Sun Ce stationed troops at the entrances of the Chencang, Baoxie, Tangluo, and Ziwu valleys, with a battalion of a thousand infantry and cavalry guarding each entrance.

According to Sun Ce's plan, if they encountered the Shanxi army, the troops at the valley entrance would remain stationed and wait for him to lead his army to their rescue. However, Wu Kang's unauthorized attack completely ruined his plan.

Seeing that Sun Ce was about to kill him, Wu Kang hurriedly kowtowed and said aggrievedly, "My lord, the enemy is cunning. They sent three hundred cavalry to lure me. First, they cursed at my lord and his son. Then, in order to make me relax, they even removed the saddles and let the warhorses run wild. I saw that the enemy cavalry was arrogant and unprepared. I could not bear it and led my cavalry to capture and kill the enemy cavalry."

"Unexpectedly, the enemy cavalry were able to drive their horses even without saddles. The cavalry galloped as if walking on flat ground, and their arrows were incessant. Our troops were no match for them and were defeated by the enemy soldiers. I beg Your Excellency's forgiveness."

Seeing Wu Kang trying to shirk responsibility, Sun Ce kicked Wu Kang over again and cursed, "The enemy cavalry are highly skilled; how could they not know how to shoot arrows on horseback without saddles? You have disobeyed military orders and should be executed according to the law!"

"Guards, take Wu Kang away!"

"promise!"

"Wait a minute!"

Sun Yu stepped forward to stop him, saying, "My lord, Wu Kang is a relative of Lord Wu. Killing Wu Kang now might displease Lord Wu!"

"In my opinion, Your Majesty should first consider a strategy to defend against the enemy?"

"Military law is supreme; how can one have relatives?"

Sun Ce glared and said angrily, "I only entrusted him with the defense of Bao City because he was a relative of Lord Wu. Now that Bao City has fallen, he disobeyed military orders because of his family, and his crime should be punished even more severely. How can I tolerate this? Therefore, killing him is not enough to maintain military discipline!"

"This~"

Sun Yu hadn't expected Sun Ce to be so strict, but seeing that Sun Ce had already made up his mind, he didn't dare to try to persuade him further.

After his anger subsided slightly, Sun Ce looked at Fa Zheng and asked, "Nanzheng has not yet surrendered, but the enemy has already captured Baocheng. I wonder if Xiaozhi has any plan to teach me?"

Fa Zheng stroked his beard and frowned, saying, "Zhang Yu's army is far away in Hebei. It is impossible for them to launch a full-scale attack on Hanzhong. Therefore, the reinforcements that have come now should be few, perhaps only a few thousand, and are intended to serve as the vanguard. The majority of the enemy army will not be able to reach Baocheng for at least a month. Therefore, in my opinion, Your Majesty should quickly take Baocheng and then seal off all the passes to prevent the reinforcements from entering Hanzhong."

"If Baocheng falls into enemy hands, enemy reinforcements will continuously enter Guanzhong through the Baoxie Road. At that time, with the army of Nanzheng inside and the reinforcements of Shanxi outside, even if our army has ample food and supplies, we will still be defeated due to our desperate situation."

Fa Zheng had a keen eye; he knew that Nanzheng couldn't be besieged in the short term. Therefore, it was better to first improve the defensive fortifications to block reinforcements. Only if the Shanxi reinforcements couldn't enter Hanzhong could Sun Ce take it. Otherwise, with the Shanxi reinforcements constantly pouring into Hanzhong, the complex situation at that time would be extremely disadvantageous for Sun Ce.

Sun Ce understood Fa Zheng's meaning and said, "Xiaozhi's intention is also my intention. If we do not take Baocheng, the Shanxi army will flood into Baokou, and our army will not be able to take Hanzhong."

Thinking of this, Sun Ce became even more furious that Wu Kang had disobeyed his military orders, causing the Shanxi reinforcements to establish a foothold in Baokou. Now, the only option was to take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold and retake Baokou.

(End of this chapter)