My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Yangping Pass.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The deafening roar of the divine thunder cannons exploded between heaven and earth like thunderclaps, as if to tear the entire sky apart.

At the same time, earth-shattering battle cries, like surging waves, came one after another.

Before the pass, tens of thousands of Han soldiers, clad in heavy armor and wielding sharp blades, surged towards Yangping Pass in waves like an overwhelming tide.

On the city wall, an old general, his hair now half white, stood as steady as Mount Tai in front of the gate tower.

This veteran general was none other than Zhang Ren, who commanded the Yizhou coalition forces and fought desperately to resist the Han army's attack.

He was a general of the Shu Kingdom.

A month ago, when Liu Zhang, the King of Shu, received news of the fall of Hanzhong, he was struck as if by a bolt from the blue, and was instantly plunged into extreme shock and fear.

This news left him unable to eat or sleep.

Why?

At this time, the State of Wei was already in a precarious state, like a candle flickering in the wind, barely clinging to life and on the verge of being extinguished at any moment.

Now, even the Han dynasty is on the verge of collapse, which undoubtedly means that before long, only the Han and Shu kingdoms will remain in the world.

The Han state occupied twelve provinces plus the Hanzhong Commandery, while Liu Zhang, with only the small territory of Shu, had no chance to contend with the Han state.
To try and break a rock with an egg is to overestimate one's own strength.

As the saying goes, "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold," once the Han dynasty falls, the Shu kingdom will inevitably fall into a state of isolation and helplessness, and it will probably be the next to perish.

Just as Liu Zhang was in a state of utter distress, like an ant on a hot pan, Zhang Lu's envoy arrived in Chengdu with a letter seeking help and an alliance.

Liu Zhang agreed to Zhang Lu's request almost without hesitation, deciding to form an alliance with Zhang Lu to jointly fight against the Han army.

Therefore, Liu Zhang did not hesitate to order General Zhang Ren to lead 40,000 Shu troops to travel north day and night without stopping, heading straight for Yangping Pass to provide relief.

At that time, Yangping Pass had already been under attack for ten days by the Han army led by Liu Shan.

The remaining Hanzhong soldiers at the pass numbered only about eight thousand. They were exhausted from ten days of fierce fighting, but they still held their ground.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for these 8,000-plus soldiers to withstand the fierce attack of 100,000 Han troops.

Fortunately, Yangping Pass is situated in a strategic location, nestled between two mountains, with a narrow passage in front of the pass, resembling a bottleneck.

Although the Han army had a large number of troops, they could not fully deploy in this narrow terrain, which greatly weakened the Han army's offensive power.

In addition, Liu Shan's military skills were indeed limited. Therefore, after a ten-day siege, the Hanzhong army managed to withstand the Han army's offensive and wait for the arrival of Shu reinforcements.

When the Shu reinforcements arrived at Yangping Pass, the allied forces on the pass suddenly surged to nearly 60,000.

On the Han side, although the army numbered 100,000, it seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the 60,000 allied troops who were holding out in the strategic locations.

With 60,000 men against 100,000, and with the strategic pass of Guancheng to defend, Liu Shan was even more helpless.

Liu Shan had no other choice but to launch a strong attack.

As a result, the Han army launched another attack for more than 20 days, suffering heavy casualties of thousands, but still could not shake Yangping Pass.

Today's offensive has reached a point where the Han army is clearly at its limit.

A retreat seems imminent.

"Everyone says that the Han army is unparalleled in its elite strength, like heavenly soldiers, but after seeing it today, it's nothing special."

Zhang Ren stood atop the fortress, stroking his white beard, a disdainful smile playing on his lips.

His eyes revealed contempt for the Han army, and he coldly snorted:
"In my humble opinion, Liu Bei's son is nothing but a dog and a pig."

Before the words were even finished, the sound of gongs rang out from within the Han army.

The sound of the golden bell was like a clarion call of liberation, bringing a sense of relief to the Han soldiers who had been struggling to break through the defenses. The Han army retreated swiftly, like the receding tide.

Zhang Ren gave a cold laugh, waved his hand, and shouted:

"Archers, fire away! Send the enemy soldiers off in triumph!"

At his command, the archers of the Yizhou allied forces immediately sprang into action, unleashing a deluge of arrows upon the retreating Han army.

Finally, after suffering heavy casualties of over a thousand dead and wounded, the Han army retreated in disarray.

"The old general truly deserves to be called the number one general in Yizhou. With the old general here, let alone 100,000 Han troops, even if there were a million troops here, we could still win!"

Yang Song, who was standing to the side, was overjoyed to see the Han army retreat and took the opportunity to flatter them.

Zhang Ren had long known of Yang Song's reputation for corruption and treachery, and harbored deep resentment towards him.

In his view, Yang Song was a sycophantic and gossipy man who was not worth his attention.

Faced with Yang Song's flattery, he felt disgusted, snorted coldly, and left the city, leaving Yang Song awkwardly behind.

As Yang Song watched Zhang Ren's departing figure, the smile on his face froze, replaced by worry.

"It seems I need to send someone to Chengdu as soon as possible to bribe those important officials of Shu with a large sum of money and ask them to speak well of me to the King of Shu."

"Otherwise, if the King of Shu takes over Hanzhong in the future, I fear I will have no place in the Shu court."

Thinking of this, Yang Song's eyes narrowed into slits, revealing a hint of cunning and treachery.

...

Inside the Han camp's main tent, the atmosphere was unusually oppressive and somber.

Liu Shan sat in the main seat, looking displeased, his eyes revealing anger and dissatisfaction.

"When you followed the Grand Marshal and the others, you were all skilled warriors, invincible in every battle. Now that you are under my command, why can't you even conquer a small place like Yangping Pass?"

The generals looked at each other, all with innocent expressions.

This Crown Prince has truly become excessively arrogant.

Who is Xiao He?

That was a legendary military genius of the Han Dynasty, a god-like existence.

He was a master strategist who never suffered a defeat.

Where does Liu Shan get his confidence to compare himself to Xiao He?
It's not that we're incompetent, it's that you, the Crown Prince, are incompetent as commander...

The generals all harbored the same complaints, but none dared to voice them aloud.

Seeing the somewhat awkward atmosphere, Man Chong coughed a few times and cupped his hands in greeting, saying:

"Your Highness, we have indeed done our utmost, but Yangping Pass is far too easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhang Lu has also received reinforcements of 50,000 fresh troops from Liu Zhang. Although our army numbers 100,000, we are no longer in a superior position—"

He tried to explain the current situation to Liu Shan, hoping that he could understand the difficulties at hand.

Liu Shan, however, did not want to hear his explanation. He waved his hand and shouted:
"I have no desire to hear your excuses. In short, no matter how treacherous Yangping Pass may be, I must take it. Issue my order: from this day forward, day and night without ceasing—"

Before he could finish speaking, a guard rushed in, saying that a report of victory had arrived from Chang'an.

Upon hearing the words "good news," Liu Shan's expression changed, and his heart skipped a beat.

An ominous premonition immediately gripped my heart.

When he shakily got up, took the report of victory and glanced at it, his face froze in astonishment.

The news of victory struck him like a bolt from the blue, causing him to stagger and collapse to his backside. (End of Chapter)