Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 197 Ma Shoucheng, the one who will take your head is Guan Yu of Hedong! (Bonus chapter of 3,000 words!)

Liangzhou, Beidi Commandery, Yiju County
The Liangzhou Qiang rebellion had spread too far, and Huangfu Song could not attend to every battlefield. Although Liu Bei, Sun Jian, Gao Shun and others were still inexperienced in Huangfu Song's eyes, they should be able to command an army of 20,000 men with the help of other generals.

Therefore, Huangfu Song ordered Liu Bei to lead his own 2,000 Changshui cavalry and 13,000 Fu Liangjia soldiers, Zuo Fengyi Song Xiao led 3,000 troops from the commandery and kingdoms and 5,000 temporarily recruited auxiliary soldiers to the expedition, with military supervisor Fu Xie as the guide to help Liu Bei quell the rebellion of the Xianling Qiang in Beidi Commandery.

When Liu Bei first took command of an army, he was full of vigor and ambition.

The commander of the army was twenty-four years old. That "Grand General Changping Marquis" was Wei Qing. He was also twenty-four years old when he first led the army as General of Chariots and Cavalry, as a relative of the emperor!

At that time, Wei Qing only had 10,000 cavalrymen under his command, while Liu Bei now had 20,000 troops, which was no less than that of the Marquis of Changping!

Liu Bei's first battle as the sole commander of an army was at Yiju County, the southern gateway to Beidi Commandery, where there were about two thousand rebel troops.

If ten times the strength, surround them; if twice the strength, attack them.

But Liu Bei didn't have time to besiege these people in this small city of Yiju. Besides, he thought these barbarians were just brave and reckless, and didn't know anything about military strategy.
How could these Qiang and Hu people be good at defending a city?

He felt that Huangfu Song was overthinking things.

So he ordered his army to surround Yiju City from three sides, presenting Yiju City as his perfect answer to His Highness the Crown Prince!

However, Liu Bei was not too careless. Through the investigation by Fu Xie, a local, and scouts, he roughly determined the terrain of Yiju City and its vicinity.

Yiju City is a small city, with one side of its city wall less than a mile long.

Although there is a Malian River to the west of the city, it is some distance from Yiju City and therefore does not form a moat. However, a dry trench was dug outside the city and filled with wooden spikes and sharp stones.

The trench was about eight feet deep (two meters) and twelve and a half feet wide (three meters), which wasn't too much of a problem.

Liu Bei ordered his soldiers to prepare earth and stones in advance, wrapping them in straw bags so that they could be thrown into the dry trenches during the siege.

He then ordered Song Xiao, the Left Fengyi Commander, to lead 3,000 troops from various commanderies and kingdoms to launch a feigned attack at the West Gate, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei each led 2,500 auxiliary troops and 2,500 brave men from the three commanderies to attack the East Gate and the South Gate.

With four times the troops, attacking the Qiang people, who are not good at defending cities but are good at open field battles, should not be a problem.

At least that's what Liu Bei thought.

Regarding Liu Bei's confidence, Fu Xie reminded him: "Xuande, you must not be careless. Although the Qiang people are better at field battles and cavalry battles, they are different from the Xiongnu. They are not completely ignorant about defending cities. Moreover, there may be people from Liangzhou among the rebels."

Fu Xie believed that Liu Bei's impression of the Qiang people was too outdated. After a century of Qiang rebellion and repeated defeats by the three Ming states of Liangzhou, the Qiang people were by no means what Liu Bei imagined.

Liu Bei frowned slightly. If someone else had said these words, he might not have taken them to heart, but this was Fu Xie.

Liu Bei greatly respected Fu Xie for both his character and his talent, especially for his outspoken advice in court to execute Zhang Yi, the Grand Herald who advocated abandoning Liangzhou. Liu Bei had already spent several days sleeping next to such a loyal and righteous hero on his way to Beidi County.

“I have noted Nan Rong’s words, but I think we should at least launch an attack first to find out the strength of the rebels in the city.”

Liu Bei said solemnly, but still decided to fight first.

Fu Xie did not object. As Liu Bei said, how could they find out the details of the rebels in the city without fighting? He was just reminding Liu Bei not to underestimate the Qiang people's ability to defend the city. As long as Liu Bei was not careless, it would be difficult for his 20,000 troops to overturn the city.

The following morning, after the soldiers finished their meal, the attacking forces from three sides launched their offensive amidst the resounding beat of war drums.

The most fierce attack came from Zhang Fei, whose auxiliary soldiers filled the earth at an extremely fast speed under the cover of five chariots.

The essence of the chariot is a four-wheeled, bottomless wooden cart covered with fireproof raw cowhide to protect against arrows from the city walls. People inside the cart push it forward, which can cover soldiers to get close to the city walls and attack. One cart can hide more than ten people.

Huangfu Song seized a large number of siege weapons from the Chang'an armory, such as siege towers, siege towers, battering rams, and siege engines, as well as various types of armor, large shields, and hook-and-sickle spears, bows and arrows, and ballistae to deal with the Qiang cavalry.

Although this incident resulted in a farcical situation that would likely amuse future generations, Huangfu Song's military insights are indeed commendable.

Thanks to the assistance of siege equipment such as siege towers, siege towers, and crossbows, Zhang Fei's troops filled in most of the moat outside the city on the first day alone, despite losing more than a hundred auxiliary soldiers. The soldiers could then prepare to attack the city walls the next day.

Guan Yu's troops were in a similar situation to Zhang Fei's, but Song Xiao's troops in Zuo Fengyi were in a worse situation, advancing slowly and only filling less than half of the dry trenches.

However, Liu Bei did not expect him to achieve great results. This Zuo Fengyi was just a Confucian scholar who was good at studying the classics, unlike his teacher Lu Zhi who was both literate and martial. As long as he did not cause trouble, that was fine.

Night, in the camp
Liu Bei had some hot water boiled, and he, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei soaked their feet comfortably. Fu Xie, who was on patrol duty that night, had not yet returned, but Liu Bei also had hot water prepared for him.

A young man slowly entered the main tent, clasped his hands in a salute to Liu Bei and his two companions, and said, "Lord Xuande, Generals." "Is it important for you to report something urgent, Guorang, that you are not resting?"

Liu Bei smiled gently, and his expression revealed his fondness for the young man.

Tian Yu, courtesy name Guorang, was a native of Yongnu in Yuyang Commandery.

After being enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yicheng by the Crown Prince with a fief of four hundred households, Liu Bei returned to Youzhou and brought his elderly mother, uncles Liu Yuanqi and Liu Zijing, and cousin Liu Deran to Luoyang. He also took the opportunity to search for talented people throughout Youzhou, hoping to recruit them into his ranks for assistance.

He had originally been very close to Qian Zhao and his childhood friend Jian Yong. Both of them were talented, but they had been promoted and entrusted with important responsibilities by the Crown Prince. He couldn't very well compete with His Highness the Crown Prince for their talents, could he?

Liu Bei felt that although Qian Zhao and Jian Yong were talented, his second brother Guan Yu and third brother Zhang Fei were even more capable. He believed that his second and third brothers would be promoted separately by the Crown Prince in the future, and he would then lack support.

Then he met Tian Yu by chance in Yuyang County. Although he was only fourteen years old, he was quite intelligent and knowledgeable. Liu Bei took him with him and brought his mother to Luoyang City to live with his own mother. He also found a brave and fierce young man named Shi Ren in Guangyang County.

"Lord Xuande, I watched Generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, as well as Zuo Fengyi, fight during the day, and I have some questions that I cannot answer. I would like to ask Lord Xuande for advice."

Seeing Tian Yu's humble and eager-to-learn demeanor greatly satisfied Liu Bei's vanity, he laughed and said, "Guorang, please ask."

“I observed the battle during the day and saw only three hundred men on each of the four city gates, while there were reportedly two thousand rebels inside the city. This means that the city’s commander still had eight hundred men left. I don’t know why.”

Tian Yu nodded and presented his observations and questions to Liu Bei. However, as soon as he finished speaking, Liu Bei's hand, which was wiping the water droplets off his feet with a dry cloth, froze in mid-air. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's expressions also instantly turned serious, and their smiles vanished. Tian Yu thought he had asked a stupid question.

Guan Yu stroked his beard, which was wrapped in a brocade pouch, and a hint of solemnity appeared in his phoenix eyes. He asked, "Guorang, are you sure there are only three hundred men on the city wall?"

Tian Yu nodded firmly and said, "It should be so. I initially observed the city walls from General Zhang's place. Before the attack even started, I counted the number of rebels on the city walls, which was roughly three hundred and two. When I went to General Guan to count the number of people, the attack had already begun, and there were about two hundred and seventy-one rebels on the city walls."

"When we arrived at the Zuo Fengyi Commandery and State troops, we counted about 283 people on the city wall, while the North Gate, which was not under siege, had 301 people. It is estimated that the number of people at all four gates was about 300 at the beginning."

Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, who were standing to the side, couldn't help but look at Tian Yu. It was clear that they hadn't paid attention to this matter during the daytime siege.

That means there are still 800 fresh troops in the city.

Liu Bei suddenly stood up, completely unaware that water was spilling from the wooden basin.

If this new force doesn't appear on the daytime battlefield, nor does it send reinforcements to the four gates, where will they be?

Therefore, there are only two answers.

Escape under the cover of night, or...

"Enemy attack!"

"Someone is attacking the camp!"

Warnings and shouts of battle suddenly reached their ears. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, without even putting on socks, hurriedly put on their military boots, picked up their weapons, and rushed out of the tent.

Flames soared into the sky on the left side of the camp, accompanied by the thunderous sound of horses' hooves; that was where Guan Yu's troops were stationed.

Guan Yu's face, which was as red as a jujube, turned ashen. Without even saying a word to his elder brother and younger brother, he immediately mounted his horse and galloped away with his personal guards.

When Guan Yu arrived at the left camp, he heard a soldier report that the military commander Ma Shiren had led troops to provide support, but was killed by the enemy general and his fate was unknown. Guan Yu's hand holding the horse spear bulged with veins, and his iron-blue face turned red. He slammed the horse spear into the ground, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

Shi Ren was a promising young man favored by his elder brother, who placed him under his command for training and guidance. However, he was assassinated, which made Guan Yu feel both ashamed and angry. He immediately led more than a hundred personal guards to charge towards the rebel army, his eyes fixed on the leader of the rebels.

The enemy general, wielding a long spear, charged left and right through the camp, shouting from his horse, "I am Ma Shoucheng of Fufeng, who can stop me!"

But after shouting a few times, Ma Teng suddenly felt a chill down his spine and shivered involuntarily, as if some terrifying life-or-death situation was approaching.

Using one's name when charging into battle is a shortcut to increasing one's prestige.

However, all of this is based on one premise: you must withstand the pressure of being targeted by the enemy after the announcement and survive this battle.

Ma Teng subconsciously looked to his left rear and saw a red-faced, long-bearded cavalry general in black armor riding a red Akhal-Teke horse, wielding a lance and charging towards him, roaring: "You scoundrel, the one who will take your head is Guan Yu of Hedong!"

(3021 words)
(End of this chapter)