Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 166 Outside Anyi City, Cao Cao's Army vs. Xiliang Army

Cao Cao, along with the emperor and his ministers, stood on the city wall of Anyi, looking down from a high vantage point, ready to watch the upcoming battle.

Emperor Liu Xie stood beside Cao Cao, looking slightly nervous, and occasionally glancing into the distance.

The ministers also had different expressions; some looked worried, while others pretended to be calm, but their eyes could not hide a trace of panic.

A gentle breeze blew by, fluttering their clothes, as if they too had caught the scent of the battlefield.

At the same time, Zhang Ji led his 5,000 troops to the hillside more than a mile outside Anyi City.

Zhang Ji had few generals whose names were worth mentioning, except for his nephew Zhang Xiu and, perhaps, Hu Che'er.

Zhang Ji stopped his horse and looked into the distance, gazing at the dark mass of soldiers arrayed in formation ahead. He raised his hand and instructed his adjutant, "Send a few men to scout out which army it is."

The adjutant accepted the order and left, while several scouts spurred their horses and galloped off towards Cao Cao's army.

The scouts arrived near Cao Cao's army and spotted a huge "Cao" flag in the distance, along with various other flags belonging to Cao Cao's army. Startled, they quickly turned back to report.

"Cao?" Zhang Ji frowned, pondered for a moment, then his expression changed drastically, and he blurted out, "Cao's army has already arrived? Yang Feng, Han Xian, and Li Le have all been defeated?"

Jia Xu's original plan was to have Zhang Ji escort the emperor to seek refuge with Cao Cao in Yanzhou.

What Zhang Ji didn't expect was that Cao Cao actually led a large army all the way to Anyi.

Zhang Xiu rode over, looking worried, and said, "Uncle, Yuan Shu and Lü Bu have both fallen into Cao Cao's hands. If it really is his army, we're in trouble."

Zhang Ji stared at the distant army formation, his tone heavy: "This is indeed troublesome..."

The two armies were separated by a little over a mile, facing each other, neither making the first move.

Zhang Ji was wary of Cao Cao's large and powerful army and dared not attack rashly, intending to wait for Li Jue and Guo Si's reinforcements to arrive.

Cao Cao's scouts also discovered Zhang Ji's whereabouts and knew that he was waiting for reinforcements.

Unfortunately, their cavalry was few, and it was not worthwhile to launch a proactive attack. So they ordered: "Order the Mandarin Duck Army to dig horse pits every five steps, with the central army as the axis, extending three zhang to the left and right, and covering them with dry branches and thatch. This must be completed before the enemy's follow-up troops arrive!"

Upon receiving the order, the soldiers of the Mandarin Duck Army sprang into action.

Their movements were skillful and their division of labor was clear, showing that they had practiced a lot on a regular basis.

Before long, Li Jue and Guo Si's army arrived.

The two men noticed Zhang Ji's troops were stationary and wondered, "Why is Zhang Ji holding back his troops?"

Li Jue sent someone to inform Guo Si and Zhang Ji to meet him on the battlefield.

Zhang Ji then informed the two of the intelligence he had gathered.

Guo Si frowned: "Cao Cao's 30,000 troops?"

Li Jue, however, remained unfazed: "Back then, Cao Cao suffered a crushing defeat at Xingyang at the hands of Xu Rong. Today, I'll let him taste the bitterness of total annihilation once more!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ji and Guo Si both nodded in agreement.

The three of them have reached an agreement that they no longer need to be wary of each other and can mobilize all their troops to reclaim the emperor.

Their army totaled more than 46,000 men, of which 20,000 were cavalry!

On the other hand, Cao Cao's army numbered only 30,000 infantrymen, making this a sure win no matter how you looked at it.

Li Jue then said to Guo Si and Zhang Ji, "I will attack from the front, and you two will attack from the left and right respectively, what do you say?"

"The warlords of Guandong have probably long forgotten the might of the Xiliang cavalry. Today, let them remember it well!" Guo Si said with a sinister grin.

"We must show Cao Cao's army what we're made of!"

……

Cao Yan stood on the makeshift command platform, watching the movements of Li Jue, Guo Si, and Zhang Ji's teams from afar.

Seeing the enemy's frequent troop movements, Cao Yan immediately said to the messenger beside him, "The Xiliang army is about to move. Beat the drums and prepare for defense!"

The messenger quickly waved the flag, and the drums of Cao Cao's army sounded in rapid succession. "Defend!"

"defense!"

The orders were relayed down the chain of command, down to the lowest-ranking squad leader, who then managed his soldiers.

Seeing the overwhelming force of the Xiliang army, and knowing that Cao Yan only had five thousand cavalry, Xu Huang was filled with worry: "General, the Xiliang army is brave and skilled in battle. Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji, and others have tens of thousands of Xiliang iron cavalry under their command..."

Before he finished speaking, Cao Yan understood his concern: "Gongming, the world is different now. Cavalry is no longer invincible, and it is no longer uncommon for infantry to defeat cavalry."

"Is the Battle of Jieqiao that you are referring to, General?"

"Exactly!"

"But General Hou, the vanguard soldiers under Qu Yi are among the most elite in the world."

Upon hearing this, Cao Yan laughed heartily, pointed to the Trapped Camp, which stood quietly at the forefront of the formation in the distance, and said, "Look at that army clad in iron armor. After this battle, they will surely make the Xiliang army remember them forever!"

Seeing that Guo Si and Zhang Ji were launching attacks on both sides of Cao Cao's army, Li Jue finally gave the order: "Send the order for the entire army to charge!"

"The emperor will surely be ours!" At this moment, reclaiming the emperor became their common goal.

The three, who had already been arguing heatedly, tacitly put aside their differences and joined forces.

Nearly 20,000 cavalrymen launched a high-speed charge.

The rhythmic thud of horses' hooves against the earth and the tremors on the ground could be clearly felt by the emperor and his officials atop the city walls.

Liu Xie's legs felt weak, and he braced himself against the city wall, feeling the tremors from the ground.

With a worried expression, he asked Cao Cao, "Minister Cao, is the General of the Rear truly capable of this?"

This was the seventh time Liu Xie had asked this question.

Cao Cao replied decisively, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I trust Zi'an. He has never been defeated!"

Just because you were undefeated before doesn't mean you won't be defeated now!

But now there is no way out, and we can only hope that Cao Yan can hold off the Xiliang army.

The emperor nodded slightly, glanced at Yang Biao who was calm and resting with his eyes closed, and then said nothing more, though it was unclear what he was thinking.

For nearly a year, the workshops in Cao Yan's Chenliu workshop responsible for forging weapons and ironware have never stopped production and research and development.

Anyone in modern times who knows about that century of humiliation will more or less suffer from a fear of insufficient firepower.

Therefore, even though he had to tighten his belt, Cao Yan did not dare to slack off in the construction of the army.

"Iron caltrops have been scattered in front of the horse traps and in the gaps." Cao Ang thought of the Xiliang warhorses that were about to be scrapped and asked with heartache, "Uncle, isn't doing this too wasteful of horses? Those are all top-quality Xiliang warhorses. It's such a pity to lose them on the battlefield like this."

"Only by winning this battle can we be qualified to think about the spoils of war." Cao Yan gazed calmly at the three torrents gradually separating in the distance. "Pass down the order to prepare to defend against the impact!"

"Yes, sir!" Cao Ang said no more, clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, and left.

"With the horse trap as the boundary, three rows of archers form a wedge formation! The front row holds short bows and waits for the moment, the middle row holds horn bows and aims, and the rear row draws longbows and prepares to fire in unison!"

"Once the cavalry crosses the barbed wire and enters the trap area, three volleys of crossbows will take turns firing, making sure to intercept and kill them before they reach the pit!"

"........."

The military order was relayed down the ranks, and the archers quickly formed ranks, adjusted their positions, nocked their arrows, and held them ready to fire.

The heavy crossbowmen lined up in front of the shield bearers, all with their crossbows loaded and awaiting orders!

Xu Huang stood quietly behind Cao Yan, holding his massive axe.

He listened to the conversation between Cao Yan and Cao Ang, as well as the shouts coming from afar.

This series of tactical arrangements targeting cavalry sent a chill down his spine.

(End of this chapter)