The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

Li Wenhou was overjoyed and slapped his thigh: "Good! Liu Bei is courting death! Does he think he can hold me back by harassing my rear with his troops? He's just handing Jieting over to me!"

He immediately ordered, "The entire army must speed up and march straight to Jieting! Take Jieting, burn their supplies, and Liu Bei will be powerless! Then, returning to attack Longguan will be a piece of cake!"

"General, you are wise!" the lieutenant quickly echoed.

The 20,000-strong army sped towards Jieting.

Li Wenhou led his army to fight along the way, and after only a few miles, the vanguard reported:

"General, the road ahead is riddled with rough timbers and deep craters! It's difficult to travel!"

"Oh, the road has been destroyed?" Li Wenhou thought for a moment and immediately realized, "Hahaha, this must be Liu Bei's last resort, trying to slow down our army's advance!"

Clean it up quickly, then keep pressing it down!

The 20,000-strong army cleared countless roads along the way, slowing down the progress by several days!

There was only one other fork in the road; the path led to the Valley of Despair, which was close but dangerous.

The main road is a normal official road; it's far, but safe!

Based on his previous considerations, Li Wen immediately gave the order, "Take the Fallen Valley Path!"

It was mid-February of 185 AD, and a cold wind blew through the valley, blowing across the mountains and forests on both sides.

The Han army had already laid an ambush.

There were no cicadas chirping in the valley, only a few black crows flapping their wings and flying in the sky.

Down in the Valley of Despair.

Upon seeing this, Li Wenhou noticed crows in the sky and smiled confidently at his men, saying, "Look, such an auspicious sign! There's definitely no ambush here!"

"The general is right!"

In the valley, the ambushers were ready.

"Strategist, Marquis Li Wenhou has arrived." Zhao Yun rode over, "His 20,000 troops have all entered the valley."

Li Changyu waved his fan lightly, and a cold wind brushed against his cheek.

"hiss……"

I gasped, but for the sake of appearances, I forced myself to keep quiet and gave the order:

"Alright. Send the order to let them all in. Once they reach the valley, immediately seal the entrance and set it on fire."

"promise!"

Zhao Yun accepted the order.

In the valley, Li Wenhou, riding his horse, said smugly to his deputy:

"Once we take Jieting, I will personally behead Liu Bei and Li Chang and present their heads to General Beigong! At that time, I will be the greatest general in Liangzhou!"

The lieutenant echoed in agreement:

"The general is incredibly brave and invincible!"

But then he said, "General, you and General Beigong raised an army at the same time, why are you willing to remain in a subordinate position?"

Li Wenhou fell into deep thought. Yes! They were clearly working together, so why did he feel like a subordinate's second-in-command?

Before he could finish thinking, a clapper sounded from the mountaintop.

"Not good! There's an ambush!" Li Wenhou's face changed, and he was about to order a retreat.

"Release the arrows!"

At Li Chang's command, a barrage of arrows was unleashed from the mountains on both sides.

Arrows rained down on the rebel army in the valley. Caught completely off guard, the rebels fell in droves in an instant.

"Quick! Get out of here!" Li Wenhou roared.

But a deafening battle cry came from the valley entrance, snapping the 20,000-strong army in half!

If it weren't for the fact that there were too many 20,000 troops and the valley was too small to contain them, everyone would have been surrounded!

But the rear guard outside the valley was also in a bad situation; they were either trying to escape or go to their aid.

Suddenly I heard a sound...

"Zhang Yide of Yan is here! Where do you think you're going, you traitor!"

Zhang Fei led three thousand elite soldiers into the valley and blocked the rebels' retreat.

then:

"Zhao Zilong of Changshan is here!"

Zhao Yun led a thousand elite cavalrymen in a charge down the hillside, their gleaming silver spears flashing, leaving a trail of heads in their wake.

"kill!"

After finally waiting for them to assess their numerical advantage, they held out for an hour.

After taking a long detour, Liu Bei led his main force of 8,000 men out from the mountains on both sides.

The 20,000 rebels were completely divided into several groups, some of whom were trapped in narrow valleys, unable to advance or retreat, and were in complete chaos.

Li Chang then ordered, "Set it on fire!"

The rocket shot into the valley, instantly igniting the dry vegetation, sending flames soaring into the sky and billowing thick smoke.

The rebels were burned and cried out in agony, trampling each other, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

Li Wenhou was terrified by the sight before him and led several hundred of his personal guards to rush desperately toward the valley entrance.

"Where are you going, Li Wenhou?!"

Zhang Fei roared and charged forward, brandishing his spear.

Li Wenhou was so frightened that he turned and ran away.

But Zhang Fei wasn't about to let him escape!

They galloped swiftly, as if entering an empty field!

A spear pierced Li Wenhou's back!

Li Wenhou screamed and fell off his horse, dying instantly.

"The coach is dead! The coach is dead!"

The remaining rebels completely collapsed, threw down their weapons, and knelt down to surrender.

The battle lasted from dawn to noon, and in less than two hours, the entire 20,000-strong rebel army was wiped out.

Three thousand were killed, five thousand fled, twelve thousand surrendered directly, and countless grains and weapons were seized.

By the time Guan Yu arrived at Luopo Valley with 5,000 men, the battle was already over.

Zhang Fei, carrying Li Wenhou's head, laughed heartily: "Second Brother! You're too late! The battle is already over!"

Looking at the corpses of the rebels scattered on the ground, and then at Li Chang on the hillside, who was holding a feather fan even in the dead of winter, Guan Yu felt a deep sense of admiration.

"Fourth brother is a true god."

Li Chang shook his head, looked towards Ji County, and his eyes suddenly sharpened: "Bei Gong Boyu's 20,000 elite troops are gone. Now, it's time to deal with him."

Just then, a personal guard rushed over and handed over a secret letter: "Strategist! Han Sui has sent a secret letter!"

Li Chang opened it and read it.

"Brother," he turned to Liu Bei and said, "Han Sui said he is willing to be an inside agent to help us kill Beigong Boyu."

"However, he has one condition."

Li Chang crumpled the secret letter into a ball and threw it into the brazier. The flames engulfed the letter, and it burned to ashes.

"He hoped that we would write to the court, saying that he and Bian Zhang were coerced by Beigong Boyu, and that they be pardoned for treason, retain their original positions as Liangzhou officials, and continue to lead the Qiang and Hu troops under their command."

The tent was quiet.

Liu Bei frowned: "Pardoning them is fine, they were indeed coerced. But keeping them in their original positions... I'm only the General of the Western Expedition, I don't have that authority."

"Brother, don't worry. He knows you don't have that power." Li Chang nodded. "All he wants is a promise from us. Once we kill Beigong Boyu and pacify Liangzhou, he'll have troops in his hands, and the court will have no choice but to acknowledge it."

Zhang Fei slapped his thigh, furious: "That old bastard's dream! I told you, ignore him! Including the prisoners, we now have 30,000 troops. Let's just attack directly and wipe out Beigong Boyu! What's the point of haggling with him!"

"Third Brother, please calm down." Li Chang waved his hand.

"Captives should not be used lightly. Moreover, Han Sui has been operating in Liangzhou for decades, with followers everywhere. Many Qiang and Hu tribes obey his orders, and he has a good reputation."

Even if we win by fighting head-on, we will suffer heavy casualties, and Liangzhou will be in chaos for another ten years.

If we can use him to instigate internal strife, the cost of quelling the rebellion will be minimal.

Liu Bei nodded and looked at Li Chang: "What do you think, Fourth Brother?"

"A feigned agreement," Li Chang continued.

"Reply to him, saying that your elder brother is willing to petition the court to exonerate him and Bian Zhang, and recommend him as the prefect of Jincheng and Bian Zhang as the prefect of Longxi. But..."

He paused, then continued, "But the letter has many smears, only mentioning Han Sui, not a single word about Bian Zhang, and leaving several obvious smears on the four characters 'Bei Gong Boyu'!"