N-A-A Chapter 1101 Wei Bao is captured, and the Xiongnu plan a sneak attack!
Chapter 1101 Wei Bao is captured, and the Xiongnu plan a sneak attack!
After a ten-day stalemate, the Wei army's supplies were running low. It turned out that Wei Bao had only brought half a month's worth of provisions in order to achieve a quick victory, but the Huaxia army avoided battle.
"Your Majesty, the army's food reserves are only enough for three days," Xiang Ta said with great concern.
Wei Bao gritted his teeth: "Tomorrow we will force our way across the Ying River! A battle with our backs to the river!"
At dawn the following day, the Wei army began crossing the river. It was early winter, and the river water was icy cold. The soldiers crossed the river on rafts and leather bags. When they were halfway across, the Huaxia army suddenly brought out two hundred cannons—some of the cannons allocated from the northern expeditionary force.
"put!"
The shells fell into the river, sending water columns soaring into the sky, and the rafts shattered. Those who managed to reach the shore were then rained down with arrows.
Wei Bao personally led the rear army to cross the river. The fierce battle lasted all day, with 20,000 dead and wounded. Only more than 40,000 men crossed the Ying River and occupied the beachhead on the south bank.
That night, Wei Bao was feeling down in his camp when an urgent report arrived: "Ye City has fallen! Xue Rengui's surprise attack has succeeded, and the Princess and the Crown Prince have been captured!"
"What?!" Wei Bao's vision went black, and he almost fainted.
With the fall of Ye City, morale plummeted. Wei Bao knew his retreat was cut off and he had no choice but to fight to the death.
Zhang Liang had anticipated this and had already set up an ambush from all sides.
In the first ambush, Xue Rengui led 5,000 archers to set up an ambush at Heifengyu. The Wei army retreated to this point, and arrows rained down like locusts, resulting in the loss of 3,000 soldiers.
In the second ambush, Ying Bu led 10,000 infantrymen to defend Hulao Pass, using rolling logs and stones to hold off the enemy for three days.
During the third period of summer heat, Li Guang led eight thousand cavalry to harass the area day and night.
Wei Bao suffered repeated ambushes and lost almost all his troops. By the time he reached Mengjin Ferry, he had only 8,000 personal guards left.
"Heaven has forsaken me!" he cried out, looking up at the sky, disheveled and barefoot, appearing as if he had gone mad.
At this moment, Ying Bu personally led an army of 30,000 to surround them. Xue Rengui also arrived from Ye City, and the two armies joined forces to encircle them.
The final battle took place at the Mengjin ferry crossing. Wei Bao, in a desperate struggle, personally led his guards in a charge, killing seven subordinate generals of the Huaxia army.
Xue Rengui spurred his horse to meet the attack, and his halberd clashed with Wei Bao's spear, sparks flying. After fifty rounds of fierce fighting, Xue Rengui feigned an opening, and Wei Bao's spear missed its mark, allowing Xue Rengui to sweep him off his horse with a backhand halberd strike.
The commander-in-chief was captured, and the rest of the troops surrendered. Thus, the six commanderies of Wei were pacified in four months, a month earlier than the northern expedition. This campaign resulted in the annihilation of 80,000 enemy troops, the capture of 100,000, and the seizure of countless supplies and weapons.
Ying Bu escorted Wei Bao back to Xianyang, where Gao Yao personally interrogated him.
“A defeated general should be killed if necessary!” Wei Bao retorted.
Gao Yao replied, "If you surrender, I will grant you the title of Marquis of Anle and guarantee the safety of your clan."
Wei Bao sighed deeply and finally prostrated himself to surrender. The Central Plains were unified.
While the northern expedition and the Central Plains campaign were raging, war clouds were already gathering outside Yanmen Pass.
When Lü Bu led 50,000 Bingzhou cavalry to the pass, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Great Wall meandered like a dragon, the north wind howled, and the grass was yellow and the horses were fat.
Looking out from the pass, the grasslands stretched endlessly. Deputy General Zhang Liao reported: "Scouts report that the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu, Luandi Huyan, has assembled 200,000 cavalry and is stationed north of the Yin Mountains. However, he seems to be wary of our army's strength and has not yet moved south."
Gao Shun advised: "General, with 50,000 against 200,000, the disparity in troop strength is too great. We should dig deep trenches and build high walls, hold our ground, and await reinforcements."
Lu Bu sneered: "Two hundred thousand? Even if it were three hundred thousand, what would I fear! But His Majesty has ordered us to hold fast to our lord. Order: erect more banners, light torches everywhere at night, and increase the number of cooking fires to ten, to create the illusion of a large army gathering!"
He then ordered Wei Xu to lead three thousand light cavalry to harass the Xiongnu day and night, capture Xiongnu scouts, and behead them, hanging their heads in front of the pass.
The Xiongnu were indeed suspicious and fearful. Luandi Huyan sent an envoy to question them: "What is the purpose of the Huaxia's unprovoked reinforcement of troops at Yanmen?"
Lü Bu replied: "Autumn military exercises are routine drills. If you all remain unruly, my halberd is ready to drink the blood of the Xiongnu!"
The patient, with a limp and hesitant breathing pattern, remained motionless for half a month.
At the end of September, news of the northern expedition and the war in the Central Plains reached the grasslands. Luan Di Huyan suddenly realized: "The main force of the Huaxia army is on the eastern and southern fronts, leaving Yanmen Pass undefended! The Eternal Heaven has given me a golden opportunity!"
On the third day of the tenth month, 200,000 Xiongnu cavalry surged toward Yanmen Pass like a tidal wave.
The first wave of attack was launched at dawn. Fifty thousand vanguard soldiers rushed straight towards the fortress, the sound of their hooves shaking the heavens and the earth.
Lü Bu stood atop the city wall, bow drawn and arrow nocked. "Prepare the ballistae...lower them closer..."
The Xiongnu cavalry advanced to within three hundred paces.
"put!"
From the wall, five hundred ballistae fired simultaneously, their long bolts whistling through the air, piercing several people. Then came rockets, boiling oil, and boulders...
On the first day, the Xiongnu suffered over ten thousand casualties and failed to get close to the wall.
The next day, the Right Wise King ordered captured Han civilians to act as the vanguard, filling in the trenches. Lü Bu gritted his teeth and ordered, "Fire arrows! We can't let them fill in the trenches!"
Arrows rained down indiscriminately, friend and foe alike; corpses piled up like mountains before the pass.
On the third day, the Xiongnu built a hundred siege engines, covered them with raw cowhide, and advanced them to the city walls. Lü Bu ordered his soldiers to throw oil canisters, which were then ignited with fire arrows, burning most of them to the ground.
On the fourth and fifth days... the Xiongnu attacked day and night in shifts. The defenders suffered increasing casualties, and their arrows and logs were almost exhausted.
On the seventh day, a three-zhang (approximately 10 meters) breach was blasted into the southeast corner of the wall by catapults. The Xiongnu soldiers swarmed in.
Lu Bu fought bare-chested, his halberd dancing like a dragon, leaving limbs flying in its wake. He held the breach alone for two hours, killing hundreds, until Gao Shun led his elite troops to block it.
"General, you're wounded!" the guard exclaimed.
Lu Bu was shot in the left shoulder, the arrow wound so deep that bone was visible. He snapped the arrow shaft in two, saying, "A mere minor injury, nothing to worry about!"
On the tenth day, the city's food supplies were only enough for three days. Zhang Liao advised, "General, why not abandon the pass and retreat south to join General Ran Min..."
"I am guarding the pass on His Majesty's orders. As long as the pass stands, I am here!" Lü Bu's eyes were bloodshot. "Anyone who dares to suggest retreat again will be executed!"
On the twelfth day, the Xiongnu changed tactics, sending 50,000 troops to bypass the main force and launch a surprise attack on the Baideng Pass. Lü Bu dispatched 8,000 troops to intercept them, making the defense of Yanmen Pass even more precarious.
On the thirteenth day, they ran out of arrows and food. The soldiers began to dismantle houses to make weapons from wood and boil their leather armor for food.
On the fourteenth day, fewer than 20,000 men remained capable of fighting, and all were wounded. Many sections of the fortified walls collapsed, filling the gaps with corpses.
At dawn on the fifteenth day, the Xiongnu launched a general offensive. Luandi Huyan personally led the charge, declaring, "Today we will surely breach Yanmen Pass! Whoever is the first to scale it will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold and appointed commander of ten thousand cavalry!"
The dark mass of Xiongnu soldiers swarmed the city like ants.
Lu Bu stood atop the dilapidated gate tower, his halberd pointing to the sky: "Brothers! Today is our death day! Is there anyone willing to die with me?"
"I am willing to follow the general!" The roar was hoarse yet deafening.
Just then, a cloud of dust rose on the northern horizon. A black torrent swept in, its banner bearing a large character "冉".
Ran Min led 30,000 black-armored cavalry, covering 1,200 li in ten days, and finally arrived at the last moment.
This cavalry unit was entirely clad in black armor, even their warhorses were covered in black armor; they were the most elite troops of the Huaxia army. Each rider was equipped with two horses, a fine steel lance, a ring-pommel sword, a horn bow, and three javelins hanging from the side of their saddles.
"You Xiongnu brat, Ran Min is here!"
With a roar like thunder, Ran Min charged ahead, wielding a double-edged spear and hooked halberd, charging straight into the rear of the Xiongnu ranks. Thirty thousand iron cavalry sliced through the Xiongnu like sharp blades into butter, throwing their formation into chaos.
Seeing this from the city wall, Lü Bu looked up to the sky and roared, "Heaven has not forsaken me! Open the city gates! Attack!"
The remaining defenders poured out in all their forces, joining forces with reinforcements to launch a pincer attack.
The Right Wise King hastily ordered his troops to split up and resist, but Ran Min's charge was too fierce, breaking through three lines of defense and heading straight for the central army.
Seeing the ferocity of the approaching general, Luan Di Hu Yan personally led his Golden Wolf Guard to meet him in battle. The two met amidst the vast army.