Chapitre 3: A clash of strategies
Meanwhile in Zhao near the northern borders, There was a man sitting atop a large horse holding a majestic halberd facing off against 100,000 Xiongnu barbarians.
He was alone as his soldiers were looking aghast from the top of the walls. Most of them were afraid that their invincible general will perish on his foolhardy quest. A single man facing off against 100,000 seems like utter foolishness, but that was what's happening there.
The King of Zhao, The idiot that he was , asked their general's adopted father, "How many soldiers do you think your adopted son is worth, Marquis Dong Zhuo?"
Dong Zhuo proudly claimed that his son was worth a 100,000 man.
The King then spoke, "If your son can defeat the 100,000 army of Xiongnu currently approaching all by himself, I'll make him the leader of the three great Heavens of Zhao."
Dong Zhuo was apalled and begged the king to reconsider but the king was adamant in his decision. He insisted if Lu Bu is worth 100,000 men , this should be an easy task for him. Lu Bu, when he heard that command just scoffed and put on his armor, grabbed his weapon and rode out alone.
This gave birth to the events that led to a legend.
A day that would be remembered as the day, Two legends were born upon the miraculous feats of two Young men, whose deeds will be remembered in history forever.
Lu Bu spurred his Red Hare with a earth shaking roar as he charged at the 100,000 army all by himself. Seeing his wild visage charging at them riding his famous horse, and the blood lust emanating from his "Sky Piercer" halberd, even the cruelest and strongest of the barbarian's hearts shook.
Almost half of them would charge at Lu Bu screaming and shouting and got slaughtered almost till the last men. The others just threw away their weapons and ran without looking back, ignoring their surroundings and their leaders, as if a demon from hell was chasing them. This single handed masaacre would leave the other 50,000 barbarian's so afraid that they would also run without any order or manner.
This slaughter shook the Xiongnu so hard that they would leave Zhao alone for almost 7 years until Lu Bu decided to go into seclusion for training.
The 7th day of summer cycle of 256, a day that they would never forget as the mighty Xiongnu horde ran facing only a single man. From then on Zhao would have a saying, "Among the the men, Lu Bu is greatest and among horses, it's Red Hare."
Qin Side
KouRyu PoV
We arrived at the army camp where all the troops have gathered. We might be 50,000 strong but as per information, Wei will be sending around 80,000 soldiers under Sima Yi.
Their right flank is under the command of someone called Kyugen A vassal of Sima Yi with 25,000 troops and left flank was under Souyou with 20,000. Sima Yi is in center hq.
Our right flank was commanded by general Naigen with 15,000 troops, a vassal of ChouTou and the left was under general Gang Jin with 15,000 troops, A non famous general. I was at left flank which would probably see the bloodiest battle. ChouTou himself had 20,000 troops facing Sima Yi's 35,000 troops.
The battle was in Wei's favor and ChouTou can even die as Sima Yi doesn't make wasted moves. So It will be up to me to even the odds. Sima Yi has become a great general of Wei at only 25 years old. If I were to consider his current strength, he is almost around Ousen level during Shukai Plains. So that might be a problem.
Also, He has a personal retinue of 100 guards whose strength is around Bggl according to system so that will be a issue to for sneak attacks.
Considering my left flank will probably be crushed first to create an opening , I started making a strategy and a backup plan. If I want to take and hold Wan castle, I need siege machines and infantry which I don't have.
I can round up the survivors and take them with me but that won't be enough to defend the castle. As I was thinking, ChouTou came out and gave a speech and motivated the poor idiots.
If Sima Yi is anything like the stories I remember, he will crush ChouTou through some deception or something.... wait that's it!
This battle might be to take Wan castle, but I can do something else that would shock entire China completely. I grinned as a hint of a plan started forming in my head. I will have to use a distraction to direct his attention and throw him off guard with a coujter once he reacts.
Since the battle will be at Dakan plains to accommodate Wei chariots and the left flank position is actually near a small forest, no one would expect a small unit would go all the way accross the right flank and even beyond that.
Since I have all cavalry, it would be easier to manoeuvre them all over the battlefield. Gang Jin was a egocentric guy who thought he is strong enough but had no actual power or background . He just wanted to boss around the soldiers.
When he put me right in front to charge just to show his power, I straight up refused and said, "Ryofui might listen to your complaint after the battle, So why don't you tell him that you put your main strike force at the very front to be cannon fodder."
Hearing about Ryofui, his tone changed and he left after assigning me to the furthest side grudgingly. This would benefit me greatly later. I told Zhao Yun to move away and hid around and support with ranged attacks while me and Zhang Liao go to battle.
Ding! Host is advised to practice caution as Sima Yi intellect is currently stronger than host.
Yeah, this will be troublesome.
The battle begun the next day morning. ChouTou, being a traditional general, decided to start with his Right flank as General Naigen charged at the enemy troops with 5000 troops to create an opening. The attafk was just to probe around the Wei defense for a weak point.
Sima Yi showed his cautious nature as he had a defensive formation that left no opening at all. The initial charge showed some promise but it was stopped easily by Souyou. They created small shield walls in groups which stopped the momentum . Once the horses could not push through, they became easy targets for the archers.
When Naigen wanted to break off and attack from a different location, that's when the disaster begun. Gangjin decided to commit to an all out charge with all his troops which was exactly what Wei was waiting for.
As the left flank committed everything, they didn't need to hold back anymore. Kyugen decided to use a trap formation, so when Gang Jn decided to rush in, He was taken out by Kyugen who rode forward to meet him. That's when about 10,000 troops from the central hq decided to hit us from the rear.
I took my 1,000 soldiers and rushed out of the trap immediately as I waited till the last moment to charge, same couldn't be said about the others. I rallied some of them to follow me to escape the encirclement, but most of them were stuck and got slaughtered.
By the Time ChouTou himself decided to move, about 10,000 troops were dead or captured out of 15,000 . I rallied about 4,000 troops aside from my army to follow me to escape to the forest . I tried some hit and run tactics when they chased us, but Kyugen was too cautious.
We managed to take out two 1,000 man commanders and about 1,000 troops. But it was nothing compared to what we lost. We were at an overwhelming disadvantage and everyone thought I would escape or regroup with ChouTou army, but I had another idea in mind. I would send 2,000 troops to the center and make them think that's all we had.
While I would lead the other 3,000 through the night to strike Sima Yi. But I knew this won't work but I had no choice. To win the war we must not lose the battle. The early demise of left flank affected the entire army moral and another defeat will destroy it .
My night attack is more like a decoy as the real motive is to put them on guard for future night attacks. It has one more purpose, create chaos and within that, steal some armours and flags. Then comes the interesting part of the plan which will decide it all . Zhang Liao came to my tent to break my thought process.
Zhang Liao "the preparations are complete my lord. we can proceed as soon as you want." I smirked hearing this and said," Well, let's go for a little hunt then, shall we?" Zhang Liao nodded and saluted me before going out. I opened the message that Zhao Yun sent a few minutes ago.
"Wan castle has some soldiers but they are very little, about 5,000 or so. There are not many civilians. The gate is closed but one of my men managed to find a broken part of wall. We can attack through there and take the castle.
The castle is defended by a Wei General called Gong Xu who isn't too strong, getting to the castle unnoticed will be the biggest problem."
I smiled. Sima Yi was indeed a genius. He purposefully left a broken wall part to lure any surprise attackers and possibly has set a trap there.
So I'm gonna do something crazier, something beyond Sima Yi's imagination, but first, I need to send a message to ChouTou to give him a heads up so he can move immediately after I take the castle. His central army didn't make any move as the news of left wings crushing defeat had left them vulnerable.
General Naigen still had about 12,000 troops left and they managed to lower the Wei left wing with 15,000 troops. So it was basically 35,000 Qin troops against Wei's 70,000 troops. If we add my 3,000 it's still 2 to 1.
ChouTou is probably considering retreat as the odds are against us. Hopefully my message will reach them in time.
Zhao Yun PoV
I decided to go scout the castle after my lord managed to escape the death trap. The previous plan was to set up on a hill and take out the Wei general, but the idiot commander decided to charge blindly which killed him and his troops.
I wished to do something but it was too late. If my lord's plan succeed we will turn around the battle completely. But one thing was bothering me. Even if we take the castle, how can we defend it from Wei? With just 3,000 troops, that is impossible.
I trust my lord's strength as he often fought me and Zhang Liao together and came out on top sometimes . But even he can't just go against over 50,000 soldiers. Not to mention that broken part of wall.
But whatever he wishes, I will achieve it even if it means shedding every last drop of blood left in me.
I was broken out of my thoughts as Zhang Liao entered my tent hurriedly and spoke, "Zilong, Our lord has given us our orders. "
I stood up and grabbed my weapon while speaking,"when do we take the castle?"
Zhang Liao's expression became weird and he said, "that's the problem. We, are not going there. you are supposed to hide outside of enemy range and make sudden guerrilla attacks only. Lord KouRyu will take the castle with the 2000 troops and defend it.
Only if the Wei army attacks the castle, we are to attack their rear and flanks. If worst comes to worse, the white horse archers will fully charge in like my wolf cavalry."
I was surprised but kept my calm and spoke, "Then we shall do just that. We can only wish good luck to him."
Zhang Liao for the first time since coming here smirked and replied,"Do you think He needs luck?"
I also smirked and replied," No he does not."
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