Chapter 22 Chapter 22

The army of the Kingdom of Shu was stationed in the area of ​​Baidi City, recharging their energy, and always paying attention to the movement in the south and the north of the river. A spy came to report: "Eastern Wu begged Wei Guo to send reinforcements urgently, Wei Guo only gave Sun Quan the title of King Wu, Cao Pi remained neutral." "As I expected, Cao Pi wanted to reap the benefits of the fisherman. Alright, send troops!" Liu Xuande decisively gave the order to march. In addition to the national army, there are also tens of thousands of soldiers from the Nanman King Sha Moke, and the two troops of Dongxi Han General Du Lu and Liu Ning are majestic. .

The water of the Yangtze River is rolling down, frequently bringing the fighting spirit from the upper reaches. ——The country is in trouble. Soochow was shrouded in an extremely tense atmosphere, and all the ministers followed Wei Guo's movements expectantly. Wei Guo still did not send troops, and Sun Quan immediately realized that the most dangerous and stupid idea at this time was to rely on other people's assistance. He finally made up his mind to fight a decisive battle of one country against one country.When the group of ministers was called to discuss, the audience was silent, no one dared to speak, and no one would take the initiative to ask for a fight.

At this time, someone in the corner shouted with emotion: "Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while. Although I am young, I am quite familiar with military art. I would like to use my loyal heart to serve my meager strength for the Lord. Please send me as a vanguard." Everyone turned their heads and saw that this person was Sun Quanyi's nephew Sun Huan, who was only twenty-five years old. "Good! As expected of my nephew!" Sun Quan looked at him happily, and immediately agreed to his request. "I heard that your diners, Li Yi and Xie Jing, both have extraordinary courage. It's really great. You can take them to battle together! I'll send veteran Huwei General Zhu Ran as your lieutenant general."

As a result, 50,000 Wu troops rushed to Yidu (now Yidu, Hubei), Zhu Ran was the governor of the right, and Sun Huan was the governor of the left. They each led 25,000 troops and divided them into left and right wings to confront the Shu army. The Shu army set off from Baidi City and returned to Yidu via Zizi, taking in surrendered soldiers along the way, sweeping away like a gust of wind sweeping away fallen leaves. On this day, Shu Emperor Liu Xuande was observing the enemy's formation. Guan Xing came to ask for a battle: "I heard that Sun Huan of the Wu army is also a young general. Please let me fight him in the first battle."

Liu Xuande remembered that he and Zhang Bao had fought for the vanguard earlier, so he ordered: "You and Zhang Bao go into battle together!" One is the son of Guan Yu and the other is the son of Zhang Fei. Each of them led a team of troops, divided into two groups, and rushed towards the Wu army camp like a black whirlwind. Liu Xuande then ordered Feng Xi and Zhang Nan to say, "It's the first time for these two juniors to participate in such a big battle. I don't worry about it. Both of you will bring elite soldiers to follow behind them." After the first battle, the Shu army won a big victory.Sun Huan, a young general of the Wu army, also participated in the battle for the first time, and his position was smashed by Guan Xing and Zhang Bao.Two lieutenants under his command, Xie Jing was stabbed to death by Zhang Bao, Li Yizhong tried to escape with an arrow, but was followed by Guan Xing, who cut him in two.

Zhang Bao charged too deep into the enemy formation, and when he was about to return to the main formation, Guan Xing was nowhere to be seen.He immediately rushed left and right in the enemy's formation, shouting and searching. "Brother Yi! Brother Yi!" If Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are living spirits, they will be extremely pleased with the bravery and friendship of these two little brothers. The sun was setting in the west in the wilderness, and it was dark all around.Zhang Bao did not come back, nor did Guan Xing. "Today's battle, we won a big victory." Hearing the sound of triumphant soldiers and horses, Liu Xuande became even more unhappy.

"Where did these two children go?" He walked out of the tent, stood in front of the battle and waited anxiously. Finally, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao came back together, holding a captured enemy general.The prisoner was Tan Xiong, a well-known fierce general of the Wu army. It was precisely to chase him that Guan Xing broke away from the brigade. It was not until he met Zhang Bao that they returned to the camp together. Liu Xuande raised his hands, patted the shoulders of the two, and praised: "You two are so brave, you are worthy of your father's name." He ordered Tan Xiong's head to be cut off, a bonfire was lit to pay homage to the fallen officers and soldiers, and then wine was given to reward the soldiers.

Soochow was defeated in the first battle, losing three generals. Sun Huan had no choice but to withdraw his position, thinking with shame and hatred: "Tomorrow will be a great humiliation." Seeing the heavy losses of the troops, he reorganized the team, but became more eager to fight. The Shu army is also patiently looking for fighter opportunities. "According to Sun Huan's current situation, it may be difficult to win as quickly as last time with the same tactics." Feng Xi, Zhang Nan, Zhang Bao, and Guan Xing had the same idea, so they began to secretly implement another strategy.

The army on the left wing of the Wu army was defeated, but the water army on the right wing near the river bank was not damaged.One day, a patrol team on the shore caught a Shu soldier and took him to the tent of the Soochow Navy Commander. "How did you get captured?" "I'm lost." "Why did you leave your position and come to the riverside?" "Feng Ximi ordered me to wait in ambush during the day, and to set fire to Sun Huan's camp tonight, and then carry out a night raid. A total of 50 people came, and I got separated while transporting oil."

Zhu Ran, the right governor, was overjoyed when he heard the confession. He clapped his hands and said, "All go ashore. When the Shu army attacks at night, first cut off its retreat route, and then attack with Sun Huan on both sides." He immediately wrote a letter and sent someone to Sun Huan's camp. Unexpectedly, this person was caught and killed by the ambushed Shu soldiers when he walked halfway.In fact, all of this was a plan formulated by Feng Xi and Zhang Nan. They had long expected that Zhu Ran would send someone to deliver the letter from this road. That night, Zhu Ran, kept in the dark, led the army ashore, ready to advance.General Cui Yu reminded him: "This matter is quite strange. It is too rash to launch such a large-scale operation just based on the confession of a Shu army prisoner. Please stay here and wait for me to explore the way."

Zhu Ran felt reasonable after hearing this, so he asked him to lead less than 10,000 soldiers to act according to plan, while he stayed in the navy formation. At the second watch, a fire broke out in Sun Huan's camp.Cui Yu thought that Zhu Ran had informed Sun Huan of the fire attack during the day, but he didn't know that the soldiers who delivered the letter had been beheaded by the Shu army. He ordered: "Hurry up to support!" Halfway there, Zhang Bao and Guan Xing, who were ambushing in the woods and depressions, rushed up and captured Cui Yu alive. Wu Jun was defeated and had to retreat to the river. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhu Ran withdrew the fleet fifty or sixty miles downstream that night. The Wu army was defeated again and again, and the entire camp was burned down by the enemy. Sun Huan was so regretful that he had to retreat to Yiling (now east of Yichang City, Hubei). While the Shu army pursued him relentlessly, they beheaded Cui Yu for public display, and their momentum grew stronger and stronger.In a few days, the news of the successive defeats in the first battle came, which plunged Wudu Jianye into a cloud of gloom. Veteran Zhang Zhao encouraged Sun Quan: "Your Majesty, don't be sad. Although most of the famous generals since the founding of the People's Republic of China have passed away, and there are not many who can fight, there are still a dozen good generals available. You can call Gan Ning first."