Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Jingzhou, outside Deng County.

Twenty-six thousand troops lined up in the south of Deng County. Unlike the previous few days when they lined up and marched directly, the atmosphere today seemed particularly serious.

The Lieutenant General Wendai on the left and the Huaiji General Shendan on the right, each led their personal followers and carried their respective general flags, patrolling back and forth in the neatly arranged army formation, shouting, greeting, and waving their hands to boost the morale of the Quchang and Dubo under their command.

Xu Shu was still leading 6,000 foreign troops in the center, but General Zhenxi Qian Zhao was not in his own army formation at the back. Instead, he sat on his horse, right next to Xu Shu, and seemed to have no intention of returning to his own formation.

The Wuwei Camp is different from an ordinary army. Each of the two thousand stone generals can lead the troops well enough and there is no need to worry about anything.

"Yuanzhi, the time has come, the army can move forward." Qian Zhao looked up at the slanting sunlight and said softly.

"It's time to march." Xu Shu responded, and his voice seemed to contain a lot of emotion: "The land of Jingxiang is worthy of being the heart of the world. If Jingxiang is stable, the Great Wei will be stable. If Jingxiang is in chaos, the Great Wei will be uneasy. This has been the case for the past thirty years. In the past, Xu Gongming marched straight in and defeated Guan Yu. Today, it is up to Brother Qian's Wuwei Camp to make achievements."

Qian Zhao said calmly, "When Xu Gongming was praised by Emperor Wu, I was still in Youzhou managing the Wuhuan people. At that time, I heard about the recovery of Jingxiang in Changping City, and I drank a few more bottles with my relatives and friends that night. Time has passed, and now it is my turn to do this."

"It's the same place as before, but the situation is different from before." Xu Shu laughed and said, "Brother Qian, when Xu Huang defeated Guan Yu, Guan Yu had few soldiers and it was difficult to deal with him, while the Wu army facing you and me was strong. However, Xu Huang didn't have as many soldiers as you and me back then, so we still have to see who wins in battle."

"Pass on my order!" Xu Shu turned his head, drew his sword from his waist, pointed it diagonally to the south, and shouted loudly: "All troops, move forward. We will lift the siege of Fancheng today!"

The sound of the horn came from Xu Shu's headquarters, and all the troops responded to the order and headed south calmly. The troops marched in an orderly and orderly manner, and the atmosphere was solemn.

Xu Shu had led his troops on this road of less than ten miles from Deng County to the south several times. The geography between Fancheng and Deng County was like this, and the road they were taking today was exactly the same as the direction Xu Huang marched eleven years ago.

Deng County is also known as Yancheng. In the past, Xu Huang took Yancheng from Guan Yu and set up camps for more than ten miles from Deng County to Fancheng, all the way to Guan Yu's camp under Fancheng, forcing Guan Yu to fight, but that was a strategy that could only be used because Guan Yu had few soldiers.

Today, the Wu army has many soldiers, so the most suitable tactic for Xu Shu is direct attack rather than advancing the camps.

The army slowly moved southwards, accompanied by the sound of drums and flags. Xu Shu also sent out scouts to explore the battlefield, and the cavalry led by Zuo Shi even had a small-scale battle with the Wu army scouts.

It was not until they reached eight miles north of Fancheng that Xu Shu ordered his soldiers to stop. After a quarter of an hour's rest, he ordered them to continue advancing, slowly approaching the Wu army position three miles to the south.

More than 20,000 Wei soldiers pressed forward on foot, not fast but full of pressure. The phrase "slow as a forest" is appropriate to describe it.

The Wei army's actions today were indeed unusual compared to the previous few days. The Wu army had also finished forming their battle array. Quan Cong in the battle array narrowed his eyes and looked towards the north, but did not speak for a long time.

The guards surrounding him all cast their eyes on Quan Cong. According to the arrangements for the march before the battle, it seemed that Quan Cong should give the order at this time.

After a long while, Quan Cong said in a deep voice: "It seems that the Wei army is going to launch a general attack today. Pass on my order, order the troops of General Cai Sheng, who is in charge of the west of Fancheng City, to leave the camp and line up behind General Bu. Order the troops of General Zhu Ju, who is in charge of the east of Fancheng City, to also leave the camp and line up behind General Pan."

"Order Generals Bu, Pan, and Wu to prepare to engage the Wei army!"

"As ordered."

The messenger soldiers scattered, but before long, the right general Bu Zhi came from the western formation on horseback to Quan Cong's formation and found Bu Zhi himself under the general's flag.

"Why did the Right General abandon his troops and come to my camp when the battle was about to begin?" Quan Cong had a stern face and shouted coldly at Bu Zhi from a distance of several feet.

Bu Zhi also responded loudly: "I am not abandoning the army, but I have something to ask you in person! The two camps are only half a mile apart, and we can return in no time. There is no reason to abandon the army!"

"What do you want to ask?" Quan Cong still had no expression on his face.

Bu Zhi rode forward and came within ten feet of Quan Cong. He lowered his voice and asked, "Zi Huang, why did you change your mind? Didn't the Supreme Lord order us to preserve the army? Why do you insist on fighting?"

Quan Cong looked at Bu Zhi and said, "You, I, and Generals Pan and Wu do not have many troops for battle. However, I have ordered Cai Sheng, who is staying in the camp, and Zhu Ju in the east to line up behind the army."

"This..." Bu Zhi didn't know what to say for a moment: "Doesn't that mean the entire camp is abandoned?"

"If you don't abandon the camp, what else can you do?" Quan Cong's eyes widened as he looked straight at Bu Zhi: "You are unwilling to defend and attack, and you still want to besiege Fancheng. You are so timid, how can you fight? It would be better for the whole army to fight the Wei army, so that you can advance and retreat freely!"

"I have given the order, General Bu, please return to the camp as soon as possible!"

"Zi Huang, you, ah!" Bu Zhi sighed heavily. Quan Cong was the one ordered by the King of Wu to lead the war north of the Han River, and he, the right general, was also under the command of Quan Cong. Quan Cong had already given the order, what else could he do? He could only obey orders and fight. Bu Zhi turned around and rode away without stopping. Bu Zhi was also a veteran general, and he had some awareness.

Time passed by, and the battle officially began as the Wei army was getting closer and closer. According to Quan Cong's order, the 6,000 men from Bu Zhi's army on the left and Pan Jun's army on the right fired two rounds of arrows and then marched towards the Wei army in the north.

Quan Cong and Xu Shu in the north, both of them controlled the central army and did not move, observing the situation on the battlefield. The shouts of the soldiers were noisy and combined, deafening, spreading far away in the wilderness. When the sound of the battle reached the top of Fancheng and the ears of Wei general Lu Shi on the city wall, it became just a vague noise.

"General, should the central army move?" Adjutant Qin Huang stood in front of Quan Cong's horse and asked carefully.

Quan Cong was still looking at the battlefields in the northwest and northeast. Without turning his head, he asked, "Have Cai Sheng and Zhu Ju finished arranging their battle array?"

"General, Generals Cai and Zhu have already formed their battle formations."

Quan Cong nodded slightly: "I think General Pan seems to have the upper hand, let Cai Sheng move closer to the central army. Order Zhu Ju to go and help Pan Jun! As the son-in-law of the Supreme, it is time for him to make achievements."

"Yes." Qin Huang responded in a low voice: "Then how should General Wu's troops be assigned?"

Quan Cong said, "Isn't he to my south? Let him stay on guard to prevent the Wei army in Fancheng from making any moves."

"As ordered, I will arrange it right away." Qin Huang replied with a bow. Pan Jun's troops on the east side have more advantages, so let Zhu Ju behind him continue to press forward to expand the advantage, which is also the correct way to use troops.

While Quan Cong was making the assignments, Xu Shu and Qian Zhao in the Wei army formation in the north were also calmly discussing the battle situation.

"Wendai's tribe is somewhat unstable." Qian Zhao looked at Xu Shu and said.

Xu Shu shook his head slightly: "Wen Zhongye's son, leading 4,000 central troops, is not as capable as Shen Dan's 6,000 county troops. I think the lieutenant general that Zhao Boran and Xiahou Junlin gave to Wen Dai is not worth it. It is enough to give him a lieutenant."

Qian Zhao sighed, "What else can we do? Is Yuan Zhi going to remove him from his position as Lieutenant General? A tiger father likes a dog son. The court will only recognize Wen Zhongye's military position because of his contributions over the years."

Xu Shu and Qian Zhao were talking in front of the battle formation. If Wen Dai heard what they said, he would only feel wronged.

Wen Dai was in the east, and the Wu general opposite him was Pan Jun. Four thousand foreign troops against six thousand Wu central troops, a slight disadvantage was already good.

In the west, Shen Dan had 6,000 soldiers from the prefectures and counties. The Wu army's Bu Zhi unit that engaged Shen Dan had 6,000 Jiaozhou soldiers under its command, but there was still a clear gap in combat effectiveness between them and Pan Jun's troops.

However, in a one-way transparent battlefield, no one would understand this. If the battle line was unstable, it was the responsibility of that general.

Xu Shu nodded: "Isn't the favor that the court officials seek for the sake of using it for this kind of descendants?"

"Send an order! Order Wei Xian and Zhao Gu to go east to support Wen Dai. Tell them to have Zhao Gu stand behind Wen Dai, and Wei Xian to help Wen Dai hold off the Wu army from the west flank."

"Yes!"

The messenger with a red flag on his back rode out and galloped towards the formation of the two lieutenants Wei and Zhao. However, the lieutenant Wei Sheng, who was standing on horseback behind Xu Shu, did not dare to interrupt at all. In a battle of this level, Wei Sheng's heart was already in his throat.

Although Wei Sheng was also from the Central Army, he was only a Sima in charge of a thousand men in the Wuwei Camp, and was not proficient in military strategies before war. After he was transferred to Jiangxia under Wen Pin, he became a lieutenant with a salary of two thousand stones. Wen Pin's achievements were mostly achieved by relying on the defense of the city, and he had not participated in many field battles.

At this moment, in Wei Sheng's eyes, the calm and composed generals Xu Shu and Qian Zhao seemed to have become even more majestic.

After the messenger left, Qian Zhao looked at Xu Shu with a smile: "Why, is Yuan Zhi going to expose a flaw to the Wu army?"

Xu Shu spread his hands without commenting: "Let's give it a try. How the Wu army will respond is beyond my ability to predict."

Five miles north of Fancheng, the eastern and western wings of the Wei and Wu armies had already engaged in battle. Seeing this, Lu Shi, who was on the top of the city wall, hurriedly gave orders to Sun Ke, a military officer beside him:

"General Sun! Quickly gather all the soldiers in the city who can fight. Apart from those who are left on the top of the city, how many more can you get to go out of the city and fight back?"

"General, we should be able to gather 1,600 men," Sun Ke replied without hesitation.

"One thousand six hundred? Enough!" Lu Shi shouted, "Let them wait in the north, I will lead them to raid later! Tell them clearly that the reinforcements from Wei are coming!" (End of this chapter)