Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Just as Wu Shuo was getting angry, a messenger came running from the front, panting heavily, and said with a fist: "Report, General, Sima Qu just died in the battle! Sima Chen asked his subordinates to report to the general that he has engaged the Wei army!"

"I see." Wu Shuo's expression showed a trace of astonishment, but he immediately turned from astonishment to anger: "Qu Cheng has followed me for ten years, attacking Jiangling, defending Xiling, and defending Jiangling. I have fought so many battles, but I didn't expect that he would be defeated here today?"

"Pass my order, have Sima Chu join me in counterattacking the Wei army! Don't let the front team retreat again!"

"Yes!"

Wu Shuo braced himself and led the most elite 1,000 of his 5,000 soldiers to charge at the Wei army. But things often did not go as planned, and Wu Shuo's elite soldiers, like the tide hitting the rocks on the shore, were calmly stopped by Dian Man's troops and then pushed back.

Seeing that his army was doomed to fail, Wu Shuo shouted with all his might, "Come here! Hurry up and let Quan Xu lead his troops to help me. If he doesn't come, I'm afraid I can't hold on any longer!"

The guards ran back quickly, and just after passing through the formation, they looked south for a few moments, then ran back again.

"General, General!" The guards' faces flushed, and they could hardly speak clearly: "I'm afraid the whole school lieutenant can't come!"

"What? Why can't he come?" Wu Shuo was furious.

The guard said breathlessly: "All the lieutenants have also joined the battle. Judging from the direction, it seems that the Wei army in Fancheng has rushed out!"

"I, I..."

The Wei army was getting closer and closer, and Wu Shuo seemed to feel the cold air from the armored soldiers' blades piercing his face.

Hearing that Quan Xu could not come to help, Wu Shuo drew the ring-handled sword from his waist, and was about to lead the guards around him to charge into the Wei army again. He paused for a few moments, but still could not raise the arm holding the hilt of the sword.

"General, it's time to issue military orders, whether to march or fight!" The soldier beside him urged. After so many years of fighting, it's not that we haven't been defeated before. Saving our lives is the first priority!

Canjun and Wu Shuo were both on the same battlefield. They would prosper and suffer together, and their interests were the same when it came to their lives.

Wu Shuo looked at the military officer beside him, then looked at the Wei army formation to the south, and sighed repeatedly: "If I am defeated like this, once the formation is broken, how can I explain to General Quan? How can I explain to General Sun? How can I explain to the Supreme?"

The military officer leaned close to Wu Shuo's ear and whispered, "Rather than being stalemated here and then being defeated by the Wei army, it is better to retreat first. You don't have to do this, general. I will find a relative to do it for you, so as not to tarnish your reputation!"

Seeing that the battle was about to collapse, Wu Shuo had no room for hesitation and nodded silently. The military officer ran to the side of the guard holding the flag and whispered a few words. The guard pretended to rush forward, and the flag slipped from his hand while running.

As the flag fell, the morale of the Wei army on the opposite side became even stronger. The precarious battle line could no longer be maintained, and the soldiers ran back one after another.

"Wu Gou is defeated!" Dian Man saw the Wu army flag fall in the battle array, and then he shouted loudly. The soldiers in the battle array also shouted "Wu Gou is defeated", and the flag pointed forward diagonally, rushing towards the direction of the Wu army's defeated soldiers.

Wu Shuo was a veteran on the battlefield, and he was good at fighting. To the south of Wu Shuo were the 2,000 troops under Quan Xu. If they were closer to Fancheng, they would be the military camp that had been besieging Fancheng for more than ten days.

The defeated soldiers of the Wu army bypassed Quanxu's army formation and rushed towards the military camp. The Wei army was all heavily armored and had to maintain their formation. For a while, they could not catch up with the defeated soldiers of the Wu army. However, in such a big situation, this was no longer important.

The troops led by Dian Man and Li Ji continued to advance towards Fancheng.

After seeing this, Qian Zhao turned to look at Wang Qi beside him and said, "This is the vital point of the Wu army. If we lose here, Dian Man and Li Ji will be able to reach the Wu army camp besieging the city. There will be no point for the Wu army to fight here again."

Wang Qi nodded and said, "It's all thanks to the fighting power of General Dian and General Li. Lord Qian, what should we do now? I have two thousand soldiers, but I don't have anywhere to use them."

Qian Zhao thought for a moment and said, "With the defeat of the Wu army in the south, the Wu army on the east side will be exposed. It's difficult to fight Zou Gui, so I will go with you to attack the flank of the Wu army."

"Yes, sir!" Wang Qi responded with a fist salute, then commanded the army to change direction.

At this moment, the most difficult situation on the battlefield was Quan Cong's headquarters. The 8,000 infantrymen of the Wei army gathered together were at a disadvantage against Pan Jun's 10,000 soldiers. He attacked from the side, and a reinforcement force of the Wei army that was more elite than his headquarters came from the north to provide support.

Unable to advance or retreat, Quan Cong's face became increasingly ugly. Even retreating was not easy at this time! Where to retreat to, to the military camp outside Fancheng? Or to the docks on the east and west sides of Fancheng?
Just when Quan Cong was hesitating and facing enemies from the north and west, a sergeant of Pan Jun's personal guards somehow passed through the heavy military formations and came in front of Quan Cong.

"General Quan! General Quan!" the sergeant shouted, "General Pan has something to say to General Quan!"

"What's the matter?" Quan Cong frowned, turned around and shouted again.

"General Pan, please ask all the generals to hold on for a while longer. The supreme reinforcements will be here soon!" said the captain.

"Reinforcements?" Quan Cong immediately asked, "When did General Pan report this to the Supreme?"

The sergeant replied, "General Pan asked me to tell you that when you were about to transfer Lieutenant Zhu out of the camp, Lieutenant Zhu told you about this! Lieutenant Zhu said he wanted to ask General Sun for help!"

Obviously, before the battle started today, Quan Cong did not follow the instructions to transfer Zhu Ju's troops in the camp, and Zhu Ju turned around and told Sun Quan about it. After all, he was Sun Quan's son-in-law, and they had just been married for more than a month. Zhu Ju was only a few miles away from Yuliangzhou, and he could reach it by boat across the Han River. How could he not report it?

Quan Cong was refreshed, but he sighed again: "Go back and thank Zhu Zifan and Pan Chengming for me!"

"Yes!" After the sergeant left, Quan Cong immediately shouted to encourage his troops, and informed the Sima and Quchang who led the troops of the news that Sun Huan was about to come to help.

But Quan Cong, in his haste, had forgotten to include his eldest son Quan Xu. Even if he thought of Quan Xu, it would be difficult to pass the message on because of the numerous Wei army formations in between.

Unlike Wu Shuo, a veteran general, Quan Xu was in his early twenties and did not have the flexibility to change his mind. Thinking that his father was still in the northern army, he did not dare to retreat when the battle started.

After his two thousand soldiers were defeated by the attack from Dianman Wuwei Camp and Lu Shi's army, the defenders of Fancheng, Quanxu led his personal soldiers to break out to the west, but were intercepted by Lu Shi, who had been eyeing Quanxu's flag and was bent on revenge.

Lu Shi did not say much, but led his troops to attack head-on. However, after two attacks, Quan Xu's guards were dispersed by the larger Wei army, and Quan Xu himself was killed by Lu Shi in the battle.

As the time gradually approached noon, Sun Huan from the east and Zhang Liang from the west, each leading 6,000 soldiers, landed at the docks on both sides of Fancheng and lined up in the direction of the armies on both sides.

Quan Cong in the east knew that reinforcements were coming, and had already made preparations, and slowly retreated to the southeast. After all, it was originally a battle group of 16,000 troops, and the Wei army's 13,000 troops were not superior. Meeting this Wu army and making it retreat was the best result that Qian Zhao could achieve.

Bu Zhi in the west was a little slower, and he didn't know the reinforcements had arrived until Zhang Liang went to the dock and sent someone to inform him. Fortunately, Shen Dan's troops on the opposite side of the Wei army were also not very strong, which gave Bu Zhi the opportunity to retreat calmly.

It was already noon, and there was no more suspense on the battlefield north of Fancheng. Xu Shu, escorted by Zuo Shi's hundred cavalrymen, rode his horse towards the direction of the general's flag.

Xu Shu's expression became excited, and he laughed loudly and said, "Brother Qian, the matter of Fancheng is settled! The achievements of your troops today are enough to be recorded in the history books. Your Majesty is planning the strategy in Xuchang, and you and I are winning the battle here. It is also a good story to say!"

For Xu Shu, although he had led the army as the Right General of the Central Army during the Huangchu period, that was during the expedition, and the number of troops he led was only a few thousand, which was not the same as the more than 20,000 people he commanded today. Today's victory also made Xu Shu's heart, which had been tense for so many days, finally relax.

When I return to the court tomorrow, I will have achievements to discuss in front of Your Majesty.

After all, this was the first battle that Xu Shu personally commanded as the commander-in-chief!
But to Xu Shu's surprise, Qian Zhao himself didn't seem to be in a good mood. He bowed to the excited Xu Shu and then chuckled in a hoarse voice:
"Then I have to congratulate Yuan Zhi! The weak defense of the Wu army camp has been broken, and Dian Man's troops have entered the city of Fancheng. Today's matter is settled."

Xu Shu smiled and said, "It's all thanks to Brother Qian and the Wuwei Battalion! When we enter Fancheng later, I will write a letter in person to praise Brother Qian and the Wuwei Battalion!"

Qian Zhao said, "I want to show my merits, but I have something to discuss with Your Majesty."

"What's the matter?" Qian Zhao's expression puzzled Xu Shu, who had just won a battle.

Qian Zhao said calmly: "Last year, Xu Zhongkang retired and left the Wuwei Camp to me before he went to Xuchang. I came from Xuchang and my body gradually weakened. I just held on a few days ago before the battle and didn't tell Yuanzhi." (End of this chapter)