Chapter 287 Duel between Han and Wei, Battle of Fan Yan
Xu Chu, who quickly went south, soon brought Cao Pi's imperial edict to Zhang Liao's camp.
The biggest reason why Cao Pi ordered Zhang Liao to take the initiative was to avenge his humiliation.
Therefore, when Xu Chu went south to Yancheng with the imperial edict in hand, Cao Pi specially sent many envoys to convey his edict to the entire Nanyang County.
Since it is to avenge shame, then this war must be fought in a dramatic way. Only in this way can he save the face of the Emperor of Wei.
Cao Pi just wanted to let everyone in the world know what it means to be angry when the emperor is angry, what it means to punish the people and punish them, and to be the master of the king.
So on the day Xu Chu arrived in Yancheng, almost all Nanyang counties and counties except Yancheng and Fancheng learned the news.
In an instant, dozens of counties in Nanyang County began to boil.
Hundreds of thousands of residents in Nanyang County have also focused their attention on the Fanyan area where large armies are now gathered.
All officials in Nanyang County who were loyal to the Wei Dynasty had great confidence in the decisive battle that was about to begin.
It is true that Liu Bei's power has expanded rapidly in the past two years.
Even with the performance of Guan Yu and Mi Yang, the forces headed by Liu Bei achieved several great victories that shocked the world.
But taking a closer look at the major victories, from the main victory in the Battle of Hanzhong to the recent victory at Queyue, the Han army mostly relied on geographical advantages or strategies.
A big victory was a big victory, but there was almost no example of a direct defeat of the Wei army in a field battle.
This was true even during the Battle of Hanzhong.
When Emperor Wu retreated from Hanzhong, it was not because he was defeated by Liu Bei in a decisive battle, but because of many factors.
Therefore, no matter how great the victory the Han army has achieved in recent years, people in the world will inevitably form a fixed impression while admiring or fearing the victory.
The Han army is good at using tactics. If the troops are used carefully, it will be difficult for the Han army to win.
This inherent impression is formed naturally.
In addition to the above reasons, this inherent impression is formed because of the current situation in which the north is strong and the south is weak, and also because of the deep-rooted prejudice that the south is all barbarians that has been formed in the hearts of the Chinese people for thousands of years.
In terms of head-on confrontation, how could the barbarian soldiers defeat the Zhengshuo Heavenly Soldiers of Northern China?
And this inherent impression essentially affects the attitude of the people of the world to a great extent.
Why did many dynasties in later generations designate Cao Wei as Zhengshuo and Ji Han as a separatist force?
Why do many outstanding talents in the world prefer to start from the middle and lower levels of Cao Wei rather than work in Jihan, such as Xu Shu, Meng Jian and others?
Why is it that there are always surrender factions within Ji Han, while Cao Wei sometimes has rare unity when dealing with the outside world, despite constant internal fighting?
The initial inducement for this situation that was extremely unfavorable to Ji Han was precisely that inherent impression.
Under the influence of this inherent impression, most people who were loyal to the Wei Dynasty and knew that Cao Pi had ordered to send troops naturally felt joyful in their hearts.
Many people are looking forward to the Wei Tianbing defeating the Han army in the field, just like the hearty victories won by Emperor Wu when he was still alive.
Under the influence of this inherent impression, when Zhang Liao outside Yancheng received Cao Pi's imperial edict, although he had concerns in his heart, he did not feel much sense of crisis.
Even though Cao Pi was not outstanding in military strategy compared to Cao Cao, he still understood that a snake cannot survive without a head.
Therefore, in order to ensure that Wei could win this war, Cao Pi formally sorted out the leadership system of the Wei army in this imperial edict that has gradually attracted the attention of the world.
The leader of the more than 70,000-strong Wei army was General Wei Zhang Liao, and his deputy was General Zhennan Cao Xiu.
Originally, according to Cao Wei's practice, even though Cao Xiu had a lower position than Zhang Liao, Cao Xiu should be the commander-in-chief of the more than 70,000 Wei troops.
It's just that all the things that happened before made Cao Pi, who was not very close to the Cao clan, have less and less trust in the clan, so he made this arrangement.
After sorting out the leadership system of the more than 70,000 Wei troops, Cao Pi ordered Zhang Liao in an imperial edict to lead the army to launch a general attack on the Han army.
After receiving Cao Pi's imperial edict, Zhang Liao no longer hesitated.
He immediately ordered the 50,000 Wei troops outside Yancheng to break camp from outside Yancheng and approach Fancheng.
The Wei troops currently assembled in the Fan Yan area are all well-trained troops.
Therefore, after Zhang Liao's order spread throughout the army, the 50,000 Wei troops who had been preparing to go out soon departed from the camp and arrived outside Fancheng.
When Zhang Liao personally led 50,000 Wei troops to Fancheng and joined Cao Xiu's troops, Cao Xiu also knew the contents of Cao Pi's imperial edict.
After knowing that he had become a subordinate of Zhang Liao, a second minister with a different surname, Cao Xiu naturally had a look of displeasure on his face.
This should be the first time since the founding of the Duke of Wei that a clan member of the Wei Dynasty was led by a general with a different surname.
This first time made Cao Xiu, who had a strong personality, feel displeased, or a little ashamed.
However, no matter how dissatisfied he was with Cao Pi's arrangement, Cao Xiu could not openly disobey the imperial edict.
In addition, he also knew that a war was imminent. If the Wei army seized power now, the consequences would undoubtedly be disastrous.
So Cao Xiu quickly suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart temporarily.
Of course Zhang Liao and Xu Chu generals also saw the displeasure on Cao Xiu's face.
However, as long as Cao Xiu didn't get angry and were afraid of Cao Xiu's identity, they wouldn't be able to do anything to Cao Xiu.
Besides, the war is currently going on.
Zhang Liao was a veteran with rich war experience. As early as he knew that Cao Pi was willing to send troops, he had been thinking about how to arrange his troops in the future.
As the Han army withdrew from Fancheng and stationed on the north bank of the Han River, all the combat strategies he had planned before were virtually overturned.
All the attacks from front and back, and luring the enemy deeper, all came to naught due to Guan Yu’s advance insight.
The only way Zhang Liao can fight now is to press forward with superior troops and fight the Han army happily.
It looked a bit dull in the past, but this way of fighting was actually the main theme of ancient military warfare.
After making a plan in his mind, Zhang Liao immediately ordered the entire army to have a good rest today and set off in full force early tomorrow morning.
Time always passes very quickly, and soon the time has come to the hour of the second day.
It was winter, even though it was already chen hour, the whole sky outside Fancheng still looked gloomy.
As for the sun, it has not appeared on the land outside Fancheng for almost half a month.
Although the sky was very depressing, under Zhang Liao's military order, 70,000 Wei troops, led by their respective generals, arrived outside Fancheng on time and began to assemble.
As early as around the fifth watch, these 70,000 Wei troops had already had a feast.
In order to boost morale, Zhang Liao even ordered some minced meat to be added to the army's food this morning.
This surprised the 70,000 Wei troops. After eating minced meat, their morale was greatly improved.
The 70,000 Wei troops with high morale were quickly assembled. When Zhang Liao, Cao Xiu and other generals who had been waiting outside the city saw this scene, a little joy appeared on their faces.
Most of the 70,000 Wei troops standing in front of them were composed of the central and foreign troops of the Wei Dynasty.
In terms of combat effectiveness and training level, they are the most powerful troops in the world.
And these 70,000 strong troops are their greatest confidence in fighting this battle today.
After Zhang Liao inspected the 70,000 Wei troops in front of him with proud eyes, he waved his hand and issued the order for the entire army to go out.
When Zhang Liao's order spread throughout the army through the flag, the 70,000 Wei troops, under the command of their respective generals, began to advance slowly towards the Han River with firm steps.
For these 70,000 well-trained Wei troops, following the order's flag has almost become their muscle memory.
When the 70,000 Wei troops began to form in formation and approach the north bank of the Han River, a loud stamping sound sounded out of thin air on the ground outside Fancheng.
Correspondingly, the wind and dust from Fancheng also began to float in the sky for miles.
An army of 70,000 people. Thinking back to the Battle of Hanzhong, the main force Liu Bei organized after exhausting Yizhou's national strength was only this number.
Fancheng is more than ten miles away from the re-established Han army camp.
When the 70,000 Wei troops began to gather, this urgent military situation had already been reported to Guan Yu by the Han army's spies.
When he learned that the Wei army, which had been retreating for months, had finally begun to attack them, Guan Yu was so happy that he punched them in the face.
He had been planning for months and was waiting for this moment.
He even spent more than ten years waiting for this moment.
Now that the 70,000 Wei troops have moved on, the 60,000 Han troops in his hands cannot miss this opportunity.
So Guan Yu's order was quickly issued.
Because it was felt that the Wei army would launch an attack in these few days, the 60,000 Han troops had been in preparation for war in the past few days.
Compared with Zhang Liao, there is no doubt that the Han army led by Guan Yu was more fully prepared.
Even regarding the formation of the front, middle and rear armies, under Guan Yu's command during this period, the Han army had practiced countless times in advance.
So when Guan Yu ordered the entire army to assemble, almost at the moment when the 70,000 Wei troops had assembled more than ten miles away, the 60,000 Han troops had also assembled outside the camp.
After the 60,000 Han troops were assembled, Guan Yu drove his horse and kept wandering in front of the 60,000 Han troops.
Among the 60,000 Han troops in front of him, except for the 10,000 Yibei troops brought by Mi Yang, most of the remaining 50,000 troops were his old troops.
Even the 10,000 Yulin army left behind by Liu Bei.
Because the predecessor of Liu Bei's Yulin Army was the Bai Jie Bings, and the Bai Jie Bings were trained by Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and others.
Everyone knows that Guan Yu has unparalleled military power, but few people know that Guan Yu's ability to train troops is also unparalleled.
Precisely because of his excellent military training ability, Guan Yu was able to train a tiger and wolf division in the dilapidated Jingzhou within a few years.
And with this tiger and wolf army in his hands, he drove Cao Cao to the north and resisted Sun Sun in the east.
As confident as he was in himself, Guan Yu also had great confidence in the 60,000 Han troops in front of him.
When a gust of cold wind blew over the heads of the 60,000-strong army, the hairpins on the 60,000 helmets all swayed in the wind, which was truly spectacular.
The thousands of red war flags among the 60,000-strong Han army were flapping in the cold wind, adding to the majestic atmosphere of the scene at this moment.
The 60,000-strong army, ranging from Zhang Fei and Mi Yang to the regular soldiers and auxiliary soldiers, all looked at the man in front of the army with reverence.
Although Guan Yu has entered old age now, his body is still majestic and his spirit is still impressive.
Facing the admiring gaze of the 60,000 Han troops, Guan Yu patted his chest with his hand and said loudly:
"The big man will win!"
Guan Yu's voice was very majestic, but it still couldn't reach the ears of the Han soldiers at the rear.
However, when the Han troops in front heard Guan Yu's declaration, they quickly passed Guan Yu's declaration back. Soon, all 60,000 Han troops heard Guan Yu's declaration.
After hearing Guan Yu's declaration, although Guan Yu's declaration was very brief, these four simple words directly aroused the greatest fighting spirit in the hearts of the 60,000 Han troops.
The 60,000 Han troops looked at Guan Yu with gradually heated eyes.
This is Guan Yu's prestige in the Han army now. Others say those four words are to encourage morale, but when he said those four words, it was a firm declaration.
When Guan Yu's own strong self-confidence gradually infected the entire army, the 60,000 Han troops also beat their chests with their hands like Guan Yu, and shouted loudly: "The big Han will win!"
The unanimous shouts of 60,000 Han troops covered the whole world in a shocking form.
Hearing the extremely sweet shouts of the 60,000 Han soldiers, Guan Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Who said the Southern Army was inferior to the Northern Army?
After laughing, Guan Yu formally issued the order to go out.
When Guan Yu's order spread throughout the army, these 60,000 elite Han soldiers began to follow Guan Yu in an orderly manner, taking the initiative to move towards the 70,000 enemy troops approaching them in front.
Red wind and dust rise from the southeast, and long clouds point to the enemy.
Today, the Han River summoned the old troops and killed Beikang with 60,000 banners.
Even though the outcome of the battle is still unknown for a while, these 60,000 Han soldiers who followed Guan Yu on this journey will never regret it.
When the Han and Wei armies took the initiative to move towards the enemy, the scouts sent by the two armies also kept running back and forth between the two armies.
They were reporting the enemy's movements and distance to their respective commanders.
Twelve miles.
Eight miles.
With the two armies moving towards each other, the distance of more than ten miles was quickly covered by the 130,000-strong army.
When the front troops of the two armies were less than one mile away, the front troops of both armies could already clearly see the enemy's figure.
Looking from a distance from the vantage point of the Han army, the 70,000 Wei troops in the distance were like rolling black clouds in the sky, gleaming with rising murderous intent and constantly approaching them.
After seeing this, Zhang Fei, the former commander-in-chief of the Han army, issued an order for the entire army to stop.
After the front line of the 20,000 Han army stopped, they all prepared themselves in formation.
At this time, the distance between the front armies of the two armies was less than one mile.
And just at this moment, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in the sky that had been gloomy for days.
As time goes by, this ray of light becomes bigger and bigger, and finally it becomes a ray of sunshine that illuminates the world.
These rays of sunlight rose from behind the Han army and quickly covered them.
When the sun shone on the armor of the Han army who was waiting in full formation, the sky and the earth instantly shone with golden light.
The Wei army, which came with darkness, and the Han army, which had its back against the light, formed a sharp contrast at this moment.
After eating, continue typing.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!