Chapter 299: The Immortal Fire Virtue and the Head of Liao
After nearly two hours of high-intensity fighting, the front armies of both Han and Wei sides were very exhausted.
Compared with physical fatigue, the situation of the Han army's front troops was more dangerous because the weapons in their hands were gradually breaking apart.
Fortunately, Guan Yu led 30,000 Han troops to come to the rescue in time, and with the help of the formation, they were able to barely withstand the Wei army's offensive.
However, even if Guan Yu led 30,000 fresh troops to join in time, the morale of the Han army began to decline slowly as the weapons in their hands were not as good as those of the enemy.
When two armies are fighting, morale is an extremely important thing.
So the current situation on the entire battlefield is:
The other Wei armies, led by the 30,000 Cao Wei Zhongjun, launched a fierce attack on the red Han army in front of them like a khaki sandstorm.
According to the five elements of the dynasty, the fire virtue was followed by the earth virtue.
As early as the period of Emperor Huanling, many celebrities were predicting that the dynasty of Tu De would replace the Han Dynasty of Hu De and become the new ruler of China.
Under this concept, the slogan used when the Yellow Turban Rebellion occurred was "Yellow Heaven should stand."
Under such circumstances, as soon as Cao Pi established the Wei Dynasty, he designated the Five Elements of the Wei Dynasty as Tu De.
In essence, Cao Pi's move also proved the correctness of Huang Tiandang's prediction.
After Cao Pi officially usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, most of the famous people in the world were in the north.
Under the influence of the gradual implementation of the Nine-Rank Officials and Personnel Law, the prophecy that "the fire virtue has died, the earth virtue must be established" has become the consensus of northern scholars through the promotion of famous figures.
It is true that at this time, the specific and proud concept of the Chinese nation had not yet been formed, but it does not mean that there was no similar concept at this time.
During the Three Kingdoms period, that concept was called righteousness and orthodox thought.
The power of public opinion is terrible.
When the legitimacy of Huode among the northern scholars is rapidly losing, it won't take long for the northern scholars to naturally forget the legitimacy of Liu Han's rule over China.
Even the influence of this kind of public opinion is quickly sweeping across the military and civilians in the north.
This is the situation that Zhuge Liang is most worried about.
Because as time goes by, Cao Wei, who controls the public opinion of scholars all over the world, and controls the Central Plains where the Chinese nation originated, will truly replace Liu Han among the former Han Dynasty subjects and become the new orthodoxy in their hearts.
Once this happens, Ji Han will always be labeled as a shameful local separatist force, and will slowly enter the track of destruction.
Righteousness and the human heart are both invisible and intangible things.
But they have been profoundly affecting the rise and fall of various forces, and even the changes in ancient Chinese history.
This is the underlying reason why Wang Ye cannot be left alone.
Just like Cao Wei Zhongjun.
Under the influence of public opinion that "the virtue of fire has been extinguished, the virtue of earth must be established", the 30,000 Cao Wei Zhongjun did not feel that they were rebellious, they only felt that they were the righteous party.
In their eyes, their side represents new life and hope.
On the other hand, the Han army blocking them was a symbol of decay and darkness.
Since God has abandoned Liu Han and chosen Cao Wei, then their 30,000 army, which represents the destiny, will completely defeat Liu Han's army that was abandoned by God, and completely eliminate them in the long river of history.
Under the influence of this concept, coupled with their own elites, tens of thousands of Wei troops with 30,000 Cao Wei Zhongjun as the core launched increasingly fierce attacks on the Han army.
Under the increasingly fierce offensive of the Wei army, even if the Han army included Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and other tens of thousands of enemies, all they could do was to hold on.
But just as the Han army's formation gradually began to retreat under the fierce attack of the Wei army, more than 10,000 "reinforcements" from the Han army arrived.
They were driven down by the Xiliang cavalry and came to the back of Cao Wei's central army, where more than 10,000 Wei troops were defeated.
When more than 10,000 Wei troops were routed and driven within a hundred steps of the battlefield, even though the shouts of killing were loud in the battlefield.
Cao Wei's Zhongjun, who was at the end of the formation, also heard the sounds coming from behind.
The deafening sound was somewhat like the sound caused by many horses' hooves running on the ground.
But it is more like the vibrations caused by an infantry regiment when running fast.
The most important thing is that the vibration came from behind them.
After hearing the shaking sound, General Wei, who was at the end of the Wei army's formation, turned around and looked back.
But after he saw what happened behind him, his entire face turned pale with fear.
In his sight, an earthy torrent appeared out of thin air behind him.
The khaki torrent that seemed to have no end in sight was coming towards his back at an extremely fast speed.
At this time, the more than 10,000 defeated Wei troops who had fled within a hundred steps also saw the Wei troops in front, and their eyes showed joy.
How can you not be happy?
Compared to the Wei army led by Sun Li, the comrades in front of them did not point their spears at them.
Under this situation, with the will to survive, the defeated troops of more than ten thousand Wei troops continued to speed up behind them, and hit the backs of tens of thousands of Wei troops.
In fact, the battlefield where Sun Li and Mi Yang were just now was only a few hundred steps away from this battlefield.
Zhang Liao also sent many scouts to patrol the battlefield before the war.
With the scouts' detection range, they could discover the more than 3,000 Xiliang cavalry in advance.
It's one thing for Wei Jun's scouts to discover it, but it's another thing to report it to Zhang Liao in time.
The time when the Xiliang cavalry led by Ma Chao appeared was when Zhang Liao led all the troops to press forward.
What Zhang Liao was thinking was that since the Wei army had a chance of victory, he, who was good at fast attacks, had to gather all his strength to quickly deliver a fatal blow to the Han army.
In the battlefield situation just now, it cannot be said that Zhang Liao's approach was wrong.
Because he made this decision after seeing Guan Yu press all his troops.
Guan Yu led 30,000 troops to support him. If he still stood still, Cao Xiu's front army would be in danger.
And according to Zhang Liao's past fighting style, when all his own troops have been used up, that's when he comes on stage.
Therefore, even if the Wei army scouts noticed the appearance of the Xiliang cavalry led by Ma Chao, it would not be easy to find Zhang Liao in a crowded battlefield.
What's more, what if Wei Jun's scouts reported the news to Zhang Liao in time?
All the strange troops of the Wei army have become regular troops. Without mobile troops, what can Zhang Liao do?
Deploy most of the troops to defend the rear?
Do you really think that the Han army led by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were vegetarians?
When the number of people fighting is the same, the Han army will fight a protracted battle, which will lead to a crisis in its own weapons.
But when the enemy's numbers are weaker than our own, the situation is different.
Unfortunately, what Zhang Liao didn't know was that the Qi army in "Use the right combination to win by surprise" refers to a mobile force with good mobility.
But Sun Wuke never said that all the strange troops placed on the battlefield can be regarded as mobile troops.
Now in the entire battlefield, after Sun Li's Wei army was defeated, the Han army had thousands more infantry and cavalry troops out of thin air.
What's even more outrageous is that under the influence of the situation, the defeated Wei army of more than 10,000 people unconsciously became a surprise force of the Han army.
"Soldiers have no permanent momentum, and water has no permanent shape."
"Strange things and good things come together, just like the endless cycle, how can we be so exhausted!"
This is Guan Yu after he mastered the art of war.
Just like Cao Cao back then.
Although there are currently about 40,000 Wei troops on the battlefield, with all their strength launched against the Han army, most of the Wei troops are rushing forward under the leadership of Cao Wei's famous generals.
There was a part of the Wei army that was left behind by Zhang Liao to guard the rear, but the number was not large.
Therefore, when the defeated army of more than 10,000 Wei troops rushed into the back of Cao Wei's central army at an extremely fast speed, the rear formation of Cao Wei's central army, which was caught off guard, was suddenly smashed into pieces by the defeated army of more than 10,000 Wei troops.
When the formation of the Wei army's central rear was completely disrupted, the morale of the Wei army's rear soldiers suffered a fatal blow.
The defeated Wei army of more than 10,000 people were like warriors seeking survival. They rushed forward one after another, constantly attacking the deeper formations of the Wei army, just like the common people in Dangyang back then.
It was not wrong for Liu Bei to want to escape with his people.
At the beginning, the people wanted to survive, so they were driven by the Wei army's cavalry and constantly attacked the formation of Liu Bei's army. This was not wrong.
What was wrong was the Wei army who did not regard the people as human beings and did whatever it took to win.
If the hands of other Wei troops were not stained with the blood of the common people, how could they, as Cao Cao's central army, not be stained with the blood of the common people?
And today is the time for them to repay their debt.
More than ten thousand Wei troops ran forward desperately in order to escape. The deeper they fled into the Wei army's formation, the wider the scope of the Wei army's formation they disrupted.
Because of the large number of the defeated Wei army, which numbered more than ten thousand, after most of them rushed into the Wei army's formation, a stampede occurred covering tens of thousands of people.
Among the more than 10,000 defeated Wei troops and the tens of thousands of Wei troops, many people were pushed to the ground in the crowded crowd, and then trampled to death by their comrades beside them.
Even because the Wei army's formation fell into great chaos, many Wei soldiers who were trampled to death had their orifices bleeding and their bodies shriveled before they could scream.
Countless blood was like the gorgeous fireworks prepared for celebration in the first month, blooming among the tens of thousands of Wei troops.
Countless sounds of panic, screams, and even howls rose from the ground and soared into the sky.
What a powerful army in the world, but now they are all people who are afraid of death.
When these countless voices representing the greatest sorrow in the world reached the sky, the sunlight in the sky seemed to be covered by the voices and gradually became dim.
Darkness once again covered the vast land.
Fear and confusion spread quickly.
When the rear formation of Cao Wei's central army collapsed, the tens of thousands of Wei central troops who were fighting the Han army were also quickly affected.
More and more Wei troops joined the ranks of the defeated army and began to continuously attack the Wei army's formation internally.
Not to mention that the Wei army was unprepared for this scene, even those Wei generals who had been famous for a long time were frightened by this sudden attack and panicked on the spot.
But after seeing this scene, the Han generals headed by Guan Yu showed great joy on their faces like Mi Yang.
General Wei didn't understand because most of them had always used superior force to ravage the enemy, and they had never encountered such a situation.
But the generals present were different. They had all seen this scene before them.
Most of the generals who can participate in today's battle are from the Yuancong or Jingzhou families, and generals with such backgrounds have all experienced the original Battle of Dangyang.
In the history books of later generations, there are very few records about the important figures of Ji Han, and many of them even have no records about their heirs.
One of the reasons for this is that the tragic Battle of Dangyang that year caused many family members of the Yuancong and Jingzhou families to be wiped out.
Not even Liu Bei's children were spared.
Liu Chan is not Liu Bei's first son...
The hatred of the country and the family may be a slogan to others.
But for the Han generals present now, it is a true portrayal of them.
Under the strong hatred of the country and the family, now is the time for the Wei army to repay blood with blood.
A group of Han generals headed by Guan Yu immediately commanded their respective Han armies and launched an attack on the Wei army in front.
When the Wei army's formation collapsed, their morale had also dropped to the extreme.
Once the formation and morale of the infantry are lost, no matter how elite they are and how good their weapons are, they are just lambs to be slaughtered.
Although Zhang Fei's front army was very tired from the battle, but with the deep-seated hatred in his heart, he still led the Han army that could continue to fight and continued to fight forward.
Now in the entire battlefield, as long as the Han troops could still use their swords, they were led by their respective generals and stepped forward to kill the Wei troops who had no power to fight back.
If the edge of the knife is cracked, then take it from the enemy's corpse!
Under attack from both front and rear, tens of thousands of Wei troops fell into collapse in an instant.
More and more Wei troops died under the sword of the Han army, and more and more Wei troops began to flee in all directions.
In this extremely chaotic situation, it is not impossible that General Wei wanted to reorganize his formation.
But as soon as the Wei army shows signs of this, Ma Chao, who has been leading the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to patrol around the battlefield, will not hesitate to launch an assault on the Wei army there.
The infantry formation composed of one or two Wei generals alone could not stop the Xiliang cavalry assault.
As for the Wei generals who were originally directing the Wei army's attack, some of them escaped from the battlefield along with the crowd, and some fought their way through the crowd under the desperate protection of their personal guards.
There were also some Wei generals who were restrained in place in the crowd, wandering left and right.
Now they are surrounded by enemies.
Zhang Liao was among these Wei generals.
At this time, Guan Yu was leading a group of warriors who had arrived first, charging all the way towards Zhang Liao's location.
Guan Yu looked at Zhang Liao with eyes filled with murderous intent.
Before fighting this battle, Liu Bei asked him why he had to drag his sick body to fight this battle.
Why?
Because he wanted to prove that the virtue of fire still existed and that the Han Dynasty was not destroyed.
Because he wants to use a hearty victory to prove that the big man will one day regain everything he lost and rule the world again!
Who said that the virtue of fire is dead and the virtue of earth should be established?
Guan Yu was the first one to refuse!
When the Wei army was facing collapse, Guan Yu wanted to obtain something to prove his idea to the world.