Sima Yi led his troops to surprise Xiang Xiang, which was really beyond the Wu people's expectations. Just as Sima Yi had expected before, the Wu people thought that after the heavy rain, the Han army would have to wait until at least the Mid-Autumn Festival in August before launching operations, so they were not wary of dividing their troops to attack.
In addition, Sima Yi's marching route was so unexpected that there were no mistakes along the way. As a result, when he appeared under the city, it was like a divine soldier descending from the sky. The Wu people who defended the city were stunned and had no intention of fighting. In just over an hour,
, Sima Yi captured and beheaded the guarding general Shi Zong and captured Xiangcheng.
After the city was broken, Sima Yi beheaded and killed all the two thousand remaining Wu troops in the city, and built a Jingguan on the edge of the city. At the same time, on the pretext of defending the city, he ordered the people in the city to keep food for one day and hand over the rest, and then dismissed them all.
He left the city. As for the gold and silver he gained in the city, he kept no secrets and distributed it all to his soldiers. However, in just one day, he completely established a firm foothold in Xiaxiang.
Privately distributing gold and silver, killing prisoners, and demobilizing civilians were all violations of Han military laws and regulations. Therefore, the chief secretary, Jiang Ji, felt uneasy and asked how he planned to explain it to Liu Xie. Sima Yi replied: "We will go deep into the enemy's territory."
We crossed the Surabaya River, and the Wu army arrived at dawn and dusk. It can be said that we were in a desperate situation. Since it is an extraordinary situation, we must use extraordinary methods. This is the essence of military use. Why should Zitong be persistent? What's more, although I
If you break the rules and regulations, you won’t be self-absorbed and your actions will be clear. Why should you fear what others say? If Your Majesty takes the blame after the war, I will take full responsibility for it, so you don’t have to worry.”
After that, he ordered Sima Fu to lead a thousand cavalry out of the city for a parade. They displayed flags along the way to demonstrate, hunting down the Soochow cavalry traveling by the Huaihe River, or attacking the Wu people stationed in the forts outside the city.
The people collapsed at the first contact and fled in all directions. The news that Xiang Xiang had been captured by the Han army spread quickly to the entire Huainan and Huaibei like a fire starting a prairie fire.
At this time, the main general guarding Xuzhou was still Yuan Xi. Sun Quan took Liu Ye and Lu Ji as the military governors, and led a total of more than 40,000 troops to garrison Xuzhou. Several of them were originally stationed in Pengcheng, Xiapi, and Lanling.
After hearing the news that Xiang Xiang had fallen, he quickly went to Xiapi to discuss matters together.
Although Lu Ji was a famous scholar in Wu County and a contemporary Confucian, he had never experienced a war. Therefore, after learning the news that the lower minister had been conquered, he was already timid even before the battle. He directly asked Yuan Xi: "The lower reaches are blocked.
The lord's army may not be able to come to the rescue, and most of the bandit army has already left. With this coming and going, our army is already in danger. Should we withdraw to Huainan first to join the lord?"
When Liu Ye heard the words, he raised his eyebrows and immediately looked at Yuan Xi's expression. His face was as gloomy as rain. Before he could get angry, Liu Ye objected first and said: "Why should I panic? Although the rebel army defeated the prime minister, it was just a surprise attack.
I was unprepared, and to be able to be so elusive, there must not be many people coming, and there must be no navy troops. Now I am taking advantage of his unstable foothold and quickly mobilize troops to break the city. As long as I can retake the city, the initiative is still in my hands. How can I do it?
Abandoning a land thousands of miles away without fighting a single battle? If the news reaches my lord, I’m afraid he will be disappointed with us too!”
After listening to Liu Ye's words, Yuan Xi's face immediately brightened, and he said loudly: "What Ziyang said has won my heart." He prepared to leave the camp to mobilize troops, but was quickly stopped by Liu Ye, who asked:
"I haven't asked the envoy yet. How do you plan to defeat the enemy now that I'm leaving?"
Yuan Xi was impatient and said hastily: "I have been in Xuzhou for many years, and all the people in each city have my old friends. Now I lead three thousand cavalry in front, and you lead five thousand navy in the back. I will cut off their return route and attack by land and water."
, how can it be impossible to defeat the enemy if we activate internal forces in the city?"
Liu Ye then said: "Everything will be established if you are prepared, and if you are not prepared, it will be destroyed. If you cannot conquer the city, what will you do?"
Yuan Xi said angrily: "If we can't break the city, I will lead my own son and fight to the death with the traitor. Why should Ziyang say more?" He had fought many battles with the Han army in the Eastern Dynasty. Although he was temporarily attached to Sun Quan at this time,
, but Yuan Xi also felt disgusted from the bottom of his heart that the Wu people had been afraid to move forward several times before. Therefore, he did not want to say more to Liu Ye, called his personal guards to report their armor, and went directly to the city camp, leaving only Liu Ye and Lu
The two of them looked at each other.
Most of the soldiers in Xuzhou were Yuan Xi's old troops, so Liu Ye, the governor, was just in name only. He had no choice but to give Lu Ji a few hasty explanations, telling him to hold on in the city, and he also led his men to follow him.
Behind Yuan Xi. At noon that day, they ordered all their soldiers and horses and marched down the Surabaya River. Before setting off, Yuan Xi had a better tone towards Liu Ye. He said: "Back then, my family was the fourth generation and the third prince. I was famous in the world. What a Ying."
Chuan Chen, Ying, Chuan and Xun are just my lackeys. Even the governor of Zhou, whose background is not as good as mine, now let the children of Liu Bei's family conquer the world. The unfairness of the world is evident. I have long since lost the ability to fight for the world.
I'm very excited, but I don't want to be a timid person!"
Liu Ye responded with a promise on the side, but he couldn't help but think in his heart, how can the truth in this world be explained by family background? It is normal for family fortunes to rise and fall, and for heroes to emerge in large numbers. I was born into an emperor, and if I was a hundred years ago, my family background would not be as good as
Are you a hundred times more noble? Of course, these words will not be spoken.
So the Wu army advanced by land and water. Xiapi and Xiaxiang were less than eighty miles apart. They set out at noon, and before dark, they saw Xiaxiang City from a distance.
In Yuan Xi's expectation, the city was only two days away from being breached, and there were originally tens of thousands of civilians and defenders. The Han troops who came to seize the city in a hurry and had to maintain order in the city were probably still in the city.
To rest and recuperate, under such circumstances, there may be many loopholes in the city defense. However, the current situation was beyond his expectation. Looking from a distance, he could see the bright lights on the lower city wall, and he could clearly see the patrols going back and forth during the period.
You can also see that the garrison soldiers are still building wooden towers. Even if they see the Wu people attacking from a distance, they are still in order and will not waver at all.
Seeing this, Liu Ye quickly ordered all the ministries to light more torches to create the illusion of strength in numbers, and then sent a small team of troops to investigate the situation below the city.
After waiting for less than two moments, the scouts sent hurriedly returned and reported to Liu Ye with a pale face that a castle made of more than a thousand heads had been erected about ten battles north of the city.
Observe, the death state is hideous and terrifying, and because of the hot and humid ground, mosquitoes are quite around people's heads, maggots are rampant, and the surrounding area is an unbearable stench. Although the Wu scouts have been on the battlefield for a long time, they have never seen such a cruel scene, and they can't help but wonder.
He was self-possessed, his face turned pale, and he could only look at him for a few seconds before he came back to life.
Liu Ye's hair stood up all over his body when he heard this, and he said in horror: "The Northern invaders have always regarded themselves as benevolent and righteous, but they actually used such cruel methods! Can you see the flag clearly and know who the enemy will be?"
"There are two kinds of flags flying on the city, one is a crow flag with a red background, and the other has the word Sima written on it. It must be Sima Yi, the upstart of the Northern invaders."
After Yuan Xi learned about it, he laughed repeatedly and said: "The villain who seeks glory can rise to great heights wherever he goes! He does not sit in the court and practice weapons, but comes to the battlefield to show off weapons. He is really looking for death!"
While laughing, he controlled Chang Yang, but his eyes narrowed, obviously he hated Sima Yi very much. He turned to Liu Ye and said: "In the battle of Xindu, it was Sima Yi who betrayed the enemy and asked for glory, which led to the marshal's defeat. Since we collided with each other today,
, I will avenge the marshal!"
"Now that his city is entrenched, how can he fight with us?" Liu Ye looked around and worried: "Now our army has been galloping for half a day and has not rested, and the opponent's foundation is already entrenched. The hope of breaking the city is really slim, so why not
We set up camp on the ground and sent envoys to the lord to ask for reinforcements. It will not be too late to besiege the city and fight again."
However, Yuan Xi was stubborn and insisted: "I have my own way to force him out of the city." He immediately sent his personal guards to the city to scold him, and the content of the scolding was quite straightforward. First, he loudly declared that Sima Yi had turned his back on the Lord to seek glory and made a mockery of the two countries.
To accuse Liu Xie of being ignorant and using officials without discipline is to say that the monarch and his ministers are in harmony with each other, which is a big joke in the world.
As expected, the Han army was furious after humiliating their commander-in-chief Junfu. Within a few moments, the city gates were opened, and the Han army inside came out with flags and torches in formation. Yuan Xi laughed when he saw this and said to Liu Ye: "This
Waiting for a villain, the more he lacks, the less he can listen to other people's scoldings. Look, Ziyang, isn't he going to die right now?" He then said confidently: "Now while his array is not in order, I will defeat him in one fell swoop."<
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The drums in the army sounded like muffled thunder, and Xuzhou soldiers stepped loudly in the darkness, kicking up clouds of flying dust in the moonlit night, and soon created a hazy gray fog between heaven and earth. Yuan Xi led seven hundred cavalry
Stepping in the vanguard, he gradually stretched his formation into a cone shape with a narrow front and a wide back. He planned to end the war with a single charge.
It was night at this time, and the Han army's formation was very slow to adjust. Just when Yuan Xi attacked, the archers had no time to release arrows in the front line. The galloping horses nimbly interspersed among the gaps in the Han army, and then escaped unscathed.
The ground broke out from the enemy's line, and almost nine out of seven hundred cavalry reached the Han army's front and back. As long as they turned their horses around and fought back again, they could crush the Han army's back like an anvil.
The formation was completely defeated.
In order to maintain the formation, Yuan Xi hovered in place for a while, but during the commotion, he suddenly discovered that not far away was the Jingguan built by the Han army. While the heads of the old troops were being piled up, he felt depressed and resentful, and encouraged his subordinates:
"Today I killed the thief and destroyed the city, and I will repay him tenfold!"
However, while he was speaking, he heard a thunderous rumble from the south, and a cloud of gray dust rose in the sky, but the source was a dark dense forest.
Is there someone in the south? Not long after Yuan Xi had been suspicious, the reinforcements of the Han army that had been ambushing in the south had arrived. Only then did the Wu people realize that the two sides were so close. These people were ambushing in the dense forest hundreds of steps away in front of the city gate.
Among them, this was almost close at hand in the war. However, because of the view under the city, the scouts were so frightened that they hurriedly withdrew without taking a closer look, which led to Yuan Xi making a fatal misjudgment.
This ambush appeared like a ghost, barely causing any ripples on the battlefield, and surrounded the Wu cavalry who were trapped in a tight siege. Then, they lowered their swords and stabbed them randomly with their long spears, quickly killing them all.
Liu Ye, who was on the opposite side, sensed that something was wrong, and immediately led most of his troops to withdraw. He pursued Sima Yi for more than thirty miles and captured more than 4,000 people. Sima Yi did not keep the captured people, and continued to behead them.
Originally, a tower with human heads was built next to the Jingguan. As for Xuzhou Mu Yuan Xi, his head was also sent to Suiyang with a sealed letter.