Originally, Wei Yao could have made his plan bigger, such as deploying reinforcements or the follow-up battle to capture Guangwu Mountain, etc.
But he only has 30,000 people at his disposal, which is enough to take action tonight, so he can only take one step at a time.
Wei Yao's troops were distributed like this: 5,000 men on each of the east, west, and south sides were used for feint attacks, and the remaining 15,000 were used on the north side.
The north side is obviously the most important, after all, it is the breakthrough point.
Of these 15,000 men, 6,000 were used for feint attacks, 2,000 elite troops were selected for a surprise attack on Guangwu Mountain, and the remaining 7,000 were used as support.
The so-called response is the modern "reserve team".
It is impossible to use up all the troops in a war. It is always necessary to leave some troops to deal with emergencies. Otherwise, if the situation changes during the war, you will be in the dilemma of having no troops available.
Wei Yao also made some other preparations for this. He asked each of the two thousand elite soldiers to prepare some hemp ropes, and then wrapped these hemp ropes around their shoes and tied them up.
Wei Wei was born in a farmer's family, and he knew some ways to walk on muddy ground, so that his shoes would not be "sticky" to the mud, and it would also prevent his feet from sinking into the mud so easily.
To explain it with modern science...that is to increase the stress area and reduce the pressure on the ground.
Although Wei Yao doesn't know the principle, it's fine as long as he knows how to use it.
At three o'clock that night, the battle planned by Wei Wei began.
With the rapid beating of drums, the city gates on all sides of the beam were opened wide, the suspension bridge was lowered, and Wei soldiers rushed out of the city gates with shouts.
These Wei soldiers also brought ladders, because what stood in front of them were embankments built with sandbags, so the battle out of the city was like attacking the city.
However, just as they rushed out of the city gate, there were sounds of piercing the air in the darkness... Crossbow arrows and stone bullets were hitting the suspension bridge from all directions.
The Qin army had long been prepared to block the city gates, especially trebuchets.
A series of new trebuchets were placed in a fan-like pattern in the direction of the city gate. All of them had been test-fired and their counterweights were adjusted, and their impact points were all near the city gate.
At this time, as soon as the Wei soldiers rushed out from the city gate, the stone bullets hit them like hailstones.
Suddenly there were screams and the sound of heavy objects hitting flesh... The entrance to the city gate was narrow, and the Wei soldiers were almost crowded with their front feet touching their back feet. Every time a stone bullet hit, several Wei soldiers could be knocked down.
Then several more linen fire bombs fell from the sky, and the firelight illuminated the bodies and blood at the city gate.
But the Wei soldiers were not intimidated, and they still rushed out of the city and attacked the embankment.
The soldiers of the Qin army lined up to meet them and fought with them. The shouts of death shook the sky and the sound of drums rumbled.
When the Qin and Wei armies were fighting fiercely, Wei Wei secretly set out from Shuimen with two thousand elite soldiers.
The water gate is located next to the Bian River.
Most cities have rivers and moats connected inside them, especially if the moat is an external river that has shipping value.
The Bianhe River is an outflow river leading to the Chu State, and the Wei State will of course make use of it.
So by digging a branch to lead to the inland river, several ports can be set up in Daliang City, and ships can sail directly from the city to outside the city and then to other places.
And because the city must be protected from outside attacks, water gates were installed on the city walls.
At this time, because the upstream river mouth had been blocked by the Qin army, there was no water in the river. As soon as the water gate opened, Wei Wei and the two thousand elite soldiers filed out along the river and quietly moved northward along the river.
In Daliang Palace, King Wei was awakened by the sound of drums.
He turned over and sat up and asked in surprise:
"Where is the cry for killing? The Qin army is coming to attack?"
The attendant reports:
"Your Majesty, it is not the Qin army that is attacking, but General Wei who is leading his troops to fight!"
King Wei was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to react and said "Oh."
In fact, he had forgotten the promise to give Wei Wei 30,000 soldiers to fight.
It cannot be said that he has forgotten that King Wei actually did not know about the 30,000 Wei troops going to war.
First of all, King Wei did not participate in the planning.
Secondly, although Wei Wei handed him the detailed plan in a memorial, King Wei did not even look at it.
Are you kidding me, why don't you enjoy it now?
Where is the time to read the memorial?
Therefore, the King of Wei pretended that he did not know Wei Wei's battle plan from beginning to end, and of course there was no way to "forget" it.
Even the King of Wei thought that Wei Wei was just talking and how dare he lead troops into battle.
I didn’t expect that Wei Wei would actually do this.
After thinking about it, King Wei said:
"Come, put on your clothes for me, I will go up to the top of the city and have a look!"
A servant responded and pretended to put on the armor for King Wei.
After walking to the top of the city, King Wei took a look at the battle situation and couldn't help but frown.
Under the firelight at the top of the city, there were Wei soldiers who were beaten bloody and screaming everywhere. They attacked the embankment in groups and were cut down in groups. There were also crossbow arrows and stones shot from unknown places.
The attack only caused the Wei soldiers to cry like ghosts and howl like wolves.
King Wei couldn't help but became furious when he saw this:
"Well, Wei Wei, you said that this is how you lead the troops out of the city to fight?"
"This doesn't mean fighting, it's clearly asking our troops to die!"
"Where is Wei Wei? Where is Wei Wei?"
Xi Cheng rushed up and reported:
"Your Majesty, General Wei has led his troops to capture Guangwu Mountain..."
King Wei was furious and cursed before Xi Cheng could finish his words:
"What Guangwu Mountain?"
"If the Daliang City in front of us cannot be defended well, why should we take Guangwu Mountain?"
"Let Wei Wei come back and order the withdrawal of troops!"
Xi Cheng was shocked and said:
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"
"General Wei is currently on his way to attack Guangwu Mountain. If he withdraws his troops and returns to the city, General Wei and his party will be in danger!"
King Wei pretended to scold:
"For the sake of Wei Wei, can we let many Wei soldiers go and die?"
"Are you confused?"
As he spoke, he ignored Xicheng's advice and loudly ordered:
"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"
If the servants dared to resist, they immediately sounded the gong and took back the Wei soldiers who had gone out to fight.
Wei Ya on the other side has just crossed the embankment line.
At this time, Wei Youzheng felt secretly happy.
Because the waterway from the dam line back is the section of the river where the Qin army dredged and blocked the river, there is much less silt from here to the north, so their marching speed can be accelerated.
At the same time, the Qin army's defenses further north are also weaker. As long as they can successfully penetrate into Guangwu Mountain, they may be able to turn the tide.
Unexpectedly, at this moment... the sound of gongs came from Daliang City behind.
Wei Wei's expression changed drastically.
What's going on?
They were clearly ordered to persist in attacking for an hour no matter what, but now it was not even half an hour.
Without my order, Wei Wei, who would dare to be so bold and privately order the troops to retreat?
After thinking about it for a while, Wei Wei understood who it was.
He couldn't help but sigh secretly: "It's over!"
Sure enough, after the Wei army retreated, the Qin army began to sweep the battlefield with torches.