pappabearbooks Chapter 62 Intrusion into the Northern Expedition Battlefield
Chapter 62 Intrusion into the Northern Expedition Battlefield
"What?"
The generals inside the tent instantly erupted in chaos, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Has Xia Yu gone mad?"
Yan Gang angrily shouted, "Only the eastern Xianbei suffered a major epidemic; the central and western Xianbei were completely unharmed!"
"Tan Shihuai commands 100,000 archers, and aside from the three major commanders in the east, there are still nearly 70,000 troops. The imperial court is only sending 30,000 cavalry on a northern expedition; isn't this just sending them to their deaths?"
"He's not crazy, he's just greedy for credit!"
Tian Yu said coldly, "He must have been envious of our great success in the borderlands, so he wrote to the court, falsely claiming that there was a great plague throughout the Xianbei territory, and tricked His Majesty into issuing an order to launch a northern expedition."
"He wants to use this battle to gain power and prestige, completely disregarding the lives of his soldiers!"
After a moment's thought, Tian Yu had a pretty good grasp of what had happened.
In fact, Xia Yu did not intend to deceive Liu Hong; he genuinely believed that the Xianbei had suffered a major epidemic.
Liu Bei's face also darkened considerably.
How could this happen?
Xia Yu launched a three-pronged attack on the Xianbei, wasn't it three years later, in the sixth year of the Xiping era?
Was it my own actions that triggered a chain reaction, causing me to deviate from the historical trajectory?
Worse still, historically, the three-pronged northern expedition in the sixth year of the Xiping era ended in a disastrous defeat for the Han army.
The three armies were almost completely wiped out, and Xia Yu, Tian Yan, and Zang Min were dismissed from their posts and reduced to commoners.
The Eastern Han Dynasty suffered a major loss of national strength and was no longer able to launch large-scale northern expeditions against the Xianbei.
Unexpectedly, they stumbled upon this great battle by sheer coincidence. Liu Bei didn't think that Xia Yu could have won three years earlier.
"My lord, there's no time to lose! We should take a detour immediately!"
Zou Dan immediately stepped forward and said urgently, "Xia Yu is stubborn and self-willed, and he is also fierce and good at fighting. Xia Yu will definitely lose this battle."
"We are exhausted and our horses are worn out. We have little fighting strength left. If we get involved, we will be dragged into the quagmire, and it will be a losing proposition."
"It would be better to immediately detour westward, avoid the battlefield, and return to Liaoxi from Yuyang County."
The generals all nodded in agreement, agreeing that taking a detour was the best course of action.
No one wanted to risk their life for Xia Yu's greed for credit.
Liu Bei pondered for a moment, and was about to order a detour when he suddenly heard deafening shouts of battle coming from ahead.
Looking up, one could see billowing dust on the distant horizon, with countless cavalrymen surging like a tide, the sound of metal clanging against metal carried on the wind.
"Oh no! The war has started!" Yan Gang's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice.
Liu Bei squinted, gazing at the distant battlefield, where he saw Xia Yu's Han army formation being continuously compressed by Mi Jia's Xianbei cavalry.
Despite being outnumbered, Xia Yu still commanded his troops to fight desperately. The two sides fought fiercely and evenly, resulting in a stalemate.
But an unexpected turn of events occurred once again, much to Liu Bei's surprise.
Seeing that he could not break through the enemy's frontal defenses, Mika secretly dispatched 5,000 cavalrymen to flank Xia Yu's army and launch a surprise attack.
The flanking route of this Xianbei cavalry was heading directly towards Liu Bei's army!
"My lord! The Xianbei cavalry are coming this way!" Han Dang pointed to the dust cloud on the left and said solemnly.
Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly made a decision: "All troops, form ranks! Prepare for battle!"
"Yan Gang will lead his troops on the left wing, Han Dang on the right wing, Cheng Pu on the center, Xu Rong on the rear, and Tian Yu will accompany me to command the center!"
"If we can't dodge it, then let's fight!"
"promise!"
The generals immediately sprang into action, and more than 6,000 cavalrymen quickly formed battle formations, drawing their swords and spears, nocking their bows and crossbows, and standing ready for battle.
The five thousand Xianbei cavalrymen who had come from a roundabout route never expected that there would be a Han army here.
They were focused on attacking Xia Yu's flank and, completely unprepared, ran right into the range of Liu Bei's army.
"Release the arrows!"
At Liu Bei's command, thousands of arrows shot out like a black cloud, instantly covering the vanguard of the Xianbei cavalry.
Caught off guard, the Xianbei cavalrymen were hit by arrows and fell from their horses, their formation instantly thrown into chaos.
"kill!"
Han Dang took the lead, charging out with his cavalry, their ring-pommel swords flashing as they slaughtered the chaotic Xianbei cavalry.
Yan Gang led his troops in close pursuit, like a giant torrent, crashing heavily into the Xianbei's ranks.
This Xianbei cavalry was originally there to carry out a surprise attack. Their formation was loose and they were caught off guard. They were completely disoriented by Liu Bei's sudden attack.
They had no idea how many Han soldiers were there, and only thought it was an ambush that Xia Yu had laid long ago, which terrified them.
Having lost all will to fight, they turned their horses around and galloped back to their own main battlefield.
"Chase!"
After a moment's thought, Liu Bei made a decision. With a flick of his whip, he led his army in a charge towards Mi Jia's central army formation.
Since we can't avoid it, why not take a gamble!
Meanwhile, on the main battlefield, Mika was commanding the main force to launch a fierce attack on Xia Yu's frontal defenses.
Seeing that Xia Yu's formation was about to be broken, Mika had already revealed a victorious smile on her face.
But just then, he suddenly heard deafening shouts of battle behind him.
Looking back, he saw that the five thousand cavalrymen he had sent to outflank him were running back in a sorry state.
Behind him came countless Han cavalrymen, overwhelming the sky.
"What? How is that possible?"
Mika's expression changed drastically, and she cried out in alarm.
"How could the Han army have an ambush?"
"Xia Yuming clearly only has ten thousand cavalry! That's impossible!"
His generals were also in a panic: "Sir! Something terrible has happened!"
"The Han army has at least tens of thousands of troops lying in ambush! We're surrounded!"
In reality, Liu Bei only had a little over six thousand men, but in the chaos, the Xianbei people couldn't even tell the number.
All they saw was billowing smoke and deafening battle cries, and they all thought they had fallen into an ambush by the Han army.
The previously high morale plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.
"Retreat! Retreat now!"
Mika dared not linger in battle any longer and decisively ordered a full retreat.
He had been unable to break through Xia Yu's frontal defenses for a long time, and now the sudden appearance of "ambush troops" behind him caused his troops to fall into chaos.
Upon receiving the order to retreat, the Xianbei army instantly collapsed, abandoning their armor and weapons, and fled wildly northward.
Xia Yu, who was fighting desperately, was stunned when he suddenly saw the Xianbei army in complete defeat.
Overjoyed, he didn't think twice and immediately led his troops to attack.
"Brothers! Kill! The Xianbei have been defeated!"
Seeing the Xianbei flee in disarray, the Han soldiers were greatly encouraged and chased after them, shouting and cutting down their enemies along the way.
But no one expected that the torrent of the Mija tribe fleeing north would run right into Liu Bei's army that was following closely behind.
The Xianbei people fled for their lives, completely disrupting the formations of Liu Bei's army.
In the midst of this chaos, Liu Bei's army was unable to attend to both ends for a time.
At that moment, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky.
The blizzard in the northern border region came quickly and fiercely.
In less than half an hour, heavy snow began to fall, turning the world into a white expanse with visibility less than three zhang (approximately 10 meters).
Heavy snow blocked the roads, obstructed visibility, and the various units were completely separated.