Although Zhang Fei's words of invitation for war were generous, the Xianbei people, although brave, were not idiots who fought head-on. Seeing the reinforcements of the Han army arriving, the five thousand people immediately evacuated north. However, Liu Bei's cavalry was scarce and his infantry could not catch up, so he had to give up the pursuit and lead the Han army into Mayi.
Entering Mayi, the first thing Liu Bei said when he saw Hu Chuquan was: "Let your troops and horses rest as soon as possible. You will leave the city with me early tomorrow morning for a decisive battle."
Huchuquan was still shocked by the disastrous defeat in Yuledu. For this reason, he did not want to go to battle. He declined and said: "How wrong is the general? Xianbei has a large number of people and our troops are small. Although there are generals to help, if we go out of the city for a decisive battle, the leader will lead the army." Returning victorious, our army is newly defeated and morale is low. How can we win the decisive battle?"
Huchuquan's thoughts are normal. When Liu Bei came this time, in addition to the 7,000 old troops in Dongping, he also brought 6,000 soldiers from Taiyuan County. He recruited about 8,000 troops among the refugees, making a total of more than 20,000. , not as many as Yu Ledu's army.
There are about 50,000 people under Kuitou's command, each with a horse, and they come and go like the wind. Since the Hundred Years' War between Han and Hungary, the cavalry has always been the protagonist of the battlefield. Now the Xianbei cavalry is the best in the world, and they are sure to win every battle.
Today, Liu Bei has only more than 5,000 horses under his command, and there are still many slave horses, which are far from comparable to Xianbei horses. In Huchuquan's view, under such circumstances, how could a decisive battle be fought with the Xianbei cavalry?
Liu Bei didn't do much to persuade Hu Chuquan, but simply asked: "May I ask King You Xian, how many days can the food in the city be kept?"
Huchuquan looked embarrassed, but considering that Liu Bei had come all the way and showed his sincerity, he finally told the truth: "It can feed the nine thousand soldiers in the city for more than two months."
Liu Bei asked again: "Can Shanyu send reinforcements?" Huchuquan was confused for a moment, so Liu Bei struck while the iron was hot and admonished him: "King Youxian will not have enough food to fight for a long time, and there will be no reinforcements except for a certain person. If we don't fight today, , he has to fight even after he is 10 years old. Liu is not a warlike person, but he needs to know that he will live even if he is put to death, and those who survive will not be lucky. How can a man be afraid of danger? He should spend his life as a soldier. King Youxian And don’t hesitate!”
Huchuquan's eyelids drooped, he was silent for a moment and then wandered back and forth. After two moments, he stood still. Huchuquan finally bowed to Liu Bei, took out the deer-patterned gold belt that was exclusive to King Youxian, presented it to Liu Bei and said, "Then the little king will live or die." , and it will be tied to the general."
Liu Bei handed the gold belt back to Huchuquan and said seriously: "The Han and the Huns are the country of uncles and nephews. As a general who protects the Huns, Liu is responsible for leading the army to help. King Youxian thought that Liu Who is it? Regardless of whether the king has given this belt as a gift or not, Bei is here with his troops! If the king wants to thank you, why not reward the three armies tonight. The commander will show kindness and the soldiers will use their lives. Even if there is no big victory tomorrow, there will be no defeat!"
Huchuquan was greatly moved when he heard what he said. He treated Liu Bei as a guest of honor and held a banquet with delicacies such as grapes and pomegranates and delicacies such as bear paws and wild pigs. He also ordered his subordinates to open the rice warehouse and prepare wheat rice and meat to welcome the Han army. I wanted to invite Liu Bei to taste the wine again, but Liu Bei refused and said, "We will fight tomorrow. Just eat well. Drinking may cause trouble."
At a quarter past ten o'clock the next day, all the officers and men in the city had eaten and drank enough, and had finished their rest. The winter sky has not yet become clear. Liu Bei and Huchuquan led their troops out of the city. Five thousand Xianbei cavalry were watching eagerly outside the city. However, after careful consideration, they could only sit back and watch as they reached the bathing room.
When Kuai Tou led his army back to the original camp, he saw Liu Bei ordering Zhang Fei to lead 3,000 chariots across Yushui and occupy a hill on the south bank. However, most of the Han army was still on the north bank of Yushui. Tuoba Lin from the north bank sent a messenger to say that the army in Mayi had already marched out of the city.
"That's Liu Bei's flying tiger flag with a cloud pattern." After looking at it with squinted eyes, the leader said to his subordinates: "I thought that after Chen Chong resigned, Liu Bei would also quit and retreat. Unexpectedly, he could do it again today. We will meet here. The main army is on the north bank, and the vanguard is on the south hill. By acting like this, you are inviting a fight to our army."
The leader then asked, "He wants to fight me here, what do you think?"
The commanders of Xianbei had different opinions: Shuluo had previously achieved meritorious service in the battle between Qi Guang and Su Liujin Heiqiao, and he was so proud that he now waved his sword and shouted and took the initiative to invite the battle. Hou Mo, Chen Kuling and Yifu Shanlu had not yet achieved meritorious service, and they were not angry. Dip your face in blood and seek to be a pioneer. The leader remained silent, then turned to his younger brother Bu Dugen and asked, "What do you think?"
Bu Dugen was only over 20 years old, about the same age as Liu Bei and Chen Chong. Compared with the other generals, he was thinner in stature, but he was fair in dealing with things, good at uniting everyone, and his reputation for wisdom was widely known among the three tribes. The leader had no children, so he regarded Bu Dugen as his successor and had high hopes for him.
Bu Dugen ignored the active requests of the other young commanders to fight, and said to himself: "I just estimated that the Han army was only thirty thousand in number, comparable to our army of twenty-one, but now they are arrayed in the bathing water, taking the initiative to fight with me. The army is asking for a battle, which shows that Liu Bei must have a back-up plan, so we might as well send some scattered cavalry to give it a try first, and then decide whether to fight or retreat."
Although Hou Mochen Kuling didn't understand what he meant, he always respected Bu Dugen, so he asked: "Now that we are returning after a great victory, the enemy's morale will definitely fall to the bottom. Will a trial battle hurt morale?"
Bu Dugen shook his head and objected, then rode his horse to the front of the crowd and said: "Now our army is indeed victorious, but the Huns have no way to retreat. Now Yufronai is oppressing the back, and we are killing them in front. The Huns in Mayi With grief and anger in your heart, you fight with your back against us. Even if our army wins, we will definitely suffer a lot of losses. The Han people often say that you should not pursue a poor enemy, and this is the truth."
"Moreover, this formation is very strange. Our troops attack each other rashly without knowing the depth. If the decisive battle fails, can we still regret it during the war? Liu Bei is not in Yuledu, so he has to be careful again and again."
The leader nodded and praised, "Dugen is worthy of my thousand-mile horse." Obviously he was determined, and turned to Shuluo Yu Qiguang and said, "Qi Guang, take two hundred armored cavalry and look around the formation of the Han army on the south bank." Hou Mo Chen Kuling said: "Kulin, you take two thousand light cavalry and cover Qi Guang behind him. If there is a change in the Han army, you will step forward to meet Qi Guang."
After the two generals received their orders, Shuluo and Qi Guang led two hundred armored cavalry out of the army, riding from the south towards the Han army's southern formation. The southern formation of the Han army was on a hill, with the bathing water behind it, and behind the bathing water was a long formation.
Qi Guang first looked at the long formation, which was arranged as usual. The infantry held halberds and stood on the bank of the Yushui River to prevent the cavalry from rushing into the formation, while the archers were in the middle formation, but the cavalry was nowhere to be seen.
Thinking of this, Qi Guang once again led his team to look at the southern formation. The southern formation is located on a hill, commanding the ground. The hill has an area of about sixty feet and can accommodate more than 2,000 people. However, Qi Guang does not know how to set up the formation on the hill.
According to the terrain, Zhang Fei built a semicircle with camp cars around the hills and water. These car camps were different from other camps. The carriages were made of jujube wood two feet thick, which was hard and durable. The carriages were more than ten feet high. The military formations inside the hill are all hidden.
Qi Guang wanted to withdraw at this time, but then he thought, he didn't know how the southern formation was arranged, how could he go back and resume his life? Then he led his team to stop in front of the formation, and shouted during the battle: "Han'er dares to fight to the death, how can he act like a sparrow in front of me?"
After hearing this, Zhang Fei rode on his armor and walked out of the car formation, but smiled at Shuluo Yu Qiguang and said, "A Xianbei dog dares to bark in front of me. Do you dare to fight with me alone?"
Seeing that Zhang Fei was as majestic as a mountain, and he was half a head taller than Qi Guang, but Qi Guang accepted the challenge happily. Although the leader ordered Qi Guang to lead his team in a trial battle, the Xianbei knights were famous all over the world and had their own determination to win.
Qi Guang thought to himself that if he could kill this man, the Han army's southern formation would definitely take action, so he picked up the Changke giant ax carried by his entourage and rode forward to fight Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei usually uses a knife to fight the enemy on foot, but at this time when fighting on horseback, he uses a snake spear made of fine iron. The two men had the same amount of power, and their weapons hit each other exactly at the same spot, with no difference between the blows. But when the two separated, Zhang Fei held the spear handle horizontally. The snake spear was eight feet long. At this moment, he used his strength to hit Qi Guang on the back with the spear body.
Qi Guang couldn't react in time and took the blow forcefully. Although he was protected by iron armor, he still felt a sharp pain in his back, like a fire, and a sweetness surged in his chest, making him almost vomit and almost unable to hold the weapon.
With one blow, Qi Guang knew that he could not fight for long, so he lowered his body and lay on his horse. Without fighting Zhang Fei again, he circled back to the armored cavalry. Zhang Fei's roar of ridicule came from behind, making his warrior heart feel humiliated.
After repeated efforts, Shuluo Yu Qiguang led his team back to the army. Knowing that he had suffered a lot, the leader quickly called for a witch doctor to look at his injuries. After the disarming, the wizard saw a red mark on Qi Guang's back, and there were some red spots. The wizard made a shallow incision along the red spot, and purple bruises emerged from the incision.
Qi Guang breathed a long sigh of relief and then fell into a drowsy sleep. It was obvious that he could no longer fight for a while.
After hearing the accompanying Jiaqi's description of the Han army's formation, the leader thought about it again and again and said to the other commanders: "We will withdraw our troops."
Before anyone could object, he explained: "There is something fishy about the formation of the Han army now, so we must not waste the battle. Since yesterday, our army has killed more than ten thousand Xiongnu. Yu Fuluo is short-sighted and will definitely provoke internal fighting and abandon his horse. I don't care about the city. We only need to stay in Pingcheng and wait for good news. Sooner or later, Yanmen County will be ours."
Having said this, he looked at Liu Bei's cloud-patterned Flying Tiger flag again. He drew his sword and pointed at the flag, and then smiled and said: "As for Liu Bei, I have a good plan. Now that Zhang Chun has robbed Youji and besieged Gongsun, what will the Han court do?" The action? It’s nothing more than dispatching reinforcements. If we can plan accordingly, Liu Bei’s defeat will not be far away!”
On this day, in full view of the Han army, Xianbei's 50,000-strong army only made slight contact with the southern formation, then turned around and left, embarking on the road back to Pingcheng.
Liu Bei wanted to pursue him, but because he lacked horses, he had to give up and watched the Xianbei flag gradually blur in the sky. Zhang Fei turned to Liu Bei and said regretfully: "What a pity! What a pity! Brother, I didn't let the Xianbei dog see the Moon Formation."
Liu Bei was alert. Xianbei retreated without a fight this time. The threat was far greater than a decisive battle with him, but there was another thing in his heart that he was anxious to do.
He turned to Huchuquan and asked, "What does the king think of Shan Yu?"
