"I have made up my mind. In this battle, the lone general will lead the army in person and rush to the aid of Qinzhou. Anyone who dares to remonstrate will be killed!"
Zhang Chonghua was decisive.
The ministers of Qianliang who had previously persuaded him to appoint Xie Ai as general all changed their minds, but they did not dare to risk their lives to directly remonstrate, so they had to stop.
In fact, as early as when Ma Qiu attacked Qianliang for the third time, Zhang Chonghua had already wanted to conquer the Zhao army in person, facing 130,000 Zhao troops. It was the persuasion of Suo Xia, who was engaged in by Xie Ai and Ren Biejia, that made Zhang Chonghua change. With my heart, I chose to sit in the rear.
Today, he was provoked by Zhang Zuo and Xie Ai was not in Wuwei. Even Suo Xia could not change Zhang Chonghua's mind.
However, no matter who is the general, the battlefields of Qianliang and Lueyang are far apart. Unless Huan Xi is in a stalemate with Wang Zhuo and Yang Chu, he will definitely not be able to catch up with the battle.
Wang Zhuo also planned to defend the city and wait for Qianliang reinforcements to arrive.
At first he and Yang Chu planned to set up an ambush in the river valley, but Huan Xi was extremely careful along the way, and the vanguard general also changed from the brave but impatient Deng Ya to the equally brave but more calm Deng Qiang.
Every time they pass through a place, they must be carefully searched by scouts before they can pass. In this way, the Jin army can only march forty miles a day.
But despite this, the Jin army only traveled four days from Qingshui County southward through the 160-mile valley before reaching Lueyang City.
The city of Lueyang was not towering, but it was enough to give the defenders an advantage. Huan Xi, escorted by Deng Xia, rode around the city on horseback and found no weaknesses in the defense.
The combined forces of Wang and Yang totaled 34,000 people. Such a large number of troops was more than enough to defend a county.
Huan Xi returned to the military camp, held a military meeting, and asked the generals for advice.
Deng Xia was the first to suggest:
"My lord, please also allocate three thousand cavalry to the last general. The last general will bypass Lueyang and go straight to Tianshui. If the defenders in the city learn that Tianshui has fallen, their morale will definitely be in chaos."
As soon as he finished speaking, Deng Qiang objected:
"No! The enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered. If we continue to divide our troops, wouldn't we be putting our lord in danger?"
Deng Xia looked at Deng Qiang angrily and choked:
"Then what's your clever plan?"
Unexpectedly, Deng Qiang really had an idea. He looked at Huan Xi and offered advice:
"My lord, the general thinks that we can divide our troops, but we cannot take Tianshui directly, so we should pretend to march westward.
"Wang Zhuo saw that we have few troops outside the city, so he will definitely go out to fight. My lord can send the cavalry back to support and attack from both front and rear.
"If my lord can trust the general, please leave him to guard Lueyang. When the king is promoted out of the city, my lord can lead the cavalry back to fight."
Huan Xi laughed loudly and said:
"Po Hu loves me, so he is willing to use his body as bait, but if he wants to lure Wang Zhuo out of the city, Huan must personally sit in Lueyang."
Obviously, Huan Xi approved Deng Qiang's idea of pretending to attack Tianshui and luring the enemy out.
However, his generals persuaded Huan Xi one after another, hoping that he would not put himself in danger.
Huan Xi said seriously:
“Even if the cavalry advances westward, I still have fifteen thousand elite infantrymen by my side, so what’s the risk?
"This matter does not need to be discussed further!"
The reason why Huan Xi insisted on staying in Lueyang was because only with him could he stabilize the morale of the army.
Deng Xia was a general, not a handsome man.
Deng Qiang was a handsome man, but he was a demoted general. Apart from his contribution to stability, he had not accomplished anything, and his prestige was not enough to drive the three armies to fight.
The method was already available, but how to make Wang Zhuo be deceived into thinking that the Jin army really wanted to attack Tianshui.
If the cavalry is sent to detour under Wang Zhuo's nose, the other party will definitely be suspicious and may not be fooled.
Huan Xi thought hard and finally came up with a plan.
The next day, the Jin army moved its camp to the west of Lueyang City, but Huanxi did not attack the city. Instead, he built a stronghold on the west side to defend himself, and faced a stalemate with the Lueyang defenders.
It seemed that the person waiting for reinforcements from Qianliang was not Wang Zhuo, but Huan Xi, which made Wang Zhuo feel strange.
Yang Chu also became suspicious. He went to Wang Zhuo and said:
"The Jin army is approaching the city, but they don't want to attack the city. They seem to be waiting for King Liang to come out. There must be a conspiracy. General, please be vigilant."
Why didn't Wang Zhuo rack his brains for this? He pondered:
"How could I not know what Mr. Qiu Chi said, but what kind of medicine is being sold in Huanxi's gourd? It's really difficult to tell for a while."
Yang Chu expressed his doubts:
"Camps can be set up on all sides of Lueyang. Huan Xi also set up camp in the north at first. Why does he have to go around to the west now? He is not afraid of Tianshui reinforcements coming from behind?"
After hearing the word "Tian Shui", Wang Zhuo immediately came to his senses. He put his palms together and struck:
"Oh! It's Tianshui!"
Yang Chu didn’t understand what he meant, so Wang Zhuo explained:
"Huan Xi moved his camp and stationed his troops in the west of the city to block our connection with Tianshui. If my prediction is correct, the Jin army has already divided its troops and rushed to attack Tianshui."
Yang Chu exclaimed:
"What can we do!"
Wang Zhuo smiled and said:
"There is no need to panic, Lord Qiu Chi. The Jin army has few troops. This time the troops are divided, the camp will be empty, which allows me to defeat them one by one."
Yang Chu was actually convinced by Wang Zhuo's judgment, but he still reminded:
"The matter is of great importance, so we should be cautious. Why not send a scout out of the city at night, bypass the Jin army's camp through the trail, and check behind the camp to confirm whether there is any sign of a large group of people passing through."
Wang Zhishen thought so, and that night, he sent scouts to cross the mountain path and hide behind the Jin army camp. Sure enough, he saw a grain transport team coming out from behind the camp and heading towards Tianshui.
The scout originally wanted to follow up and find out what was going on, but the Jin army's search was very strict along the way and it was difficult to pass, so he had to go back the same way and reported the matter to Wang Zhuo.
Wang Zhuo and Yang Chu no longer had any doubts. After all, if they hadn't divided their forces to attack Tianshui, why would there be a grain team heading west?
Huan Xi also set up sentries on the west side of the road and sent people to patrol. This was obviously to cut off the connection between Lueyang and Tianshui.
In fact, the purpose of the food team's westward journey was to deliver food and grass to the five thousand cavalry hiding in the river valley.
They sent people to intercept the road because they didn't want this ambush to be discovered.
The Jin army acted in a secretive manner, trying to deceive others. Wang and Yang had no idea that Huan Xi had done this intentionally, just to let the two of them conclude through clues that the Jin army had divided its forces.
After all, Wang Zhuo might still be suspicious if he had sent an army westward openly, but now that he thought he had seen through Huan Xi's intentions, how could he realize that the Jin army's division of troops was true, but the attack on Tianshui was false.
The next day, Wang Zhuo and Yang Chu chose to go out in full force at dawn and lead their soldiers to the Jin camp.
The Jin army's sentry cavalry saw the Lueyang defenders leaving the city and hurried back to the camp to report the news.
Huan Xi put his palms together and smiled:
"Okay! I've waited here for a long time in vain. If you lure the snake out of the hole today, you will definitely destroy the enemy in front of the camp."
After saying that, he immediately ordered:
"Du Zhou, quickly send a message to Ying Yuan (Deng Xia) and Po Hu (Deng Qiang) to me, ordering them to lead their troops eastward and lie in ambush in the rear. When the smoke rises, take them one to the left and one to the right. Lead the cavalry to outflank and look for the enemy's commander's flag!"
Du Zhou heard the words and agreed loudly.
Immediately, under Du Zhou's arrangement, three sentries came out from behind the camp, galloped towards the hiding place of Deng Xia and Deng Qiang.
Huan Xi gathered the lieutenants of the army and gave lectures to boost morale. The Jin army was ready to attack, only waiting for the Lueyang defenders to arrive.
The Jin army set up camp fifteen miles west of Lueyang City. Therefore, when Wang Zhuo and Yang Chu arrived with their troops, it was already bright.
Looking at the camp in front of him, Wang Zhuo suddenly laughed:
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Yang Chu looked at him in surprise and asked:
"Why is the general laughing?"
Wang Zhuo pointed to the Jin army camp in front and said contemptuously:
"I laugh at the fact that Huan Xi has a great reputation but does not know how to fight.
"In ancient times, we always choose places to camp near mountains and valleys. We never thought that Huan Xi would set up camp in an open place, which would not be convenient for our army to attack the camp.
"Sure enough, this young Zhuzi doesn't even know how to set up a marching formation."
Yang Chu reminded:
"Huan Xi's ability to seize Guanzhong must be extraordinary. The general must not take it lightly."
Faced with the well-intentioned reminder, Wang Zhuo didn’t take it to heart at all:
"If it weren't for Shi Bao's ignorance, how could Huan Xi attack Yongzhou?"
The implication is that it's not that Huan Xi is so outstanding, but that Shi Bao stretches his hips too much.
Wang Zhuo guarded Longyou all year round and had many contacts with Shi Bao. He had always looked down upon Shi Bao.
With that said, Wang Zhuo looked at Yang Chu and asked:
"Mr. Qiu Chi, would you like to attack first?"
Yang Chu smiled and refused:
"Qiu Chi has few soldiers, but the general has a large number of troops. Besides, I am a guest, so the general should attack first."
Although the two are now friendly forces, they are not of the same mind after all. How could Yang Chu risk all his wealth for Wang Zhuo.
Wang Zhuo was not surprised, so he sent five thousand soldiers to the Jin camp to try to launch the first wave of attack.
Five thousand soldiers, under the cover of their own archers, braved the rain of arrows fired from the Jin camp and advanced. Seeing that the Jin camp was only a stone's throw away, the wooden wall in front collapsed, raising dust all over the sky.
When the dust fell, what appeared vaguely was the 10,000 Jin troops who were waiting in full formation. They marched out of the camp in neat steps.
There are still five thousand archers left in the camp to rain down arrows on the invading enemies.
It turned out that the Jin army had overthrown the wooden wall on their own, and Huan Xi had never thought of defending the camp. Only by fighting together in a chaotic manner could the cavalry he had ambushed in advance maximize their advantages.
The sudden turn of events caught Wang Zhuo's front army off guard. The Jin army rushed out of the camp and came with a fierce attack, which panicked them. For a while, the five thousand soldiers who came to attack the camp retreated in confusion.
Unable to escape, he was overtaken and beheaded by the Jin army, and more than a thousand people were killed by arrows behind him.
When Wang Zhuo saw this scene, he was not angry but happy. He was afraid that Huan Xi would stick to the camp.
Now that the opponent is taking the initiative to attack, he can defeat this Jin army just by relying on his numerical advantage.
Wang Zhuo drew his sword and shouted:
"Bang the drums! The entire army moves forward. Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed!"
The Jin army did not go far and formed a formation on the spot. When Huan Xi saw Wang Zhuo's army moving forward as a whole, he did not order anyone to burn the smoke immediately, but just shouted:
"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow!"
A noble family would always bring enough arrows when marching and fighting.
It wasn't until the officers and soldiers of the two armies met in close combat that they were fighting inextricably, and Huan Xi, who was commanding from the rear, roared:
"Sign up the smoke!"
The so-called wolf smoke is not wolf excrement, but the burning of reeds, tamarisk and other weeds.
The two sides exchanged arrows, and from time to time a rocket ignited something, causing black smoke to rise.
But following Huan Xi's order, a plume of gray-white straight smoke rose into the sky from the Jin army camp, which was particularly eye-catching.
