mtlumby2d Chapter 204 Hao Zhao disappeared?
Chapter 204 Hao Zhao disappeared?
Realizing that the Shu army might launch a surprise attack on Dazhen Pass, Fei Yao began preparations, mobilizing two-thirds of the troops from Mei County to pursue the Shu army.
Yesterday I received another letter from Guo Huai, saying that Dazhen Pass might not be able to be defended, and that he should come quickly to intercept Huang Quan. As long as Huang Quan's main force of Shu army is destroyed and the Shu army's food and supplies are destroyed, it doesn't matter if Dazhen Pass is lost.
Fei Yao thought Guo Huai's words made sense, and since the Shu army had already been caught by Guo Huai, there was no need to worry. So he led his troops in a desperate rush, preparing to join Guo Huai as soon as possible to intercept Huang Quan.
In his haste to get on his way, Fei Yao ignored the danger he was in and charged recklessly down the official road without taking any precautions. Unexpectedly, as he was running, he suddenly heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats.
The Shu army had no cavalry, so Fei Yao instinctively assumed that Guo Huai had sent someone to meet him. Therefore, he was not on guard and stood still patiently waiting until the cavalry came into view.
Fei Yao stood on the road, craning his neck to look ahead. When he saw the cavalry, his smile froze and his expression changed drastically.
The cavalry charging towards them were carrying banners bearing the character "Zhang," and the leader was a man with a full beard and wielding a ten-foot spear—the insignia was too obvious.
"Zhang Fei, how could it be him? How come he has cavalry?"
Fei Yao was so frightened that he broke out in a sweat and shouted impatiently, "Quickly, defend! Defend!"
Fei Yao was so anxious that his voice cracked, but what good was being anxious?
Keep in mind that he was leading infantry, and without establishing a formation beforehand, they were powerless against the charging cavalry. After firing a volley of arrows, Zhang Fei rushed in front of them, and then the slaughter began.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the Wei army was slaughtered, with many dying, surrendering, or fleeing. The Han army thus won a great victory. Unfortunately, Fei Yao and his personal guards all had warhorses, and seeing the situation was not good, they turned and fled.
Zhang Fei did not pursue. His mission was to give Fei Yao a wake-up call and deter him from pursuing him with full force. Now that his objective had been achieved, there was no need to keep chasing Fei Yao. The right thing to do was to return to Chencang to defend against Hao Zhao.
Therefore, after scattering the Wei army, Zhang Fei led his cavalry back along the same route without even cleaning up the battlefield, and joined Fan Jiang to deal with Hao Zhao.
But this time Zhang Fei miscalculated. He sent out scouts to investigate and led cavalry to search, but they couldn't find any trace of Hao Zhao even by nightfall.
Zhang Fei was starting to get confused. What exactly went wrong?
There are only three possibilities for not being able to find Hao Zhao: either he is hiding in Chencang and hasn't come out, or he is being too cautious and moving too slowly, or he didn't take the main road at all but instead took a shortcut directly to Dazhen Pass.
The first two possibilities are very small. Once Hao Zhao receives Guo Huai's order, he will not leave the pass. The crime of disobeying orders on the battlefield is too great for Hao Zhao to bear.
It's impossible that he was slow. Zhang Fei led his cavalry to search the official road for most of the day, and Hao Zhao didn't even see a scout. Even if Hao Zhao was slow, he couldn't be that slow, right?
That leaves only one explanation: Hao Zhao took a detour.
After pondering for a moment, Zhang Fei did not continue the search. Instead, he turned around and sped up to meet Huang Quan. Now that Guo Huai and Fei Yao had been crippled by him, Hao Zhao was no longer a threat. There was no need to slow down the army's march for his sake.
After all, the Wei army still has reinforcements in Chang'an. If it drags on for too long, it will be troublesome when the reinforcements from Chang'an arrive.
Zhang Fei led his troops on a night march and finally caught up with Huang Quan before dawn. He explained the situation, then handed over the infantry to Huang Quan and personally led all the cavalry to patrol around the main army to prevent any possible sneak attack by Hao Zhao.
Zhang Fei's cavalry gave Huang Quan ample confidence, allowing him to travel with peace of mind without worrying about sudden attacks. At this pace, walking sixty li a day, he could reach Dazhen Pass in three days at most.
Meanwhile, Guo Huai, after being defeated, did not dare to return to Chang'an, but went directly to Qian County. The moment he entered the city, he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps. Thinking that the Shu army was chasing after him, he was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated and formed a battle formation.
Then, looking in the direction of the sound, he was surprised to find that the army heading towards him was a Wei army with the name Hao, and the general leading the army abandoned his troops and ran towards him alone after seeing him. It was Hao Zhao.
Guo Huai rode up to greet him with delight and asked, "General Hao, what brings you here?"
Hao Zhao clasped his hands and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the general, when I received your order, I originally planned to go along the official road to meet up with General Fei Yao. After thinking about it, I felt that with you and General Fei Yao keeping things going, there was no need for me to join in. Rather than following behind you and getting entangled with the Shu army, it would be better to make a long-distance raid and head straight for Dazhen Pass, and try to enter the pass before the Shu army."
"Unexpectedly, we arrived too late. By the time we got there, Dazhen Pass had already fallen. In addition, the brothers were too exhausted from their days of travel and had no strength to attack. I thought we should retreat to Qian County to rest and regroup, and then march on Yujun tomorrow after we woke up, so that we could join forces with you and General Fei Yao to attack the main force of the Shu army. I took this initiative without authorization and I ask the general to punish me."
To be fair, Hao Zhao's idea was not wrong. Although he was farther away than the Shu army and set off later, don't forget that there were still hundreds of garrison troops inside Dazhen Pass.
The Shu army's surprise attack force will not be too large, and like us, they have made a long march, so they certainly won't have enough time to build siege equipment. If the garrison inside the pass is strong enough, they can completely hold off the Shu army's surprise attack until Hao Zhao comes to their aid.
Hao Zhao believed that as long as he arrived and entered the pass, he would be able to build Dazhen Pass into an impregnable fortress. At that time, no matter how many Shu troops came, they would be defeated and forced to retreat in front of the pass he was defending.
The idea was good, but Hao Zhao never dreamed that the allied forces at Dazhen Pass would be so unhelpful.
There's a saying that goes, "It's not the god-like opponents you should fear, but the pig-like teammates."
With teammates like these, even Han Xin would be helpless.
Instead of blaming Hao Zhao, Guo Huai said with relief, "Luckily you didn't go to meet up with Fei Yao, otherwise..."
After briefly recounting his defeat, he sighed and said, "Zhang Fei will definitely not let Fei Yao off the hook after defeating me. General Fei is probably in grave danger by now."
Hao Zhao's heart sank to the bottom instantly, and he said impatiently, "Then what should we do? Without you and General Fei getting entangled, Zhang Fei and Huang Quan will have no worries and can ride freely on the official road. They should be able to reach Qian County in two days at most."
"This humble general only brought three or four thousand men. With such a small force, it is impossible to stop the Shu army from entering the pass. Even if we launch a full-scale attack while they are entering the pass, we still won't have enough troops."
The gate is narrow, which will definitely cause congestion when the Shu army enters the city. This is the best time to attack the Shu army. But the question is, do you think Zhang Fei and Huang Quan don't understand the principle that you all understand?
The Shu army's strength far exceeded that of the Wei army, and they could easily send a large force to cover the main force and supplies as they entered the city. Once the Shu army entered Dazhen Pass, they would be completely powerless to turn the tide.
Guo Huai pondered, "It's not feasible to intercept the Shu army when they enter the pass. Our forces are too small to be a match for Zhang Fei. There's only one way to deal with this, but it might require you to suffer a bit."
There's still a way?
Hao Zhao was overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly bowed, saying, "Please enlighten me, General."
Guo Huai said, "The Longshan Road is a passage between the Qinling Mountains and the Longshan Mountains. The road is bordered by the Qinling Mountains to the south and the Longshan Mountains to the north. Since it is a mountain, it has different heights and gaps. I don't believe that there isn't a narrow path that can bypass the Dazhen Pass in such a large Qinling Mountains."
"Let's go. We'll enter the city first. Once inside, you should rest immediately. I'll find a hunter familiar with the Qinling Mountains to be your guide. You lead the army and follow the guide along the path to bypass Dazhen Pass and enter the center of Longshan Road. Then, find any terrain along Longshan Road to set up positions and block the Shu army. At the same time, send someone to Jieting immediately to report the news."
"After encountering the Shu army, you should set up ambushes at each point and retreat step by step to buy time for Jieting to redeploy its defenses. There is no need to hold one place to the death. Once Jieting is ready, you should immediately retreat into Jieting and follow General Zhang He's orders."
Hao Zhao was overjoyed and said, "General, you are wise."