The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 113 Let's see who takes the bait first

The ancient road in Shan County is about 100 li long, and Shan County is the entrance and exit of the ancient road, which means that Wu's army is still 100 li away from Shan County.

This distance is nothing to Wu Jun; they can arrive in a day or two. However, Zhang Cheng is worried that the Han army might suddenly turn around and cut off his retreat while he is attacking Shan County, so he is somewhat hesitant.

Instead of answering, Chunyu Shi asked, "Are you sure that the forces we've blocked outside the ancient road are the main Han army and Guan Xing himself? Or could it be a detachment that Guan Xing deliberately used to lure us into a trap?"

This question stumped Zhang Cheng. He frowned and pondered for a long time before saying, "I'm about 80% sure it's the main force of the Han army."

"Guan Xing only has about 10,000 troops under his command, and even with the Yue people, the total number is no more than 20,000. As for the troops that captured Quan Cong, they are probably still resting and reorganizing in Da Mo. Guan Xing must have abandoned Quan Cong's troops and returned alone, otherwise he could not have returned so quickly."

"Guan Xing only has 20,000 troops, but the force attacking Shanyin is as high as 15,000. What else could this be but the main force?"

"Moreover, their strategy of first retreating to lure us to Damo, and then rushing out of the ancient road to attack Shanyin, is in line with Guan Xing's style."

Chunyu Shi said, "If the main force of the Han army is indeed blocked outside the ancient road, I suggest we attack Shan County."

"Taking Shan County first will completely cut off the Han army's retreat route, preventing them from launching a surprise attack from Shan County at a critical moment and joining forces with Guan Xing to attack us from both sides."

"Secondly, there are many Yue soldiers in the Han army who are familiar with the terrain of Siming Mountain and Kuaiji Mountain. If they retreat into the mountains and return to Shan County, it will be meaningless for us to block the ancient road. On the contrary, if we can take Shan County, we can block their way out of the mountains and trap them in the mountains."

"In the end, the Han army came out in a hurry, so they couldn't have carried much food. They could only last three to five days at most. In other words, the Han army had plenty of energy to deal with us for three to five days, or even hide somewhere and not move. That way, it would be very difficult for us to find them."

"The Han army is cunning. We can't just follow them around, nor can we stay at the ancient road pass and do nothing but wait for them to run out of supplies. We have to do something, right?"

"The Han army can run away, but Shan County cannot. Taking Shan County will block the Han army's retreat, allowing us to calmly fight them on the Yinyu Plain. Alternatively, we can march towards Wushang to subdue the Jinqu Basin and completely cut off the Han army's foundation for survival. Why not do it?"

"Moreover, the main force of the Han army is outside, and there won't be many garrison troops in Wushang or even Damu in Shan County. In addition, the city walls of the county are not high. Two days to travel, one day to attack the city, and two days to return, five days is enough."

Zhang Cheng exclaimed excitedly, "What did you just say? Taking Shan County will allow us to attack Wushang and reclaim the Jinqu Basin, thus cutting off the Han army's base?"

Seeing Chunyu Shi nod, Zhang Cheng's heart instantly burned with excitement.

Yes, the Han army's food supplies and so-called mass base are all in the Jinqu Basin. If the Jinqu Basin is taken over, the Han army will become rootless and adrift. If it wants to gain a foothold again, it can only re-establish its so-called base in the Yinyu Plain.

But it won't be so easy for Guan Xing to establish a base again. First of all, the gentry of Yinyu Plain will fight to the death and will not let Guan Xing easily take over any county town again.

Secondly, his 30,000-strong army was not just for show; it could be sent back to the plains at any time to join forces with the local gentry to attack from both sides and force the Han army into the mountains. The prospect of this was exciting to think about.

However, this makes Shan County the key point of the game, which must be captured and firmly controlled.

Zhang Cheng immediately said, "Let's do it this way. I will personally lead the army to attack Shan County. You go back and continue to defend Shanyin to prevent the Han army from launching a surprise attack on Shanyin City. At the same time, contact the officials and gentry of each county and tell them to defend the county and block the Han army. Do everything you can to buy me seven days, at least seven days."

“Yes…” Chunyu Shi clasped his hands in a bow, turned and left, rushing back to Shanyin as quickly as possible.

Zhang Cheng left 5,000 troops to set up camp on the spot and defend the ancient road pass, and then personally led the remaining troops to Shan County.

Wu Jun is currently located on an ancient road sandwiched between Siming Mountain and Kuaiji Mountain. In other words, there are mountains on both sides of the road, and it would be impossible to see several people hiding on the mountains.

At this moment, several heads were crouching in the grass on the mountain, and the leader was none other than Wang Tao, who was staring intently at Wu Jun's every move.

The movement of Wu Jun's tens of thousands of troops could not escape Wang Tao's notice. Wang Tao lay in the grass and watched for two whole hours. Only after the last Wu soldier disappeared from sight did he say, "You keep watching. I will go back and report to General Xie."

After speaking, he crawled back, and only after making sure he wouldn't be discovered did he get up and head towards the Han army's hiding place.

The Han army is currently hiding in a nearby mountain valley. Wang Tao successfully reached the valley and found Xie Chong, saying, "General, Zhang Cheng has indeed gone to attack Shan County, but he left a large army to defend the ancient pass. The force is not large, about five thousand men."

Xie Chong sneered, "Zhang Cheng indeed couldn't resist the temptation of Shan County. Let's wait until the other scouts return and we've completely confirmed the Wu army's movements before we take action."

Both the Han and Wu armies were baiting each other this time. The Wu army threw Shanyin as bait to the Han army, while the Han army threw Shan County as bait to the Wu army. Now it seems that Zhang Cheng, this great shark, has taken the bait.

Xie Chong waited for another two hours until all the scouts returned. After cross-referencing the various messages and confirming their accuracy, he finally ordered the expedition to begin.

Instead of attacking the Wu army at the ancient pass, he followed the Yue guide over mountains and valleys to the center of the ancient road, intending to cut off the two Wu armies completely by intervening between the Wu army attacking Shan County and the Wu army defending the ancient pass.

The mountain road was rugged and difficult to travel, and Xie Chong was not in a hurry. He lingered for a day and a half before finally leaving Siming Mountain and arriving at the middle of the ancient road.

This place is about 50 li away from both Shan County and the ancient road pass, and it is also the narrowest section of the ancient road, making it a suitable place to set up camp and block attacks.

After Xie Chong arrived, he first sent out scouts to investigate and only began to take action after confirming that there were no Wu army scouts or spies nearby.

At Xie Chong's command, the soldiers immediately parted the bushes, took out the shovels, hoes, saws and other tools they had hidden beforehand, and then split into two teams: one team cut down trees on the mountain, and the other team dug pits and built camps at the foot of the mountain.

Xie Chong needed to build a strong camp in the middle of the road as quickly as possible to block the main force of the Wu army between Shan County and the camp, and then withstand the pincer attack from the Wu army in Shan County and the Wu army at Gudaokou until Guan Xing arrived.

Looking at the busy soldiers, Xie Chong said leisurely, "General Guan, you should have started your operation by now. You must hurry, or you'll be collecting my corpses."

The thought of a few thousand people holding off an army of tens of thousands, especially when attacked from both sides, is terrifying.

……

Let's go back to the night Xie Chong launched his surprise attack on Shanyin.

Ning Huan personally led scouts to lie in ambush outside Zhuji City. Upon seeing the beacon fires set off by the Wu army in the direction of Shanyin, he immediately turned around and rushed back to the camp to report to Guan Xing as quickly as possible.

Wu's army could use beacon fires to send messages to Han's army, but Han's army could not. If Han's army also set off beacon fires, Wu's army would easily detect it, thus affecting the entire plan.

Ning Huan rode his horse at breakneck speed, reaching the vicinity of the trap. He handed the horse to his subordinates, then turned and headed up the mountain ridge towards the camp.

There were also seven thousand Wu soldiers nearby who were acting alongside Guan Xing, and he didn't want to run into their arms.

The beacon fire was lit in Shanyin at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) in the dead of night. It would take at least 25 minutes for the signal to reach Zhuji. It took Ning Huan another 2 hours to return from Zhuji. By the time he met Guan Xing, it was almost the hour of Ji (9-11 AM), and the sun was already high in the sky.

Ning Huan bowed before Guan Xing and said, "General, the beacon fire from Shanyin has arrived. It seems General Xie has already begun his operation."

Guan Xing clenched his fist and slammed it on the table, shouting, "The general offensive begins! Order all troops to move out and wipe out the Wu army in front of the trap first!"