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Chapter 884: The Decisive Battle Part 9
🕑 Added 2024-10-23 06:40:20 +0000 UTCGuan Yu decapitated a vanguard assassin in front of him with a single strike. The fact that the enemy could reach Guan Yu’s position was a testament to how dire the current situation was!
[The situation is looking grim. Although we have slain Yan Liang and Ju Shou, our army's morale has waned after breaching ten layers of Yuan Shao’s defenses. The enemy has managed to exhaust our morale with heavy casualties and difficult breakthroughs!] Guan Yu worriedly reflected after failing to push forward.
"General, things are going badly. Our left flank has been breached by Yuan Shao's army, and General Li Ran is currently engaging with the enemy general Lü Kuang!" A soldier rushed over and shouted at Guan Yu.
"Chen Jin, lead a unit to hold off Yuan Shao’s army on the right flank!" Guan Yu roared. If Yuan Shao's forces broke into the central army, it could completely cut off his retreat, and Liu Bei, positioned slightly behind the central army, could also be attacked.
By the time Chen Jin led a unit to the left flank, Lü Kuang and Lü Xiang had already killed Li Ran. The central army of Guan Yu’s forces was struggling to counterattack. After two hours of fierce fighting, Guan Yu's army was still being overwhelmed by the well-rested Yuan Shao’s mixed army on the right flank.
Meanwhile, Gan Lan had already fallen under the blade of Wen Chou. Furious, Wen Chou led his forces straight into Gan Ning's central army, planning to cut off Gan Ning’s retreat before turning to kill Guan Yu and avenge Yan Liang.
At this moment, Yuan Shao’s left and right flanks had successfully engaged Liu Bei’s front lines. From this moment on, Liu Bei's front forces had little hope of extricating themselves by their own strength. They would either fight to the death, break through Yuan Shao’s forces with a bloody path, or rely on external help.
"General, Master Shen has issued an order to cut off the central army!" About five miles from the battlefield, Gao Lan, leading troops from Bohai, had arrived.
"What? Why such an order?" Gao Lan was taken aback. In his view, the most correct approach would be to flank Liu Bei's army and launch a surprise attack on Liu Bei’s headquarters.
"Master Shen personally issued the order. You must directly attack the central army! The goal is to cut off the central army!" The messenger stated firmly.
"Send my order. All troops mount up and prepare for a charge!" Gao Lan, having confirmed the authenticity of the order, bellowed in anger.
Fifteen miles east of the battlefield, they used small boats to travel by water. After landing, they took a shortcut. However, despite their best efforts, Xu Shu and Wei Yan still could not block Gao Lan’s Bohai elite cavalry!
"There’s no way. Rest for half an hour; we won’t make it in time." Xu Shu sighed deeply. He had guessed that the opponent was Gao Lan stationed in Bohai and understood the target.
Unfortunately, even though Xu Shu knew the opponent's target, who they were, what methods they would use, and how they would advance, he still had no way to stop them. Despite his best efforts to rush through the night and use water routes, he could not block Gao Lan. This showed the difference in mobility!
Now, an entire reorganized corps was exhausted, and even if they reached the battlefield, their combat effectiveness would be minimal. Thus, with the battle cries audible from the distance, Xu Shu ultimately chose to rest.
"Yuan Zhi, our army is late by a moment. The scouts report that they saw Gao Lan's banner ten miles ahead. When they withdrew, the enemy was already mounted and preparing to charge. Are we still going to rest here?" Wei Yan said anxiously, dismayed by the result of a night-long pursuit.
"We must rest. Even if the enemy launches an attack, we must rest. We need half an hour to recover our combat effectiveness!" Xu Shu said solemnly. Although he was equally anxious inside, he maintained a calm demeanor to reassure Wei Yan and Guan Ping.
"Besides, we have General Guan, General Gan, and also Master Jia and Master Guo by the Lord’s side, so there is no need to worry." Xu Shu seemed to be reassuring Wei Yan but was actually encouraging himself.
After all, the strategy of sending Gao Lan from Bohai to Yanzhou was extremely risky. It required immense courage to agree. Gao Lan’s departure meant that the defense of the largest prefecture, Bohai, was now empty. Yuan Shao’s ambition to destroy Liu Bei was evident!
"Alright, then we’ll rest for half an hour. Order the soldiers to rest and eat something. After half an hour, we will launch the attack!" Wei Yan said as calmly as possible, not wanting his panic to affect his subordinates.
Wei Yan’s troops were seasoned veterans with more than ten battles under their belts, and a small portion were city management troops that Wei Yan had persistently retained.
Of course, this was because Liu Bei greatly appreciated Wei Yan and turned a blind eye in this regard. Otherwise, another army wouldn’t have been able to march to Yanzhou overnight. Other armies would be out of breath and unable to fight, let alone rest and eat like this.
Following the order, Wei Yan’s troops stretched their limbs on the spot and ate the jerky Xu Shu had given them the night before.
Knowing the urgency of the battle, Xu Shu had discarded excess supplies and rations the previous night and distributed all the jerky to the soldiers. Each person received three buns and set out directly. Now, these soldiers were eating the dry rations and drinking water that had been poured through bamboo tubes during their water route travel.
As Wei Yan's army did their final preparations, Liu Bei's forces faced the greatest crisis since the war began. Gao Lan's 6,000 elite cavalry, following Master Shen’s orders, had directly cut through the center of the encirclement, splitting Liu Bei's and Yuan Shao's armies in half!
Compared to Yuan Shao’s troops, Liu Bei’s army’s vulnerability was fully exposed after being split into two parts. Gao Lan’s charge, disregarding enemy casualties, allowed Yuan Shao’s forces to penetrate Liu Bei’s army before they could even mount a defense.
As a result, Liu Bei’s front lines were completely surrounded within Yuan Shao’s forces. Guan Yu, Xu Chu, and Gan Ning were all trapped in the formation, struggling to break through.
Gao Lan, who had penetrated from east to west, immediately joined forces with Zhang He’s Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry as he burst out from the large army. He also launched an attack on Zhao Yun, who had less than a thousand personal guards, planning to kill Zhao Yun and thereby surround Liu Bei’s central and rear troops!
Gao Lan started from the east and cut through Liu Bei’s central army. Wen Chou and Lü Kuang’s front lines surged forward to completely sever the connection between Liu Bei’s front and central armies.
"Wu An, just form a defensive square. No need to counterattack!" Seeing Lu Su prepare to order Wu An to rescue the front lines, Jia Xu calmly said.
"Wen He, if we don’t join forces with General Guan and the others to break the encirclement, our front lines will be completely surrounded!" Lu Su said in shock, and Liu Bei’s expression also became grave.
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