Chapter 31: The Decisive Battle at Qishan Pass!

  Last time, Guan Yu and Ji Yi received three letters, respectively from Liu Bei, Chen Gong, and the last one was a handwritten letter from Li Yu. After reading the three letters, Guan Yu decided to put aside his own proposal and wait for Tian Feng's arrival with his troops!

  But Guan Gong was not idle, as there were many new soldiers at this time. So, Guan Gong ordered Gao Shun and Zhang Ren to train the soldiers, while he himself waited in the commander's mansion for Tian Feng's arrival. Although during this period, Guo Si and Zhang Liao led their armies to launch a strong attack on Qi Mountain Pass several times, they were all repelled by Ju Yi and Huo E. Later, Guo Si received reinforcements from Song Xian, who led an army of 50,000 to support him! In other words, the current direction of Xiabian City only had 300,000 troops left, and after deducting the losses during this period, there were less than 260,000 troops left. Dong Zhuo was helpless, but he did not dare to gather more troops from all sides again. He could only mobilize Li Su's troops in Tianshui City to support the front line! At that time, Tianshui City had an army of 100,000 soldiers. Li Ru suggested mobilizing 50,000 soldiers, but Dong Zhuo disagreed and said: "The main direction of Tianshui City is indeed Qi Mountain Pass, but now Qi Mountain Pass is surrounded by our army of 200,000! What danger can be said about Tianshui City?!" After finishing speaking, he ignored Li Ru's suggestion and directly mobilized 80,000 soldiers to support Xiabian City. Dong Zhuo was frustrated these days in Xiabian City! Although there was the number one brave general Lü Bu, but he could not withstand Liu Bei's four top-notch generals: Li Yu, Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, and Xu Huang! During this period, Li Yu used Mao Zedong's guerrilla warfare strategy to attack Dong Zhuo's army. On one side, he sent Zhao Yun to lead a few thousand cavalrymen to lure Lü Bu out of the camp, while on the other side, Li Yu led Zhang Fei and Xu Huang to launch a surprise attack on the main force! Although Dong Zhuo had many soldiers, his main hope was now pinned on Lü Bu, the enemy of ten thousand people. Ma Teng and Han Sui did not have a unified opinion. Ma Teng strongly opposed Han Sui's decision to help Dong Zhuo start a war against Yizhou, but seeing that it was useless, he neither obstructed nor assisted in the battle! Han Sui, Yan Xing, and eight other generals were also unable to participate in this battle. In the end, Han Sui decided to let his son-in-law Yan Xing lead Zhang Heng and Cheng Yi to cooperate with Dong Zhuo's army. Yan Xing was not a simple person. According to historical records, "Yan Xing, a native of Jincheng, later named Yan Ying, styled as Yan Ming. He had a strong reputation when he was young and started as a small general, following Han Sui. In the early years of Jian'an, Sui and Ma Teng attacked each other. Teng's son Chao was also known as Jian. Xing once stabbed Chao, but his spear broke, so he used the broken spear to strike Chao's neck, almost killing him!" If it weren't for the fact that his spear had broken, he would have directly killed Ma Chao! Later, he became even more powerful. In the 14th year of Emperor Xian of Han, Yan Xing was appointed as a general and led an army to attack Dong Zhuo's forces. Although the two armies were at a stalemate, it was actually because Li Yu was waiting for news from Guan Gong's side! It can be said that although the troops in Xiabian City had only half of Dong Zhuo's strength, their morale was high, and most of the soldiers were veteran warriors who had fought many battles. Moreover, Liu Bei had many top-notch generals, famous generals, and strategists concentrated in this small city of Xiabian! The military leaders included Li Yu, Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei, Xu Huang, Wu Yi, and Leng Bao. The strategist Guo Jia was much stronger than Dong Zhuo's strategist Li Ru! If the strength of the two armies were equal, Guo Jia would not be afraid of Li Ru at all! Therefore, although the troops in Xiabian City were fewer than Dong Zhuo's army, they defended very easily! Up to now, Dong Zhuo's army had been clearing the arrow towers outside Xiabian City, but they still had not approached the city.

  Two flowers bloom, each representing a branch. Just as Dong Zhuo withdrew the garrison of Tianshui City to support him in Xiapi! The direction of Qishan Pass also finally welcomed their dawn! Tian Feng - Tian Yuanhao!

  As for Tian Feng's arrival, Guan Yu was extremely excited and personally came out of the commander's mansion to welcome Tian Feng. When Tian Feng saw that his own general Liu Bei's younger brother, General Guan, had come to welcome him, he didn't dare to put on airs and immediately ran quickly forward to meet with Guan Yu. Second Master Guan invited Tian Feng into the commander's mansion! At this time, Cheng Yuanzhi also followed Tian Feng in!

  Guan Yu took his seat in the center, while Tian Feng entered from the side. The other generals, Zhang Ren, Ji Yi, Gao Shun, Cheng Yuanzhi and Huo Xu, followed one after another to take their seats!

  "Second Master didn't mince words, directly getting to the point and saying to Tian Feng: "Now that the military advisor has just arrived, I should have first given him a warm welcome, but with the great war imminent and pressing! My fourth brother is now holding on bitterly in Xiangyang, waiting for our army's victory in this battle, to completely destroy the old thief Dong Zhuo and revive the Great Han Dynasty! Big Brother and Gongtai are also eagerly awaiting news in Chengdu! Now that the military advisor has arrived, I ask if he has any brilliant strategies to defeat the enemy!"

  Tian Feng listened to Guan Gong's question, stroking his beard and smiling: "Don't worry, General. Yuan Shao's army under the jurisdiction of Qishan Pass is like a flock of chickens and dogs, we can defeat them tonight! Let the three armies eat their fill and rest for a while before setting out!"

  Guan Yu heard Tian Feng's words and thought they were too simple. The army had just arrived tonight to break the enemy! Some did not believe it, saying: "The military advisor Dong Zhuo has recently added 50,000 troops with Song Xian as the commander. Now there are about 130,000 soldiers under Mount Qi!"

  Tian Feng burst out laughing and stood up, pacing back and forth as he said: "Gao Sheng and Song Xian are not worth worrying about! Only Zhang Liao has both bravery and strategy. I have already written to the Grand Marshal on my way here, and the Grand Marshal said that if we want to defeat Zhang Wenfang, it must be General Meiyou! Therefore, Yuan Shao's plan requires the two of you to take risks in person! Do you two generals dare to take the risk?"

  Guān Gōng was somewhat dissatisfied upon hearing this, but he didn't want to lose his temper, so he said to Tián Fēng: "Military Advisor, a real man will follow orders and fight to the death. When two armies clash, there's only death! What nonsense is this about avoiding danger?"

  Tian Feng listened to Guan Gong's words and clapped his hands, saying: "General, you are so deeply aware of the great righteousness, how can this battle not be won?"

  Ji Yi and Zhang Ren etc. asked Tian Feng: "With the troops swearing to live or die together, how can we fear death? Please order the two generals and the military advisor!"

  Tian Feng waved his hand, and Er Ye Guan Gong was indeed a bit anxious, as he feared that delaying it for too long would be unfavorable to the city of Xia Bian. He asked Tian Feng: "Yuan Hao! What is your plan? Please speak clearly!"

  Tian Feng burst out laughing and said: "Alright! Since General Liu and all of you are in such a hurry, I, Yuan Hao, am selling my official position. I suppose General Liu recognizes me, but does the Green Dragon Crescent Blade recognize me?"

  "Let us listen with rapt attention to the ingenious plan of our military advisor!" said Lord Guan.

  Tian Feng returned to his seat and said, "Now, looking at the entire front line of this war, although Dong Zhuo's army is numerous, they have already exhausted their strength in a long-distance expedition! The old thief Dong Zhuo, in the battle of Xia Pi, what he said was stuck, actually didn't gain any advantage, so he divided his troops to Guan Shan Guan. Dong Zhuo, the old thief, doesn't know how to use his army and isn't good at commanding, unexpectedly appointed Guo Si as the commander, can Guo Si be considered a capable general?! In fact, it's self-inflicted defeat! Now, Dong Zhuo has withdrawn 80,000 troops from Tianshui City to support the battle of Xia Pi. The city wall of Tianshui City is high and grand, if there were 100,000 troops defending the city, to be honest, I wouldn't have any confidence, but now there are only 20,000 weak and disabled soldiers left, our army's siege equipment has appeared suddenly and can take them by surprise in one move. Currently, the most important thing is to annihilate Guo Si, Zhang Liao, and Song Xian's tens of thousands of troops outside Guan Shan Guan in one move!"

  Guan Yu heard this and said: "I agree with the military advisor, it can be said that heroes see things roughly the same way! But to defeat the enemy outside Guanzhong, we must fight quickly and decisively. Does the military advisor have a plan?"

  "General, do not be impatient. Our military strategy has been decided. Since Dong Zhuo's reinforcements have just arrived, Guo Si is a man who likes to take credit for himself and will surely be lax in his defense. Tonight, you can lead 50,000 cavalrymen to directly attack Guo Si's main camp. If we can kill Guo Si, that would be best. If not, it would be best to lure Zhang Liao into battle. Zhang Wen is a hero unlike any other, and only you, General, can match him. As long as you can defeat Zhang Liao, the enemy's morale will surely collapse! I have ordered Ji Ping and Gao Shun to lead 20,000 cavalrymen each on the left and right flanks to attack the enemy once they see Zhang Liao's army move. At nightfall, the enemy will not know how many of our troops there are and we will surely win a great victory! Then, I will lead Cheng Yuanzhi and the infantry to meet up with you, General, and launch a pincer attack from behind. We will leave Huo Jie at Qishan Pass to guard the pass. I have also ordered Zhang Ren to lead 50,000 cavalrymen to cut off the enemy's retreat route. How can we not win this battle?! But the most important thing is that after we win, Ji Ping will lead 10,000 infantrymen to sweep the battlefield and immediately return to Qishan Pass. Then, according to the strategy set by Li Yu and you, General, Gao Shun will lead 20,000 troops to block Dong Zhuo's reinforcements! We will concentrate all our forces and use siege engines to capture Tianshui City in one battle, cutting off the old bandit's retreat route! Then, you, General, will work together with Zhang Ren and the other generals to besiege the city under the command of the Grand Marshal. Ji Ping will come out of Qishan Pass to cooperate with the Grand Marshal, and we will launch a three-pronged attack on Dong Zhuo. This great task will surely be accomplished in one move!"

  Guanshan laughed loudly and said: "The military advisor is indeed a divine person, he is the one granted by heaven to help Yunchang defeat his enemies. With such a wonderful strategy, how can we worry that great things will not be accomplished?"

  Guan Yu ordered Zhang Ren, Gao Shun, Cheng Yuanzhi, Ju Yi, and Huo Zhu to return to their respective units to assemble the troops and prepare for a decisive battle against Dong Zhuo's army outside of Qi Mountain Pass at the third watch tonight. He also commanded all soldiers to eat a hearty meal before the battle!

  It was the third watch of the night, the moonlight was dim, and the strong wind suddenly blew on Guan Yu's face. At this time, Guan Yu gently stroked his whiskers, his eyebrows were furrowed, his phoenix eyes looked up at the sky, his face was like a heavy date, and his lips were like vermilion. His whole body was dressed in neat attire, wearing a green military cloak outside, holding that Qinglong Yanyue knife with one hand, truly majestic and awe-inspiring, worthy of being called the Military Saint by later generations.

  At this moment, the red lantern on Guishan Pass rose, which was a secret signal agreed upon by General Guan and Tian Feng! The second master saw the red lantern rise and turned around to say to the soldiers behind him: "Tonight, we are ordered to raid the camp. I am the vanguard of the army, you must work hard to move forward. Don't humiliate the prestige of my Guan family army!" Everyone heard this and immediately mounted their horses. General Guan saw that someone had a difficult expression on his face, so he held up the Green Dragon Crescent Moon knife in his hand and shouted angrily: "Now I am the commander-in-chief, and I will not spare my life; how dare you hesitate?" Everyone saw General Guan's heroic appearance and stood up on their horses to bow and say: "We are willing to follow General Guan to behead the enemy general and capture the flag!" General Guan saw that all his soldiers were wearing armor and mounting their horses, so he held up the Green Dragon Crescent Moon knife as a substitute for military orders and led the army straight to the main tent of Gou Ze. The strong wind was blowing loudly, which coincidentally provided cover for General Guan's cavalry. It was indeed the old saying: "A dark moon is a good night for killing, a strong wind is a good time for setting fires!"

  Second Master Guan Yu led the army to rush to the edge of Guo's village, and Guan Yu personally bent his bow and set up arrows. The bow was as full as a full moon, and the arrow flew like a meteor. One shot rushed straight to the sentry on the sentry post, and before the sentry could shout out, he was shot down by this arrow. Second Master ordered the army to open the deer horn array, Guan Yu personally led the vanguard and shouted loudly, killing into the village, rushing straight to the main account of the middle army to kill Guo. Originally, the soldiers and horses in the middle army were counted in hundreds, all lined up in formation, surrounded like an iron bucket, Second Master Guan Yu could not get in for a while. Seeing this, Second Master did not hesitate at all, immediately led 50,000 cavalrymen as vanguard, wielding the Qinglong Yanyue knife to charge left and right. Guo's soldiers were panicked and confused, and for a moment they didn't know how many enemy soldiers there were, and they were in chaos. Seeing this, Second Master wielded the Qinglong Yanyue knife like a windmill, wildly harvesting the lives of the enemy soldiers. At this time, Second Master Guan Yu was galloping horizontally in the camp, and this Qinglong Yanyue knife was killing whoever it met. At this time, Guo reacted and immediately ordered each camp to drum and make noise, raise fire like stars, and shout loudly. Second Master did not hesitate at all, killing from the south gate of the village, no one dared to block him. Guo knew that Guan Yu had fewer soldiers, so he ordered his four generals to go and block Second Master Guan Yu. Good Guan Yu didn't care, and went straight to the four generals! The four generals each held knives and guns to fight Guan Yu, but Second Master didn't take them seriously at all. This Qinglong Yanyue knife had a kind of "who else" attitude, this big knife was above protecting his body and below guarding his horse! The four generals surrounded him, but Second Master didn't care at all! After the four generals fought with Second Master Guan Yu for two rounds, Second Master saw an opportunity to wield his horizontal knife, using a sweep of thousands of troops, one knife actually cut off two enemy generals. A person behind him took advantage of the timing and stabbed straight at Second Master's back, but Second Master didn't take that person seriously at all, flipped his body with one knife, and before the person's spear arrived, he was split in half by one knife! That little general saw this and hurriedly turned around to escape, Second Master Guan Yu bent his bow and set up arrows, one arrow shot into that person's throat, and the dead body fell under the horse! Second Master single-handedly beheaded four generals, greatly damaging the enemy army's morale! The whole army was in an uproar! And at this time, on the contrary, it also greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers led by Second Master! They were already high-spirited, and now they were even more spirited! Everyone waved their weapons wildly, harvesting the enemy army's morale! And just as Guo ordered Zhang Liao and Song Xian to lead the army to respond.

  The real war has begun!

  My heart remains unchanged, but you don't know. Waiting for your early return, with a heart full of longing!