Chapter 133 Encounter on a narrow road
"You still want to attack?" Liu Yin was suddenly shocked, feeling that his general was crazy.
They only have 2,000 soldiers in total, so they are lucky to have traveled across mountains and ridges to steal Xiaoting. Next, as long as we hold on to Xiaoting and drive away the Wu army in the direction of Yiling, the mission is completed.
This is also the task given by Prime Minister Zhuge. Just defend Xiaoting and wait for Chen Shi to lead the elite Wudang flying army to follow.
But how dare his own general continue the attack with two thousand men?
"Xiuren, stability is good, but your structure is still too small." Ma Su shook his head and expressed his appreciation for Liu Yin's stability, but still said.
"You have to understand that our strategic goal is not only to occupy Xiaoting, but also to conquer the entire Yangtze River Pass. Only by capturing all the key Yangtze River Passes can we be considered a victory!"
"We have few troops now, and that's why Soochow looks down on us. If we lead a surprise attack now, Soochow will definitely not be prepared, and may even hit us on the road!"
When the Shu Han Dynasty attacked Soochow, there were only a few key passes in the Yangtze River.
The Three Gorges are Zigui, Yiling, Xiaoting and Yidao.
Yi Dao is the last limit of Soochow's defense line and the last barrier to stop the Shu army.
Once Yi Dao is lost, the Shu army can blast and land at Xiaoting via the Yangtze River. Then they invaded Jingnan smoothly along the south bank of the Yangtze River, leaving Soochow unprepared at all.
When the late emperor conquered Wu, his core goal was to capture this city. As long as Xiaoting is captured, the Shu army can march unimpeded in Jingnan, which is close to the Shu Han.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang's strategic goal on the southern route this time is to go down the river and conquer various Yangtze River passes along the way. If possible, just break through Yidao and reach back to Jingnan.
This strategy is basically a replica of the late emperor's Battle of Yiling, with little change. Moreover, the troop strength and the ratio of each department are similar to those of the late emperor, except that they can fight faster.
So when Ma Su saw all this, he basically understood the little Jiujiu in the prime minister's heart.
After all, the prime minister also has feelings, and Prime Minister Zhuge is still very upset about the defeat of the late emperor Yiling. This time, I will clearly use the late emperor's strategy to attack Soochow again and rectify the late emperor's name.
Our prime minister also has a heart for revenge.
In this regard, Ma Su also planned to lend a helping hand to the Prime Minister and speed up the process of conquering Wu.
Didn’t the Prime Minister ask me to capture Xiaoting? Not only did I have to capture Xiaoting, I also had to personally lead people to steal the Yi Road. After stealing Yidao, the prime minister could advance both by land and water after conquering Yiling, and the army went straight to the Jingzhou plain.
However, in the eyes of Liu Yin, who was not familiar with Ma Di, this strategy was simply nonsense. Only two thousand soldiers and horses crossed the mountains and ridges to steal the city. They were lucky to be able to steal even one city.
You are not satisfied yet and want to steal another one?
It's a pity that Liu Yin couldn't persuade Ma Su, who was determined, and in the end he had no choice but to follow Ma Su to gather troops.
"It looks like I have to be ready to cover the general's evacuation at any time. It's too chaotic."
Liu Yin sighed secretly in his heart. He really didn't expect that this powerful general would take such risks.
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Xiaoting was captured by the Shu army, and the defeated troops fled eastward to Yidao to report. The defenders of Yidao were Dongwu generals Pan Zhang and Zhu Ran. At this time, they held eight thousand soldiers and horses to guard the place.
"What? The Shu army came out of the mountains and forests?" Pan Zhang couldn't help but be shocked when he heard the words of the defeated troops.
"Isn't Yiling not yet conquered? How come the Shu army has already appeared in Xiaoting?"
"I have heard before that Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Kingdom, selected the Qingqiang barbarians who are good at fighting in the south to join the army and named them Wudang Feijun." General Zhu Ran was silent for a while and said.
"Their soldiers are brave and good at fighting, and they are good at climbing mountains and cities. I am afraid they are the ones who crossed the Yi Mountain to attack."
"I'm afraid something is going to happen to General Sun of Yiling!"
The location of Xiaoting is very special. It is located near Huya, Jingmen, and is an important battlefield fulcrum. If Xiaoting is lost, Yiling will lose the response from the south bank, and its retreat will be cut off by the Shu army on the south bank at any time.
By then, it will be impossible for General Sun to retreat safely, and it is very likely that he will be directly dumped.
"We must assemble our troops immediately and recapture Xiaoting as soon as possible!" Pan Zhang immediately made a judgment and must counterattack as soon as possible.
"The Shu army came over the mountains and ridges, and there are definitely not many troops there. I personally lead three thousand elite soldiers to rush to the rescue, and I will definitely defeat the bandits!"
"General Pan, don't attack rashly when you don't know the strength of the Shu army." Zhu Ran was more steady than Pan Zhang, and he did not advocate rash attacks.
What if this is a trap? If you attack rashly, you will easily be ambushed.
"Is there any choice now? If something happens to General Sun, do you think the Supreme Lord will let us go?" Pan Zhang shook his head and said with a very firm attitude.
"The Governor is still gathering troops in Jiangling. We can't hope for a short time. If we sit back and watch something happen to General Sun, the Supreme Being will definitely hold us accountable!"
"This Yiting must be saved!"
Regarding Pan Zhang's attitude, Zhu Ran had no choice but to agree. In fact, it is true that Sun Huan is from the Sun family. Their relatives who sit back and watch the leader are surrounded will probably have to wear shoes.
Not everyone is like Lu Xun, who has a strong background and is not afraid of the leader's anger.
After urgently mobilizing his own troops and horses, Pan Zhang personally led 3,000 troops and horses from Yidao and attacked Xiaoting.
Zhu Ran, on the other hand, continued to defend Yidao with five thousand soldiers and horses as the final insurance.
Pan Zhang's three thousand soldiers and horses came straight towards Xiaoting, but what he didn't know was that Ma Di's two thousand soldiers and horses also came all the way.
Yidao and Xiaoting are not far apart, and the road is narrow and there is obviously no room for maneuver. Scouts from both sides soon discovered each other's traces on the road and reported them immediately.
"Look, I just said that the Soochow rats are arrogant and arrogant. We will not take them seriously." Ma Su said with a cheerful smile after receiving the battle report.
"Generals, charge with me!"
"Kill!!" The Wudang Feijun under his command were elites led by Meng Guo, and they were very confident in Ma Su's power. When General Shenwei gave the order to charge, all the barbarian soldiers roared excitedly.
At the same time, Pan Zhang's scouts also sent the battle report to Pan Zhang.
"General! The Shu army should have discovered us and are rushing towards us at full speed!" Deputy General Ma Zhonggong handed over his hand and reported to Pan Zhang.
"At this moment, we are defending according to the mountain. When the Shu army arrives and descends from the heights, we will definitely defeat the Shu army!"
"Why are you guarding! Didn't you hear that the general on the opposite side is Ma Su! How can our Soochow warriors be afraid of Shu dogs!" Pan Zhang did not take it seriously at all and gave the order directly.
"The whole army will attack with me! I will kill the enemy general and get the first victory this time!"
Pan Zhang is a person who likes merit, is greedy for money and lustful. For him, money and merit are the biggest pursuits in life.
Guan Yu only killed Yan Liang once and became famous all over the world. If he, Pan Zhang, could kill the powerful Ma Su in Longyou, he, Pan Zhang, could also become a famous general!
After all, now we meet on a narrow road, and only the brave can win!