Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1293: Chapter 1247: Clash at the Youzhou Border

”We can’t keep fighting this way!” Huang Zhong looked at the battle losses that had just been delivered, his face turning dark as he almost slammed the table.

”I feel the same way,” Fa Zheng said, pressing his temples; he had a terrible headache now.

Though Fa Zheng was renowned for his numerous clever stratagems, facing Yuan Tan’s army, led by Xuu You as strategist and Jiangh Yiqu as chief general, they held no advantage besides the prowess of their leading general. In terms of military strategy and manpower, they were at a disadvantage.

Most crucially, Huang Zhong only commanded a corps of five thousand men, and including auxiliary forces, they did not surpass ten thousand. Meanwhile, Xuu You fortified his defenses, evacuated the countryside, and held his cities. His regulars alone numbered over forty thousand, spread across several cities at the border of Youzhou and Bohai Commandery.

Xuu You, regardless of any stratagem Fa Zheng employed, focused solely on striking Huang Zhong’s regular soldiers. Each sortie aimed at merely achieving a two-digit kill count, avoiding large-scale engagements altogether. After a period of skirmishing, neither Fa Zheng nor Xuu You, who defended his cities, managed to gain any advantage.

In contrast, because Xuu You would sneak in to steal a chicken from Huang Zhong one day, fish from Fa Zheng the next, and raid their camp the day after, up until now, Huang Zhong and Fa Zheng had already lost over a thousand regular soldiers due to injuries, rendering them combat ineffective.

It’s true that Xuu You might have suffered two or three hundred more casualties than Fa Zheng, but the situation clearly favored Xuu You. The opponent clearly intended to dampen Liu Bei’s morale. As long as Liu Bei’s assault on Youzhou failed, Yuan Tan’s army would free up forces, and without Liu Bei holding them back, the Xianbei would be no match.

Similarly, if they couldn’t force Yuan Tan into a tight spot with his forces, then Chen Xi’s pincer attack plan would end up being wasted.

”Xuu You clearly wants to push us back,” Huang Zhong also understood Xuu You’s intention. Initially, he thought that with Yuan Shao dead and the defeat of Yuan Shao’s army in the battle of Yanzhou, the overall morale of Yuan Shao’s army would decline. However, he didn’t expect Yuan Shao’s army to still possess such strength.

”We can’t continue this stalemate, but we must keep Yuan Tan’s army occupied here...” Fa Zheng said solemnly. Their original mission was to force Yuan Tan to focus strategically on the south, leaving the north vulnerable. Yet, unexpectedly, Yuan Tan’s army went the opposite direction.

On the other side, Xu Shu was also frustrated; his forte was countering tricks. He might not be as adept in devising plots and setting battlefields as first-class civil officials, but even if those officials were to play these games in front of him, he could easily counter them.

Unfortunately, Xun Shen was almost the same type of person as him. Xun Shen was also a master of countering strategies, and once he targeted someone, he could relentlessly break down their tactics. To the point, Xun Shen could even synchronize with the opponent’s thought processes.

Once these two faced off, they initially tried a formation battle, where Xun Shen suffered a small defeat. Following this, Xun Shen began various forms of harassment, with Xu Shu countering each move. Both sides exchanged blows in a lively manner, but as time wore on, Xu Shu grew increasingly stifled.

As the encounters continued, Xun Shen understood Xu Shu’s thought patterns more clearly, eventually forcing Xu Shu to flip the chessboard, abandoning thoughts of creating strategies that Xun Shen couldn’t unravel. Realizing that all his plans would be seen through by Xun Shen, he shifted to thinking about how to turn the tables once his plan was uncovered!

Finally, Xu Shu unleashed his ultimate weapon, personally donning his armor and taking to the battlefield. Fortunately, Wei Yan recognized Xu Shu’s capabilities, preventing any discord between generalship and strategic counsel.

This, however, did not brighten Wei Yan’s expression. It wasn’t that Xu Shu bore too great a loss, making Wei Yan distressed; rather, Xu Shu’s command and maneuvering exceeded his own abilities!

During that time, Xu Shu’s stratagem was indeed deciphered by Xun Shen. Xu Shu, aware he couldn’t deceive Xun Shen, had already notified his soldiers not to panic when faced with an ambush.

On this point, it’s necessary to mention Wei Yan. Most of Wei Yan’s soldiers were re-employed veteran soldiers over the age of thirty-two. After a special conscription order, these retired veterans were recalled to service, and Liu Bei had not insisted on their discharge.

In the end, these veterans who should have returned to farming rejoined the military. Part of the reason was that they now had better food and reasonable medical care, so soldiers in their early thirties no longer appeared so worn out.

Thus, with Liu Bei turning a blind eye, Wei Yan made no effort to discharge these veterans. They took delight in serving in the army, which was considered a decent profession under Liu Bei’s rule, providing assured stipends and posthumous honors, with commemorative offerings for the fallen every year!

Because they were all seasoned veterans, some of the low-ranking officers had even been soldiers during the first expedition against Yu, fully understanding when to fight and when to be cautious. Under Xu Shu’s skilled guidance, they had witnessed his capabilities when leading them in an attack on Qinghe.

All of the soldiers became extra cautious after Xu Shu’s reminder. Xun Shen’s counter-ambush of Xu Shu effectively had no impact as all of Xu Shu’s soldiers coldly observed Yuan Tan’s army.

Sure enough, this was within Xun Shen’s expectations. As he had essentially figured out Xu Shu’s thought processes, anything Xu Shu might conceive, Xun Shen could also envision. Thus, his ambush this time was carried out with the assumption of failure, bringing five times the number of troops as Xu Shu.

One might argue that Xun Shen brought too many soldiers, leading to the ambush’s failure. However, these details weren’t important. What was crucial was that Xu Shu truly trusted Liu Ye’s intelligence this time, acknowledging that Xun Shen could fully simulate the opponent’s thought process through direct confrontation.

However, Xu Shu later proved to Xun Shen that even if you completely simulate my thought process, as long as you can’t defeat me head-on, it still won’t make a difference.

Xun Shen had roughly five times Xu Shu’s forces. Xu Shu led about three thousand soldiers, while Xun Shen had about fifteen thousand. Still, with Wei Yan’s superiority as a mighty general, he could account for two thousand men.

Subsequently, Xu Shu personally commanded the army, crushing Xun Shen’s fifteen thousand men head-on. The mere Xuanxiang Formation, even if you hadn’t perfected it, or even if Ju Shou was resurrected to arrange it, do you believe I couldn’t still crush you?

Sweeping through Xun Shen’s army in one go, Xu Shu directed the soldiers to capture prisoners and pursued Xun Shen. Unfortunately, when Xun Shen realized the unfavorable situation, he organized a retreat to ensure his own withdrawal. Though Xu Shu eventually broke through the withdrawing formation, he ultimately did not capture Xun Shen.

This victory gave Xu Shu a moment of satisfaction, but subsequently, Xun Shen did not completely suppress Xu Shu. Except for those fleeting moments of inspiration where Xu Shu himself didn’t fully comprehend before acting, Xun Shen dismantled all of the other plans, leaving Xu Shu under a pall of frustration.

Nevertheless, after that encounter, Xun Shen no longer exited the city to engage Xu Shu directly. The previous performance of Xu Shu had been too astonishing; Xun Shen concluded that he should stick to his duties, irking Xu Shu out of the area to then deal with the Xianbei and such matters.