Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Chapter 532: Battle of Xinye (1)

The seat of Nanyang Commandery was Wancheng, which was also a fortified city.

With Huang Zu stubbornly holding on, it would take more than a few days for Yuan Shu to completely capture Wancheng.

Yuan Shu might be arrogant and self-important, but he also had strategists who could see the situation clearly.

If he wanted to capture Xiangyang, he needed a swift victory to prevent the Jingzhou army from turning back.

Otherwise, even if Yuan Shu actually mobilized around 130,000 troops,

if Liu Biao were to send a detachment of 30,000 to 40,000 troops back to Xiangyang to assist in defense, even burying 130,000 Yuzhou soldiers under Xiangyang's walls might not shake Xiangyang in the slightest.

In contrast to Wancheng, Xinye, blocking the other route south, was just a small city.

Even with Liu Biao's prior repairs to Xinye, it couldn't change the fact that Xinye's defenses were far inferior to Wancheng's.

After thoroughly investigating the intelligence on Xinye's defending general, Yuan Shu immediately ordered a halt to the assault on Wancheng and headed straight for Xinye.

Of course, even capturing Xinye would open the road south to Xiangyang, but Wancheng and Xinye naturally formed a mutual defensive posture, not far apart. Yuan Shu had to detach a force to guard against Huang Zu in Wancheng.

Therefore, Yuan Shu ordered his general Zhang Xun to lead 10,000 troops to set up camp outside Wancheng to prevent Huang Zu from taking the opportunity to leave the city and disrupt Yuan Shu's rear supply lines, which were not far away.

Although Xinye was called a small city, this "small" was only relative to Wancheng. At certain times, Xinye was even briefly moved to be the seat of Jingzhou.

Moreover, Xinye's location was also quite important. The Yu River connected Wancheng, Xinye, and Xiangyang. Xinye was located in the middle of the Yu River. From Xinye downstream, it would take only a few days to reach Xiangyang.

Except for one side facing the water, Xinye was surrounded by flat plains. Coupled with Xinye's low walls, the difficulty of capturing it was obviously far lower than Wancheng.

When Yuan Shu arrived outside Xinye in a war chariot with soft cushions, escorted by the central army, he looked at the city, barely four people high, with disdain.

"Lord, the campsite has been chosen. Should we set up camp first and rest before attacking the city on another day?" Yan Xiang asked, approaching the chariot.

"No need."

Yuan Shu picked up a cup from the table on the chariot, took a sip of honey water, greatly relieving the heat brought by the scorching sun.

It was approaching summer, and the weather was gradually becoming hot and humid.

Yan Xiang, who was asking questions on horseback, watched Yuan Shu's comfortable appearance, his throat couldn't help but twitch, and then he raised his hand to wipe the sweat constantly pouring from his forehead.

Even Yuan Shu, lying on the battlefield with an umbrella to shield him from the sun, felt the heat. Yan Xiang was naturally covered in sweat. What worried Yan Xiang even more was the army that had been marching for many days in the hot weather.

In Yan Xiang's opinion, they should set up camp first, let the army rest for a day, and then send a general to test the waters before devising a strategy to attack the city.

Feeling the comfort of the honey water sliding down his throat, Yuan Shu waved his hand and said.

"Don't think I don't know the art of war. The art of war says: If five times stronger, attack; if twice as strong, divide. Xinye's fortifications are far inferior to Wancheng's. The garrison is only ten thousand, and the defending general is an unknown junior. Why worry?

"Three drumbeats should be enough to break this small city of Xinye. Why waste so much effort setting up camp? Wouldn't it be wonderful to rest directly in Xinye?"

Immediately, without giving Yan Xiang a chance to speak, Yuan Shu beckoned to his trusted general Ji Ling, who was beside him.

Ji Ling, with a dignified face and resolute features, holding a three-pointed double-edged blade, quickly rode forward, saluted, and lowered his eyes, saying.

"What are your orders, Lord?"

Yuan Shu raised his hand and pointed towards Xinye, saying. "Capture this city. I want to rest in the city before sunset."

"Yes!"

Ji Ling, wearing silver armor, cupped his fist in response, flung his cloak, and immediately went down to prepare his troops.

As Yuan Shu's most trusted general, Ji Ling also had extremely high prestige in Yuan Shu's army. After receiving Yuan Shu's order,

Ji Ling immediately directed the army to gather materials nearby to build temporary siege equipment, while leading a group of generals and guards to the bottom of Xinye.

Building temporary siege equipment also took some time.

Before that, while ordering the army to rest in place, Ji Ling also had his generals call out to the city, further suppressing the morale of the Xinye defenders.

Morale, seemingly虚乌有, is actually real and extremely important.

It's like a modern unit. If this unit were to cross the sea and trample Mount Fuji, its morale would be far beyond comparison with other targets, and the combat power it could exert would be at a completely different level.

Calling out and fighting generals is undoubtedly an effective way to quickly boost one's own morale and suppress the enemy's morale.

Ji Ling, confident in his martial prowess, didn't take the small city of Xinye seriously at all.

"Hey! Listen up, you people above! I am Liang Gang, a general under Yuan Shu, the governor of Runan Commandery. Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou, is tyrannical and killed my lord's friend, Sun Wentai, the governor of Changsha…"

At the city tower of Xinye, besides Liu Pan, the other generals were also gathered here.

Listening to Liang Gang's roar under the city gate, even though people of this era had relatively low mental defenses due to higher moral standards, Liang Gang's little bit of aggression was completely ignored by Liu Pan and others.

Moreover, anyone who wasn't blind could discern Yuan Shu's intentions.

What revenge for Sun Jian, accusing Liu Biao of violating the laws of the court, were just excuses.

What worried Liu Pan, who appeared somewhat chubby, was Yuan Shu's army outside the city, which seemed to stretch endlessly.

"Even if it's not the exaggerated 250,000, I'm afraid there are over 100,000. Xinye is afraid it can't hold on," Liu Pan said worriedly.

Yuan Shu's judgment was actually correct on one point.

That is, Liu Pan, as Liu Biao's nephew, was said to be slightly brave, but that was all due to Liu Biao's connections being touted, so that Liu Pan could take a position to guard one side for Liu Biao.

In terms of actual ability, Liu Pan was mediocre in all aspects, only his loyalty was commendable. This was also why Liu Biao let Liu Pan garrison Xinye.

The disparity in strength between the enemy and us was secondary. Loyalty was paramount, so that they could delay Yuan Shu's march as much as possible.

Some of Liu Pan's generals, looking at the endless army outside the city, felt dizzy and had a kind of trypophobia.

Only Huang Zhong, with a few strands of gray beard standing beside Liu Pan, had a calm expression like water, his back still as straight as a pine, far from showing the timidity of his generals.