"Bomiao, the Wei army's movements are very suspicious."
Zhao Yun hurriedly summoned Deng Zhi to discuss the matter.
The scout cupped his hands in salute to the two men. "Generals, I discovered that a large force of Wei troops had broken camp at the mouth of Ji Valley and headed north."
"Tell us everything!" Deng Zhi said loudly.
"This is what happened." The scout briefly recalled the events. "The Wei troops moved at night with very few torches, but fortunately the moonlight was good. I initially thought they intended a night raid, but unexpectedly, they marched north along Baoxie Road."
"Although I couldn't determine exactly how many men they had, nearly four hours passed between their assembly and their disappearance from our sight."
"Four hours?" Deng Zhi raised his eyebrows. "If my guess is correct, the force heading north was the Wei army's main force."
"You are correct, General." The scout nodded. "Early the next morning, judging by the cooking smoke from their camp, I made a preliminary estimate that no more than ten thousand or so soldiers remained."
Deng Zhi paced back and forth inside the command tent with his hands behind his back. Taking into account the Wei army's earlier reinforcement of its camp defenses, he ventured a bold deduction:
"It seems the Wei army wants to trap us inside Ji Valley. As long as they hold the valley mouth, we cannot advance north and pose any substantial threat to Guanzhong."
"That is why, after entering the valley, they switched from offense to defense, allowing their main army to leave the Ji Valley battlefield earlier and reinforce Longxi."
"Then what do you think we should do, Bomiao?" Zhao Yun asked with a frown.
"Our immediate priority should still be to send a swift rider to report to the Chancellor. We need only continue holding our position until the withdrawal on the fifteenth day that he stipulated." This was the only solution Deng Zhi could think of. Though it would leave them very passive, at least they would make no mistakes.
"Hmm..." Zhao Yun held his chin in thought for a long time. Only after a while did he slowly speak. "Bomiao, sending a letter to Longxi and receiving a reply would take at least four days. I fear we would lose our opportunity."
"The Chancellor spent five whole years preparing for this battle!" Zhao Yun turned, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked at the map of Longxi on the wall. He sighed and continued, "I followed the late emperor and the Chancellor through many years of war. I truly hope I can help the Great Han return to its old capital within my lifetime."
Somewhat moved by these words, Deng Zhi could not help asking, "Then what would you propose, General?"
Zhao Yun walked around the command desk toward Deng Zhi. "Bomiao, I am not a man who insists on deciding everything alone. The Chancellor placed us both in command so that we could support each other."
"I have a plan. Hear me out." Zhao Yun sat back down at the command desk and said gravely, "Tomorrow, our army can attack the Wei camp and retake the valley mouth."
"The Wei army has left only a detached force to hold it. Victory is not beyond us. So long as we capture their camp, we can pin down the Wei State's main army in Guanzhong and keep it from moving rashly. Only then can we truly help the Chancellor."
This time, Deng Zhi fell silent.
He, too, hesitated. In truth, the safest course was naturally to remain where they were.
But if the Wei army really did reach the Longxi battlefield ahead of schedule, what good would holding out for fifteen days do?
The great undertaking of the northern expedition would still fall short at the final hurdle.
He, Deng Zhi, was certainly no man who clung to life and feared death. If he could contribute his strength to the Chancellor and the Great Han, his death would be no cause for regret.
The two looked at each other in silence for a while. In the end, Deng Zhi agreed to Zhao Yun's plan.
"General, we should still report to the Chancellor as usual. As for matters here, everything will be at your discretion."
"Good." Zhao Yun nodded. "But there is no need to belittle yourself, Bomiao. I must still rely on your counsel for how we should attack."
"I shall obey your orders, General."
And so Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi began discussing their advance inside the command tent, continuing late into the night.
They abandoned the rather risky idea of a nighttime raid on the camp, choosing instead to eat during the third watch the following morning and march out during the fifth.
During the fifth watch, with a trace of gray-white still in the sky, Zhao Yun's army marched out of camp in a vast column.
The vanguard remained the several thousand elite cavalry led by Zhao Yun, while Deng Zhi commanded the center.
Only around a thousand soldiers were left to guard the Shu camp. Zhao Yun's army had virtually emptied the nest.
At first light, the Shu army reached the Wei camp at the valley mouth.
Judging by their dispositions, the Wei troops indeed had no intention of fighting in the open and had reinforced their defenses well in advance.
After scouting the Wei camp's deployment, Zhao Yun immediately ordered an assault. Battle was about to erupt.
The Shu army's strategy was to concentrate superior numbers and attack the southern camp with all its strength.
The Shu army had been the attacking side from the outset of this campaign, so even this detached force conducting a feint had brought some siege equipment, including catapults.
Now they truly came into use.
The catapults targeted not the camp gate but the Wei archers and crossbowmen beyond it. After several volleys, the rate of Wei crossbow fire noticeably declined.
Zhao Yun then ordered the infantry to charge.
After several assaults, the camp the Wei troops had hastily built over the past few days proved utterly unable to withstand the Shu army.
Facing the rising sun on the horizon, Zhao Yun heard news of victory.
"Report!" A messenger ran over. "General, the enemy's southern camp has fallen!"
Zhao Yun immediately drew the sword at his waist. "Soldiers, charge with me!"
"Roar!"
The Shu army's elite cavalry streamed out, led by a white horse.
They easily cleared the crude trenches and broken abatis, then drove straight through the chaotic battlefield into the camp.
Though disorder filled the Wei camp, the command banner at its center still stood firm. Zhao Yun felt a little more respect for this old opponent.
But on closer inspection, the great banner was not that of the Wei commander Zhang He. Instead, it bore the name "Xiahou."
Zhao Yun felt vaguely uneasy. With the southern camp breached, victory seemed within reach, yet the Wei army had offered little resistance along the way.
Zhao Yun steadied himself. The battlefield changed in countless ways, and he could only attend to what lay before him. He gathered the troops around him and ordered an all-out assault on the Wei central camp.
Four hours later, the great banner above the Wei central command tent also came crashing down.
"General, the Wei troops are retreating! We have won a great victory!" A colonel ran over, his face covered in dust and grime.
Zhao Yun's expression was grave. He merely waved a hand. "Quickly tally the enemy slain and captured, and hurry to dispatch eight hundred men to hold the valley mouth."
"Yes, sir!"
Zhao Yun surveyed the Wei camp. Raising his head, he discovered that it did not extend into the valley at all, but sat tightly against its mouth.
Mountains still enclosed it on two sides, and only one side of the camp faced the valley.
While he stood distracted, another soldier jogged up beside him and shouted, "We have seized countless provisions and supplies in the Wei camp! I am having the men count them."
"Lead the way. I will inspect them myself." Zhao Yun dismounted and followed the soldier at a brisk pace.
The two arrived beside a small wooden cart. Zhao Yun pierced a sack of army grain with his sword, and kernels of millet immediately poured out.
Zhao Yun was just about to rejoice-with these provisions, he could delay the Wei army for even another month or more-when he suddenly caught a strange smell.
He hurriedly scooped up a handful of millet from the ground and held it beneath his nose.
What was this?
Fire oil!
Zhao Yun's expression changed drastically. He flung away the millet in his hand and shouted, "Quick! Assemble the entire army! Withdraw from the camp at once!"
Just then, something seemed to light up the sky.
Zhao Yun looked up. Flaming arrows filled the sky as they descended, reflected as scattered points of light in his pupils.
The instant the arrows touched the camp's provisions, sparks flew everywhere. Before the Shu soldiers counting the supplies could react, they became burning human torches.
"Aaargh!"
The Shu soldiers screamed in agony, unable to heed Zhao Yun's orders at all. In an instant, the camp descended into chaos.
Zhao Yun raised his weapon high and shouted his own name.
"Zhao Yun is here!"
He tried hard to make his position known so that the soldiers who still retained their senses could rally to him.
Just then, another voice drowned out Zhao Yun's shouts.
Zhao Yun listened closely and, for a moment, could scarcely believe what he heard.
They were shouting, "Reinforcements have arrived!"
A large force of Wei troops suddenly charged through the camp gate beside the northern valley road. Shouting "Capture Zhao Yun alive!", they surged toward the disordered Shu troops.
The situation reversed in an instant!
"General! We have fallen into a trap!" Deng Zhi rode up beside Zhao Yun, his face filled with regret.
"I have just received an urgent report from the scouts! Only three thousand Wei troops reached Xieyu Pass. The rest of their army never continued north at all-they hid in the mountains!"
Zhao Yun had already grown suspicious when he saw those vast quantities of provisions.
By rights, the Wei army's northward march had been an orderly operation. They could not possibly have left so much grain here.
The Wei army had done this precisely to lure him into attacking the camp.
But by the time the scouts once again discovered something unusual about the Wei army's movements and returned to report it, anything they said was too late.
"General, we must retreat!"
Deng Zhi's shout pulled Zhao Yun back to reality. He gazed toward the distant northwest, heaved a long sigh, and ordered a breakout.
The Shu army fled in a rout.