Liu Bei: My younger brother is a deity.

Chapter 74: Surrounded

On a small hill.

Xia Yule stood beneath the general's flag, surrounded by several subordinate officials and officers.

A few hundred paces away, a group of four or five hundred Xianbei cavalrymen were locked in combat with his Wuhuan cavalry.

The two sides charged back and forth, arrows raining down like locusts, and people were frequently hit by arrows and fell from their horses.

One knight among the Wuhuan cavalry stood out.

This man was none other than the Wuhuan archer who had competed against Liu Quan in the archery arena that day.

He spurred his horse and galloped forward, drawing his bow with both hands. With each pluck of the bowstring, a Xianbei cavalryman screamed and fell from his horse.

The arrows never missed their mark, causing numerous casualties.

Xia Yu nodded slightly and praised, "Not bad."

The Wuhuan leader standing to the side looked smug, stroking his beard and smiling.

Just then, a series of muffled thunderous roars suddenly came from the horizon.

Xia Yu's expression changed drastically, and he abruptly looked up into the distance.

Where the sky meets the earth, a black line is rolling in, covering everything and rapidly approaching.

Ahead of the black line, dozens of Han soldiers' scouts and wandering knights were galloping away on horseback.

Those who were slow to run were swallowed up by the black tide in the blink of an eye.

"At least 20,000 men, Tan Shihuai's main force has arrived!" Xia Yu's pupils constricted, but he did not panic.

He truly hadn't expected Tan Shihuai to be so decisive, actually concentrating all his main forces on his side.

But this suited him perfectly.

By holding off Tan Shihuai, and waiting for Tian Yan and Zang Min to encircle him from the flanks, we can then gather them together and annihilate him.

"Give the order! Form ranks and meet the enemy!" Xia Yu shouted, drawing his sword. "The accompanying wandering knights, retreat to the flanks and rear, and do not move without permission!"

"Quickly dispatch messengers to inform Generals Tian Yan and Zang Min that Tan Shihuai's main force has arrived at our location, and order them to come to our aid immediately to encircle and annihilate the enemy!"

As bugle calls resounded, the Han army began to change formation, with spearmen at the front, archers and crossbowmen next, and cavalry on both flanks.

The wandering knights accompanying the army retreated to the sides and rear of the main force as ordered, their voices filled with tense whispers amidst the commotion.

War is imminent.

The rear of the Han army.

Liu Quan had already discovered the Xianbei people's movements through drones.

His expression was grave, because from the drone's perspective, the Xianbei were not just one force, but were pressing in from three directions simultaneously.

"Ah Quan, we've already retreated to the back of the formation, do we need to retreat any further?" Liu Bei looked back at the main force of the Han army that was arrayed in formation, his face showing confusion.

"The Xianbei are here," Liu Quan said in a deep voice.

"Come on then. I observe that the Xianbei number only around 20,000, while our army, including our wandering knights, numbers nearly 30,000. We may well be able to put up a fight." Guan Yu stroked his long beard, his tone carrying a hint of disdain. "Yuan Gu, why are you so afraid?"

Liu Quan shook his head, his gaze grave: "Twenty thousand? No, more than twenty thousand. You've all underestimated Tan Shihuai's influence on the grasslands."

Over the years, he has secretly deployed six drones that have been constantly patrolling the skies over the grasslands, and have long since thoroughly investigated the true nature of the Xianbei.

Tan Shihuai was not as Xia Yu thought, "only able to mobilize over 30,000 cavalry."

This man has been operating on the grasslands for over twenty years and has long since completely controlled the eastern, central, and western Xianbei tribes.

Even the Dingling, Fuyu, and Wusun people submitted to his horse's hooves.

Xia Yu thought that Tan Shihuai could only send out 30,000 troops, but little did he know that Tan Shihuai could mobilize more than 80,000 troops at this time.

For this battle, Tan Shihuai mobilized a total of 60,000 cavalry, with only one goal—to annihilate Xia Yu.

As for Tian Yan and Zang Min's routes, Tan Shihuai dispatched more than 10,000 troops to delay and block them, preventing them from having the opportunity to come to their aid.

Eighty thousand against forty thousand, defeat them one by one.

This was Tan Shihuai's plan.

"Rumble~~ Rumble~~"

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves grew louder and louder, and the range expanded, as if it were coming from all directions at the same time.

Xia Yu, who had already returned to the central command, frowned deeply.

Something's not right; the sound doesn't seem to be coming from one direction.

Suddenly, several scouts charged wildly into the formation. The riders on horseback were filled with horror, and their voices trembled:

"My lord, something terrible has happened! A large Xianbei army of at least 20,000 has been spotted to the east!"

"General! There are also Xianbei cavalry to the west, at least 20,000!"

Xia Yu was stunned.

He suddenly pulled on the reins, his mind racing, veins bulging on his forehead.

"How is this possible? How could Tan Shihuai possibly mobilize so many troops?!"

Although Tanshihuai was the common ruler of the Xianbei, the Eastern Xianbei and the Western Xianbei had always harbored different intentions.

Wasn't the Western Tuoba tribe always dissatisfied with Tanshihuai?

Those Donghu people in the east surrendered to the court last year, expressing their allegiance. How could they have turned to Tanshihuai again?

Little did he know that Tan Shihuai had already begun planning for this battle a year earlier.

He offered the western Xianbei great rewards to lure them into sending troops; as for the eastern Xianbei, they had already secretly submitted, but Tan Shihuai deliberately instructed them to express their subservience to the Han people in order to relax the court's vigilance.

Even more remarkably, through intelligence secretly transmitted by the Taiping Dao, Tan Shihuai had a thorough understanding of the troop deployment and marching routes of the Han army's three routes.

In recent days, he has been sending out small groups of cavalry to harass Xia Yu, precisely to lure Xia Yu's army step by step into this battlefield that he had already chosen.

Thirty miles away, Tan Shihuai rode his horse.

His body swayed naturally with the rise and fall of the horse's back, his expression calm and dignified.

To his left and right were the flags and personal guards of various Xianbei tribes.

In the distance, on the east and west flanks, dark ranks of cavalry were slowly closing in.

He grinned.

The Tuoba tribe arrived, and so did the Eastern Xianbei.

The encirclement has been completed.

Now is the time to reap the rewards of victory.

Tan Shihuai raised his hand, pointing his whip at the faintly visible Han army banners ahead, and said calmly to his left and right, "The Tuoba people and the Donghu people have arrived."

He paused, as if delivering a verdict: "Xia Yu is finished."

Xia Yujun was at the very back.

Liu Bei reined in his horse, his face darkening as he watched the black tide surging in from both the east and west flanks. His grip on the spear tightened unconsciously.

Guan Yu stopped stroking his beard, and a look of horror appeared on his face.

The Xianbei cavalry on the east and west flanks stretched endlessly, like two black torrents slowly converging.

He had never seen such a terrifying scene in his entire life.

Han Dang and Yan Rou exchanged a glance, both seeing deep apprehension in each other's eyes.

Yan Liang's face was ashen, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his hand holding the knife trembled slightly.

It wasn't that these people weren't brave enough, but rather that the difference in numbers between the two sides was simply too great.

How do we fight this battle?

Zhang Fei, however, was unconvinced. He glared at them with wide eyes and cursed, "What's there to be afraid of! So what if the Xianbei outnumber us? Xiang Yu, the King of Chu, defeated 300,000 with only 30,000. Today, we'll learn from him!"

Liu Bei said in a deep voice, "Yide, don't talk nonsense. Times have changed..."

Liu Quan stood on his horse among the crowd, his expression surprisingly calm.

He gazed at the distant banners that blotted out the sky and slowly said, "The Xianbei have surrounded us from three sides, leaving only a gap at the rear."

Liu Bei was taken aback: "What does A-Quan mean...?"

"That's a three-sided encirclement with one side open," Liu Quan said calmly. "It deliberately leaves an opening, which can both shake the soldiers' will to fight to the death and make it easier to pursue and kill them when our side is in retreat. It's an old trick of cavalry encirclement and annihilation."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt even heavier in their hearts.

The central army was under Xia Yu's banner.

Xia Yu's face was grim, but he still stood tall, his gaze sweeping over the approaching Xianbei cavalry. He gritted his teeth and said, "What's the panic? We haven't lost yet!"

He reined in his horse and shouted in a deep voice, "One Han man can hold off three Hu barbarians! I have 15,000 elite troops under my command, plus nearly 30,000 wandering knights. Even 60,000 Xianbei bandits can be held off!"

Zhang Kai chimed in, "You're right, sir! The Xianbei are nothing but a rabble. So what if they outnumber us? Today, let these barbarians see the might of the Han warriors!"

However, Zhang Kai's voice trembled slightly as he said this.

Xia Yu ignored him and continued to issue orders: "Pass down the order: the vanguard is to hold off the Xianbei charge at all costs! The cavalry on both flanks, prepare to engage and delay the Xianbei cavalry!"

The bugle sounded again, and the Han army's formation, layered upon layered, managed to stabilize.

Xia Yu overlooked one thing.

He commanded three thousand Wuhuan cavalry.

These Wuhuan people were hired and were as fierce as wolves when the wind was blowing their way, but once the wind turned against them...

Mercenaries on the grasslands are most adept at changing their allegiance to the winds of change.

At this moment, the leaders of the Wuhuan, both big and small, had begun to whisper among themselves, their eyes gleaming.