Chapter 1069: Failure at the Last Moment

In Yining City, upstream of Qinshui River, the defending soldiers had already known the news of Wei Army's eastward advance. When Li Tai led his troops to observe the terrain outside the city, the defenders in the city had already prepared for battle. Although the Wei Army did not directly attack the city, the defenders remained vigilant and kept their weapons ready all night.

Han Zunian, the defender in the city, did not dare to relax either. He took a nap on the top of the city for less than two hours in the second half of the night, but still did not dare to take off his armor. In the early morning when it was just dawn, Han Zunian patrolled the top of the city and checked the various equipment and supplies for defending the city and counterattacking. After confirming that everything was safe, he returned to the city for breakfast.

Not long after, the scouts stationed outside the city hurried into the city to report that the Wei Army had all retreated to the west of the Black Water Ridge. After Han Zunian learned about this, his nervous mood eased a little. It seemed that the Wei Army was also worried that Yining City was easy to defend and difficult to attack, so they did not dare to move lightly.

However, he did not completely relax. While the Wei army was retreating, he arranged for soldiers to go south through the mountain path to inform the ambush troops in the south of the situation, so that the soldiers ambushed outside could be ready for battle at any time. If the Wei army could not hold back and entered the valley to attack the city, they could take the opportunity to give them a fierce counterattack!

The crisis was temporarily resolved, and Han Zunian took off his armor. After finishing his meal, he returned to the inner palace to continue to make up for his sleep and restore his energy. In the afternoon, he was still sleeping in a daze, and was suddenly awakened by the noise outside the room, so he got up and asked unhappily: "What happened?"

"My lord, something big, something big is not good! The scouts returned and reported that the ambush troops downstream were discovered by the Qiang bandits, and the Qiang bandits were rushing into the valley from the south side of the Black Water Ridge to pursue the ambush troops!"

A servant had just rushed here from the outer hall, and when he saw Han Zunian, he hurriedly reported.

"Is this true?"

Han Zunian was panicked when he heard this. He quickly put on his robe and went to the hall in front of the mansion.

At this time, most of the governors in the city had gathered in the hall. The scout who went out to report the news and saw the Wei army chasing his own troops told the enemy situation: "The Qiang bandits are too cruel. They chased and killed all the way. Our soldiers rushed to fight and were exhausted. They could only fight and retreat, and suffered heavy casualties..."

"Damn Qiang bandits, they dared not to attack the city, but only dared to bully the minority with their numbers!"

One governor heard that the soldiers outside the city suffered heavy casualties, and couldn't help cursing angrily.

Most of the defenders of Yining City were the sons of the Six Garrisons who were settled near Qinyuan in their early years. There were many blood relatives such as fathers and sons and brothers. The friendship was much deeper and closer than that of ordinary comrades. When they heard that their fellow villagers were being chased and slaughtered by the enemy, they were naturally very panicked and could not help but curse the enemy who was arrogantly killing them.

When Han Zunian walked quickly into the hall, the commanders who had been unable to hold back stood up and asked to lead the army out of the city to rescue the soldiers outside the city.

Han Zunian did not respond directly to the crowd's request, but frowned and asked the scouts returning to the city about the enemy situation outside the city, then looked at the eager faces of the crowd and said in a deep voice: "The Qiang bandits are cunning and alert, and they were able to detect the ambush outside the city, causing the previous plan to fail. They are chasing and killing us now, probably to lure our divisions in the city to go out to rescue, while their followers are waiting beside the city to attack the city. The King of Pingyuan sent a message, ordering us to defend this city firmly and not let the bandits take it..."

"Are we not going to rescue the men outside the city and just sit and watch them die in battle outside?"

Han Zunian was interrupted by his general before he finished speaking, and the others also spoke up. Some people expressed their dissatisfaction with their voices, and some people even said angrily: "The army went south in vain before, and Jinzhou was taken advantage of by Qiang bandits. Isn't it because of the kings' miscalculation? Now that Qiang bandits have invaded here, what difference does it make whether they are killed inside or outside the city!"

"My father and brother died for the king, and my nephew was ambushed outside by the prince. Now he is in danger outside the city. How can I bear to let him die outside without rescuing him! If the prince is unwilling to send soldiers to rescue, I will lead my troops out of the city to rescue him. But you are allowed to leave the city. No matter life or death, I will not blame the prince!"

Someone said with a sad face, and his emotions were on the verge of losing control.

Han Zunian saw that the crowd was indignant and all the generals were eager to fight. He was also worried that forcible suppression might make people more dispersed and agitated. After weighing the pros and cons, he could only say: "I can send 2,000 soldiers out of the city to rescue the divisions outside the city, but you must not act recklessly. You must obey military orders and defend the city. You must not be taken advantage of by the enemy and attack the city!"

When everyone heard that Han Zunian was willing to send reinforcements, their anxious mood calmed down a little, and they all nodded in agreement.

So Han Zunian hurried to the parade ground in the city, summoned 2,000 soldiers, gave them some instructions, and arranged to leave the city. Fearing that the enemy would take advantage of the chaos to attack, he personally led his troops to line up in front of the city to welcome the divisions outside the city back to the city.

After the reinforcements were sent out, the defending soldiers in the city were all waiting anxiously. Time passed quickly in this anxious atmosphere, and soon it was almost evening when the sun was setting. Finally, the defeated soldiers with panicked expressions retreated back to Yining City one after another.

According to these people, the reinforcements have joined the soldiers who were being chased by the ambushers, but because the ambushers were cut off by the Wei army that suddenly rushed into the valley, many soldiers were isolated in the lower reaches of the Qin River. Therefore, the two groups did not immediately withdraw to Yining City after the meeting. They only arranged for the wounded and the soldiers who had lost their combat effectiveness to return to the city, and the other soldiers continued to fight south along the valley, hoping to rescue more comrades.

"It's just nonsense!"

Han Zunian was furious after hearing this. He was willing to send reinforcements to rescue, which was a big risk for him. It was also a compensation for arranging ambushes outside. However, he did not expect that these soldiers who left the city did not know when to stop. They dared to act so recklessly when there were still strong enemies lingering on the side.

Sometimes things may go bad, and it will definitely happen. Just when Han Zunian was anxiously hoping that the Wei army would not attack Yining City at this time, the panicked look of the scouts who hastily withdrew from the Heishuiling Mountain Road had already told him that the situation was getting worse.

Soon, the noise of a large group of people marching quickly came from the Heishuiling Valley. After weighing it in his mind, Han Zunian decided to buy some time for the division outside the city. So he ordered a thousand fully armed soldiers to leave the city and go to the entrance of the Heishuiling Valley to garrison and prevent the Wei army in the mountain road from entering the valley.

The thousand Qi army soldiers had just finished their formation at the entrance of the valley, and the large force of the Wei army had already killed to the front. With such a situation in front of them, they immediately rushed towards the Qi army formation.

"Hold on, you must hold on! Don't let the Qiang thieves kill into the valley, otherwise the way back to the city will be cut off!"

Han Zunian wandered behind the battle formation, holding the sword on his waist and personally supervising the battle, shouting loudly to boost morale.

Guo Yan, the general of the Wei army, was naturally very excited when he saw that the enemy had left the city and lined up here. He sent soldiers back to the camp on the west side of Heishanling to report the enemy situation, and led his troops to kill the enemy: "The enemy has a strong city but cannot defend it. They actually lined up in the mountains to fight with me. They are really seeking death! My men, kill the enemy quickly and seize the city to report the merit!"

The soldiers of both sides fought fiercely in this valley. Although the soldiers of the Qi army fought hard, the Wei army still failed to break through the blockade and enter the valley for a while, but the Qi army itself suffered heavy casualties.

"Send another 500, no, 800, send another 800 soldiers out of the city to reinforce the battle array!"

Seeing that the defense line was gradually being rushed by the Wei army soldiers, but there was still no news of the return of the army in the valley in the south, Han Zunian was naturally annoyed. If they still defended the city with peace of mind, the soldiers who died in the battle in front of the valley would be completely unnecessary losses.

But the current situation is like this. If they give up, all the previous efforts will be in vain. Therefore, Han Zunian can only grit his teeth and order some soldiers in the city to fill the battle formation here to keep the enemy out of the valley.

In the camp on the west side of Black Water Ridge, Li Tai was stunned when he received the report from his former teacher. The previous observation of the enemy made him feel that the enemy general should be a more stable and wise person, so he only sent 3,000 soldiers to put pressure on the enemy. As a result, he did not expect that the enemy would be so unwise to lead the crowd out of the city to fight and attack the enemy with short equipment.

After learning about this, he immediately led 5,000 elite soldiers to advance lightly, crossing Black Water Ridge and killing the enemy city.

At the same time, although the Qi army soldiers who were heading south along the Qinshui River Valley temporarily forced back the pursuit division led by Han Qinhu and continued to march south, they soon encountered Li Yantou's troops who had completed the pursuit mission and led their troops back.

The two sides fought against each other several times in this river valley, and each suffered losses. Seeing that the situation turned into a stalemate, the Qi army generals who came to help finally remembered the instructions of the main general Han Zunian. Seeing that it was getting dark, they did not dare to continue to confront the enemy and stayed outside the city, so they reorganized their troops and slowly retreated to the north.

When they could not see each other, the two armies rushed to the direction of Yining City. In the end, it was the light-armed troops led by Li Tai who rushed to the exit of Heishuiling first and joined the team led by Guo Yan. Guo Yan's troops were exhausted after a long battle. At this time, the fresh troops from the rear arrived, so they withdrew from the front line and were supplemented by the divisions and brigades from the rear.

In order to stop the enemy's attack, Han Zunian had already dispatched more than 2,000 soldiers in the city. When he saw that the enemy's offensive was no longer as fierce as before, he was secretly happy, but when he saw more enemy troops pouring into the valley, his mood suddenly fell to the bottom.

"Retreat, retreat back to the city!"

With a broken mentality, Han Zunian did not dare to continue to insist, because he had dispatched thousands of troops out of the city, and there were only over 3,000 soldiers left in the city. If he continued to fight outside the city, the situation would probably be more dangerous than good.

Under the pressure of Li Tai's reinforcements, the enemy troops in the valley finally retreated and retreated to Yining City, and the Wei army was able to enter the valley smoothly.

It was a pity that Li Tai's team did not carry heavy siege equipment in order to reach the battlefield as soon as possible, and failed to seize this opportunity to directly attack the enemy city.

But just as he led his troops to stand in the valley, the sound of soldiers running and hurrying in a disorderly manner suddenly came from the south of the valley, so the soldiers raised their weapons and formed a battle line to fight.