Chapter 61: Can Xiao Fang, a country bumpkin, defeat Kuai Yue? Let's give Master Zhang a surprise!
Not only did he have to use 5,000 soldiers to destroy an enemy three times his size, but he also had to withdraw all the soldiers and civilians and abandon Rang County?

Wei Yan's mind raced, but he couldn't figure out what his fellow military advisor from the same hometown was up to.

"Could it be that the military advisor has another clever plan?"

"Forgive my ignorance, but I would like to ask the military advisor for your advice."

Wei Yan had no choice but to bow and ask with an urgent look.

Xiao Fang did not want to keep the secret any longer, so he asked Wei Yan to come closer and whisper his plan to him.

The suspicion and curiosity on Wei Yan's face gradually disappeared, and suddenly a look of deep surprise welled up in his eyes.

"If you want to win, you must give up first, Wenchang, do you understand?"

Xiao Fang took his time and poured himself a glass of wine.

Wei Yan's eyes were already clear, and he took the lead in filling Xiao Fang's glass with wine, and exclaimed in admiration:
"With Military Advisor Jinglue here, how dare Kuai Yue call himself the best counselor in Jingxiang!"

"This plan of the military advisor is so imaginative and it is truly a stroke of genius!"

Hu Che'er and Gong Du, who were standing by, both looked curious and confused.

Even Zhuge Liang had a gleam of speculation in his eyes, as he couldn't figure out what kind of brilliant plan his brother-in-law had given Wei Yan.

Xiao Fang finished his last glass of wine, stood up and said:
"Then let's act quickly and follow the plan. I estimate that the enemy troops who made the feint attack will be at the gates of the city by tomorrow at the latest."

Wei Yan gladly accepted the order.

...

The next day, afternoon.

The 15,000-man Jingzhou Army marched northward along the Rang River and arrived in the southwest of Rangyang.

"Pass the order down, the army will immediately surround the city and set up camp, and surround Rang County so tightly that no one can get in or out!"

Zhang Yun, sitting on his horse, pointed at the outline of Rang County with his whip and gave orders.

When Wen Pin heard this, he hurriedly reminded:

"General Zhang, our army has just arrived and has not yet explored the enemy's situation in Rang County. It is not appropriate to force the city to surrender immediately."

"Pin thinks it would be better to first set up camp seven miles southwest of the city, and send out scouts to scout the ten-mile radius of Rang County, and then set up camp and besiege the city."

Zhang Yun frowned slightly, and was naturally displeased with Wen Pin's pointing and criticizing.

So he whipped his horse whip and said disapprovingly:
"That fellow Wei Yan only has 3,000 soldiers and horses. How dare he send his troops out of the city?"

"Zhongye, I think you are doing this in vain."

Wen Pin's face was solemn, and he reminded him again earnestly:
"Last time, when Cai Deshun attacked Yuyang, Wei Yan divided his troops and set up an ambush outside the city, which resulted in Cai Deshun's death and almost the entire 5,000-man army was wiped out."

"General Zhang, Wei Yan is a man who should not be underestimated."

"What's more, Liu Bei has a man with extraordinary wisdom like Xiao Fang under his command, so we must not underestimate the enemy."

Zhang Yun was "educated" to the point of being speechless. He could only curl his lips and reluctantly gave the order to send out the scouts.

Several teams of scouts were immediately dispatched to dig deep underground around the city to spy on military intelligence.

The 15,000 Jingzhou troops lined up on the spot.

At dusk, the scouts returned one after another, but they brought back news that shocked Zhang Yun and Wen Pin:
Rang County is empty!

Not only was there no trace of Liu Jun found around Rang County, but even the entire Rang County city wall was empty, with not a single sign of Liu Jun.

"Could it be that Wei Yan was afraid of the might of our army and fled without a fight?"

After a brief surprise, Zhang Yun made this guess.

Wen Pin, however, looked puzzled.

Logically speaking, Rang County is an important town north of Xiangyang, second only to Xinye.

In such a strategic location, how could Wei Yan dare to act on his own and flee without fighting?
It must have been Liu Bei who gave the order, ordering Wei Yan to abandon the army and retreat northward.

The only explanation for forcing Liu Bei to make such a decision was that Liu Bei saw through Kuai Yue's plan of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, and he took the initiative to give up Rang County and withdraw his troops to Yuyang.

Who else under Liu Bei's command could see through Kuai Yue's plan?

"Xiao Fang!"

"Only this person can see through Kuai Biejia's plan!"

"This Xiao Jinglue is indeed very intelligent."

Wen Pin expressed his speculation, and his expression and tone were full of admiration.

Zhang Yun suddenly understood, and an angry look flashed across his face. He gritted his teeth and said:
"How could this country boy, from a humble family, have such a clever plan?"

"Kuai Yidu's plan is really ingenious, but he could see through it so easily?"

Wen Pin sighed and said:
"I am just guessing. As for whether Xiao Fang saw through Kuai Biejia's plan, I have not yet determined it."

"However, the enemy army has already abandoned the city and fled. Kuai Biejia's plan to use Rang County as bait to lure Liu Bei's main force here has failed."

"General Zhang, we will stay here and wait for orders. Let's send someone to consult the Lord before making a decision."

Zhang Yun's face darkened.

He originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of surrounding Rang County to grab some credit and show off his reputation.

I didn't expect that Wei Yan would simply abandon the city and flee. Did the credit he had earned just fly away like that?

Zhang Yun rolled his eyes a few times and said:
"Pass the order down, the entire army will immediately occupy Rang County."

"Then report the victory to your uncle and say that when our army arrived at the city, we frightened that bastard Wei Yan so much that he fled in panic, and then our army captured Rang County." Wen Pin suddenly turned around and looked at the nephew of Liu Biao.

There are two different concepts: scaring Wei Yan away when the enemy was at the gate and escaping before the enemy arrived.

The former is meritorious, while the latter is useless.

Zhang Yun lied about military intelligence and was trying to create credit for himself even though he had no merit at all.

"General Zhang, it's not appropriate to report to the Lord in this way..."

Wen Pin had to question it.

Zhang Yun disagreed and smiled coldly:
"What's wrong? After all, we recovered Rang County. As for how we recovered it, why bother to be so serious, Zhongye?"

"I did this to win some credit for you in front of my uncle."

Wen Pin frowned and was about to say something else.

Zhang Yun did not give him a chance to speak, and whipped his horse whip:
"Since Zhongye has no objection, it is settled. Pass the order down, and the entire army enters the city!"

Before Wen Pin could speak, Zhang Yun had already spurred his horse and rode away.

Wen Pin was helpless and could only shake his head and sigh.

So in the evening, 15,000 Jingzhou soldiers successfully entered Rang County.

Zhang Yunwen climbed up the north gate tower and looked from afar. He could vaguely see a lot of baggage scattered on the north road, which showed the hasty retreat of the defenders.

"That bastard Wei Yan fled in such a hurry, it's obvious that he didn't retreat with preparation."

"I don't think it was Xiao Fang who saw through Kuai Yidu's plan, but it was Wei who acted on his own initiative and fled in fear of the battle."

"Zhongye, you still overestimate the wisdom of that country bumpkin Xiao Fang."

Zhang Yun pointed his whip outside the city and sneered sarcastically.

Wen Pin could naturally hear the implicit sarcasm in Zhang Yun's words.

After swallowing his saliva, Wen Ping's eyes were still full of doubts, so he asked back:

"Since Wei Yan fled in a hurry, why did he take all the people in the city with him? General Zhang, don't you think this is suspicious?"

Zhang Yun was stunned for a moment, then said casually:
"Nanyang is in ruins. What is that big-eared thief promoting? Isn't it because they are short of people?"

"He was reluctant to leave the more than 1,000 households in Rang County to us, so it's reasonable for him to take them all with him. What's the big deal?"

Wen Pin was speechless. Faced with Zhang Yun's seemingly far-fetched explanation, he was unable to refute it for a moment.

After a while, Wen Pin had no choice but to swallow his saliva and bowed:
"Even so, I think we should not take it lightly."

"Hire General Zhang to issue an order to deploy sufficient troops at the four gates to guard them in case Wei Yan returns at night."

"We must also conduct a thorough search inside the city to prevent the enemy from hiding any accomplices in the city."

"I heard that when Liu Bei conquered Wancheng, he relied on an insider who sneaked into the city to attack and break through the city gate."

"With this as a lesson, we must be on guard..."

Zhang Yun became impatient and interrupted him with a wave of his hand:

"Zhongye, I don't need you to teach me these things."

"You know you have been in battle for a long time, but I have also been familiar with the art of war since I was young. How could I not know what you are saying?"

Wen Ping was retorted and looked embarrassed for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Although Zhang Yun argued with Wen Pin verbally, his body was honest. He still arranged the night guard arrangements as Wen Pin said.

Nearly 5,000 Jingzhou troops were assigned to guard the four gates.

At the same time, more than a thousand soldiers were sent to search house by house at the city gate to prevent Wei Yan from leaving any accomplices in the city.

Before I knew it, it was already night.

After the soldiers of Jingzhou finished cooking, they all fell asleep.

Northwest of the city.

Under the cover of night, bamboo rafts sailed downstream along the Rangshui River and landed west of Rang County.

Five thousand soldiers of Liu's army went away and returned to Rang County.

"Military Advisor Jinglue, it's just as you expected. The enemy is on guard tightly. They are obviously preventing our army from counterattacking and attacking Rang County at night!"

Wei Yan extended his sword and pointed it at the brightly lit west gate of Rang County.

It was clearly visible in the light of the fire that there was a guard post every five steps and a sentry post every ten steps on the top of the city wall, and the guarding was quite strict.

"It seems that there must be a famous general in the Jingzhou army. Is it Huang Zhong?"

"The timeline is wrong. Huang Zhong should still be in Jingnan. He should be Wen Pin..."

Xiao Fang counted on his fingers and muttered to himself.

Wei Yan, who was standing next to him, was completely confused.

"Forget it. No matter who is in charge, we have to stay here today."

Xiao Fang was too lazy to calculate anymore. He looked up at Rangxian and pointed his whip at him:
"It's almost time, Wenzhang, let's get started."

"Tonight, we will burn down Rang County!"

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(End of this chapter)