Capítulo 26: O assombro milenar de Zhao Yun!

"General, Zhang He is extremely cunning. He sent a detachment to distract us while he led his main force away quietly."

"I sent troops in all directions to track him down, but despite our best efforts, he still managed to escape!"

Wei Yan wore an expression of indignation and cursed, "Is this Zhang He made of loach slime? He is too slippery. If I ever cross paths with him again, I will surely sever his head and present it to the Prime Minister!"

Zhao Yun, however, remained calm. He had crossed swords with Zhang He many times in his life; although he had emerged victorious each time, Zhang He had always managed to slip away.

How should one put it? Great generals always possess one or two particular skills.

And Zhang He was an expert at escaping.

Zhao Yun could only offer comfort: "Wen Chang, do not blame yourself. Our army has already achieved a great victory. Capturing Zhang He would be ideal, but if we fail to do so, it will not affect the overall course of the war."

Since the disastrous defeat of the Wei army, the Shu forces had been advancing triumphantly, recovering the lost cities. The five commanderies of Longyou had been fully reclaimed, and the Shu army was now marching toward Yongzhou, determined to strike while the iron was hot and seize the entire Yong-Liang region.

The gains from this campaign were truly unprecedented!

Zhao Yun felt a sense of deep reflection. After the Battle of Hanzhong, the men of Shu-Han had to fight, and the women had to transport supplies. They had taken Hanzhong with great difficulty, only to find that the Cao Wei had relocated the population, leaving them with little more than an empty city.

Later, Guan Yu carelessly lost Jingzhou, and the military strength of the region was utterly depleted.

In the Battle of Yiling, Lu Xun burned Liu Bei’s seven hundred thousand troops to ashes, nearly exhausting the strength of Shu.

It was only after the Prime Minister took charge of the affairs of Shu-Han—cultivating internal stability and pacifying the borders, while biding his time for several years—that they were able to scrape together seven or eighty thousand troops to march out of Qishan and reclaim the five commanderies of Longyou.

Fortunately, they had succeeded!

That miraculous young man!

The image of Jiang Tuo surfaced in Zhao Yun’s mind once again. It was he who had provided the Shu army with an almost limitless supply of grain and assisted them in crafting equipment, allowing them to crush the Wei forces with composure.

Without him, after the defeat at Jieting, the Shu army would have been forced to retreat in shame.

Truly a miraculous youth sent by the heavens!

However, it was still a pity that Zhang He had escaped.

Zhao Yun refocused his mind and stood before the map. He marked the positions of the various Shu columns and, after a moment of thought, said: "Now, with the recovery of these territories, our forces are beginning to feel stretched thin."

"The Prime Minister is overseeing the region west of Tianshui and pacifying the populace, but there is a vacuum of power to the east of Tianshui. If the Wei army reacts swiftly and attacks from the east, our forces will be in grave danger."

Wei Yan nodded from the side and prompted: "General, do you mean that we should launch an offensive to the east?"

"Correct," Zhao Yun pointed to the location of Sanguan. "We must first take Sanguan; that will place the remaining Wei defenders in the Yong-Liang region in a position where we can 'shut the gate to catch the dog.' The geographical location of Sanguan is of vital importance. It sits at the critical juncture between Yong-Liang and Guanzhong, serving as the throat for land and water passage in and out of the region."

"Once Sanguan is taken, the connection between the defenders in Yong-Liang and Chang'an will be completely severed. Then, we can annihilate the remaining garrison on the spot, and this vast stretch of land—spanning over a thousand miles from Liangzhou to Yizhou—will belong entirely to our Shu-Han!"

Having served in the military for over thirty years, Zhao Yun’s strategic vision was extraordinary; he saw the importance of Sanguan at a single glance.

With he and Zhuge Liang operating on two separate fronts, they had to make their own tactical decisions.

Wei Yan immediately requested command: "Very well, give me five thousand troops, and I shall immediately march to capture Sanguan!"

"I shall go with you!"

"General Zhao, what about your health?"

Zhao Yun smiled and shook his head: "After resting for a few days, I am no longer hindered. Sanguan is vital to the big picture and cannot afford any mistakes. Let us be cautious and take ten thousand troops instead."

"Understood!"

Zhao Yun immediately assembled ten thousand soldiers and set off toward Sanguan. Their progress was slow, primarily because the troops were physically and mentally exhausted from dozens of days of combat, and he wanted to allow them time to recover.

Moreover, Sanguan was easier to defend than to attack, and he feared this would be a difficult battle.

There was no room for carelessness.

Zhao Yun dispatched scouts to survey the surroundings, fearing that the Wei army might have set an ambush for his forces.

Initially, Wei Yan did not understand. He felt that since the Shu army had achieved successive victories and the Wei forces were fleeing at the mere sight of them, there was no need for such caution. Why not simply gallop to Sanguan and seize it swiftly?

Hearing this, Zhao Yun became stern and reprimanded him: "As the saying goes, a proud army is destined for defeat. He who marches a hundred paces should treat ninety as the halfway point! Our mission is not yet complete, how can we be so careless?"

"Have you forgotten the lessons of General Guan? Or do you wish to see this Shu army annihilated?"

Wei Yan was jolted into realization. He took a deep breath and asked: "General, how then shall we proceed to take Sanguan?"

"Sanguan is difficult to assault, and its walls are high. It is said that one thousand defenders require ten thousand to besiege," Zhao Yun analyzed seriously. "If we are stalled in a long siege, the Wei army will surely send reinforcements."

After thinking for a long time, Zhao Yun could not come up with a brilliant scheme, so he decided they would have to reach Sanguan first and make a decision then.

Twenty miles from Sanguan, the Shu army set up camp. Scouts returned to report: "General, there has been no activity at Sanguan recently. Inside the city, there are no troops drilling, nor are there any patrols."

"How can this be? Is the garrison at Sanguan so lax and negligent in their military duties?" Wei Yan asked, astonished.

Zhao Yun shook his head.

The Shu and Wei armies had been locked in a fierce, bloody conflict throughout the Yong-Liang region. Even if news traveled slowly, it should have reached Sanguan by now.

Was there truly no preparation at all?

Was this not too careless?

"General, do you think there is a trap? Are they intentionally putting on this display to deceive us?" Wei Yan guessed.

Zhao Yun pondered: "Do not overthink it. Tomorrow, we shall launch a feint attack to probe their true state. Whether they are truly negligent or hiding an ambush inside, Sanguan is a place we must capture!"

"Understood!"

The night passed without incident. The following day, after the Shu army finished preparing their siege equipment, they began to prepare for the assault.

As for Jiang Tuo in Sanguan, he had also learned of the Shu army's movements.

"You mean... the Shu army has arrived?" Jiang Tuo asked, delighted.

"Yes, they have set up camp twenty miles outside the city."

Jiang Tuo stood up and rubbed his hands together. He had waited for so many days, and finally, the Shu army had come: "Excellent! Order all soldiers to prepare; we shall go out of the city gates together to welcome the Shu army!"

"Understood!"

Just as Zhao Yun’s side was preparing for the siege, they were startled to see the gates of Sanguan swing open...

Rows of soldiers marched out and formed several lines, a dense crowd of about two or three thousand men.

Zhao Yun and Wei Yan were stunned, and the other soldiers were no different, whispering and pointing at the troops at the city gate.

"They... they aren't planning to meet us in a field battle, are they?"

"Have the Wei soldiers lost their minds? Why abandon their sturdy walls to fight us in the open? This world is too surreal. Is my vision failing me, or have I had too much to drink?"

"Smack!"

"Does that hurt?"

"I'm not dreaming!"

Next, something even more astonishing occurred. They saw a young man at the city gate waving his arms and shouting: "Hey! Come on in! Hurry and enter the city!"

Wei Yan turned his head: "General, what is the meaning of this?"

Zhao Yun looked at the young man from afar. The more he looked, the more familiar he seemed, and then he slapped his thigh, exclaiming with immense joy: "Good heavens! It’s him!"