I run a training class in Shu Han

Chapter 101, Part 6: Capturing Meng Huo

Li Hui stood on the hillside, craning his neck to look down at the valley below, feeling uneasy.

In the early stages of the stalemate, the barbarian soldiers, relying on their fierce fighting power, forced the Han army to adopt a passive defensive posture. Li Hui was already somewhat regretful about sending Guan Xing into battle.

Even though he was Guan Yu's son and had received military training at the Imperial Academy, he was no match for Meng Huo in terms of strength and experience.

A father is a father, and a son is a son; they cannot be confused.

What changed Li Hui's mind was the Han army's reorganization.

Under Guan Xing's command, the Han army transformed from an orderly square formation into a crane wing formation, outflanking and encircling the Yi troops.

Meanwhile, the Yi soldiers' formation also changed in response to the Han army's changes. However, unlike the Han army, their changes appeared chaotic and disorderly.

In large-scale battles, what commanders fear most is not the enemy, but the possibility of their own formation becoming chaotic, leading to a large-scale stampede.

However, at this time there were only about a hundred people on each side, and the panic would not cause a stampede.

The Han army compensated for the difference in combat strength between the two sides with its well-trained formation, but there was still one thing that Li Hui was more concerned about.

The Crane Wing Formation is designed to outflank and encircle the enemy, but its weakness lies in the fact that, in order to expand the flanks, the central forces are drawn away, leaving the central forces weak and vulnerable to being seized by the enemy. Before the encirclement is complete, the enemy can concentrate its superior forces to break through from the middle and strike directly at the central commander.

Therefore, the central army must be the most elite force in the entire army.

The hundred-man force led by Guan Xing consisted of a small number of Guan Xing and Zhang Bao's personal guards, but the rest were newly recruited soldiers.

Meng Huo's hundred-man team consisted entirely of his personal guards, and in terms of combat strength alone, these barbarian soldiers were definitely superior.

In the valley, Zhang Bao saw the command flag and was preparing to lead his flank troops to outflank and penetrate, heading straight for Meng Huo's central army.

But Zhao Shuo was somewhat worried.

"General Zhang, if we attempt a flanking maneuver, the central defenses will inevitably be weakened. What if the enemy manages to breach them?"

Zhang Bao decisively shouted, "Are you blind? The central army consists of my and Guan Xing's personal guards. They will definitely be able to hold off Meng Huo's attack. You all follow me and charge forward to break through his formation."

Zhao Shuo nodded vigorously and shouted, "Brothers, follow General Zhang and charge straight for the enemy general's head!"

Since ancient times, armies have operated on a merit-based system, where those who kill more enemies receive greater rewards.

Although this is not a real battlefield, as soldiers, every cell in our bodies gets excited as soon as we hear a military order.

Zhang Bao led twenty men and charged straight into the heart of the army from the flank, quickly reaching Meng Huo's side.

Upon seeing this, Meng Huo immediately shouted, "Men, stop him! Stop him!"

Despite his furious roar, the barbarian troops were already in disarray, fighting their own battles and paying no heed to any military orders.

Meng Huo shouted several times but no one responded. In anger, he threw down the command flag in his hand and drew the short sword from his waist.

"The Royal Guard!"

"exist!"

"Follow me into battle!"

After a shout, more than ten guards charged forward with Meng Huo and engaged in battle with the troops led by Zhang Bao.

Although the barbarian soldiers were powerful, they were outnumbered and often found themselves in situations where they were outgunned.

With the Han army flanking from both sides, the Yi troops' formation was broken up, leaving them unable to support each other or coordinate their movements, and their morale quickly collapsed.

Seeing the situation turn around, Li Hui, standing in the valley, shouted, "Good, good, good! Like father, like son!"

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Meng Huo thought to himself that he had been wise all his life, but today he was defeated by two young brats. His anger instantly turned his eyes bloodshot, and he swung his short knife and slashed at a Han soldier in front of him.

The lamellar armor worn by the Han soldiers was made of leather and could not withstand the force of Meng Huo's blow; a bloody gash was immediately slashed across their left shoulders.

"Xu Chen!!"

Seeing his comrade injured, Zhao Shuo was so angry that his eyes also became bloodshot.

He suddenly rushed forward and tackled Meng Huo to the ground from the side and behind, and then the two of them tangled their hands together.

When Meng Huo saw that the other party was the soldier who had protected the gun before, he became even angrier. Relying on his brute strength, he suddenly flipped over and tackled the soldier to the ground, grabbing the soldier's neck with both hands.

Zhao Shuo gripped Meng Huo's hands tightly, trying to pry them off.

However, Meng Huo's strength was extraordinary, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free, and his breathing became increasingly difficult.

Just as Zhao Shuo was about to lose the ability to resist due to lack of oxygen, a furious shout came and shook the valley.

"stop!!!"

Both sides, who were engaged in a fierce battle, stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.

Zhang Bao's eyes widened in fury, and he roared, his voice sharp enough to pierce the eardrums and shake one's liver and gallbladder.

Although Li Hui was above the valley, upon hearing this thunderous roar, he couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems that Zhang Fei's words about repelling a million Cao Cao's troops at Changban Bridge were indeed true."

Although Meng Huo was also intimidated by the roar, what terrified him even more was that there was a Han soldier behind him holding a huge rock in his hands, about to smash it down on him.

If it weren't for Zhang Bao's intervention, his head would probably have been blown off long ago.

Meng Huo released his hands and stood up, and the barbarian soldiers also put away their weapons upon seeing this.

"Take me to see your governor!" Meng Huo said through gritted teeth.

After Li Hui came down from the top of the valley, he greeted Meng Huo with a smile.

They thought Meng Huo would be convinced, but before they could even speak, Meng Huo preemptively declared, "I'm not convinced!"

Li Hui immediately stopped smiling.

"Although our army's formation has been broken, the barbarian soldiers have never been afraid of death. If I had not ordered them to stop, they would have fought to the death."

Faced with Meng Huo's sophistry, Li Hui could no longer contain himself and shouted, "Meng Huo, you are shameless! You have been captured and defeated by Generals Zhang Bao and Guan Xing several times before. Are you going to go back on your word again this time?"

Meng Huo blushed.

From the moment they were captured alive by Zhang Bao and Guan Xing, who were disguised as Gao Ding and Zhu Bao, they lost in all aspects of warfare, including weaponry, archery, horsemanship, mountain warfare, and positional warfare, losing a total of six times.

Meng Huo, who always held himself in high esteem, would never admit to a direct defeat.

"It is not that I have broken my promise, but that your lord has raised an unjust army, bullied the weak, occupied my homeland, abducted my people, plundered resources, and is insatiably greedy. I have lived here for generations, how can I hand over my homeland so easily?"

Seeing that he was self-righteous and unrepentant, Li Hui said in a low voice, "There are many powerful clans and tribes in the south, and the people are fierce. Since ancient times, there have been many conflicts, which has led to the people living in misery."

"After the late emperor entered Sichuan, he bestowed favors upon the southern regions, persuaded the barbarians to surrender, quelled conflicts, and allowed the people to live and work in peace. Now you, however, are acting perversely, raising troops to rebel, disturbing the local people, and plunging them into misery."

"His Majesty is benevolent and righteous, and cannot bear to see the people suffer from the ravages of war again. Therefore, I, the Commander-in-Chief, have repeatedly shown leniency. But you, relying on His Majesty's grace, have repeatedly broken your word, which is truly despicable."

"Someone come here!"

At Li Hui's command, the Han army immediately shouted, "Present!"

Guan Xing and Zhang Bao were terrified when they saw Li Hui's anger, fearing that he might kill Meng Huo in his rage.

Isn't the best approach to winning hearts and minds?

If someone is killed, how can we explain this to His Majesty and Prime Minister Zhuge?

How should we calculate our political achievements?

The Han army was waiting for orders when they saw Li Hui suppressing his anger and taking a deep breath.

"Guards, take Meng Huo and his soldiers to Chengdu to await His Majesty and Prime Minister Zhuge's decision."

"Generals Guan Xing and Zhang Bao, thank you for your trouble."

Guan Xing and Zhang Bao clasped their hands in a fist and said, "Yes, sir!"