After his defeat at Lantian Pass, Dejin fled along the Wuguan Road without stopping for a moment.
Zhang Tao was captured without his knowledge.
Upon reaching Wuguan, he ordered Cao Lang, the garrison commander of Wuguan, to hold the line, while he led his remaining troops to continue their escape.
Cao Lang received the order and was giving a pep talk to his soldiers: "Order the entire army to be on high alert and prepare for battle! The pursuers are coming in a fierce attack; they may be planning to take this place in one fell swoop!"
"General, you're overthinking it," the lieutenant laughed. "Wuguan Pass is a strategically important pass; one man can hold it against ten thousand. What can the Yin army do, no matter how many troops they send?"
"What do you know?" Cao Lang retorted. "I've heard that Zhao Muyun of the Yin Army is most skilled in surprise attacks. Lantian Pass has fallen; if he marches south along the Wuguan Road, he could penetrate straight into the heart of Henan..."
Before he could finish speaking, shouts of battle suddenly came from outside the pass.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Cao Lang rushed up the gate tower and saw a surging crowd in front of the gate, with countless Yin soldiers drawing their bows and nocking arrows, launching a fierce attack.
"They've come as expected!" Cao Lang sneered. "Order the rolling logs and boulders to be prepared, and the archers to take their positions!"
The Battle of Wuguan thus began.
Although the Yin army's crossbows were powerful, the walls of the pass were high and steep, and the Feng army held the strategic position, making it difficult to break through for a while.
Cao Lang personally commanded the troops and repelled three attacks by the Yin army, which calmed him down somewhat.
"It seems Zhao Muyun is nothing special after all..." he was thinking when chaos suddenly broke out inside the pass.
"General! Something terrible has happened! The Yin army has broken in from the back mountain!"
"What?!" Cao Lang exclaimed in shock. "The back mountain is a sheer cliff, how could it be..."
But when he looked back, he saw flames rising everywhere inside the pass, and shouts of battle coming from behind.
A group of soldiers from the Yin Army, who looked as if they had crawled out of hell, were covered in ice and snow, yet they exuded a murderous aura and would cut down anyone they saw.
It was Zhao Muyun who led three thousand elite troops from Jiannan Mountain!
They climbed over Black Wind Ridge, circled around to the rear of Wuguan, and launched a surprise attack while Cao Lang's attention was drawn to the feint attack from the front.
"Hold on! Hold on for me!" Cao Lang shouted hoarsely.
But it was too late.
The garrison inside the pass was already small, and with troops divided to guard the front, the rear was left vulnerable.
Zhao Muyun led the charge against the enemy, like a wolf among sheep, and quickly took control of key locations within the pass.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the gates of Wuguan were wide open.
Xiao Cheyun and Yang Chao led the main force outside the city into the pass, and the battle ended quickly.
Xiao Cheyun, in high spirits, brought Cao Lang, who had escaped and been captured, to see him.
"General, I have fulfilled my mission! Wuguan has fallen. Our army suffered two hundred casualties, annihilated two thousand enemy soldiers, and captured eight hundred."
Zhao Muyun nodded: "Well done. Order the entire army to rest at Wuguan for one hour before setting off."
"General," Yang Chao said in a low voice, "I see that the soldiers have climbed mountains and fought bloody battles, and are exhausted. Can they rest a little longer?"
Zhao Muyun looked at the soldiers lying haphazardly inside the pass, remained silent for a moment, and then shook his head:
"Time is of the essence. Li Jingang will soon receive news of the fall of Wuguan. We must take Dengzhou before he mobilizes his troops to block it."
He patted Xiao Cheyun on the shoulder: "Tell the soldiers to hold on a little longer. Once we take Dengzhou, I'll let them sleep for three days and three nights."
"Yes!" Xiao Cheyun replied through gritted teeth.
......
An hour later, the Yin army set off again.
This time, they no longer concealed their whereabouts—Wuguan Pass had fallen, and the news could no longer be kept secret.
The key is speed; we need to be at the gates of Dengzhou before the Fengtian Army can react.
Zhao Muyun reorganized his troops, discarding all cumbersome equipment, and the entire army advanced with light cavalry.
Five thousand people, one person with two horses, traveled day and night.
Seeing the strength of Yin's army and hearing that Zhao Muyun was personally leading the expedition, the garrison troops in the prefectures and counties along the way dared not go out to fight and instead closed their cities and defended themselves.
This suited Zhao Muyun's needs perfectly—what he wanted now was speed, not conquering cities and territories.
By dusk on the third day, Dengzhou City was already in sight.
"General, Dengzhou is fifty li ahead," a scout reported. "The defending general is Cai Rong, a subordinate of Zhang Tao, the military governor of Henan, with about three thousand men. The city walls are strong, and the moat is wide, making a direct assault difficult."
"However, Niu Dejin's remaining troops also fled into Dengzhou, and it is estimated that there are at least 10,000 soldiers in the city."
Zhao Muyun reined in his horse and gazed into the distance.
Dengzhou City truly lived up to its reputation as a vital town at the border of Jingzhou and Henan, with its high walls and deep moats, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.
With a weary army of 5,000 who had made a long march, they attacked a fortified city defended by 10,000 troops...
"Order the entire army to set up camp thirty li outside the city," Zhao Muyun ordered. "Set up more tents and raise more flags to make it look like an army of 30,000."
"Does the General intend to besiege the city?" Xiao Cheyun asked.
“No, I want to attack the city.” A cold glint flashed in Zhao Muyun’s eyes. “But not now.”
He turned to look at Chen Kai, the captain of the hundred scouts beside him: "Did Zhang Tao come along?"
Chen Kai replied, "General, he and Gao Min have been imprisoned and are following behind the army."
"Yes, invite him here!"
Immediately, Zhang Tao was brought up by two elite scouts from the scout camp.
He appeared to be around fifty years old, with a pale face and a light beard. His left arm was wrapped in bandages, and although his face was pale, he remained calm.
Although he was captured, he neither knelt nor bowed, but simply cupped his hands and said, "Zhang Tao, a defeated general, greets General Zhao."
Zhao Muyun sized him up for a moment: "Does Military Governor Zhang know why I summoned you here?"
"I am unaware of this; please enlighten me, General."
Zhao Muyun looked at him and asked bluntly, "Is Governor Zhang willing to submit to the Great Yin?"
Zhang Tao was taken aback, then shook his head: "I, Zhang, have received imperial favor for generations, how could I..."
“Enlu?” Zhao Muyun interrupted him. “Li Jingang is a traitor, and you, Zhang Jiedushi, were originally a former official of the Yin Dynasty. Now you are aiding and abetting evil. Aren’t you afraid of being condemned in history?”
Zhang Tao looked conflicted.
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