Fancheng was an important town for Cao Wei to defend against Guan Yu in Jingzhou, so even after Zhang Liao gathered an army to attack Guan Yu, he still left about 3,000 Wei troops to guard Fancheng.

Three thousand Wei troops may not sound like much, but for a strong city with high walls and thick walls, it is not difficult for three thousand soldiers to defend the city in a short period of time under the command of a general who knows the art of war.

The person who was left behind by Zhang Liao to guard Fancheng was none other than Zhao Yan, who was then General Zhennan's military advisor.

Zhao Yan came from a well-known family and had been familiar with classics and history since he was a child.

Because of his good upbringing, he was known as the Four Famous Scholars of Yingchuan along with Yangzhai Xinpi, Xuchang Chen Qun, and Dingling Du Xi when he was still young.

Zhao Yan is not a person who lives up to his fame.

Before he was thirty years old, he had been dormant in Jingzhou looking for the Ming Dynasty. Later, after he chose to join Cao Cao, his official position was not high at the beginning.

In the past few decades, Zhao Yan has been promoted from a county magistrate to the current Wei Shizhong, Prince Consort, and Nanyang Prefect.

In the past days, Zhao Yan did not make any military exploits, but he was able to climb to his current high position based solely on his political achievements, which shows that he has made great achievements in political achievements.

The most impressive achievement of Zhao Yan in terms of political achievements is that he was the most powerful guard in the Cao Wei regime in the history of Cao Cao's era.

The post of Guardsmen was first created by Cao Cao, but it was Zhao Yan who made the post of Guardsmen shine and established its important position in Cao Wei's military system.

The Battle of Chibi was the period when Zhao Yan served as a guard.

During that period, almost all generals with different surnames in Cao Wei were supervised by him, including the Five Sons of Generals who later became famous all over the world.

During that period, one-third of the military power in the entire Central Plains was in the hands of Zhao Yan.

After Cao Cao was defeated in the Battle of Chibi, it was Zhao Yan who took care of Cao Cao's retreat, preventing the situation in the Central Plains from becoming ruined.

It can be seen from this that Zhao Yan's personal military strategy is not bad.

It is precisely because of Zhao Yan's resume that his prestige among the Wei army is not low at all.

When we were discussing the candidates to stay in Fancheng, it was not so much that Zhao Yan was appointed by Zhang Liao, but rather that Zhao Yan was the candidate whom the generals favored.

Before the war began, Zhang Liao and other Wei generals had great confidence in this general.

Just don't worry about winning, think about defeat first.

As Wei generals with rich combat experience, they would definitely consider the retreat of their army in case of defeat.

And all the Wei generals felt very relieved when Fancheng, the army's retreat, was handed over to Zhao Yan.

They believe that even if the Wei army is defeated, with Zhao Yan here, he will definitely find a good retreat for Wei just like he did during the Battle of Chibi.

Zhao Yan did not disappoint the Wei generals.

Although Zhao Yan had full confidence in Zhang Liao's expedition, he, who had always been smart and capable, did not take it lightly.

After Zhang Liao's army left Fancheng, Zhao Yan carefully arranged the defense of Fancheng.

After arranging the defense of Fancheng, Zhao Yan did not enter Fancheng.

He had been standing on the south wall of Fancheng, looking far into the distance.

The distance is more than ten miles, and there are many mountains and forests outside Fancheng, so even if Zhao Yan is from a high position, he can't see anything in the distance.

However, despite this, Zhao Yan's eyes were faintly full of worry.

This was not the first time that Zhao Yan came to the border of Fancheng.

When Guan Yu first besieged Fancheng, Cao Cao was worried that Xu Huang was no match for Guan Yu, so he asked Zhao Yan to serve as Xu Huang's bodyguard and lead his army south together with Xu Huang.

When Xu Huang led tens of thousands of Wei troops out of camp to attack Guan Yu's camp under Guan Yu's trick to lure the enemy, Xu Huang also asked Zhao Yan to stay behind and guard the camp.

So the scene today is the same as that of the past. Back then, it was Zhao Yan who was watching the high-spirited Xu Huang lead his army to attack at night. Today, it is Zhao Yan who is watching the ambitious Zhang Liao lead his army on the expedition.

Well, Zhao Yan is a famous general and an iron-clad general.

The reason why Zhao Yan felt a little worried was not because he doubted the combat effectiveness of the Wei army, nor was it because he did not believe in Zhang Liao's ability.

It's just that Xu Huang back then was quite similar to Zhang Liao today, and Xu Huang's end was not good back then.

Therefore, Zhao Yan was always worried about Wei Jun's expedition.

However, there is no basis for this worry. At least from the outside, the probability of the Wei army winning this battle is quite high.

What's more, Wei Emperor Cao Pi's imperial edict has been issued, and no one can disobey it.

So even though he was worried, Zhao Yan did not choose to dissuade Zhang Liao from going on the expedition.

He just stood in the southern part of Fancheng with a worried heart, wanting to get news from the front line as soon as possible.

And just three hours after the Wei army set off for the expedition, Zhao Yan got the news that he had been thinking about.

In Zhao Yan's sight, many Wei troops in disorder were appearing in the south of Fancheng.

This scene caused a drastic change in Zhao Yan's pupils.

After the Wei troops ran closer to Fancheng, Zhao Yan saw the status of the Wei troops more clearly.

Their bodies were covered in blood, their armor was incomplete, and they were unarmed. Even many Wei soldiers had a look of fear on their faces.

After seeing this scene, Zhao Yan's pupils no longer changed.

His entire face had turned pale, and his body, which had been standing upright, was so frightened by this scene that he took several steps back and then bent unconsciously.

Although Zhao Yan has never commanded a specific battle, his understanding of the army is no worse than that of ordinary generals.

After more and more Wei troops appeared outside Fan in this way, he knew very well the outcome of the battle between the two armies in the frontline city.

Defeated!

Defeated!

After realizing this cruel fact, Zhao Yan couldn't help but cover his chest with his hands.

Although he was worried beforehand, Zhao Yan only thought that his worries were his own random thoughts.

So now when Zhao Yan's worries came true, Zhao Yan was not prepared as he had expected, but instead was filled with an unbelievable sense of panic.

He thought it was a nightmare, but now the nightmare has come true. How can Zhao Yan accept this?

Zhao Yan, who was already old, had a look of fear in his eyes like those of the Wei soldiers under the city.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Although he does not know the specific battle situation on the front line now, it can be seen from the state of the Wei troops under the city that the Wei troops on the front line must have suffered a terrible defeat.

Otherwise, at least the Wei army would not have completely fled back to Fancheng like a defeated army.

But how is this possible?

That is the 70,000-strong Wei army that can fight in hundreds of battles!

As the cruel facts continued to impact Zhao Yan's thoughts, Zhao Yan's breathing became more rapid.

There were even tears in his eyes.

Although Bo Ran has gone through ups and downs, now he is crying silently.

He was grieving for the 70,000 tiger and wolf troops of the Wei Dynasty, and he was also grieving for the future of the Wei Dynasty.

It's just that Zhao Yan is not an ordinary person.

Even though his mind was fluctuating violently now, when his personal guards came over to help him, Zhao Yan forced himself to calm down from the panic and sadness.

He knew that he must not mess up now.

Zhao Yan slowly raised his head and looked at his bodyguard with a pair of red eyes. He gently shook off the bodyguard's hand that was trying to help him.

Zhao Yan straightened himself up, and then he took heavy steps and moved his body to the city wall again step by step.

At this time, more and more Wei troops fled back from the front line below Fancheng.

It looks like there are thousands of them.

Although most of the Wei troops died or surrendered in the main battlefield, the battlefield was connected in all directions after all, and the tens of thousands of Wei troops dispersed too quickly, so many Wei troops still fled the battlefield.

As for the Wei army who fled the battlefield, their first choice must be to escape back to Fancheng.

For Wei Jun, who had experienced such a terrifying scene just now, nothing could give them a greater sense of security than the city wall.

When thousands of Wei troops finally saw Fancheng after running desperately for a long time, tears appeared in their eyes.

This is the feeling of escaping from death.

It’s not easy, I finally see my home!

Thousands of Wei troops fled from the front line all the way back to the outside of Fancheng, and they had already spent too much energy.

But the moment they saw Fancheng, a final burst of power inexplicably erupted from their bodies.

That force suddenly accelerated their speed.

Escape, it will be safe if you escape back to Fancheng!

This is the only thought in the minds of all Wei soldiers now, even those Wei generals who were lucky enough to escape.

But this scene made Zhao Yan, who stood by the city wall again, frown deeply.

According to common sense, if his army was defeated and returned to the city, he would definitely open the city gate.

However, the situation at the front is unclear, and the Wei army outside the city is in a state of retreat, and their formation is very scattered.

If when he opened the city gate, Han troops suddenly appeared outside the city gate and took the opportunity to attack the city, then Fancheng would probably be unprotected.
To be continued...