"General, we were attacked by cavalry led by Li Gang. The 50,000-strong army was almost wiped out. General Xu Zhonglang also died on the battlefield!" Although Xu Rong died in battle and the 50,000-strong army was almost wiped out, there were still many Han troops.
The generals and soldiers escaped, and now it was Tian Kai who escaped and ascended to heaven who reported the news of the defeat to Huangfu Song.
He was relatively lucky. At that time, he commanded 1,000 vanguard cavalry. Not only were they far away from Li Gang, they were also fast. After Tian Kai knew that Xu Rong had been killed, he immediately escaped with his cavalry. This vanguard army
He ran to Huangfu Song almost unscathed.
"What! Ziyu died in battle!" Huangfu Song also looked unbelievable.
Tian Kai said sadly: "Li Gang of the Tengjia Army cut off the head of General Xu Zhonglang and showed it off to the whole camp. The soldiers were horrified and had no idea how many cavalry there were in the Tengjia Army! After seeing General Xu Zhonglang's death in battle, they all surrendered! His subordinates were terrified
The cavalry was at the very edge of the camp, and it was only then that they escaped!"
When Ju Yi heard that Xu Rong had died in battle, he angrily mentioned Tian Kai and said, "You loser, why didn't you save Zi Yu? Did you kill Zi Yu because of your greed for life and fear of death?"
Xu Rong and Ju Yi were both military generals from Xiliang, and they were life-and-death friends. Ju Yi was aloof and had few friends, but when he suddenly heard that his friend had died in battle, it was hard to accept the fact.
Tian Kai was lifted into the air by Ju Yi, and he kept struggling to get out of Ju Yi's control, but his strength was not as strong as Ju Yi's, and he could only twist in the air like a clown.
Huangfu Song said with a serious face: "Yuntian, put down Captain Tian Kai! Now is not the time for internal strife. Put away your temper!"
Under Huangfu Song's scolding voice, Ju Yi abandoned Tian Kai.
Huangfusong looked at the generals in the army's tent with a solemn face and said: "Although I don't want to admit it, our situation is very dangerous. The Tengjia Army's 130,000 troops have already made it difficult for us to resist, and Yuyang's Tengjia Army has already made it difficult for us to resist.
The Jia Army is almost all iron armored soldiers. Their 50,000 troops are stronger than the 100,000 Teng Jia Army. If this army comes to the Changping battlefield, we will not only lose the entire Youzhou, but even the army in our hands will be destroyed.
They were defeated! And now we only have two days at most before we face the siege of nearly 200,000 Tengjia troops!"
"Now we have to find a way to escape from Youzhou and keep the army in our hands. Only in this way can Jizhou not fall and the imperial court can continue to fight against the Tengjia Army! Now everyone has to find a way to completely retreat the army in our hands.
Return to Jizhou, maintain the effective strength of the imperial court, and continue to fight against the Tengjia Army!"
Yuan Shao said: "Jixian is only a hundred miles away from us. If we abandon all the heavy equipment, travel lightly and march in the evening, one night should be enough for us to retreat to Jixian. Beyond Jixian is the Sanggan River. We can deploy heavy troops along the Sanggan River.
The heavy cavalry and armored soldiers of the Tengjia Army cannot exert their full strength in the swampy areas along the river banks. There are even five rivers in Zhuo County behind Jixian County. They can block the Tengjia Army layer by layer along these rivers. Relying on the favorable geographical location, Tengjia Army
Army A must not be able to attack Zhuojun! As long as Zhuojun is in hand, Tengjia Army will have difficulty attacking Jizhou. Jizhou has fertile land and a large population. We can continue to recruit hundreds of thousands of troops and use Zhuojun as the battlefield to fight against Tengjia Army!"
Yan Rou worriedly said: "The road of hundreds of miles is not easy to walk. The Tengjia Army has at least 50,000 to 60,000 cavalry. If these cavalry make a surprise attack, they can march 200 miles in one day. If we retreat at night, we will encounter the same fate as General Xu Zhonglang." If the cavalry of the Tengjia Army ambushes us, our whole army will definitely be annihilated!"
Huangfusong and the others did not dare to retreat easily because the Tengjia Army had fifty or sixty thousand cavalry and controlled the mobility of the battlefield. If they wanted to retreat, it might lead to a complete rout of the entire army.
Yan Rou's worries are also the worries of all the generals present. Marching at night is too dangerous, and they may really be wiped out.
Therefore, their situation is very dangerous now. They cannot fight and escape, but they cannot escape. Do they really have to surrender to the Tengjia Army to save their lives?
Huangfu Song thought for a long time and said: "We have to leave an elite army to block the Tengjia Army's attack and help us buy one day to retreat. The Tengjia Army will use cavalry to chase us. At this time, we must rely on Junyi’s cavalry delayed the Sumitojia Army’s cavalry!”
Zhang He worriedly said: "The general has only more than 10,000 cavalry, while the Tengjia Army has 50,000 to 60,000 cavalry, half of which are well-equipped armored cavalry. Although the general is not afraid of death, he is afraid that the general will have these cavalrymen." An army of 10,000 people cannot stop the 50,000 or 60,000 cavalrymen of the Tengjia Army!"
Huangfu Song said: "If Lei Gong wants to chase us, it is impossible to send out armored cavalry. A pair of horse armor weighs hundreds of kilograms. If Lei Gong uses heavy cavalry to chase us, I am afraid that all his horses will die from exhaustion!"
"This general is not asking Jun Yi to fight to the death with the cavalry of the Tengjia Army, but to learn the tactics of the Hu guerrillas. As long as we can hold off the cavalry of the Tengjia Army for half a day, it will be enough for us to escape from danger!"
"The only thing we lack now is an elite to guard our camp and hold back the main force of the Tengjia Army! Help the army retreat and buy time!"
Huangfu Song looked at Yuan Shao, and the other generals also looked at Yuan Shao. The only ones that can be called elite among the Han army now are the 10,000 armored soldiers in his hands and the soldiers who first entered the camp in Ju Yi's hands. However, Ju Yi's first soldiers Dengying has suffered heavy casualties in previous battles with the Tengjia Army. Now there are only 3,000 soldiers who can continue to fight. However, Yuan Shao's 10,000 Iron Armored Army did not suffer heavy casualties due to the full defensive operation. Yuan Shao also transferred veterans from other places to strengthen, so Still retains combat effectiveness.
But even though the entire camp was looking at Yuan Shao, he did not go out to take over this task. As long as he stayed to break up the rear, he would definitely be dead or not. He still had a bright future, and he was not willing to die in Youzhou. This remote place.
When Huangfusong saw Yuan Shao taking over this mission, he didn't force it. After all, Duanhou's mission was a life-or-death mission, and only those who were truly willing to stay would do it. Otherwise, if he surrendered to the Tengjia Army, the damage would be even greater.
Huangfusong thought for a while and said: "This general, in the battle with the Tengjia Army, I neither defeated Lei Gong nor saved Youzhou. It can be said that I have disgraced the late emperor's instructions. Even if I retreat, I will still be punished by the court. Let's give up. By cutting off your marriage, this general can be regarded as giving an explanation to the imperial court."
"The general hopes that you will return to Jizhou, remember the lessons learned this time, work hard to prepare for war, and make plans to deal with Lei Gong. Lei Gong is so ambitious that he cannot stop in Youzhou."
Ju Yi was shocked and said: "Ming Gong is the commander-in-chief of the army. How can he stay and cut off the queen? If he wants to cut off the queen, he should leave it to the general! As long as the general is not dead, Lei Gong will not be allowed to move forward!"