The next day, it was not until midnight that the large forces of the Han army arrived at Jushui. The first to arrive was Liu Guangyi, the general of the Wujie Army.
After the restoration of Qin Feng, the Han army carried out a major defense adjustment and reorganization. During the war, the three forbidden armies, Longqi, Xingjie, and Neidianzhi, were the main ones. The soldiers served their orders. Although they gained a lot, they suffered many casualties.
A lot of them got lost and scattered.
Although the upper-level generals, such as Gao Huaide, Wang Quanbin, Shi Shouxin, etc., still had high fighting spirit, they were still suppressed by Xiang Xun, who ordered them to divide their defenses and rest. The inner palace army was stationed in Fengzhou to ensure the supply of the post road; the Longqi army was stationed in Chengzhou.
, as a reserve; the Xingjie army was stationed in Jiezhou and trained to conquer Minzhou; Wang Jingzi guarded and suppressed Qinzhou, and divided his divisions to guard the captured Shu troops in front and behind.
Therefore, there were only 20,000 Han soldiers accompanying Xiang Xian during the winter expedition to Hanzhong, and they were mainly composed of the southwest frontier army. When Wang Jingna's army attacked Qinzhou, there were not many fierce battles, and the general suffered little damage.
Wu Jie's army was transferred south to join the war.
At Jushui Ferry, Han soldiers and civilians worked together to cut wood and bundle rafts, and built a pontoon bridge again on the basis of the burned floating beams. Many civilians rode small wooden rafts to float on the rafts, and few were unlucky to have their hands invaded by the cold water. A Han army
Set up a formation on the east bank in a defensive position to provide support and prevent the Shu army from attacking.
Xiang Xun arrived and ordered all the army camps to rest. The first thing he did was to go to the ferry to check the situation. Murong Chengtai accompanied him and reported the situation to him.
"This morning, the last general sent people in advance to cut down bamboo and wood in preparation for the construction of the floating beam. General Liu Guangyi arrived and took a detour from the shallow and narrow place upstream to protect the construction of the floating beam. When the Shu army attacked, we saw that our army was seriously injured early in the morning.
We are well prepared and dare not attack, so we retreat back to the west city." Pointing to the Fuliang that has been laid across the center of the river, Murong Chengtai said: "According to the current progress, Fuliang will be completed in another hour, and the army can calmly cross Ju.
water!"
"Is it possible to withstand the passage of carriages?" Xiang Xun asked after going on the bridge himself to try it out.
“Already tried it, no problem!”
"Well done!" Xiang Xun walked up in person and stepped on it hard, as if to test its strength. He raised his hand and pointed at Xixian County: "How is the enemy situation in the city?"
Murong Chengtai replied: "The last general sent someone to sneak across the other side and captured the enemy sentry. After interrogation, he learned from his mouth that in the past few days when our army attacked Xingzhou, the Shu army overhauled the city defenses and stocked up on grain and equipment. The commander-in-chief Li Tinggui
Frankly speaking, our army is blocked and we want to co-exist with Xixian County!
In addition, there were about 20,000 soldiers in the West City at this time. Except for the 3,000 Nanzheng and Shu imperial troops, the rest were either defeated soldiers or newly recruited young men, and there were quite a lot of them!
The strange thing is that the last general ordered people to go to Dingjun Mountain to check, but there was no Shu army stationed in the stronghold!"
"The exploration was quite careful!" Xiang Xun said, feeling more relaxed and praising Rong Chengtai.
After being praised by Xiang Xun, Murong Chengtai was a little overjoyed. He smiled and said: "If you win Dingjun Mountain, you will win Hanzhong. The Shu army will not establish a stronghold. After crossing the river, the last general is willing to lead the army and garrison it!"
After hearing what he said, Xiang Xun immediately shook his head and said: "Dingjun Mountain is ten miles away from the West City. If what the enemy sentry said is true, the Shu army is garrisoned regardless of the troops. However, its army is a mixed bag of good and bad, and its combat effectiveness is worrying. I am afraid that I will defeat them all. The enemy is neither
If we divide our troops for defense, why should our army divide our troops and occupy that useless territory?"
After such an explanation, Murong Chengtai thought thoughtfully and complimented with a smile: "The last general will stick to the past and be more handsome than the first. I really admire him!"
He smiled faintly and ordered to Xiang Xun: "Send more men to cross the river and set up camp. I want to see if Li Tinggui has the confidence to stop me from moving forward!"
"yes!"
Following the commander's order, the construction speed of the pontoon bridge was indeed increased a lot. When the sun set over the Western Mountains, the two thousand horse troops accompanying the army crossed the river first and dispersed in the lowland wilderness outside the West City to provide surveillance.
Afterwards, the army, auxiliary soldiers, civilians, food, ordnance, crossed the river one after another. The huge trees and tents that had been prepared were quickly set up on the selected flat ground. The company had no seats, and they were eagerly looking towards the west city.
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"We need more people here!"
"This needs reinforcement!"
"Prepare more arrows on the city!"
"Spread more caltrops under the city!"
"..."
"Let me move quickly. The Han army has arrived and the attack is imminent. We don't have much time to prepare!" The movements of the Han army made the atmosphere in the city increasingly tense. Li Tinggui personally went to the city to inspect.
The layout is adjusted, the speech is very fast, and the attitude is strict.
He looked like he had suffered from sleep deprivation, his eye sockets were sunken, and the whites of his pupils were bloodshot. The setting sun was low, and the little sunlight that shone on his body made people unable to feel any warmth.
Li Tinggui looked at the Shu soldiers above and below the city. Under his personal leadership, their morale had recovered somewhat, but it was far from being high. It was more of a kind of numbness. Especially the soldiers who had retired from Cheng and Feng had long since
Just get used to losing. At most, you will lose again and retreat again.
Of course, Li Tinggui was unwilling to use such demoralized soldiers. However, given the actual conditions, it was impossible for him to put the newly recruited men at the front, and those people were even less reliable.
In fact, in terms of ambition, it is also debatable how much Li Tinggui himself has left. When the Han army was setting up Fuliang, a general asked for instructions whether to send troops to harass and disrupt its progress.
Rejected by Li Tinggui, even though there were not many Liu Guangyi troops who crossed the beach to the east coast, they still refused to move lightly. Perhaps in Li Tinggui's subconscious mind, he simply did not dare to risk a field battle with the Han army. Without the support of a city, he would not
I thought I could defeat the Han army.
The news from Chengdu has come, and the results of his treatment and arrangements for the north have also come out. Li Tinggui was moved by his demotion and retention, and it was also in line with his wishes.
In fact, Li Tinggui really did not have the confidence to hold on to Xixian County. He only wanted to delay, hinder the progress of the Han army, and buy time for Nanzheng and even Lizhou, Jianmen and other places. However, in the specific implementation, the actions always felt inadequate.
, the feeling of inadequacy...
At this time, Li Tinggui even gave up hope that the Shu army could defend Hanzhong. According to Chengdu's military deployment, he planned to consolidate the defense from Jiange to Chengdu before attacking Hanzhong.
He defended Xi County to buy time for Nanzheng, but the Shu court planned to use Hanzhong to buy time for Shuzhong. However, if Hanzhong is lost, how long can Shuzhong be preserved? Li Tinggui is just thinking about these things. Now, he
He only had one mind to fight the Han army in this last battle and die to serve the country.
"Your Majesty, you haven't rested for a long time. Come down to the city and take a rest!" Seeing Li Tinggui staying in Xiguancheng for half an hour, the principal beside him couldn't help but advise him.
The sound of advice brought Li Tinggui back to his senses. The coldness of the city wall almost made his hands and feet numb.
Seeing that Li Tinggui didn't say anything for a while, the principal said again: "If your body is exhausted and the Han army comes to attack, who will lead us to resist?"
Perhaps this sentence touched Li Tinggui, who finally sighed and said: "I won't go back to the office anymore. Bring me my quilt and rest in the city compartment for a while!"
"yes!"
"The Han cavalry is coming!" Just as he was about to leave, the sentry guard on the gate tower suddenly shouted loudly, and the nervous voice shocked the guards.
Li Tinggui also cheered up, took three steps and two steps at a time, quickly climbed up the gate tower, supported the barrier and looked out. To the west, under the setting sun, he saw a group of Han cavalry coming at a light gallop from far to near. They were far apart. It is difficult to see clearly from a distance, but the person guarding the center is obviously a Han general.
"Why are you panicking? It's just the Han army sentry cavalry!" Sensing the nervousness of the guards on the city, Li Tinggui immediately yelled and the atmosphere eased.
"Commander, I will lead a team of cavalry guards to explore under the city. Is it too much of a risk? If the Shu army comes out of the city to attack..." Coming with Xiang Xun was General Wang Renfan.
Xiang Xun replied: "When you attacked Huangniu Stronghold, didn't you also personally sneak outside the stronghold to observe?"
"The commander-in-chief is the commander-in-chief of the three armies. He should not stand in danger of the city. How can he be compared to the generals!" Wang Renfan shook his head.
Xiang Xun smiled: "Let's take a look in advance and decide on a strategy to break the city. The Shu army has become a frightened army, not to mention whether it dares to leave the city. Even if it does, can't we leave?"
In this way, the cavalry approached the city gate with a confident and calm pace, reined in their horses two arrows away, and observed the city defense a little wildly under the watchful eyes of the Shu troops on the city.
Looking at the obvious signs of repairs throughout the city gate, Xiang Xun's expression gradually became serious, with a deep look between his brows.
There are two newly constructed walls of Giethoorn; a trench that is about three feet wide and filled with water, but its depth is unknown; a thickened and raised city wall with strict sentry posts; and high piles of visible arrows, spears, crossbows, and stones. .....
On the city, Li Tinggui frowned when he saw the Han cavalry patrolling their own city as carefree and fearless as they did. A general from Nanzheng couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, the Han army is too rampant and treats us like nothing. They only have a few dozen cavalry, and the general is willing to lead the cavalry to attack, and the Han will be present. In the west city, there is still a cavalry force of 500 soldiers.
After hesitating for a long time, Li Tinggui couldn't bear such humiliation. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and said: "Open the door and attack! Remember, it's best to kill the ones you can. You can chase them, but don't pursue them deeply. Be careful of the Han army's tricks and ambush!"
Li Tinggui's arrangement showed caution.
"yes!"
Xiang Xun and his party at the bottom of the city looked around twice and finally saw the reaction of the Shu army. The suspension bridge fell, the city gate opened wide, and the Shu cavalry stood out.
"Let's go!" Xiang Xun simply turned around and led the people back to the camp. He also paid attention to the pursuit of the Shu cavalry and did not forget to tell Wang Renfan: "Hold the Shu army and send someone to gallop back to inform you." Ma Renyu, if the Shu army pursues me deeply, I will annihilate this Shu cavalry!"