Swords and guns have no eyesight, and the battlefield is ruthless. The situation of the battle will not change just because Zhang He's rhetoric becomes more sensational.
The Wei army could only huddle in the distance, silently licking the wounds of failure and gathering momentum for a comeback.
Street pavilion, Shu army camp.
The messenger respectfully relayed Zhuge Liang's military order to everyone: "General Ma, the Prime Minister ordered you to lead the three troops of Wei Yan, Gao Xiang, and Wang Ping to guard the street pavilion for another half month, and then slowly retreat to Hanzhong."
Since winning the battle to defend Jieting, Ma Di has clearly felt that his military prestige has been significantly improved.
This can be felt from the attitude of the messenger.
It seems that my younger brother's position in the Shu Han army has been improved a lot... Ma Di couldn't care less about being happy, looked at the messenger, and asked in a deep voice: "Today our army has won two battles, the situation is very good, Prime Minister Why withdraw?"
Why is this?
He couldn't figure it out.
This situation has never occurred in the two previous simulation simulations.
And there is still half a month until the next deduction.
Therefore, when he heard this military order, Ma Su was completely confused.
Although in previous deductions, he believed that under the comprehensive oppression of the Wei army, the Shu army would not be able to successfully capture the remaining two counties of Longxi, and would even be defeated in Hanzhong...
But to hand over the three counties of Longxi so happily was beyond his expectation.
Acting like this...doesn't it run counter to the original intention of the Northern Expedition!
That's right, stealing the chicken failed, and the move to quickly retreat to the home base was indeed very sound, and the Wei army was indeed very powerful, with 200,000 troops deployed on the western front alone, and the leader of Wei, Cao Rui, personally took charge of Chang'an and commanded the overall situation.
The situation is very serious and it would be unwise to be too stubborn.
But the first Northern Expedition was the best opportunity for the Shu army.
How can you give up at will?
Not to mention, the biggest boss in Wei State and the most difficult man in the world - Sima Yi is not in the Yongliang area yet.
The Shu Han should seize this God-given opportunity to completely defeat Cao Zhen and Zhang He, and defend the three counties in Longxi. They should use these three counties as a base to gradually encroach on Wei's territory.
Even if there are some casualties as a result, we won’t hesitate!
How can anyone not die in a war?
How can we withdraw our troops out of fear of damage?
It is too conservative and aggrieved to retreat to Hanzhong like this!
For a moment, Ma Su felt depressed and had the idea of disobedience.
But he soon endured it.
The messenger replied truthfully: "The general does not know. Cao Zhen, under the order of the Lord of Wei, raised 100,000 troops from Chencang Road to attack Hanzhong. The prime minister has personally led the army to rescue, and ordered Li Hui, Wu Yi, and Yang Yi to move to Longxi. Our people, there is no large army in the Longxi area now, I hope the general will know this and make complete plans in advance."
WDNMD! I am working hard to guard the street pavilion in front, but there is no one behind me?... Ma Su waved his hand gloomily, resisting the urge to curse, and said with a cupped hand:
"Ma Su will obey the Prime Minister's military order and ask the envoy if this order can be passed on to the other generals?"
The messenger's expression flickered: "The message has arrived. Generals Gao Xiang and Wang Ping have already received orders, but..."
"Just what?" Ma Su suddenly felt a bad feeling in his heart and felt a chill on his back.
I won't be backstabbed by friendly forces again, right?
"It's just, it's just Wei Yan... After General Wei heard the military order, he was furious on the spot and said, 'How can there be no one to guard the Chencang Wei River? If the Wei army comes from here, our army will be in danger', so he led his own troops to guard Shanggui. The city is here."
These, what kind of magical teammates are these?
Ma Su had some doubts about life.
First, he was tricked by the narrow-minded Yang Yi and sent a group of new soldiers to guard the street pavilion. Fortunately, he had two brushes, otherwise he would be in a precarious situation; now he was abandoned by the arrogant Wei Yan.
Abandoned...
Ma De, as a former army commander, it's too difficult for me... Ma Di's face turned pale. He glanced at Huang Xi, Li Sheng, and then at Zhang Xiu. Seeing that he was surrounded by his own people, he finally cursed:
"Wei Yanpifu! How dare you disobey the Prime Minister's military orders? I will never end it with you!"
The herald gave Ma Su a stern look, took out a handwritten letter from his arms, and handed it over.
Ma Su raised his hand to take it, and after reading it with no expression on his face, his expression softened a little.
The letter said: Zhuge Liang had expected Wei Yan to go to defend Shanggui City, so he was told not to panic.
Previously, after Zhuge Liang assigned Wei Yan to intervene, the latter had complained a lot. If he was directly transferred to guard Shanggui City this time, he would be reluctant to go, so he issued this military order. Zhuge Liang knew that Wei Yan would not be willing to be subordinate to others.
, accepted the command of his Majesty, and hereby used this order to encourage him to go to Shanggui to defend.
This is a very simple move of "it is better to provoke the general than to invite the general".
After reading the letter, Ma Su held his forehead and was speechless.
Since Wei Yan's actions were as expected by the Prime Minister, it's okay.
However, just to pass on an ordinary military order, it has to take such a long detour, which shows the extent of the factional strife within the Shu army.
Thinking of this, Ma Su suddenly became more pessimistic about the already slim prospects of the Northern Expedition.
Kuangfu Han Dynasty and the restoration of the Central Plains were not mentioned at first.
Wei Yan is such a hard person to deal with.
Yang Yi can’t deal with it either!
This kind of person who likes to use his friends' military knives, no matter how capable he is, what's the use of coming here!
Mudd, when I take power, I will kill them all, leaving no one alive!
Ma Su was secretly angry, but politely sent the messenger away, frowning in thought.
After Wei Yan withdrew his troops and horses, the street pavilion could no longer be defended. There are two reasons for this:
First, there were loopholes in the tightly coupled interception formation, and second, the balance of forces between the two sides had changed.
Jieting is located at the intersection of five forks. There are two roads from the east and three roads from the west. All five roads converge in the Jieting Valley.
Previously, the three westward roads were guarded by Gao Xiang, Wang Ping, and Wei Yan respectively, and then their horses guarded the street pavilion as the front of the three rear armies, blocking all the Wei army's westward advance.
In other words, if Zhang He dared to lead the Wei army to bypass the street pavilion and attack any road, he would be faced with being attacked from both sides, or even from all sides.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang would urge him in every possible way to set up camp and take charge of the overall situation.
But Ma Su knew that setting up camp like this would lead to a bloody battle. The Shu army, which was all new soldiers, could not withstand the attack of the Wei army's elite cavalry.
Setting up camp on the mountain can also achieve the purpose of guarding key roads and preserve one's own troops to the greatest extent.
Therefore, he made the same choice as the original owner - to move his troops up the mountain.
Sure enough, when Zhang He, a veteran of hundreds of battles, arrived at the street pavilion, he did not go around the street pavilion to seize the way forward. Instead, he surrounded the mountain and tried to deal with him, the key tenant in the street pavilion first.
But after Wei Yan withdrew, one of the roads was left unguarded.
And this involves the second issue - Zhang He's military strength at this moment.
After the 50,000 follow-up troops arrived at the street pavilion, Zhang He no longer had more than 20,000 people under his command, but more than 70,000 people.
The strength gap between the two sides suddenly widened.
The three armies of the Shu army combined only had 35,000 infantry, while the Wei army had more than 70,000 cavalry.
With such a comparison of troops, Zhang He was able to do a job with ease. He could have divided his troops into two groups and sent 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and horses to check each other with the Shu army at the street pavilion.
Rush to aid Longxi.
Therefore, garrisoning street pavilions and taking charge of the road has lost its meaning.
The top priority is to immediately withdraw the troops to the Longgui Road ceded by Wei Yan.
But if you do this, you will face another fatal dilemma.
The troops are divided into three locations, each with only more than 10,000 troops. It is easy for the Wei army to concentrate its superior forces and defeat them one by one.
It's really terrible, this Han army is so difficult to lead... Ma Su was silent for a moment, and felt helpless for a moment: "Send my general's order to quickly move the troops to the Longgui crossing."
"General, with this arrangement, the situation is too passive." Huang Xi, Li Sheng, and Zhang Xiu all spoke to dissuade him.
Zhang Xiu then added: "What if... what if the Wei army chooses to attack all the way... we may not be able to withstand it..."
Ma Su's eyes suddenly stared, and the momentum of a general burst out from his body, and he said sternly: "You dare to disobey me?!"
“You have to hold on even if you can’t hold it back!”
The three of them woke up and made a mistake. They looked at each other, bowed deeply to Ma Su, and quickly ordered to mobilize the troops.
