Chapter 69: The Battle of the West River! (3) [Two in One]
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————The following text————
Linyang is located about ten miles away from the river bank. On the morning of the third day of August, seeing the Yanmen Han troops deployed on the other side of the river gradually withdrawing, Wei general Sima An, as well as Qin generals Wang Jian and Zhang Tangji, chose to stay here.
People judged that Li Mu must have seen through the tactics of the Qin and Wei coalition forces to divide their forces and attack Yanmen County, so he chose to abandon the three cities of Linyang, Lishi and Gaolang and evacuate northward.
In this case, the three generals Sima An, Wang Jian, and Zhang Tong chose to cross the river without hesitation, preparing to take over the three cities of Linyang, Lishi, and Gaolang as the base for the Qin and Wei coalition forces to attack Yanmen County next.
Sure enough, by the time these three generals led their troops, Linyang was already an empty city, and the city was almost deserted. What was hateful was that when the Korean army evacuated Linyang, they set several fires in the city in an attempt to destroy the city.
Houses and buildings were destroyed by fire.
Under this situation, Wei General Sima An decisively ordered his Hexi Army to enter the city to put out the fire. Although it is only the beginning of August and the weather is still warm and even hot in summer, but careful calculation shows that it is only a few months until autumn.
It was necessary to prepare for the cold winter in advance. Sima An did not think that with the military commanding ability shown by Han general Li Mu in the past two days, their Qin and Wei coalition forces could defeat Li Mu before winter this year, or even capture Yanmen.
Therefore, it is necessary to prepare for a rainy day.
After getting the city of Linyang, the next two cities are Lishi and Gaolang. Among them, Lishi is in the southeast of Linyang, about fifty miles away. It is one of the few large cities in Xihe. In the past, Korea and Chu soldiers attacked several times.
The rear defense stronghold of "Beiqu" under the jurisdiction of Hedong County of Wei State was Lishi.
Gaolang is located in the northeast of Linyang City. The distance between the two cities is about thirty-five miles. This city is not big, but in the past, it has always been used as a companion city to Lishi to station Korean troops.
Therefore, at the foot of Linyang City, Wei general Sima An and Qin generals Wang Jian and Zhang Tang joined together. Wang Jian led the Qin Iron Eagle Cavalry to Lishi, and Zhang Tang led the army to Gaolang to see if they could save these two people.
After all, the buildings in the city are in their
It seems that since the Korean army set fire to Linyang when withdrawing, Li Shi and Gao Lang may not be able to escape this fate - burning the city and destroying houses when their own troops withdraw, leaving nothing to the enemy, this is almost already
Common sense as a general.
Therefore, Qin general Zhang Tang said goodbye to Sima An and Wang Jian, and led about 15,000 regular soldiers and more than 20,000 tattooed troops under his command to Gaolang in a mighty manner.
During this period, in order to reach Gaolang as soon as possible, he also ordered the entire army to march quickly, leaving behind the tattooed army who could not keep up with the marching speed.
After more than two hours, Zhang Tang led his army to Chenggao.
When he saw the fire in Chenggao City from a distance, he secretly muttered in his heart: Well, let's put out the fire first. I don't know what else is left in the city.
But just when he led his army to the city of Chenggao and was about to order his soldiers to enter the city to put out the fire, Han general Yanmen guard Li Mu led countless Yanmen cavalry to come out from behind the mountain col to the east of Chenggao.
On one side are the Yanmen cavalry who have been recuperating and waiting for a long time, and on the other are the Qin soldiers who have just marched from Linyang to Chenggao. Moreover, the number of Yanmen cavalry under Li Mu at this time even exceeds that of the Qin soldiers under Zhang Tang.
Army infantry, which made this unforeseen sneak attack no longer suspense.
At that time, Qin general Zhang Tang didn't even have time to assemble his troops. He was rushed to pieces by the cavalry under Han general Li Mu. Let alone an effective counterattack, he couldn't even defend his own formation and could only watch.
He looked at the indifferent Yanmen cavalry, one after another, charging into the Qin army's formation and slaughtering the helpless Qin soldiers.
It seemed that this chaotic situation lasted for nearly half an hour. Only then did Qin general Zhang Tang control the chaotic situation, and for this, he paid a heavy price.
At this time on the battlefield, Han general Li Mu accurately grasped the changes in Zhang Tang's army.
In fact, at this moment, if Li Mu ordered his cavalry to continue to repeatedly attack Zhang Tang's army's formation, he would actually have an advantage. However, considering the casualties of his own soldiers, Li Mu decisively ordered a retreat.
"Woo-"
As several trumpeters among the Yanmen Cavalry blew their bugles, the Yanmen Cavalry all over the mountains and plains retreated as if the tide was ebbing, leaving only corpses on the ground.
"Actually withdrawing troops?"
In the formation, when Qin general Zhang Tang saw the Yanmen cavalry retreating as if the tide was ebbing, there was a hint of shock on his face at first, but then when he thought about it carefully, his face showed shame and resentment.
look.
"Damn it!"
In full view of everyone, Qin general Zhang Tang took off the helmet on his head, threw it to the ground, and then looked at the Yanmen cavalry who was leaving in the distance with a complicated expression.
There was no other reason, but because Li Mu did not leave Qin general Zhang Tang the slightest chance to counterattack, nor did he leave him even the slightest possibility of causing heavy damage to the Yanmen cavalry.
Two hours later, Wei general Sima An, who was in Linyang, and Qin general Wang Jian, who was in Lishi, both learned about the surprise attack on Zhang Tang's army by Li Mu.
They were particularly shocked by this. Even they did not expect that Li Mu would actually kill someone at such a time.
As evening approached that day, Wei general Sima An led a group of Hexi cavalry (formerly the "Hunting Cavalry Battalion" of the Dangshan Army) to the gates of Gaolang City.
At this time, the fire in Chenggao City had been extinguished by Zhang Tang's army, but outside the city, the corpses of Qin soldiers were still scattered everywhere, only a very few of them were the cavalry of the Yanmen Army.
When Sima An found Zhang Tang, Zhang Tang was sitting next to a bonfire. When he saw Sima An walking towards him, he nodded slightly and pretended to say hello.
"..."
Sima An couldn't help but open his mouth, because in his impression, Zhang Tang was a quite bold and cheerful Qin man, but now, this Qin general was so low-spirited and passive, he was completely different from usual.
"General Zhang Tang."
Sima An sat down next to Zhang Tang, frowned and asked: "What... is going on?"
Zhang Tang gave a bitter smile, threw a few firewood into the bonfire, sighed and said: "I will tell you when Chang Xinhou comes. I, Zhang Tang, have been a general for more than ten years, and this is the first time I have been beaten so badly."
, I’m really ashamed to say it.”
Seeing that Zhang Tang had reached this point, Sima An was naturally reluctant to ask further questions.
When night fell, Qin General Xinhou Wangjian finally arrived at Gaolang with a group of iron eagle cavalry, and met Sima An, Zhang Tang and other generals.
At this time, Zhang Tang told the story of how he led his army to Gaolang and how he was attacked by Li Mu in detail. Sima An and Wang Jian looked at each other in shock.
In their opinion, the failure of this battle cannot be entirely attributed to Zhang Tang, because after the Yanmen army withdrew, they all believed that Li Mu's retreat must be to go north to block Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi and Lintao.
Who would have thought that Jun Weiji's army would have given Li Muming the three cities of Linyang, Lishi and Gaolang for free, but actually he was preparing to ambush them at Gaolang?
If Zhao Hongrun, the crown prince of Wei, were here at this moment, he would definitely point out that Li Mu took advantage of people's inertial thinking.
Not long after, the casualties of this battle were calculated. In this battle, Zhang Tang's 15,000 Qin regular troops lost nearly 60%. You must know that although the Qin army suffered defeats in the first two battles,
, but the total number of casualties may not necessarily add up to the losses in this battle.
A disastrous defeat, an undeniable defeat!
"This Li Mu..."
Sima An took a long breath, as if he wanted to evaluate Li Mu, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly realized that he could not make an accurate judgment about Li Mu.
Logically speaking, Li Mu should be a cautious and almost cowardly Korean general. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why Li Mu stayed in Lishi for seven or eight days and never sent troops to Hexi.
But it was this Han general who was so cautious and almost cowardly that he cleverly ambushed Zhang Tangjun today and won a brilliant victory.
Sima An will never look down on Zhang Tang because of this, because he and Wang Jian both know that if they lead the army to Gaolang today, I believe they will not get much benefit. The only difference is that they have cavalry under their command.
, and Zhang Tang’s subordinates are all infantry.
"Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists..."
At this point, Sima An and Wang Jian could only persuade Zhang Tang in this way.
Facing the persuasion of Sima An and Wang Jian, Zhang Tang smiled bitterly and shook his head, and then said seriously: "This Li Mu is really powerful. I am not saying this because he successfully ambushed me... At that time, I
The soldiers under his command finally reorganized their formation in the chaotic battle situation. In fact, at that time, the cavalry under Li Mu could still defeat our army again, but Li Mu decisively chose to retreat..." At this point,
He shook his head again and sighed: "I have suffered defeats in the past, but never once has I been so angry and upset."
The reason why he said this was that he believed that if his soldiers had a head-on confrontation with the Korean army, they would not be defeated so badly, because in this battle, his army failed to perform as well as it should.
level.
What's even more disgusting is that when he finally reorganized his formation and tried to take a piece of meat from Li Mu's Yanmen Army, the other party decisively chose to withdraw. He had never faced such an opponent who was so slippery and unrelenting.
Encountered.
At the same time, Han general Li Mu, who had severely damaged Zhang Tang's army, was leading more than ten thousand Yanmen cavalry on his way to Loufan Pass.
By noon the next day, the cavalry led by Li Mu successfully arrived at the Loufan Pass area.
However, he did not lead his army directly into the mountain valley in front of Loufan Pass - or let's call it "Loufan Trail". Instead, he went to "Lin County" southwest of the entrance of Loufan Trail.
To the west of Linxian County, there is a river called "Lingshui". An hour ago, Gongsun Qi, Marquis of Wuxin of the Qin and Wei Allied Forces, Wei Ji, Lord of Lintao, as well as generals such as Shao Hu, Wang Luan, and Wang Ling, came to this river.
On the west bank of the river, I peeked at "Linxian County" from a distance. I saw that the flags of the Yanmen Army were planted all over the county town, and there were many Yanmen cavalry going back and forth here.
"This Li Mu actually moves faster than our army..."
Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi said with a strange expression.
In fact, on the way to this place, the Qin and Wei allied forces discovered traces of the Yanmen Army cavalry.
Due to the direction of the river, the Yanmen Army was unable to stop the Qin and Wei coalition forces heading north from crossing the river. However, although they had crossed the natural barrier of the river, if the Qin and Wei coalition forces attempted to attack Loufan Pass, they would inevitably have to cross this "Lingshui".
However, the Yanmen Army seemed to have seen through the intention of the Qin and Wei coalition forces to divide their forces, and rushed back to Linxian County before Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi and others, consolidated defense facilities here, and once again successfully blocked the advance of the Qin and Wei coalition forces.
"To enter Yanmen County, the only way is to pass through Loufan Pass?"
Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi turned to ask Lintao Lord Wei Ji who was holding a marching map. The latter frowned and looked at the map for a while, then raised his finger to point to the mountains in the northeast of Linxian County in the distance and said: "This mountain range,
It is called "Luliang Mountain". Among the mountains on the east and west sides, there is a mountain valley road, which winds and ruggedly leads to Mayi. Loufan Pass is built among those mountains...it is not easy to attack."
Wuxinhou Gongsun Qi and others couldn't help but think deeply after hearing this.
At this time, Han general Li Mu led more than ten thousand Yanmen cavalry to Linxian from the south.
Seeing a large number of Yanmen cavalry on the other side of the river from a distance, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi took a second look, but never thought that this Yanmen cavalry, which arrived in Linxian a few hours later than them, had actually severely damaged Zhang Tang's army.
Lintao Lord Wei Ji also glanced at the Yanmen cavalry on the other side of the river, but immediately turned his eyes to the map in his hand again and said in a deep voice: "There is another way, which is to continue to the north, close to "Yunzhong"
, there is a "side pass". If you can conquer the side pass, you can also enter Yanmen County via this road... There are only these two roads on the march map."
After hearing this, Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi was stunned. He took the map from Lintao Lord Wei Ji and looked at it carefully. Then he looked up at "Linxian" in the distance. After repeating it several times, he frowned.
I whispered secretly in my heart.
Originally, he was still wondering why Li Mu sent heavy troops to garrison the small town of Linxian and consolidate the defense in this small town since he had the powerful pass "Loufan Pass" that could stop the Qin and Wei coalition forces.
But after comparing the landforms here with the march map in his hand, he finally understood: the garrison in Linxian was Li Mu's "side pass" to prevent the Qin and Wei coalition forces from sneaking into the north.
Because Loufangguan is built in the mountain valley of Luliang Mountain, it has only one road, which is to Mayi (Shuo County) in Yanmen County, and the valley road is winding and rugged, making it difficult to walk; on the other hand, the western part of Luliang Mountain
On the other side, there is a relatively flat Linhe plain. Without the thorn in Linxian County, the Qin and Wei coalition forces could continue to attack Pianguan to the north. By then, Li Mu, who was in Loufangguan, would hardly be able to support Pianguan in time.
of.
Therefore, although Linxian is only a small county, Li Mu still deployed heavy troops here. On the one hand, it can serve as the first line of defense for Loufan Pass. On the other hand, it can also threaten the Qin and Wei coalition forces: if Qin
The Wei coalition forces are still determined to attack Pianguan, so they must consider the possibility that the Korean army may cut off their retreat in this area.
Thinking of this, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi secretly said in his heart: This Li Mu has a very unique strategic vision. He is worthy of being an opponent that even Wei Gongzi Run could not defeat.
"...So, how to defeat the opponent?"
Narrowing his eyes, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi thought secretly in his heart.
Perhaps among the generals of the Qin and Wei coalition forces, only Wuxinhou Gongsun Qi was not shocked by Han general Li Mu's astonishing record of "never losing a single defeat", and he had no interest in replacing Li Mu to win the title of No. 1 in the Central Plains.
The honor of a famous war general, because he himself has never been defeated so far
——The 'defeat' against Wei Gongzi Run cannot be regarded as a defeat, because Wei Gongzi Run chose to attack Qin's mainland at that time, and did not defeat Gongsun Qi in a real sense. In fact, he was frustrated by Gongsun Qi.
, so the desperate tactic was finally chosen.
Judging from the geographical advantage, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi instinctively did not want to attack Loufan Pass, because judging from the march map, there is the "Loufan Path", a long and narrow mountain valley road in front of Loufan Pass, which is conservatively estimated to be at least about two hundred miles long.
, whether focusing on the art of war or focusing on experience, long and narrow terrain like this is the most likely to cause trouble.
But if you choose to attack "Pianguan", you must first remove the "Linxian" nail and drive these Korean troops into Loufan Trail.
After that, the Qin and Wei allied forces can station an army here to block the exit of Lou Fanjing. At that time, the Qin and Wei allied forces can move northward to attack Pianguan without any worries.
Thinking of this, Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi secretly made a decision: capture Linxian first!
After returning to the military camp that day, Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi told the generals his strategic intentions in the commander's tent. After his careful and rigorous analysis, Lintao Lord Wei Ji, Shao Hu, Wang Luan, Wang Ling and other generals all
Agreed with his concept.
At this time, the generals received the news that "Han General Li Mu secretly attacked Zhang Tang's army at Gaolang, causing Zhang Tang's army to be defeated miserably."
It has to be said that after learning the news, all the generals in the tent, including Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi, looked at each other, because not only did they not expect that Li Mu would actually set up an ambush in Gaolang, even Li Mu
The whereabouts of the army he personally led were not known, and they always mistakenly thought that Li Mu had led his army to retreat here long ago.
At this time, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi's face became a little ugly, because in this way, their Qin and Wei coalition forces had suffered three consecutive defeats. Although this defeat had no direct relationship with Gongsun Qi,
But as the currently elected coach of the Qin and Wei coalition forces, he bears full responsibility for these three defeats.
On the sixth day of August, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi personally led an army to attack Linxian County.
To be precise, the protagonist of this battle was not the infantry who served as the vanguard, but the crossbowmen among the Qin and Wei Allied Forces and the Yanmen Army.
In this battle, the Qin and Wei Allied Forces fought against the Yanmen Army across the river. Since the width of Lingshui was far less than that of the river, this time, the crossbowmen of the Qin and Wei Allied Forces for the first time truly attacked the Yanmen Army under Li Mu.
The military poses a huge threat.
I saw the dense rain of arrows from the two armies, covering both sides of Lingshui like dark clouds. Neither the generals of the Qin and Wei Allied Forces nor the Korean generals of the Yanmen Army dared to take the lead in this situation.
But in the end, the battle that day ended in a draw.
Regarding this battle situation, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi was quite satisfied, because in this battle, their Qin army finally showed its due strength. Although the Yanmen army on the opposite side was indeed very tenacious, he was not worried at all.
After all, the Qin and Wei coalition forces had 300,000 troops, while Li Mu on the opposite side only had 100,000 troops, and they also had to take care of the defense of Yanmen County. In this case, Gongsun Qi could not afford it, but Li Mu
Harmony can't be spent.
After the day ended in a draw, Li Muyi frowned and thought about this issue.
Just as Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi judged, the reason why Li Mu sent heavy troops to garrison Linxian was to better protect the northern passes. Unexpectedly, the commander of the Qin and Wei coalition forces seemed to see through his intention.
, forcing him to fight decisively in Linxian area, which made Li Mu feel very distressed.
Because he also understood that on the frontal battlefield, it was almost impossible for his 100,000 troops to defeat the Qin and Wei coalition forces on the opposite side, even if the other side had Wei generals Sima An, Qin generals Wang Jian, Zhang Tang and others divided up nearly 70,000 to 80,000 troops.
In the end, there were only more than 200,000 left, which was not necessarily a head-on opponent for the 100,000 Yanmen troops under his command.
To defeat the Qin and Wei coalition forces, they can only use surprise means, just like what he did when he attacked Qin general Zhang Tang a few days ago.
Finally, after careful consideration, Li Mu resolutely gave up Linxian and withdrew the troops stationed in Linxian into Loufanjing.
When he learned about this, Wuxin Hou Gongsun Qi was quite surprised. He originally thought that Li Mu would have to wait for a few more battles before choosing to withdraw from Linxian, but he did not expect that Li Mu would withdraw so decisively.
"This Li Mu must be eradicated!"
After secretly deciding, Wu Xinhou Gongsun asked Wei Ji, the Lintao lord of Wei State, to go north to attack "Pianguan", while he himself set a trap in Linxian area in an attempt to trap Li Mu. In his opinion, if he was discovered, Qin would
The Wei coalition forces have the intention of going north to attack Pianguan, and Li Mu is likely to send troops out of Loufanjing again to try to cut off their food routes and attack them from the logistical aspect.
However, after waiting for four or five days, Li Mu and his army were not seen coming out of Loufan Trail. Regarding this, Wu Xinhou Gongsun Qi secretly muttered in his heart: This Li Mu is too calm and calm, isn't he?
In this way, except for the Wei army led by Lintao lord Wei Ji, Shao Hu and others who led the army north to attack Pianguan, the Qin army fell into a stalemate with the Yanmen army led by Han general Li Mu at Lou Fanjing.
.
Around the beginning of September, battle reports from the Xihe War Zone were successively delivered to Daliang, the capital of the King of Wei, and then sent to the hands of Wei Crown Prince Zhao Run by the Green Crows in Daliang.
After learning about the battle situation in the "Xihe Theater", especially the current record of "one draw and three losses" of the Qin and Wei coalition forces, even Zhao Hongrun was a little stunned.
He never thought that the Qin and Wei coalition forces including Gongsun Qi, the Marquis of Wuxin, Wang Jian, the Marquis of Changxin, Yingbao the Yangquan Lord, Wei Ji the Lintao Lord, as well as Sima An, Shaohu, Wang Ling, Wang Lu, Zhang Tang and many other powerful generals.
, facing Li Mu, he actually achieved a terrible record of "one draw and three losses" despite having an absolute advantage in military strength.
"This Li Mu...is really difficult to deal with."
Nodding secretly, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but admire Li Mu for being able to gain the upper hand despite being at such a disadvantage.
Of course, having said that, he was not worried about the "Xihe War Zone". He felt that the early defeat of the Qin and Wei coalition forces was probably due to the generals of the Qin and Wei coalition forces not understanding Li Mu. As the war continued, Li Mu
The ability of harmony will gradually be suppressed by the generals.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun put down the battle report, walked to the window, and looked at the scenery outside the window with his hands behind his back.
He is still waiting.
He is waiting for Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, to lure South Korea's powerful forces in the direction of Handan, such as Shanggu Army, Beiyan Army, Yuyang Army, etc., into the hinterland of Hanoi County according to the plan, leaving South Korea's rear defense empty, so that he can lead a surprise attack in the future.
Korean native.
In addition, he is still waiting for the army of Chu, waiting for the latter to take over the armies of Qi and Lu.
In general, the current war situation in the entire Central Plains is still within his expectations.