Chapter 74: Don't retreat but advance [two in one]
Did South Korea really set a trap in "Guantao"?
This is indeed the case.
I remember that on that day, after Lihou Hanwu got reliable guesses from Dangyinhou Hanyang, he secretly sent people to guard Leyi in Beiyan, Mashe in Shanggu, and Qinkai in Yuyang. The powerful generals and their elite troops withdrew from Hanoi County in Wei State to Handan County.
In other words, although there are still three Korean armies, the "Beiyan Army", "Shanggu Army" and "Yuyang Army", operating in Hanoi County of Wei State, in fact, this is just to confuse The sight and hearing only paralyzed Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang in Wei State. In fact, at least half of the army had been transferred back to the Handan area by Lihou Hanwu, preparing to set up an ambush and wait for Wei Gongzi Run to lead the Wei army into a trap.
Just as Dangyin Hou Han Yang persuaded that day, Li Hou Han Wu was also a very courageous person. In order to surround and kill Wei Gongzi Run, he was even mentally prepared for South Korea to lose the war - of course, in From the bottom of his heart, he also hoped that Zhao Yuanzuo, the Nanliang King of Wei, could relax his vigilance. After all, if the strategic purpose of Zhao Yuanzuo, the Nanliang King of Wei, was really to lead their main Korean army to the hinterland of Hanoi County, then as long as the Korean army Without revealing the fact that "half of the main force" has withdrawn to Handan, it stands to reason that the Nanliang King Zhao Yuanzuo would not take the initiative to invite a war.
And this gave South Korea an opportunity to play the time difference: if everything went well, South Korea could quickly support Hanoi County after besieging Wei Gongzi Run.
If this is the case, then South Korea has a huge advantage.
However, what Han Wu, Marquis of Li, never expected was that the two Wei armies led by Wei Gongzi Run, Yanling and Shangshui, actually stopped advancing when they were only about sixty miles away from Guantao, and then slowly After retreating twenty miles, they set up a posture to attack "Xinxian" and "Yanggu" counties.
What is there to fight in Shen County and Yanggu? Can it be of any help to this war?
Li Hou Han Wu didn't think so at all.
Therefore, he believed that Wei Gongzi Run might have noticed something abnormal, and just like Dangyin Hou Han Yang said, he was testing their Korean reaction.
Therefore, Han Wu, the Marquis of Li, chose to stand still, so as not to arouse the enemy, and frightened away Wei Gongzi Run. Although the navy led by Julu Shouyan Fu was already deployed on the river at this moment, cutting off Wei Gongzi Run's retreat, even though Wei Gongzi Run was defeated. Run realized something was wrong and prepared to evacuate, but Han Wu, the Marquis of Li, had time to lead his troops in pursuit.
But in this case, there is still the risk of being escaped by Wei Gongzi Run - if Wei Gongzi Run accidentally escapes, even if he can annihilate Shangshui in this battle, the two Wei armies in Yanling will not be able to win at all. .
Everyone in the Central Plains today believes that the main reason for the rise of Wei today is the emergence of a hero like Wei Gongzi Run in Wei. At least in the view of Li Hou Han Wu, Wei Gongzi Run is a far greater threat than the Yanling Army and the Shangshui Army. It looks even bigger.
Therefore, Li Hou Han Wu was like a patient hunter, suppressing the anxiety in his heart and quietly waiting for Wei Gongzi Run's actions.
However, what made him feel anxious was that Wei Gongzi Run seemed to be a cunning fox that had smelled the trap. He was grinding and chirping near the trap, seeming to be toying with the hunter.
"He's playing tricks on us!"
In the military camp outside Handan City, Li Hou Han Wu said with gritted teeth after learning about Wei Gongzi Run's actions in the past two days.
In his opinion, Shen County and Yanggu County have neither sufficient garrison troops nor solid city defenses. They cannot stop the 100,000 Wei troops under the command of Wei Gongzi Run. To put it harshly, as long as Wei Gongzi Run orders an attack on the city , these are two small counties that could be captured by the Wei army in one day.
However, the Wei army under the command of Wei Gongzi Run chose to besiege Shenxian and Yanggu instead of attacking. What is even more ridiculous is that the Wei army actually built forts and siege equipment at the same time, simply trying to treat Shenxian and Yanggu as two counties. He arrived at the two fortified cities of Handan and Wu'an.
He was angry, but at this time, Li Hou Han Wu did not dare to act rashly, because once he sent out the Northern Yan Army, Yuyang Army, and Shanggu Army, it would be equivalent to exposing his intentions - the Northern Yan Army, the Yuyang Army, and the Shanggu Army. The Yang Army and the Shanggu Army, the three Korean border garrison troops, were clearly still in Hanoi County of Wei State a while ago, but today they quietly withdrew to the vicinity of Handan. How could a shrewd person like Wei Gongzi Run guess that? These three armies must be heading towards him?
Thinking of this, Marquis Han Wu of Li thought for a moment and then ordered: "Instruct all armies to wait for two more days. If the Wei army still fails to enter the military hall, then... take the initiative to attack and outflank the Wei army!"
Next to him, Han Yang, the Marquis of Dangyin, nodded slightly after pondering for a moment.
At the same time, what on earth was Wei Jun doing?
In fact, the prince of Wei, Zhao Hongrun, did not mean to play tricks on South Korea. The reason why he surrounded Shen County and Yanggu County but did not attack was because he issued an order to the soldiers to harvest the grains in the fields outside the city. Already.
It is now mid-September, and the wheat has basically matured, while the rice is still about twenty days away. Considering that this time it is likely to be a long-term battle in the hinterland of South Korea, the food issue is Zhao Hongrun's biggest concern. Priorities.
As for the two county towns of Shen County and Yanggu, to be honest, Zhao Hongrun really looked down on these two small counties.
After plundering the grain outside the two counties, the Wei army under the command of Wei Gongzi Run finally took action again: the Wei army broke out of camp and headed north to the "Guan County" area. As for the purpose, of course, it was to harvest rice and wheat in the fields in this area.
It must be said that this move by Wei Jun made South Korea even more confused.
"Is the Wei army short of food?"
Li Hou Han Wu really couldn't figure it out.
Because in his opinion, Wei Gongzi Run will not be in a situation of food shortage for the army just after crossing the river and entering his territory in South Korea, right? - Since Wei Gongzi Run decided to sneak attack his South Korea, he will definitely call his subordinates. The soldiers had brought enough dry food. Even if their food route was cut off by Julu's navy guarding Yanzi, they would not be short of food so quickly.
What's more, once the Wei army is really short of food, they will definitely retreat and return the same way instead of taking the risk of harvesting rice and wheat in their Korean territory.
"... Are you preparing for a long-term war?"
Li Hou Han Wu felt that he really couldn't guess Wei Gongzi Run's intentions.
However, just when he was suspicious, a soldier suddenly rushed into the commander's tent and reported urgently: "Marquis Li, I just received the news that Julu County has been captured by the Wei army!"
When he heard the news, Li Hou Han Wu stood up in shock, with a look of astonishment on his face: "A giant, giant deer?"
Immediately, he quickly looked back at the map hanging behind him to find the location of the giant deer.
In fact, even if he didn't look for it, he knew the location of Julu County, because Julu County was the seat of Julu Shouyanju, about 150 miles northeast of Handan.
"Why giant deer?"
Li Hou Han Wu really didn't understand.
Not long after, some soldiers came to report: "Report! The Wei army is moving north."
"Moving north? That means going to Julu?"
After learning the news, Li Hou Han Wu frowned and looked at Zhang Nei's map, feeling that he could not guess Wei Gongzi Run's thoughts at all.
He really didn't expect that Wei Gongzi Run, who had vaguely seen through their Korean intentions, did not lead his army close to Handan and Guantao this time, but instead attacked the giant deer further north and deeper into the hinterland of his Korean country - what is this?
Looking at the generals in the tent, it seems that Dangyin Hou Han Yang and others also looked at each other in confusion.
It was not until the end that one of the Korean generals said with a forced smile: "This, this is a good thing. Mr. Wei will not retreat but advance... something like that."
At the same time, as the entire Wei army was marching towards Julu, Zhao Hongrun was explaining to Lu Mu, the Zongwei chief, why he chose Julu.
"...Different from Handan and Wu'an, Julu is the territory where Julu guards Yanfu. In the last "Battle of Wei and Han", the Korean army was blocked by the river by the King of Nanliang and found it difficult to advance. With this Learning from the past, I think that this time South Korea uses troops against the Wei Dynasty, it will definitely transfer the navy of Julu Yanju to our waters..."
Zhao Hongrun is right. I remember that in the "Battle of Five Parties Defeating Wei", before Zhao Hongrun led the Qin and Wei coalition forces to rush back to Hanoi County for support, in fact the Korean army at that time had already pushed its heavy troops to the north bank of the river. However, because Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, had deployed defensive facilities on the south bank of the river early, the Korean army was blocked by Zhao Yuanzuo, the king of Nanliang, when he crossed the river several times. In the end, he was forced to have no choice but to cross the river from the Weiguo area and open up a thoroughfare. On the road to Daliang, the capital of the Wei Kingdom, there was a scene where Han general Sima Shang led his army to attack the Wei Kingdom.
Some people may think that in the last "Battle of Five Parties to Defeat Wei", when the battle was so fierce, South Korea did not mobilize the navy under Julu Shouyan to attack Wei, so why did South Korea do this this time? What about dispatching naval forces?
In fact, the reason is very simple, because during the original battle, Qi and Wei had not yet turned against each other, and Qi was still an ally of Wei. Therefore, although Qi did not help Wei resist South Korea at that time, Qi generals Tian Ao and Tian Wusuo The Julu navy of Qi State under his leadership deployed troops in the waters of Julu County to put pressure on Han Julu, who guarded Yanju, so that the latter did not dare to transfer the navy.
But this time, Qi State and Wei State are at odds with each other, and Qi State has become a disguised ally of South Korea. Therefore, there is no situation where Qi State’s navy will attack Julu County in South Korea. Therefore, considering that the previous time South Korea’s army was blocked by a large river and a moat, Unable to cross the river, it was a real threat to Daliang, the capital of Wei State. How could South Korea abandon Julu Shouyan's navy and not use it?
Under this situation, Zhao Hongrun concluded that the defense of Julu City was empty, so he sent two generals, Wu Ji and Yan Mo. The former led 2,000 light cavalry and the latter led 3,000 infantry to move at night to sneak attack on Julu. .
So, when the main force of the Wei army was in Shenxian and Yanggu areas, he was trying to attract the attention of Han Wu, the Marquis of Li, and other Koreans. Generals Wu Ji and Yan Mo, with the cooperation of the Qingya people, easily succeeded in a sneak attack. Be prepared to be attacked by the empty giant deer.
"...I am 80% sure that South Korea must have set up traps in Handan and Guantao areas at this moment, waiting for our army to fall into the trap. Therefore, when our army deliberately stopped moving forward, and in Shen County, Yang
Gu wandered around and looked hesitant. In this case, Handan would definitely not take the initiative to expose the ambush.
Half of them are still waiting to see if our army will fall into the trap... Furthermore, our army's previous posture of wanting to retreat should also be able to deceive the opponent. The Handan side will at most guess that our army is aware of the Guantao area.
When there might be an ambush, we chose to withdraw our troops, but we never imagined that our troops would sneak attack Julu further north."
Having said this, Zhao Hongrun shrugged and said with a smile: "The facts proved that my guess was correct. Handan did not reinforce Julu, and it was easily captured by Wu Ji and Yan Mo."
"But why did they want to sneak attack Julu?" Zongwei Chief Lu Mu asked in confusion: "I thought that since South Korea set up an ambush this time and wanted to outflank our army, our army should be more cautious and withdraw to the river bank.
To the other side? If the situation is really as His Highness guessed, can our army withdraw to the south bank of the river?"
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun chuckled and said: "Why retreat to the south bank of the river? The soldiers of Yanling and Shangshui under my command are both battle-hardened warriors. As long as the food in the army is sufficient, unless South Korea dispatches several times more troops,
The army is surrounding and killing our army, otherwise, why should we be afraid? As for the issue of military rations, it is the autumn harvest season now, and there are grains everywhere outside the city. How can Handan County still not be able to feed my 100,000 troops? Why retreat?"
Hearing this, Qu Cheng, Zhai Huang, Sun Shuke and other Wei generals who were riding on the side all spoke in agreement.
In their eyes, the only opponent they cannot defeat is hunger. As long as there is sufficient food, even if their two armies combined only have 100,000 people, they are confident of turning the world upside down in South Korea.
This is why Zhao Hongrun did not choose to withdraw his troops after guessing that South Korea was likely to set up an ambush.
Because once he withdraws his troops, the war between Wei and South Korea will have to return to its original pattern, that is, the armies of the two countries confront each other on the battlefield and fight for a year and a half, until one side cannot afford the logistics, and then it is possible to separate.
Win or lose.
But to be honest, deciding the winner in this way is the most hurtful. Even if South Korea's economy eventually collapses due to this battle, Wei will definitely not be much better.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun decided to take a risk - since South Korea intended to bring him into the territory so that the Korean troops could surround and kill him, then he simply took advantage of the plan and led 100,000 Wei troops to disrupt him in South Korea.
As for the possibility of failure, as he said before, as long as his army has sufficient food and grass, he does not think that his Wei army will be defeated unless South Korea withdraws most of its troops deployed on the Hanoi front line into the country - of course, even here
Under such circumstances, Zhao Hongrun is confident that he can persist for a year and a half.
"I see."
Lu Mu, the chief of the imperial guard, suddenly realized that although he had heard the words "sneak attack on the giant deer" from Zhao Hongrun when he was whispering to Qu Cheng, Zhai Huang, Yan Mo, Sun Shuke and others, he was not the one at that time.
After thinking so much, it was not until today when he had nothing to do and chatted with His Highness about this matter that he realized the truth behind it.
At this time, after Zhao Hongrun's concubine Zhao Que heard these words, a trace of worry flashed between his eyebrows.
That night, when the Wei army was encamped on the way, Zhao Que expressed his concerns while dressing up Zhao Hongrun in the commander's tent: "Your Highness, you should not put yourself in danger."
This is the first time Zhao Que has raised objections to Zhao Hongrun's decision since he followed Zhao Hongrun on his expedition. However, her point of view is indeed very reasonable: "Your Highness, you are the crown prince of Wei Dynasty and are about to ascend the throne. If anything happens to you, then
Leaving aside the fact that my concubines and others have lost their support, we, the Wei Dynasty, will also fall into chaos as a result."
Looking at the worried Zhao Que, Zhao Hongrun reached out and touched her face, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I have a sense of discretion. The reason why I chose to attack Julu is because Julu borders Qi. If this
South Korea really mobilized several times its army to outflank me. I can withdraw eastward into Qi State... Qi State is currently fighting a fierce battle with Chu State in Surabaya County. How can it have so much energy to take care of the north? So
, don’t worry.”
After hearing this, Zhao Que realized that His Highness had actually considered it for a long time, and was relieved.
Then, I had a great time.
On September 18, Zhao Hongrun led the Shang Shui Army and the Yanling Army with 100,000 troops stationed in Julu City.
Julu, or Julu, mostly has plain terrain, but there are also a few hills. It is bordered by Julu Ze in the north and Zhangshui in the southeast, which leads directly to the river. To be honest, if it were not for the Julu River under the command of Julu Shouyan,
During this battle, the army was transferred to the waters of Hanoi. If the Wei army wanted to sneak attack on this city, it might not be so smooth.
But no matter what, Julu has now been captured by the Wei army.
After capturing the city, Zhao Hongrun immediately ordered to use the city as their stronghold in South Korea, and immediately seized the wheat from the fields outside the city to use as military rations.
From this day on, the mobility of the Wei army suddenly increased dramatically. In a way that radiated to the surrounding area, troops were sent from all directions to attack nearby counties, such as "Xingtai", "Shaqiu", "Guangzong" and other counties, all of which were classified as Wei army.
attack target.
Regarding these troops sent out, Zhao Hongrun's general order was very clear: if it can be conquered, then occupy the city; if not, then seize the wheat grain outside the city. In all cases, collecting grain and grass should be the first consideration.
This was external, but internally, Zhao Hongrun still adopted the same old method used to deal with Qin last time: after occupying the city, he asked the Wei army to expel the Korean people in the county and increase the food burden of Handan County.
When the news reached Handan, Li Hou Han Wu was so stunned that he almost flew into a rage.
To be honest, from the beginning, he did not think that Wei Gongzi Run had the courage to garrison Julu. After all, Julu was too far away from Wei. If they in South Korea cut off the Wei army's retreat, Wei Gongzi Run and him
The two armies of Yanling and Shangshui under his command are definitely not able to return to Korea alive.
But it turned out that Wei Gongzi Run was more courageous than he thought. He had the courage to go to the tiger mountain knowing that there were tigers in the mountains, but he decided to garrison Julu, preparing to face the Korean encirclement and siege here.
In this case, Li Hou Han Wu said angrily: "In that case, then I will do as you wish!"
After saying that, he immediately ordered the three generals "Beiyan to guard Leyi", "Yuyang to guard Qinkai", and "Shanggu to guard Mashe". They led their respective armies to Julu in an attempt to encircle Wei Gongzi.
Kill here.
After receiving this general order, Beiyan Shou Leyi managed to meet with Qin Kai and Ma She to exchange opinions on the way to Julu with his troops.
During this period, Yuyang Shou Qin Kai said with a smile: "Qin has never fought with this Wei Gongzi Run, but his courage is really amazing. A few days ago, I thought he was aware that I was setting up something like Guan Tao.
In the case of an ambush, he would withdraw his troops. Unexpectedly, he did not retreat but advanced, and actually attacked Julu... Tsk, tsk, tsk, really unexpected."
After hearing this, Ma She, the guardian of Shanggu, also smiled and said: "Wei Gongzi Run, I always feel that his way of using troops is somewhat similar to that of General Li Mu. He is very good at grasping the situation. Even if the enemy exposes some loopholes, he can still seize it."
Opportunity. The only difference is that Wei Gongzi Run is more offensive. If it were Li Mu, he would have captured Shenxian and Yanggu in the first two days. He would only consider entering the army after making sure that the grain road to the rear was not cut off.
, even though it is currently the autumn harvest season, and wheat fields are everywhere..."
Having said this, he paused, and then the smile on his face slowly faded, and he said seriously: "The Wei army captured Julu. This battle is not easy to fight. It seems that the Wei army is surrounded, but in fact, the Wei army can be attacked at any time.
You can flee eastward from Julu to the territory of Qi State. Qi State is currently being attacked by Chu State and cannot protect itself. It seems that there is no spare power to assist our army in intercepting Wei Gongzi Run. Therefore, I think that if we want to outflank the Wei army, then
Just be prepared in advance for the possibility of the Wei people breaking through to Qi."
Having said this, he turned to look at Beiyan Shou Leyi.
The three generals are all thoughtful people. Therefore, even if Ma She, the guardian of Shanggu, did not say it clearly, Le Yi could understand the former's meaning. He nodded and said, "In that case, the Beiyan army under my command will garrison the giant army."
The southeastern part of Lucheng prevents the Wei army from crossing the "Qinghe" and escaping to the Qi border. As for..."
As soon as he said this, he heard Yuyang Shou Qin Kai say with a smile: "Let's leave the first battle to Qin. I also want to see Wei Gongzi Run who can fight with General Li Mu and General Le Yi."
, how difficult it is to deal with.”
After hearing this, Ma She, the guardian of the upper valley, thought for a moment and said, "I am raiding the formation for General Qin."
Qin Kai glanced at Ma She in surprise, but considering that Wei Gongzi Run was a famous general who swept through the Central Plains countries, he did not refuse.
On September 21st, three Korean armies, Beiyan Army, Shanggu Army, and Yuyang Army, arrived in the Julu City area one after another.
Among them, the Northern Yan Army immediately garrisoned Qinghe, built forts on the river bank, and put up a defensive position, as if to prevent the Wei Army from breaking through to Qi from the east.
The Shanggu and Yuyang armies camped to the south and southwest of Julu respectively.
After learning the news of the arrival of the Korean army, Zhao Hongrun climbed onto the tower of Julu and looked at the Korean army in the distance. After seeing the flags of the "Shanggu" and "Yuyang" armies, he was truly sure that South Korea had been
It was true that an ambush was set up in the Guantao area to target the Wei army under his command. Otherwise, how could the two elite Korean border garrisons, Shanggu and Yuyang, have withdrawn from the Hanoi battlefield so quickly?
"Let's take a look at the situation first."
On that day, Zhao Hongrun ordered his Wei army to temporarily go on the defensive.
As far as the current situation is concerned, he does not need to worry at all, because the three Korean armies of "Beiyan", "Shanggu" and "Yuyang" combined are not much more numerous than the Wei army under his command. There is no need to
Take the initiative to seize opportunities.
Another reason is that since setting foot in South Korea, Zhao Hongrun has not received the whereabouts of the 50,000 Korean heavy cavalry that severely damaged Donghu.
He guessed that South Korea would probably transfer this heavy cavalry here. After all, the Julu area was full of plains, which was the most suitable place for the heavy cavalry to show off its power.
Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but smile to himself when he thought of the heavy cavalry.
Because he has at least dozens of ways to make this kind of heavy cavalry die ugly. The only embarrassing thing is that some of the props and materials he had prepared to completely annihilate this Korean heavy cavalry cannot be transported to his command by water for the time being.