Zhang He's headquarters has more than 10,000 people.
In order to ensure morale, he mixed his headquarters among the soldiers sent by Cao Zhen in a strategy that did not count casualties.
At first, the war went as he expected.
Four troops cleared obstacles and four troops died, and sixty-seven out of ten were killed.
At the cost of more than 2,000 men, the path for the attack was cleared. Then the soldiers of various ministries were ordered to begin to attack the Han army's Wuhan Iron and Steel Chariot formation day and night in rotation.
After one day's attack, our army suffered more than a thousand casualties and was unable to evacuate them.
After three days of attacking, our army's casualties totaled more than 4,000, and three out of ten Han army's Wuhan Iron and Steel chariots were destroyed.
On the fifth day, soldiers from Youfufeng County transported large yellow crossbows, stone cannons and other powerful weapons from various counties to attack the enemy. When we attacked again, our army suffered more than 6,000 casualties in total, while the counter-Shu army's Wuhan Iron and Steel chariots lost five out of ten, and the strong crossbow array was ineffective. Regroup.
On the seventh day, the road was filled with corpses of soldiers from both sides, making it difficult to move forward.
They took the grease used to burn the Han army's iron and steel chariots, poured it over and burned it. The fire did not go out for half a day, and the smell smelled for ten miles.
The battle resumed that night, and both armies had no obstacles to rely on. It was a hand-to-hand fight, and there was no difference in the number of casualties between the two sides.
At this time, our army's casualties totaled nearly 7,000.
The morale of the army was unstable and morale was slightly low, so the order was issued.
He said: If the Han army does not break through the formation within three days, all the troops in the army, from Sima down to Du Bo, will be cut off from their posts and replaced with deputies. If the Han army does not break through within five days, the entire army will be replaced by generals with various numbers. From everyone down to the school captain, behead them all!
On the ninth day, the Han army's formation was broken, and the whole army shouted for long live and marched forward bravely.
At this time, the army had accumulated nearly 10,000 casualties!
The army pursued them for more than a hundred steps, and their morale collapsed.
Some of the soldiers in the army were dumbfounded, or some were lying on the ground covering their faces and crying. Those who drew their swords and fought passionately again, only three out of ten.
Because he rebelled against Shu, he actually built another stronghold, which was behind him.
Rest for three days and fight again.
Let the troops led by Bu Qu be the first to ascend and attack.
The counter-Shu army set up a new camp, similar to the Crane Wing Formation, and the Chinese army set up a strong crossbow formation where the big banner was.
Its crossbow can fire ten arrows in a row, leaving no one alive within fifty steps.
After three days of continuous attack, our army's casualties increased by more than 2,000, and the Nishu army camp was as solid as a rock. The morale of the officers and men was shattered, and they could no longer fight anymore, so they withdrew and returned to the camp.
If no new army comes, the street pavilion cannot be plucked; if the new army does not come with thunderbolt chariots, the attack will be fruitless.
Zhang He gently put the pen down on the case, dried the ink on the military information cloth, and handed it to the subordinate below to send it to Cao Zhen in Xi County for review.
When I looked at the back of the servant, I sighed quietly in my heart.
The rescue battle, which was related to Longyou's gains and losses, came to an end due to his failure with heavy casualties and lack of fighting spirit.
He was recruited into the army during the crusade against the Yellow Turbans and experienced countless battles, winning and losing.
However, this time, he was defeated extremely humiliatingly.
Limited by the terrain, his thousands of cavalry had no place to use. Limited by ordnance, he was unable to do anything in the face of the powerful crossbow array of the Han army.
He even resorted to reckless tactics that resulted in less than casualties, but he still suffered a disastrous defeat.
However, the soldiers of Ni Shu, who relied on the advantage of the terrain and the advantage of their weapons, suffered less than three thousand casualties!
Especially since he has led his army here for more than half a month!
Even if General Cao Zhen sends reinforcements again, it will take at least a month to defeat Zhuge Liang, the prime minister who has nearly 20,000 soldiers.
If the period is delayed for another month, can Guo Boji, who is trapped in a tight siege, still be able to hold on?
Can the land of Longyou be regained?
Zhang He, who served Cao Wei III, was not only worried about the gains and losses in the war, but also felt guilty that the war was not going well.
The depression caused by grief and anger, coupled with the mental fatigue from supervising the battle for more than ten days, suddenly made me feel a little bit chest tight and short of breath.
well.
He is over sixty years old.
After all, he no longer has the strong body he had when he was young, fighting for days without feeling tired.
When the messenger arrived at Youfufeng County, Cao Zhen fell into deep thought after reading the military report.
He had nothing to criticize regarding Zhang He's failure in the war.
Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of Bashu, personally came to supervise the battle and blocked the road with 20,000 troops. If he had attacked it himself, the result would not have been much better.
However, it is inevitable to feel a little sad in my heart.
Gein opened the Longguan Road and now it has become the only hope to support Longyou.
In recent days, military reports from Liangzhou and other places have also come in one after another.
In Pingxiang City, Liangzhou Governor Xu Miao, who was defeated by the Wei Yan tribe against Shu and blocked the way to rescue, feigned an attack with infantry out of a tentative spirit. When he sent his cavalry to take a detour along the long Lishui Valley Road, he was ambushed by a group of Han cavalry.
Of course!
The traitor general Wei Yan had expected this.
Nearly two thousand cavalry troops were sent in advance to set up an ambush on the Shuigu Road in Changli.
Fortunately, the war horses used by Han cavalry were all produced in Wudu, and their speed and endurance were not as good as those produced in the four counties of Hexi.
The cavalry led by General Lu Pan were caught off guard and more than 200 of their cavalry were rushed into the formation and were damaged in the battle. He used his horse speed to throw off the Shu army and returned with a slight defeat.
It is also impossible to enter Tianshui via Longxi County.
Although the Han army was persuaded to retreat by the cunning words of You Chu, the governor of Longxi, they set up defenses in the Wushan area and blocked the road.
It was difficult to even harass the Han army with a feint attack and separate the troops that besieged Shanggui to bring reinforcements.
Tang Fan, the leader of the Qiang people who took advantage of the situation to rebel, has completely occupied the two counties of Wuhan and Heguan, and is now marching towards Daxia County. The prefect You Chu has already led his troops to set up defenses.
Moreover, the place at the head of the Longxi River borders the Huangshui River Valley (Xiping County).
Last year there was a rebellion in Xiping County, and although the chief culprit Qu Ying was beheaded, not all the Qiang and Hu tribes were wiped out.
Now, there is a faint sign of a resurgence.
Xu Miao, the governor of Liangzhou, had no choice but to send General Hao Zhao to lead his troops to Xiping again to station as a deterrent and nip the danger in the bud. The remaining troops could restrain the Shu general Wei Yanbu and prevent him from returning to join forces with the rest of the Shu army.
Fortunately.
In other words, Liangzhou's reinforcements are already powerless.
However, Yang Tiao in Anding County rebelled, and General Wei Ping fought with him quite successfully, forcing him into Yuezhi City.
However, if you want to break through the city and kill it, it will not be a day's work.
Moreover, Wei Ping sent people to report, saying that outside Xiaoguan Road, the Shu army also had soldiers guarding it.
The most worrying thing is that Linwei City was attacked by the Shu army.
Shu generals Gao Xiang, Wu Ban and Chen Shi combined nearly 20,000 troops to attack day and night. However, the defenders of Linwei City were only 2,000, so they were already in great danger.
Moreover, when the wealthy families in the city saw that no reinforcements had arrived in the past month, several families conspired and gathered together some young people to help defend the city. They took the opportunity to seize the city gate at night, cooperated with the Shu army inside and outside, and let Linwei change hands.
This news came from some of Linwei's subordinates and soldiers.
When the city was broken, they did not want to surrender to Ni Shu, so they fled to the south of the city, the Wei River, and followed the current to the east and right Fufeng.
However, the water flow was fast and the mountain roads were dangerous, so hundreds of people fled, and only dozens of people survived when Zuofeng was on his way.
Linwei City was captured, and Shanggui County became an isolated city. Although there were about 5,000 troops stationed and sufficient food and supplies, they had been trapped for nearly a month and were probably in danger!
After all, the northwest has been in turmoil for many years, and rightists abound.
Linwei City was destroyed by the rebellion of a wealthy family. Will people in Shanggui County also have different thoughts?
well.
I sighed quietly in my heart.
Cao Zhen stood up from the case, holding a grease lamp in his hand, illuminating the map tied with a rope behind him, frowning and thinking.
With Emperor Cao Rui personally coming to Chang'an to take charge, the following 40,000 troops will arrive in Yi County the next day. This will also give him enough troops to re-plan the battle.
For example, you can try to attack the three passages entering Longyou at the same time!
Even with the powerful mobility of the cavalry, which can drive long distances, they went north from Anding County to Wuwei County, and then turned south to Longyou for rescue.
Still, the army can go to Chencang Road to enter Wudu County and cut off all the Longyou army that rebelled against Shu.
However, sending troops out of Wudu is the last resort.
Yang'ankou cannot be captured in a hurry. In the past, when Emperor Wu attacked Yangping, he thought of retreating.
Moreover, if Zhuge Liang rebels against Shu and relies on the grain supplies from the counties in Longyou that have already fallen, and instead of returning to fight, he instead gathers his strength to attack Shanggui County, the Wei army will be in a dilemma.
Unless the situation is critical and cannot be reversed, Chencang Daocheng will not take it!
As for the rest of the attack routes, which one is urgent and which one is slow still needs to be decided before taking action.
Because the 40,000 troops that arrived the next day were the last reinforcements that Emperor Cao Rui could give him.
It is true that now that the three pillars of the world are competing against each other, Wei alone occupies the precious land of the Central Plains.
However, behind the seemingly strong situation, there are also unexplainable difficulties.
The world has been in turmoil for decades, and the Central Plains has been subject to repeated wars. There has been no rooster crow for thousands of miles, and there has been no recuperation.
Moreover, Wei State has thousands of miles of borderland, with Xianbei in the north, Sunwu in the south, Qianghu and Bashu in the west. They rest here and there, and they fight almost every year!
It is no longer possible to mobilize troops in the land of Jingzhou.
The three counties in the east have just been pacified and cannot be left without troops.
Moreover, Zhang He's tribe was originally stationed in Jingzhou.
Recently, Sima Yi, the general of the Hussars, reported a military report, claiming that Sun Wu had ships frequently traveling to and from Jiangxia. It seemed that he had plans to counter Shu, so he had to garrison troops.
As for Yangzhou, it is too far away from Longyou, and the water far away cannot save the fire nearby.
Whether the recent three assistants in Guanzhong can be recruited into the army, none of the princes in the DPRK will think about it.
Just as spring plowing was about to begin, the 80,000-strong army rushed to Longyou. All the grain, fodder and baggage were transported to the people of Guanzhong and Guizhou Province, and they were already mourning. If there are more soldiers to join the army, Hou Yin, the former Wancheng guard general, will lead the army. The fact that the people who were suffering from the corvee gathered in crowds and turned against them is a lesson from the past!
If it were not the time of life and death, how could we act recklessly?
Even if you merge two states, you will not be able to mobilize your troops.
Master Ke Bineng of Xianbei has become the norm in recent years.
Especially this year, Su Li, a Xianbei man who was friendly and moved into the Wei Dynasty, died of illness.
His son was still young, so Wei supported his younger brother Chenglu to become king and take charge of his people. However, this aroused the dissatisfaction of some tribal leaders, and some led their tribesmen to defect to Kebineng.
For this reason, and at the same time as Shu was attacking, could Ke Bineng not take advantage of the opportunity to attack the border?
In addition to the five Southern Xiongnu tribes within the state, as well as the abandoned Shangjun, and the Qiang and Hu tribes within, who dares to conclude that they will not take advantage of the situation to rob them?
This is the reason why Jizhou's troops cannot be mobilized.
This time the 40,000-strong army was mobilized from Hedong, Luoyang and Yanzhou.
However, the number of troops sent by Ni Shu this time was only 70,000 to 80,000.
Although he was caught by surprise and gained the upper hand on the battlefield, it is not completely unsolvable.
Cao Zhen, who silently looked at the map for a while, turned around and took his seat again, wrote and wrote, and issued all the countless orders.
Guo Huai vaguely had an answer in his heart, but he didn't want to have an answer.
