Liu Bei's army arrived in Huayin County and settled in the city.
From Shaanxi County to Huayin, soldiers and horses were left in every county along the way to protect the food and grass.
As Gongsun Zan's soldiers and horses are cavalry, it is too difficult to walk on the rugged mountain roads. They are still in the rear and are slowly moving westward.
Don't look at the distance from Hangu Pass to Huayin County, which is only more than 200 miles in total, but for the cavalry, it is simply a nightmare.
Especially in winter, there is heavy snow and the roads are wet and muddy. Not only is it extremely difficult for carriages transporting grain and grass to pass, but even Gongsun Zan's Youzhou Qingqi are no different from snails.
So on the eighth day, after Liu Bei's army entered the city, 70,000 troops were stationed on the spot. Several princes and important generals gathered together to discuss countermeasures.
In the hall of the county government residence, Liu Bei, Sun Jian, Cao Cao and Bao Xin gathered together.
Everyone's face was filled with joy.
Even though they knew that fighting in winter was an advantage and had expectations, they still did not expect that things would go so smoothly.
There wasn't even any decent resistance along the way. Sun Jian's 5,000 vanguard army, plus Guan Yu's front army, totaling 20,000 people, cleared the Qinling Mountains, which was originally thought to be very difficult. It was too easy.
Sitting in the hall, everyone could not suppress the joy on their faces.
Cao Cao stroked his beard and said with a smile: "It seems that Dong Zhuo is just as we expected. We didn't expect that we would fight in winter. There were no heavy guards along the way. I am afraid that all the soldiers and horses would be cowered."
In Chang'an."
Sun Jian glanced at Guan Yu and nodded: "Yes, Yunchang and I thought the same way. The Dong thieves had at least one hundred thousand soldiers and horses. They came all the way to kill, but only saw one or two thousand. It is indeed unusual. This is the only one."
explain."
"It would be a problem if Thief Dong hides his troops in Chang'an. I heard that the city wall of Chang'an is higher than that of Luoyang. With my troops and horses, I'm afraid we won't be able to capture it even if we besiege it for a year."
Liu Bei's face gradually became serious, and the mustache at the corner of his mouth twitched as he said: "And even if Dong thief doesn't defend Chang'an and goes out of the city to fight with us, I'm afraid it won't be easy. Although our army has the advantage of cotton-padded clothes, it still has a small number of people, and
Xiliang's cavalry is famous all over the world, but Gongsun Zan's Youzhou cavalry cannot catch up."
The Kwantung Army plus Gongsun Zan who has not yet arrived only has 100,000 troops. If Gongsun Zan is not included, it is only 70,000 now.
Dong Zhuo had an army of 100,000, so the Kwantung Army was actually at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.
The reason why they dare to fight is because soldiers have cotton-padded clothes to keep warm. Winter is no longer so cold, and their bodies will be more flexible and less stiff when fighting.
It's just that this advantage will become infinitely smaller as time goes by. December is the depth of winter, and in January, when spring arrives, the snow melts, and the weather warms up, the advantage of cotton-padded clothes will be meaningless.
At this time, the advantage of Xiliang's numerous soldiers will expand infinitely. Even if Gongsun Zan comes, the final result may be that both sides will suffer losses and it will be difficult to win.
So after hearing Liu Bei's worries, Cao Cao felt the same way and thought: "How many days of food and grass do our troops have now?"
Wang Lang is in charge of these matters. He said: "There are still eleven days."
I only brought ten days of food and supplies before departure, but now I have one day more food and grass than I had before departure.
why is that?
It was because they defeated several passes in Hangu Pass, Hongnong County and Huayin County in Hu County along the way. Except for Duan Xuan of Hu County who burned the stored grain, all the stored grain of Dong Yue and Hu Zhen were captured by the coalition forces.
However, the food stored by Dong Yue and Hu Zhen was actually enough to feed the 5,000 men under their command for two months. When Liu Bei's army of 70,000 people got it, it would only last seven or eight days. In addition to the remaining food and grass,
The final calculation showed that the remaining grain and grass were enough for the army to eat for the eleventh day.
There was actually not much of this food and grass, and a lot of it was dry food carried on the soldiers' bodies for easy portability.
But at the same time, it also proves that the Kwantung Allied Forces are indeed difficult to fight for a long time. As long as the follow-up supplies of food and grass do not keep up, the Allied Forces may not need to fight, and the Allied Forces will retreat.
Sun Jian was also very concerned about the issue of grain and grass, and asked: "When will the first batch of grain and grass arrive?"
"Heavy snow has closed the mountains, the roads are slippery, and there is mud everywhere. It is really difficult for the convoy to pass. According to the report from the rear, the first batch of grain and grass has just been transported to Hongnong County. On the way to Hu County, it is just marching
We are going slowly, traveling more than ten miles every day, and I am afraid we will have to wait about ten days for the first batch of food and grass to arrive."
Liu Bei knew the situation and explained the problem to everyone.
A few people did the math and found that the food supply had not been interrupted.
Don't think that Hongnong County is far from Huayin County. In fact, this section of the road is less than 90 kilometers in total, which is about 200 miles.
I walked more than ten miles every day, saving some food, and barely waited until the existing food and grass were used up, and then I followed.
Thinking of this, everyone felt relieved.
Bao Xin said with a smile: "It seems that as long as we wait in Huayin for a few days, the food and grass will be transported continuously. Moreover, Gongsun Zan's troops and horses can also arrive. In this way, the depth of winter in December must be better than that on November 1.
The colder months are the most favorable situation for us."
"good."
Cao Cao nodded approvingly: "We decided not to wait for the baggage and rush to attack because winter warfare is beneficial to us. Now the offensive is simply unstoppable and the success is beyond our expectations. It is indeed time to slow down and wait for the food and grass to arrive.
Attack Chang'an again so that you won't have any worries later."
Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "In that case, we will camp in Huayin County and wait for the grain and grass and Gongsun Bogui to arrive before we make any calculations."
It is late November now, even if we wait for more than ten days, it will only be early December.
Luoyang is less than 500 kilometers away from Chang'an, and there are more than 200 kilometers of it, which is the undefended area from Luoyang to Shaanxian County. Therefore, the area where the Kwantung Allied Forces actually want to attack is the section from Hangu Pass to Chang'an.
A distance of more than two hundred kilometers.
Originally, Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Bao Xin, Gongsun Zan and the other five princes thought that conquering this section of the road within two months of winter would be the limit. Little did they know that the journey all the way was so smooth, which actually gave them enough time to wait for food and supplies.
But now they are in Huayin County. The road from here to Chang'an is not only a plain area with relatively easy roads, but also the distance is only more than 100 kilometers, almost 300 miles, and can be reached in about five days. It really gives them something
Have enough confidence to wait for the arrival of food and fodder.
After discussing the countermeasures, Liu Bei ordered his soldiers to station on the spot and wait for the supplies from the rear.
Just two days passed by waiting.
In Zheng County, Xu Rong, Duan Xuan, Hu Zhen and others were waiting in the mansion for news of the scouts ahead.
Two hours later, Tan Ma came to the meeting covered in dust. When he came in, he kowtowed on one knee: "General!"
Xu Rong sat on the main seat and asked anxiously: "What's going on with the Kwantung Army?"
"Nothing happened."
The Scout Hui reported: "It has been very quiet in the city for the past two days. There are no carriages and horses coming out every day. It seems that the entire Kwantung Army is stationed in the city."
"What?"
Xu Rong frowned, and his face suddenly turned ugly.
The biggest disadvantage on the Eastern Front battlefield was the lack of troops, so he chose to lure the enemy deeper and tried to take advantage of the Kwantung Allied Forces' logistical weaknesses to strike.
Because the offensive of the Kwantung Allied Forces actually relied on each ordinary soldier carrying a certain amount of dry food in exchange for it.
Due to poor roads, even the short distance from Shaanxi County to Huayin County would take more than ten days to reach. Therefore, as long as the Kwantung Army's existing food and grass are consumed and their logistics are cut off, the Kwantung Army will have nothing to fear.
.
Even in order to welcome the Kwantung Army to Zheng County, Xu Rong was already preparing to evacuate Zheng County and return to Baqiao to garrison. This would allow the Kwantung Army to get out of Huayin and prevent them from escaping with the Qinling Mountains behind them.
Unexpectedly, they stopped marching after crossing the Qinling Mountains. It seemed that they were waiting for the logistics to arrive and had no intention of continuing to march.
This is what Xu Rong fears most.
After all, behind Huayin is the Qinling Mountains. Your troops cannot cross Huayin County to cut off other people's food routes. You can only do this by luring them into Zheng County and using the vast Guanzhong Plain.
But now...
"I have long said that only by concentrating all the troops and horses in Nanshan can we block the enemy's army. Now, if we try to lure the enemy deeper, they will directly block the entrance of Nanshan. When their reinforcements of grain and grass arrive, more than 20,000 of us will fight.
There are 100,000 people..."
Hu Zhen sneered angrily: "Haha, doesn't this mean you have a long life?"
Xu Rong's face turned blue and purple, but he said nothing.
Duan Xuan said something fair: "Even if we concentrate our troops and horses on Nanshan, we still have a small number of people. Moreover, when we fight in the mountains in winter, which of our soldiers will not be able to bear the cold? You have also worn those cotton clothes, and I
How can the army fight with them in the mountains in the ice and snow?"
Previously, when an ambush was set up in Tonghe, Duan Yan came back with a few cotton-padded clothes from the killed coalition soldiers. Now everyone understands why the Kwantung coalition dared to send troops to cause trouble for them in winter.
The military coat made of cotton is not only warm, but also very thick. After all, it is a good thing imported from India at the expense of the Qingzhou Group. It is also equipped with armor. Ordinary weapons may not even be able to pierce it. Fighting in mountainous areas, Dong Jun is indeed
Unsustainable.
Don't look at Duan Xuan relying on the favorable geographical location of the Tonghe River to win a three to one victory, but that was only a matter of a short period of time. Are you going to try a long-term confrontation? Within three or four days, Dong Jun's people will freeze to death, and the morale of the army will be directly weakened and defeated.
.
"Then according to your wishes, our army will be defeated. In that case, why fight?"
Hu Zhen spread her hands and her tone was extremely impatient.
Duan Xuan frowned and said: "If Zhu Jun and Bai Bo's army hadn't transferred most of our troops, how could we be in such a mess?"
"snort."
Hu Zhen snorted coldly: "I hope Niu Fu can defeat Zhu Jun."
"Wait a minute..."
Xu Rong suddenly looked at Duan Yan: "What did you just say?"
Duan Yan was confused and asked tentatively: "Even if we concentrate our troops and horses on Nanshan, we will have a small number of people."
"That's not the sentence."
"How can our army fight with them in the mountains in the ice and snow?"
"That's not the case either."
"What if Zhu Jun and Bai Bo's army hadn't transferred most of our troops?"
"That's it!"
Xu Rong stood up suddenly, with an inexplicable light flashing in his eyes: "I know how to defeat the Kwantung Army."
Duan Xuan hurriedly asked: "What can we do?"
"The Kwantung Army must be short of food and grass now, so it is waiting for the follow-up supplies."
Xu Rong guessed: "And relying on those cotton-padded clothes, they are confident that when all the baggage is gathered, they can fight us in the deep winter."
"good."
Duan Xuan and Hu Zhen both nodded, that's the truth.
Xu Rong continued: "So, if we want to lure the enemy deeper, we must find a reason for the Kwantung Army."
"What reason?"
"one......."
Xu Rong turned to look north and murmured to himself: "A reason why they will fail if they don't send troops..."