On the Guanzhong Plain, on the desolate horizon, dense crowds of people slowly moved forward.
Their speed is very slow, winding like ants, and they are crowded.
The people wore tattered coats and had sallow complexions and thin muscles. Many of them were like bamboo poles, as if they would fall over if the wind blew.
Xu Rong didn't realize until the next day that the Kwantung Army was not preparing to cross the river to attack Chang'an, but was leading the people to the east, taking Zuo Fengyi and the people of Xiagui County to withdraw towards Huayin.
This surprised and delighted Xu Rong.
What was surprising was that he didn't have cavalry in his hands, because he didn't react until a day later. If the Kwantung Army retreated quickly, he might not be able to catch up.
Fortunately, Liu Bei actually led so many civilians with no fighting ability to evacuate. Once he catches up, even if he only has 20,000 people in the rebel army, it will be enough to create a lot of chaos and let the civilians break up the Kwantung Army's formation.
So Xu Rong ordered the troops to pursue at full speed the next day. Fortunately, the Kwantung Army retreated very slowly due to the large number of exhausted civilians they carried.
About three days later, when he had passed Xiagui County and was about to cross the river to Zheng County, he finally caught up with Liu Bei.
In fact, the current Kwantung Army has fallen apart. Sun Jian, Cao Cao, and Bao Xin left on their own, and now only Liu Bei is still insisting on heading east.
Tens of thousands of people plus Liu Bei's more than 30,000 troops, a total of 100,000 people, were in chaos on the north bank of the Weihe River. Countless people were crossing the river. Because of the dry season in winter, there are many places where you can swim in the Weihe River, and the river is full of
people.
When Xu Rong saw this scene, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. His army marched nearly sixty miles a day, while Liu Bei's army only marched forty miles a day. It took almost three days to catch up.
This was Xu Rong's intention to maintain his physical strength. Otherwise, he could achieve the extreme march of 120 miles every day.
Liu Bei had already received the news from Tan Ma, and organized troops and horses to stand on the bank of the Wei River, looking at Xu Rong's army coming slowly in the distance. Every Qingzhou soldier had a pale look on his face, and the princes in the court only provided him with food and grass.
It was enough to feed an army of 70,000 for several days. After the food was distributed to the people, they only had corn porridge to drink every day and could not maintain their physical strength at all.
"Brother."
Guan Yu held the Green Dragon Sword tightly and stood beside Liu Bei on his yellow flying lightning.
"Um."
Liu Bei's face was determined, he had already anticipated the current situation.
As I said before, it's not that Liu Bei didn't want to fight Chang'an.
It was because of the lack of food and grass and seeing the suffering of the people that he finally came to his senses and wanted to go back to Huayin to supply food and grass, and then continue to fight steadily.
Cao Cao's plan is too risky.
Liu Bei dared to gamble before because he was eager to save the emperor and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty. In addition, Xu Rong's letter showed that Chang'an was empty, and there was pressure from Niu Fu to return to the army, so he felt that he could give it a try.
But after he saw the miserable state of countless people around Chang'an, his mentality and thoughts changed greatly.
He is thinking.
Maybe Cao Cao's plan will succeed, and in that case, he can indeed win in one battle.
But what if it fails?
There is no 100% successful strategy in this world.
After all, it's just a big gamble.
Once it fails, the Kwantung Army will be completely destroyed here.
Not only did this expedition plan to Chang'an completely fail, countless people around Chang'an will also fall into a dark hell with no hope.
Many people say that with greater ability comes greater responsibility.
But responsibility also means pressure.
The more things you carry, the heavier the pressure will naturally be.
The moment before he made the decision, Liu Bei felt as if a huge mountain was pressing on his head, making him breathless.
These years have been very smooth.
He found that once he failed, as the leader of the alliance, he would be under much greater pressure than as the person who proposed the plan.
People in the world will only say that Liu Xuande could have taken a steady and steady approach, slowly captured Chang'an, and rescued the Emperor. However, he had to risk a surprise attack and ultimately ended up in failure.
I won’t go into why Cao Cao proposed this plan.
Because as the leader of the alliance, Liu Bei could veto Cao Cao's plan, but he just agreed.
Just as Wei Yan proposed a surprise attack on Ziwu Valley, Zhuge Liang vetoed it.
Deng Ai proposed to sneak into Yinping, but Zhong Hui agreed.
Both have their own considerations.
Maybe Liu Bei doesn't care about these public opinions.
But he cared that if he couldn't succeed, what would the emperor and the people of Chang'an do?
He didn't dare to gamble anymore.
Because he found that the cost of losing the bet was too high.
At this time, the thing Liu Bei regretted most was locking up Tian Feng.
If only he had listened to Tian Feng earlier, taken steps step by step, and waited for food and fodder to come wherever he went.
Then when he arrives in Chang'an, he will have enough ability to relocate the people around Chang'an, at least not making their life so difficult this winter.
But Chen Mu once said that the most meaningless emotion in the world is regret.
After all, it doesn't help.
So Liu Bei quickly put these negative emotions out of his mind and looked at the enemy in the distance with a serious look.
The two sides were separated by about two miles, looking at each other in silence.
Apart from the cold and harsh wind, the only sounds left on the battlefield were the sound of hurried footsteps, the strings of bows and arrows, and the constant shouts of middle-level officers, ordering the soldiers to stand in line and form a square formation.
"General."
Captain Li Meng asked Xu Rongdao: "Do you want to fight?"
Xu Rong looked at Liu Bei's army from a distance and saw that their lineups were unevenly arranged and the soldiers were weak. He chuckled: "Wait a little longer."
"When?"
Li Meng asked again.
"If my prediction is correct, their food and grass were exhausted three days ago, and now the Kwantung Army's soldiers and horses are all hungry and fighting."
Xu Rong said calmly: "It's just that now is not the best time. Pass on the order. If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move."
Li Meng stretched his neck and saw dense crowds of people swimming across the river with difficulty, and said, "What if they wait for the people to cross the river and then evacuate from the river beach?"
"Then go after him. Just chase, don't fight."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Xu Rong said solemnly: "Zheng County is still a hundred miles away from Huayin, and it will take two days at the earliest. Even if they enter Zheng County and defend the city, they will have no food and grass.
, let’s see what they can do.”
Zhang Xiu, another captain next to him, praised: "The general is very clever. As long as our army follows them, they will be very nervous. They are already hungry. I'm afraid they won't be able to hold on for long, and the Kwantung Army will collapse and mutiny."
Xu Rong just smiled. Starting from luring the enemy deeper, at least for now, everything was still under his control.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and when the sun began to set in the evening, Liu Beijun launched an attack.
woo woo woo woo!
The desolate horn sounds long.
There is no prelude or any opening remarks.
In the fierce wind, Liu Bei's army officers at all levels shouted and shouted, and rows of spearmen formed their formations in front of the formation.
Dian Wei, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Huang Zhong and others stood in front of the formation, looking indifferently at the enemies arrayed in the distance.
Bang bang bang bang!
The swordsmen and shieldmen in the first row kept beating their shields with their swords and walked forward step by step, while the archers in the rear bent their bows and nocked arrows.
Following Liu Bei's order, everyone began to charge the fiercest.
"withdraw!"
Xu Rong rode on the horse, turned around and left.
The soldiers retreated in an orderly manner. They were two miles away, which was almost 800 meters away, enough for them to maintain a perfect distance.
But at this moment, a sudden change occurred, and countless figures suddenly appeared behind Xu Rong, attacking towards them.
Zhang Fei!
The Kwantung Army's military deployment is of course not as simple as rushing to Chang'an in a swarm of swarms.
With a superior force, they chose to bypass Zuofeng Yi with their main force and attack from north to south.
Zhang Fei was divided into fifteen thousand men, from east to west in the direction of Baqiao.
Once the war situation changes, both sides will attack at the same time.
As Liu Bei suddenly changed his strategy, Zhang Fei's troops naturally had no offensive significance, so they were transferred back to form an ambush.
Liu Bei evacuated from the north bank of the Wei River, while Zhang Fei evacuated from the south bank of the Wei River, which is almost the location of Weinan City in later generations.
Taking advantage of the darkness, night cover, and winter dry season, we crossed the river from the sandbar in the middle of the Wei River and lurked under the slope of the river embankment on the north bank.
This is where they come into play.
"kill!"
Liu Bei held both swords in his hands and waved forward.
"Ouch!"
The swordsmen and shieldmen who lined up in front of the formation rushed out fiercely.
A wolf in front and a tiger in the back.
Xu Rongjun's situation is in an extremely dangerous situation.
Seeing this step, Zhang Xiu quickly said to Xu Rong: "General, what should I do?"
Xu Rong grinned: "What else can I do, fight!"
"kill!"
With an order, Xu Rongjun also launched an attack.
Then the two torrents collided violently. From a high altitude, it was like the sharpest spear meeting the thickest shield.
There was a handover of weapons, and fire burst out. One person flipped on his back, and groups of people fell down, disappearing into the quagmire of war.
The problem with Dong's army is that they have a small number of people, only 20,000, but they are well-equipped, well-fed and well-fed, and have a physical advantage.
Liu Beijun's advantage lay in the large number of people. Although he was physically weak, the cotton clothes he wore were warmer than Dong Jun's clothes. In the cold north wind, although he was hungry, he was not shivering and his whole body was filled with chills.
Both sides have their advantages, and from a practical point of view, Liu Beijun's advantage is obviously greater. During the attack from the front and back, Xu Rongjun actually collapsed in a short period of time.
But this situation only lasted less than a quarter of an hour.
On the horizon on the north bank of the Weihe River, countless figures also appeared, approaching quickly.
Xu Rong originally asked Duan Yan to be stationed in Baqiao, and now his role is also reflected.
Duan Xuan did not follow Zhang Fei. He crossed the Wei River directly and followed Xu Rong.
So Zhang Fei's scouts didn't notice them at all.
Zhang Fei crossed the Wei River from the south bank and attacked Xu Rong's rear, and Duan Xuan attacked Zhang Fei's rear.
Zhang Fei's troops, who were already short of food, were also facing attacks from two sides.
The battle lasted just over two hours.
The total casualties on both sides exceeded 5,000. The huge casualties made Liu Beijun, who was already hungry and exhausted, finally unable to hold on and on the verge of collapse.
Under the cover of night, the soldiers abandoned their helmets and armor and ran in a hurry, which eventually turned into a battle royale.
Under the desperate cover of Guan Yu, Zhang Feidian, Wei Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong and others, Liu Bei finally led thousands of people to break through.
At dawn the next day, the soldiers were gathered together. In addition to the dead and wounded, tens of thousands of people were scattered, and only more than 30,000 people continued to return eastward.