Chapter 412: Withdrawal
On the north bank of the river, the Rangers patrolled around.
They had nothing else to do but divide into groups and spend the whole day herding horses on the bank, patrolling, and observing the situation on the river.
From August 20th, something went wrong. The Jin army began to send people to the lower reaches to cut down trees, build rafts and boats, and tie them up to look like building a pontoon bridge.
After the news was reported, the Zhemati camp immediately sent people to row a boat to get a closer look.
Stone figures and beasts are being placed on Zhongli City, and it seems that the pontoon bridge will be laid towards the north bank. In this way, the newly built pontoon bridge downstream is more confusing...
On the 21st, the general and King of Bohai Liu Fu led more than 10,000 people to Yewang. In the afternoon of the same day, they galloped again. Arrive at Jamati camp.
"General." Wang Zhang personally came out of the camp gate to greet him.
Liu Fu is the prince, the king of Bohai, and the general.
Wang Zhang is the general of the Chinese army. He adds the word "big" to show his respect for his position. He has a higher level of office building. In fact, he has nothing to do with the generals of the Zhenjun, the generals of the Fujun, and the Zhengzhen Anping. the difference.
In other words, there is no essential difference between Wang Zhang's official position in Liu Han and Pingdong General Shao Xun's position in Jin State, and they belong to the same echelon.
Before Liu Fu came, Wang Zhang was the commander-in-chief of the army.
After Liu Fu arrived, he naturally came under his command.
To put it bluntly, Liu Cong still wasn't worried about Wang Zhang, and he didn't seem to have any achievements, so he replaced him.
"How is the situation among thieves?" Liu Fu had nothing else in his eyes, only the Jin army on the south bank.
For the thief commander Shao Xun, his mood is very complicated.
On the one hand, he was grateful to Shao Xun for defeating Jin Zhun in Gaoping, which made his brother who loved luxury and enjoyment disgraced. Liu Can, the king of Hanoi, was the coach after all, and it was impossible not to bear no responsibility at all.
On the other hand, he is also worried about Shao Xun's growing popularity.
After the fish watching incident in Fenshui, His Majesty sincerely admitted his mistake and temporarily calmed the dissatisfaction of the ministers.
But Liu Fu knew that his father was already worried.
After Ye Wang returned to Pingyang, he ordered King Yi of Hejian to be the general of chariots and cavalry, and King Yi of Pengcheng to be the general of guard, and they also ordered the troops to stay in the guard.
Wang Kui of Gaoping was the general who conquered the south and suppressed Lishi.
Wang Ji of Jinan was the general who conquered the west and built Xiping City to live there.
Wei Wangcao was the general who conquered the east and suppressed Puzi.
He is the King of Bohai. He led his army to the front line of Zhemati and took over Wang Zhang's position as commander of the army.
The six princes are in charge of the Chinese and foreign armies - although not all, but more than half - is it not clear what the father thinks?
Having more sons has the advantage of helping the father share the pressure.
As the fifth prince, Liu Fu wanted to fight for his own future while fighting for the Han Dynasty.
Wang Zhang was also a straightforward man. He led Liu Fu directly onto the river embankment. He pointed his horsewhip and said: "General, please see, Tao Zhu's city is named 'Zhongli City' and has been built. . From the north gate of Zhongli City to Hepu, stone beasts and cast iron chains are already being laid, and a pontoon bridge is planned to be laid to the north, directly under our feet."
"There is also Nancheng on the other side of Zhongli City, which has not yet been completed. Inside, the cavalry discovered that Jin people were cutting down wooden boats and seemed to be building a bridge to cross the river. "
"News came back from the south bank that the Lord of Jin sent an edict to Heyang, ordering Shao Xun to cross the river quickly and attack Hanoi without any mistakes."
"With these three things in mind, I think Shao Xun is a little anxious and plans to make a desperate move. , broke into the north bank in one fell swoop and built a city."
Liu Fu observed carefully for a while and suddenly sneered.
Wang Zhang looked at him puzzled.
"How do the Chinese army think Shao Xun will cross the river?" Liu Fu asked.
“Maybe we can advance in three directions.” Wang Zhang said.
"Try what you say."
"The first way is to lay a pontoon bridge while heading towards the north bank; the second way is to ferry people by boat and attack by force; the third way is to go downstream. Take risks to build floating bridges, attack the east and attack the west."
"Three ways to advance together"
"I don't think Shao Xun would do this. Of these three ways, one or even two must be false, and only one is true," Liu Fu said.
"General, the most taboo thing in war is speculation. You still have to be prepared." Wang Zhang advised.
Liu Fu turned his head suddenly and stared at Wang Zhang.
Wang Zhang looked at him calmly, without flinching.
Liu Fu suddenly turned from anger to joy and said: "The general of the Chinese army is old at fighting, and he only listens to you."
Wang Zhang withdrew his gaze from Liu Fu.
It is not difficult to see that King Bohai was not really willing to listen to his opinion.
Speaking of which, although Hanoi Wang Can is extravagant and addicted to pleasure, he is much more open-minded and can listen to opinions.
This King of Bohai lived a simple life, never let go of scrolls, and practiced martial arts constantly. He had a good reputation in the capital, but it was really hard to say what his character was.
As far as the Han Dynasty is concerned, he would rather the emperor live a more luxurious life than mess around.
"Have arrangements been made for other directions?" Liu Fu asked again.
"It's not that the arrangement is good, it's just that it's going on. It's up to God how the fight will turn out." Wang Zhang told the truth.
Liu Fu was not very happy.
But he also knows that the outcome of the fight depends not only on himself, but also on the enemy.
Both sides are similar in strength and neither makes mistakes. In the end, even if one side wins, it will be a miserable victory with huge losses.
In most wars, the competition is about who makes fewer mistakes, and then can catch the enemy's mistakes and win in one fell swoop.
Shao Xun is a sophisticated opponent.
He is not infallible, but he rarely makes mistakes. Moreover, you discover many mistakes only after the fact, and by that time you have missed the best opportunity. However, he was still a little depressed and said bluntly: "Before I came here, I once thought about it carefully. In the two battles of Luoyang and the battle of Gaoping, Shao Xun could only maintain an undefeated situation. Why did he actually take the initiative today?" Attacked? "
"After thinking about it, I really don't understand. The Han Dynasty has no less than 200,000 soldiers, and Shao Xun only has tens of thousands of infantry. If he doesn't hold him down, Beating him on the ground is unbelievable. Why is this happening?”
When Wang Zhang heard this, he was also a little silent.
Yes, why?
To be fair, the Han Dynasty has become stronger and stronger in recent years, its territory is getting bigger and bigger, its household registration is getting more and more, and its money and food are getting more and more.
Even if the siege of Luoyang failed, and even if the southward march to Yanyu failed, they, with the cavalry as the main force, had never been severely damaged. On the contrary, it has been compensated in other directions, and the national strength has not decreased but increased.
But as we fight, the battlefield is approaching the north bank of the Yellow River. Why?
A force with almost no cavalry actually relied on step by step to press forward little by little. It was simply outrageous.
To be honest, Shao Xun's strength is not as good as Guanzhong Jia, Liang and others. They can at least attract a lot of cavalry, and they are not inferior to the King of Zhongshan (Liu Yao) in this regard.
In the Han Dynasty, Wang Zhang used to be most jealous of Shi Le, for no other reason than that Shi Le could lure up to 30,000 Jie, Wuhuan, Xiongnu, and Xianbei cavalry from various places at one time, posing a comparable threat to the Han Dynasty. Fifty thousand or one hundred thousand infantry is much stronger.
But now, Shi Le is obeying orders to fight, and Shao Xun is building a city on the river to intimidate Hanoi. It is this man who is the most popular.
"Don't worry, General." Wang Zhang thought for a while and said: "If our army is defeated, it will not hurt our bones. If Shao Xun is defeated, most of the army will be annihilated. Our army can be defeated many times. If Shao Xun loses once, his position will be shaken. If he loses twice, his power will collapse. If he loses three times, he will die without a place to die. Just wait for him to make mistakes."
"What you say is so unambitious!" Liu Fu sneered.
Wang Zhang didn't answer, just looked at the river.
After a moment, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes and saw a ship sailing away from the anchorage on the river, shaking its oars vigorously, and gathering on the river.
One boat, two boats, three boats... Gradually, dozens of boats gathered, divided into several batches, and rowed towards the north bank of Zhemati.
Liu Fu also saw it, looking surprised and delighted at the same time.
"Send the order to gather the cavalry." Liu Fu passed Wang Zhang and ordered directly.
Wang Zhang had no objection, after all, King Bohai was the coach.
What’s more, this order is correct.
The infantry troops stationed themselves behind the camp and tried their best to stop the attack.
The cavalry formed a formation on the field. When the enemy's formation was irregular and their personnel were uneven, they suddenly rushed out and drove them down the river in one fell swoop.
The reason why half-crossing attack is famous is because it is really easy to use.
******
Under Xin'an City, another siege ended in failure.
Left guard Sima Chen Yong of the base camp was killed in the battle, and more than ten generals under Huang Biao, Sima of the forward camp, were wounded, resulting in more than 3,000 casualties.
This time, no one was really sneaking around. The generals and commanders went into battle shirtless to boost morale, but they still barely breathed a sigh of relief. They stormed the city and were defeated again.
When the troops were retreating, a cavalry army came from nowhere. They circled out from behind the mountains and made a surprise attack. They caused heavy losses to the troops behind them and killed many officers.
The matter has come to this, and the fight can no longer go on. Anger has accumulated in the camp, and it seems that it is about to explode at any time.
"Grand Governor, we can't fight any longer." General Pei Kuo of the Left Guard had an unshaven beard and sunken eye sockets. It was obvious that he hadn't had a good rest recently and was in a very anxious mood. He just heard him say: "In the past few days, there have been people. Fleeing, the morale of the army is low, and they may not be able to fight anymore."
"It's just a matter of breath." Xun Song was a little reluctant.
“It’s always a breath away.” Sima Huangbiao of the left-back forward battalion who had just wrapped up his injuries did not give Xun Song any face, and mocked: “Wang Mi’s casualties are not small, but our casualties are even greater. Those I don’t know who recruited the new refugees. They were greedy for life and feared death when they attacked the city. They ran away when the enemy was defeated. Once night fell, they tried every means to escape from the camp, which would affect their morale. "
Xun Song stood up and glared at Huang Biao.
Pei Kuo said he would forget it, but who do you think Huang Biao is? How dare someone who has been farming for generations dare to speak so brazenly?
The soldiers in the commander's camp looked at Xun Song. As long as he gave an order, Huang Biaoming could be punished.
Xun Song hesitated for a moment and sat back again.
The soldiers were a little disappointed, but not surprised.
If he doesn't even deal with those who cry loudly and play sad songs in the military camp, thereby affecting morale, how do you expect him to deal with the generals?
The camp tour seven days ago is still fresh in everyone’s memory.
Just after returning to the commander's tent, he received a military report: Wang Mi went out of the city to attack at night, and won a great victory. He beheaded more than a thousand people, including several members of the right guard generals, and the number of those who broke up during the night was even greater.
If the angels hadn't arrived later, brought some money and silk rewards, and strictly ordered the camps to continue attacking the city, they would have retreated.
Now that we have been fighting for seven more days, it seems to have no use except for killing more people.
The right guard general Li Yun kept his head down and remained silent.
The losses of his troops were greater than those of Zuo Wei, and their morale was even lower, but he did not dare to stand up and speak.
Seeing that Xun Song was still hesitating, he sighed silently in his heart. Fortunately, the wounded soldiers had been sent to Luoyang a few days ago, which reduced a lot of burdens, otherwise the morale would be even lower during the retreat.
"The enemy cavalry chasing today is likely to be reinforced from Pingyang." After receiving Pei Kuo's signal, Xu Lang, the governor of the third division of Zuowei, said: "Grand Commander, the Huns have increased their troops, or are they still here? Fresh troops, our army is tired from fighting for a long time and cannot fight anymore, so we should withdraw."
Seeing that the generals were unwilling to fight anymore, Xun Song sighed inwardly.
When he goes back this time, he may never get the chance to lead troops again.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Forbidden Army is a big fire pit, and whoever jumps into it will be disgraced.
Just when he was about to say something, a staff member came in a hurry and reported: "The Governor, a messenger from Yiyang has arrived, saying that Zhong's military army was suddenly attacked by Shi Le at the Erling Tomb of Xiaoban, and two thousand troops were lost. The rest of the people fled. Yuan Yan, the governor of Hongnong, had summoned all the Wubao troops to defend Xiban. This matter was of great importance, so he sent an envoy to report. Pei Kuo suddenly realized.
Li Yun couldn't stand it any longer and stood up and said: "Grand Governor, our sons and daughters have no intention of fighting. It's time to withdraw and rectify. The Shileduo cavalry are another fresh force who are recharging their strength. If we delay any more If it goes on, the losses will only be greater.”
Xun Song also felt nervous.
He couldn't help but spread out the map and look left and right.
Everyone looked at him, with the same meaning in their eyes: Don’t fucking look at it, just give the order.
Xun Song glanced at everyone, unable to withstand the pressure, he slowly raised his hand, then lowered it weakly: "Send the order to withdraw."
(End of this chapter)
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