Chapter 714: Attack backward
Attacked from both sides, all retreat options are lost. In ancient wars, encountering this kind of situation was very dangerous, and the morale of the military was unavoidable.
Zhang Jing had just slept in his clothes for two hours. When he was called out by the soldiers, his face was filled with impatience and helplessness.
"What happened?" Zhang Jing asked.
When I asked this question, I was already thinking, could someone want to surrender?
This is not unfounded worry.
Starting from the first month, the imperial court began to move people, livestock and goods to Guanzhong.
Actually, this is done every year, but this year it is particularly eye-catching because the Jin army has already invaded Bingzhou, and the danger of Taihang is shared by us and the enemy.
In other words, the timing is not very suitable, and it is easy for people to associate with it, which will make people's hearts turbulent.
But in the current situation, doing so is not too wrong.
Since thirty years ago, there has been less rain in Guanzhong and the dry climate has caused a large number of people to migrate to Bingzhou, Sizhou and Jingzhou.
This arid climate lasted until the severe drought ten years ago, and then gradually improved.
When the locust plague breaks out, everyone has it.
When the drought broke out, everyone had it, but it has been alleviated in Guanzhong.
In the past two years, there has been excessive rainfall on both sides of the Yellow River and in the Chang'an area, causing more than a thousand households to be displaced by floods.
There are various signs that the rain that God owed to the people of Guanzhong and Bingzhou will slowly be paid back.
In the past two or three years, we had made small repayments, so that when Henan and Hebei were hit by drought, Bingzhou and Yongzhou were not affected by the disaster. On the contrary, the grain harvest was pretty good - from the current point of view, the drought is a thing of the past. The only thing that can attack Bingzhou, Yongzhou, and Qinzhou is the locust plague. There is really no way around this, so much so that the people of Bingzhou cannibalize each other.
There may be heavy rains in Bingzhou and Yongzhou this year, but I don’t know which side will be more serious. He hoped it was Yongzhou, after all, it was not their territory.
Getting back to the subject, the imperial court saw that the precipitation in Guanzhong was gradually becoming normal, or even slightly more, and the cracked land was slowly being repaired, so it began to move households to consolidate the land, cultivate and graze, and store grain and grass.
This could be done before, but it is best not to do it this year.
This is Zhang Jing's opinion, but he said it doesn't count and there is nothing he can do.
Now there are some hesitations in the army. They all suspect that the emperor will withdraw from Guanzhong. At most, Wuling, Taihang and Zhongtiao will be used as screens to protect Pingyang, Hedong and Xihe counties as the external barriers of Guanzhong - Pingyang, The river system in Hedong is criss-crossed and the soil is fertile. To be honest, it is very rich. It would be a pity to lose it. If you can, you must keep it. If the country becomes stronger and counterattacks in Guandong in the future, you can have a forward base, right?
In short, the army suspected that the emperor wanted to abandon the four counties of Xinxing, Taiyuan, Leping and Shangdang and let them be captured by Shao thieves. Unfortunately, Zhang Jing and his lord Shi Le are within this range.
Zhongshan King Liu Yao may have been abandoned, but it is also possible that he will support his retreat.
In short, I am very annoyed, worried and disappointed.
How can we maintain strong fighting spirit in such a situation? I have been doing this for several days now, and I am worthy of Emperor Pingyang. Zhang Jing would not be surprised if someone surrendered, although he had been trying his best to prevent such a thing.
"Sima, a bandit army has arrived behind the pass and has broken through the heavy supply camp." said the soldier.
Zhang Jing stood up suddenly, taking off the bow tip and saber from the wall, and asked: "Which wealthy family rebelled? That shouldn't be the case. The wealthy families in Leping are scattered in valleys. Is it so easy to connect them together?"
While talking, a few more soldiers came up and helped Zhang Jing put on his armor.
"Let's go and have a look." The soldier who saw the news couldn't explain why. Zhang Jing calmed down, strode out, and ordered: "Immediately summon the generals to the Ximen Tower to discuss matters."
Jingxingguan is said to be a Guancheng, but it is actually just a small and narrow area sandwiched between the east and west walls.
There are two gates, the east gate and the west gate. There are no common people in the city. Due to the lack of sufficient living area, almost all the space has been used to build military camps, arsenals, and grain depots-this fortress is purely for Born for war, without considering any livelihood needs.
The east and west gates are very close to each other, and Zhang Jing arrived soon.
The city was full of pale-looking sergeants.
Zhang Jing looked at each other and saw surprise, fear, and deep-seated despair.
It looks like me.
He didn't show any emotion on his face. He walked to the top of the city silently and looked around.
This way, this way, and that way...
There seems to be fighting everywhere, noises everywhere, and the sound of weapons clashing everywhere. People who don't know what's going on will definitely feel that the enemy is overwhelming and endless, perhaps tens of thousands of people are coming.
But Zhang Jing has rich battle experience. He only took a cursory look, then listened carefully to the sound coming from the night wind, and then based on the figures near each fire point, he immediately came to a conclusion: The incoming enemy number does not exceed three thousand!
They can still be saved.
The generals caught up one after another. Except for those who were directing the battle and on standby, the remaining eight generals were all present.
They looked panicked and hesitated to speak. At the moment of life and death, he seems to be no better than an ordinary soldier. At the end, everyone turned their attention to Zhang Jing.
Zhang Jing was silent for a long time.
Everyone waited silently.
I don’t know how long I waited, but the killing sounds in the east of the city slowly died down. Everyone knows that this is because the Jin army failed to attack the city, and the remaining soldiers retreated. Then they usually stopped for a period of time until the offensive resumed again.
Zhang Jing turned around, looked at everyone, and asked, "Do you want to live?"
"Yes." Everyone responded.
“Do you want to reunite with your parents, wife and children?” Zhang Jing asked again.
"Think." Everyone became excited. "Then follow my order." Zhang Jing glanced at the crowd and said.
"I would like to respect Sima's order." Everyone said in unison.
“Take advantage of this opportunity to open the west gate and attack from behind!” Zhang Jing paused here.
Just when the generals thought they were going to take the initiative to eliminate the threat from the rear, Zhang Jing added: "Gather up your courage and take advantage of the darkness to attack backwards. The enemy will definitely not be able to stop it. After the breakout, , I will not come to this place again when I return to Xingxing!"
"Yes!" The generals agreed, and then went to prepare.
Not long after, someone from the east city came to report that the Jin thieves were arrayed in the wilderness again, preparing to attack, when the west gate suddenly opened and countless sergeants rushed out silently.
Hundreds of armored warriors were at the front, followed closely by the rest. They rushed out of the city gate, shouted loudly, and attacked with force.
Zhang Jing’s judgment is very accurate.
Lü Ya led less than two thousand soldiers. At this moment, some of them were living in the mountains and forests, making noises and shouting, thinking they were suspicious soldiers; some were setting fires everywhere to create chaos; some were chasing people to the north, and they were scattered; there were only less than 2,000 soldiers. Thousands of people pulled some baggage carts along the roadside, preparing to block the enemy forces in the city.
The battle was fierce from the beginning.
The enemy troops rushed to the baggage train like crazy, stabbing with spears and slashing with swords. In the dark night, archers kept shooting, regardless of whether the shots were accurate or not, or whether they would hit one of their own. The arrows poured out, and they didn't care about anything.
A mere thousand people cannot stop it.
The enemy troops climbed over the baggage vehicles, broke up the formation of the Qingzhou soldiers, and continued to charge into the depths of the night.
The Qingzhou soldiers were forced to disperse to both sides. As they ran, they secretly cursed that they were all a bunch of lunatics. It was also at this time that they deeply understood the true meaning of "Don't stop after returning to the enemy" in the Art of War - for some troops, if you block their desire to go home, you will have to pay a heavy price.
Lü Ya was overwhelmed by the rush. The soldiers around him fell one after another. He was also hit by an arrow and stumbled towards the forest on the right.
After calming down from the shock, he looked at the post road by the light of the fire and found that the enemy army was not chasing them at all, but was running westward in a swarm. It was quite organized at first, but as I ran, the formation started to break up a bit, and I started to feel like I was running away, and I suddenly understood.
Seeing hundreds of sergeants gathering around him, he stopped them and said: "Don't act rashly. When the enemy soldiers pass by, hit their tails! Hit their tails!"
The sergeants They were confused, but some military schools came to their senses. The Jingxing defenders were scrambling for their lives!
Then those who blocked the road were really unlucky. They had to bear the enemy's most ferocious troops and fought at the moment when the enemy's morale was at its strongest.
Based on this judgment, they can get out of the way, gather their troops, and then pursue the enemy behind them.
Hot blood will become cold, morale will drop, and strength will weaken.
When the fleeing enemy troops find that there is no obstacle ahead, their desire to survive will cause them to flee in all directions irrationally. At that time, no matter how much the officer shouted, it was useless and there was no way he could be pulled back.
At this time, attacking from behind the enemy's rear will have miraculous effects.
What a pity! I didn't expect it in my haste.
It took a while for the enemy group to retreat. When Lu Ya saw that three to four hundred people had gathered around him, he immediately ordered an attack.
Morale is so mysterious!
The enemy, who had been so brave just now, almost lost all fighting spirit. They didn't want to stop fighting at all, they just wanted to escape.
The Qingzhou Army, which had been beaten to ashes just now, now had strong morale again. They rushed down the hillside, cut off the enemy army in the middle, and blocked the last few hundred people.
The enemy army showed its fierce appearance. Just as they were about to fight for their lives, they heard warm cheers from above Guancheng. There is no doubt that the Jin army has attacked the city and the city of Jingxing Pass is about to be defeated.
Almost instantly, the momentum they raised visibly declined.
Some people threw down their equipment and knelt down to surrender.
Some people ran into the mountains, forests or deep valleys, fleeing for their lives.
There were still people who gritted their teeth and rushed forward, but they were quickly wiped out.
Another defeated army surged out of the city noisily. They were shocked when they saw a large number of our own soldiers kneeling down, abandoning their weapons.
Looking ahead, there was a blazing fire. I didn’t know how many people came in the dark night, and I suddenly lost my fighting spirit.
The shouts of death behind him are getting closer and closer.
They hesitated for a moment, then abandoned their weapons and surrendered.
On the night of March 27th in the third year of Shengui (319), Liu Ling's troops attacked from both sides and captured Jingxing Pass.
After learning that Zhang Jing led his troops to flee, Liu Ling personally led his troops to pursue him.
On the afternoon of the 28th, he intercepted the enemy's rear column, beheaded two hundred people and captured more than a thousand people.
On the evening of the 29th, they pursued them to the east of Shangai County, killing more than a hundred people and capturing thousands more.
On the 30th, the pursuit continued westward, advancing in the direction of Shooyang (today's Shouyang).
Almost at the same time, all the Wubao commanders and manor owners who received the news took out the Jin flag on the spot to express their submission.
As the news spread, the wealthy families in Leping, Taiyuan, Xinxing and other places were in a commotion, and their eagerness to try was very obvious.
The Huns' rule in this area has a tendency to collapse.
(End of this chapter)