What Hu Zhen received was an urgent military report from Li Jue.
When the messenger sent by Hu Zhen before the battle rushed to Shuque Valley, Li Jue's messenger also rushed from the opposite direction to Jiexiu's camp.
Li Jue's letter used three fast horses and traveled day and night. The horses and people did not rest, and finally the military report was delivered to Hu Zhen's hands.
But after all, it was a step too late. If Hu Zhen had received this military report before the battle, he would not have left the camp to fight.
The contents of the letter are three:
"On November 6, the Baibogu bandits led tens of thousands of troops to the north and cut off the passage from Jiexiu to Linyi."
"On November 7, an unknown number of local bandits, Shanliao and a small number of Taishan troops appeared near Queshu Valley and began to harass the grain road."
But if these two are just frightening, then the third one makes Hu Zhen thunderbolt:
"On November 7, a small group of elite troops from the Taishan Army raided Yong'an behind Queshu Valley, and all the grain stored there was burned to the ground."
Yong'an is the rear grain station of Queshu Valley. The grain transported from Linfen will be stored here first. In the military report, Li Jue speculated that this small number of Taishan troops penetrated into the Yong'an area through some woodcutting roads and tunnels with the help of local tyrants and landowners.
Li Jue had already begun to mobilize troops to sweep away the local tyrants nearby, but it had long been of no use.
Because the batch of grain that the Taishan Army burned in the Yong'an Grain War was the latest supply for the Kansai Army, and now it has been burned, the grain in the Jiexiu camp is only enough for ten days.
These three pieces of news almost made Hu Zhen collapse.
During the daytime battle, I couldn't even control my emotions and started crying.
In his panic, he even went so far as to beat the golden drum during the war, almost causing a collapse. But for some unknown reason, the Taishan Army within the barrier did not pursue the victory.
But even so, when the generals in the front army questioned Hu Zhen excitedly, he had no choice but to pass these three military reports to the generals.
This time, the air solidified.
Hu Zhen also tried to keep calm and tried to preside over the order of the military meeting. But the other generals had long since ignored Hu Zhen, and they were all discussing the way out.
Most of the generals, such as Lu Bu and Yang Ren, advocated putting themselves to death and surviving, and the whole army worked together to move north to carve out a bloody path.
Lu Bu spoke frankly at the meeting:
"Our army still has enough food for five days. During these five days, our army will work together to go north to fight the thieves. If we win, we will be happy. If the situation is not good, we can break through and head north to Taiyuan."
At this time, Yang Ren said:
"The general has a different view. Judging from today's battle, it is unrealistic for our army to defeat the enemy in a short time. For the current plan, we can only attack instead of retreat. We can only retreat to the Linfen area. But. If we retreat directly like this, due to the dangerous situation of Queshu Valley, our army will have no choice but to die here. Therefore, if we want to retreat smoothly, we must first win a good battle, and the only way is to hurt the enemy."
At this time, Yang Ren still spoke with the Sichuan accent, but Hu Zhen didn't say anything he didn't understand, but listened carefully.
It turns out that our old Hu can listen to Sichuan music!
The statements of Lu Bu and Yang Ren actually represent the two directions of the military generals. Either to the north or south, but both are willing to fight again.
So Hu Zhen asked Fan Chou next to him to see what he thought.
Fan Chou touched his head, thought for a while, and said:
"As far as we, Lao Fan, are concerned, what Sichuan Wanzi said is reasonable. There are Li Jue and Lao Guo behind us. With them, as long as we cross the Queshu Road, those Taishan troops will not be able to get through at all. Even if we retreat again, One step, we still have Linfen, there is a jade defense line there, we can retreat to that, no matter what, we can definitely defend Hedong."
Hu Zhen was stroking his beard and thinking about it.
Fan Chou is right. If he really wanted to kill Taiyuan like Lu Bu did, it would be miserable. When they arrive in Taiyuan, they are guest soldiers, and they don't know how they will be punished by Ding Yuan's gang in the future.
After thinking about it, Hu Zhen decided to retreat south.
Having decided to withdraw south, Hu Zhen asked when the decisive battle with the Taishan Army would take place.
The generals all suggested that it would be done tomorrow, but Lu Bu once again went out of his way and said it would be done tonight.
Judging from Lu Bu’s meaning:
"Our army has already fought one battle during the day, and the enemy would never expect that we would attack again at night."
Of course, this is just Lu Bu's superficial reason. In fact, he is worried that if there is another battle tomorrow, the enemy will be prepared.
But in the end Lu Bu only had one opinion. The Yong, Liang, and Yi generals in the Kansai Army all believed that the chances of a big victory tomorrow would be greater, and the risk of a night battle was too high.
If so, Hu Zhen has decided on the strategy.
Tomorrow the whole army will go out to fight the bandits, beat the enemy hard and gain space for retreating south.
And the man stood up and said hoarsely:
"Everyone in the past said that they would sacrifice their lives to serve the country, but now, it is the time for us to use our lives. Today, our army is in embarrassment and our food and fodder are cut off, but there is no need to hide it from the officers and soldiers in each camp. What I want is to let everyone know that we The army will die if it doesn't fight. Only by fighting hard can we survive. Tomorrow, I will personally hold the drum and lead the entire army to kill the enemy. I will not retreat in this battle, and the troops will not retreat. "< br>
After saying that, Hu Zhen burst into tears and cried:
"The rise and fall of the empire depends on this one move. You must inspire your conscience. Tomorrow we will fight bloody battles to survive!"
When Hu Zhen imitated the gestures of his children, he did not notice the complicated looks in the eyes of many Yong and Yijun generals below.
……
Putting aside various personal factors, Hu Zhen is still a qualified general.
He set the time for the decisive battle at tomorrow's hour, and then carefully arranged the formations of each battalion, the order of attack, and the order of retreat after the war.
Hu Zhen arranged the above in an orderly manner, and all the generals obeyed.
After the generals took their formation lists and resigned, Hu Zhen privately summoned the generals of the Liangzhou clan.
He wanted to discuss the breakout the next day in detail with these people. After all, they were all his own people. If they retreated south, they would definitely be the first group to retreat.
While he was discussing with these people, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the tent, with people shouting and neighing everywhere.
Hu Zhen's heart suddenly pounded, and he was trembling all over, until Hu Guang, the general from outside, rushed in and said desperately:
"Commander, something bad happened. The Yong and Yi army generals just left and led the troops to break up their camps and head south."
Hu Zhen felt dizzy and ran directly outside. He saw chaos and noise everywhere in the long dark night. He murmured:
"Why is this happening?"
Hu Guang sighed:
"It was Gan Ning who went first, and as soon as he returned to the camp, he took advantage of the night with all his Banzhen barbarians to head south. As soon as Gan Ning ran away, Shen Mi beside him also broke out of camp and ran away. In this way, all the camps were frightened, and first The Yizhou army broke out, followed by the Yongzhou army. Now the whole army has gone to Qiting! "
But Hu Zhen is still muttering:
"Why is this happening?"
Hu Guang finally became impatient and shouted loudly: "Commander, hurry up and let people chase you. Most of those battalion leaders are following suit. With military orders, most of them can still be called back. For example, the Bingzhou Army is hesitant now... ….”
When Hu Guang said this, Hu Zhen suddenly woke up, as if a drowning man grabbed a straw, pulled Hu Guang, and said eagerly:
"Yes, Lu Bu is still here. Hurry up and tell Lu Bu to come back."
When Hu Guang was about to leave, he heard Fan Chou say:
"Commander, let Xiao Hu call Lu Bu and the others to come back. Let's get on the horse first. The situation is not right now. We have to catch us old Liangzhou brothers first. If the situation cannot be undone, we still have a chance to escape."
< br>
Hu Zhen, who had no master, nodded hurriedly, asked his left and right men to prepare their horses, and asked Hu Guang to look for Lu Bu. Finally, he cursed with hatred:
"The Sichuan people of that generation are all pigs and dogs, and they all deserve to be killed. They all deserve to be killed!"
Having regained his sense a lot, he turned around and told the Liangzhou generals behind him:
"You hurry back to the camp and restrain the troops. They can't do it without my order. The enemy will definitely know about our army's current chaos and will come to stop us. I need you to supervise all the troops to fight to the death, otherwise many of them will retreat and these tens of thousands of soldiers will be defeated." The horses are all dead.”
Fan Chou and others were still hesitating after hearing this, when they heard Hu Zhen shout angrily:
"Why don't you go quickly?"
Hu Zhen still had some prestige in front of these Liangzhou generals. When he became angry, the generals quickly took orders and flew back to the camp.
After all these people left, Hu Zhen burst into tears on the spot, truly crying like a mother-in-law.
……
The Bingzhou Army's camp was very conspicuous, and Hu Guang found it without much effort.
But just when Hu Guang was about to enter the camp gate, an arrow was suddenly shot from the watchtower, and it hit the hoof of Hu Guang's horse.
The dust splashed by the arrow frightened Hu Guang's mount, but it was Hu Guang's superb riding skills that prevented it from falling.
Although Hu Guang is a well-known man, he is not without temper. If he shoots an arrow at night, he will be shot to death. So he cursed at the tower:
"Which of your grandsons would die if you shot Naigong?"
And in the darkness, Bingzhou dialect came down:
"Old Hu, don't make things difficult for me. The captain has an order. No matter who dares to break into the camp, he will be killed without mercy."
As soon as he heard this voice, Hu Guang knew who it was. It was Cao Xing.
Hu Guang had been serving as a messenger for the Chinese army before. He often traveled among the armies and was very familiar with the powerful generals under each army leader.
This Cao Xing is different from Zhang Liao and others. He is from Hanoi and does not belong to the Bingzhou system. However, during the Battle of Weihan, he was rescued by Lu Bu and began to follow Lu Bu.
What impressed Hu Guang most deeply about this man was his archery skills. The legend of piercing a Yang with a hundred steps really happened to him.
He was invited by Lu Bu to participate in a hunt. During that hunt, he saw with his own eyes that Cao Xing shot down a pair of wild geese with one arrow, which was simply miraculous.
It was precisely after he glanced at the arrow on the ground that Hu Guang restrained his temper, smiled and shouted to the top:
"It's Lao Cao, he's complaining that I didn't report it. I didn't break into the camp, but I really wanted to pass on the military order. Hurry up and drive down the wall, the military situation is urgent."
But after Hu Guang finished saying this, he didn't see any movement on the other side for a long time, and he felt bad in his heart.
He rolled his eyes, thinking about it, and hurriedly clasped his fists:
"Colonel Lu, I know you're up there. Why, you don't want to see us, old Hu? That's not authentic. You know, it was you, Colonel Lu, who we called each other brothers in the past. You can't use the words of brother. Just go forward and refuse to see your brother even once when you don’t need him?”
This is really not nice to say, but it is really the truth.
Don’t you dare to talk to Cao Xing if you don’t see him? Before, Lu Bu wanted to get close to Hu Zhen, so he specifically took Hu Guang's route. Those who have a small banquet every three days and a big banquet every five days have already spoken of each other as brothers.
When Hu Guang saw that Lu Bu was really a fierce general, he recommended him to him more often.
Now, it really doesn't make sense for Lu Bu to directly avoid Hu Guang.
And who is Lu Bu? He values his face more than anyone else. It doesn't matter if you scold him behind his back, but what's the point of being dead? That means Lu Bu is really on the watchtower.
So he was provoked by Hu Guang and stood up directly regardless of his previous discussions with Zhang Liao and the others. He cursed at Hu Guang below:
"Old Hu, you still have the nerve to be brothers with me? How does your lord Hu Zhen treat us? When did I, Lu Bu, not support Hu Zhen? When did I refuse to charge forward? But what? You guys? Don’t think that Lu Bu is a fool. How can you let me go? Have you ever replenished our army when we lost soldiers? Damn it, you old Hu should be dead!”
Hu Guang was silent, and he felt a little guilty.
Because he had told Hu Zhen before to let the Bingzhou Army rest and recuperate for a while, but it was too much. But what happened to Hu Zhen?
Hu Zhen snorted coldly:
"It was Lu Bu who was able to use him. Can you see the fate of the hound? It only has the value of existence if it keeps hunting prey. Once it gets old, sick, or disabled, it is just a pot of meat."
As he spoke, Hu Zhen also said something extremely true:
"Xiao Hu, I know you have a good relationship with Lu Bu. But you have to know that in this world, you are either sitting at the dining table or being put on the dining table. Do you understand?"
You must not say this to Lu Bu, otherwise he will be furious.
So, Hu Guang changed his mind and said directly:
"Captain Lu, you have made outstanding contributions. You are the leader of the country and have turned the tide several times. But this time, the building is about to collapse. Now the Yizhou and Yongzhou military departments have fled one after another, affecting the entire army. Our army has actually reached the point of life and death. At this time, only we can overcome the difficulties together!”
Unexpectedly, Lu Bu was confused and replied:
"Why should we overcome difficulties together?"
Hu Guang below was stunned for a moment, thinking that Lu Bu didn't understand what he meant. He was about to explain, but suddenly he felt the ground shaking. Looking ahead, he saw that the previously closed shaft door was opening.
The soul of Hu Guang emerged and shouted:
"Withdraw to both sides."
A group of Chinese knights behind him quickly dispersed from both sides, and then saw a group of iron cavalry running directly from the camp gate, ignoring the panicked Hu Guang and others, and headed eastward.
At this time, Hu Guang finally understood what Lu Bu meant.
It turned out that he didn't want to play with the Kansai Army anymore.
At this time, Hu Guang did not dare to pursue anymore, so he had no choice but to go back to the camp to report the situation to Hu Zhen.
There is a saying that fate favors those who are suffering.
Before Hu Guang sent back the news of Lu Bu's defection, Hu Zhen had already received new bad news, but he heard an army general gathered in front of his horse and said in a panic:
"Commander, the deserters from the outer camp rushed into Camp Fan. Lieutenant Fan could not hold them back. Instead, he was surrounded by people on his horse and fled south. Now that the situation is over, Commander, please leave quickly. I will stand behind you for Commander Fan."
By this time, Hu Zhen had lost all hope, and he sighed;
"You go, I have no face to see the Grand Master, I can only be a beheaded general."
The general was still trying to persuade him, but suddenly he backed off and ran away without saying a word.
It turned out that the Taishan Army had already taken advantage of the chaos and came to kill them.