Chapter 1180: Strategic retreat
Wang Mang knew that once Yang Lin was defeated and the Southern Allied Forces were isolated and difficult to support, they would surely be finished sooner or later. Although he wanted to save Yang Lin, he was unable to do anything.
Just when Wang Mang thought he was completely in a dilemma, a letter from Chen Qingzhi in Hedong once again gave him the confidence to persevere.
In the confrontation with Xue Rengui, although Chen Qingzhi repeatedly fell into a disadvantage, he was not crushed like Wang Mang, and the casualties of his army were not too great. Therefore, against Wang Mang's background, Chen Qingzhi seemed extremely rare and valuable.
Chen Qingzhi was the only general who had not suffered a big loss in the confrontation with the Qin army. Wang Mang had to take his advice seriously.
Chen Qingzhi stated in his letter that the annihilation of Yang Lin's army was a foregone conclusion. Even if Yang Guang captured Hangu Pass, he would not be able to save him. Moreover, he did not think Yang Lin could capture Hangu Pass. After all, Li Cunxiao, the best general in the world, could not. There it is.
Since the fall of Hangu Pass, Yang Lin has become a turtle in the urn. The outcome of the entire army's annihilation has long been doomed. It is just a matter of time.
Therefore, instead of thinking about saving the Liang army that was destined to be defeated, it was better to think about how to get out of the chaos in Sizhou.
Although the Bingnan Allied Army had more troops than the Qin Army, its combat power was far inferior to the Qin Army. This can be seen from the fact that the 120,000 Bingnan Liang Army was overwhelmed by the 50,000 Qin Army.
Without the Liang Army to contain them, the Qin Army could use up to 100,000 troops, not to mention nearly 20,000 Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry among them. This force was definitely not something that the Bingnan Alliance Army could resist.
Although there were few cavalry in the Qin army, when Qin Jian participated in the alliance of princes, he brought 30,000 Bingzhou wolf cavalry southward. This cavalry also became Qin Hao's trump card.
After experiencing the battle against Dong, the Wolf Cavalry also suffered heavy casualties, but still had nearly 20,000 combatable cavalry. In addition, Qin Hao supplemented it from the prisoners of the Liang Army, which also gave the Qin Army more The number of cavalry was restored to 30,000.
When Yuwen Chengdu completes the reorganization of the 40,000 Liang army, there will be another 10,000 Xiliang cavalry among the 40,000 reorganized army. By then, the Qin army will have 40,000 cavalry in Sizhou.
However, for the Bingnan Allied Army, whether the Qin Army had 40,000 cavalry or 20,000, the difference was not very big, because no matter whether it was 40,000 or 20,000, they had nothing to do.
The Bingnan Allied Army also had cavalry, but the number was too small and their combat power was not strong. They were no match for the Qin Army. If they went out to fight out of the city, they would definitely lose.
The land of Hanoi and Hedong is a flat terrain. For Bingzhou Langqi and Xiliang Iron Cavalry, it is like a back garden, where they can always come and go whenever they want.
Although the Union Army can use the city wall to defend, there is no point in just sitting and waiting for death. After all, the Union Army does not have sufficient food and grass, and once the food reserves are exhausted, they will face the same ending as Yang Lin.
For the current Bingnan coalition forces, there is no chance of winning against the Qin army on the Heluo Plain. It is better to preserve their strength, withdraw from Sizhou and return to Bingnan.
Bingzhou is mountainous and most of the terrain is dangerous. Only by occupying favorable terrain can the Bingnan Allied Forces continue to fight against the Qin army.
Wang Mang knew what Chen Qingzhi said, but after all, he was only a general and not a lord. Among millions of people in Hanoi and Hedong, it was not easy to give up.
However, Wang Mang finally decided to retreat, and what made Wang Mang determined was another point mentioned in Chen Qingzhi's letter, that is, it is not easy for the southern coalition forces to withdraw from Sizhou now.
If the Bingnan Allied Forces want to withdraw from Sizhou, they must withdraw before the Qin army can deal with the Liang army. Otherwise, without the Liang army to contain them, if the Qin army's cavalry drives straight into the Yellow River and directly cuts off their retreat, they will not be able to retreat. The Confederate Army really couldn't leave even if they wanted to.
With this thought, Wang Mang has already made a decision in his heart. No matter how difficult it is to withdraw from Sizhou, he must withdraw. If he stays in Sizhou, he will die sooner or later. If he returns to Bingnan, there is still a glimmer of hope.
The princes of Bingnan still have tens of thousands of troops in Bingnan, plus Sizhou's 120,000 troops. The Bingnan coalition relies on its huge military advantage and dangerous terrain to defend, so it may not be unable to block the Qin army's attack.
What's more, even if Hanoi and Hedong were abandoned, the losses suffered by the Southern Alliance Army would not be huge.
When they entered Sizhou, the Union Army had only 60,000 troops, but when they returned, they had 120,000 troops.
Even if you remove the 20,000 Chen Zhang mercenaries and the 20,000 Bai Bo mercenaries, there are still 80,000 left, which is 20,000 more than the strength before coming.
The mercenaries of Chen Zhang and Bai Bo also suffered heavy casualties in the confrontation with the Qin army. However, the first thing Wang Mang did after expanding his army again was to make up for their losses. Only in this way can he ensure that he conquered the south. The alliance does not collapse.
Although Wang Mang decided to withdraw from Sizhou, he would not just take advantage of Qin Hao in vain. There were millions of people in Hedong and Hanoi, and he decided to leave Qin Hao in a mess.
That's right, after raiding aristocratic families, Wang Mang extended his claws to ordinary people.
Before withdrawing his troops, Wang Mang ordered the seizure of all rations from the people under his rule on the grounds that the war was approaching, and then distributed them uniformly.
The people were naturally unwilling to hand over the food, but under the coercion of the army's swords and guns, they did not dare not to hand it over. A small number of people were dissatisfied and chose to resist, and naturally they died under the suppression of the army.
For a time, the people in the two counties were crying and howling, and countless people cursed Wang Mang.
After Wang Mang successfully collected the grain, he took all the grain and grass with him and retreated, but Wang Mang did not give up and left three days' rations for the people.
In fact, Wang Mang could have left no food at all, but in this case a large number of people would starve to death, and his reputation would also be completely ruined.
If Wang Mang really didn't want to take advantage of Qin Hao, he could implement the scorched earth strategy and kill all the people in Hanoi and Hedong. In this way, Qin Hao wouldn't be able to take advantage at all.
But Wang Mang's heart was still not ruthless enough after all, and massacring the city was so unconscionable that Wang Mang could not do it, nor did he want to do it.
But Wang Mang still didn't feel much burden in confiscating the surplus grain in the hands of the people and letting millions of people in Hedong and Hanoi consume the Qin army's grain and grass.
If the Confederate soldiers were numerous and retreated together, the Qin army would not be able to stop them even if they wanted to.
Su Lie and Xue Rengui didn't have many troops in their hands. They were also afraid that this was a trap to lure them out of the city, so they didn't stop them at first. By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late to stop them.
After leaving the devastated Hanoi County behind, Wang Mang took all the troops under his command and rushed all the way to the south bank of the Yellow River, where ships for the north crossing had been prepared in advance.
On the south bank of the Yellow River, in front of Mou Ferry.
Wang Mang looked at the soldiers who were constantly carrying supplies and the boats that repeatedly traveled to both sides of the Yellow River. He couldn't help but sigh: "This is just a strategic retreat. I will come back."
