Less than two hours after Zhang Guifang led his troops to retreat, Huang Zhong turned back with his cavalry.
Huang Zhong ordered the retreat because he was distressed about the casualties, but it did not mean that his troops had no strength to fight again.
If Zhang Guifang led his army in pursuit, Huang Zhong would delay the Wei army until its physical strength declined, and then counterattack Zhang Guifang.
When the time comes for the exhausted troops to fight against the exhausted troops, the Qin army has morale and equipment advantages. Even if its strength is thousands less than that of the Wei army, it is completely sure to defeat it.
However, Zhang Guifang did not pursue him. Huang Zhong also knew that Zhang Guifang was also worried about the casualties. After all, the total strength of the Wei army was only that small. If the casualties were too large, there would not be enough troops to defend Yangdi City.
Since Zhang Guifang did not pursue him, Huang Zhong was naturally planning to return to Juntai City and rest for a while before marching towards Yangzhai. Unexpectedly, he encountered Ma Chao's troops who came to support him halfway.
Huang Zhong's troops were the vanguard. According to time calculation, the main force in the rear should have arrived at Gaoting City, but Ma Chao's troops marched towards Yangzhai in advance, which made Huang Zhong instinctively feel that something was wrong.
After joining forces with Ma Chao, Huang Zhong learned that Chen Gong, one of the five great military advisors of Cao Wei, had secretly surrendered to Da Qin, and had seized control of Yangdi while Zhang Guifang was leading the army to fight with him, so Ma Chao had to advance to Yangdi. Zhai's urgent march.
After Huang Zhong learned this, he was immediately frightened and broke out in a cold sweat, because his withdrawal would probably put Chen Gong in danger, and Yangzhai City, which had already been taken, might be recaptured by Zhang Guifang again.
"No, go back to Yangdi quickly."
After Huang Zhong screamed in surprise, he didn't bother to blame Chen Gong for not notifying him in advance. He simply explained to Ma Chao and immediately took all three thousand Qingqi and rushed towards Yangzhai at full speed.
When Huang Zhong and Ma Chao arrived at Yangdi City, it was already two hours later, but the city was still in Chen Gong's hands.
Thanks to Chen Gong's cleverness, he deceived Zhang Guifang away. Otherwise, the three thousand defenders in the city who had not completely returned home would definitely not be able to stop Zhang Guifang's eleven thousand Wei troops.
"Mr. Chen Gong, if you inform this general in advance, I will never withdraw even if I fight to the last soldier."
The first time he saw Chen Gong, Huang Zhong couldn't help but complain.
If he had known that Chen Gong was one of his own and would seize the city after Zhang Guifang left the city, he would not have retreated no matter how heavy the casualties were, but the final outcome would still be satisfactory.
Chen Gong couldn't help but smile bitterly: "It's because the palace support is too big and I underestimated Zhang Guifang."
Ma Chao on the side heard this and remembered Zhang Guifang's name deeply. After all, this little general defeated Huang Zhong's 10,000 elite troops with 16,000 Wei troops. It was impossible to do this without some real ability. of.
After Huang Zhong and Ma Chao entered Yangdi City, they immediately took over the control of Yangdi, while Ying Hao from the rear also rushed to Yangdi to launch the next strategy.
On the other side, after Zhang Guifang withdrew his troops, he fled to Shu City in the north, where he waited for the army to return from Ershang Pass.
After Cao Bin learned about the fall of Jiaxian County, he decisively ordered the abandonment of the northwest defense line to shrink his troops. The troops from the four northwest cities such as Lunshi and Yangcheng all withdrew to Epanguan overnight.
Lu Bu and Qin Ji, who were guarding Dagong Pass and Xuanyuan Pass, obviously did not expect Cao Bin to be so decisive. An entire line of defense, four cities, and more than 300,000 people would be abandoned like this.
After reacting, the Wei army had already run far away. Lu Bu and Qin Ji could only take over the city while continuing to march towards the Erban Pass. As a result, the army marched to the Erban Pass, only to find that the Erban Pass was empty. The defenders didn't know where they had gone.
Lu Bu and Qin Ji looked at each other. Although they were taking over territory along the way, they didn't even fight. The enemy just ran away. There was no sense of accomplishment in winning this battle.
Because the Qin army's offensive in Yingchuan was too fierce, less than three days after capturing Jiaxian, with the help of Chen Gong, they captured Yangdi, the important place of Yingchuan, which completely rendered the Yingsang Pass useless.
Once Yangzhai is lost, the western part of Yingchuan will be owned by the Qin Dynasty. If the defenders of Ershang Pass do not escape, once the city of Shu is captured by the Qin army, Ersang Pass will be attacked by the Qin army from both front and rear. I couldn't run away even if I wanted to.
Zhang Guifang was also smart and realized that it was too late to recapture Yangzhai. As soon as he withdrew his troops, he gave an order to the garrison of Erban Pass, ordering all the tens of thousands of garrison of Erban Pass to withdraw eastward.
Although Zhang Guifang's move gave up the Xiongguan Pass, which Cao Wei had spent countless resources and labor to build, to the Qin army in vain, it also saved tens of thousands of troops for Cao Wei.
Zhang Guifang had only been stationed in Sichuan for half a day when Feng Lin, the guard general of Erban Pass, returned with an army of 10,000 to join forces with Zhang Guifang.
Zhang Guifang was worried that Lu Bu in the northwest would lead his cavalry to pursue him, so regardless of the fatigue of the army, he ordered an immediate retreat eastward and went to Yingyang City for rest and recuperation.
Zhang Guifang's worries were not wrong at all. After Qin Ji entered the Ersang Pass and saw that the supplies and grain in the pass had not been burned out, he realized that the Wei army had not escaped yet, so after putting out the fire, he asked Lu Bu to lead 3,000 soldiers. Qingqi went to pursue him.
During Lu Bu's pursuit, he encountered another empty city, Yongshi City. After leaving 500 cavalry to take over, he continued to lead his army to pursue eastward. By the time he caught up with Shu City, Zhang Guifang had already escaped for a long time.
Lu Bu was completely at his wits end now, so he should continue chasing. A lone army would easily be ambushed if it went too far, and if it was pulled too far, it would be easy to run out of food. Coupled with the continuous rapid march, the soldiers were exhausted and could only rest in the city of Shu first.
So far, the two defense lines that Cao Wei had painstakingly built in the west and northwest of Yingchuan only lasted less than ten days. All eleven cities and one pass in the west of Yingchuan were broken by the Qin army.
The Qin army's offensive was too fierce and its advance was so fast that the logistics troops could not catch up with the large troops. They often arrived at a city and had to move to the next city before they could take a breath.
The same goes for Ying Hao. He stayed in Yangyin City for less than a day, then went to Jiaxian County, and then moved to Yangzhai with the army, spending most of his time on the march.
Now that Yangzhai has been captured, the second phase of the Qin Army's offensive against Yingchuan has come to a successful conclusion. Naturally, they can then take a break, focus on capturing wars, and wait for the logistics to catch up before attacking Xuchang. Not too late.
After entering Yangzhai, Yinghao personally met Chen Gong. After all, Chen Gong was by far the highest-ranking person among the Wei officials who surrendered to the Qin Dynasty.
"Chen Gongtai, see your Majesty."
Chen Gong saluted immediately after seeing Ying Hao, but before he could kneel down, Ying Hao personally helped him up.
"Sir, you endured the humiliation and sacrificed yourself to Yangzhai to save the people in the city from the war. You are a meritorious minister. You don't need to be so polite."
Ying Hao looked at Chen Gong eagerly. Although Chen Gong was a surrendered minister, he was turned against him before the war. Talents with strong abilities and high awareness must naturally be reused.
"Chen Gong is ashamed. Due to someone's negligence, Yang Zhai almost returned to Wei."
Chen Gong said with a look of shame, but Ying Hao obviously didn't care. After all, in his heart, Chen Gong was much more important than Yangzhai City.
Yangzhai is just a city, so what if it is recaptured by Zhang Guifang? The worst case scenario is to recapture it, and the significance of a talent like Chen Gong returning to Qin is far greater than a mere Yangzhai city.
It has to be said that although Cao Cao is unpopular at the bottom, he is still very supported by the top brass. Except for Ji Ling and Yuan Huanwan who surrendered as a last resort, no senior Cao Wei official has surrendered on his own initiative.
There are two reasons for this: first, Cao Wei has not yet reached the point of exhaustion;
Secondly, Cao Cao is really good at judging people and employing people. Most of the ministers he employs are quite loyal and generally will not surrender voluntarily.
Therefore, if the news that Chen Gong's level officials surrendered to Qin was completely spread, it would definitely cause cracks in Wei's already weak barrier from the inside out, thus inducing more officials to submit to Qin.
This is much more important than capturing a city.
"No gold is perfect, and no one is perfect. No matter how perfect the strategy is, there will always be flaws. It is normal for some mistakes to occur, as long as they can be corrected in time. Besides, in my heart, sir is much more important than just Yangzhai. .”
Ying Hao looked at Chen Gong with burning eyes, as if he was thirsty for talents, and this naturally moved Chen Gong very much.
"Your Majesty, the Qin army conquered Wei. Although they won one after another, the foundation of Cao Wei is still there. Chen Gong is willing to return to Wei to create opportunities for our great Qin."
Chen Gong said seriously, as if he was looking forward to death.
"What?"
Ying Hao suddenly showed a look of surprise. After all, it didn't matter before the rebellion. Even if Chen Gong hasn't been completely exposed now, he will definitely be suspected by many parties when he goes back. If he is not careful, he will never come back.
"It's inappropriate, it's inappropriate. Many people already know about Sir's dedication to the city. There will be no return for this matter."
Hearing Ying Hao's words, Chen Gong said meaningfully: "Who knew? It was Zhang Hu who surrendered. What does it have to do with me, Chen Gong?"
Ying Hao was startled, yes, who would know? Those who know so far are from Da Qin, and they can completely block the news of Chen Gong's surrender.
But Yinghao still shook his head and said: "Mr. Chen Gong, having said that, it is still too risky. Sir, you have worked hard to help me capture Yang Di. There is no need to take this risk again."
Chen Gong bowed his hands and said, "As long as I can help His Majesty end the troubled times, unify the world, and restore peace and tranquility to the people, Chen Gong is willing to go to hell and pour out the fire. Even if he dies without regrets, I beg Your Majesty to do it for you."
"this......"
Looking at Chen Gong who relied on you and looked forward to death, Ying Hao was only shocked and moved in his heart.
This kind of righteous man who does not seek fame, wealth or power, but regards the common people of the world as his own responsibility, is a rare existence in any era, and is also the most admired existence.
Chen Gong has long had the consciousness of sacrificing his life for righteousness. He is not loyal to a certain person, but fights for the righteousness in his heart. Such a righteous man Ying Hao cannot stop him, but it is better to help him.
"I admire you for your high righteousness. I agree to your request. However, we still need to plan how to implement it. We must ensure that you return safely."
Ying Hao said seriously, and he already had a plan in mind.
It's okay to let Chen Gong go back, but he can't go back directly. There must be a reasonable reason.
After all, if Chen Gong was allowed to go back like this without a reasonable excuse, even if Zhang Guifang didn't doubt him, Cao GUI would definitely.
As long as Cao GUI has the slightest suspicion about Chen Gong, he will definitely target Chen Gong. If Chen Gong cannot move, then there will be no point in going back.
Therefore, Chen Gong can go back, but how to go back requires some further planning.
Ying Hao planned to take advantage of Cao Wenzhao after he was captured.
After Cao Wenzhao was captured, even if Ying Hao personally persuaded him to surrender, he still preferred death to surrender, and even actively asked for death. It was Ying Hao's persuasion that made him give up the idea of death.
After all, the Ying and Cao families are relatives, and their relationship was indeed very good.
It would be fine if Cao Shuang, Cao De and others died on the battlefield, but after Cao Wenzhao was captured, it would be a bit too heartless for Ying Hao to kill him because he was unwilling to surrender.
Of course, although Ying Hao was not prepared to kill Cao Wenzhao, he was still prepared to take advantage of him. He would release Cao Wenzhao first and let him go back with a letter of persuasion to surrender, so as to create a reason for the release of Chen Gong later. This would also protect Chen Gong to the greatest extent. palace security.
"Sir, go and be with Cao Wenzhao in prison first. Let's gain Cao Wenzhao's trust first. After I find an opportunity to release Cao Wenzhao first, I will find another opportunity to send you, sir, back to Wei."
Hearing Ying Hao's words, Chen Gong couldn't help but nodded. After all, this was indeed much safer than going back directly. Although he was not afraid of death, he didn't want to seek death either.
