Chen Dao's reinforcements finally arrived, and Zhang Xi finally relaxed.
With reinforcements, we will have the confidence to continue to hold on, and we can also allow the hundreds of soldiers who have finally held on until now to withdraw and take a good rest.
Really, Zhang Xi is really grateful to God. This God is really kind to him. He didn't push himself to the end of the mountain and only sent reinforcements when he had to go into battle and fight desperately.
After Chen Dao commanded the reinforcements to enter the city, he did not immediately change defenses. Instead, he went directly to the city tower and found Zhang Xi who was still sitting on the city wall.
First, I handed over the task to Zhang Xi. After all, Zhang Xi is now the highest officer of Hubei City and the de facto guard.
Then, he explained to Zhang Xi the reason for his late arrival and the young master Liu Qi's plan to fight Zhou Yu to the death under the city of Hubei.
Zhang Xi and Wei Yan were immediately stunned.
".Who proposed this plan to the prefect?!"
Zhang Xi held it in for a long time, and finally could only say this sentence.
Chen Dao didn't think much and directly answered Huang She.
After Zhang Xi heard this, he silently glanced at Wei Yan, then at the surrounding soldiers guarding the city, and then said, "General Uncle Zhi has come a long way to work hard. Please return to my camp first, and we will discuss it slowly."
Then, Zhang Xi got up on his own, dragged his tired body, pulled Chen together, and left the city wall.
Some things cannot be said in public. Three people have to hide and conspire.
Zhang Xi also saw that Huang She's plan was a plan to benefit himself at the expense of others.
But Zhang Xi also knew that Huang She's plan would not succeed.
If the Jiangdong Army's food and fodder is really in Xiaji and Qichun, then Huang She's attack will most likely suffer.
There is no other reason, just because the general in command of Jiangdong Army is named Zhou Yu.
It is impossible for Zhou Yu not to arrange enough manpower to protect his food route, and on the river, no one is the opponent of Jiangdong Navy now. It is impossible to cut off the retreat. Huang She is very likely to steal the chicken without losing. Put the rice.
As for Young Master Liu Qi's so-called decisive battle plan, it is just a joke.
After returning to Zhang Xi's military tent, Zhang Xi no longer had any scruples and whispered to Chen Dao, "I once fought side by side with Chen Ju, the commander of the navy, for more than ten days. Although he was not a great talent, he was quite capable of controlling the navy. . Before retreating, he once said that it would take at least three months to retreat to Shaxian to restore the navy before fighting again. How could Taishou Liu come to intercept the Jiangdong Army’s return route with its navy?!"
"Ah?!" Chen Dao was also surprised. He really didn't know this.
Chen Dao didn't understand the navy's tactics. He thought the navy and the army were the same.
After the army takes the initiative to withdraw as an organic whole, it needs to sort out its troops and replenish its ordnance. At most, it will take a few more days to recuperate, and then it can continue to fight.
When he thought about it, since Sha Xian had ready-made warships and naval forces, it wasn't just as long as the naval forces boarded the ship that they could regain their combat effectiveness and start fighting.
Zhang Xi didn't know much about the navy's tactics, but when he and Chen were discussing countermeasures in the past few days, Chen told him something, telling Zhang Xi that even if the navy had ships, it wouldn't be able to go to war right away. The navy must be familiar with the performance of the ship so that it can develop combat effectiveness.
Zhang Xi believed that Chen would not lie about this kind of thing, and when Chen Dao heard that it was Chen who said this, he also realized that he might have made a mistake.
The navy commander is a very professional general. Since he said this, no matter whether it is true or false, it is not wrong for laymen to believe it.
"If this happens, without the navy to cut off the way back east of the Yangtze River, how can Governor Liu easily defeat the enemy?!" Chen Dao was also worried.
Chen Dao is a very loyal person, although he is not necessarily very honest.
But Liu Bei sent him to Jiangxia, on the one hand, to help Liu Qi control Jiangxia, and on the other hand, to let him find a way to control a certain amount of military power. If Liu Qi failed to defeat the Jiangdong Army this time, but instead had something good or bad on the battlefield, Chen Dao would not I would like to see it.
Therefore, Chen Dao was still quite worried about Liu Qi. At that time, he wanted to write to Liu Qi and ask him to stay in Xiling and wait for the specific news of Huang She's raid on Xia Pheasant and Qichun before deciding whether to send troops or not.
But Zhang Xi is not very good, he is a bit wilted and bad.
After there was no threat to his life, Zhang Xi began to think about the pros and cons of this matter.
It's not a bad thing if Liu Qi is embarrassed.
Don't forget, in Zhang Xi's plan, the master of Jiangxia will be Liu Bei in the future.
If Liu Qi has high merit and prestige, it doesn't seem to be in Liu Bei's interests.
As soon as Liu Qi became the governor of Jiangxia, he "recovered" the three counties in northern Jiangxia occupied by Cao Cao. If he really "repelled" Zhou Yu's attack on the eastern front, it would make uninformed people think that Liu Qi really He is the kind of person with great talent and great strategy.
Therefore, Zhang Xi's idea is that if Liu Qi comes, he can have a decisive battle with Zhou Yu, or he can let Zhou Yu teach Liu Qi how to behave while ensuring Liu Qi's safety. That would be great.
At this time, Chen also realized Zhang Xi's intention, and even more understood why Zhang Xi wanted to drag him into the military tent before talking about it. Different from the place at the top of the city, there were three people in the military tent, and a circle of guards outside the tent. They are all Liu Bei's own people.
Wei Yan said nothing about this. He actually felt that Zhang Xi was right, and Liu Qi could not be allowed to grow up.
But Chen Dao hesitated.
"How can we ensure the safety of Young Master Liu Qi on the battlefield?!" Chen Dao frowned and asked Zhang Xi.
It's not that Chen Dao disagrees with Zhang Xi's opinion, but there are too many surprises on the battlefield. Who can guarantee Liu Qi's safety? !
If anything happens to Liu Qi, under what name will Liu Bei enter Jiangxia in the future? !
Therefore, Chen Dao's suggestion was to follow the original plan and write to Liu Qi, asking Liu Qi to wait for news about Huang She. If Huang She really won, then march on. If Huang She lost, Liu Qi would stay put. This would be safer.
Zhang Xi also admitted that it was safe to do so, but what if Zhou Yu really retreated? !
In the end, the key factor was Wei Yan.
Wei Yan chose to support Chen Dao.
"We all belong to the army of Jiangxia. If we hold on to Echeng and force the troops to retreat from Jiangdong, the credit for this will belong to Liu Qi. It is just a matter of fiddling with pen and ink. It does not make much difference whether he led the army in person or not. And I don’t believe that Huangshe Pifu can really capture Xiaji and Qichun and threaten the Jiangdong Army’s retreat. If so, why let Young Master Liu Qi take the risk?!"
Two to one, Zhang Xi said yes, I will listen to you.
At that moment, Chen received a handwritten letter and told Liu Qi the current situation in E County and Zhang Xi and others' suggestions on Huang She's plan, asking Liu Qi to make his own decision.
Then, put aside Liu Qi's "strategic" issue and simply return to the issue of Echeng's defense.
"Now that our army is coming for reinforcements late at night, Jiangdong Army doesn't know about it. Why not take this opportunity to lead my army to ambush outside the city and wait for Jiangdong Army to attack the city tomorrow to break out, so as to dampen Jiangdong Army's spirit?!"
Chen Dao proposed again, this time for the city defense battle in E County.
But this time, Chen Dao's proposal encountered opposition two to one. Wei Yan sided with Zhang Xi this time.
"General Uncle Zhi is tired from afar, and Jiangdong's army is large in number, and Zhou Yu is not an incompetent person. If it is damaged, it will be unsightly!"
This is Zhang Xi’s objection.
Jiangdong's army has been attacking the city these days, and although it has injured thousands of people, it is far from breaking the bones.
Chen Dao's reinforcements were only 3,000 men. Even if 3,000 men were ambushed and raided the military formation of more than 10,000 people, if Zhou Yu saw through it or responded calmly, it would not be easy to succeed. Instead, he might lose troops and generals, which would be detrimental to the defense of E city.
Zhang Xi didn't dare to take risks.
The reason for Wei Yan's objection is even simpler.
"Based on the defense of the outer city of E County and the morale of the E County defenders, if General Chen goes out of the city to ambush, it may be difficult for E County to withstand the next round of Jiangdong Army's offensive."
Wei Yan also tactfully reminded his superiors that after holding on for so many days in E County, the outer city wall had been almost destroyed and the defensive equipment had been exhausted.
Moreover, the defenders of E County had been holding on for so many days and were already at the end of their strength. Now that they saw the reinforcements arriving, they had long wanted to withdraw and rest. If they were allowed to defend the city wall again at this time, I am afraid they would not be able to do their best.
At this time, both Zhang Xi and Wei Yan thought that the safest way would be better. Rather than risking a sneak attack out of the city, it would be better to send people to reinforce the city defense quickly and replace the actual defenders.
Chen Dao also followed the good advice and left immediately to command his soldiers to replace the city defense, reinforce the city wall overnight, and prepare supplies for defending the city.
Zhang Xi and Wei Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to their tent to sleep.
Not daring to sleep for too long, as soon as the sun rose, the two met on the tower. A new round of attack by Jiangdong Army started soon.
However, this time there are reinforcements and the manpower has been replenished.
Although there are still not many defensive equipment, this is not a big problem. After all, what really determines the outcome these days is the hand-to-hand combat of the sergeants.
Moreover, the soldiers brought by Chen Dao this time were soldiers who had undergone two months of training and had a preliminary understanding of the Yuanyang Formation tactics.
Although not as powerful as Zhang Xi's fifty personal guards, on the city wall, the sergeants worked together in units of tens of thousands. With the hand-to-hand fighting ability of Jiangdong Army, they were no match at all.
Therefore, Zhou Yu was quite surprised to find that today's attack was even more unsatisfactory than the first day's attack, and the losses were even greater.
However, Zhou Yu soon figured out the secret.
The soldiers guarding the city wall today are not the same people as the defenders who were pushed to the limit a few days ago and were about to collapse.
In other words, Jiangxia's reinforcements may have arrived in Echeng.
Just how many people came? !
Zhou Yu frowned slightly and immediately called for gold to withdraw his troops. After asking the sergeants to retreat, he called Ling Tong and asked him to lead two thousand sergeants to E County to challenge.
Of course, it is not a one-on-one battle between generals, but the E County defenders are invited to go out of the city to fight in the field.
There are some things that Zhou Yu wants to confirm.
(End of chapter)
