On the second day when the Liangzhou Army attacked Ji County, Zhang Xi felt very anxious.
Yesterday, Wei Yan led a thousand troops out of the city. Relying on Wei Yan's command skills and ability to control the battlefield situation, although he was not able to completely break through the Wei army guards in front of the Pili convoy, he retreated quickly and before the Wei army's central army arrived , led the troops to fight back and break out of the siege.
They retreated quickly along the way. Although their tails were bitten by Cao Wei's cavalry, with the help of the crossbows of the defenders on the city wall, they returned to Ji County without any danger.
A thousand soldiers left the city, but less than 600 returned, but not a single thunderbolt chariot was burned down.
But Zhang Xi couldn't criticize Wei Yan harshly. Yesterday, Zhang Xi, Jiang Xu, Zhang Yi, Ju Fu and others all watched the whole process on the top of the city. If it weren't for Wei Yan's decisive command and battlefield control ability, Super strong, it is very likely that none of the thousand soldiers who left the city will come back.
It is not easy to achieve such results when going out of the city to fight under the threat of cavalry.
Therefore, in the battle after Wei Yan returned to the city, no matter how Wei Yan asked for battle again, Zhang Xi had no intention of letting Wei Yan go out to fight again.
This was a battle in which the whole army might be wiped out if not careful, and the leading generals would be killed in battle. Zhang Xi could not deal with it carelessly.
After holding on until dusk, when Cao Jun's offensive slowed down, Zhang Xi asked the anxious Wei Yan to lead a thousand troops again and go out to fight.
But this time, because the battle was coming to an end, Cao Jun relaxed a little. Although Guo Huai's response was timely, the morale of the soldiers was no longer the same as during the day. In the end, Wei Yan was still allowed to seize the opportunity and fight in front of the Pili convoy. , killed part of the defenders and burned three Thunderbolt vehicles.
But this was the limit. Wei Yan had no time to light other thunder chariots. Guo Huai's Chinese army was already coming towards him, and if he were slower, Cao Jun's cavalry would complete the formation behind him and charge over again. .
Wei Yan made a very calm judgment, quickly returned to his army, and fled back to the city again.
This day's offense and defense gave both Zhang Xi and Guo Huai a headache.
What troubles Zhang Xi is that with Wei Yan's leadership ability and personal bravery, he attacked twice today and risked his life, but only burned three of the opponent's Thunderbolt Chariots.
What worries Guo Huai is that if this situation continues, his Pili car may not be enough to be burned down by others in several raids.
The Thunderbolt Car is quite troublesome to build. It takes at least two or three days for the military craftsmen to build one, but I don't have that much time to spend with Zhang Xi. The real target is in West County, not this Hebei County.
Guo Huai looked up at the high platform still standing in the middle of the battlefield. In the end, he didn't have the courage to put on the women's clothing. He had to think about what strategy he should use to prevent the enemy from leaving the city for an assault tomorrow.
At least judging from the battle situation during the day, Guo Huai believed that his strategy was correct, but it was still somewhat imperfect in preparing for the enemy's out-of-city assault.
Guo Huai felt that it was not that his strategy was not perfect enough, but that the enemy was a little too strong.
That Zhang Xi was very good at using people's hearts to create opportunities. After being blocked once when he left the city, he waited so patiently and waited until it was almost dark before launching a second raid.
This didn't catch him off guard, but caught Sergeant Cao off guard.
In fact, Guo Huai never relaxed his vigilance until he officially ordered his troops to withdraw, and was always paying attention to the movements of the defenders of Ji County.
But Cao Jun, who had been fighting for a day, could not be as vigilant as Guo Huai. It was about to get dark and withdraw his troops. At this time, everyone would be a little relaxed. As a result, Zhang Xi caught him after he relaxed just once. Seized the opportunity.
And the general Wei Yan who led the troops into battle was also outrageously capable of accurately judging the battlefield and controlling the command of his soldiers. Anyway, Guo Huai felt that if he and Wei Yan switched positions, he might not be able to do what he did. .
Both times when they left the city, they took advantage of the problem that the cavalry's impact speed was too fast and it was difficult to adjust the direction of the attack. They almost perfectly avoided the first impact of the cavalry. At the same time, they were also very precise in timing of attack and retreat. As long as this person is a little bit If he hesitates for half a stick of incense, he will die on the battlefield.
Faced with such a combination, Guo Huai felt that his guard strategy was indeed not refined enough and needed to make some adjustments.
First of all eh? ! What's going on? !
Guo Huai was thinking about his defense arrangements for tomorrow when he suddenly heard the sound of war drums. He immediately felt a chill in his heart and ordered the entire army to be on alert. All generals would patrol the military camps and beware of bombing the camps.
At the same time, elite scout troops were dispatched to inspect the situation outside the camp and report immediately if there was an enemy attack.
Then, Guo Huai sat in the central military tent without any panic, pretending to be calm and waited for the scouts to report back.
When encountering an attack at night, it is most taboo for the commander to panic. If even the commander panics, then the enemy may only be a sneak attack by a small group of troops, but it can cause the entire army to collapse or even kill each other.
On the contrary, as long as the commander is calm, the lieutenants will be at ease, and if these lieutenants are at ease, the soldiers will not be in chaos.
Guo Huai has led troops for many years and is well aware of the relationship here, so now he is still sitting calmly, waiting for rewards.
But the scout's return made Guo Huai a little upset.
It was not a night attack by the enemy at all, but a small group of troops took advantage of the darkness, quietly approached their camp with gongs and drums, beat the gongs and drums, and retreated before their scouts arrived.
This is not a big deal, and it will be fine if you retreat.
But what really upset Guo Huai was not this fake night attack.
Who is Guo Huai? He is a man who relies more on his brains than his martial arts. How can he not know what the defenders of Ji County want to do?
Just wait, this disguised night attack with gongs and drums is just the first time, and there will be a second and third time. Once you don't care about anything and let him beat it, maybe the other party will really do it one time. The night attack.
Even if there is really no night attack, who can sleep well with all the noise this night? ! How much energy can each of us have if we fight the next day? !
Why is this Zhang Xi so disgusting with his stratagem style? Not only does he mess with your mentality and make you explode, but he also mixes the real with the fake. It’s so hard to figure out. Once you let down your guard, you may be taken advantage of by him at any time. .
But even if Guo Huai saw Zhang Xi's plan, Guo Huai had no way to break it.
Logically speaking, the way to crack this strategy is to send out patrols to patrol the camp area constantly, and the other soldiers can rest peacefully.
But these days, not everyone can fight at night, especially for Liangzhou people. As soon as it gets dark, Liangzhou soldiers are no different from blind men.
The land of Liangzhou is bitterly cold. Even if there are nomadic people next door, few people can afford meat. Animal offal these days is something that even dogs will not eat. On the contrary, Liangzhou soldiers have a higher rate of night blindness than Yizhou soldiers. Even higher.
Zhang Xi can send dozens of people to his camp with gongs and drums to beat them, and try to mess up your mentality and prevent you from sleeping well, but Guo Huai can't organize a patrol of hundreds of people and stay up all night. Specialized in patrolling outside the camp.
He didn't have that many soldiers who could see at night.
Furthermore, once Zhang Xi really attacks at night, Guo Huai has no good way to resist him.
According to the intelligence sent back by Gao Gang, the guard of Qishan Fort, the soldiers led by Zhang Xi are really capable of night attacks. At least a few hundred and nearly a thousand troops can be gathered together, and the Liangzhou soldiers under Guo Huai are... It's true that even hundreds of people who can see at night can't come together.
If we had known this, we should have kept a few Qiang and Hu tribesmen in the camp, so that we would not be unable to send out even a patrol team.
Therefore, Guo Huai had no choice but to order the entire army to be on alert and let the soldiers rest and sleep.
Not only could they not send out patrols to drive away those Shu troops who were beating gongs and drums, but they could also not relax the vigilance of the army. They must maintain a strong vigilance to prevent Zhang Xi from sending troops to suddenly attack at night.
Even when it was dawn, Guo Huai's heart was in his throat. At this time, people who had stayed up all night were most likely to relax their vigilance. Even if Guo Huai repeatedly reminded everyone not to relax their vigilance, the soldiers' physiological The sleepiness is overwhelming.
Guo Huai was really afraid that Zhang Xi would launch an attack on the camp at this time.
However, Guo Huai warned that he waited until dawn and did not see the Shu army coming out of the city to attack. Finally, he felt a little relieved.
But just when Guo Huai ordered the entire army to prepare food and prepare to attack the city, the generals in the camp were embarrassed and begged for mercy. They should not attack the city a little later.
Everyone didn't sleep well last night. Not only did they have to work in shifts and be on guard, but after finally falling asleep, they could be woken up by the enemy's gongs and drums at any time. The soldiers were all in low spirits. How could they fight? !
Guo Huai was depressed. Could this be what Zhang Xi expected? !
Guo Huai had no choice but to order the entire army to suspend the camp and rest in the camp. He moved the troop dispatch time to the afternoon and morning so that the entire army could catch up on their sleep.
After noon, Guo Huai gave the order again, and the entire army came out of camp and formed a siege formation, preparing to continue the siege.
At this time, Zhang Xi stood on the city wall, looking at the stones that were still hitting the city wall, feeling uncomfortable in his heart.
Last night's plan was indeed Zhang Xi's idea. This time it was not a mistake. Zhang Xi used a tired strategy to delay Cao's army's attack on the city.
There was no way. If it was hit like this every day, the city wall of Ji County would be unable to hold up sooner or later. Zhang Xi had to think of more ways to delay this time.
This exhausting strategy is the best that Zhang Xi can think of.
Unexpectedly, Cao Jun, who had been struggling all night, was only half a day late in attacking the city.
Although the goal has been achieved, it is not perfect after all.
As for why there was no night attack, it really wasn't that he didn't have that ability. At least Wei Yan had asked for battle several times and wanted to attack the city at night. He had experience in this matter.
However, Zhang Xi felt that with Guo Huai's ability, it was impossible for him to be unprepared for this and rush into a night attack. If he could not achieve the best results, it would be better not to send any troops at all.
But now it is up to Wei Yan to lead his troops out of the city to kill the enemy and try to burn more catapults.
But this time, Wei Yan went out to kill the enemy, but suffered heavy losses, and he almost couldn't come back.
(End of chapter)
