In the Battle of Jieting, the situation changed several times within a day. Both sides fought in a thrilling and exhausting manner.
As the sky darkened, both sides were unable to fight anymore and had to temporarily withdraw their troops and return to camp to rest and recuperate.
After both sides returned to camp, they both made their own judgments on the current situation.
Although Zhang He intends to continue to attack Jieting, the combat power of both sides has reached a delicate balance at present, and there is no general guarding Shanggui. Guo Huai is also worried about losing his way back, so he suggested that Zhang He withdraw his troops for the time being and not continue to follow Jieting. The Shu army remained in a stalemate.
Although Jieting was not captured and Longshan was completely occupied, as long as Shanggui was held on, there would be a passage through Longshan and there was still hope of rescuing Liangzhou.
As long as Cao Pi personally leads the elite Chinese army into Longshan and starts a battle with Liu Bei's army, there is no telling who will win.
On the other side, after Zhang Fei, Zhang Xi, and Ma Chao met, they also had an exchange of views on the current battle situation.
Zhang Fei's main attack in the direction of Shanggui was defeated by Zhang He and temporarily lost the ability to advance. Now he led troops to climb the mountain to rescue Jieting. Zhang Fei was very worried about whether Jiang Xu could continue to defend the camp. If Cao's army launched a counterattack in the direction of Shanggui, the attack would be If you enter Tianshui County, the consequences may be serious.
Ma Chao is mainly responsible for conveying the current war situation in Guangwei County.
Liu Bei personally led the troops to attack Guangwei County, but the progress was not as smooth as expected.
Indeed, as Liu Bei's troops approached the city, most of the counties in Guangwei County chose to surrender, but three counties, including Guangwei County, were still holding on, waiting for Cao Wei's reinforcements to arrive.
This time, he received a report from Zhang Fei and learned that Shanggui's army was defeated and Jieting was in danger. Under Pang Tong's strong suggestion, Liu Bei quickly ordered Ma Chao to lead the cavalry to quickly support Jieting and caught up with the battle at the most critical moment. , turned the situation around in one fell swoop.
But Ma Chao couldn't stay in Jieting for long. Liu Bei in the direction of Guangwei County also needed Ma Chao's cavalry to cut off the connection between Guangwei County and other prefectures and counties. Therefore, Ma Chao had to rush back to the battlefield of Guangwei County.
After comprehensively considering these situations, Zhang Xi made a judgment - Jieting cannot be defended, but Jieting's city defense can no longer be defended for a long time. It must be fought quickly. It is best to defeat Zhang He and Guo Huai in one battle, and at worst it is necessary to defeat them. They were trapped in Shanggu and could not get out, otherwise the street pavilion would always be under the threat of Cao's army.
After all, even Ma Chao couldn't tell when Liu Bei would capture Guangwei County, so many things couldn't be predicted immediately, and sufficient response plans must be prepared.
If Liu Bei can completely pacify Guangwei County within a few days, then Jieting will not be in great danger. However, if Liu Bei delays and is unable to conquer Guangwei County, then Jieting, an important place like this, will still have to continue. Keep it up.
But without the support of Ma Chao's Qiang and Hu cavalry, it would be too difficult to defend Zhang He and Guo Huai's armies at the same time with Zhang Xi and Zhang Fei's combined remaining troops of less than 10,000.
Therefore, the most beneficial plan for Liu Beijun now is to decide the outcome in one battle. However, Zhang Xi is not sure whether Zhang He and Guo Huai will give him this opportunity.
After all, neither Zhang He nor Guo Huai are fuel-efficient lamps. One is cautious and the other is resourceful. And with Cao Wei's economy and army size, both of them have the confidence to retreat to Shanggui. As long as they continue to hold on, they can guard Cao Wei's entry into Longshan Road. Hopefully, then they don't count as failures.
Therefore, Zhang Xi had to discuss with Zhang Fei and others again and again to formulate as many countermeasures as possible.
The next day, when Zhang Fei and Ma Chao led their troops to fight again, trying to find a decisive battle with Cao's army, they found that Cao's camp in front of them was already empty.
Now, even Zhang Xi found it difficult.
Obviously, Zhang He and Guo Huai chose to retreat and retreated to Shanggui.
Sure enough, these two are not easy to mess with, and now things are getting troublesome.
Zhang Xi is really not afraid that Zhang He and Guo Huai will continue to stay and attack Jieting. After all, there is not much difference in strength between the two sides. If they really fight, it is hard to say who will win.
But Zhang He and Guo Huai chose to retreat, which would make Zhang Xi feel uncomfortable.
Zhang He and Guo Huai retreated to Shanggui. The troops in Shanggui were not only strong enough to hold on, but they could even continue to attack Tianshui in the north. Zhang Fei could no longer stay in Jieting and had to quickly return to his camp to hold on. Otherwise, Jiang Xu and Jiang Xu would have to stay. The two to three thousand defeated soldiers in the camp could not withstand the joint attack of Guo Huai and Zhang He, and the camp's defense line would soon fall.
Once these two men break through the defense line and enter Tianshui County, Liu Beijun's flanks will be seriously threatened.
In view of this, Zhang Xi immediately asked Zhang Fei to lead the troops back to the camp. As for the street pavilion, Zhang Xi will continue to find a way to hold on to it on his own.
As for Ma Chao, Zhang Xi hoped that Ma Chao could temporarily leave a force to support the troops back and forth between Jieting and Shanggui. He did not seek to defeat the enemy, but only wanted to provide some cavalry assistance to the defenders in both directions.
By guarding two places in this way and waiting for Liu Bei to capture Guangwei, the possibility of troops approaching Shanggui will be greater.
Ma Chao is reluctant to do this. After all, the Qiang and Hu cavalry are the capital for Ma Chao's achievements. If the troops are divided and stationed here, Ma Chao will have fewer troops. If he encounters a better opportunity to make achievements, Ma Chao will not be able to do so due to insufficient troops. If it works, it will affect Ma Chao's future status.
In the final analysis, Ma Chao still thought about his little Jiujiu and did not give up the idea of seeking the governor of Liangzhou.
Zhang Xi couldn't say much about this. After all, Ma Chao's status was there, and his own situation within Liu Bei's group was also special. In theory, no one could command him except Liu Bei.
Therefore, Zhang Xi could only try his best to persuade, and in the end it was Ma Chao's decision.
After some thought, Ma Chao decided, for Zhang Fei's sake, to leave behind his disciple Ma Dai and three thousand Qiang and Hu cavalry as support, while he and Pang De temporarily returned to Guangwei County to assist Liu Bei in continuing his attack. Guangwei.
After one night, the street pavilion that had been fighting fiercely for several days suddenly calmed down.
Zhang Xi led the remnants of more than 2,000 troops, as well as the more than 2,000 unworthy flying troops left after Wang Ping's sneak attack. The total number was less than 5,000. They continued to garrison the street pavilions, repair the city walls, and set up camps to deal with Cao's army from the Shanggui direction at any time. Possible attack.
Zhang Fei quickly led his troops to retreat and retreated to his camp to hold on, not giving Zhang He and Guo Huai the chance to advance to Tianshui County in the west.
The coalition forces of Guo Huai and Zhang He who retreated to Shanggui did not immediately launch another offensive. They also needed a period of rest and recuperation, especially Zhang He's infantry. The continuous fighting plus yesterday's melee caused considerable losses.
For a time, Longshan fell into a brief calm.
At the same time, Liu Bei continued to besiege Guangwei County with the help of Pang Tong and Fazheng, hoping to conquer Guangwei as soon as possible, march to Longshan, and threaten Chang'an.
Cao Pi, who is in Chang'an, is also busy dealing with various changes.
Cao Pi really didn't expect that he would encounter so much trouble this time when he led the army in person.
Since crossing the Yellow River, no news has been good news.
First, Liu Bei launched an attack from the east to the west and went out of Qishan Road to occupy Tianshui. The three counties responded and half of Yongzhou fell.
Immediately afterwards, Jiangdong sent troops to Hefei to threaten Runan.
For this reason, Cao Pi had to stay in Luoyang for a short time and make various countermeasures. He divided the 150,000 elite Chinese troops he brought out from Yecheng and assigned them to various places for rescue.
After doing these things, Cao Pi felt that there was no problem, right? !
As a result, the remaining 50,000 Chinese troops had just arrived in Chang'an, and before they were even hot, they got the news that Guangling had fallen and Jiangdong was attacking Qingxu.
It was too much trouble along the way.
After Chang'an stabilized, Cao Pi followed Jiang Ji's suggestion and sent 10,000 reinforcements to Zang Ba, briefly stabilizing the eastern defense line. At the same time, Cao Pi began to gather military power in Chang'an. Cao Ren personally went to Baoxie Pass to replace Cao Hong. He commanded the Chang'an garrison and blocked Zhao Yun and Chen Dao at the entrance of Baoxie Road. At this time, Cao Pi finally received good news.
Zhang He went up the Wei River in winter, defeated Zhang Fei by surprise, and relieved the siege of Shanggui. He was currently besieging Jieting.
As long as he occupied Jieting and controlled Longshan, Cao Pi could send a large number of troops into the northwest to rescue Longyou and Liangzhou. It can be said that Liu Bei's Northern Expedition fell short of success.
However, Cao Pi's good luck ended here.
Not long after receiving the good news that Zhang He had defeated Zhang Fei, bad news came from the east. It was said that Cao Xiu was defeated in Shiting. Not only was the 50,000 Chinese army he brought with him completely defeated by Zhou Yu, but at the same time, Hefei guard Jia Kui was trying to support Cao Xiu. , had to abandon the city of Hefei, causing Jiangdong to occupy Hefei.
Now that the battle situation between Huainan and Qingxu has completely deteriorated, Cao Pi is considering whether to abandon the direction and return to Luoyang to guard, send troops to assist Zang Ba and Cao Xiu, and strive to regain Qingxu and Huainan.
At this time, Cao Pi received news from Guo Huai that Zhang He was defeated at Jieting and had to retreat to Shanggui again, unable to control Longshan for a while.
Cao Pi now felt like he had inherited his father's old problem - he had a really bad headache.
(End of chapter)
