In fact, Sun Li did not receive any specific battle report about Chen Cangdao.
Xia Houmao believed that he was a relative of the emperor and had a noble status. In his eyes, the whole Guanzhong, that is, Cao Zhen and Zhang He could talk to him on an equal footing. Even Zhang He only gave him some face because he was an old minister. It does not mean that Zhang He is higher than himself in status.
Great Wei nobles are so proud! ! !
Therefore, whether it was Sun Li, Guo Huai, or Zhuge Qian, Xiahou Mao did not take them seriously, and naturally it was impossible to send them any battle reports.
When Chencang City was attacked by the Shu army, Xiahou Mao did send a battle report to Cao Zhen in Chang'an, but he did not notify Sun Li who was not far behind him, let alone Guo Huai who was in Wuzhangyuan. .
But even if Sun Li did not receive any battle report from Chencang, it does not mean that Sun Li did not notice the changes in Chencang Dao.
After all, except for the wrong Xiahou Mao, Cao Zhen had several other generals who were brought to Chang'an to guard him. Regardless of their age, they were all capable.
Sun Li used the news returned by the scouts sent to Chencang Road during this period. After carefully analyzing the intelligence, he came to the conclusion that something had changed on Chencang Road.
But even though Sun Li had analyzed that Chen Cangdao had changed, he still did not dare to act rashly until he saw specific battle reports or obvious evidence to support it.
Sun Li's side is also the front line. In front of Sanguan are 20,000 Yongliang soldiers led by Zhao Yun. Sun Li also has the mission of holding on to Sanguan and cannot leave without authorization.
Of course, the most important thing is that Chencang Road is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even if there is a police presence, it is not so easy to be breached. Although Sun Li is a little worried, he does not think that Chencang Road will be lost in a short time.
Sun Li was not sure about Xia Houmao's abilities, but no matter what Sun Li thought, with Chencang's terrain advantage, it shouldn't be a big problem to hold on for twenty days or even a month.
As long as they hold on for such a long time, Governor Cao Zhen of Chang'an will definitely send reinforcements. It is unlikely that Chencang will fall.
But what happened next was completely beyond Sun Li's expectation.
As the battle reports sent back by the scouts became more and more outrageous, some Sanguan scouts even discovered a large number of Cao Jun's defeated soldiers on Chencang Road behind Sanguan, and there were even scouts under the banner of the Shu Army. Sun Li now I really can't sit still.
What happened in Chen Cang Road? ! What on earth is Xia Houmao doing? !
Sun Li's status meant that Sun Li could not directly write to ask Xiahou Mao. However, the Shu army's scouts had already crossed Chencang City and were almost behind Sanguan. Is this Chencang Road still in the hands of Xiahou Mao? I don't even dare to have high hopes for the gift.
This doesn't require much thinking, and anyone with a little military knowledge can figure it out.
Therefore, as early as two days ago, Sun Li combined his own judgment with the current news from Chencang Road to Sanguan and wrote a secret letter to Cao Zhen to warn Chang'an.
But this is all Sun Li can do.
After all, Sun Li also has his own responsibilities, and Sanguan cannot be lost. He also didn't get a first-hand report on the battle situation in Chencang. Because he didn't know the specific situation in Chencang, Sun Li never dared to take any action.
But just today, as Zhao Yun outside the pass launched another attack on the city, Sun Li received a reconnaissance report from the scouts behind the pass.
The report said that where Chen Cangdao entered Guanzhong, Xiahou Mao's flag and a large number of Wei soldiers were found in a hurry to retreat. Behind these Wei soldiers, there were soldiers with the banner of Shu Army chasing them all the way, with a strength of no less than a thousand. Man, the two are only ten miles apart. It would be strange if Sun Li could sit still.
The Shu army was about to follow Xiahou Mao's army into Guanzhong. Xiahou Mao was obviously defeated and fled. Chencangdao must have been lost.
How did Xia Houmao do it? ! How many days did he stay in Chencang? !
Sun Li really wanted to ask Xia Houmao face to face, how did you manage to lose Chencang so quickly given Chencang's geographical advantage? But unfortunately, now is not the time for such nonsense.
Sun Li knew very well that once Chencangdao fell, it meant that Sanguan might be attacked from two sides by the Shu army at any time.
This is really no joke.
If it were purely from the perspective of guarding Sanguan, although Sun Li was worried, it was not necessarily impossible.
After all, Sanguan is strong. Even if it is attacked from both sides, as long as there is enough food, it is not a problem for all the soldiers to retreat to the pass and continue to hold on for a while. As long as Governor Cao Zhen of Chang'an comes to rescue in time, Sangguan is not without the possibility of relieving the siege.
But Sun Li really realized that the trouble was that once the Shu army left Chencang Road and entered Guanzhong, what should Mei County, which bore the brunt, do? !
That place was the food garrison point for Cao Jun on the entire Guanzhong front line.
Now it is no longer important to disperse the pass. Once Mei County is lost, the retreat of Guo Huai's army still fighting on the front line of Wuzhangyuan will be cut off, and it will be dangerous for the Baoxie Dao Shu army to take advantage of the situation and march into Guanzhong! ! !
Sun Li's strategic vision was infinitely higher than that of Xia Houmao. Until this time, Xia Houmao still didn't understand what impact the Shu army would have on the entire Guanzhong war situation once they broke through Chencang Road and broke into Guanzhong. .
In other words, at this time, Xia Houmao had no intention of considering these issues.
Because, the Shu army behind them was chasing too closely.
Xia Houmao did not dare to relax for a moment, for fear of being captured by the Shu army, or even worse, dying directly among the rebels.
In the direction of Chencang Road, Xiahou Mao led nearly 3,000 soldiers to retreat from Chencang City overnight, retreating all the way, trying to go to Mei County for rest. As long as they reached Mei County, Xia Houmao would have safely withdrawn. At that time, he would go to Chang'an alone to meet. Cao Zhen is no longer embarrassed.
But it was obvious that the Shu army behind Xia Houmao did not intend to let Xia Houmao retreat so easily. Not long after dawn, the Shu army caught up.
What made Xia Houmao hate him even more was that the Shu army general who was chasing him was actually Zhuge Qian who had just cheated and sold him in Chencang City.
What makes Xiahou Mao even more sad is that when he found that Zhuge Qian who was chasing him only led more than a thousand troops to pursue him, Xiahou Mao tried to kill Zhuge Qian, but Zhuge Qian directly dispersed his troops. If If he hadn't run fast, he would have been captured alive by Zhuge Qian.
Xia Houmao felt very sad, but Zhuge Qian felt it was a pity. If it were not for the fear of affecting General Wei's tactics, there would really be a chance to capture Xia Houmao alive.
In Chencang City, Wei Yan adopted Zhuge Qian's strategy and decided to pursue Xiahou Mao.
But the purpose was not to capture Xiahou Mao alive, but to chase Xiahou Mao and make Xiahou Mao and the three thousand soldiers he led exhausted and frightened.
After catching up to the Mei County city, they will then rush out and try to take advantage of the situation to directly attack Mei County.
Well, unless Wang Sheng, the guard general of Mei County, dares to shut out the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Wei, this tactic has a high chance of success.
After deciding on the tactics, Wei Yan still led the 7,000 soldiers to take the lead, but this time there was Zhuge Qian in the front army. Wei Yan was kind enough to give Zhuge Qian the command of 1,000 soldiers and let him be the vanguard to clear the way across the mountains. Fill the bridge when encountering water.
As for the remaining soldiers, Wu Ban divided another 3,000 people to stay in Chencang City to ensure the defense. He left his lieutenant colonel, Xiang Lang's nephew Xiang Chong, to garrison Chencang. He took the remaining 10,000 soldiers as The backup also headed towards Mei County quickly.
Zhuge Qian pursued all the way, trying to create a sense of urgency for the retreating Xiahou Mao army. But to Zhuge Qian's expectation, he had only been chasing for less than a day and he had already seen the rear wing of Xiahou Mao's army.
Zhuge Qian really couldn't understand this. This Xiahou Mao, are you really running for your life? !
Are you running so slowly, are you afraid that I won't be able to catch up? !
But soon, after Zhuge Qian observed the Wei army's march and speed, he understood what was going on.
This Xia Houmao did not even have the ability to lead three thousand soldiers on a march. Under the leadership of Xia Houmao, this group of soldiers did not have any marching formation at all, and they were loose and scattered like a group of refugees.
Zhuge Qian was a little confused as to whether he should attack directly or wait for Wei Yan's army to come over. With Xia Houmao's marching speed, there was no need to worry about him escaping.
Then Zhuge Qian discovered that Xia Houmao actually stopped temporarily, and then the Wei soldiers took the initiative to attack him.
Well, this decision cannot be wrong.
Facing a small number of pursuing troops, the retreating army temporarily counterattacks to eat up the lone pursuing troops and at the same time warn other pursuing troops. This is also a good way to retreat safely.
But is Xia Houmao really an idiot? !
When Zhuge Qian saw Xia Houmao's counterattack formation, such a question really popped up in his mind.
Although Zhuge Qian knew that Xia Houmao had no courage, no strategy, and no ability, and could not even march with three thousand soldiers. However, no matter what Zhuge Qian thought, he never expected that Xia Houmao would launch a counterattack like this.
Normally, the morale of the defeated army is not high. If you want to counterattack to defeat the pursuers, you should first organize the soldiers who are still fighting and mix them into a continuous assault force, and make a precise breakthrough, just to repel the pursuers. Xia Houmao actually ordered the three thousand soldiers he led to counterattack across the board without any formation or organization.
This is not a counterattack. This is simply rabbits running over the mountains and plains. In addition to being a mess, it is still a mess.
The Wei army has been in retreat. Their morale is not high, their march is unorganized, and they cannot form formations quickly and effectively. The counterattack is even more focused on swarming forward without any focus. Can Zhuge Qian let you pass such a good opportunity? !
After a burst of impact, Zhuge Qian easily defeated the Wei army that was "counterattacking" from the front, and at the same time led his troops to approach Xiahou Mao's formation.
When Xia Houmao saw that Zhuge Qian was so brave, he immediately panicked and quickly ordered the entire army to retreat. At this time, it was less than a stick of incense time before Xia Houmao ordered the entire army to counterattack.
It is strange that the soldiers can react to such a rapid change of orders day and night! ! !
What's even more terrible is that Xia Houzhu didn't wait for the military order to be conveyed to the entire army, nor did he organize the men to cut off the troops. Instead, after the military order was issued, he took hundreds of people from his Chinese army camp to escort him and ran away first. The remaining soldiers ran away and scattered. Who would be stupid enough to take the initiative to fight against the Shu army!
Zhuge Qian now understood why Wei Yan had to let Xiahou Mao run away towards Mei County, and how many soldiers he brought back to Mei County were doing him a disservice.
Under such circumstances, Zhuge Qian would naturally not deliberately sabotage Wei Yan's tactics.
Zhuge Qian did not pursue the escaping Xia Houmao at all, but turned around and began to gather the remnants of the Wei army all over the mountains and plains. The generals ran away, what the hell are you guys doing?
And Zhuge Qian, with this battle and the hundreds of Wei army prisoners gathered all over the mountains and plains, his contribution is not small.
The next thing is to let Xia Houmao continue to run like this, and if possible, give him some time to gather the defeated soldiers. When he gathers the defeated soldiers to a certain number, Zhuge Qian will do it again.
What kind of enemy general is this? This is simply a walking experience package, a good person who specializes in providing military merits to others! ! !
(End of chapter)
