When Wei Yan led 6,000 soldiers to the front army and joined Zhuge Qian, he only saw more than 500 prisoners of the Wei army and Zhuge Qian who came to plead guilty.
Victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers. No matter how much Wei Yan looked down on Zhuge Qian, he would not criticize him too much for letting Zhuge Qian run away and not keeping Wang Sheng alive.
Failure is not terrible, what is terrible is not knowing how you failed.
But after listening to Zhuge Qian's report on how he failed, Wei Yan also fell into deep thought.
According to Zhuge Qian's report, it is very likely that there were deviations in his intelligence work from the beginning.
First of all, the enemy general's name was wrong. His name was not Wang Sheng, but Wang Shuang.
Zhuge Qian has never met Wang Sheng, so he is not sure whether the Wang Sheng in this information and the Wang Shuang who escorted Xia Houmao are the same person.
If it's the same person, but the pronunciation of their names is similar, it's fine if they are mistaken. If they are not the same person, it means that the information about Mei County is probably wrong.
Secondly, this Wang Shuang, judging from Zhuge Qian's report, is a difficult guy.
This person's martial arts skills are not low, and his commanding ability is also not weak. He can kill Xiahou Mao with 500 people and penetrate the defense of 1,000 people. Without sufficient force value and commanding ability, he will definitely not be able to do it.
And the most important thing is that this man is very decisive, so decisive that he has a ruthless attitude that costs five hundred Wei troops. He gives up when he says he wants to, just to save Xia Houmao, and then quickly retreats to Mei County.
This shows that this person is very clear about his purpose from beginning to end, and he will do whatever it takes to achieve his purpose.
Such a person is more difficult to deal with than Zhang Yuanchang, the mother-in-law.
At least Zhang Yuanchang is soft-hearted, and no matter how decisive he is, he can't give up his five hundred soldiers.
Under Wei Yan's thinking, Wang Shuang has become a more difficult guy than Zhang Xi. Who made Wei Yan partner with Zhang Xi before? Wei Yan's thinking of opponents basically uses Zhang Xi as the standard.
After all, Wei Yan didn't even bother to take a look at someone whose level was worse than Zhang Xi's.
But Wang Shuang, who was imagined by Wei Yan to compete with Zhang Xiyou, was currently showing great courtesy to Xia Houmao.
This is the second conclusion Wang Shuang has come to in this world.
To bring glory to a family, someone in the family must be a high official, and to be a high official, one must first be appreciated and supported by noble people.
This is the real reason why Wang Shuang brought five hundred people to meet Xia Houmao.
There are a total of two thousand soldiers guarding Mei County, and some of them have to guard the granaries and maintain public order in the city. The manpower is somewhat insufficient.
When he heard from the scouts that his defeated troops were coming from the direction of Chencang Road, even Wang Shuang, who was not very smart, realized that there must be enemy troops threatening his defeated troops, and Mei County was now in danger.
Logically speaking, with only such a small number of people in Mei County, it would be very difficult for Wang Shuang to close the city gates, guard the city, and wait for reinforcements. It would be unwise to rush to send troops to meet his defeated army.
But when Wang Shuang inquired and learned that the defeated army was led by Xia Houmao, he was immediately moved.
At this time, Xia Houmao was not the governor of Yongliang, he was just a guard general of Chencang. Logically speaking, even if Wang Shuang ignored him, Wang Shuang would be right if the lawsuit came before Cao Zhen.
But the problem is, Wang Shuang knows that this Xia Houmao is the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Wei, and his relationship with the Emperor of Wei is closer than that of Cao Zhen and the Emperor. If such a person goes out to do something in Mei County, then Wang Shuang Even if it's right, it's still wrong.
In addition, Wang Shuang also wanted to seek the respect and support of some noble people. This Xia Houmao was simply the best gift God gave to him.
As long as I can save Xia Houmao this time, it will be like making Xia Houmao owe a huge favor. If I use this to climb up to Xia Houmao's line, isn't it just around the corner to become famous in the future? !
Therefore, although it was more risky to do so, Wang Shuang was very confident in his martial arts and the five hundred soldiers under his command, so he decided to risk going out of the city to rescue.
The result also surprised Wang Shuang. He not only rescued Xia Houmao, but also repelled an attack by the Shu army.
As for the five hundred Wei soldiers who were abandoned, Wang Shuang can't really be blamed for this.
After all, Wang Shuang has experienced many battles, and has worked hard in the army to reach his current position. Wang Shuang is still unable to abandon his robe.
Wang Shuang just has a bad mind, not a lack of heart. If you do this, it's hard to say how many soldiers will sacrifice their lives for you in the future.
At first, Wang Shuang really wanted to bring Xia Houmao's 500 people back to Mei County together.
This order was given by Xiahou Mao.
In Xia Houmao's view, the five hundred soldiers he brought out had seriously hindered his escape.
In Xia Houmao's eyes, the lives of soldiers were nothing, just some consumables.
During this whole run, Xiahou Mao didn't see any of his soldiers fighting bravely against the enemy. Instead, they fled in all directions as soon as the Shu army charged them, which put him in danger again and again.
Therefore, Xia Houzhen really didn't think these soldiers were important.
Yes, Xia Houmao never thought that the reason why the soldiers would become like this was because he was an incompetent commander. He just felt that these soldiers were useless. If he had known this would be the result, he should have taken more than a dozen personal guards to directly attack When he ran back to Mei County, he shouldn't have gone to the military camp to organize soldiers.
Seeing that he was about to escape from danger, his escape speed was seriously affected by these defeated soldiers. Xia Houmao gave this order without any hesitation.
Although Wang Shuang knew that it was inappropriate to do so, Wang Shuang wanted to curry favor with Xia Houmao and seek great wealth in the future.
Besides, it’s useless even if Wang Shuang objects.
In terms of rank, although Xia Houmao is only the guard general of Chencang, he is the Prince Consort Commandery. At this time, the Prince Consort Commandery is not a sinecure, nor does it refer specifically to the princess's husband. He is a serious senior military attaché.
As for Wang Shuang, he is not even a miscellaneous general, he is just a military commander.
Note, it’s not Zhisu Captain, it’s Zhisu Colonel. Zhisu Duwei is a senior military officer with the same level as Prince Consort. Back then, Han Xin and Sang Hongyang held the official position of Zhisu Duwei. There is even a saying that Zhisu Duwei Duwei is actually another name for Da Sinong.
But Lieutenant Zhisu was just a low-level military attaché guarding the granary.
Although they both have the same responsibilities and are stationed in the same place, their ranks are vastly different.
Therefore, Wang Shuang did not dare to disobey Xia Houmao's order. The matter of abandoning the remaining 500 troops was really not Wang Shuang's determination and ruthlessness, but Xia Houmao's ruthlessness.
After getting rid of the remaining army, Xia Houmao urged Wang Shuang to retreat to Mei County. After returning to Mei County, Xia Houmao was still worried and wanted to run back to Chang'an.
After retreating all the way from Chencang, Xiahou Mao knew very well how many Shu troops were chasing him this time. There were only 2,000 defenders in Mei County, which could not stop the 20,000 Shu troops for long.
Xia Houmao didn't know the strategic significance of Mei County, and he didn't want to know. He only knew that the two thousand people in Mei County could not protect him. Therefore, after resting for a while in Mei County, Xia Houmao immediately asked Wang Shuang to prepare ten With only one quick horse, he had "urgent military information" and wanted to rush back to Chang'an to meet with Governor Cao Zhen.
Wang Shuang was so stupid at that time that he couldn't even flatter him anymore.
Really, Wang Shuang knew that he had little education, low education, and really had no brains in what he said and did. But why did this noble man speak and do things that were even more brainless than himself? !
You retreated all the way from Chencang Road to Mei County. Is there any urgent military situation that you can tell only to Governor Cao in person? !
Is it an "emergency military situation" about the fall of Chencang? !
If you wait until you run back to Chang'an to report, how will this fight be fought? !
Another thing is that victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists. Although it was your fault to lose Chencang Road, it is not unacceptable. But you were defeated all the way to Mei County. You didn't want to hold on to the city in Mei County and protect Cao's army's grain road along the Weishui River. Thinking of running back to Chang'an? !
Do you know what you are doing? !
The majestic Prince Consort of the Wei Dynasty is anxious to escape for his life. What do you think of the soldiers in Mei County? ! How can I, a little military commander, have the confidence to call on the sergeants to defend with all their might? !
Xiahou Mao really can't leave. If he leaves, it will have a great impact on the morale of the Mei County defenders.
I finally ventured out of the city to fight, and by repelling the pursuit of the Shu army, I met Xia Houmao and boosted my morale. If Xia Houmao didn't stay even for a day and ran back to Chang'an, wouldn't my work have been in vain? !
Xia Houmao could run, where else could he run? !
If he runs away, unless he goes to join the Shu army, he will inevitably get a knife on his neck no matter where he runs.
Wang Shuang had to emphasize the importance of Mei County to Xia Houmao again and again. Cao's army's food and grass along the Weishui River were piled here. Once Mei County was lost, Guo Huai's 40,000-strong army would soon be out of food. of.
And without the 40,000-strong army, if the Shu army invaded in large numbers, Chang'an would be really in danger with only the 15,000 defenders of Governor Cao of Chang'an and the 10,000 defenders of Zhang He's tribe in You Fufeng.
Therefore, Wang Shuang tried hard to persuade Xia Houmao that he really couldn't leave. Once you leave, the morale of the troops in Mei County will not be easy to say.
As long as you are willing to stay, call on the soldiers to defend the city together, and hold off the Shu army's attack for about ten days, Governor Cao of Chang'an and Governor Guo of Wuzhangyuan will lead their troops to help.
By then, you will be the biggest contributor to this Guanzhong defense battle.
But Xiahou Mao refused to listen and ran away. If the Shu army besieged the city, he would really not be able to escape.
As for the gains and losses of Mei County, Xiahou Mao didn't care. He was not the guard of Mei County, nor the governor of Yongliang, so why did he worry about it? !
Xia Houmao only rested for one day in Mei County. Early the next morning, under the escort of more than a dozen personal guards, he rode out of the city and headed straight for Chang'an.
And in the afternoon when Xia Houmao left, Wei Yan personally led 7,000 soldiers and marched to Mei County.
(End of chapter)
