As long as the distance is close enough, it's not really a troublesome matter.
In fact, Wu Ban's headquarters is only fifty miles away from Mei County. This distance is only about a day's march. In theory, it is not difficult to meet such an army.
The reason for the trouble now is the three thousand cavalry of the Wei army.
What Wang Ping could think of, Wei Yan could also think of. Wei Yan even had no doubt that the Wei army would take advantage of the speed of the cavalry to sneak attack the supporting troops he sent.
But Wei Yan was not unable to avoid this situation.
There is a saying that at a distance of fifty miles, the cavalry is destined to have only one chance for a sneak attack. If they miss the opportunity for a sneak attack and still linger, the Wei army's remaining three thousand central forbidden troops will most likely be surrounded and defeated by Wu Ban and others.
For Wei Yan, as long as he deceives a sneak attack by this cavalry unit, the rest of the matter will be much easier to handle.
The key is how to deceive this cavalry unit.
Based on Wei Yan's understanding of Wu Ban, although he is not a general who is good at maneuvering, he is also a veteran on the battlefield. There are some things that Wu Ban will do without Wei Yan specifically explaining them.
So what Wei Yan has to do is probably to use some false and true tricks to prevent the Wei army's cavalry general from accurately judging when to send troops to rescue him.
Therefore, Wei Yan is waiting for the right time.
As for Guanqiu Jian's side. Indeed, Guanqiu Jian was really thinking about finding an opportunity to sneak attack the supporting troops leaving the city in Mei County.
This is not some clever plan, it is a battlefield situation that everyone can think of. Even Zhu Zan made this suggestion to Guanqiu Jian.
Zhu Zan believed that he could lead more than 3,000 central imperial troops to resist the attack of more than 10,000 Shu troops on the opposite side for two or three hours. As long as within this period of time, Guanqiu Jian could take a roundabout route and defeat the troops coming out of Mei County. Receiving troops, then turning back and attacking the Shu army with him from both sides, there is still a chance to defeat the enemy.
Even if the operation is done well, maybe even Mei County can be recovered.
Although Guanqiu Jian was not as beautiful as Zhu Zan thought, he also felt that it was not a bad choice to lead the cavalry to intercept the supporting troops in Mei County.
But at the same time, Guanqiu Jian also realized that he had only one chance to intercept the supporting troops in Mei County. Therefore, in the direction of Mei County, Guan Qiu Jian sent more than a hundred cavalry to act as scouts, riding back and forth to search for information. Determine the specific time for the Mei County garrison to leave the city to respond.
But, that Mei County guard is no ordinary reckless man!
Under Wei Yan's arrangement, Mei County will send out a medium-sized troop every two hours, numbering around a thousand people. Although it is not impossible to say that they are here to provide relief, it is not impossible. It's a bit of a joke.
Not to mention, this army will immediately retreat to Mei County after being ten miles away from the city, with no intention of continuing to move forward.
This convinced Guan Qiujian that this force was just a bait, used to lure his cavalry team to set off. Once he really left Zhuzan's tribe to sneak attack on this so-called supporting force, he would not say anything about it, but the Shu army directly opposite him. The army will definitely seize every opportunity to attack Zhu Zan's headquarters.
Once that time comes, Guanqiu Jian must consider whether to quickly return to support Zhu Zan.
If reinforcements are returned, the Shu army can take advantage of the opportunity to send reinforcements. At a distance of fifty miles, if the Shu army generals on both sides cooperate well, they can catch up in half a day and withdraw to Mei County together. Then Guanqiu It would be difficult for Jian to lead a cavalry assault.
And if he does not return reinforcements, even if Zhu Zan leads the Central Forbidden Army, he will not be able to withstand the siege of such a large and weak Shu army. Once there are no more than 3,000 infantry of Zhu Zan to restrain him, Guan Qiujian's 3,000 cavalry alone will , it is difficult to delay the Shu army from returning to Mei County.
Therefore, Guanqiu Jian must carefully judge the timing of his attack. This time was obviously a trick by the Mei County defender to lure the enemy. Guan Qiu Jian was not moved at all and continued to be in a stalemate with Wu Ban and other troops.
On the next day, Wei Yan sent two thousand troops.
Although the number of this army is still a bit small, it is enough to cope with the Shu army. Guanqiu Jian really hesitated now.
Do you want to attack? !
Fifty miles, one round trip is one hundred miles. Even if it is an interception in the middle, it will take at least half a day. This is still the speed of the cavalry.
You really only get one chance.
Guanqiu Jian calmly analyzed for a long time, and felt that the Mei County garrison was still trying to lure the enemy this time, and he needed to calm down.
Sure enough, this 2,000-man infantry was only ten miles away from the city and immediately withdrew to Mei County.
This made Guan Qiu Jian breathe a sigh of relief.
But in the afternoon, Mei County sent a force of 3,000 people.
Guanqiu Jian suddenly felt that the pressure was a bit too much.
Guanqiu Jian had some prediction of how many defenders there were in Mei County, and they were no more than 6,000 at most.
Three thousand people were sent out at once. This is really the scale that the response should be.
If this force no longer retreats ten miles away from the city, but instead rushes to meet the Shu army facing them, it is really possible to directly take over these more than 10,000 soldiers.
As long as these more than 10,000 soldiers retreat safely to Mei County, even if Governor Guo leads troops to return reinforcements, Mei County will not be that easy to fight.
As for when Governor Guo would be able to lead his troops back for reinforcements, Guanqiu Jian was not sure.
Five days ago, Guanqiu Jian sent out his fast horse and sent out his battle report and suggestions. Even if Governor Guo immediately accepted them, he had just completed the preparations for reorganizing and withdrawing his troops.
It will take about four or five days for more than 40,000 troops to return to Mei County from Wuzhangyuan without anyone pursuing them. But this time cannot be used as a reference at all. In the process of withdrawing the troops, Governor Guo will definitely be pursued by the Shu army. of.
Even if Governor Guo divides his troops to stop them, it will take at least five or six days to reach the gate of Mei County.
Therefore, in Guanqiu Jian's concept, the main force of the Shu army must be delayed for at least five or six days before the task is completed.
Originally, this hope was very slim. After all, Guanqiu Jian only had 3,000 cavalry. Even if he took advantage of the speed of the cavalry, he would just use guerrilla methods to slow down the march of the Shu army.
But now, because Sun Li, who had dispersed from the pass, unexpectedly sent reinforcements, the number of soldiers Guanqiu Jian could now command increased to more than 6,000. Although the strength of the troops was still at a disadvantage, he finally forced the Shu army to suspend its march to Mei County. pace of.
Six thousand versus ten thousand, it is not impossible to defeat the enemy head-on, but it requires mobilizing the enemy's actions to expose the enemy's weaknesses. Now it seems that the enemy general is not an idiot. He chose to stand still and wait for friendly forces to respond. However, Guanqiu Jian did not have a good way to defeat the enemy head-on.
In this case, it is key to intercept the response troops sent by Mei County, keep this Shu army in place, and prevent them from joining the Shu army in Mei County. The accurate time to attack must be judged.
But the commander-in-chief of the Mei County garrison is not a fuel-efficient lamp either.
First, a thousand people were sent to test, and then the number was increased to 2,000. The current number of 3,000 people was gradually increasing the pressure on Guan Qiu Jian's heart, and further affecting Guan Qiu Jian's judgment.
This shows that the guard general of Mei County is not an ignorant person. If we extrapolate from this direction, then the 3,000 people who left the city this time still may not necessarily be really going out for rescue.
Guan Qiu Jian hesitated again and again, but finally chose to stand still. The final result also made Guan Qiu Jian breathe a sigh of relief.
The three thousand soldiers sent by Wei Yan to the city still chose to return to Mei County after ten miles out of the city.
Sure enough, this is still not a real response force.
And as Wei Yan's three thousand supporting troops returned to the city, the day was over.
Early on the third day, Mei County once again sent two thousand soldiers out of the city. After receiving the information, Guanqiu Jian started the game with Wei Yan again.
The three thousand men yesterday should be the most likely troops to go out of the city to meet them, but they went back halfway.
With today's team of 2,000 people, did the enemy general feel that he had let his guard down, so he actually sent it out to respond? !
This is not impossible, but what if the other party is still deliberately trying to make things up? !
Guanqiu Jian was still not sure and ordered the rangers to monitor the troops leaving the city with all their strength. As long as they traveled more than twenty miles, the cavalry troops would set off immediately.
Once they march more than twenty miles, they will only be thirty miles away from the Shu army in front of them. If they speed up their march, they will definitely arrive within two hours.
However, the troops who left the city in Mei County once again chose to return to the city after fifteen miles.
This made Guanqiu Jian's tense heart relax again. As expected, it was still a false move, trying to deceive himself into attacking in vain.
But this time, the enemy troops marched an extra five miles before retreating.
This shows that the enemy general must also be anxious, thinking about where to test his bottom line, which is a bit difficult to handle.
Guan Qiujian felt that if the enemy wanted to send out a response force, it would probably be within a day or two, and it would be impossible to continue testing the situation without any restrictions.
For this reason, Guanqiu Jian increased his vigilance and ordered all the rangers to gather to monitor the troops leaving the city at the west gate of Mei County.
At the end of the afternoon, Mei County once again sent out an outbound force with only a thousand people, marching in the direction of Guanqiu Jian and others.
Only a thousand people? !
Guanqiu Jian was also a little confused. With this number of people coming to help, wouldn't it be a bit too careless? !
However, if you think about it on the other hand, the enemy general has been playing a trick of making things up in the past few days. Perhaps the least likely team to respond is the team most likely to actually respond? !
When he thought of this, Guanqiu Jian immediately did not dare to be careless. He asked all the rangers to gather together and closely monitor the Shu army coming out from the west gate of Mei County along the way. The limit was still twenty miles, as long as the Shu army broke out of the city. At this limit, he immediately led the cavalry to intercept.
But when this thousand-man team reached a place fifteen miles away from Mei County, they once again chose to retreat to Mei County.
Guanqiu Jian always felt that this operation seemed normal, but there seemed to be something wrong with it. Why was it still a false move? !
Indeed, it seems a bit childish for Mei County to send only a thousand men to meet its friendly forces, but the Mei County guard does not seem to be a fool. It is impossible for him not to know that if he keeps delaying to meet his friendly forces, it will actually be harmful to the situation. It is in your own best interest.
If this delay continues, once Governor Guo leads his army back to Mei County to aid, the Shu army outside the city will become completely alone, with no chance of survival.
If we want to respond, it must be today, and no later than tomorrow.
What on earth is the Mei County guard thinking? !
Less than half an hour later, Guanqiu Jian knew what the Mei County guard was thinking.
Zhu Zan suddenly sent someone to report that a Shu army of more than 4,000 people suddenly appeared ten miles east of the confrontation between the two armies, and the leading general's flag had the word "Wei" written clearly on it.
Guanqiu Jian now understood that he had let the Mei County garrison fool him after all! ! !
(End of chapter)
