After Zhang He led his troops to Wugong County, he was not happy about defeating Feng Xi's troops.
In fact, Zhang He is quite worried now.
Zhang He's strategic purpose has always been to lead troops out of Wugong County, threaten the flanks of Wuzhangyuan, and even cut off the logistics supply line of the main force of the Shu army at all costs when necessary, so as to relieve the pressure on the Wei army who was in a mess on the Meixian battlefield.
There wasn't much time left for Zhang He. After all, Guo Huai's army had enough rations to last God knows how long.
But now, although Zhang He made a sudden advance with light troops and entered Wugong County, the development of the war has completely exceeded Zhang He's expectations.
When setting off from Youfufeng, Zhang He actually thought that Wugong County would be lost, or that the Shu army would send troops to seize Wugong County.
However, according to Zhang He's prediction, the Shu army should focus on the Mei County battlefield, and most of the main forces should go to encircle and suppress the Guo Huai Army to prevent the Guo Huai Army from successfully counterattacking Mei County.
Even if troops and horses are sent to seize Wugong County, the number of troops should not be too many. It would be a big deal to kill thousands of people.
This is why Zhang He immediately decided to take the risk and launch a surprise attack after discovering Feng Xi's troops. Zhang He really thought that Feng Xi's troops were all the Shu army that came to attack Wugong County.
As long as this Shu army is defeated, after the rear army arrives in Wugong County, Zhang He can lead his troops to attack Wuzhangyuan and catch the remaining rear troops of the Shu army by surprise.
But in just two days, the Shu army had no less than 15,000 troops and gathered at the foot of Wugong County.
What's even worse is that the leader of this army is still Zhang Xi.
This was definitely beyond Zhang He's expectation.
He really didn't expect that the Shu army would allocate a full force of 20,000 troops to occupy Wugong County, and the generals sent to lead the army would be in Zhangxi. Is there gold in the ground in Wugong County or something? !
If the leading general of the Shu army was someone else, even if it was Zhang Fei, Zhang He would have considered whether he should devise a strategy of suspicion, leave a small number of troops to defend the city, and lead his own troops to raid Wuzhangyuan, catching the defenders of Wuzhangyuan by surprise.
But for now, let’s forget about this little cleverness.
Fortunately, others say that this Zhang Xi is not only cautious in his military use, but also good at fighting hard and entangled battles. It is basically impossible for you to deceive his surveillance and sneak in with light soldiers.
If you dare to do this, he will definitely lead his soldiers to hold you back, wear you down, and not give you any time or opportunity to change the purpose of the battle.
Last time at the street pavilion, this guy did just that. He held on until reinforcements arrived, and then entangled himself so hard that he almost couldn't escape.
Facing Zhang Xi, there was actually only one road in front of Zhang He - he had to completely defeat Zhang Xi in the field battle before he could march to Wuzhangyuan with confidence.
Zhang He understands this, but Zhang He also understands that this is too difficult.
No matter how arrogant Zhang He was, he never dared to say that he could break through the siege of nearly 20,000 people in Zhang Xi and raid Wuzhangyuan with only three to four thousand men.
Although Zhang He has always felt that his ability is not inferior to any famous general in the world, but for some people, Zhang He is really unsure.
At Wakou Pass, Zhang He was violently beaten by Zhang Fei, but Zhang He somehow knew where he lost. He had underestimated Zhang Fei and was unprepared for Zhang Fei's temptation to enter the special terrain of Wakou Pass. He was caught off guard and was beaten. climb a mountain to escape.
Although he was a little embarrassed, Zhang He knew that the next time he met Zhang Fei, he would not let Zhang Fei succeed again.
But the battle at Jieting became more and more chaotic. Even now, Zhang He still doesn’t understand why he lost. There was obviously nothing wrong with his command, and he had indeed pushed Zhang Xi into a desperate situation at the beginning. , how on earth did he make a huge comeback and beat himself everywhere? !
He didn't understand where he lost, and when he reflected after the war, he didn't understand where he went wrong. This kind of person is what Zhang He is most afraid of.
Therefore, Zhang He had to temporarily stop in Wugong County and wait for his rear army to arrive and gather 10,000 troops. Only then could Zhang He have the confidence to compete with Zhang Xi.
But this time really can’t be too long.
The change in the battle situation in Mei County can be determined in about ten days at most. After all, Guo Huai's military ration reserves really cannot last too long.
Zhang He predicted that if he could not arrive at Wuzhangyuan within ten days and cut off the Shu army's supply line, then Guo Huai's army would inevitably encounter a massive siege by the Shu army without food.
Therefore, Zhang He is now in a tangled state where he must be anxious but cannot be too anxious. It is strange that his mentality can be good.
Originally, Zhang He was still having a headache. When his rear army arrived, how on earth was he going to break through Zhang Xi's blockade and march into Wugong County. However, the scouts brought Zhang He another extremely unfavorable news.
According to the scout's report, a Shu army of about 3,000 people suddenly left the camp and headed east of Wugong County.
After Zhang He heard this, his eyes immediately jumped to Wang Chang's rear army, which was in danger.
This Zhang Yuanchang made it clear that he wanted to encircle and suppress his rear army. As long as he did not have the reinforcements from his rear army, it would be impossible to attack Wuzhangyuan with just his few men.
Zhang He saw it clearly, but he understood that Zhang He really didn't have anyone in his hands now. He couldn't give up Wugong County at this time and go directly to join his rear army, right? !
If you do this, Zhang Xi will die laughing? !
Therefore, Zhang He could only send out reconnaissance cavalry from the army to find Wang Chang quickly, and asked Wang Chang to be careful along the way. At the same time, he had to lead his troops to advance rapidly and arrive at Wugong County to join him as soon as possible.
Fortunately, Zhang He has been paying attention to the marching speed of the rear army. Now the rear army led by Wang Chang is only a day and a half away from him. If he speeds up the march, he should be able to arrive by tomorrow morning at the earliest and by tomorrow evening at the latest. Wugong County.
After receiving Zhang He's military order, Wang Chang also knew the seriousness of the problem. Without any hesitation, he sent his own grain and grass supplies first, followed by the infantry, and the whole army marched quickly to Wugong County.
Wang Chang's decision was indeed fast and resolute, but Liu Yin's marching speed also exceeded Wang Chang's imagination.
Liu Yin set out from the camp in Wugong County in the morning. By the afternoon, he had arrived thirty miles away from Wugong County and began to look for traces of Zhang He's rear army.
These days, there are only a few roads that can be used for marching in various places. Marching over mountains and ridges is purely asking for trouble. Unless it is some special surprise mission, no one will do it.
Therefore, as long as Liu Yin sends out scouts and searches on two or three roads, he can easily locate the rear army led by Wang Chang - it is still about forty miles away from Wugong County.
Next, what Liu Yin has to do is simple.
Liu Yin only has 3,000 men. It is unrealistic to intercept Wang Chang's 7,000-strong rear army in person. It's a good thing that he can be stopped with one deal. If he can't be stopped, Zhang Xi won't have enough time to come and respond to him. .
Therefore, Liu Yin still strictly abided by Zhang Xi's military orders. After discovering Wang Chang's traces, he immediately asked his scouts to send a military report to Zhang Xi, and he chose to lead the army to detour to Wang Chang's flank to harass and attack Wang Chang's army. Delay will prevent you from marching quickly.
As for Wang Chang, after he noticed the Shu army appearing on his flank, he immediately did not dare to rush forward too quickly and ordered the entire army to be on alert and slow down the advance.
After all, Zhang He had already written to remind him. As for the purpose of the Shu army, Wang Chang was somewhat aware of the presence of the Shu army in this place. Wang Chang would naturally judge that there must be a large force of the Shu army waiting for him not far ahead.
If we continue to rush forward at this time, we will simply run into the Shu army's encirclement net.
Therefore, Wang Chang slowed down his marching speed. On the one hand, he had to take defensive measures, and on the other hand, he had to quickly inform Zhang He of the situation, hoping that Zhang He could come out of the city to meet him when necessary.
After all, Wang Chang was also the future hussar general of the Wei Dynasty. Although he was not yet thirty years old at this time and his reputation was not well known, as a descendant of the Wang family in Taiyuan, his abilities and qualities were still on display here.
Regarding the sudden appearance of Liu Yin on his flank, Wang Chang's judgment was similar to Zhang He's, both thought that the Shu army was going to attack the rear army.
After all, the scouts reported that the Shu army had 20,000 soldiers. Although they suffered a small defeat before and lost more than a thousand people, Zhang Xi has now led the army and has an advantage.
If Zhang Xi really led an army to encircle and suppress the 7,000 troops he led, Wang Chang really didn't think he would have a chance to lead an army to break out from the hands of such a famous general.
Wang Chang was very nervous, and Zhang He was also very nervous after receiving the report.
When things developed to this point, Zhang He was certain that Zhang Xi might have led his army to intercept Wang Chang's troops.
At this time, Zhang He had two ideas for defeating the enemy.
One is to take advantage of Zhang Xi's opportunity to lead his troops to leave the camp and attack Wang Chang to attack the Shu army's remaining troops in front of Wugong County. Once this army is defeated, the passage to Wuzhangyuan will be opened.
To be honest, if Zhang He had 5,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, maybe he would have done this to any Wugong County or rear army. With the strategic goal of raiding Wuzhangyuan, they could all be abandoned.
But unfortunately, Zhang Xi only has 3,000 men in his hands. Let’s not talk about whether his 3,000 men can break through the Shu army’s camp in front of him. Even if they can break through, it is impossible not to suffer any battle losses. There are only more than 2,000 people left to run. Wuzhangyuan, that's not to threaten the flanks, that's to give people military glory.
Therefore, Zhang He had no choice but to choose the second idea and go out of the city to meet Wang Chang at the right time to preserve this rear army and preserve a glimmer of hope for defeating the enemy.
But taking care of this matter is a technical job, and it doesn't mean that you can just go out of town to take care of it at any time.
Zhang Xi is not a fool. He could not have expected that Zhang He would go out of the city to meet him. Therefore, Zhang He had to choose the most suitable time to safely bring Wang Chang and all the 7,000 rear troops back to the city.
This time is obviously not now.
(End of chapter)
