No matter how future generations ridicule Zhang He, a famous general in the world, it is undeniable that Zhang He is indeed a famous general in the world. This does not depend on how future generations see it, but on how the current world sees it.
Both Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang attach great importance to Zhang He. Liu Bei even thinks that Zhang He is much more difficult to deal with than Xia Houyuan.
Although this point is not as straightforward as in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Bei did not say anything to Huang Zhong, "If you have the ability, kill Zhang He. Killing Xia Houyuan is nothing." This is purely for future generations. The marketing account is fabricated.
If Liu Bei didn't even have this kind of emotional intelligence, how could he have gone from being a straw sandal seller to finally becoming one-third of the world? !
What's more, in the Battle of Hanzhong, killing Xia Houyuan was an important factor in establishing the final victory. Zhang He at that time really couldn't compare with Xia Houyuan in terms of importance.
But Liu Bei did believe that Zhang He was stronger than Xiahou Yuan. This is not talking about influence and status, but simply the ability to lead troops in combat.
"Wei Lue" records that during the Battle of Hanzhong, Liu Bei was "fearful and moved to Yuan".
In the "Three Kingdoms: Zhang He's Biography", a small detail is also recorded - "More than 10,000 elite soldiers were prepared, divided into ten groups, and they rushed to attack He at night. He led his own troops to fight, but he was unable to defeat him. His reserves were scattered. When Gu Shao surrounded the capital, Yuan put out the fire. He met Bei on his way and engaged in a close fight. Yuan then perished."
You taste it, you taste it carefully. If you were Liu Bei, one of you would be stubborn and forced you to give up your strategic direction, while the other one would come looking for death. If you were Liu Bei, which one would you appreciate more? !
All in all, Zhang He, whether in history or in romance, is often beaten by others, but if he really fights for his life, he is really no worse than any famous general in the world.
After realizing that Zhang Xi was going to attack his rear army, Zhang He immediately responded. At the same time, he was thinking about how to respond in order to safely transport Wang Chang's troops to Wugong County.
Without this rear army, all Zhang He's strategic plans would be ruined, and there was no need to stay in Wugong County. He could just retreat to Youfufeng and help defend Chang'an.
Therefore, the rear army really cannot make any mistakes.
Zhang He asked Wang Chang to be on guard and hurry up as soon as possible, while Zhang He organized his troops and horses and formulated a response strategy.
At this time, the culprit who caused Zhang He and Wang Chang's anxiety was indeed as Zhang He expected. He had led 10,000 soldiers, with Gao Xiang as the vanguard, and set out to intercept Wang Chang's troops.
The person who stayed to hold on to the camp was naturally Feng Xi.
Although Zhang Xi felt that Zhang He would not be so heartless as to sit back and watch the rear army be destroyed and choose to break through to Wuzhangyuan, Zhang Xi still asked Feng Xi to carefully inspect all parts of the camp and prepare for battle. If Zhang He came out of the city to attack, he must If Zhang He goes out of the city to respond, he must find a way to hold back Zhang He's response troops.
After carefully explaining this, Zhang Xi led the army and set off, quickly rushing to intercept Zhang He's rear army.
However, less than an hour into the march, the sky began to get darker and darker.
At this time, Gao Xiang came over to ask Zhang Xi for instructions on whether to set up camp.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Although Liu Yin's news was relayed back and forth through the army's scouts on horseback, Zhang Xi led the troops and set off with all infantry.
Liu Yin set out in the morning, discovered Wang Chang's whereabouts in the afternoon, and asked the scouts to send back the information quickly. By the time Zhang Xi led the army to set off, it was already approaching evening.
This was actually not a good time to go on an expedition, but Zhang Xi had no choice. He had to seize the time to get ahead of Zhang He and block Zhang He's rear army.
This was only because Zhang Xi had already prepared for the expedition in the camp, so he had the ability to set off before evening.
It's winter now, the sky is getting dark early, and within an hour of marching, it's time to set up camp.
After all, if it gets darker, you won't be able to see anything clearly, and even if you want to set up camp, you won't be able to work.
But now, what Zhang Xi pursues is speed. He is really worried that after Zhang He's rear army discovers Liu Yin's troops, they will march towards Wugong County at all costs, so that they will not be able to intercept them.
Therefore, Zhang Xi gritted his teeth and ordered the entire army to light torches and rush on their way.
To put it bluntly, this matter goes against the military common sense of this era.
First, the morale of the army will be seriously affected. Soldiers do not have enough organization to do things like traveling through the night.
What is important in this era is to work at sunrise and rest at sunset without escaping for one's life. You have to walk at night so as not to cause trouble.
Second, in today's era, most soldiers are not capable of fighting at night. Even if you let them drive with torches, they can barely see the road conditions around them. A slight mistake can lead to the direction of the army. If it's off-center, it's easy to make mistakes.
Third, once the time for setting up camp is missed, it will be very difficult to set up camp at night, and the soldiers have to spend the night in the wild. There are no simple tents and sleeping bags in this era. It is winter again, and the cold wind blows down one night, which is very difficult. It is easy to cause non-combat attrition.
This is why most armies these days can only march thirty or forty miles in a normal day. It's not that they can't march more, it's simply that the soldiers' mental and physical endurance cannot bear it.
But Zhang Xi still issued such a military order.
On the one hand, Zhang Xi was really afraid that he would not be able to stop the enemy, so he had to order this.
On the other hand, Zhang Xi did not want to let the soldiers travel all night. After walking for two hours, Zhang Xi would ask the soldiers to find a sheltered place to rest on the spot and spend the night around the fire.
Although this will also weaken the combat effectiveness, it will at least give about two hours more time to block the enemy before they reach Wugong County.
Because Zhang Xi's prestige in the army was pretty good, this kind of thing was only done occasionally. It didn't cause too many complaints among the grassroots soldiers, and they could barely maintain the marching speed.
After marching like this for almost two hours, Zhang Xi looked up and looked around. It was too late. The clouds in the sky were thick today and the moon could not be seen at all. Zhang Xi could only order the entire army to stop and rest, set up fires, and Jun fell asleep by the fire.
Early the next morning, it was just dawn. After Zhang Xi asked the guide to clarify the direction, the entire army immediately gathered and continued on their way.
After rushing so slowly, Zhang Xi finally dared to block the way of the rear army in front of Wang Chang.
At this time, the rear army led by Wang Chang was only twenty miles away from Wugong County.
This is only half a day's march. If Zhang Xi had not asked his soldiers to march overnight yesterday, he would probably have to watch Wang Chang lead the army and successfully enter Wugong County today.
Fortunately, Zhang Xi finally caught up and breathed a sigh of relief involuntarily.
Since the enemy is blocked, there's no need to be polite.
Zhang Xi ordered Gao Xiang to organize the front army to spread out, and his rear army to divide the troops to support the two wings, striving to block the rear army outside Wugong County.
Of course, Zhang Xi did not forget to place a thousand soldiers behind him as a rear wing to guard against Zhang He's army that suddenly rushed out from the direction of Wugong County.
After all, this place is only twenty miles away from Wugong County. If Zhang He led the troops to respond, it would only take two hours to get here.
Zhang Xi made all preparations for battle, and at this time Wang Chang was also thinking about ways to defeat the enemy.
Wang Chang is not that kind of incompetent person. If the descendants of the Taiyuan Wang family don't have some real skills, how can they pass on to the end of the Tang Dynasty.
As early as when Liu Yin led his troops and appeared on Wang Chang's flank, Wang Chang had thought that there would be a large number of Shu troops blocking the road ahead. But Wang Chang really didn't expect that there would be so many.
Now Wang Chang has more than 7,000 soldiers in his hands, most of them are the Imperial Guards of the Wei Dynasty, and his combat effectiveness is still guaranteed.
If they were of equal strength, Wang Chang would still be confident that he could command his soldiers, break through the siege, and lead his soldiers to evacuate to Wugong County in an organized manner.
However, there are at least 10,000 people on the front, and there are about 3,000 people on the flanks. Once the two sides merge, there will be a total of 13,000 people, which is almost twice the strength of our own troops.
No matter how confident Wang Chang was in the combat effectiveness of the Wei Imperial Army, he didn't think he could break out in an organized manner with a large force surrounded by so many people.
Yes, it’s not that we are not sure of breaking out, but that we are not sure of breaking through as an organization.
If it is just a breakout, Wang Chang believes that as long as he concentrates his attack, with the combat effectiveness of the Wei Imperial Army, it is still possible to open a hole. But how much can be broken out, and how much combat effectiveness can be maintained by the soldiers who break out? , this is hard to say.
Maybe three thousand people, maybe four thousand people. If there are five thousand people, Wang Chang has to thank God for taking care of him.
However, if this small number of troops and the organization are broken up, it is obviously not the rear army that Zhang He wants.
Wang Chang has a strategic vision. He knows very well that what Zhang He needs is a rear army that can still guarantee complete combat effectiveness. After all, Zhang He's purpose has never been to defend Wugong County, but to march into Wuzhangyuan.
Therefore, Wang Chang knew that he must withdraw to Wugong County with at least 5,000 soldiers, and the 5,000 soldiers were organized and had full combat effectiveness.
From the current point of view, the enemy obviously does not want to let them do this easily, and if they forcefully break through, I am afraid that they will play into the opponent's hands.
Therefore, Wang Chang decisively ordered the entire army to form a circular formation and defend on the spot, waiting for General Zhang He to send troops to respond.
As long as General Zhang launches an attack from behind the intercepting troops, and he cooperates with the breakout at that time, Wang Chang believes that if the enemy is attacked from the front and back, there will be flaws, and this is the best time for him to break through.
Therefore, Wang Chang could only hold on first, and then wait for Zhang He to respond to him.
(End of chapter)
