Zhang Xi's current reputation has indeed spread between Wei and Wu.
After all, since joining the army, Zhang Xi has fought countless battles, large and small. Whether he is leading the army alone, cooperating with others as a vanguard, or guarding a city, Zhang Xi has never been defeated.
On the contrary, many generals fell under his hands along the way.
Over the years, with the passing of some veteran generals, Zhang Xi's reputation has become even louder.
Especially in the Wei Dynasty, the performance of the generals of the Mesozoic Era was generally not good. Either they were beaten by the west today, or they were beaten by the east tomorrow. The only ones who could do well were Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Guo Huai.
And the winning rates of these three people are really unconvincing.
During the battle at Shiting, Cao Xiu was led by Zhou Yu almost the entire time, and the reputation he had accumulated in the first half of his life was almost lost there.
And Guo Huai was also kicked out by Zhang Xi in Tianshui County. If he hadn't proved himself later in Shanggui, Guo Huai's reputation might not be as good as that of Cao Xiu.
Only Cao Zhen has never experienced such a big defeat, and he can barely see it.
These three outstanding generals of the Mesozoic Era have such poor records. Who would compare them with the generals of the Cao Xiahou clan? !
The generals of the Cao Xiahou clan in that era were all the main contributors to conquering such great empires with Emperor Taizu Wu.
Therefore, in the hearts of the new generation generals of Cao Wei, Zhang Xi, who defeated almost all Cao Xiahou generals, became more and more famous. After all, when all Cao Xiahou generals fought against Zhang Xi, except for Xia Houyuan, none of them No one took advantage of Zhang Xi.
The most unlucky thing is Cao Ren. Although no one in the Wei Dynasty dares to mention the title of Liubian Prefect, it doesn't mean that everyone doesn't know it.
Wang Chang has also heard of Zhang Xi's name, but now, actually facing Zhang Xi, Wang Chang has a feeling that "the name does not match the reality". He is a famous general in the world, commanding an army to attack, but he is only at this level? !
But Wang Chang is a bold and careful person after all.
Today, the world has been in chaos for decades, and it has reached an era of three-legged confrontation. People who can leave a great reputation in this era are basically unlikely to be blown away. If they have no real ability, they will die on the battlefield long ago.
Zhang Xi's achievements are all real. Even people like Cao Ren and Zhang He who are very aggressive towards Zhang Xi's character have no doubts about Zhang Xi's ability. This should not be the command level that a famous general in the world should have.
Wang Chang didn't dare to be careless, he was careful and dealt with it seriously.
As the war situation developed, Wang Chang finally discovered some small clues.
Zhang Xi's approach of focusing on breakthroughs is actually not ineffective at all.
The greatest defensive advantage of the circular formation is that the various parts of the circular formation are closely connected and can cooperate with each other to create a local battlefield where more people attack less.
The general method of breaking the formation is to attack at multiple points to create enough pressure on the soldiers of the circular formation, forcing the soldiers of the circular formation to disperse and resist, or the general's response error creates a gap in the battlefield and then inserts to break the enemy.
However, this requires extremely high military strength and combat effectiveness. The current Shu army's military strength and combat effectiveness cannot meet such requirements, and there are no problems with Wang Chang's command. Therefore, the Shu army must use ordinary tactics to defeat the enemy. Array, almost impossible.
The key breakthrough Zhang Xi used was to create more people to attack in one place. Although the focus of defense was clear, Wang Chang could not use command and mobilization to artificially create a situation where more people attacked fewer people.
Zhang Xi invested a large amount of troops in the direction of the key attack. With the massive attack of the Shu army, the contact surface between the two armies was almost flat. Unless Wang Chang gave up the defense on the flanks and moved the flank soldiers to the front, it would be impossible to artificially Create a situation where more and less are defeated.
But Wang Chang really can't do this. There is always a 3,000-man Shu army cruising on his flank. As long as Wang Chang mobilizes the troops on the flank, this cruising army will definitely launch an attack on Wang Chang's flank. of.
Wang Chang now somewhat understood Zhang Xi's intention of giving such instructions, but Wang Chang didn't care.
In a head-on confrontation, what matters is the personal quality and combat effectiveness of the soldiers. On this point, Wang Chang still has faith in the combat effectiveness of the Wei Imperial Army.
And Wang Chang is not afraid of Zhang Xi relying on his large number of people to fight for attrition. Fighting on the frontal battlefield requires attrition, which is very time-consuming, but it is obvious that General Zhang He will not give Zhang Xi such time.
This is a temporary war, and it cannot even last more than a day. In a few hours at most, General Zhang He will appear behind Zhang Xi, launch a surprise attack on Zhang Xi, and support his breakout.
Wang Chang could still accept this little battle loss.
The battle situation remained at a stalemate for more than half an hour. Wang Chang was always paying attention to Zhang Xi's back, looking forward to the arrival of Zhang He's army.
But... it never came.
Wang Chang was a little puzzled.
He is now less than twenty miles away from Wugong County. With General Zhang He's style, there is no reason for him not to know that he has been blocked here? !
And if General Zhang He sends troops to respond, it will take more than an hour from Wugong County to here, even if he marches cautiously. He is surrounded here, and it has been almost two hours.
Not to mention Wang Chang was wondering, even Zhang Xi was wondering. What was Zhang He doing? !
After not showing up for such a long time, does he really not plan to come to support this army? !
This is unreasonable. Is Zhang He really not afraid of the loss of these troops and intends to sneak attack Wuzhangyuan with only 3,000 men? !
Zhang He shouldn't be that stupid, right? !
But no matter what, if Zhang He doesn't come, then I won't be polite.
Zhang Xi immediately ordered the entire army to press forward and increase the intensity of the attack on Wang Chang's army. At the same time, he sent Gao Xiang to personally lead the troops into the formation, trying to open a hole in the defense line of the circular formation.
Zhang Xi increased his offensive intensity, and Gao Xiang personally came off the field to charge into the formation. Wang Chang couldn't stand it anymore.
It’s not that you can still carry it if you can’t, it’s just that it’s quite hard.
Wang Chang had plenty of room for deploying his troops before. After all, Zhang Xi only focused on attacking one area, and Wang Chang only needed to focus on one area. However, with the combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Army, when facing a similar number of Shu troops, it still Have the upper hand.
However, Zhang Xi increased his offensive intensity and sent more attacking soldiers. At the same time, Gao Xiang personally came off the field to charge into the battle. The result was different.
The enemy had more troops, but Wang Chang was afraid of being caught by the enemy, and he did not dare to change his formation easily and use wheel fighting to fight the enemy. Therefore, the number of Wei soldiers who defended frontally was always the same. The donkeys of the production team were also I can't help but use it like this.
What's more, when Gao Xiang came out, he also brought two hundred personal guards from his headquarters. The combat effectiveness of these personal guards was not necessarily weaker than that of the Wei Imperial Army. If Gao Xiang really opened a hole in the formation and rushed in, , Wang Chang had a headache.
It's not that they can't cope with it. After all, the characteristic of the circular formation is that they can support each other, but the battle damage will definitely inevitably increase.
The battle has been going on for more than two hours now. Wang Chang relied on the connection ability of the circle formation and has only suffered more than 600 casualties so far. If the first line of defense is breached, even if the second line can organize a defense line in time, the casualties will definitely exceed 1,000. .
This is not something Wang Chang can accept.
But Wang Chang did not dare to mobilize the soldiers on both wings to reinforce the front. The three thousand Shu troops that had been cruising around him were really uncomfortable. Until now, Liu Yin had been leading the troops and had not launched any attack.
Liu Yin is not a good person either. What he is doing now is equivalent to holding a dagger and swinging back and forth beside Wang Chang. He may not actually stab you, but you have to guard against him.
Wang Chang was disgusted, but there was really no way to relax the defense on the flanks. He could only think of a way to organize the second generation of defense line in advance in the circle formation, and risk the risk of casualties at the right time to attack the second line. The first line of defense pushed up to the front, allowing the soldiers on the first line of defense to slowly retreat and retreat to rest.
To be honest, this is because Wang Chang leads the Forbidden Army and has this organizational strength and ability.
If this were replaced by ordinary county soldiers, it would be fine if they wanted to withdraw and rest without disturbing the formation despite the enemy's fierce attack. If they were not careful, they might be defeated.
But fortunately, Wang Chang's commanding ability is really not weak, and the organization and personal quality of the Wei Imperial Army are really high. This allowed Wang Chang to reluctantly complete the formation change while defending.
For the time being, it has withstood the increased offensive of the Han army.
And all this was seen by Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi frowned slightly. This Wang Chang has something. He can actually adjust the formation changes and reorganize the defense line during the defense process? !
Although Wang Chang did this after a long period of preparation and at the cost of some casualties among his soldiers, this is already considered a very remarkable thing.
This somewhat reminded Zhang Xi that if this kid really has the ability to adjust his offensive formation in a short period of time without causing any flaws in his military formation, then his tactics will be completely ruined. .
Who knows, this kid will really seize the opportunity, and with Zhang He's support, he will really break out.
By that time, Liu Yin's three thousand people wandering outside were completely useless.
If this is the case, then... should Liu Yin's 3,000 men be transferred back to strengthen the frontal defense, and wait until Wang Chang leads his troops to break through, to kill as many enemy troops as possible? !
Since it can't be stopped, why not take the opportunity to kill more enemies and reduce the number of soldiers under Zhang He's command? Is it better than a complete tactical failure? !
Zhang Xi thought carefully for a while, and finally made his decision - to maintain the original tactics.
Zhang Xi still doesn't believe that Wang Chang has the ability to change the entire army's formation in a short time. Even if you have this ability, I can't give you this opportunity.
Zhang Xi once again ordered to continue to increase the intensity of the offensive against the Wei army.
Now Wang Chang finally felt uncomfortable
(End of chapter)
