After all, Zhang Xi failed to achieve all of his strategic goals.
Zhang Xi commanded his soldiers and completely defeated the Wei army's front army within half an hour, but in the end he failed to stop Zhang He and Wang Chang from joining together.
On Gao Xiang's side, although he worked hard to close the gap, Zhang He was one step faster after all. He took the remaining soldiers under Wang Chang's command to fight back into the gap and evacuated the battlefield.
It can be said that Zhang Xi's strategic purpose was only to effectively kill the enemy's rear army. The strategic purpose of encircling and annihilating Zhang He's rear army and completely destroying Zhang He's sneak attack on Wuzhangyuan was not realized.
The main reason was that Zhang Xi misjudged Zhang He's true combat purpose - Zhang He rushed into the central position without thinking of taking out all the Wei troops.
Zhang He is not so ambitious that he thinks he can take out all the trapped Wei troops with only a few hundred men. On the central battlefield where more than 10,000 people are fighting each other, the role that Zhang He's 500 men can play is indeed very limited. .
In addition, Zhang He was somewhat afraid of Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi is not comparable to Feng Xi or Gao Xiang. Facing a famous general like Zhang Xi, Zhang He does not dare to be careless.
With only 500 men rushing into the central battlefield, Zhang He was afraid that he would waste too much time and gave Zhang Xi a chance to readjust. By that time, he might have to escape over the mountains again.
Zhang He's purpose in breaking into the battlefield was not to rescue Wang Chang.
If Wang Chang simply wanted to escape personally, there was no need for Zhang He to come to his rescue.
The battlefield area is very large, and it is impossible for Zhang Xi to completely seal off the entire battlefield. Wang Chang still has the ability to escape from the gaps in the battlefield with a dozen personal guards.
At worst, just imitate Zhang He and climb mountains to escape.
But it was almost impossible for Wang Chang to rely on his own ability to lead thousands of soldiers to rush out from the battlefield encirclement arranged by Zhang Xi.
Zhang He's purpose was the same. He needed to recruit some of his own soldiers, not to create conditions for Wang Chang to escape the battlefield alone.
Therefore, Zhang He really couldn't stay in the central battlefield for long.
Once the hole he opened behind him was closed by the Shu army, Zhang Xi made some adjustments and increased the defensive force, and Zhang He would not be able to get out.
From here, we can actually see that something went wrong with Zhang Xi's response.
If Zhang Xi really responded as Zhang He thought, then the final result of Zhang He's adventurous intrusion might have to be a replica of the Battle of Wakou Pass. But Zhang Xi did not respond in this way.
Zhang Xi was also full of fear of Zhang He and subconsciously believed that Zhang He's purpose was to help all the Wei troops escape from the encirclement.
And Zhang Xi never doubted that the famous general Zhang He had the confidence and ability to do this.
Therefore, when Zhang He suddenly led his troops into the central battlefield, Zhang Xi judged that Zhang He would definitely join Wang Chang's troops and join forces. First, defeat Liu Yin's troops and completely open up the connection between the front and rear armies. Then, Zhang He will readjust the deployment of his troops and choose a direction to break out.
From this perspective, whether Liu Yin can block Zhang He's attack is the key to the outcome of this battle.
In order to prevent Zhang He from opening up the connection between the Wei army's front and rear armies, Zhang Xi had to send his last 1,000-man reserve team to strengthen Liu Yin's defense. The purpose was to allow Liu Yin to hold on longer and quickly lead the troops himself. First defeat the Wei army's front army, and then join forces with Liu Yin to encircle and suppress Zhang He.
But Zhang Xi really didn't expect that Zhang He would not attack Liu Yin immediately after joining Wang Chang.
Not only did he not immediately launch an attack on Liu Yin's headquarters, but even after Zhang He and Wang Chang reunited, Zhang He ordered his troops to gather together and suspended the attack on Liu Yin's headquarters.
At this point, even Liu Yin felt vaguely incredible that he was ready to fight to the death without retreating.
Then, Zhang Xi was stunned to discover that after Zhang He briefly adjusted Wang Chang's troops, he did not launch any attack, but directly turned the troops to the direction from where they came from, gathering the flanks to support the Wei army, and broke through the encirclement. And go.
Zhang Xi and Liu Yin were both dumbfounded. Did this old boy completely abandon the three thousand Wei army who were trapped in the Han army's encirclement? !
This change was indeed beyond Zhang Xi's expectation. Zhang He's approach was decisive, but it was also a bit too cruel.
The most terrible thing is that at this time, Zhang Xi has no other reserves in hand, and it is impossible to send troops to reinforce Gao Xiang and let him block Zhang He's breakthrough again.
At this time, the Wei army, gathered together by Zhang He, already numbered nearly 4,000 men. They were in a hurry to break out and escape. How could Gao Xiang be able to stop them with the more than 2,000 soldiers at hand.
When Zhang Xi saw that Zhang He was so shameless, he immediately stopped after meeting Wang Chang and ran away directly to Zhang Xi's depression. He didn't want anything he didn't want.
But Zhang Xi couldn't send troops to pursue them immediately. After all, there were still three thousand trapped Wei troops on the central battlefield. These Wei troops had to be dealt with, right? !
Don't turn back and lead the troops to pursue Zhang He. If you turn around and let the three thousand Wei troops break out, it will be more gain than loss.
Therefore, Zhang Xi had to concentrate on increasing his offensive intensity and strive to defeat this Wei army as soon as possible.
And this matter did not let Zhang Xi waste too much time.
When Zhang He decided to abandon the front army and only support Wang Chang's troops and some Wei troops on the flanks to break out, the Wei troops in the front army all knew that they had been abandoned.
In this case, the Wei army's fighting will and combat morale were not too high. The reason why they did not surrender was simply because they were from the Forbidden Army and were concerned about their families in Yecheng.
But such an army, even if it resists stubbornly, cannot hold on for long. In the end, it is important to make a choice between your family and your own life.
Some chose family members, died in battle, or fled.
Some people choose to take their own lives, which is to surrender directly.
After the overall situation was basically determined, Zhang Xi immediately called Gao Xiang and asked him to lead some soldiers to clean the battlefield and search for some fleeing Wei troops. He was eager to take Liu Yin with him to pursue Zhang He's troops.
But at this time, less than half an hour had passed since Zhang He broke out of the encirclement. Zhang Xi was really not sure whether he could catch up with him since there was only twenty miles away.
No matter what, Zhang Xi wants to give it a try. What if something happens to Zhang He on the way? !
But then, when Zhang Xi saw Feng Xi, who was injured but insisted on coming to him to apologize, his expression suddenly changed.
"Why is Xiu Yuan here?!"
Zhang Xi asked Feng Xi in surprise. Why are you here when you are not at the camp outside Wugong County and have a good look at the camp? !
Feng Xi said to Zhang Xi with a face of shame, "The last general has come to ask for death."
After saying that, he told Zhang Xi exactly what he had done to delay Zhang He's failed advance.
Zhang Xi didn't even finish what he said. He only heard Feng Xi say that after he was defeated by Zhang He, he did not choose to return to the camp to gather the remaining soldiers, but continued to pester Zhang He with two to three hundred people along the way. For the first time, Zhang Xi felt a black eye. What it feels like.
Really, this is the first time that Zhang Xi feels that Feng Xi really deserves to die! ! ! !
It’s not that Zhang Xi couldn’t accept Feng Xi’s defeat in battle, or to put it bluntly, from the beginning, Zhang Xi never thought that Feng Xi could completely block Zhang He. His military order only asked Feng Xi to delay him as much as possible. Zhang He's advancing speed was just delaying time.
What really makes Zhang Xi black-eyed is that the remaining soldiers in his camp were defeated by Zhang He. Feng Xi did not immediately collect the defeated troops and return to the camp to take charge of the defense. Instead, he ran all the way and took two to three hundred people with him. The last one is following Zhang Hejun? !
Just those two or three hundred people are useless! ! !
As a military general, before making such a decision, have you ever thought about what your most important responsibility is at the moment? !
You are the commander who stays behind in the camp! ! !
If there are capable people in the Wei army left behind in Wugong County, or if Zhang He returns to Wugong County first and then directly raids the Zhangxi Army camp outside Wugong County without resting, wouldn't he lose his own camp? !
It doesn't matter if there is no camp, but the most important thing is that once Zhang He breaks the camp and completely opens the passage to Wuzhangyuan, Zhang He will not give himself time to return to the army to defend it, and directly leads the troops to attack Wuzhangyuan. That is not all strategic plans. It's all over? !
What the hell is this? !
Zhang Xi didn't even have time to talk to Feng Xi anymore. After hearing half of it, he ignored Feng Xi and called Liu Yin directly. He asked Liu Yin to lead the 500 soldiers first. He must rush back to the camp to take charge of the defense as soon as possible, while he hurriedly He gathered the three thousand soldiers who had just come off the battlefield, and then set off to lead the army back to the camp outside Wugong County.
As for Feng Xi, Zhang Xi finally relented and handed him over to Gao Xiang's custody, waiting to deal with him after returning to the camp.
Now Zhang Xi doesn't have the time to think deeply about how to deal with Feng Xi's problem. He is now rushing towards his home camp in a hurry.
Along the way, Zhang Xi could only keep praying that Zhang He had not completely returned to Wugong County, or that the remaining soldiers in his camp could hold on longer. After all, Zhang He only left for half an hour.
Theoretically speaking, it should be possible to catch up, right? Well, probably! ! !
(End of chapter)
