Sometimes, it’s true, people are really different, so sometimes, you really can’t afford to worry about others. Guo Huai understands this, he really understands it.
But... this guy who can't afford to worry is my boss. Where the hell am I going to reason with him? !
The dignified Governor of Yongliang, where are all the military books he has read on one side of the garrison? !
Helpless, Guo Huai had no choice but to break apart his guesses bit by bit, crush them into pieces, and explain them clearly to Cao Zhen.
After listening to Guo Huai's analysis, Cao Zhen's expression changed.
One thing to say is that Cao Zhen is actually the same as Wei Yan. It's not that they really don't understand the stakes here. It's just that their brains didn't react quickly enough and didn't react at the first time. But Guo Huai explained it so clearly. If Cao Zhen didn't understand the Shu army, Whatever he had in mind, he might as well go directly to Luoyang and keep company with his eldest brother-in-law.
But the problem is that although Cao Zhen understood it and saw through the Shu army's plan, after thinking about it, Cao Zhen couldn't think of any way to deal with it.
Everyone knows the tactic of surrounding three ques, but there are only a few people throughout the ages who can truly crack this tactic.
The desire to survive is human instinct. It is simply unrealistic to ask the soldiers to stay and fight when they know that there is a way to survive.
His current situation is that the morale of the army is low, the military rations are insufficient, and he does not even have the capital to stay and hold on. Besides, what is the value of holding on to an ordinary ferry on the Wei River!
The more Cao Zhen thought about this matter, the more troublesome it became.
Once the fleet from Chang'an arrives here, the soldiers will definitely rush to get on the boat and escape. No one will have the determination to hold on to the camp. What can they do to resist the wolf-like tiger attack of the Shu army? !
Once the camp is lost, those soldiers who have not yet had time to board the ship will definitely become extremely panicked, and may even disrupt the originally orderly boarding team. By that time, no one knows what will happen.
The most terrible thing is that Cao Zhen didn't know how many ships Man Chong could bring him.
If you bring enough, it doesn't matter. You can buy time to transport most of the soldiers to the other side of the Wei River. It's not a big deal to abandon some of the soldiers for this purpose.
But if you bring too little, it will take two or three days to transport the more than 30,000 soldiers. Then it will be completely over.
The question of who gets on the boat first and who gets on the boat last can make people fight first. When faced with their own life and death, can you expect these big soldiers to have this awareness and take the initiative to leave the chance of survival to others? !
The more Cao Zhen thought about it, the more anxious he became, and he began to circle around his tent.
As for Guo Huai, he is also very anxious, but no matter how anxious he is, he still has to find a way to solve it now.
Guo Huai is more or less calm and collected than Cao Zhen. He is also thinking about a response plan, but to be honest, Guo Huai can't think of any good solution.
To break this tactic of surrounding three ques and one, there are two options.
One is to convince all the soldiers in the army that the only way to let go seems to be a way to survive, but in fact it is still a dead end. Only in this way can the soldiers be persuaded to stay and hold on, and as the war develops, there is the possibility of finding another way out.
But this option is not applicable in the current situation.
There is no doubt that there is a way to survive. The fleet coming from Chang'an was transferred by Cao Zhen and was not arranged by the Shu army. There was no way there was any fraud.
Then the only choice is to arrange the order of retreat. Who gets on the ship first and who is responsible for blocking the attack need to be clearly arranged, and the entire army must be convinced.
This is too difficult.
A general knows very well the virtues of the soldiers in his hands. In this case, it is impossible to satisfy all the soldiers. Therefore, Guo Huai can only take a step back and choose to satisfy most of the soldiers. .
Therefore, after Guo Huai thought for a long time, he stood up and whispered to Cao Zhen, "Captain, for the current plan, we can only take the initiative to attack the Shu thieves when Chang'an receives the arrival of the fleet."
When Cao Zhen heard this, he was also stunned. What is this? !
We are the ones who want to buy time to retreat. Why don't we leave the good camp and take the initiative to attack the Shu army? !
But combined with what Guo Huai said about "Chang'an's reception of the fleet", Cao Zhen's mind was spinning, he was startled, and he looked at Guo Huai in surprise.
This Guo Boji is ruthless enough.
When the Chang'an reception fleet was about to arrive, some soldiers were sent to take the initiative to attack the Shu army camp. Once the soldiers from both sides were entangled, it would not be easy to withdraw. This was equivalent to letting these soldiers attack. The soldiers in the Shu army's camp passively assumed the responsibility of intercepting the Shu army, while the other soldiers could take the opportunity to board the boat and retreat.
As for the soldiers sent out to attack the Shu army, they were basically abandoned by Guo Huai.
One thing to say is that this strategy is indeed in line with the current actual situation, and it can also preserve one's own strength to the greatest extent. Cao Zhen really can't say anything.
However, this strategy is a bit unreasonable.
Although it is said that compassion does not control soldiers, being passive and helpless and actively letting soldiers die are two different concepts.
Of course, the most important thing is that Cao Zhen feels that if his deputy is so cruel, he will be in trouble if he does it to him one day.
When Cao Zhen was thinking about whether to agree to this strategy and be wary of Guo Huai, Guo Huai's advice continued.
"We can form a team of 3,000 or 5,000 capable soldiers, under the unified command of the last general. When the fleet arrives, the first Shu army in each team to fight will launch an attack. After a round of attack, the soldiers who have withdrawn can board the ship to rest and retreat. Using attack instead of defense can not only boost the morale of the whole army, but also make the whole army speechless about the order of retreat. Isn't it the best of both worlds?!"
Uh. That’s right. Well, the co-authorship was stolen from me.
At this time, Cao Zhen was very glad that he did not express his position so quickly. Otherwise, he would be the one who was embarrassed.
In fact, Guo Huai's intention was not to let the soldiers die on their own initiative.
Guo Huai's idea was to select those soldiers in the army who still had the will and ability to fight, organize them into small legions of three to five thousand people, and then use these small legions to actively launch a wheel battle against Liu Bei's group.
Although the attack of three to five thousand men does not seem to be a large-scale battle, since Zhang Fei's army only has more than ten thousand men, Zhang Fei will definitely not dare to be careless in the face of such a large-scale attack and must put defense first.
In this case, Governor Cao Zhen could take advantage of this time to take those soldiers who were no longer capable of fighting and in urgent need of rest on board the ship first.
As for the small legions of three to five thousand men commanded by Guo Huai, Guo Huai will arrange for these soldiers to take turns to attack the Shu army based on the actual situation on the battlefield, or to attack instead of defend. The small legions who have only launched one active attack , to be eligible to board the ship.
For these soldiers, the opportunity is the same - if they want to board the ship, they must first kill the Shu army in front of them.
In this way, not only will the soldiers have no complaints, but in order to obtain the qualifications to board the ship and retreat as early as possible, these soldiers will actively fight bravely to fight for a chance of survival when facing the Shu army.
This strategy is really all good, but there is one problem. Who will replace the last batch of soldiers who boarded the ship to start a wheel battle with the Shu army? !
There must be a final unit for wheel battles. There will be no one in this unit to support them. Who will do this kind of near-death work? !
In this regard, Guo Huai was silent for a long time and said to Cao Zhen, "Of course, the last general will personally lead the three thousand imperial guards and cut off the rear in person to ensure that the army is not lost."
One thing to say, Guo Huai is already very responsible.
Cao Zhen was the governor of Yongliang. Whether it was his status or his importance to the next three auxiliary defensive battles, Cao Zhen could not afford to lose.
Therefore, Cao Zhen had to be the first to board the ship and retreat. No one could criticize him for this.
As for Cao Zhen, Guo Huai is the second-in-command, and he is also Cao Wei's most famous general in the northwest region, second only to Zhang He. Theoretically speaking, given Guo Huai's importance, he should not stay behind.
However, if Guo Huai did not stay to cut off the rear in person, his so-called retreat method of wheel warfare would be meaningless from the beginning.
If Guo Huai doesn't personally take command, how can he ensure that these small legions of three to five thousand people will take the initiative to attack in accordance with military orders? How can he judge the timing of response and retreat? Who will attack first and who will retreat later? !
In today's Cao Army camp, besides Guo Huai's ability to unify command and coordination, can a second more suitable person be found? !
Since Guo Huai was supposed to stay and command, Guo Huai's intention was to let him stay until the end and simply command the last batch of troops.
The reason why the Forbidden Army was chosen is because it has strong combat effectiveness and can delay the attack for a longer period of time. At the same time, the Forbidden Army is also more organized and more obedient, so that the Shu army will not be completely defeated in a single charge.
Although it was a narrow escape, at least it could last a little longer.
But Cao Zhen disagreed with this.
(End of chapter)
