Retreating is actually a technical job.
How to evacuate, where to evacuate, who will evacuate first, and who will retreat later. All these must have an overall arrangement.
Otherwise, a retreat will turn into a defeat every minute, and a defeat will turn into a rout every minute. At that point, you will be completely out of control.
Guo Huai understands these principles and is a veteran after all.
But Guo Huai also knows that on the battlefield, not all situations will develop as you think. When human power faces the situation, there will always be times when it is powerless. Just like now.
Guo Huai wanted to organize and arrange the retreat of his soldiers, but the current battlefield situation made it impossible to give him this opportunity.
Therefore, when Guo Huai ordered a retreat, he actually took his 5,000 men, plus more than 4,000 men from Guanqiu Jian's men who had come to join him, to withdraw from the battlefield in advance and retreat toward the Weishui Ferry.
As for the other Wei soldiers who were still maintaining the defense line, Guo Huai's biggest conscience was to have the ordering soldiers play flags and allow the military commanders to withdraw from the battlefield and break out of the encirclement.
To put it bluntly, although Guo Huai didn't want to, Guo Huai did leave the more than 10,000 Wei soldiers who were still fighting and ran away alone.
Facing a full-line attack of more than 30,000 Shu troops, the Wei army's defense line could no longer be maintained, and he could not rely on the Chinese army to break out to restore the disadvantage. When the defeat was determined, he could escape as many as he could. It was better than After being broken through the defense line, the entire army was wiped out.
In this way, Guo Huai did not stay after the break, but directly took Wen Qin and Guan Qiu Jian with him to lead the retreat all the way to the ferry, where he organized the soldiers to board the ship and evacuate.
Although Guo Huai was helpless in this regard, there was nothing he could do about it. Sometimes, if he was not ruthless, he really could not be the head coach of the first army.
Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin, on the other hand, had only entered the battlefield not long ago, and they felt a little uneasy and unwilling after all. The two asked Guo Huai for a thousand troops and horses, and formed an array outside the ferry, trying to meet the Wei army that was retreating from the front. Soldiers.
Guo Huai didn't say anything, and happily distributed a thousand soldiers and horses to the two of them. But in fact, Guo Huai knew very well that they would not be able to deal with many defeated Pao Ze who had returned.
The generals on the side of the Shu thieves are not fools. Once they break through their own defense line, in addition to dividing and surrounding their remaining troops, they will definitely send troops to the ferry direction as soon as possible. Compared with their own family, Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin encountered The possibility of the Shu army is higher.
The reason why Guo Huai divided his troops between two people was, on the one hand, to give them more experience and let them know the cruelty of the battlefield. On the other hand, their thousand men were more or less an early warning.
After all, Guo Huai brought back more than 8,000 people, and it was impossible for them all to board the ship in a short period of time. If there was no warning, if the Shu army suddenly pursued him, his soldiers would have to panic. Trampling on each other and causing unnecessary losses.
Therefore, Guo Huai happily gave the two men soldiers, and at the same time told them that once the Shu army came after them, they must not accept a fight. They should remain vigilant and retreat quickly. It would take only a thousand people to board the ship, and they would die in less than a quarter of an hour. enough.
In fact, just as Guo Huai expected, Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian did not receive many of their own people who had retreated from the battlefield. However, less than half an hour later, they received a scout report saying that the Shu army was far away. The ferry is less than ten miles away.
At this point, Wen Qin and Guan Qiujian no longer dared to have any illusions, and immediately led their troops to retreat slowly, completing the final boarding and retreat before the Shu army arrived.
When Zhang Fei personally led the 3,000 vanguard troops to the ferry at the Wei River, he could only see the Wei army ships floating in the middle of the Wei River. The third master could only sigh on his horse.
After all, it was a step too late.
But fortunately, there are still more than ten thousand Wei soldiers left on the battlefield here, which is not a complete defeat. Seeing that the retreating enemy troops can no longer catch up, Zhang Fei ordered his troops to return and participate in the encirclement and suppression of those The defeated Wei army.
In this way, the battle at the Weishui River Ferry finally came to an end.
After a day of encirclement and suppression, most of the more than 10,000 Wei troops who were abandoned by Guo Huai on the south bank of the Wei River chose to surrender, except for a few who escaped.
These defeated troops were all handed over to Zhuge Liang for proper placement. Whether to escort them back to Hanzhong or resettle them on the spot in Mei County were all matters that Zhuge Liang needed to worry about.
Liu Bei temporarily stationed himself along the Weishui River, waiting for news from the Liangzhou Army and Wugong County with Zhang Fei, Huang Quan, Pang Tong and others, while discussing the next route of advance.
The Liangzhou Army was blocked from Guanzhong by Sanguan, but now that the Battle of the Weishui River has ended, the Wei army has completely withdrawn to Fufeng on the right. The retreat from Sanguan has been cut off, and there is no way it can survive the storm. Liu Bei, just in case, Wei Yan was sent again with five thousand troops to cooperate with Zhao Yun in attacking Sanguan.
But in fact, when Zhu Zan failed in the support battle in Mei County, said goodbye to Guanqiu Jian, and returned to Sanguan with his remaining soldiers, Sun Li knew that the situation was over.
Still choosing to persevere is Sun Li's last act of integrity. Since he was valued and promoted by Governor Cao Zhen and became the guard general of Sanguan, he must always be loyal to his duty and make his last effort.
But even so, Sun Li was increasingly unable to do what he wanted in the face of Zhao Yun's attack.
As Zhu Zan's remnant troops return to Sanguan, it won't take long for the defenders in Sanguan to know that Mei County has been lost and that the news that Sanguan's escape route is cut off is just to delay time.
If Zhu Zan hadn't told Sun Li that General Guo Huai had another plan to counter Duomei County, and Sun Li could use it to appease the soldiers guarding Sanguan, Sun Li might not have been able to defend Sanguan for ten days.
But even so, Sanguan's military morale was very unstable and could collapse at any time. When the news that General Guo Huai failed in his counterattack on Meixian and had to retreat to the Weishui River reached Sanguan, Sangguan's military morale was completely thrown into chaos. .
Under such circumstances, Sun Li also knew that Sanguan could not be defended. In desperation, Sun Li could only "comply with the people's will", contact Zhao Yun outside the pass, take the initiative to open Sanguan and surrender.
When Wei Yan led his troops just halfway, Zhao Yun had already led the Liangzhou Army into Guanzhong.
After Zhao Yun broke through Sanguan, in addition to bringing new troops to Liu Bei's group, the most important thing is that Zhao Yun brought the Liangzhou cavalry that Liu Bei needs most now.
Although the combat effectiveness of the Qiang and Hu cavalry is really uncertain, when attacking the Guanzhong Plain, having a cavalry in hand and having no cavalry at all are two different things.
Guo Huai only had 3,000 cavalry in his hands, which made the entire battle for Mei County extremely dangerous. If Xiahou Mao hadn't been such a waste, allowing Wei Yan to seize the opportunity and deal with it effectively, Mei County might still be in trouble today. Whose is it?
When fighting in the Guanzhong Plains, cavalry is indispensable.
Zhao Yun's arrival did give Liu Bei good news. But over in Wugong County, Zhang Xi sent military envoys to get the news, but he didn't know what to say.
Zhang Xi has indeed led the army to occupy Wugong County, eliminated the threat from Wuzhangyuan's flanks, and repelled Zhang He. But now Zhang Xi only has more than 10,000 troops.
This small amount of troops was obviously not enough to implement the previous strategy, and a light force raided Chang'an.
It is even said that Zhang Xi's battle damage was so great that he had to rest in Wugong County for a period of time before he could fight again.
This surprised Liu Bei.
After all, Zhang Xi has always been cautious in using troops. Such a large battle damage has never happened before. Not to mention that the battle report from Zhang Xi also included the news that Feng Xi was seriously injured. This made Liu Bei even more distressed and incomprehensible. .
But after carefully reading the battle report sent by Zhang Xi, Liu Bei felt that in such a sudden encounter, it was not surprising that the county soldiers under Zhang Xi fought against the Cao Wei Imperial Army led by Zhang He.
After Liu Bei read the entire battle report, he was even a little happy.
Because Zhang Xi's battle report mentioned another thing at the end - after this battle, Zhang He was seriously injured and fell into a coma. The Wei army, led by Zhang He's deputy general Wang Chang, took the initiative to evacuate Wugong County, retreated to Youfufeng, and then turned from Youfufeng. He said, returning to his original station Zuo Fengyi.
What made Liu Bei really happy was this - Zhang He was seriously injured and was still unconscious.
As for how Zhang He was seriously injured, Zhang Xi did not explain the reason in the military report, because Zhang Xi did not know what happened. Why was Zhang He still alive and kicking in Dachangji and killing everyone, but he turned around and fell into a coma after being seriously injured.
It was only after Zhang Xi led the army into Wugong County that he heard from the elders in Wugong County that he realized that Zhang He had been seriously injured and was in a coma.
No wonder Wang Chang withdrew his troops so neatly! ! !
As for Wang Chang, Wang Chang is also facing a lawsuit.
Regarding the fact that Zhang He was seriously injured and unconscious, Wang Chang could not accept it more than anyone else. It was obviously an arrow in the crook of the knee, a minor injury. How could the consequences be so serious? !
But whose fault is this? !
Is it the fault of Feng Xi who shot the arrow, or is it the fault of Zhang He who insisted on leaving the arrow in the wound to climb the mountain in order to rush back to Wugong County? !
If the arrow had been taken out earlier and trauma medicine had been applied, Zhang He's injury would not have become as serious as it is now.
When Zhang He led his troops to leave the mountain road and before he returned to Wugong County, he already had a fever due to the inflammation of his wound. When he reluctantly led his troops to Wugong County, he completely fainted as soon as he relaxed.
The cause of Zhang He's serious injury and coma was actually wound infection. In this era, unless you meet surgical masters like Hua Tuo and Dong Feng, you won't be able to deal with Zhang Ji.
Zhang Ji's lineage specializes in treating all kinds of typhoid and serious diseases. Feng Xi is really not very good at surgery. The fact that Feng Xi can only lie weakly in bed until now is a clear proof.
It's a pity that Hua Tuo has been killed by Cao Cao. Disciples of Hua Tuo's lineage, such as Fan A, are basically taking refuge in Jiangdong. Dong Feng, on the other hand, is a man with excellent medical skills and medical ethics. The only shortcoming is - —Dong Feng is only four years old this year!
To put it simply, the doctors in Wugong County had no ability to treat Zhang He's wound infection.
As a result, Zhang He was in and out of consciousness, unable to act at all.
As for Wang Chang, he can only keep guarding Zhang He. When Zhang He rarely wakes up, he quickly asks Zhang Xi for advice. Now Zhang Xi is building siege equipment outside the city. He may attack the city at any time. Should we still defend this Wugong County? ? !
According to Wang Chang's thinking, the strategy has failed. The general is in this situation, so he can't stand still. It is only right to withdraw his troops quickly and return to Zuo Fengyi, and then invite famous doctors from Chang'an to treat the old general's injuries.
But unfortunately, Wang Chang was only a deputy general. He did not have Zhang He's authorization, so he really couldn't command this group of forbidden troops. He could only wait for Zhang He to wake up and then ask for instructions to make a decision.
Zhang He was in a coma for three days and barely woke up on the fourth day.
The first thing Zhang He did when he woke up was to tell Wang Chang to keep the news of his injury a secret and not let Zhang Xi know that the kid had too many evil ideas. Once he knew that he was seriously injured, he would definitely seize the opportunity to attack the city.
As for the second thing, Zhang He immediately wrote a handwriting authorizing Wang Chang to command the entire army. At the right time, he would abandon Wugong County and retreat to Zuo Fengyi.
It has to be said that after receiving Zhang He's authorization, Wang Chang immediately made some operations. Not only did he successfully hide the news of Zhang He's injury from Zhang Xi, he also successfully withdrew his troops and took out the remaining more than 7,000 soldiers. Wei's soldiers brought Zuo Fengyi back safely.
(End of chapter)
