To be honest, Zhang Xi was not too worried about the attack of these defeated Qiang troops.
Since the Han Dynasty, the foreigners around the Han Dynasty have basically been beaten repeatedly. Even the Qiang people who once wreaked havoc in the northwest just took advantage of the internal fighting in the Eastern Han Dynasty and had no time to take care of the northwest. They had to fight more and less. The siege created a certain degree of threat.
When the imperial court really freed up its hands to deal with this group of foreigners, except for the Xianbei people who had just migrated here, there was no foreigner who had not been beaten by the Han army.
Therefore, when the defeated Qiang troops arrived at the gate of Xi County, Zhang Xi was not worried at all.
There is no way, this time the real "advantage is mine"! ! !
In terms of combat strength, Zhang Xi led the elite Northern Army. Although the number was small, it occupied the west county and had the advantage of defending the city. And these Qiang and Hu coalition forces have not been good at attacking cities since ancient times.
Psychologically speaking, since the defeat of Emperor Xiaowu, the Han people have not been afraid of the Qiang and Hu foreigners when fighting on the plains. On the contrary, when these foreigners see the Han people, they will lose their momentum before starting a fight.
One Han is the enemy of five barbarians. This is not a joke, but a recognized fact among foreigners.
Not to mention that they are still a newly defeated army and cannot even put up a decent military formation.
The last and most important one - Tianshi stood on Zhang Xi's side.
There has been heavy snow for four consecutive days. Now the wilderness outside the city of Xi County has been covered with snow, making it very inconvenient for people to walk. Do you still want to attack the city? !
Or attack the city on horseback? !
You want something beautiful.
Before your army can overcome the disadvantage of inconvenient movement and get close to the city wall, it has already been shot by the crossbows of the Han army defending the city! ! !
This group of barbarians were originally a newly defeated army. They retreated to Xi County and found that their retreat was cut off. They were already panicking. Now that they encounter such difficult weather conditions, it is strange that they can win.
Zhang Xi once led troops to pacify Nanzhong, and he had some experience in dealing with the Yi people. He also knew that the Yi people had good individual combat capabilities, but their fighting will and discipline were really lacking.
To put it simply, it is "go with the wave and invest against the wind".
Obviously, the current situation is not a favorable one. If the main force of the Qiang cavalry was not still there, it is impossible for those ordinary Qiang soldiers to surrender directly.
The current situation was something that the leaders of the five Qiang tribes did not expect when they formulated their attack plan.
Seeing that more and more Qiang and Hu coalition forces were retreating, and Xi County was occupied by the Han army, if they did not break through Xi County, even if they could retreat to the grassland in such weather, the losses would be heavy.
Among other things, the looted property and military rations, as well as the women, children, cattle and sheep carried by some tribes with the army, must be transported through the highway.
You can't take these things with you when walking on mountain trails.
Therefore, the leaders of the five Qiang tribes finally chose to attack hard, hoping to use their advantage in numbers to kill the 5,000 Han defenders in the west county.
This strategy can't be wrong.
Now, fifty to sixty thousand Qiang coalition forces have gathered outside the city of Xi County, and the strength ratio has reached ten to one. Even if the Qiang people are not good at attacking cities, they will not be able to defeat Xi County if they sacrifice their lives.
The only problem here is that even if it uses human lives, it will take time.
The Qiang people have no time at all.
Don’t forget, the Qiang people were Zhuge Liang of Jixian County who retreated from Ji County to Xi County. It was impossible for him to watch this group of Qiang people retreat, and he must have arranged for the Han army to follow and kill them.
Not only Zhang Xi knew this, but also the leaders of the five Qiang tribes.
Therefore, less than half a day after the leaders of the five Qiang tribes launched their siege, a large amount of smoke and dust appeared behind them.
On the snowy land, the movement caused by the cavalry running was particularly loud. When the cavalry was running, the snow was flying, and it looked like there were thousands of troops.
At this time, the Qiang people were originally frightened. When they saw the Han army chasing the Hu army, the organizational and discipline problems of the Hu army were vividly displayed at this moment.
Just four words - run away in all directions.
At first, there were some small tribes on the rear flank of the coalition. When they saw that something was wrong, they immediately abandoned their cattle, sheep and baggage and fled in all directions.
The leaders of the five Qiang and Hu tribes were still restraining them at first, but later they discovered that not only were they unable to restrain the people of these small and medium-sized tribes, but even their own troops began to have chaos and commotion.
Under this situation, the leaders of the five Qiang tribes did not want to restrain them any more. If they continued to be restrained, their tribes would have to face the pursuit and siege of the Han people.
The Qiang and Hu coalition forces had no intention of fighting, but seeing the snowflakes and smoke behind them getting bigger and closer, the leaders of the five Qiang tribes gritted their teeth and ordered the entire army to turn around.
Abandon Xi County and break through the wilderness roads.
In one word - run! ! !
As soon as this military order was issued, the Qiang-Hu coalition army, which was still somewhat organized, was completely thrown into chaos.
At this time, Zhang Xi in the city saw this situation and was not polite. He personally led three thousand Northern troops, opened the city gate, and launched a counterattack against the Qiang and Hu coalition forces in front.
It is true that Zhang Xi has always cherished his life, but in this case, the enemy's formation was in chaos and was crumbling. If Zhang Xi did not seize such a good opportunity, then all the battles Zhang Xi had fought over the years would have been in vain.
The Qiang and Hu coalition forces took a look and saw that the main force of the Han army was chasing behind them. The Han army in front took the initiative to attack again. Under attack from both sides, they ran more aggressively.
After being defeated like a mountain, no one would think calmly, and no one would think that the more than 50,000 Qiang people who had no desire to fight could defeat the 3,000 Han troops in front of them.
But in fact, when the Qiang and Hu coalition forces fled in all directions, Zhang Xi led his troops to pursue them for a while. After reuniting with the Han troops coming for reinforcements from behind, he realized that in fact, the only ones who were actually pursuing them were the three thousand cavalry led by Pang De.
The real main force of the Han army is still forty miles behind. It is not sure whether they can catch up.
There was no way, the weather was really bad, and the snow seriously slowed down the march of the Han army. Even if they wanted to pursue them, they couldn't get up fast.
As soon as Zhang Xi met Pang De, after understanding the actual situation, he immediately did not dare to lead his army to continue the pursuit, and immediately asked Pang De to withdraw his troops into the city with him to defend Xi County.
The Qiang and Hu coalition forces currently present in Xi County number only over 50,000 people. According to intelligence, the strength of the Qiang and Hu coalition forces that invaded Ji County this time is around 150,000 to 60,000. Even if some Qiang and Hu civilians are excluded, that is at least There are still tens of thousands of troops who have not come.
It's hard to say when the next batch of Qiang and Hu coalition forces will attack. It's better to defend the city first.
By the way, Zhang Xi also took the initiative to ask Pang De how he won the war in Ji County.
Zhang Xi really couldn't figure this out.
The battle plan formulated by Zhuge Liang is really not very clever. It is just a blockade in front, a block in the back, and a flank attack.
Zhang Xi was not surprised that Zhuge Liang could win, but it was indeed beyond Zhang Xi's expectation that the Qiang and Hu coalition forces lost so simply.
If he had captured Xixian County half a day later, Zhang Xi might not be able to stop this group of defeated Qiang and Hu soldiers.
The Qiang and Hu coalition forces were defeated too quickly.
As for Pound, he actually didn’t know much.
After all, Pang De, like Zhang Xi, both had extra tasks. The two of them didn't know much about what was going on in Ji County. Pang De just said that he saw the Qiang and Hu coalition forces beginning to retreat, and he followed the predetermined plan. Pang De really didn't know how he was defeated in Ji County after he started chasing the Qiang people.
But it didn't matter. Soon, Ma Dai led 3,000 elite Northern troops to arrive in Xixian County as reinforcements.
Zhuge Liang was worried that Xi County would be lost, so he sent Ma Dai to lead a 3,000-strong army on a rapid march to reinforce Xi County.
As for the remaining troops, the wind and snow were too heavy and the snow was too deep, making the march unfavorable. Zhuge Liang was worried about losses in Ji County, so he ordered to suspend the pursuit of the Qiang people and retreat to Ji County. He would not send out troops again until the spring.
To put it simply, Zhuge Liang chose a conservative strategy and only sent Ma Dai and 3,000 elite reinforcements to Xi County to ensure that Xi County was not lost.
And with the 3,000 reinforcements brought by Ma Dai, plus Pound's 3,000 Liangzhou cavalry, guarding Xi County should not be a problem.
At this time, Zhang Xi finally asked Ma Dai how he won the battle in Ji County.
Ma Dai had personally experienced the entire battle in Ji County and naturally knew the details, so he also told Zhang Xi about it.
In fact, this time the Qiang troops approached the county town of Hebei. Before the large troops could complete their assembly, Zhuge Liang seized the loopholes in the loose formation and ordered Ma Dai and Wu Yi to divide their troops into two groups and attack in parallel, causing The chaos in the Qiang formation killed many soldiers of the Qiang-Hu alliance.
Zhuge Liang's ability to seize opportunities is truly outstanding.
Although the Qiang and Hu coalition forces experienced such a chaotic defeat, they still had a large number of people. The leaders of the five Qiang tribes were not too anxious to attack. They gathered their troops and retreated twenty miles to regroup.
Although some Qiang soldiers and morale were lost, relying on the advantage of large numbers, as long as they recovered a little, they could still pose a considerable threat to Hebei County.
These responses were within Zhuge Liang's expectations. Zhuge Liang did not expect to completely defeat the more than 100,000 Qiang and Hu coalition forces in front of him with a harassment battle. It was already very good if it could dampen the morale of the Qiang people.
Next, Zhuge Liang planned to rely on the city defense of Ji County to continue to weaken the Qiang people's combat power and morale, and finally chose to attack at the right time to defeat the Qiang people besieging Ji County in one fell swoop.
But God is so helpful.
On the night when the Qiang troops retreated and gathered, it began to snow in Qinzhou, and it snowed heavily.
(End of chapter)
