An engagement battle lasted for a long time and ended with the Wei army shrinking its troops and retreating to Dali County.
Both sides suffered some damage, but they were not major. The casualties were estimated to be around a thousand people.
This is very strange.
After fighting for a long time, there were about a thousand casualties. The intensity of this battle could not be called that great.
But considering that Cao Wei had a total of 45,000 men and had an advantage in military strength, it was still clear who was pretending to be the result of this victory.
Both sides set up offensive formations, seemingly fighting for their lives, but when it came to fighting, both sides unanimously adopted the strategy of closing their formations, defending in the middle and leading the attack. Therefore, where the confrontation was more intense, there were also It is the arrowhead position of the front troops of both sides.
Those who can become the arrowheads of an army are naturally elites. It is indeed difficult for such elite clashes to cause a large number of casualties in a short period of time.
As for the fighting on the two wings, although there were some casualties, the intensity of the fighting between them was not great, and the casualties were not large.
This is also an important reason why there were only more than a thousand casualties in the half-day battle.
After the two sides restrained each other for a long time, Cao Wei's army, which had a numerical advantage, did not invest more troops to strengthen the attack. On the contrary, after gathering their formation, they chose to retreat slowly.
With this weird choice of battle situation, even a brave man like Wei Yan did not dare to choose to follow and pursue him in this situation. In addition, Zhang Xi also ordered to close the formation and stand by on the spot. The Wei army was able to slowly disengage and return to their base. Array.
After that, quite unexpectedly, the Wei army chose to withdraw their troops and retreated to Dali County to rest and recuperate.
Although Zhang Xi was confused when he saw this, he still ordered the troops to return to the camp, and then called the four generals Wei Yan, Zhang Yi, Xiang Chong, and Hu Fen to discuss the next move.
This battle ended with Cao Wei voluntarily withdrawing his troops. Naturally, it can be regarded as the Han army's victory in the battle. But this victory made everyone uneasy.
There was no clear picture of the Wei army's defeat. It was even said that before the Wei army retreated, the defensive side was at a disadvantage and it was actually the Han army. How could they win in such a confused way? !
And this win is really hard to withdraw.
If you are attacking a city and conquering a territory, it is okay to win a battle to boost your morale and then choose to retreat if you are unable to win the entire battle.
But now Zhang Xi and others are fighting at home, expelling the invading enemy forces. They won a battle but retreated, which hurt morale too much.
Another reason is that the reason why Cao Zhen's army acted strangely has never been understood. Even if they retreat, they will just repeat the current situation and confront each other in another place.
This is still a problem.
So, we have to brainstorm some ideas.
"I have a feeling that Cao Zhen, the kid, seems to be attracting our troops to stay here!" Wei Yan was the first to speak.
When Wei Yan was no longer obsessed with defeating the enemy in front of him, his battlefield intuition finally came in handy.
But the problem is
"This is obvious, otherwise how could the Wei thief be defeated so easily today!" Zhang Xi shook his head slightly and said, "What I need to know is the reason why Cao Zhen acted like this?!"
When Wei Yan heard this, he raised his head slightly, glared at Zhang Xi, and expressed his dissatisfaction by saying that I, Old Wei, don't know how to be a human being, and Zhang Yuanchang's words are hard to hear.
But at this time, Wei Yan was not in the mood to argue with Zhang Xi, and lowered his head to think hard.
Xiang Chong thought for a while and said, "Are you waiting for reinforcements?!"
No one mentioned the possibility of Cao Zhen dividing his troops to attack other places, or arranging troops to attack from the flanks. Now, from Linjin to the vicinity of Chongquan, there are scouts from both armies everywhere. It is necessary to conceal the attack from the scouts of the two armies. Large-scale troop mobilization is simply impossible.
But the reinforcements Xiang Chong mentioned came from within the pass, which was indeed a place that Han scouts could not detect.
Zhang Xi thought seriously for a moment, shook his head slightly, and said, "Although it is possible, how many reinforcements can the Wei thieves mobilize?!"
Reinforcements must be of a certain scale in order to have a fatal impact on the situation on the frontline battlefield.
Now the comparison of military strength between the two sides in the surrounding areas is almost five to three. If Cao Wei wants to completely suppress Zuo Fengyi's Han army offensively, it will need at least another 30,000 to 50,000 reinforcements.
But in today's Central Plains region, can so many soldiers be mobilized? !
"According to intelligence, there are 150,000 permanent troops stationed in the Sili area of Cao Wei. Thirty thousand are stationed in Wancheng, 20,000 are stationed in Xuchang, and 30,000 are stationed in Luoyang and Hedong. This time when they invaded Guanzhong, Cao Zhen led 50,000 troops. Guo Huai led 20,000 troops, but there are no more troops." Zhang Xi murmured to himself.
After calculating the troops and horses in the Sili area, I really couldn't figure out where Cao Zhen could gather another 30,000 reinforcements.
At this time, Wei Yan suddenly raised his head and said, "If Luoyang's soldiers come to help, wouldn't it be exactly thirty thousand?!"
After saying this, Zhang Xi glanced at Wei Yan angrily.
After all, he is also a general in the army, so how can he say such things without common sense.
Yes, there are 30,000 permanent troops stationed near Luoyang, and it is true that these 30,000 soldiers are not like Wancheng and Xuchang, who guard strategic locations and cannot be moved lightly. But the problem is that these 30,000 soldiers must also be scattered throughout Hedong and beyond. Within the Luoyang area.
Do you know how big the combined area of Hedong and Luoyang is? !
It was roughly the size of the current Sanfu area.
To garrison such a large place, 30,000 troops were already stretched thin, so they were deployed as reinforcements. To put it bluntly, even a slightly larger bandit force could send troops directly to attack Luoyang.
Don't forget, Cao Rui is still staying in Luoyang.
Thirty thousand people guarding the emperor are already considered a very shabby treatment.
Wei Yan also knew that he had made a mistake by saying such a thing, but the problem was that as soon as he saw Zhang Xi's look in his eyes, he immediately became furious and insisted on confronting Zhang Xi.
"Not all generals use troops like governors!!!" Wei Yan first mocked Zhang Xi, and then said, "If a certain army is used, the 30,000 troops cannot be fully mobilized, but sending 20,000 soldiers to Tongguan to support Cao Zhen is also It’s not that it can’t be done.”
Zhang Xi wanted to laugh when he heard this, and asked, "The great Emperor Wei has only 10,000 soldiers to defend the Sili. Did General Wei really disregard the emperor's safety when he used his troops?!"
"What danger is there?!" Wei Yan also retorted, "Luoyang is located in the center of Sili, and to the north is the Hedong area. There are many aristocratic families there. If you want to attack Luoyang, you must first attack the east of Hedong. How can the Hedong aristocratic family give up?! There are many aristocratic families on the west side! Tongguan and Hangu Pass are dangerous, and Cao Zhen’s tens of thousands of troops are outside. Even if we want to bypass Cao Zhen’s army and go straight to Luoyang, we may not be able to pass through Hangu Pass and Tongguan. There is Wancheng on the south side, and Xuchang is guarding it, and the two places are not broken. , Luoyang is worry-free. Why not send troops from Luoyang to the west to aid Cao Zhen?!"
Zhang Xi was still laughing at Wei Yan, but as he spoke, Zhang Xi suddenly realized that Wei Yan was right.
Indeed, if Cao Rui is really brave enough, he can really squeeze out 20,000 troops and give them to Cao Zhen to command.
As for whether Cao Rui has such courage, Zhang Xi thinks that Cao Rui's courage may still be higher than that of his father Cao Pi.
As for the defense of the Sili area, on the one hand, as Wei Yan said, there is actually no need to worry too much. On the other hand, 10,000 troops certainly cannot cover the entire Sili area, but if they are only used to defend Luoyang City and defend Cao Rui The security is still sufficient.
Just like Wei Yan said, Luoyang is surrounded by Wei troops. As long as external forces cannot attack the Wei troops in these places, then Luoyang will be as stable as Mount Tai even if it is unguarded.
To take a step back, even if Luoyang is really attacked, it only needs 10,000 soldiers to rely on the defense of Luoyang City to hold out for ten days. Then the Wei troops in Yanzhou, Yuzhou, even Jizhou and Bingzhou can overtake them within ten days. To Luoyang.
In fact, as long as Cao Rui is willing to exchange, the private soldiers of the famous families in the Sili area alone are enough for Cao Rui to temporarily pull out a defensive force of 20,000 to 30,000 people.
Therefore, it is really possible for Cao Rui to send 20,000 more soldiers into Guanzhong to fight than Zhang Xi expected.
Thinking along this line of thought, Zhang Xi was immediately shocked.
"No, right Fufeng!!!"
Those 20,000 soldiers could not have come as reinforcements to Zuo Feng Yi to support Cao Zhen. After all, the military advantage was not great. As long as they waited another ten days, the Northern Han Army would have entered Chang'an. Another 20,000 Wei troops would not help.
But if these 20,000 soldiers enter Youfufeng, the deadlock can be broken in one fell swoop.
You Fufeng's troops are already insufficient, with only 15,000 men, and their combat power is not strong. They rely entirely on fortifications to stop Guo Huai's invasion. Once the troops there double, Liu Yinzhen may not be able to stop it.
As soon as Zhang Xi mentioned the place You Fufeng, coupled with Wei Yan's previous remarks, everyone realized what Zhang Xi was talking about.
Only in this way can we explain why Zuo Fengyi's Cao Zhen army acted so strangely. They obviously had the advantage of strength and early surprise attack, but they fought so sticky and pulpy.
Cao Zhen simply wanted to use this method to attract the main force of Zhang Xi's Yongzhou County soldiers to Zuofeng Yi, so that Zhang Xi could not rush to support when Right Fufeng encountered a superior force attack.
There is even a very scary reality.
"Can you see how many cavalry there are in Cao Zhen's army?!" Zhang Xi quickly asked Wei Yan and others.
It was Wei Yan who stood up and said, "If all the cavalry left behind in Linjin are cavalry, there will be about 10,000 cavalry. If not, there are only about 5,000 cavalry in Cao Zhen's camp."
Of course, those who stayed behind in Linjin could not be cavalry. Who would leave the infantry behind and leave the cavalry to defend the city.
That means that among the 50,000 troops and horses that Cao Zhen marched into Guanzhong this time, there were only 5,000 cavalry? !
This quantity is too small! ! !
The Guanzhong Plain is flat and suitable for cavalry combat, and Cao Wei has always had the most cavalry.
Although most of the cavalry are concentrated in the Hebei border to defend against foreigners, there is certainly no shortage of cavalry in the Central Plains and among the soldiers who retreated from Yongliang.
But Cao Zhen actually came to attack Guanzhong with only five thousand cavalry. Is this reasonable? !
It's definitely unreasonable.
Zhang Xi's face turned pale now, and even Wei Yan's face didn't look good.
Once the Wei army really relies on the hidden 20,000 cavalry to attack You Fufeng, Liu Yin will definitely not be able to stop it.
Once Right Fufeng is lost, the Wei army can take advantage of the speed of the cavalry to bypass Chang'an City and attack Zuo Feng Yi's Zhang Xi command from the flank.
What's even worse is that Zhang Xi is now attracted by Cao Zhen and has left the city, choosing to camp in the wild and attack Dali County.
Zhang Xi and Wei Yan knew very well the consequences of encountering a cavalry attack in the wild.
Retreat, we must retreat as soon as possible! ! !
(End of chapter)
