In a contact battle outside Huaili City, both sides were in a head-to-head confrontation, and both sides were a little bit too cautious.
Guo Huai did not expect that the Shu thieves could withstand the strong attack of 5,000 cavalry with 5,000 infantry, and also caused great damage to the cavalry. Wu Yi regretted that his command level was not enough to display the eight formations. With all his power, he also regretted not bringing enough soldiers over. Now the mission of rescuing Huaili may be in danger.
Both sides were in a stalemate for a while, without attacking each other, but this time was only the time for a cup of tea.
Soon, the Wei Army's infantry launched another attack, and the Wei Army's cavalry launched another assault on the Eighth Formation of the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty in another direction.
Guo Huai was a famous general after all, and he quickly realized that no matter how powerful the infantry on the opposite side was, he must seize the time to eat these Shu thieves, otherwise even if he wanted to retreat now, he would be followed and pursued.
In this way, not only whether he could return to Wuguan safely, but also the entire situation in Youfufeng would completely collapse.
Therefore, Guo Huai had no choice. He had to defeat the army in front of him before Wu Yi's remaining main force of the Northern Army arrived, even if it meant exchanging injuries for injuries.
Therefore, Guo Huai once again asked Qin Lang to launch an attack on the cavalry, and he also led all the troops on hand to commit a frontal attack.
Seven thousand Wei troops face three thousand Han troops. Even if there is a gap in combat strength, I can still kill you with my heads.
When Guo Huai did this, Wu Yi's pressure suddenly increased.
The eight formations maintained by less than 4,000 soldiers have been weakened a lot in terms of combat effectiveness, but the impact of the 4,000 cavalry on the opposite side is not very different from that of the 5,000 cavalry.
If we continue to wear each other out, the first one who cannot withstand it will definitely be our own infantry.
At this time, Guo Huai, who was on the front, pressed nearly three times more troops to besiege his remaining troops on the front. Three thousand people versus seven thousand people. Even if the combat power was indeed much higher, they still couldn't withstand the opponent's large number of people.
If he continues like this, Wu Yi feels that it will be a matter of time before his soldiers collapse, but he doesn't know whether this time will come sooner or later.
But Wu Yi had no choice. He had only one choice, and that was to fight hard.
Wu Yi thought that the Liu Yin defenders in Huaili City could not be counted on. Not only were they guarded by the four gates, but after such a long period of defense, it was already very disappointing that they could still defend Huaili City. It's easy, you can't expect them to continue to fight out of the city to support you.
Therefore, Wu Yi could only hold on until his main follow-up troops arrived. At that time, it was time for him to truly launch a counterattack.
Let's see now who can outlast whom.
Liu Yin, who was standing at the head of Huaili County, also saw the fierce battle outside Huaili City.
On the one hand, Liu Yin was also a little surprised. How did Wu Yi manage to use infantry to fight cavalry and even exchange them to the extreme.
On the other hand, Liu Yin also saw the situation where Wu Yijun was being passively beaten.
Liu Yin really didn't understand. Since the deputy commander of the Northern Army personally led the troops to rescue Huaili, why did he bring so many people here? Was it because he underestimated the enemy but was too powerful, or for other reasons.
But it makes no sense to think about these issues now.
What Liu Yin is most worried about now is that the Northern Army outside the city will be unable to withstand the Wei Army's strong attack and eventually retreat completely.
If the Northern Army outside the city was completely defeated, it would be a huge blow to the morale of the Huaili defenders who had finally hoped for reinforcements.
When that time comes, even if Liu Yin can speak like a lotus flower, he will not be able to convince the defenders in the city to continue to defend Huaili. It will only be a matter of time before Huaili is lost.
Liu Yin didn't even dare to think about the chain reaction caused by this. What would You Fufeng do, what would the Northern Army do, and what would Chang'an do.
If the Wei army really takes a position in Youfufeng, even if the Han Dynasty finally wins the Guanzhong defense battle, Youfufeng will always be under the threat of the Wei army and cannot resume production with peace of mind, let alone the upcoming Northern Expedition.
I'm afraid that if the Northern Expedition plan doesn't die, I'll be forced to change the direction of the attack.
Therefore, Liu Yin really wanted to lead his troops out of the city to fight and support Wu Yi's army who was being besieged.
But Liu Yin couldn't do it.
There are only 3,000 defenders in the city. Sending fewer troops will not help. Sending more troops will risk Huaili County being lost.
Don't forget, Guo Huai sent 4,000 soldiers to surround the four gates of Huaili County. Now that the Wei army has the upper hand, Guo Huai has no need to call back these soldiers.
With these four thousand soldiers watching Huaili City, Liu Yin could not act rashly.
Liu Yin was also wondering if there was any way to mobilize the four thousand Wei troops to get them to clear a path, but Liu Yin could not guarantee that he would be able to lead his troops back in time when the enemy counterattacked after realizing they had been fooled. Huaili.
Unless you fight for Huaili City, go out of the city and fight to the death with the Wei army. But if you do this, it will be fine if you win, but if you lose, you will be back to the previous problem, what to do with Chang'an, what to do with Youfufeng, and what to do with the Northern Expedition? .
It's difficult.
Liu Yin still couldn't make up his mind. Under the current situation, it would be too risky for him to take the initiative to attack. However, if he did not move his troops and waited until Wu Yi outside the city was repulsed by the Wei army, the consequences would be no different from taking the initiative.
Under this situation, Liu Yin could only pray that Wu Yi could hold on and block the Wei army's attack, or that Wu Yi had a backup plan to break the current disadvantage outside the city.
But Wu Yi really has no backup plan. All he can do now is to resist with all his strength and persist as much as possible. At the same time, he hopes that Feng Xi and Zhang Nan can lead their troops to Huaili as soon as possible.
As time passed bit by bit, Guo Huai's face gradually became unsightly.
The current situation is very favorable to the Wei Dynasty. Wu Yi's Northern Army has been completely suppressed. If this situation continues, the Shu thieves will inevitably collapse.
But Guo Huai was still very uneasy, because the Shu thieves were really good at fighting, and their fighting power exceeded his expectations.
Even though the Wei army has completely suppressed the Shu thieves, the formation of the Shu thieves has not collapsed. Instead, it is still constantly adjusting and operating, obviously not to the point of complete collapse.
But now the sky has slowly begun to darken, and time is not good for Guo Huai.
According to the reports from the scouts sent by Guo Huai to the northeast direction of the Wei River, the Shu bandits in the direction of the Wei River had completed their gathering across the river yesterday afternoon and were now heading towards Huaili County.
The ferry was less than eighty miles away from Huaili City, which was a two-day march.
If I can't completely defeat this Shu bandit vanguard today or tomorrow morning, and then lead the troops to retreat to the Youfufeng Fortress Group, then I really won't be able to leave.
Guo Huai did not want to take risks and paused his attack when he had such an advantage to give the Shu thieves a chance to breathe. Therefore, he must seize the time to completely defeat the Shu thieves in front of him before sunset today.
However, now that it is getting dark, the resistance of the Shu army is beyond Guo Huai's expectation. If this continues, time will be very unfavorable for Guo Huai.
After thinking back and forth for a while, Guo Huai made a decision-instructing the school captain in charge of logistics to prepare pine oil and torches for a night battle.
Even if they risk causing chaos in the army, they must burn the midnight oil and fight to completely defeat this Shu bandit.
Regarding the risks of night fighting, Guo Huai is actually very clear. Most of the soldiers in these days are unable to see at night. Even with the help of pine oil torches, they can barely see something clearly. But on the battlefield, this The light level is completely inadequate.
Even if they fight at night in these days, it is easy for soldiers to be unable to see the command flag clearly, causing chaos in the army. The risk is very high.
However, Guo Huai still made this decision because Guo Huai believed that the soldiers of the Shu thieves would also be affected by the sight of the night battle.
Everyone has chaos in military orders, and the worst result is to fall into a chaotic battle. After all, there are many people.
To put it bluntly, Guo Huai's idea is very risky, but it is not wrong.
The Northern Army of the Han Dynasty was indeed elite, but although the elites of this era were given priority in terms of logistics and nutrition, and were much stronger than ordinary county soldiers, they could not all see at night.
And even if it could be done, on a battlefield lit only by torches, the light was extremely weak, and it would not be easy for the soldiers to see the flags clearly and understand the general's combat intentions.
Getting into a melee is almost inevitable.
The most important point is that Wu Yi and his Northern Army soldiers did not expect that Guo Huai would choose to fight at night.
The mentality of Wu Yi and the soldiers of the Northern Army always believed that as long as they persisted until dark, the Wei army would inevitably withdraw its troops and return to camp to rest, and they would have a chance to breathe.
But as they fought, it was getting dark. The Wei army showed no tendency to stop attacking. Instead, people gradually lit torches around the battlefield.
Is this a night fight? !
Wu Yi couldn't stand it any longer, and so did the soldiers of the Northern Army under his command.
When the battle reached this point, the soldiers of the Northern Army just relied on one breath to hold on, thinking that if they lasted until dark, they had survived the day and could return to camp to rest. How could they still think about starting a night battle with the Wei army? !
Such a momentary psychological shake caused the military formation to become loose, and the Wei cavalry took advantage of this looseness to rush into the military formation again and began to charge back and forth in the military formation without any hesitation.
Wu Yi's reaction was worthy of his status as a famous general in Sichuan. He immediately made adjustments and transferred 500 people from the front line of defense to re-block the loose spots in the formation and managed to maintain the operation of the formation.
But in this way, the frontal defensive force was reduced, giving Guo Huai another chance.
With Guo Huai's ability, how could he not seize such an opportunity? With the same keenness, he mobilized his troops and stormed in the direction where 500 soldiers were deployed, trying to open a gap from here, completely break through the frontal defense line of the Shu thieves, and join the cavalry to attack from both sides.
Wu Yi was still struggling to hold on, constantly deploying troops to tear down the east wall and repair the west wall, but Wu Yi also knew that this kind of defense would not last long, and might not even last until the sky turned dark and chaos came.
But at this moment, Liu Yin in Huaili City moved.
(End of chapter)
