Facing the three thousand cavalry who fled back to Chongquan County from Dali County, Cao Zhen's heart was really in turmoil.
That is to say, Niu Jin's life and death are unknown. This situation on the battlefield will basically not end well. Otherwise, Cao Zhen would have to find Niu Jin and scold him for being a bloody nozzle.
Thirteen thousand cavalry went to attack the Shu thieves who had killed 10,000 cavalry, and they actually came back with such a huge defeat. What a waste! ! !
Now, not only did the cavalry troops suffer heavy losses, but nearly 10,000 cavalrymen behind him would launch a surprise attack on him at any time.
"General, the matter has come to this, and it is useless to be angry. It is better to withdraw our troops!"
General Cao was angry, and none of his generals dared to speak. Only Situ Wanglang, who was senior and had no reporting relationship with General Cao, stepped forward to advise General Cao.
Retreat quickly. If you don't retreat, once the cavalry makes dumplings out of us, we won't be able to retreat even if we want to.
Facing the speed advantage of the cavalry and pursuing for thousands of miles, where can the infantry go? !
Cao Zhen actually understands this truth, but the question is where to retreat? !
This is the fundamental purpose of Cao Zhen's convening of generals for discussion today.
"I thought that the general should withdraw his troops immediately and retreat to Tongguan to prevent loss of retreat," Wang Lang said.
Although Wang Lang didn't know much about military matters, he still had some military knowledge as his family's retreat was cut off and there was a threat from the cavalry behind him.
Therefore, Wang Lang suggested to retreat directly to Tongguan.
They have all retreated to Tongguan, behind them is Hangu Pass, and beyond that is Luoyang. No matter how fast the Shu bandit cavalry runs, it is impossible to cross the two passes and run to Luoyang to cut off the army's food route.
This is Wang Lang's very simple idea.
There are also people who support Wang Lang's suggestion. For example, Wang Chang supports the suggestion of retreating to Tongguan.
Of course, Wang Chang's considerations were much deeper than Wang Lang's. After all, Wang Chang was someone who really understood military affairs.
"General, the sudden appearance of the Shu bandit cavalry must be the reinforcements of the Liangzhou army. The Liangzhou army came so quickly, I think the Shu bandits were already on guard, so the general must be careful!" Wang Chang first persuaded Cao Zhen. Then he put forward his reasons for retreating to Tongguan.
The Liangzhou Army arrived too quickly, earlier than everyone expected. Maybe the Liangzhou Army of the Shu thieves had already set out before besieging Chongquan County.
If you think about it from this perspective, it is difficult to tell whether the Shu thieves' Yongzhou Army was besieged by the Wei Dynasty in Chongquan County, or whether the Shu thieves deliberately used the Yongzhou Army as bait to annihilate the entire main force of the Wei Sili Army.
Wang Chang believed that Zhang Xi was not that stupid. With his army commanding strategy, it was unlikely that he would be surrounded so easily. His own advance was also a bit too smooth. Now that the cavalry was behind him, if he wanted to retreat, he might as well Directly retreat to Tongguan to protect Luoyang.
Otherwise, once the Shu thieves are freed up to capture Tongguan in a detour, the entire army's retreat will be cut off.
To be honest, Cao Zhen didn't care about Wang Chang's previous words. No matter how cunning Zhang Xi was, he was still a human being, not a god. He could not have predicted the development of the entire battle situation more than 20 days in advance.
Judging from Zhang Xi's hasty response in the early stage and his immediate retreat after discovering the hidden danger, Zhang Xi could not have set a bait in advance otherwise it would have been too terrifying.
Therefore, Cao Zhen is more inclined to believe that the early entry of the Liangzhou Army into the pass was a coincidence. Maybe the Shu thieves themselves had a plan to attack Tongguan, but they were interrupted by themselves.
But there is one thing that Cao Zhen agrees with Wang Chang's statement - if the enemy army detours to attack Tongguan and completely blocks the Wei army's retreat, at that time, the main force of the entire Sili army will be trapped in Zuofeng Yi, facing Shu The thieves were besieged by the Yongzhou Army and the Liangzhou Army.
So Tongguan is indeed a problem.
However, this does not mean that Cao Zhen is willing to retreat to Tongguan.
"General Wang's words are too cautious!"
In the camp, another general stood up and said, "The cavalry that has withdrawn from Chongquan has more than 3,000 cavalry, and General Wang has 5,000 cavalry available. The Shu bandit cavalry only has more than 10,000 people, so the strength is comparable." , Why retreat so easily?!"
When Wang Chang heard this, he immediately turned his head and looked at the person who came. It was Han De.
Well, this General Wang must be talking about himself. He should call Wang Lang "Wang Situ".
Therefore, Wang Chang was ready to answer.
But before Wang Chang could say anything, Dai Ling on the side also stood up and said, "General Han's words are true. Our army has been besieging the enemy in Chongquan for more than 20 days, and the enemy can only fight with trapped animals." , even if there is a cavalry attack, we only need to select good generals and use cavalry to resist them. After we capture Chongquan and wipe out the Shu thieves Yongzhou soldiers, there are only ten thousand cavalry, what do we have to fear?!"
These two people had different ideas from Wang Chang and Wang Lang. They believed that there was no need to completely give up the current excellent situation just because of the arrival of more than 10,000 cavalry.
Every time he said something, Wang Chang wanted to start complaining on the spot.
If you say this when the cavalry system is complete, there is still some truth to it.
After all, at that time, Niu Jin and his cavalry had a total of 20,000 people.
Using these cavalry to protect grain roads, even if they cannot repel the raids of Shu thieves, it is still not a problem to ensure the transportation of most of the grain and grass.
But now, the 13,000 cavalry led by Niu Jin went to encircle and suppress the Shu bandits. The result was a huge defeat. Only more than 3,000 cavalry escaped. How do you have the confidence to think that I can stop the 5,000 cavalry and 3,000 defeated troops? The Liangzhou cavalry of the Shu thieves? !
Cavalry combat is not what you bastards think it is, just a competition of strength! ! !
Even Niu Jin was defeated. Obviously, this shows that the Liangzhou cavalry is superior to Niu Jin in terms of combat power and cavalry command. I only have so many people, and my understanding of the cavalry is far less than Niu Jin. How can I fight against it? Liangzhou Cavalry? !
Wang Chang wanted to retort, but he saw Cao Zhen nodding his head while listening to what Dai Ling and Hande said.
Obviously, Cao Zhen agreed with what these two people said. This made Wang Chang hesitate a little whether to continue talking.
After all, Cao Zhen is the general.
In fact, Cao Zhen was indeed more inclined to Dai Ling and Han De's idea of continuing to stay in Chongquan County to besiege.
The reason is simple. Cao Zhen is reluctant to give up the strategic advantage he has gained so far.
How embarrassed Cao Zhen was when he was driven out of Guanzhong by the Shu thieves, and now how eager Cao Zhen is to regain Guanzhong.
After finally occupying the strategic advantage, as long as the main force of the Yongzhou Army is eaten, the ownership of Guanzhong will be completely clear.
This can't be blamed on Cao Zhen. He still thought that Guo Huai of You Fufeng should have captured Huaili and started to march towards Chang'an. Who knew that Guo Huai was also being beaten at this moment.
Communication efficiency is not that high these days. It will take at least ten days for You Fufeng's war information to be sent to Cao Zhen. Therefore, Cao Zhen still believes that as long as he can capture Chongquan County, he can encircle and annihilate the people here. The main force of Yongzhou Army can completely establish victory.
However, Cao Zhen is a battle-tested general after all, and his own ability and quality are not bad. It is impossible for him not to know what it means when a large number of cavalry appears in his rear.
Niu Jin's defeat made Cao Zhen understand that the cavalry in the rear would definitely be difficult to deal with. Cao Zhen also had the experience of serving as the leader of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in his early years and knew the cavalry combat very well. Therefore, he did not think that relying on the king would be enough. Chang's 5,000 headquarters cavalry and 3,000 defeated troops could block the Liangzhou cavalry behind him.
What Niu Jin can't do with 13,000 men, do you expect Wang Chang, a cavalry commander who has become a monk by the way, to do it with 8,000 miscellaneous troops? !
Therefore, the threat from the rear is still there. If a decision cannot be made in time, even if Cao Zhen has the advantage in strength, he may indeed fall into an unfavorable situation if he is not careful.
The most terrible thing is that the cavalry is advancing very fast. The distance from Dali County to Chongquan County is less than forty miles. If the cavalry attacks quickly, it will only take half a day, leaving no time for Cao Zhen to continue to think and hesitate.
Therefore, after combining the opinions of both parties, Cao Zhen decided to compromise.
A certain great writer once said that Chinese people always like to compromise. Although Cao Zhen certainly did not know this great writer, this statement is also universally applicable to Cao Zhen.
Cao Zhen decided to retreat to Linjin.
On the one hand, shorten your own logistics supply line to ensure the safety of your back road.
On the other hand, if they defend the city, the Shu thieves' cavalry will lose their use, and all they can do is harass the supply lines.
To the east of Linjin County, closer to Tongguan, the terrain will slowly change from plains to hills, making it less and less suitable for large-scale cavalry operations.
And Cao Zhen still has 8,000 cavalry in his hands. If these 8,000 cavalry are placed on the plains, they cannot defeat the Shu thieves' Liangzhou cavalry. But if they are placed in the rear to ensure the transportation of grain and grass, or to interfere with each other's grain and grass supply lines, It can still be done.
Anyway, Cao Zhen didn't believe that the food and grass supplies for the Liangzhou Army could be sent all the way from Liangzhou.
They must share a grain supply channel with the Shu thieves in Chongquan County, which will inevitably increase the logistical pressure on the Shu thieves.
Once Cao Zhen retreats to Linjin, his logistical supply line will be shortened, and if the Shu thieves follow, then the Shu thieves' food supply line will be lengthened invisibly. It's hard to say who will take advantage.
Moreover, with a little recycling, you can attract Shu thieves to come out from Chongquan County. Those who take the initiative to attack you and defend the city will become you, and those who attack the city will become Shu thieves.
As long as the Shu thieves continue to be contained here, when Guo Huai captures You Fufeng and approaches Chang'an, the Shu thieves will not be able to return reinforcements in time.
At that time, the final victory will still belong to General Cao! ! !
(End of chapter)
