Actually, Zhang Xi also knew that Cao Zhen might have deliberately spread false news. The withdrawal of troops was false, but it was true to induce him to take the initiative to attack Linjin.
Afterwards, whether Cao Zhen set up an ambush halfway or attracted himself to attack the city, he used similar methods to consume his troops, and then launched a counterattack, defeating the remaining Yongzhou army he led in one fell swoop.
Really, it is impossible for Zhang Xi not to see this simple strategy.
But the problem is that Zhang Xi doesn't dare to take risks. Now Wei Yan has gone to Tongguan to attack Tongguan. Calculating the time, Cao Zhen should have received the news of the attack on Tongguan by this time.
Therefore, there is at least a 30% chance that Cao Zhen will withdraw his troops.
As for Zhang Xi, he obviously couldn't let Cao Zhen withdraw his troops to attack Wei Yan, regardless of whether Wei Yan captured Tongguan or not.
Therefore, Zhang Xi could only risk sending troops to attack Linjin County and delay Cao Zhen's retreat.
In fact, Zhao Yun was opposed to Zhang Xi sending troops immediately.
There is no other reason than lack of troops.
Zhang Xi only had 10,000 infantry at hand, and together with Zhao Yun's 5,000 cavalry, the total strength was only 15,000. The Liangzhou Army's infantry is still thirty miles away from Dali County.
Therefore, Zhao Yun's suggestion was to wait one more day and wait until Su Ze led his troops to arrive before launching an attack on Linjin County.
Moreover, Zhao Yun also clearly told Zhang Xi that although his 3,000 heavy cavalry were very effective in local battlefields, he only had 2,000 rangers in his hands now.
If there are not enough rangers to protect the two wings of the heavy cavalry, when they encounter Cao Wei's light cavalry again, the effect of the heavy cavalry may not be great, or even one bad one will make Cao Wei's light cavalry ride to death. .
After all, Cao Wei should still have eight thousand light cavalry.
Now is indeed not the time to send troops.
In fact, Zhang Xi also knows this.
But Zhang Xi really didn't dare to bet that Cao Zhen was pretending to withdraw his troops.
Under normal circumstances, it would not be a big deal to send troops one day late, but with the current situation surrounding Zuo Fengyi, Tongguan could not afford to waste this day.
This day may be the day that changes the outcome of the entire Guanzhong war.
Another one, the Liangzhou infantry led by Su Ze. Su Ze, who originally planned to arrive in Dali County in five days, is still one day away from Dali County. Can he arrive in time within one day? This Zhang Xi can't Dare to gamble.
Zhang Xi has no impression of Su Ze. After all, this guy was not mentioned in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Zhang Xi has no idea about his specific abilities. Whether he is really willing to serve as an official is still a question mark.
To put it bluntly, Zhang Xi still didn't trust this Su Ze, fearing that this guy was deliberately delaying the fight.
Therefore, Zhang Xi did not dare to wait for the infantry led by Su Ze. He had to send troops as soon as possible to delay Cao Zhen as much as possible.
If Zhang Xi wants to say something else, Zhao Yun might still be able to persuade him, but when it comes to whether Su Ze can be trusted, let alone Zhang Xi, even Zhao Yun will murmur in his heart.
This person, for the sake of the Wei Dynasty, could insist on not serving as an official for five or six years. If it weren't for Liangzhou, there was really no one to use it. Those powerful people in Liangzhou were even more untrustworthy than Su Ze. Zhao Yun would not have asked Su Ze to lead his troops to follow him. Enter Xiaoguan together.
Therefore, Zhao Yun thought about it and felt that what Zhang Xi said might make sense.
Therefore, Zhao Yun could only agree to Zhang Xi's dispatch of troops, and at the same time ordered the heavy cavalry and rangers to attack together, and re-used as auxiliary arms of the infantry to protect the flanks of the infantry.
This is not an approach that can maximize the combat power of the heavy cavalry, but in the current situation, Zhao Yun really has no choice.
In this way, Zhang Xi led 10,000 infantry troops and marched towards Linjin County, while Zhao Yun personally led 5,000 cavalry to cover the flanks to guard against a surprise attack by the Wei army's cavalry.
As for Cao Zhen, Cao Zhen was overjoyed when he saw Zhang Xi and Zhao Yun all leaving Dali County.
I am not afraid that you will come, but I am afraid that you will not come.
Cao Zhen immediately ordered the entire army to prepare for war and prepare for a showdown with the Shu bandits in Linjin County! ! !
But less than half a day after this military order was issued, a new order came from the Chinese military tent - the entire army packed up and prepared to retreat.
There is such a big difference between the two military orders before and after. Not to mention the middle-level generals and captains, even the soldiers at the bottom are at a loss as to which one to follow. !
Wang Lang and Han De even went to Cao Zhen directly and asked about the reason. It is taboo to change orders from morning to night in the army, which can easily weaken the morale of the army.
But Cao Zhen had nothing to do. He just took out a military newspaper and handed it to Wang Lang.
Cao Zhen could ignore Hande's attitude, but Wang Lang couldn't.
Wang Lang was not only a veteran of the three dynasties and a Situ of the Great Wei Dynasty, he was also ordered to supervise the army. Cao Zhen had to give him an explanation for such hugely different military orders.
After Wang Lang read the contents of the military newspaper, his face turned pale and he was speechless for a long time.
The military report was sent by Wang Chang, and it was less than two days apart from Cao Tai's request for help. However, the military report sent by Wang Chang was not a request for reinforcements, but told Cao Zhen that Tongguan had been lost.
The fall of Tongguan would no longer allow Cao Zhen to continue to struggle with Zhang Xi in Linjin County. If he could not return reinforcements in time and retake Tongguan, it would only take less than twenty days for the army to be devastated due to lack of food. The army was demoralized and was defeated by Shu thieves in a single battle.
That's why there were such contrasting military orders. Cao Zhen didn't want to retreat, but now, he couldn't retreat.
"How could this be?" Wang Lang murmured in disbelief while checking the military report again and again.
How could this be? !
In fact, Cao Zhen also wanted to know in his heart, how could this be so! ! !
According to the battle report sent by Wang Chang, the Shu thieves only used 3,000 men to attack Tongguan, but his own clan brother was actually able to easily defeat Tongguan with the same force.
If Cao Tai himself was not present, Cao Zhen would have wanted to directly order military law to deal with it.
What the hell happened to the old Cao family and Xiahou family? How many famous and brave generals were produced in the first generation? Why is it that this second generation has produced so many trash? First Xiahou Mao, then Cao Tai, what these two bastards did , how can they live up to their father’s reputation? !
Nowadays, Cao Zhen has put Cao Tai and Xia Houmao on the same level, but there is a saying that Cao Tai was really unjust.
Although the fall of Tongguan may have something to do with Cao Tai's lack of ability, Cao Tai is really not a waste like Xia Houmao.
This matter has to start from four days ago.
Wei Yan led three thousand rangers and ran all the way. In order to gain time, they didn't even make too many detours. Except for making a circle near Linjin County, they headed straight for Tongguan.
In the counties occupied by the Wei army along the way, it was not that no one noticed Wei Yan's cavalry. However, because Wei Yan's cavalry were all wearing Wei army's armor and holding Wei army's flags, and because Wei Yan just passed through the county town so carelessly, There was no attempt to hide any traces. The county magistrates all thought that there was some urgent task ahead for the cavalry to carry out. Naturally, no one would send out scouts to inquire about the purpose of the cavalry.
As for Wang Chang, Wang Chang was also unlucky. He did not lead troops to support Tongguan from the beginning. Instead, he followed Cao Zhen and withdrew his troops to Linjin. Then Cao Zhen gave him soldiers, horses and military symbols and asked him to set off for Tongguan.
Therefore, Wang Chang was actually left behind by Wei Yan from the moment he set off, and he was leading slower infantry. Naturally, it was impossible to notice such a force along the way.
In this way, Wei Yan spent two days and arrived in front of Tongguan without any obstruction.
Next, the most important thing is to fraudulently open and close Tongguan.
Wei Yan still acted according to the predetermined plan. He lied that he was Cao Wei's elite cavalry who had retreated in Dali County. Because they strayed when they broke through and were blocked by Shu thieves on their way back, they gathered some of the cavalry along the way and retreated. Come to Tongguan.
At this time, Tongguan guard Cao Tai didn't just rely on Wei Yan's words to stupidly open the door and let people in.
Cao Tai still cautiously asked some questions about Dali County's defeat and whether Wei Yan had anything to prove his identity.
Then Wei Yan asked someone to pretend to be Niu Jin's flag-bearing soldier, and used Niu Jin's command to prove his identity.
Cao Tai believed it.
To be honest, I can't blame Cao Tai for believing Wei Yan's words so easily. There are actually some coincidences in it.
In the cavalry duel outside Dali County, the Wei cavalry was defeated. Not all of them died on the battlefield or were captured by Zhao Yun. There were also many Cao and Wei cavalry who emerged from the gaps in the battlefield and fled for their lives.
The cavalry is indeed a special unit. The treatment conditions in any force are quite good. If they are not captured on the spot and have to surrender, as long as the cavalry can escape, most of the cavalry will choose to escape back to Cao Wei's control area.
After all, according to Wei's laws, if they fail to return to the army in time, their families will be reassigned to others by Cao Wei.
Therefore, before Wei Yan arrived, Tongguan received nearly a hundred Cao Wei cavalry who escaped from the battlefield in Dali County.
With such a precedent, when Wei Yan appeared outside Tongguan with three thousand cavalry, although Cao Tai was a little suspicious of such a large cavalry, he could not rule out the possibility that these cavalry had indeed escaped from the battlefield in Dali County. .
And Cao Tai was also cautious. He also specially found the Wei cavalry who had fled to Tongguan and asked them to identify the soldiers under the city and Niu Jin's command. As a result, the soldiers did not recognize the soldiers brought by Wei Yan, but for Niu Jin's command, Gee, these Wei cavalry all recognized them.
No one would fail to recognize his coach's subordinate.
The subordinate is a very special thing. Generally speaking, it is unlikely to leave the coach's side, unless the coach is killed in battle, or the defeat is too tragic, and everyone is scrambling to escape, unable to care.
Cao Tai learned from the accounts of the Wei cavalry who had fled back to Tongguan that Dali County was such a disastrous defeat, and Niu Jin's life and death was not certain. Some people said he had escaped, and some said he had died in the battle. Yes, there are different opinions.
Therefore, after confirming that Niu Jin's command was genuine, Cao Tai put down most of his thoughts, but he was still slightly wary.
Although Cao Tai had people open the door and let Wei Yan and others enter, he also asked Wei Yan and others to dismount, give up their horses and weapons, and enter alone.
It can be said that Cao Tai was already very careful, but after all, Cao Tai underestimated Wei Yan's ability.
Just when Cao Tai sent troops to open the city gate and let people go out to collect horses and weapons, Wei Yan seized the opportunity and launched a direct attack. Relying on the speed of the cavalry, he rushed into the gate before the Wei army closed it again. Wu Yong fought hard and completely controlled the gate at the cost of dozens of casualties.
During this whole process, Cao Tai's shortcomings in the face of sudden changes and a serious lack of adaptability were clearly demonstrated. He actually did not make any effective orders, or even organize his soldiers to retake the gate, and just watched Wei Yan helplessly. All three thousand soldiers entered the pass.
Wei Yan was not polite to Cao Tai. After all his soldiers entered the pass, Wei Yan immediately ordered all cavalry to dismount and fight, and were transferred to infantry. Under the leadership of Wei Yan, they went straight to Cao Tai who was still on the tower, preparing to capture him. The thief captures the king first.
At this time, if Cao Tai could calmly command and fight with 3,000 soldiers against 3,000 soldiers, Tongguan might not really be lost.
But unfortunately, at this time, Cao Tai made his second command mistake.
He neither ordered the Wei army, which still occupied this geographical advantage, to shoot arrows to prevent the Han army from ascending the tower, nor did he order the soldiers to take the initiative to retake the gate, cut off the Wei Yan army's retreat, and disrupt the morale of the Wei Yan army.
He actually ordered the entire army to move closer to him and defend him.
To put it bluntly, Cao Tai was still timid, fearing that Wei Yan would directly launch a surprise attack on him.
But the problem is that it would be better if Cao Tai did not give this order. Wei Yan does not know where Cao Tai is now. After all, the tower in Tongguan is still very large, and it is not easy to find the commander at once.
But with Cao Tai's order, Wei Yan could easily find Cao Tai's location by simply observing the direction where the Wei army was gathering.
Then Wei Yan led his men to kill Cao Tai.
(End of chapter)
