The sudden loss of Ruyin and the news brought back by the defeated troops that at least 20,000 soldiers from Soochow were attacked by soldiers made Xu Zhi dare not act rashly in Yingyang.
Xu Zhi only has 3,000 men in his hands. Including the 1,000 remaining defenders of Yingyang, the total number is only 4,000. Although Xu Zhi is known for his bravery in battle, he is not mentally retarded and will not be stupid. He believed that with his 4,000 men, he could defeat the 20,000 Wu army and recapture Ruyin.
But Xu Zhi did not dare to retreat on the spot and return to defend Shang Cai. On the contrary, he had to hold on to Yingyang, and at the same time let Gao Tanglong quickly lead his troops to come for reinforcements.
There is no way, Ruyin has been attacked by Soochow, which means that General Cao Xiu has been blocked by the Soochow army.
If Yingyang is lost again and Xu Zhilian sends troops to break the Dongwu Army's blockade, the base to receive General Cao Xiu will be lost. How can he complete General Cao Xiu's commission.
Therefore, Xu Zhi must stick to Yingyang and save the last glimmer of hope.
However, Xu Zhi did not wait for the reinforcements led by Gao Tanglong. Instead, he waited for the vanguard of the Soochow Army. The 5,000 Soochow Army led by Zhu Ju had already arrived at Yingyang City.
Zhu Ju came to conduct a tentative attack on Yingyang on Lu Xun's order.
Lu Xun had always been wary of the sudden appearance of the Wei army in Yingyang, fearing that this was Cao Xiu's back-up plan in Runan.
There is no way, Yingyang is not far to the northwest of Ruyin. Although it will not delay the Dongwu army to block Cao Xiu, it will be quite troublesome if the Cao army in Yingyang city suddenly sends troops to respond at the critical moment of blocking Cao Xiu.
Therefore, Lu Xun had to figure out how many Wei troops there were in Yingyang City and what their combat purpose was.
Regardless of whether Cao Xiu was used to support his retreat or to defend Runan County, it would have a great impact on Lu Xun's subsequent use of troops.
In order to find out the reality of this Wei army, Lu Xun specially sent Zhu Ju, a rising star of Soochow, to lead troops to Yingyang for a tentative attack.
Zhu Ju was another outstanding talent of the Zhu family in Wuzhong. Together with Zhu Huan, he supported the Jiangdong family of generals. Both of them were highly valued by Sun Quan, the great emperor of Soochow.
And compared to Zhu Huan, Zhu Ju was better in Sun Quan's eyes.
Zhu Ju's behavior was different from that of his elder brother Zhu Huan.
Zhu Huan was quite arrogant. He was not only ashamed of being subordinate to others, but also had the "problem" of supporting his soldiers. From the standpoint of the Zhu family in Wuzhong, there was no problem for Zhu Huan to do this, but from the standpoint of Sun Quan From a standpoint, it's very subtle.
Being shameful and inferior to others means unwillingness to obey orders and support soldiers, which can basically be equated with self-respect for supporting soldiers. Do you think Zhu Huan is Zhou Yu or Lu Meng? How can Sun Quan, a petty person like you, tolerate this like you? !
On the contrary, Zhu Ju was relatively low-key and humble. He had none of Zhu Huan's problems and had better relationships with his colleagues. The most important thing was that he really listened to Sun Quan, so it was not surprising that Sun Quan liked Zhu Ju.
Of course, in order to gain Sun Quan's attention, Zhu Ju's own abilities and talents should not be underestimated.
The reason why Lu Xun sent Zhu Ju to test the Wei army's reaction in Yingyang was because he valued Zhu Ju's own strategy.
Zhu Ju also knew Lu Xun's intentions. After leading his troops to Yingyang, he did not set up camp immediately. Instead, he led his troops to Yingyang City and challenged the formation.
At first glance, this seems to be the behavior of a mindless and reckless man, challenging without any foothold. Once defeated, there is no second option except to flee.
But Zhu Ju still did it. His purpose was to see if Wei Jun would take the initiative to fight.
And Wei Jun. Xu Zhi was actually very hesitant.
There was no room for hesitation. The opponent had five thousand soldiers, and he only had 4,000 soldiers in his hands. He was definitely at a disadvantage in a field battle.
Not to mention, Xu Zhi also has other combat tasks, so going out of the city to fight in the field should not be Xu Zhi's first choice.
But...who let the army on the opposite side be the army of Soochow?
The Soochow Army's field combat ability is really, you can understand it!
Therefore, for a moment, Xu Zhi wanted to directly accept the challenge and go out of the city to have a showdown.
Because it is really easy to fight. Four thousand Wei troops versus five thousand Soochow troops. This is a ready-made military exploit.
But well, after careful consideration, Xu Zhi decided not to waste time.
Although let's face it, the Soochow Army's combat power is indeed not good, but it is still an army after all, not just casual bandits and bandits.
Even if the Wei army is more powerful than the opponent, it is impossible for him to lose anything if he goes out to fight in the city.
Xu Zhi's real purpose is to defend Yingyang City, and at the same time, he must gather troops as soon as possible to prepare for General Cao Xiu. It is better not to waste troops in vain.
Defending Yingyang and recruiting General Cao Xiu would be a real achievement. But if we go out to the city to fight in the field, even if we defeat the 5,000 Soochow troops, in the end we fail to recruit General Cao Xiu due to lack of troops, then there will be no credit at all. , only sin.
Therefore, it is better to be a little more steady and wait until Gao Tanglong brings troops to help before making plans.
Therefore, Xu Zhi's choice is to ignore the challenge and hold on.
This response did not go beyond Zhu Ju's expectations.
But then, Zhu Ju's response made Xu Zhi even more confused.
Originally, Xu Zhi believed that in the face of his own inability to hold on, the Soochow Army would choose to camp on the spot and wait for the follow-up troops to arrive before launching a strong attack on Yingyang.
But Zhu Ju retreated.
Yes, Zhu Ju had no intention of setting up camp at all. He directly chose to retreat, and he retreated very simply.
At this time, many pictures actually flashed through Xu Zhi's mind.
The Soochow Army suddenly retreated. Could it be that General Cao Xiu had learned about the loss of Ruyin and was returning to counterattack Ruyin with all his strength to gain a chance to break through, so the Soochow Army had to return to defend? !
If this is the case, then Xu Zhi really needs to consider whether to take the initiative.
On the one hand, this Soochow army cannot be allowed to withdraw and increase the number of troops surrounding General Cao Xiu. On the other hand, Xu Zhi also needs to take the initiative to respond to General Cao Xiu.
But Xu Zhi thought about it carefully and felt that this was unlikely.
It is possible that this Soochow general stationed outside Yingyang City for three to five days and then suddenly retreated. But... what would happen if he arrived and retreated on the same day? !
Is the speed of information transmission already so fast these days? !
Don't worry, maybe there's something fishy about it? !
Or should we say that something happened within the Soochow Army? This Soochow Army did not come to attack Yingyang, but had been defeated by General Cao Xiu and retreated here. Seeing that he could not leave the city to fight, he had to choose another one. Escape? !
But it doesn't look like a defeated army.
Xu Zhi really couldn't understand what this Soochow army was doing.
What made Xu Zhi unable to make up his mind the most was whether he should go out of the city to pursue him.
If this Soochow army really chose to retreat that day for some special reasons, then regardless of their purpose, Xu Zhi should take the initiative to go out of the city to pursue what the enemy wanted to do, and he could not be allowed to do so.
But the actions of this Soochow Army were so weird that even Xu Zhi, who was not very good at strategy, could detect the problem. Not to mention the trick of luring the enemy, there might be an ambush of the main force of the Soochow Army ten miles away. Yourself? !
Xu Zhi thought carefully about the current military deployment in Runan County. Except for the 4,000 soldiers in Yingyang, only Shangcai had 5,000 soldiers. The remaining counties combined had less than 3,000 soldiers. They couldn't be mobilized to fight for a while.
Therefore, it is better not to waste time before getting clear information or gathering enough troops.
It would be too difficult to go back and destroy these four thousand soldiers. It would be too difficult to rely on the five thousand soldiers commanded by the scholar Gao Tanglong to defend Runan and coordinate with General Cao Xiu.
Therefore, Xu Zhi made the decision again not to leave the city to pursue.
Then the next day, Xu Zhi discovered again that the Soochow army that should have withdrawn appeared outside Yingyang City again.
Xu Zhi really started to scratch his head now. He really couldn't figure out what these gang of Jiangdong thugs wanted to do when they came and went like this! ! !
Zhu Ju didn't really want to do anything. He just followed Lu Xun's order and came to test the reality of Yingyang City and the reality of Runan as a whole.
The first time I took the initiative to challenge was to see if the Wei army in Yingyang City dared to take the initiative to challenge.
If he dared to take the initiative to fight, it means that the defenders in Runan now have sufficient strength and the defenders have the confidence to dare to go out of the city to fight. Zhu Ju will naturally choose to retreat directly and report back to Governor Lu and let him make other plans.
But Yingyang City's response was to hold on.
Of course, if he just couldn't hold on, Zhu Zhi would not be completely sure that Yingyang City's defense force was insufficient. After all, the enemy might have deliberately shown weakness to attract him to take the initiative to attack the city, and then mobilize troops from all over to encircle and suppress him.
After all, this is a battle on the enemy's territory, and the enemy must have an advantage in terms of geographical location. Even if reconnaissance cavalry and scouts are sent out, it is difficult to fully grasp the enemy's whereabouts.
Therefore, Zhu Ju chose to withdraw his troops that day just to be on the safe side.
If he wanted to deliberately attract himself to fight under Yingyang City, and seeing his troops retreat, the defenders in Yingyang City would definitely go out of the city to pursue him, trying to hold him back.
But the Wei army in Yingyang City still couldn't hold on.
Just like Xu Zhi didn't understand what Zhu Ju was doing, now Zhu Ju also didn't understand what the Wei army guard was doing.
Fighting without fighting, retreating without retreating, just defending a city. Are you really afraid that you will ignore Yingyang and directly attack other counties in Runan? !
Yingyang was not a strategic location, it was just an ordinary county town on the southeast side of Runan. Zhu Ju really couldn't figure out why it was necessary to defend it.
If we have the time, wouldn't it be better to gather our troops and return to defend Shang Cai? !
How did Zhu Ju know that Xu Zhi still had the task of preparing to respond to Cao Xiu's withdrawal of troops? Now Ruyin has been attacked and occupied by the Soochow Army. If Yingyang is lost, if he wants to respond to Cao Xiu, he will not even have the final place to send troops. .
Therefore, no matter what Zhu Ju's true purpose is, Xu Zhi must defend Yingyang.
Zhu Ju couldn't figure out what Xu Zhi was doing, so he had to lead his troops back to Yingyang again to test Yingyang City again.
This time, it was no longer a rhetorical challenge. Zhu Ju honestly set up camp and then began to chop down trees to make siege equipment, posing as if he was going to attack the city.
And three days later, the first siege was launched.
Because it was a test, the siege time was not long, and the intensity of the attack was not high. Compared with siege, it was more about using the bows and arrows that the Soochow Army was good at to suppress the wall, and then launching a tentative attack.
Therefore, it is normal for the attack to be unfavorable, and Zhu Zhi did not find anything surprising.
But through this siege, Zhu Ju learned what he wanted to know.
Once the siege actually started, Xu Zhi naturally did not dare to neglect. He organized the defense how he wanted to organize the defense. In the case of insufficient troops, it was impossible for Xu Zhi to hide his secrets.
Zhu Ju judged based on his actual combat experience that the number of defenders in Yingyang City was about 3,000 to 5,000. Judging from the defensive strength of the Wei army, it was obvious that they were seriously guarding the city and were unlikely to be ready to withdraw their troops at any time. plan.
In other words, the Wei generals who defended the city had a reason to defend Yingyang. Zhu Ju didn't know this reason for the time being, but this attitude was enough for Zhu Ju to repay Lu Xun.
The rest will be left to Governor Lu to decide.
(End of chapter)
