A big battle at Tongguan ended hastily after the two warring parties fought for only about two hours.
In this battle, both sides actually have a chance to win, but neither side has been able to fully grasp the chance of winning. Continuing to fight is just a waste of troops. It is better to withdraw the troops back to camp and fight another day.
Zhang Xi's side is easy to understand. After all, they have few troops and can't afford to waste.
Although Cao Zhen has a large number of troops, Cao Zhen has not yet reached the final point of helplessness. He still hopes to break through Tongguan and regain his retreat, so naturally he does not want to lose too many troops.
In addition, during this battle, the Wei army made a lot of mistakes in many places. There was even a situation where the defeated army attacked the central army, causing Wang Chang to have to shoot the defeated army. Cao Zhen also needs to rectify it. The morale of the military needs to be rested again, otherwise it will be difficult to cope with the next battle.
Of course, the most important reason is that Cao Zhen himself was shot by three arrows and was in urgent need of treatment.
Although Cao Zhen himself didn't think it was a big deal and it didn't hurt any vital points. Although Zhang Xi was cunning, he still had a bottom line and would not put poison on the arrows.
Therefore, among the three arrows, the most serious injury was the one on the waist and abdomen, but it was just a penetrating wound on the abdomen. It did not hurt the internal organs. It only temporarily affected the movement. As long as the bleeding was stopped and bandaged , just rest for a while. But Wang Chang, Dai Ling and others don't think so.
The old general Zhang He was just hit by an arrow in the knee, and ended up surrendering his life. Now Cao Zhen is the spiritual pillar of the Wei army, and there must be no accidents.
Therefore, it is better to withdraw our troops for now and fight again in the future.
Then Cao Zhen regretted it.
Towards evening, Cao Zhen received intelligence from the scouts. An army of over ten thousand people appeared in the southeast corner of Tongguan. It was less than 20 miles away from the main battlefield of Tongguan and was marching rapidly approaching.
As soon as Cao Zhen heard this information, his face turned livid and he stood up in anger. But then, the pain on his thighs and waist and abdomen made him fall to the ground again.
Wang Chang and Dai Ling hurriedly stepped forward to help him, and at the same time drove away the scouts, but immediately they didn't know what to say.
In fact, all three of them understood that the army with over 10,000 people was definitely not one of their own.
All his troops are now blocked in front of Tongguan. It is impossible for another army with more than 10,000 people to come to help. Even if they come to help, they are not welcome. Even if the army only provides one meal a day, it can only last for five days. .
And in the land of Guanzhong, the party that can organize and mobilize more than 10,000 troops must be the Shu thieves. That army is the reinforcements of the Shu thieves.
Originally, Cao Zhen was not in a hurry. Even if the food and grass could not last for a few days, even if there were some slight setbacks in today's battle, Cao Zhen was still confident that he could retake Tongguan and open up a retreat.
Without him, his own military strength is indeed superior.
In today's battle, although I was slightly defeated, the losses on the Shu bandit side were not small. The gap in strength between the two sides still maintained the absolute advantage of the Wei army.
Cao Zhen lost most of his cavalry troops and his general Han De, and the light cavalry that finally returned to the army only had more than 3,000 cavalry. However, the cavalry could not be used to attack the city, and its greatest role was to contain the Shu thieves' cavalry.
There were about 5,000 Shu thieves cavalry before the war. After a melee, the losses were not small. In the end, the number of people who returned to the army would not exceed 4,000. Although the threat was still there, the deterrent effect had been weakened a lot.
In terms of infantry, although in the flank defensive battle during the day, the Wei army was completely defeated. There were also rebel troops attacking the central army, which resulted in the process of having to enforce military law on the battlefield. However, the Shu thieves were also cut off by Cao Zhen, and the front army was in the melee. The loss is not small either.
According to Cao Zhen's estimate, the casualties of the Wei army were about 5,000, and the casualties of the Shu thieves should be at least 3,000.
After this conversion, excluding the cavalry, Cao Zhen still had 35,000 infantry at his disposal. As for the Shu thieves, even with the cavalry, the total strength was only about 10,000.
Although the Wei army experienced a series of retreats and minor setbacks, the morale of the army was somewhat inferior to that of the Shu thieves on the opposite side, but the gap in strength between the two sides was still obvious, so Cao Zhen was really not too impatient.
According to Cao Zhen's original plan, he will still divide his forces tomorrow and give Wang Chang about 20,000 troops to attack Tongguan. He and Dai Ling will lead 15,000 infantry to block the Shu bandits' attack from behind. This time, there will be no waste. There is no need to divide the troops to block the cavalry, but to shrink the defense.
Yes, the cavalry of the Shu thieves is still a big threat, but Cao Zhen is ready to use his infantry to fight hard. As long as Wang Chang can capture Tongguan and the army can withdraw into the pass, everything will be easy.
This is Cao Zhen's original battle plan. Now it seems that it has to be scrapped and the battle plan must be rethought.
The Shu thieves came with more than 10,000 reinforcements, and the total infantry strength should be more than 20,000. Even an overestimation may be 30,000. With another 4,000 cavalry to assist in the battle, I can rely on 15,000. Are you really sure you can stop the Shu thieves? !
Once the Shu thieves break through their defenses and enter Tongguan to increase Tongguan's defensive strength, the more than 30,000 Wei men led by him will have no other end than starving to death on the land of Guanzhong.
If you want to defend against the Shu thieves, you must increase the defensive strength in the rear, but doing so will inevitably weaken the offensive power on the front. If the offensive power on the front is insufficient, Tongguan cannot be captured in three days. The final outcome will be the same.
So, do you have to use all your main force to deal with the Shu thieves behind you? !
What about Tongguan? !
Although Wang Chang said that friendly forces were suspected of launching an attack behind Tongguan, Cao Zhen did not dare to fully believe Wang Chang's statement now that the retreat was blocked and information communication was inconvenient.
Another thing is that Cao Zhen is not so naive to place his hope of escape on others.
Therefore, after hesitating for a long time, Cao Zhen decided to carry out tomorrow's battle according to the original plan.
Twenty thousand people, led by Wang Chang, stormed Tongguan, while he and Dai Ling led the remaining 15,000 soldiers and the last more than 3,000 cavalry to fight the Shu thieves' rear pursuers head-on.
But the slight difference is that early the next morning, before Cao Zhen officially issued military orders, he first asked his soldiers to form an array outside the camp.
He has something to say.
With the entire army in formation, Cao Zhen appeared in front of the army on his own horse and began to lecture.
"My fellow soldiers, Cao has a truth to tell you today - the army has only enough food and grass to survive for three days."
Yes, Cao Zhen summoned the entire army with the purpose of openly and honestly speaking out about the biggest problem facing the army.
As soon as Cao Zhen said this, the soldiers gathered in the front row were stunned after hearing this, and then started to commotion.
As the messengers from each military camp delivered Cao Zhen's words to each military camp array in turn, the soldiers in the rear began to commotion after hearing the news that the food and grass could only last for three days.
In fact, since the withdrawal of troops from Linjin, Cao Zhen has already issued a hush-hush order to the quartermaster. At the same time, he must report the military ration expenditure to himself every day and save the use of military rations as much as possible.
Theoretically speaking, at this time, the army sergeants do not know how many days the military rations can last.
However, soldiers are not all fools. Over the past few days, the supply of military rations has become less and less. Although it is still at the scale of two meals a day, the weight of each meal has been significantly reduced compared to before.
It's just that no one stood up to make trouble when they were still seven-tenths full, but it didn't mean that the soldiers couldn't guess the situation in the army. At most, they didn't know that the army rations would last for a few days.
Now that I heard my coach personally admit that the army only had three days of food and grass left without causing a commotion, it was impossible.
At this time, the benefit of Cao Zhen's having his soldiers line up in advance became apparent.
Everyone gathered together and did not give these soldiers any time to think and ferment. If anyone dared to break the formation without authorization and come out to incite, the army can directly enforce military law.
Therefore, the commotion did not last long and was quickly suppressed by the army.
As the commotion slowly subsided, Cao Zhen slowly looked at all the soldiers and continued to shout.
"The urgency of all the officers and men is also the urgency of Cao. Cao and the officers and men are together. If the thieves cannot be defeated within three days, Cao will die at the hands of the thieves just like the officers and soldiers."
After saying this, the soldiers suddenly felt that it made sense.
Now that the escape route is cut off, even if Cao Zhen wants to run, he can't.
The dilemma faced by the soldiers was actually the same for Cao Zhen.
In fact, some smart soldiers have already thought that they, who are really hungry, can surrender to the Shu army, but Cao Zhen, as the general of the Cao Wei clan, has no possibility of surrendering to the Shu army.
Once defeated, Cao Zhen would either die on the battlefield or commit suicide, leaving no option for surrender.
Obviously, Cao Zhen also thought of this possibility, so he continued to lecture.
"My officers and men, my wives, children and parents are all in the pass. If things go wrong, whether my officers and men will die in battle or surrender to the Shu thieves and live in vain. I may never see my wives, children and parents again in this life. This is the death of a father. This is the tragedy of the son of man. Even after death, how can he see his wife, children, parents on the ground?!"
It's a little difficult to say this. The soldiers most likely don't understand what "shang" or "shang" means, so the words conveyed by the messengers are more straightforward - don't forget the laws of the Wei Dynasty. If you surrender, Your parents will have no one to support you, and your wives and children will have to remarry others and call them husbands and fathers.
Well, after saying this, the soldiers of Wei Army understood better instantly.
Then, Cao Zhen suddenly raised his arms and shouted, "Soldiers, life and death only last in three days. If Tongguan is broken, you will live. If you don't break it, you will die. Are you willing to live together with Cao?!"
Okay, although this sentence is a little difficult to understand, the soldiers still understand what it means.
If Tongguan is conquered within three days, everyone can escape back to the pass together. If it cannot be conquered, any national interests will be put aside for now, and their own little family will have to be separated.
In this case
"I will follow the general to the death!"
As Wang Chang, Dai Ling and others arranged for the envoys in each military camp in advance to shout this sentence loudly, slowly, every soldier in the entire Wei army camp was shouting this sentence.
The morale of the Wei army was completely aroused.
(End of chapter)
