Sima Yi dared to stay in Luoyang because he had the confidence.
On the Yingchuan side, after Chen Tai received Sima Yi's notification to withdraw his troops back to Luoyang, he did not hesitate at all and did not withdraw directly from Kunyang. He first retreated to Xiangcheng, and then immediately retreated to Xuchang before the Shu thieves could catch up.
Then it stopped moving.
It's impossible for Chen Tai to abandon Yingchuan, that's for sure. He and his father are both from Yingchuan. If he abandons Yingchuan without a fight, how can the Yingchuan Chen family have the dignity to establish a foothold in their hometown in the future.
Therefore, just as Sima Yi expected, Chen Tai's retreat to Xuchang was Chen Tai's bottom line. He could not give up Yingchuan County.
However, facing the Shu thieves who had broken into Yingchuan, Chen Tai had to make any preparations.
Chen Tai only has 10,000 soldiers from Yingchuan County, and the Shu thieves have not only 10,000 soldiers and horses from Kunyang direction, but also 20,000 soldiers and horses from Zhao Yun sent by Zhuge Liang to attack Yingchuan. Chen Tai's pressure must be Not small.
Of course, the Yingchuan family would also support Chen Tai, but the problem is that in the past two years, under Wang Ling's pressure, the Yingchuan family had already raised private soldiers once to guard Wang Ling's place. The private soldiers raised that time, Of course, Wang Ling cannot return it to these wealthy families. He must be pretending to be a local Dingkou.
This time, the private soldiers could not raise much. The most they could do was to provide support in terms of grain, grass, money, and food, and then help Chen Tai launch troops in several counties near Xuchang.
However, the combat effectiveness of temporary explosive troops is really limited. They will most likely only be used as cannon fodder when defending the city, delaying the time of defending the city.
Therefore, Chen Tai had to find his own way in terms of military strength.
Chen Tai had no good way to deal with this. He couldn't summon elite soldiers out of thin air, so he could only ask for help from Jia Kui of Yanzhou and Guo Huai of Runan.
Especially if Guo Huai of Runan falls to Xuchang, it would be meaningless for you Guo Huai to guard the three counties in northern Runan. It would be better to take the initiative to send troops and come over to help me.
As long as you defeat the Shu thieves and defend Yingchuan, I will send troops later to help you take back Runan County.
Chen Tai thought very well, but Guo Huai didn't buy it.
However, Guo Huai also knew that once Xuchang was lost, he would only be fighting alone in the three counties of Runan, and he might face double attacks from Shu bandits and Wu dogs at any time. Xuchang was actually very important to him.
But the problem is that Guo Huai really doesn't have many troops in his hands.
The mess that Cao Xiu left behind in the three counties of Runan back then was that there were only 13,000 county soldiers in total, and they had to guard the three counties. Guo Huai was able to guard the three counties of Runan now because Soochow did not move further north. Just a plan.
This was true before, but now, the situation is a little different.
Ever since the Shu thieves began to send troops from Nanyang for the Northern Expedition, Zhu Ju, who stayed in Ruyin, had been very restless and had vague intentions of gathering troops to go north and annex the three counties of Runan.
Guo Huai didn't think that the Shu thieves and Wu Gou were colluding again, but the problem was that Wu Gou took advantage of the situation and robbed them not once or twice.
Yes, you, Chen Tai, said that after relieving the siege of Xuchang, you would send troops to recapture the three counties of Runan for me, but this cannot cover up the fact that the three counties of Runan were lost once in my hands. Let’s not say whether we can recapture it successfully. Even if we recapture it, When I came back, I lost all face.
I have changed from the governor of Liangzhou to the prefect of Runan. Will my official position become the magistrate of Shangcai next time? !
Therefore, after Guo Huai received Chen Tai's order, he was really hesitant in his heart.
This Great Wei. Now Guo Huai is beginning to question whether it is worth it after he has paid so much for Great Wei.
They also lost the battle, but the clan generals like Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen were getting bigger and bigger in officialdom, and their reputations were not greatly affected. How come Guo Huai is getting smaller and smaller in officialdom, and his reputation is getting better and better now? Worse? !
At least he was the one who earned the title of "God of Heaven" among the Qiang people tribe in the northwest back then. How come he is now reduced to guarding three counties and being constantly threatened by unknown generals from Soochow? !
Guo Huai's heart is very unbalanced, but Guo Huai's character is still quite strong.
Although it is unbalanced, although he is very unhappy, Guo Huai has no intention of rebelling. Even after careful consideration and considering the overall situation, Guo Huai still has to admit that compared with Xuchang, the three counties of Runan are strategically inferior. The value is really different.
Therefore, after some private complaints, Guo Huai took the initiative to raise 10,000 troops and went north to rescue Xuchang.
At the same time, Jia Kui, the governor of Yanzhou, also made his own decision very responsibly - personally leading five thousand troops to Xuchang to help in the battle.
It's not that Jia Kui was unloyal and brought five thousand soldiers and horses to make up the numbers. It's because Yanzhou has not fully recovered from the last war.
In the last battle with Soochow, Cao Xiu transferred 20,000 soldiers and horses from Yanzhou. This number of soldiers and horses was almost half of the Yanzhou County soldiers.
As a result, Cao Xiu was all in Huainan.
It's hard for Jia Kui to blame others for this matter. After all, he was the one who ordered Gao Tanglong to lead the army to help the battle. Jia Kui is not the kind of person who has the habit of blaming others casually.
Therefore, in the past two years, Jia Kui abandoned Pengcheng State and retreated to Runan. He has been focusing on restoring the people's livelihood and the county soldiers in Yanzhou.
But Jia Kui was different from Sima Yi. Sima Yi faced a strong threat from Shu thieves, so he had to spend all his money, food and energy on restoring the military first. Jia Kui also had 10,000 troops who retreated from Pengcheng State to Yanzhou. The Yu Cao Weijun soldiers and Soochow are also in a truce for the time being, so Jia Kui's priority restoration project is people's livelihood issues.
In terms of military affairs, Jia Kui plans to wait until the people's livelihood has recovered in two years before starting to solve the problem.
But Jia Kui did not expect that the Shu thieves would launch the Northern Expedition immediately after just one year and directly invade Yingchuan County, causing Xuchang to be in danger.
Jia Kui knew the strategic importance of Xuchang, so Chen Tai wrote to ask for help. Jia Kui immediately began to mobilize soldiers to prepare to support Xuchang.
However, we really can't mobilize too many troops.
Different from the three counties of Runan, there are only two choices in that place, either not to send troops to support Xuchang and defend the three counties, or to send troops and abandon the three counties. It is impossible for Jia Kui to abandon the entire Yanzhou.
Therefore, Jia Kui must ensure the defense of various places in Yanzhou, especially under the prying eyes of Soochow, and mobilize county soldiers as much as possible without affecting the defense of each county. It is not easy to mobilize 5,000 people.
In this way, Jia Kui personally brought five thousand soldiers and horses to support Xuchang, and handed over the defense of Yanzhou to his old partner Jiang Ji, especially telling Jiang Ji to guard against Soochow.
After all, those shameless guys have been carrying out sneak attacks more than once or twice, and Lu Xun who stayed in Shouchun is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Taking advantage of the situation and taking advantage of it is almost inevitable.
In this way, as for Xuchang, Chen Tai gathered 25,000 soldiers in a short period of time to defend the city against 20,000 Shu thieves. The problem is not big for the time being.
However, it is limited to defense. If you want to take the initiative to repel the Shu thieves, you still need to wait for a suitable fighter to appear. Currently, you can only maintain a stalemate.
Also in a stalemate are Mengjin and Hulaoguan.
Compared with the relatively stable Hulao Pass, the situation in Mengjin is actually not too optimistic.
Hulao Pass was guarded by a male pass, and Wang Ling brought 10,000 Luoyang County soldiers to garrison there. By the time Deng Ai led his troops to the vicinity of Hulao Pass, Wang Ling had already entered the pass early. Faced with such a male pass, he fought one to one In terms of strength comparison, even Deng Ai has no good way to threaten Hulao Pass.
But Mengjin, where the Sima brothers are stationed, is much more dangerous.
And all of this has to start when the Sima brothers guarded Hangu Pass.
When Sima Zhao was stationed at the northern passage of Hangu Pass, he was actually just one step away from being in a life-or-death situation.
Facing the attack of the 7,000 Northern troops led by Wei Yan himself, the 5,000 county soldiers led by Sima Zhao had no choice but to go down to the stronghold without any danger to defend. It was indeed very difficult to defend.
There is no other way. Not to mention the military disadvantage, the combat power of the soldiers is not of the same level. The soldiers of Luoyang County are no match for the Han Dynasty's Northern Army. They will definitely be beaten passively.
But Sima Zhao knew that he really couldn't retreat. If he retreated, Luoyang would definitely be unsafe, and the Sima family's future would probably end here.
After all, at that time, Sima Zhao had not received any news about Sima Yi's withdrawal from Luyang.
Therefore, Sima Zhao was really fighting hard and trying hard to delay time.
On several occasions, the Han army had broken through the outer defense line and entered the camp where Sima Zhao was located. On one occasion, the outer wall of the camp had been lost. It was Sima Zhao who risked his life and led his bodyguards to kill him. It was considered that the gap was blocked and the attack was repelled.
Sima Zhao himself was wounded twice in that battle, but luckily they were all superficial wounds, and the injuries were not too serious.
Just when Sima Zhao was not sure whether he could continue to hold on and whether he should abandon the defense and escape for his life, his brother Sima Shi arrived at Hangu Pass in time with 15,000 Hedong soldiers.
Sima Zhao then breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that with more than 18,000 soldiers guarding Hangu Pass, this Hangu Pass should not be lost. Then Sima Shi and Sima Zhao began to worry together.
Yes, with the arrival of a large number of reinforcements, Wei Yan did not dare to be careless. He took the initiative to shrink his troops and rest, and did not launch an attack for about three days.
But on the fourth day, when the Shu thieves attacked again, Sima Division took the initiative to let the Hedong soldiers he brought to fight. It would have been better if he had not done so. However, Sima Division let the Hedong soldiers go to fight against the Northern Han army, and the trouble was big. .
Most of the Hedong soldiers brought by Sima Division were private soldiers improvised by aristocratic families. Their personal combat effectiveness was good, but they had little discipline and organization. This kind of army might be good at fighting with the wind, but fighting against the wind, especially in the face of the wind. For the fierce and elite Northern Army, the outcome can be imagined.
After the war began, the Hedong County soldiers could only hold on for less than half an hour before they began to disperse one after another. If Sima Division had not made a prompt decision and killed some of the fleeing soldiers, Sima Zhao also took his remaining three thousand Luoyang County soldiers. If they were able to attack in time and block the pursuit of the Northern Han Army, it would probably be a crushing defeat.
If the current Sima Division met Chen Zhi, they would probably have a good chat with each other. But in this situation, Sima Division had nothing to do. He could only gather the defeated troops as much as possible, then reorganize the formation, cooperate with Sima Zhao, and continue to rely on the defense of the camp. , stall for time.
But... it's really difficult.
The two Sima brothers discovered that although they clearly had the advantage in terms of strength, they were still at an absolute disadvantage when faced with the attack of less than 7,000 Northern Han troops, and were still being passively beaten.
What's even worse is that the Shu thieves on the opposite side seem to be detonating their troops. In addition to the fierce elite troops, there are also more than 10,000 reinforcements arriving from inside and outside.
The Sima brothers don't yet know the combat strength of this support army, but they know that even if this army has half the combat strength of the elite troops, the two brothers will not be able to defend Hangu Pass no matter what.
Just when the two brothers were worried, Sima Yi's military order came and asked them to abandon Hangu Pass and retreat to Mengjin Ferry.
The two brothers finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to withdraw.
Sima Zhao was more loyal and informed Xia Houhe, who was still guarding Hangu Pass, and asked him to withdraw together. As for whether to return to Luoyang or go to Mengjin, it depends on Xia Houhe himself.
In short, the two brothers were almost safe and led the team to evacuate Hangu Pass and retreated to Mengjindu.
But what the two brothers didn't expect was that just after they arrived at Mengjin Ferry, they finally set up camp and settled down, and after less than three days of rest, Wei Yan also followed them.
What's even more terrible this time is that in addition to Wei Yan, there is also a general with a black face and white beard, leading 10,000 soldiers, joining forces with Wei Yan, and coming together in the direction of Mengjin Ferry.
The depressed one of the two Sima brothers is messing with you? !
Why do you have to come and embarrass us two brothers if you don't go to Luoyang, which is a good place? ! !
(End of chapter)
