Bi Gui doesn't understand military strategy, but he understands casualties.
When he ordered five thousand cavalry to attack an official road with mountains and cliffs on both sides, even if Bi Gui was a fool, he could see that this official road could not accommodate so many cavalry attacks.
This is just to lengthen the offensive formation and give the Shu thieves on the rocky cliffs a chance to kill their own cavalry with bows and arrows.
As for the camp in front, the density of arrows was so dense that even if Bi Gui had no idea about the battlefield product "Arrow Rain", he was still frightened by the sight of it.
Therefore, after the attack stalled, Bi Gui was quite decisive and immediately ordered the withdrawal.
After the attacking cavalry withdrew, Bi Gui ordered his people to count the number of people and found that only about 2,000 people came back. More than half of them were lost in the battle.
Bi Gui immediately sent someone to call Dai Ling.
On the one hand, Bi Gui put the responsibility for the unfavorable attack on Dai Ling, accusing Dai Ling of deliberately concealing the enemy's situation and failing to report it, leading to the defeat.
On the other hand, Bi Gui asked Dai Ling to give a clear battle plan to defeat the Shu thieves in front of him.
Dai Ling was forced and angry, but he had no choice.
The attack was unfavorable, not because Dai Ling didn't want to report the enemy's situation, but because you, Bi Gui, accused Dai Ling of being cowardly and didn't listen to Dai Ling's explanation at all.
Now I'm fine. I lost the battle despite not listening to others' advice, and my ability to shift the blame is first-rate.
What makes Dai Ling helpless is that Bi Gui is the governor of Bingzhou appointed by the Emperor of Wei, and in terms of personal relationships, Bi Gui is deeply trusted by the Emperor of Wei.
And it's hard to say whether Emperor Dai Ling has this name in his mind.
Therefore, Dai Ling could only hold back and explain to Bi Gui what he had seen and said in the past few days.
As for the way to defeat this Shu thieves, Dai Ling actually didn't have any - just use human lives.
The tactics used by the Shu thieves are indeed disgusting, but they are not without their weaknesses.
First of all, the Shu thieves, who are all crossbowmen, have a huge demand for bows and arrows.
According to the existing intelligence, the Shu bandit commander Zhang Xi is still fighting in Wen County in the south of Hanoi County, and the main army is also there. Therefore, the Shu bandit crossbowmen in the northern border of Hanoi County have a very large force. The possibility is just to go deep alone.
In terms of logistical supplies, it is definitely disadvantageous.
Secondly, although the concentration of bows and arrows in the official camp of the Shu thieves is extremely high and the lethality is huge, compared to the Shu thieves on the rocks, their arrow consumption is at least five times more, which is exchanged for dense arrow rain. Killing.
Therefore, based on the analysis of the above two points, Dai Ling came to the conclusion - as long as they continue to attack the Shu thieves' Guandao camp, consume their arrows, and do not allow them time to recycle the battlefield arrows for reuse, Sooner or later we will be able to break through this camp.
However, Dai Ling did not want to use this method, and the reason was very simple. The casualties must be too high.
Considering the subsequent combat situation, if there are too many casualties here, then even if Dai Ling leads the remaining cavalry to break into Hanoi County, it may not be able to achieve sufficient tactical effects.
Of course, military morale is also an important factor that Dai Ling needs to consider.
But these are not important at all to Bi Gui.
Bi Gui really didn't understand military affairs and had never led a soldier. Coupled with the influence of his background and environment, he had no idea what soldiers were and what military morale was.
In Bi Gui's view, they were just big soldiers. Casualties were unavoidable on the battlefield. How could they stop fighting just because of casualties?
Therefore, Bi Gui directly adopted Dai Ling's tactics, reorganized 5,000 people into five thousand-man teams, and couldn't wait to launch a strong attack on Mengda's camp the next day.
This move really made Mengda a little unable to resist.
With the arrival of the Bingzhou cavalry, what Meng Da was most worried about finally happened.
With 10,000 cavalry under Dai Ling's command, he might hesitate to fight because of excessive casualties. But with Bingzhou cavalry coming for reinforcements, and with a total strength of 28,000 cavalry, would the Wei army still hesitate to fight because of excessive casualties? !
Now that Meng Da has the answer, they don't.
Five thousand-man troops continuously attacked the camp on the official road. Although Mengda repelled all five attacks and killed more than two thousand cavalry, the arrows in Mengda's camp were indeed increasing. The less.
Meng Da knew that if he continued to fight like this, he would have no chance of winning. The opponent made it clear that they would exchange cavalry casualties for the opportunity to enter Hanoi County.
Therefore, after careful consideration again, Meng Da decided to send a military envoy to urgently report the battle situation to Zhang Xi.
It was not a request for reinforcements, but just to inform Zhang Xi that the Bingzhou cavalry was moving south, so that Zhang Xi could prepare for defense in advance.
As for Mengda himself, he has decided to withdraw his troops.
If it cannot be defended at all, instead of waiting until it is defeated and defeated by the cavalry, it is better to find the right opportunity to withdraw the troops in time, and to withdraw as much as possible.
Of course, Meng Da was quite loyal this time. Not only did he send a warning to Zhang Xi in advance, but he also stayed on the official road of Taihang for three more days.
The three days of extra persistence will, on the one hand, give the Wei army the illusion of clinging to officialdom and affect their judgment. On the other hand, Meng Da also needs to minimize the logistical materials he needs to carry when withdrawing, as much as possible. Reduce the number of chasing enemy troops.
In this way, on the third night of his persistence, Meng Da took advantage of the opportunity for the Wei army to withdraw its troops and return to the camp, and evacuated Taihangguandaokou overnight.
After evacuating the official road, Mengda issued an order to break up the troops into pieces and disperse and retreat to disrupt the enemy's sight. With only a thousand soldiers, Mengda ran southward and retreated to Wen County.
Of course, there is also the issue of the Zhuge Liannu No. 2 machine, and Meng Da has not forgotten it. The thousand soldiers he brought were the crossbowmen of the Zhuge Liannu No. 2 machine assigned to him by Zhang Xi.
There can be a small number of these people, but Zhuge Liannu No. 2 machine is not allowed to lose any of them. He has to take it back to Zhang Xi personally.
As Meng Da abandoned the Taihang official road and retreated, Bi Gui and Dai Ling finally broke through the Taihang official road.
Bi Gui was high-spirited and prepared to report to the emperor in Yecheng to ask for credit. But Dai Ling couldn't laugh.
In total, there were nearly 10,000 cavalry casualties, but they only killed less than 500 enemy troops in total. In the end, they had people run away overnight. How much credit is this? !
Unfortunately, Dai Ling can't make the decision now, so he can only keep silent.
As Meng Da retreated, Zhang Xi also looked grim after receiving the news that more than 20,000 Bingzhou cavalry had entered Hanoi County.
After all, this is cavalry, not infantry.
Zhang Xi was not afraid of 20,000 infantry, but the concept of 20,000 cavalry was completely different.
On the plains, 20,000 cavalry can even directly attack an army of 200,000 infantry.
Zhang Xi also had 20,000 Qiang and Hu cavalry led by the cavalry Ma Dai.
However, the combat effectiveness of the Qianghu Rangers is completely different from that of the regular Bingzhou Wolf Riders.
The Qiang and Hu cavalry can still be a deterrent by bullying Cao Wei's infantry, but they have no chance of winning against either the Han cavalry or Cao Wei's serious cavalry.
And the most important thing is that according to Meng Da's military report, he and Ma Dai acted separately. Ma Dai led the troops to pursue the infantry that intercepted Qin Lang. Meng Da did not know the specific whereabouts of Ma Dai, and Zhang Xi Here, no response was received from Ma Dai.
God knows where Ma Dai and the Qiang and Hu cavalry went.
When Zhang Xi was thinking about his next action plan, he couldn't take Ma Dai's Qiang and Hu cavalry into account.
Therefore, no matter what Zhang Xi thinks, he doesn't think that his 60,000 infantry can survive the attack of 20,000 Bingzhou cavalry.
Therefore, Zhang Xi could only choose to retreat to the north bank of Mengjin Ferry, relying on the support of the Yellow River navy, relying on the defensive walls left behind after the Wei army withdrew, and waiting to see the enemy's next move.
At the same time, enough reconnaissance cavalry and scouts were sent around to look for Ma Dai's traces, and he was notified to withdraw his troops to Mengjin Ferry as soon as possible and join the army.
To a certain extent, Cao Rui's goal was indeed achieved. As the Bingzhou cavalry moved south, Zhang Xi of Hanoi County temporarily withdrew his troops.
At this time, if Qin Lang can seize the opportunity, march directly east, enter Wen County, and complete the defense change with Xiahou Ba, he may still have the opportunity to lead the infantry to support Yanzhou.
But Qin Lang failed to seize this opportunity.
It's not that Qin Lang was stupid, but that after Qin Lang had just occupied Beizhong City, he just wanted to move eastward when he suddenly received an urgent report from Sima Jin in Heyang County behind him.
Zhi County was lost, and a large number of Shu thieves and cavalry went south along the official road and were attacking Heyang County.
There are actually two roads ahead of Qin Lang.
One is that regardless of the safety of Heyang County, if it is lost, it will be lost. I will go to join Xiahou Ba first.
The other is to quickly return to Heyang County to help ensure the safety of your own retreat.
In fact, if Qin Lang knew that Bi Gui had led troops to help at this time and broke through the Taihang official road, then Qin Lang would definitely choose the first path.
Once the Bingzhou cavalry arrives, if Zhang Xi learns the specific situation and has only one way to withdraw his troops, then it won't be a big problem whether Heyang County loses them or not.
But Qin Lang didn't know this, so Qin Lang judged based on the existing intelligence. On the one hand, he must consider that continuing to advance eastward may be intercepted by Zhang Xi's siege army. On the other hand, he must also consider the Shu thieves cavalry coming from behind. In order to avoid falling into the dilemma of being attacked from two sides or running out of food, Qin Lang decided to return to the army immediately and stick to Heyang County.
Then...well, Qin Lang realized how stupid his decision was.
(End of chapter)
