After all, Jiang Ji still overestimated himself and the defensive capabilities of Yanjin Ferry.
Jiang Ji, who thought he could survive seven days no matter what, had to send a request for reinforcements to Guo Huai of Jujube on the third day after Jiang Wei led his troops to Yanjin Ferry.
In fact, Jiang Ji didn't want to do this. With Jiang Ji's strategic vision, he could completely see that the Shu thieves were just playing a trick of encircling the points and calling for reinforcements, but there was nothing he could do about it. The objective conditions and subjective abilities made him unable to do so. Do not call for help immediately.
In terms of objective conditions, Yanjin Ferry is not a very strong military fortress.
The Yanjin Ferry was last reinforced and built thirty years ago. At that time, there was a confrontation between Yuan and Cao at Guandu, and Yuan Shao led his troops to attack Yanjin and Baima Ferry.
Because it was the main attack direction of Yuan Shao's army at the White Horse Ferry, Guan Yu killed Yan Liang here, which made the battle at the White Horse Ferry more famous. Therefore, many people know that the guard of the White Horse Ferry is named Liu Yan. This person is very disciplined.
As for the Yanjin Ferry, its presence is not high either in historical records or in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
The guard general of Yanjin Ferry at that time was actually Yu Jin, one of the five good generals. The defense facilities of Yanjin were also built by Yu Jin.
But since Cao Cao won the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Cao's battle front has been moving north. Finally, when Cao Cao completely pacified Hebei, Yanjin became the rear area.
Thirty years have passed, and today's defense facilities at Yanjin Ferry are still the same as those left by Yu Jin. There have been no repairs at all in the past thirty years.
The city wall at Yanjin Ferry is slightly better than the temporary stronghold in Beizhong City. The city wall at Yanjin Ferry is not a rammed earth wall, but a brick and stone wall. From a solid perspective, it is not a bit stronger than Beizhong City.
But the city wall at Yanjin Ferry also had a flaw—it was only three feet high.
This is already the result of Yu Jin's emergency repairs in order to increase the defense of Yanjin Ferry.
And what is the concept of three feet high? The Han ruler is shorter than the current size. The Han ruler is three feet high. When converted to the current size, it is a city wall only seven or eight meters high.
At this height, you might say he is short, but he is not short anymore. He is as tall as a three-story building.
But you have to say he is tall. Compared to Tongguan, which is eight to nine feet tall, and Xiangyang City, which is six to seven feet tall, this height is really not that great.
For a city wall of this height, there is no need to use a ladder. You can easily climb it with a hook ladder. Archers don't even need to project. From seventy or eighty steps away, they can threaten the people on the wall with a direct shot. garrison.
This situation is extremely detrimental to defense.
Moreover, Jiang Ji was not banned, and the combat effectiveness of Yuan's army could not be compared with the elite Han imperial guards under Jiang Wei today.
Although Yu Jin was in danger at the end of his life, he was defeated and captured, and ended up alone in Chengdu. But in terms of military command ability, Yu Jin could surpass Jiang Ji eight blocks.
Jiang Ji's strength lies in his strategic vision and making suggestions. It is hard to say how good his military commanding ability is, but his military commanding experience is approximately zero.
Whenever Sima Yi had a choice, it would be a pity not to let Jiang Ji come to guard Yanjin. Sima Yi could only choose between Jiang Ji and Gao Tanglong, and he had to choose Jiang Ji.
After all, compared to Gao Tanglong, a civil servant who didn't know much about military strategy, Jiang Ji at least had excellent strategic vision and knew what combat methods to adopt in any situation. As for commanding on the battlefield, Sima Yi couldn't ask too much of Jiang Ji.
In comparison, Sima Yi would rather believe that Jiang Ji brought him an extra surprise than Gao Tanglong, who was in a mess at Yanling.
However, in reality, Jiang Ji's ability to command on the battlefield really did not bring many surprises to Sima Yi.
Jiang Ji knew very well that when Jiang Wei led an army of 20,000 soldiers to attack the border, the most important thing he should do was to defend the city and wait for reinforcements. But his ability to command on the battlefield was not enough when facing a general of Jiang Wei's level. , seems quite clumsy.
Jiang Ji could also understand that the Shu thieves were encircling a point and calling for reinforcements. However, when Yanjin Ferry encountered a fierce attack and was in danger of falling, Jiang Ji had to send a request for reinforcements to Guo Huai.
Just because Jiang Ji can understand everything, but his command level cannot keep up, he is now under greater pressure than anyone else.
The Wei army was already at a military disadvantage. If the general could not command calmly and acted like he was under too much pressure, the morale of his soldiers would inevitably be affected.
Another important reason that caused the Wei army to fall into passivity was the gap in combat power between the two sides.
No matter how you put it, a three-foot-high city wall is still a city wall, and it has the advantage of being somewhat condescending.
Perhaps the suppression effect of arrows is not obvious, but city defense equipment such as rolling stones and wood can still bring a certain amount of damage to the Shu thieves. This is also an important reason why the Yanjin defenders can continue to hold on.
However, as the Shu thieves' attacks intensified, more and more Shu thieves boarded the city wall and started a battle for the city wall with the Wei army. The feeling of powerlessness began to appear.
The individual combat power and collective combat power of the Shu thieves are much higher than that of the Wei army defenders in Yanjin. In the battle for the city wall, they can often achieve the effect of one against two, or even one against three.
If the Wei army on the city wall had not always had a strength advantage, they might not have been able to hold on for three days.
As the war continues to deepen, the casualties on the Wei army's side will increase, and there will be fewer and fewer defenders on the city wall, and more and more Shu thieves will climb up the city wall. If this goes on, Yanjin Ferry will be lost sooner or later.
Jiang Ji couldn't tell when it was, maybe it was on the fifth day, maybe it was on the seventh day.
Therefore, Jiang Ji must warn Guo Huai of Suanzao in advance for help. After all, there is still a distance of seventy or eighty miles between Yanjin and Suizao. Even if the messenger can ride a horse, it will take at least a day to get from Yanjin to Suizao to report the news, and Even if Guo Huai sends troops immediately, it will take at least two days for the infantry to march from Suanzao to Yanjin. If he does not send an envoy to request reinforcements in advance, then there will be no need for Guo Huai's reinforcements to come.
Either Jiang Ji could not hold out until the seventh day and Guo Huai had no time to come to the rescue, so the Shu thieves broke through Yanjin Ferry, or Jiang Ji held on until Cao Yu's reinforcements arrived on the north bank of the Yellow River.
Jiang Ji very much hoped it would be the latter, but now it seems that it is more likely to be the former.
After all, Shu general Jiang Wei is really not someone to be trifled with.
The timing of the attack was very clever, and he was also very calm. He was neither eager to attack nor lazy. He attacked Yanjin completely according to his own rhythm. The more opponents like this, the more difficult it is to deal with them.
Of course, the most important thing is that Jiang Ji is no match for Jiang Wei in terms of commanding on the battlefield. Jiang Wei is completely suppressing and pulling the defense, and he is in a passive situation.
Jiang Ji certainly knows the importance of the initiative on the battlefield, but now he does not have the ability to fight for the initiative on the battlefield, so he can only hope that external forces can break this situation.
Asking for help is the most effective way.
But Guo Huai is also hesitant.
He only has a total of 9,000 people in his hands, and there are more than 12,000 Shu thieves surrounding the city. You, Jiang Ji, are facing elite Shu thieves, isn't it the same as those led by Wei Yan outside the city? !
This is an elite unit that can achieve a two-to-one or even a one-to-one loss rate in a siege battle. Guo Huai can't even imagine its ability in field combat! ! !
When I led the troops out of the city, were they to save you or to die? !
Guo Huai didn't believe that a person of Jiang Ji's level couldn't figure out the strategy of encircling a point and calling for reinforcements.
Therefore, Guo Huai's best decision now is to hold on, ignore Jiang Ji's request for help, and let Jiang Ji hold on until Cao Yu leads troops to help. But Guo Huai is really unsure.
If the jujubes are lost, there is still room for recovery, but if Yanjin is lost, Sima Yi on the front line must abandon Yanzhou, counterattack Yanjin, and open up a retreat.
At that time, the entire Yanzhou war situation completely collapsed, and the best result was to preserve strength and retreat across the Yellow River.
Yanjin is the kind of place that has to be rescued, and Guo Huai is not confident enough to break through Wei Yan's blockade in the field. Even if he takes a step back, even if Guo Huai can break through Wei Yan's blockade and rescue Yanjin in time, this jujube If it is lost, it will also be a huge threat to Sima Yi's army on the front line.
This is equivalent to completely exposing the entire rear to the Shu thieves.
If given the choice, Guo Huai certainly hopes to send troops to support Yanjin after Jia Kui's reinforcements arrive in Suanzao, but he does not have this time now.
Yanjin, Suanzao. You must choose one of these two places.
Just when Guo Huai made the decision to abandon the jujube defense and break out with the entire army to support Yanjin Ferry, Jiang Ji's second battle report arrived.
Guo Huai's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
There was less than a day between the previous battle report and the next battle report. Jiang Ji was so anxious to send two battle reports to Yanjin that he might have lost them.
Really, Guo Huai now really doesn't dare to have any hope for Yanjin.
But when Guo Huai opened Jiang Ji's letter with a pessimistic mood, and after reading it carefully, a burst of ecstasy came out! ! !
Yanjin is not lost! ! !
Yanjin was saved! ! !
(End of chapter)
