At this time, Jiang Wei had indeed not yet waited for Wenqin's reinforcements, and he still only had 8,000 soldiers available.
On the opposite side, the Wei thieves sent out their main force, with 3,000 people staying at Yanjin Ferry, and 30,000 Wei imperial guardsmen taking the initiative to attack.
The strength comparison was nearly four to one, and he was facing the legendary Wei Imperial Army. To be honest, before the war, Jiang Wei was still in a serious mood, worried that he might have been too much this time.
But when Jiang Wei saw the formation of the Wei thieves on the opposite side, this worry disappeared instantly.
The Wei army formed a forward formation to fight. Judging from this formation, it was obvious that they were going to use a strong attack to defeat themselves in one fell swoop. There were no problems with the formation, but this formation made Jiang Wei want to laugh.
Generally speaking, the front arrow formation has its own combat focus.
Some people prefer to accumulate heavy troops on both wings. As soon as the battle begins, they will immediately entangle the opponent with the front of the central army, attack on both wings, and break the enemy's formation from the flanks to win.
Some people prefer to accumulate heavy troops in the middle, use the two wings to harass the enemy, and use the central army to defeat the enemy.
The strategy of evenly distributing troops among three routes like the one on the opposite side is not impossible, but it has very high requirements on the command ability of the coach.
To do this is actually to maintain a balance of attack and defense among the three routes before the war begins, and at the same time, according to changes in the battlefield situation, re-select whether to mainly attack the flanks or break through the middle. In the middle, troop strength needs to be adjusted.
Moreover, if the troops are arranged in this way, all the soldiers will not be lined up to wait for the enemy from the beginning. There will inevitably be a reserve of thousands of people for subsequent changes in formation and additional troops. need.
For example, Zhang Xi and Guo Huai have both used the front arrow formation in this way, but both of them have superb commanding abilities on the battlefield, and they each maintain a reserve team that can respond to changes.
But now in the Cao Wei camp at Yanjin Ferry, Jiang Wei really couldn't think of anyone who had the ability to preside over the dispatch of this front arrow formation, and he couldn't see that the Wei thieves had any reserve troops.
Jiang Wei has already experienced Jiang Ji's abilities. There is no problem with this person's strategic response, but his command level can only be described in words.
The name of the new reinforcements commander of the Wei thieves is written with the word "Cao". To be honest, since Cao Xiu and Cao Zhenji died of illness, Jiang Weizhen has not heard of any of the clan generals surnamed Cao in Cao Wei who has outstanding abilities.
And even if he has the ability, Jiang Wei is not afraid. Now Jiang Wei is also full of confidence in his ability.
Jiang Wei may have to be careful when facing Guo Huai, but if he is just facing Jiang Ji or an unknown Wei general named Cao, then Jiang Wei is not afraid.
As for the legendary Wei imperial army, it is no longer a concern.
Regardless of whether the Great Wei Forbidden Army still maintains the legendary combat effectiveness, as long as no one has this command ability, there will be no difference between these Great Wei Forbidden Army and ordinary soldiers.
It is not uncommon in history for one general to be incompetent and exhaust the entire army to death.
The Wei army set up such a forward formation with no purpose or focus of attack, and also lacked a capable commander to command. This means that the Wei army simply launched the attack based on its strength.
There's nothing to be afraid of now.
Of course, Jiang Wei did not underestimate the enemy because of this, he also had his own confidence.
On the one hand, Jiang Wei has enough confidence in the combat effectiveness of the Han Forbidden Army. On the other hand, Jiang Wei has higher confidence in his teacher's Eight Formations.
Yes, eight formation diagram.
As Zhuge Liang's direct disciple and the de facto supreme commander of the Han Forbidden Army, Jiang Wei would naturally have a good understanding of the Eight Formations.
And unlike Wu Yi, the former commander of the Forbidden Army, Wu Yi only trained with the Forbidden Army all year round and had some superficial understanding of the Eight Formations. Jiang Wei's understanding of the Eight Formations was taught by Zhuge Liang himself.
Therefore, when facing an enemy four times his own, Jiang Wei still confidently laid out his eight formations to face the Wei army.
Facts have also proved that in the absence of effective command, Cao Yu, Jiang Ji, and Du Shu were unable to do anything about the eight formations laid out by Jiang Wei.
It is obvious that our side is the one with the superior force. It is obvious that our side is advancing in three directions. It seems that it has surrounded most of the Shu bandits' army, but they cannot get in.
Well, forget it if you can't get in. The front troops on your side are still being damaged in the battle, and the attack formations on both wings are also being compressed. Why does it feel like you are not suppressing others, but like you are being attacked? The enemy is pressing down and fighting? !
Cao Yu and Du Shu still couldn't understand it, and therefore, they couldn't think of other ways to adjust.
Jiang Ji was slightly stronger than these two people. Although Jiang Ji didn't understand what was going on, he could still understand that there must be something weird in the formation of the Shu thieves.
Moreover, although Jiang Ji could not think of a way to adjust before the battle, he knew that if he continued to fight like this, the Wei soldiers would not only be unable to break through the enemy's defense, but might even cause too much damage to their own troops, thus affecting morale.
Therefore, Jiang Ji immediately sent someone to contact Cao Yu, hoping that Cao Yu would give an order to withdraw the troops for the time being. After the troops returned to the camp, the three of them would discuss it again.
As for Cao Yu, he may not be good at other abilities, but he really listened to the advice and directly returned to the camp.
This battle did not last long, only lasting less than an hour.
The casualties on both sides were not large.
Cao Wei's side suffered more than 2,000 casualties, while Jiang Wei's side only suffered more than 700 casualties.
All are within the tolerance range of both parties.
But, after this battle, Jiang Ji finally saw the combat effectiveness of the Shu thieves and soldiers, as well as the command ability of Shu general Jiang Wei in the field. After a rough estimate of the battle damage comparison between the two sides, this problem can be discovered intuitively.
Under such circumstances, if we take the initiative to attack Jiang Wei's troops, even if we can win, the price we have to pay will probably not be small.
Jiang Ji and Du Shu discussed it and decided that it was better to be still than to move. Anyway, as long as Yanjin could be defended, the rest should be decided after the reinforcements from Hedong arrived.
Cao Yu still had no objection to this.
But these three people wanted to be quiet, but the situation on the entire Yanzhou battlefield did not allow them to do so.
First of all, it was Wen Qin who finally led the three thousand Han Imperial Army to the Yanjin battlefield four days after the battle.
At the same time, Wen Qin also explained to Jiang Wei why he came so late.
To put it bluntly, if Wenqin wants to ensure the stability of the rear, he will definitely need to make some operations and arrangements for the two big cities of Puyang and Dong'a. Especially Dong'a City, Wenqin is very worried about whether Dong'a City will be affected after he goes to the front line to fight. Directly rebelled.
For this reason, after Wen Qin received Jiang Wei's request for help, he had to send his general Ding Li to lead a thousand soldiers to guard Dong'a City, while Yang Qun led a thousand soldiers to stay in Puyang, and then he could safely lead his troops to Yan. Jin, come to help Jiang Wei fight.
There is nothing we can do about being four or five days late.
Jiang Wei actually understood this. And to be honest, it was precisely because Wen Qin arrived a little late that Jiang Wei discovered the reality of the Wei army at Yanjin Ferry.
Although the Wei army at Yanjin Ferry has a large number of troops, it lacks a commander-in-chief who can effectively unite the soldiers and unleash the power of the Wei army. Therefore, it is actually nothing to worry about.
Jiang Wei even boldly moved his camp from the east side of Yanjin Ferry to the south side of Yanjin Ferry, directly blocking the road from Yanjin to Jujube.
At first, Jiang Wei did not dare to do this, thinking that the enemy's force was stronger and it would be safer to contain them on the flanks. Now it seems that there is no big problem in confronting them head-on.
When Jiang Wei moved camp like this, Cao Yu and Du Shu still didn't understand why Jiang Wei did such a thankless thing. But Jiang Ji really understood.
Jiang Wei wants to completely block the reinforcement channel sent by Yanjin to Suanzao.
But it was clear to see that Jiang Ji had no way to stop it now. That feeling of powerlessness reappeared again.
Really, sometimes, Jiang Ji wishes he was stupid and couldn't see Jiang Wei's strategic intentions. In this case, maybe he wouldn't have to worry so much to see the enemy's intentions, but he is incapable of breaking the situation, which is the most important thing. A place where Jiang Ji was powerless.
And then, the second thing happened that made Jiang Ji even more powerless.
Guo Huai, who was in Suanzao, sent a liaison military report to inquire about the reinforcements from Yanjin. If possible, Guo Huai hoped to have 10,000 Wei soldiers to assist Suanzao in the defense.
In this way, we can completely stabilize the defensive situation from Yanjin to Suanzao and ensure safety.
Of course, Guo Huai's military report was just a liaison military report, not a request for reinforcements. In other words, Guo Huai could still maintain the situation of jujube. He also discussed with Yanjin whether more reinforcements could be sent.
This matter can be easily solved. We can explain the current situation Yanjin is facing to Guo Huai clearly, and then find a way to circumvent Jiang Wei's obstruction from other directions, divide his troops to Suanzao, and let Guo Huai prepare for the response. It's too safe, but it's not impossible to send reinforcements.
The most troublesome thing was the third thing. Gao Tanglong, who was in Jiyang, conveyed a military report from frontline coach Sima Yi to Yanjin, asking about the arrival of reinforcements in Yanjin.
Sima Yi hoped that after ensuring the safety of his own retreat, the Yanjin direction would immediately divide its troops, led by Xiahou Ba, and go to the front line to assist in the battle.
Yes, now Sima Yi finally received the order and information from Yecheng, and learned that his precious eldest son had stayed in Hedong to protect the home of his parents in his hometown.
Sima Yi was angry and helpless about this.
The resentment was that Sima Yi knew that Cao Rui's actions would add variables to the war in Hanoi County, and that Zhang Yuanchang might even seize the opportunity to further occupy the counties in Hanoi County.
Even his hometown of Wen County may face threats.
The helpless part is that Sima Yi really understands why the Hedong families do this. If it were him, he wouldn't want his hometown to be attacked by Shu thieves, leaving Sima division behind, almost their second. One reaction.
But no matter what, as long as there are reinforcements from Hedong, which one of you comes to support yourself, it doesn't matter whether it's your own eldest son who leads the troops, or Xiahou Ba who leads the troops.
Xiahou Ba's ability is actually quite good in Sima Yi's opinion.
However, even those who killed Sima Yi did not expect that in Yanjin today, only the 30,000 Wei Imperial Army led by Cao Yu and the Hanoi County soldiers led by Xiahou Ba did not even see a shadow.
Therefore, when Sima Yi received the letter from Jiang Ji in Yanjin, he was speechless for a while. What on earth was Xiahou Ba doing? !
(End of chapter)
