Wei Yan's information was not very clear, but Guo Huai knew very well that his own cavalry had been almost wiped out. Today, the only cavalry that can be organized and wreaking havoc on the land of Yanzhou is the cavalry of the Shu thieves.
Similarly, this can also explain why Chen Tai failed to stop this Shu bandit army, and at the same time, his scouts did not detect the traces of this Shu bandit - because they were cavalry.
Chen Tai was so stupid that he ignored the advantage of defending the city and went out of the city to use infantry to stop the cavalry. However, no matter how far his own scouts could explore, it was not as far as the cavalry could travel in a morning.
What Guo Huai brought was also infantry, and it was impossible to compete with the cavalry in a plain field battle. Therefore, Guo Huai had to choose to withdraw his troops immediately.
Otherwise, once he is entangled by Wei Yan's infantry, and his two wings are attacked back and forth by cavalry, let alone supporting Hulao Pass, his entire army may be annihilated.
Therefore, Guo Huai had to take great risks and immediately withdraw his troops from the battlefield.
On Wei Yan's side, the reaction was indeed a bit slow, mainly because Wei Yan could not determine the purpose of the cavalry's attack and never dared to act rashly.
As for the flags, in the smoke and dust raised when the cavalry rushed, it was difficult to see whose flag the cavalry was flying.
Wei Yan only reacted when he saw that Guo Huai's army began to retreat in an orderly manner, leaving behind the spearmen, and then immediately launched an all-out attack.
But unfortunately, Guo Huai retreated too fast. Wei Yan could only bite the spearmen in the rear and cooperated with Pound to encircle and suppress these troops, but Guo Huai's main force failed to stop them.
As for Pound, Pound could have relied on the speed advantage of the cavalry to pursue him, but Pound did not do that in the end.
The reason is very simple. In fact, Pound has reached the end of his battle. There is not much dry food left for the cavalry in the army, and there is not much special cheese left. If he continues to pursue, he may starve to death in the hinterland of Yanzhou.
Pang De was ordered to pursue the Wei army. After he followed Deng Ai to conquer Jiyang, the two of them divided their labors. Deng Ai went to pursue Sima Yi's main army. Pang De relied on the speed of his cavalry to seize Fengqiu and launch an attack on Dongjun. 's portal.
But Pound did not expect that the Wei army, led by Chen Tai, would retreat so quickly. His four-legged cavalry failed to catch up with the two-legged infantry, allowing Chen Tai to enter Fengqiu first.
As a result, Pound, who only had cavalry in his hands, could not attack Fengqiu directly, and Pound was a little unwilling to retreat. After calculating the food reserves in the army, Pound decided to go deep beyond Fengqiu. In the northern area, while destroying and disrupting the Wei army's military deployment, they also looted and maintained supplies.
But who would have known that after passing Fengqiu and heading north, Pang De didn't find many places to supply supplies. It wasn't until he led his troops to Zhongmu County in Henan County that he was surprised to find that there was actually a hanging hanging on the top of the city wall of Zhongmu County. is the flag of the Han Dynasty.
After asking about it, I learned that Wei Yan led his troops to the west a few days ago, captured Zhongmou County, and then went to attack Hulao Pass.
Pang De thought about it, he was almost out of food, and Wei Yan should still have it. Otherwise, how could he have the confidence to attack Hulao Pass? !
Then, Pang De ran all the way, looking for food from Wei Yan, and fought a battle, repelling Guo Huai's troops, but due to lack of food and grass, Pang De did not dare to pursue.
And Wei Yan. Wei Yan's face was almost wrinkled. It was still that old cucumber skin.
If you save the food and grass you have left, it will only be enough for 30,000 infantry to last for four or five days. Your Pound's 20,000 cavalry, including men and horses, may not even be able to survive two days with the little food and grass in your hand. sky! ! !
Well, there was already a shortage of food, and now it's even worse.
Pang De's arrival made Wei Yan's army even more stretched for food and grass. Pang De also didn't expect that although his arrival helped Wei Yan, it also brought a greater burden to Wei Yan. Pang felt somewhat regretful. De, take the initiative to suggest to Wei Yan that if it really doesn't work, when the food is exhausted, kill horses to satisfy hunger.
Although cavalry cannot live without horses, they will not kill horses easily. But people must live.
This suggestion was rejected by Wei Yan.
The reason is simple. Guo Huai just retreated temporarily, which does not mean that he will not come again. Killing horses to satisfy hunger is tantamount to telling the enemy that his own food and grass are exhausted.
When the time comes, all the enemy has to do is avoid fighting, and dragging them down will kill them.
Therefore, Wei Yan's idea is to inform the entire army about the food shortage and launch the final attack tomorrow.
This is not a new trick. Cao Zhen also used this method when he was under Tongguan. The final result was that everyone fought for their lives and finally escaped.
There is no need to worry about whether the soldiers will lose their morale after hearing about this and flee for their lives in advance. Without food and grass supplies, a single soldier cannot survive for too long in this troubled world.
Instead of becoming a deserter and starving to death in the wild, it is better to win on the battlefield. If you lose, you will just die in battle. It is better than dying of starvation.
Wei Yan has no choice now. His current position is almost the same as Cao Zhen's at that time, so naturally he can only make the same choice.
Wei Yan didn't blame Pound either.
It is true that if Pound had not come, Wei Yan might have been able to hold on for another four or five days, but if Guo Huai had not been repulsed, Wei Yan's current situation might have been more dangerous, and it would not have been possible to turn around in just a few days. of.
So, I have no choice but to fight for my life.
But Wang Ling really couldn't bear the risk of Wei Yan's death.
In the past, although Wei Yan's troops would also launch attacks, most of the time they were mainly suppressed by arrows. After all, Wei Yan's army did not have any decent siege equipment. They only had improvised hooks and ladders, which were not many in number and could not attack the enemy. Hulao Pass poses too great a threat.
But in this day's attack, Wei Yan not only used all the remaining hooks and ladders in the army, but the Han army's offensive will was also extremely determined. Soldiers kept falling from the hooks and ladders, but if there was almost no gap, there would be another. Countless soldiers rushed to the hook and ladder.
Of course, if there is only pressure from Wei Yan's side, Wang Ling is not unable to cope with it. After all, the number of hooks and ladders in Wei Yan's army is limited. Even if the soldiers are determined to fight, as long as the hooks and ladders are burned, Wei Yan's army will not have much pressure.
But the problem is that not long after Wei Yan launched his attack, Zhuge Liang in front of Hulao Pass also began to exert his strength.
Not only did Zhuge Liang have sufficient siege equipment, but Zhuge Liang's military orders this time were quite ruthless.
If you don't take the first step in the battle, behead!
Anyone who refuses to follow orders will be killed!
Those who are afraid of the enemy will be killed!
The issuance of these three military orders directly expressed Zhuge Liang's attitude.
You know, Zhuge Liang rarely issued such specific and strict military orders when using troops to fight. Now, Zhuge Liang is really cruel.
Yesterday, Zhuge Liang found no signs of Wei Yan's attack behind Hulao Pass. This in itself is an abnormal thing.
Either Wei Yan retreated, or Wei Yan encountered great trouble and was temporarily unable to attack.
And this morning, Wei Yan launched another attack, which meant that the first possibility did not exist, and it could only mean that Wei Yan was in big trouble.
Zhuge Liang was not sure what kind of trouble Wei Yan had encountered, but Wei Yan still insisted on launching an attack on Hulao Pass after encountering a very big change. If you think about it with conventional thinking, Zhuge Liang would think that Wei Yan was a forceful attack at the end of a strong crossbow. .
Once the forceful attack fails, the result of waiting for Wei Yan may not be good.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang also ordered a strong attack, regardless of casualties, and must capture Hulao Pass within one or two days.
As for Zhuge Liang's strong attack, Wang Ling has too few ways to deal with it.
The troops themselves are not enough, and they have to bear the rain of arrows that may be shot at any time. It is too difficult to stop the attack of the Shu thieves with the blessing of siege equipment.
What's even more difficult is that the morale of the Hulao Pass defenders has dropped to a dangerous level.
Yesterday, Guo Huai led his troops and appeared behind Hulao Pass. Wei Yan was forced to return to the army and prepare for the enemy. All the soldiers at Hulao Pass saw this.
But the final result was that Queen Guohuaicang withdrew and disappeared in the blink of an eye. However, the Shu thieves under the city received the blessing of military strength and launched a very strong attack today.
The soldiers of Wei did not know that Wei Yan was actually at the end of his battle and was about to run out of military rations. They did not calculate that the cavalry brought by Pound would not be of much help to the siege. They just felt that they seemed to have been abandoned by the main force of the army.
If there were simply no reinforcements, perhaps the morale of these soldiers would not have such a big impact. The biggest blow was that there were reinforcements, but after being attacked by the enemy, these reinforcements left them behind without hesitation. .
This feeling of hope and despair is the most terrible thing.
In this case, even Wang Ling felt that there was no need to hold on.
He was worthy enough of Cao Wei. In the end, you, Guo Huai, led the troops to help, but you abandoned the soldiers at Hulao Pass without hesitation and retreated. Surrendering at this time will not harm my reputation.
Thinking of this, Wang Ling, who had been holding on for a whole morning, gathered his personal guards and sent his envoy outside the main gate of the city.
If Zhuge Liang accepts it, he will surrender.
If you don't agree, I don't know if you can run out this time.
(End of chapter)
