Xia Houxuan and Le Wei huddled in Chaoge and defended themselves, which could probably buy Wei Yan three to five days.
Yes, so many days at most. Within three to five days, if Xiahou Xuan and Le Wei did not see Wei Yan return to attack Chaoge, they would definitely know that Wei Yan had gone to other places, and they would report it to Guo Huai and Cao Shuang immediately.
Wei Yan obviously also knew that he only had so much time difference. As he marched towards Ji County, he sent out fast horses from the army to inform Zhang Xi of his march plan.
To be honest, Zhang Xi was actually very depressed when he received Wei Yan's march report. Couldn't this old man Wei just follow the battle plan honestly? !
It has been explained so clearly that attacking Chaoge is not the first goal of this operation. The goal is to break through Liyang as soon as possible, march to Wei County along the official road, and cut off the reinforcement channel from the east of Jizhou to Yecheng.
This is the operational goal of the Second Route Army marching from Dongjun to the Northern Expedition.
If a sudden attack on Chaoge triggers Xiahou Ba in Hanoi County to return to Yecheng to aid, I am afraid it will completely frighten the enemy.
However, Wei Yan fought hard and won a small victory, killing thousands of Wei soldiers in one battle.
Today, Chaoge only has about 20,000 defenders. This force is enough to hold on, but if you want to follow and pursue Wei Yan, you will probably lose your life.
At least, there is no need to worry about being flanked by the Wei army. Wei Yan's doing so cannot be said to be unhelpful to the battle situation.
Moreover, Zhang Xi felt that it was not impossible to make use of five days.
Zhang Xi stared at the march map in the military tent and asked Jiang Wei very suddenly.
"Bo Yue, if I order you to lead 30,000 troops and go north to attack Neihuang County, can you be sure to defeat it in one battle?!"
Jiang Wei was stunned when he heard this, glanced at the marching map, thought for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "It can be broken in five days!"
Zhang Xi nodded slightly, and then asked again, "What if we lead 10,000 troops?!"
When Jiang Wei heard this, he suddenly looked embarrassed. He thought seriously for a while and then said, "If no reinforcements arrive there, we can defeat it in a month."
"This is a bit risky!!!" Zhang Xi sighed and said.
During the conversation between the two, Wen Qin on the other side could not bear it any longer and interrupted, "General, please think twice."
The relationship between Wen Qin and Zhang Xi is not as close as that between Jiang Wei and Zhang Xi. Therefore, he can only say some things more tactfully, but it does not mean that Wen Qin does not understand what Zhang Xi and Jiang Wei are talking about.
We are all smart people, and since accepting the mission of the Northern Expedition, the three of us have come together and discussed how to attack the Hebei area many times. The combat tactic of attacking Neihuang County has also been discussed several times.
But the problem is, this tactic is indeed a bit dangerous.
To the north of Liyang, there is a lake named "Huangze". As you can tell from the name of Neihuang County, it is surrounded by Huangze.
Of course, after hundreds of years of development and evolution, the lakes in the northern part of Neihuang County have been buried and reclaimed into fertile farmland, but south of Neihuang County, the lakes are still there.
Huangze is not a big lake, but it is not small either. The most important thing is that Huangze is the natural barrier in the south of Neihuang County.
According to intelligence, there are too many silt swamps around Huangze County, covering a very wide area. If you want to attack Neihuang County from north to south, you can only bypass Huangze and attack from the east or west. .It is impossible to set up camp and lead troops to attack outside the south gate of Neihuang County.
Especially in the current season, which has entered early summer. In this season where snakes, insects, rats and ants are infested, it is very troublesome to attack Neihuang County where Huang Ze is guarding.
For this reason, Cao Wei did not arrange many defensive troops in Neihuang County, only two thousand people. After all, given the special geographical environment of Neihuang, at least four people were required from the time the enemy was discovered to the time the enemy attacked the city. Five days, and this time difference is enough for the Wei army to mobilize troops from other places to assist Neihuang.
Therefore, this plan to attack Neihuang directly and directly open the north passage was one of the first batch of combat plans to be eliminated after the discussion between Zhang Xi, Jiang Wei, and Wen Qin.
Now Zhang Xi brought up the old matter again. Wen Qin couldn't help but think more about dividing his troops to attack Neihuang, and at the same time stood up to dissuade Zhang Xi.
This time is a war to destroy the country. The first thing is to use troops in an upright and upright manner and avoid risks. The most taboo is to take risks.
Moreover, even Ji County has not been captured, and the Northern Expeditionary Army does not even have a foothold in Jizhou. If it suddenly divides its troops and goes north to Neihuang County, isn't it in vain to create an environment for Guo Huai to defeat each one? !
Uh, wait? !
Defeat each one? !
Wen Qin suddenly and somewhat belatedly figured out what Zhang Xi was going to do.
"General, are you trying to lure the snake out of its hole?!" Wen Qin asked immediately after he figured it out.
Zhang Xi also nodded and said, "That's exactly it."
After saying that, Zhang Xi also stood up, walked to the march map, pointed at the map, and said, "Bo Yue, Zhong Ruo, let's take a look. With the current situation, Guo Huai took the initiative to withdraw his troops from Yanjin and retreated to Chaoge, but he was The county ordered Zhang Hu to confront us, and he even led 40,000 troops. How can the troops stationed in Liyang not move?!"
"If the general's prediction is correct, this is Guo Huai's plan to divide his troops to lure the enemy." Jiang Wei was the first to answer.
Wen Qin also nodded in approval.
Guo Huai wanted to use Chaoge as bait to lure Wei Yan to besiege Chaoge, contain Wei Yan's army, and then concentrate his superior forces to besiege Zhangxi's army.
After defeating Zhang Xi's 50,000 men, Guo Huai then marched westward, plundered Wei Yan's retreat, and cooperated with Chao Ge's Xia Houxuan and Le Wei to besiege Wei Yan, thereby achieving the goal of defeating each one.
And this is why Zhang Xi asked Wei Yan to ignore Chaoge and immediately come east to join Ji County. He was planning to use Wei Yan as a backup. When Guo Huai wanted to encircle and annihilate him, he asked Wei Yan to come over and break the situation.
But... the current situation seems to be a little different from what I expected before setting off.
Zhang Xi has led troops to besiege Jixian for ten days. Guo Huai's main army, which should have appeared, did not rush to Jixian at the first time. You must know that the march from Liyang to Jixian is only two or three days. .
Normally, if Guo Huai received an urgent battle report from Ji County, he would arrive quickly. But not only did Guo Huai survive, but even the scouts sent by Zhang Xi to Liyang did not even find any trace of troops in Liyang.
This is very strange. This has to make Zhang Xi think more. What is Guo Huai's purpose in not sending troops? !
Of course, Zhang Xi would not think that a famous general like Guo Huai would make common sense mistakes. Therefore, Zhang Xi thought about it and only thought of one possibility - Guo Huai was deliberately holding back.
The purpose was probably to use the anxiety of the offensive and defensive battle in Jixian to weaken the vigor of the Han army in the Northern Expedition, and then Guo Huai would suddenly send troops from Liyang to attack suddenly when the morale of the Han army was declining and the morale of the army was unstable.
If you consider it from this aspect, then I am afraid that Guo Huai will not send troops easily. Whether the initiative to send troops is completely in Guo Huai's own hands.
Therefore, during this period, Zhang Xi, Jiang Wei, and Wen Qin were all thinking about how to get Guo Huai to take the initiative.
I didn't expect it before, but now, because of the commotion Wei Yan made at Chaoge, maybe there is a solution.
"General Wei attacked Chaoge this time and then retreated with a false shot. As a result, the Wei army was unable to grasp the whereabouts of General Wei. Guo Huai must know about this and will not fail to be on guard."
"If I order Bo Yue to lead 30,000 troops north to attack Neihuang, Guo Huai will definitely become suspicious."
"Guo Huai had doubts, so he had two responses: First, he divided his troops from Liyang to rescue Neihuang to prevent Neihuang from being occupied, and opened the outer gates of Ye City. Second, he led troops to besiege the general's remaining troops in Ji County. No matter how he responds to the encirclement of Wei and the rescue of Zhao, he must send troops from Liyang."
"As long as he leads his troops and leaves Liyang, it will be enough to ambush him halfway or fight with our army in a field battle to win."
Zhang Xi spoke out his new tactical idea sentence by sentence. This tactical idea was not without its feasibility.
only
"In this case, the general is in danger of being put in danger, which is not the best strategy. General, please think again!!!" Wen Qin cupped his hand and advised again.
The strategy is not a bad one, but if Guo Huai uses the second response method, then Zhang Xi only has 20,000 people, but he has to face the siege of a total of 60,000 people from Guo Huai and Ji County defender Zhang Hu. .The dangers of field battles are also great.
Once something happens to Zhang Xi, the morale of the entire Second Route Army will inevitably be affected, and it is even possible that they will return to the south bank of the Yellow River in one battle and end the Northern Expedition early.
This will affect the entire Northern Expedition strategy.
In response to this, Zhang Xi just smiled, waved his hands, and said to Wen Qin, "Zhong Ruo doesn't need to worry too much about this matter. I have always been cautious in using my troops, how could Guo Huai not know about this?! Although this plan is there, Shocking, but not necessarily dangerous.”
Wen Qin frowned when he heard this and wanted to try again, but when he saw Jiang Wei beside him who was eager to try, and thought about his coach's consistent military style, he finally held it back.
Thinking about it, his coach's reputation for using troops like a turtle has spread all over the world. Even if he wants to take a dangerous plan, he will not put himself in danger. There shouldn't be any problem, right? !
(End of chapter)
