"Lord! Although Liu Rengui is defeated, Yuan Shao has laid a large number of iron cables and hidden stakes in key areas along the Yellow River. It may not be easy for General Han Shizhong to unblock him!" Liu Bowen bowed and said.
"It doesn't matter. After all, they are just some dead things. Even Liu Rengui was completely defeated. How can some dead things be difficult to live in General Han?" Li Xiang said nonchalantly.
Generally speaking, Li Xiang really didn't care much about what Liu Bowen said. At most, it was just a headache!
There are many talented people under each prince. The goal of why Han Shizhong wanted to fight that battle was obvious, and he couldn't hide it from the other side at all. Therefore, after Liu Rengui failed, Yuan Shao sent people to place a large number of hidden stakes and iron locks in the water at many key points of the Yellow River.
But for Li Xiang, Liu Rengui has already failed. Is it possible that some hidden stakes and iron locks can stop his navy from moving forward? In the final analysis, these are just some of Yuan Shao's passive defense methods, which can indeed affect Han Shizhong's speed. However, if Yuan Shao does not have the power of the navy, it is impossible to use these dead objects to cause a substantial blow to Han Shizhong.
What was really affected was that once Huo Qubing wanted to retreat, if Han Shizhong did not respond immediately, then Huo Qubing's headquarters would be really in danger at that time! This is the real purpose of these hidden iron ropes under Yuan Shao!
However, Li Xiang has long been aware of this. If Han Shizhong cannot solve these problems in time, then Huo Qubing will have no choice but to lose his car to save Shuai!
For Li Xiang, if there really is no way to achieve both ends by then, the first priority to protect is the generals headed by Huo Qubing.
As for the tens of thousands of cavalry, in the final analysis, only 10,000 were Jin army cavalry! And with only 10,000 Jin cavalry, Li Xiang could afford to lose it as long as he could save the lives of Huo Qubing and the others!
Furthermore, Huo Qubing's department has already played its due role in the Central Plains. With millions of victims in the Central Plains, the three princes will have a lot of headaches!
The situation here for Zhao Kuangyin and Cao Cao was not bad, with only a few hundred thousand victims each. But Chiyou was the hardest-hit area, and Huo Qubing specifically chose to fight here. Not to mention that in this incident, two rebels appeared in Chi You's place. Although these two people have not openly rebelled, their actions are no different from rebellion!
Thanks to Huo Qubing, Yue Fei was able to relax a little during this period. Among the three princes of the Central Plains, Chi You could not concentrate on fighting now. He had to go to Cao Cao and Zhao Kuangyin in a few days to urge Zhao She to speed up the progress!
If Cao Cao and Zhao Kuangyin hadn't been eloquent enough, Chi You might have led his troops and killed him back!
The reason why Cao Cao and Zhao Kuangyin persuaded Chi You is also very simple. Chi You's troops on the front line are all infantry. How come it will take a month for Chi You to rush back to Yanzhou?
Once Chi You withdraws his troops, it will be equivalent to betraying the alliance. Naturally, Cao Cao and Zhao Kuangyin have no obligation to continue sending troops to deal with Huo Qubing. Even if they want to deal with Huo Qubing, they have to wait until Huo Qubing invades their territory again.
If Huo Qubing covered his head and only Huo Huo and Chiyou were alone, then Cao Cao and Zhao Kuangyin would naturally have no obligation to continue helping Chiyou in the war!
Among the cavalry regiments currently led by Zhao She, 80% of the strength comes from the two princes Cao Cao and Zhao Kuangyin.
At that time, the cavalry strength on hand was seriously insufficient. Even if Chi You rushed back, the situation might not get better!
No matter how powerful Chi You was, he couldn't lead his infantry to chase a group of cavalry! At most, Chi You asked the infantry to tie their pockets in advance and wait for Huo Qubing to get in. However, this method not only considered Chi You's ability to lead troops, but also Huo Qubing's ability to lead troops.
Once one of them is not high enough, or the other is not low enough, this method may not be effective.
"We still need to order the floating room to closely monitor the movements of the Youzhou Navy!" Li Xiang ordered with some worry.
Now, the only possible variable is Qin Zheng's naval power!
Things have always been fleeting on the battlefield. Although Li Shimin decided to wait until the decisive moment on the battlefield here, he would send troops to Youzhou.
However, it is essential to prepare in advance. We really have to wait until we receive news about the battlefield over there before making preparations for troops. I don’t know how much time will be wasted in the meantime. When we can actually send troops, the fighter planes It has long been delayed.
It is precisely because of this that even though the war has not started yet, Li Tang's land and water troops have begun to gather one after another. Under this background, Youzhou Shui Shuai naturally cannot move lightly. However, you still need to maintain adequate precautions.
"Lord, something bad has happened!" Mao Xiang staggered in, with cold sweat even flowing out of his forehead.
"Lord, something bad has happened. Xuanyuan Pass has been breached by the Qin army! Only 2,000 of the 12,000 defenders escaped!" Mao Xiang even had a trembling voice when he spoke.
"What's going on!" Everyone present could no longer sit still.
Their confidence in guarding Sizhou is the Eight Passes of Luoyang. If the eight passes pass the previous one, then the enemy will no longer have to continue to watch under Hulao Pass. They can march into Henan Yin and threaten Yin directly. to their base camp, Luoyang.
The alliance of northern princes has a total of 300,000 troops. Without these dangerous passes to rely on, the Jin army will face the 300,000 troops of the northern princes. Although the troops of both sides have been depleted since the war began, the other side still maintains a strength of 270,000.
At this time, the Jin army's military disadvantage will also be exposed.
There were 100,000 Sizhou troops, 10,000 heavy cavalry, and 30,000 Yellow River navy troops. Xue Rengui personally led 20,000 troops from Bingzhou back to Luo, making Sizhou a total of 160,000 troops. After this period of war, excluding the losses at Xuanyuan Pass, the number is still 145,000. In addition to the 30,000 troops and horses used by Guangwu Camp to strengthen the defense of the three passes in the south, the number is 175,000.
However, the Yellow River navy will not go ashore to participate in the battle unless it is absolutely necessary. If the navy goes ashore, their combat effectiveness will inevitably be affected. Moreover, the Yellow River Navy was also responsible for ensuring Huo Qubing's escape route. In addition, the 10,000 soldiers and horses at Hangu Pass cannot be moved lightly.
Even if we exclude Liu Rengui's navy, which is also likely not to participate in the battle, the opponent will still have about 250,000 troops to fight against their approximately 140,000 troops. This comparison of forces is extremely unfavorable to them. What's more, we don't know whether the princes of the Central Plains will continue to stare at Jingxiang or Sizhou.
The most troublesome thing is that when ancient generals went to war, they would basically leave their families behind. Therefore, if Luoyang is threatened, the entire army conquering Shu will be turbulent. This is a major event that will truly shake the country.
(End of chapter)
