Zhang He ordered the gold to be withdrawn, and He Di at the foot of Nanshan also led his troops back to the Wei army's stronghold. Today's attack failed again, and the generals were not in a good mood. They just lowered their heads and remained silent, not daring to meet the commander's gaze.
"How many casualties are there today?" At this time, a deputy general came into the tent, and Zhang He asked him in a bad tone.
The deputy general cupped his fists and replied: "General, our army suffered more than 2,000 casualties in today's battle."
"Let me be clear, how many people were injured? How many people died?"
The lieutenant general said: "Yes, more than 900 people were injured, and about 1,200 people were killed."
"Whose subordinates are the main soldiers who died today?" Zhang He continued to ask.
The lieutenant general hesitated for a moment, glanced at Pan Yu slightly to the left, and replied: "Returning to the general, most of the dead soldiers are Pan... General Pan's men."
As soon as these words came out, everyone's eyes focused on Pan Yu. Pan Yu was already worried when he was glanced at by the deputy general just now. Now when he saw everyone looking at him, his face suddenly turned red.
"The general's command is incompetent, please punish the general." Finally, Pan Yu couldn't stand the glare of everyone, so he left the table and went to the tent to kneel down and apologize to Zhang He again.
"Hmph, your actions were unreasonable and your orders were ineffective. I almost caused my three thousand cavalry to be divided and surrounded by four to five thousand Shu thieves. You should engage in military law." Zhang He said sternly.
"Yes, the general will finally be convicted." Pan Yu lowered his head and replied.
"But..." Zhang He changed his tone and said: "I think you fought bravely today and were seriously injured, so I will note it down for now and reward and punish you after the war is over and your merits and demerits have been calculated."
Pan Yu was surprised and happy when he heard this, and quickly thanked him: "No, thank you so much, General."
"Well, go back and sit down."
After Pan Yu returned to his seat and sat down, Zhang He said loudly: "Everyone, after two battles in two days, our army has suffered more than 3,000 casualties. However, after paying such a high price, we have not achieved any decent results. Don’t you know how to be ashamed?”
All the generals felt ashamed after hearing this, and they all lowered their heads and did not dare to answer. After a long time, He Di, the leader from the left, raised his head and said: "General Zuo, please give another military order. The last general will wait until tomorrow to fight with the Shu bandits, vowing to capture Nanshan and Jieting."
"Please give the order, General Zuo. I will fight again tomorrow." The other generals also clasped their fists and said in unison.
Upon seeing this, Zhang He thought happily: "Okay, it seems that everyone's morale has not been reduced due to the defeat in the war, and the military morale can be used."
"I already know your intentions. If you have such a will to fight, why worry about the Shu thieves not being defeated?"
Zhang He smiled and said: "After two days, we must admit that the combat power of the Shu army cannot be underestimated.
Take today's battle outside Jieting City. Although it was unexpected that the Shu army had more than a thousand cavalry, and the three thousand cavalry under Pan Yu were separated because of the sudden appearance of the cavalry, their infantry were also separated. He was by no means an ordinary person. Not only did he have superb shooting skills and extraordinary bravery, he was also quite skilled and quick in setting up and changing formations, which shows the wonderful training of the Shu army.
Of course, the Wangping camp that I personally attacked was quite difficult. The Shu army only had 2,000 people, but they were able to withstand the fierce attack of thousands of my elite soldiers, which shows how powerful they are. "
"What the general said is absolutely true, and the same is true for the Guanxing Department on Nanshan Mountain. If the general had not gone on the defensive today and only besieged but not attacked, I'm afraid we would have suffered the same fierce counterattack as yesterday." He Di also echoed.
Zhang He nodded and said: "Therefore, we have to admit that the Shu army on the opposite side is a strong enemy. Their generals Yang Qing, Guan Xing, and Wang Ping are not easy to deal with. In addition, the enemy and our forces are about the same. It is probably impossible for our army to defeat the enemy in Jieting with the tens of thousands of men we have now."
"What does General Yi mean?" He Di asked.
Zhang He replied: "I intend not to attack the Shu army in the next few days. I will rest for a few days and wait for the rear army to arrive before attacking again."
"The general's words are cautious and prudent, and I agree with them." He Di complimented without leaving any trace, and then said worriedly: "It's just that our army will not be able to reinforce quickly. The counties of Longyou, especially the I wonder if the Governor of Guo Guo can still hold on?"
"Well, most of the counties in Longyou have fallen into the hands of Shu thieves. We can't take care of it for a while. The only pass is at Shanggui. But Guo, the governor, is both wise and brave. There should be no problem in guarding for a few more days."
"Yes, I understand."
Zhang He added: "Besides, I believe that the general will not do nothing."
"May I ask General, what do you mean by this?" He Di asked with confusion on his face.
Zhang He waved his hand and said: "In the future, you will understand that the top priority now is to appease the soldiers and restore morale. Let's take a good rest in the past few days."
"No." Everyone responded in unison.
In Jieting City, Yang Qing and others were also counting today's casualties and results. Zhou Xing stood in the middle of the hall and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the casualties of our army in today's battle have been counted. Coupled with the military reports sent by General Guan and General Wang just now, the casualties of the entire army are already clear. ”
Yang Qing nodded slightly and said, "Then let everyone know."
"No." Zhou Xing said: "In today's battle, there were more than 120 casualties at General Guan, about 800 casualties at General Wang, and about 600 casualties at our place."
"The casualties are not small." Yang Qing sighed: "Including yesterday's casualties, our army may have suffered nearly 2,000 casualties, right?"
"Exactly." Zhou Xing replied.
Yang Qing then asked: "After the two days of fighting, how many soldiers were killed in our army?"
"About eight hundred people." Zhou Xing looked at the military report in his hand and replied softly.
Yang Qing hummed expressionlessly, and then asked, "How many people did the Wei thieves lose in the past two days?"
"According to our estimate, there are about three thousand people."
Buddy, who was at the bottom, said excitedly when he heard this: "Okay, it seems we still have the advantage."
Guliza also nodded in agreement and said: "After two battles, the Wei thieves will eventually have to suffer some hardships so that they will know how powerful our army is."
"That's right." Yang Qing's expression also became relaxed: "Our army finally won these two battles." He then said to Zhou Xing: "De Mao, prepare a detailed military report on the results of these two days. I will send someone to inform the Prime Minister tomorrow morning."
"promise."
Yang Qing made arrangements with everyone to collect the corpses of the fallen soldiers and reward the meritorious soldiers, and then let everyone disperse.
Outside Shanggui City, more than two hundred catapults were rattling. The sergeants had loaded the stones and were waiting for the command from the leading captain to start today's siege battle.
In order to conquer the fortified city of Shanggui, Zhuge Liang deliberately kept Ma Jun under Yang Qing's command. With this master of equipment, the Han army successfully built various new siege equipment, such as new barrel ladders and tower oars. , rushing cars, etc.
Of course, the most troublesome thing for Guo Huai is this new type of thunderbolt car that can continuously knock dozens of rocks hundreds of steps away.
"put."
Following the command from the leading colonel, more than two hundred stone-launching carts were launched in unison. Thousands of stones of various sizes were immediately thrown away with great force, then drew a perfect arc and hit the ground heavily. Guochengtou.
"Damn it, the Sichuan thieves are here again." Inside the city tower, Guo Huai looked at the hail-like stones above his head and shook his head feebly.
Fortunately for him as the governor, he still had a tower to avoid flying stones, but other ordinary soldiers had no other shelter except twenty or thirty cowhide sheds that could only accommodate a dozen people, so they had to huddle up and hide in the At the base of the city wall, he prayed that the flying rocks of the Han army would not hit him.
Although Guo Huai took countermeasures, the new catapults of the Han army were really powerful. Under continuous attacks, the city wall of Shanggui was riddled with holes, and nearly 2,000 Wei soldiers and Minzhuang were injured or killed.
"If reinforcements don't come, I'm afraid it will be difficult to protect the city of Guang." Guo Huai thought anxiously as he listened to the wailing outside.
