Three Kingdoms

Wen Chou still had his old habit of letting his hair down and not covering it with a hood. But even so, when Wen Chou saw the defeated left wing, he still felt hot and sweating on his forehead.

Based on experience, Wen Chou knew the approximate proportion of losses after seeing the number of defeated troops. In fact, strictly speaking, when troops were defeated in the cold weapon era, it was often not because the battle losses were too large, but because morale had dropped too much. sharp.

Although the captain on the left wing was brave and a veteran who followed Wen Chou, his command still lacked some firepower, and it was not known whether he was still alive. Wen Chou asked people to come forward and sort out the ranks of the defeated troops. Under such a cavalry charge, even the bravest warriors would inevitably be in danger. After all, during high-speed movement, once they fell off their horses, they might be killed by a person with poor strength. The opponent was killed, or was crushed to death by a war horse...

In a large-scale battle involving more than 1,000 people, the actual role of the general's personal bravery is greatly reduced. If the number exceeds 10,000, the individual strength of the general can be basically ignored, and more is relied on. The overall strength of the army is just like Cao Cao's bullying of the emperor's uncle. Although a few people in Bowangpo and Changbanpo were famous, Liu Bei was still beaten so much that he could only run away and scream all the way.

Wen Chou knew that the pace of cavalry combat was faster than that of foot combat, but he did not expect that the left wing would collapse so quickly! Although the slightest mistake on the battlefield may cause unpredictable losses, isn't the left wing chasing the Huns? Could it be said that the Xiongnu actually had such high combat power again?

When Wen Chou saw the war flags of Zhengxi and the Xiongnu coming up in the distance, he couldn't help but suddenly realized, but it was already too late.

Now there are only two ways in front of Wen Chou. One is to take advantage of Zheng Xi and others to divide their troops into two places, concentrate their strength to forcefully attack one side, and then deal with one side before turning back to deal with the other side. Under ideal conditions, even if the left wing collapses, the existing troops are still larger than any aspect of the Western Expeditionary Alliance, and the battle is still possible to win. And if the battle continues, when the follow-up Jushou troops arrive, they will definitely be able to further expand their strength advantage...

However, the prerequisite for choosing this tactic is that the Zhengxi Allied Forces are willing to cooperate. If the Zhengxi Allied Forces turn around and run away again, Wen Chou will be in the embarrassing situation of pursuing or not chasing.

Wen Chou was from Jizhou. During his military career, he did not have many opportunities to come into contact with Hu tactics. Therefore, when he first met the Western Expeditionary Allied Forces, which used Hu tactics to the extreme, he really felt a deep sense of security. Deep resignation surged up from between his chest and abdomen.

If you attack with the main force, the opponent will run away. If you divide your troops to pursue them, the opponent will turn around and outflank them. We are all cavalry, so their running speeds are not too different. I really want to hold down one and rush out from the other side. This tactic is very simple, but the problem is that it is not easy to deal with. Just like the Han Dynasty has been contending with the barbarians in the north for hundreds of years, but it can leave famous cavalry commanders in the long history of history. A handful of people.

For Wen Chou, the other plan is even more shameful, but there are still some opportunities...

"retreat!"

Wen Chou gritted his teeth and ordered.

Yuan Jun's cavalry gathered up the broken troops and began to retreat slowly backward.

Seeing Yuan Shao's cavalry retreat, Liu He's heart slowly relaxed. Speaking of which, compared with the side led by Zhao Yun, the Wuhuan people he commanded were relatively weak. If Wen Chou ignored him and fought directly, Liu He would have to implement the so-called running-and-fighting strategy. It is still quite difficult.

"Yuan Jun retreated..." Although Wen Chou's retreat relieved Liu He, it failed to completely solve the problem of Yuan Jun's cavalry. Liu He's expectation of regaining Youzhou was still quite mysterious, so after meeting Zhao Yun, his first words were He couldn't help but come out, "I heard that Yuan Jun, the commander of the army, is self-reliant in martial arts and loves to rush into battle. I never thought that he knew how to advance and retreat... but in this way, I couldn't wipe out all his troops..."

Zhao Yun smiled slightly.

Like to rush into battle does not mean simple-minded. Gan Feng also likes to rush into battle, but is Gan Feng just a fool? When you see that the situation is wrong, knowing how to stop losses and retreat in time is what a real general should do.

In today's battle, Jiang Qi and Wen Chou's left wing were killed, and the total number of Yuan Jun's cavalry was probably more than a thousand, close to 2,000. Yuan Jun's cavalry suffered skin and flesh injuries, but not to the point of breaking bones or tendons. to the point of folding. Therefore, although withdrawing troops is aggrieved, it is not unacceptable.

Frustrating things happen every day, and you still have to endure them when you should.

Especially Wen Chou's current situation is quite unfavorable, but if he joins up with the infantry who are lagging behind, then the unfavorable situation will become Zhao Yun's side.

"We divided our army. He attacked on the left, then attacked on the right. He attacked on the right, then attacked on the left, so we had to retreat..." Zhao Yun said slowly, "But now we have gathered the infantry as the cornerstone, and then we move forward." If we push forward, there will no longer be the same flaws as today.”

Liu He frowned and said, "In this case, what should we do?"

Zhao Yun said with a smile: "Yuan Jun is unable to advance westward at the moment. Even if we win by eight points, why do we need to take risks?"

Liu He looked at Zhao Yun but said nothing.

Zhao Yunquan pretended that he didn't see it and asked Tulu to come and clean the battlefield with Nanlou. For this kind of thing, Tulu was very enthusiastic and immediately led the men to work happily.

Liu He's meaning was naturally very simple, but Zhao Yun ignored him. After all, for Zhao Yun, completing the deployment of General Fei Qian for the Expedition to the West was the first priority. As for the rest, he could help if he could, and if he couldn't, he would not. Nothing.

With such dissociation between left and right, Wen Chou did not dare to divide his troops and did not dare to advance. It was Zhao Yun and Liu He who took the initiative. And if Liu He wanted to engage in some kind of pursuit of victory, they might have fallen into the trap set up by Wen Chou. They must go into the trap, because once they merge together to pursue Wen Chou, it will give Wen Chou a chance to fight with all his strength.

After all, although Wen Chou withdrew his troops, the combined forces were more threatening. This time, he used the initiative to retreat to lure Yuan Jun to pursue, which caused Wen Chou to suffer a big loss. If he tried to repeat the same trick again, it might not have the same effect, so From now on, Yuan Jun is basically likely to stick to the entire defense line from Lingqiu to Yijing, and basically will not be dispatched easily.

"What you expected is true," Zhao Yun looked at Liu He and added, "General Yuan's three-pronged advance strategy has already failed. Liu Shijun didn't know something, and General Zhengxi sent General Taishi to make a surprise attack. Yecheng, beheaded Chunyu! Now that Yuan Jun's south road has been defeated, even if there are many people and horses on the north road, it will be of no avail. Soon they will probably be transferred south to Hebei..."

When Liu He heard this, his expression obviously improved a lot, and he said with a smile: "If this is the case, congratulations to General Zhengxi!"

Zhao Yun nodded, turned the horse's head, and walked back slowly. The next step was to turn around to stabilize the rear defense and solve the problem of Lou Ban. This was to fulfill the previous promise, but it was also to support a Wuhuan faction who wanted to conquer the west. , it is also very helpful for the stability of the north...

Although the North Road did not achieve as brilliant a record as the South Road, it was enough. Zhao Yun was not greedy, because the more greedy a person is on the battlefield, the sooner he will die.

However, Zhao Yun is not greedy, which does not mean that others are not greedy, especially Fulohan, who has suffered heavy losses. However, this time the greedy Fulohan did not expect that his greed would actually help Zhao Yun to a certain extent.

Fu Luohan planned to persuade Kirby Neng to join forces with Yuan Shao's army to jointly deal with the people who conquered the west in order to take revenge. However, Kirby Neng was still Kirby Neng after all, and it was not something Fu Luohan could manipulate. .

Kirby is very interested in Fu Luohan's proposal, but the direction Kirby can consider is completely different from Fu Luohan. Kirby could think that he had a grudge with Yuan Shao's army before. Even if he went to Yuan Jun now to express his goodwill, he might not be able to gain Yuan Jun's trust. He might instead be regarded as a death squad. Not to mention the little gain, he would definitely lose a lot, so he might as well Taking advantage of the fact that Yuan Shao's army and the Zhengxi army had no time to fight in Daijun Changshan, they made another surprise attack on Yuyang!

The salt and iron in Yuyang are extremely scarce for the Hu people on the grassland. Therefore, Kebineng's plan immediately won the support of the vast majority of tribal leaders at the meeting of tribal nobles. Faced with this situation, Fu Luohan could only be dumbfounded. Although he was very reluctant, he had to turn away from the main stream and follow Kirbineng's large army towards Youzhou Yuyang.

As a result, a war broke out suddenly at the border of Youzhou. Yuan Xi, who was stationed in Yijing, urgently sent people to Wen Chou Jushu for help, and on the other hand, he reported the situation to Yecheng...

…………………………

"Bang!" The jade bowl in Yuan Shao's hand fell to the ground and fell into pieces. He looked at Guo Tu blankly, his eyebrows twisted into a knot, and the corners of his eyes twitched involuntarily: "The North Road was also defeated?! Yuyang was attacked?! "

Guo Tu lowered his head and said: "... Lord Qi, it's just a small defeat... But Yuyang was attacked, if not... I'm afraid..."

Yuan Shao took a breath of cold air and suddenly felt that the world was spinning in front of him. He couldn't help but swayed and almost fell to the ground. He quickly pressed the table with his hands, calmed down and said angrily: "Xianyi, what are you doing! Such a good situation cannot be defended! Treason! Treason!"

Just like many Chinese parents, when they see other people's children performing well, they always feel that their own children have too much room for improvement. They always feel that the naughty child ended up in my place. Even Boss Cao I can't help but sigh that having children is like Sun Zhongmou...

Therefore, when Yuan Shao scolded his son, he also forgot that Yuan Xi had not been given many resources at the beginning. In addition, he was busy providing logistical support to Professor Wen Chou Ju of North Road, so how could he have time to organize the place? , what about improving defense power?

"Lord..." Guo Tu called in a low voice, "...in the current situation, please make a quick decision, Lord!"

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious..." Yuan Shao sat down at the desk, put his forehead on his hands, and muttered to himself, "...let me think about it..."

This is not a problem of defeat along the way to the north, but a problem of Yuan Shao's overall strategic failure!

The consequences of this incident are far more serious than the death of some people!

Yuan Shao originally marched into Bingzhou and insisted on attacking General Zhengxi, so he was under great pressure. As the saying goes, "Soldiers cannot be adjusted three times." But now it is not only the third time, but even the fourth time. The opinions of the Jizhou nobles have been made plain. Almost every day, people are discussing Yuan Shao's militarism. , it was not the move of the Ming Dynasty. If Tian Feng had not somewhat reconciled it, it might be difficult for the government's orders to be issued to the land in Jizhou...

Ignoring the plunder of the Xianbei people, he abandoned the Yuyang salt and iron for a period of time and continued to fight against the Northern Route Army of General Fei Qian. For Yuan Shao, if he could win, it would not be unacceptable to make such a sacrifice, but there was a problem How could the Jizhou nobles, who relied on the salt and iron from Yuyang, agree to Yuan Shao's move?

Sending troops back to support Yuyang would be tantamount to announcing the complete failure of the North Route Army strategy...

"This matter..." Yuan Shao held his head, pressed hard on the temples jumping on his head, and whispered, "...Does Yuan Hao know?"

Guo Tu shook his head, but quickly said: "...I'm afraid I want to hide it, but I won't be able to hide it for long..."

This kind of thing cannot be covered by covering the lid. It is like a piece of shit in a pot. No matter how you cover the pot, the smell will still come out. In addition, Tian Feng also has news about his own gang in Jizhou. Channels, even though Guo Tu controls military intelligence, he can't hide it for long.

Now, the South Route Army has completely collapsed, and Gao Lan has not yet completely collected the defeated troops. The North Route Army has suffered a frontal defeat and was attacked by Yuyang. It is almost on the verge of defeat, and the Middle Route Army...

It is conceivable what kind of strong protest Yuan Shao will face if the news spreads. The original march to the north was forced by Yuan Shao's victory over Gongsun Zan, but now the north and south routes have been defeated. This will raise new doubts about Yuan Shao's ability to use troops. Maybe some people will say that Yuan Shao is just lucky. Some people may bring up the matter of righteousness again, saying that if it were not for his righteousness and courage, I am afraid that Yuan Shao would have died long ago. Under the hooves of Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao was ungrateful and turned around and killed Yi, cut off his own foundation, etc...

Without thinking too much, Yuan Shao knew that among the nobles in Jizhou, there were many people waiting to see his joke.

Yuan Shao's face turned blue and white for a while, and his expression was distorted. Guo Tu, who was beside him, was also very nervous. He also knew the pros and cons of this very well. Seeing Yuan Shao nervous, he was even more nervous than Yuan Shao.

Guo Tu was from the Yuzhou faction, and he was originally competing with the Jizhou faction for power. But this time, because Yuan Shao insisted on suppressing the Jizhou faction, he supported the Yuzhou faction to come to power. As for Guo Tu, because of his nature, he likes to control power too much, so his popularity is not very good, even within the Yuzhou faction, he is not very popular, so if Yuan Shao is ready to surrender to the Jizhou faction again, I'm afraid he will be the first to fall into the dust.

If Yuan Shao fails to suppress Jizhou this time, he will inevitably be in trouble. Therefore, the failure of Yuan Shao's overall strategy this time actually dealt a very serious blow to him...

For a moment, both of them were silent.

Outside the festival hall, it was already approaching dusk. The setting sun dimly persisted on the mountain ridge for a moment, and then slid down helplessly, leaving only a faint red glow, which seemed so dim and weak...