Chapter 1016 Temptation
When infantry is well prepared, facing cavalry, infantry can form formations, erect spears, shoot arrows, and dig trenches...
Even after Feng brought out the armored ghost cavalry specifically for charging into formation, the infantry erected several more spear phalanxes, dug several more pits, and set up several more caltrop areas.
Maybe the entire armored ghost cavalry army can be wiped out.
But why in the history of human wars, the side with cavalry often still has a great advantage?
Because the cavalry is facing off against the infantry, and if it cannot defeat it, it can run away, and the infantry can only watch and watch the smoke and ashes behind the cavalry's buttocks.
But if the infantry is defeated, the infantry will not even have a chance to escape.
Hence, the best strategy for infantry versus cavalry is to rely on the city and defend it.
If you encounter cavalry in the wild, you can certainly form a formation, but you will also be restricted and can only stay in place and wait for rescue.
As long as you move, the cavalry will follow you continuously, waiting for opportunities to find loopholes, and then bite you from time to time.
Marching in ancient times was not an easy task.
While marching, you also have to endure constant harassment from the enemy. Not only will your speed be slowed down, for example, from fifty miles a day to twenty miles a day, or even ten miles a day.
Moreover, twelve hours a day, you must tighten your nerves all the time to prevent the enemy from sneak attacks, and the morale of the army will soon be low.
Due to too much psychological pressure for a long time, the soldiers were prone to self-destruction in the end, bombing the camp, and then being chased and killed by the cavalry.
Following, pressuring, intimidating, and bleeding, the prey is exhausted mentally and physically, and finally exhausted, and then swarms up and bites the prey.
This is a tactic often used by wolves when hunting, so it can also be called wolf pack tactics.
The Liangzhou Cavalry has the strongest organizational ability in the world today and is also the most elite in the world. It uses wolf pack tactics, which is particularly painful for its opponents.
Even though Guo Huai has been dealing with the Hu people in the Yongliang area for many years, he is quite familiar with the tactics commonly used by the Hu people.
But at this time, he also seemed a little uneasy when faced with the entanglement and harassment of the Shu captives.
After all, he was originally on Qiaoshan to defend against Shu captives - who of the serious people would go up the mountain and bring cavalry to defend?
It is the guy who always does not act according to common sense. He led tens of thousands of cavalry to enter Hashishan. In the end, did you give up?
So now, apart from scouts, Guo Huai has basically all infantry.
Although the Wei claimed to have hundreds of thousands of fine cavalry, in Guo Huai's view, the Shu captives, who had only had cavalry for a short period of time, were much better at using cavalry than the Wei.
It can even be said that compared with the cavalry of the Shu captives, the fine cavalry of the Wei Dynasty actually regressed.
Because from the battle of Xiaoguan, it seems that the Wei Dynasty’s disbandment of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was a mistake.
What is even more unexpected is that Feng Thief was able to fight thousands of miles three times in a row this time.
Not only did he penetrate into the heart of the Wei Dynasty, he also kept an eye on the retreat of the Guanzhong army.
After two battles with the opponent, Guo Huai was already a little desperate.
Can the cavalry still play like this?
Does your horse have eight legs?
This can't kill you?
Guo Huai stood on a high ground, looking at the smoke and dust rising in the distance behind him, his face livid.
This is already the third time.
After crossing Heshui, Shulu's fine cavalry stayed tightly behind him, and even went around to the flanks from time to time.
Forcing himself to have more than 20,000 people, he had to divide into two parts, the front and the back, and take turns rolling forward.
Through these days of fighting, Guo Huai already knew that the number of the Shu captive cavalry behind him was basically between 3,000 and 5,000.
It’s not that he didn’t think of using his numerical advantage to set up an ambush.
It's just that the other party was too vigilant, like a frightened rabbit. As soon as there was anything wrong, he would stop immediately and send a large number of scouts to investigate the situation.
This involves a serious problem.
The number of scouts in Guo Huai's hands is simply not enough.
Even if it were enough, it would not be enough to cover the battlefield.
Because of the problem of scouts, it has gradually become a flaw for the Wei army when facing the Han army.
Facing the well-equipped and highly skilled Han scouts, an equal number of Wei scouts were often in a passive position to be beaten.
If you want to gain a suppressive advantage over the Han army's scouts, you must send many more scouts than the opponent.
But this involves another problem.
Scouts are the elite members of the army who are proficient in riding, martial arts, archery, have vision and far-sightedness, and also have certain observation abilities.
Not just anyone who can ride a horse can be a scout.
So where can you find so many qualified scouts?
Without enough scouts, the battlefield cannot be covered.
The battlefield cannot be covered. With the opponent's high alertness, there is no way to set up an ambush for the opponent.
Looking at the other person around him, he comes and leaves whenever he wants. No wonder Guo Huai's face is livid and ugly.
The cavalry in the rear quickly sent a battle report.
“How many casualties were there?”
“General, thirty-six people were injured and twenty-eight died.”
The total number is sixty-four, not even a hundred.
But this is not enough to make Guo Huai's face look better.
These small casualties are like small wounds on the prey. Although they are not deep, they bleed profusely and will also deepen the prey's fatigue.
Not to mention the soldiers below, even Guo Huai himself became a little anxious.
If it hadn't been for late autumn and the weather was still cool, but if it had been the hot summer months a few months ago, I'm afraid the current situation would have been even more difficult.
To make matters worse, after passing Heshui, the farther south you go, the flatter the terrain becomes, making it more suitable for cavalry.
The Shu captives chose to intercept and pursue from Heshui, which must have been premeditated.
"While the thieves retreat temporarily, let the rear army catch up quickly."
Guo Huai waved his hand and ordered.
At the same time, he ordered the front army to stop, preparing the front army to change into the rear army, and advance alternately.
It can be said that although this method is effective against the Shu cavalry behind them, it greatly delays the advance of the army.
A journey that can be walked in one day may not be completed in two days with a lot of stopping.
If the Shu forces are too tight, it may even take three days.
The current plan is to hope that the cavalry sent out can pass the news to the Grand Sima as soon as possible to see if the Grand Sima can send a cavalry army to meet him.
The Great Sima of Wei, who had high hopes for Guo Huai, learned that Guo Huai was being pursued by the Shu captives. He was overjoyed on the spot:
“The Shu captives are just as I expected!”
Thinking that if Feng Thief, a group of Shu captives, could be eliminated and Hedong was pacified, the situation would be reversed again.
Sima Yi couldn’t help but asked:
“Is there any movement over at Kabanjin?”
“I returned to Da Sima, but there was no news.”
Sima Yi was startled when he heard this:
"Why is there no news? Is there no movement from Thief Feng? What's going on with Guo Huai?"
He felt vaguely that the development of things seemed to be different from what he had planned, so he quickly asked again:
“How many troops are there in the Shu captives who are chasing Guo Huai?”
"Da Sima, according to General Guo's information, the number of Shu captives pursuing them should be between 3,000 and 5,000, and they are all cavalry."
The Feng thieves in Pu Banjin did not move, and the Shu thieves chasing Guo Huai only had three to five thousand cavalry, which means...
“This Shu captive came from Xiayang City?”
The smile on Da Sima's face froze.
The Feng thief who entered his mother's house!
Haven't he planned to cross the river yet?
Why can't he cross the river?
Is fishing really that fun?
The situation in Hedong changes three times a day.
Then there were rumors that they saw Feng Thief fishing by the river...
When Da Sima thought of this rumor, veins appeared faintly on his forehead:
There are nearly 30,000 people in Guohuai and more than 20,000 in Pubanjin. The total number is at least 50,000.
Now is an excellent time to defeat these 50,000 people. Isn’t this a great achievement?
Coupled with the incredible feat of crossing the river, is it still inferior to the fishing pole in your hand?
Send three to five thousand people over?
Who does your mother look down upon?
It has almost become Sima Yi's obsession to decide when Feng Thief will cross the river.
It’s not his fault.
After all, he had laid such a big bait and laid such a big plan. He had calculated everything, but he failed to predict it. Thief Feng actually stayed by the river and refused to leave!
Leading tens of thousands of horses, you ran from Liangzhou to Jiuyuan, then from Jiuyuan to Bingzhou, and finally from Bingzhou to Hedong. Aren't you just trying to cross the river?
Looking at the last step, why don’t you just go!
“Could this bandit army be just the former army of the Shu captives?”
Suppose Feng Thief does not plan to cross the river from Pubanjin, but instead builds a plank road openly and crosses Chencang secretly as he did last time.
First set up a suspicion formation at Pubanjin Temple, then quietly lead the army northward and cross the river from Longmen.
Then the bandit army behind Guo Huai is probably the front army of the Shu captives.
With Feng Thief’s cunning, this is not impossible.
Thinking of this, Sima Yi's eyes lit up, but a look of hesitation soon appeared on his face.
Counting the days, time is already very tight.
Zhuge Liang may finish cleaning up the west of Chang'an at any time and turn to the east.
On his side, there is only one chance, and time does not allow him to wait any longer.
“Come here!”
"exist."
“Let General Niu come and see me!”
After a while, Niu Jin opened the tent and came in:
“Da Sima, do you call the last general?”
"General Niu, General Guo led his army down from Qiaoshan. There are thieves in hot pursuit. I ordered you to lead five thousand elite cavalry to meet them. Is there any problem?"
Niu Jin immediately cupped his fists and said:
“The general will obey the order of the Grand Sima and will definitely bring General Guo back safely!”
Sima Yi nodded:
“It won’t be too late, prepare yourself and set off immediately.”
)
To arrange this matter, Sima Yi called his confidants and asked him to send his secret message to Luoyang.
He must prepare for the worst outcome.
After Luoshui flows into Guanzhong, the terrain becomes flatter as you go south.
Niu Jin led five thousand fine cavalry and galloped north along the Luoshui River to reinforce Guo Huai, and soon caught up with Guo Huai.
After getting this cavalry, Guo Huai almost burst into tears.
"Da Sima asked me to tell the general that when the general is here, if the Shu captives continue to pursue him, he can turn around and engage the Shu captives."
Niu Jin said to Guo Huai, "As long as the Shu captives dare to engage in battle, Da Sima will be able to gather them together and annihilate them."
In the past few days, Guo Huai has been hating the Sichuan cavalry behind him.
It’s just that I couldn’t do anything to the other party, so I wanted to reach the edge of the Wei River as soon as possible along the way.
Hearing Niu Jin’s words at this time, he sighed and said:
“I have long planned to ambush this bandit army, but they are quite alert. If we just turn around and form a formation to fight, I am afraid the bandits will not be easily fooled.”
“It doesn’t matter, General Guo just obeys what Grand Sima said.”
After hearing this, Guo Huai reacted immediately.
Logically speaking, if you really plan to eat the Shu barbarian cavalry behind you, it is best not to expose the newly arrived five thousand elite cavalry first.
Rather, he hurried on as before, and then inadvertently exposed his flaws, luring the Shu captives to rush up again, and finally annihilated them in one fell swoop.
It's just that Da Sima wanted to form a formation to counterattack immediately. Could it be that he had other plans?
So after Guo Huai and Niu Jin discussed it, they decided to test it out.
If the Shu captives dare to come over, they must teach them a lesson.
If you don’t dare to come, it can be regarded as completing Da Sima’s instructions, and then continue to the south.
Sure enough, after the Wei army stopped to form formation, the Han army's cavalry began to send out scouts to investigate the situation ahead.
Just when the two sides were at a stalemate, a messenger suddenly reported urgently:
“General, General Niu led his men to rush out!”
Guo Huai was shocked: "What!"
“How could he rush out at this time?”
"He said he was going to find the Shu captives for a decisive battle."
Guo Huai suddenly felt like he had caught someone's mother and penetrated her ten thousand times!
Then you still want me to form a formation?
Why don't you just come in and let me go first?
After Guo Huai learned that Niu Jin had attacked without authorization, he realized belatedly that the so-called reinforcements did not seem to be specially coming to save him.
Niu Jin's sudden attack was not something Guo Huai could have expected, let alone Yang Wanwan who was behind him.
At this time, it reflects the importance of General Guan's selection of leading generals and judgment before departure.
It is hard to say whether the three thousand Han cavalry can have the upper hand against the five thousand Wei cavalry, but at least they will not be at a disadvantage.
In addition, there is an armored battalion not far behind. If it were Zhao Guang, he would like to have a fight with the opponent first.
However, Yang Wanwan kept in mind General Guan's previous instructions. If the situation went wrong, he would immediately gather his soldiers and retreat to the rear.
After retreating a few miles, a scout came to report:
“General, we found another bandit army in the east!”
“Sure enough, the thieves have other plans and want to surround us!”
Yang Wanwan immediately issued an order, "Send an order to the entire army to continue retreating and join General Zhao."
“Also, send someone to inform General Zhao and ask him to be prepared. Don’t be careless.”
“No!”
It was only a short journey of about ten miles. Although there was no large-scale contact between the Han and Wei sides, in fact, the generals and commanders of both sides had already fought twice.
After Yang Wanwan and Zhao Guang reunited, Wei Guo also revealed its true intentions.
Guo Huai was the decoy, Niu Jin's five thousand fine cavalry were to confuse the ears and eyes, and Sima Yi's real killing move was the tens of thousands of cavalry that were circling from the east.
It was just that these tens of thousands of cavalry stopped immediately when they discovered that behind Yang Wanwan was the armored cavalry led by the powerful Zhao Sanqian in Guanzhong.
Neither Han nor Wei seemed to have any intention of fighting. After a short confrontation, they began to slowly disengage in a tacit understanding.
General Guan, who learned all this in Xia Yang City, couldn't help but sigh:
“Sima Yi is worthy of being the Great Sima of the Wei State. Yang Wanwan and Zhao Yiwen were exposed by his temptation.”
At the same time, the Great Sima of Wei also gritted his teeth and secretly resented:
"Feng Thief is indeed a cunning person among the Shu captives. My arrangement may have been anticipated by him, so he deliberately stayed in the east of the river to fish for ears."
“What he fished was not a fish, it was me!”
Although Feng Thief and Ge Thief had difficulty communicating with each other, they did not expect that their cooperation would be so tacit.
Not only did he want to eat the bait he released, he even wanted to eat the 100,000 troops he had on hand.
“Whoever comes, please immediately send an order to the entire army to prepare to break camp!”
Since the Feng thief cannot be eaten, the situation in Guanzhong is irreversible, and there is no need for him to stay here.
(End of this chapter)