Chapter 912 Heading west in a hurry

Chapter 912 Heading west in a hurry

In the early morning, Yu Wenhu endured his grief and reviewed the account books compiled by the armies. Previously, due to the collapse of the division and brigade, many battalions had become extremely chaotic. Now, taking advantage of the period of being stationed in Jiuqu City, a preliminary post-war reorganization was finally completed.

There were more than 100,000 troops when the army went out, but now it has retreated to Jiuqu City in Yiyang, but only a little over 60,000 are left. The nearly 50,000 soldiers who disappeared were either killed in the Mangshan battlefield, or captured by the Qi army, and some fled. In short, after this battle, it is an indisputable fact that the military strength of the Chinese and Foreign Governments dropped sharply.

Yu Wenhu didn't have the energy to worry about longer-term matters at the moment. The many matters before him made him feel even more anxious. Although the number of troops has been reduced sharply, a total of 60,000 troops are stationed in Jiuqu City, and the daily consumption is also very huge.

Especially when a large amount of supplies and baggage were abandoned in Henan City, south of Luoshui River, the continuous wind and snow in recent days caused all kinds of remaining materials to be consumed at an alarming rate, and heating materials such as charcoal were already in short supply. day.

Although Yu Wenhu lacked the military ability to fight on the battlefield, he was quite experienced in handling various internal affairs. But many times, it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. As time goes by, Yu Wenhu has realized that he can no longer maintain it.

The only thing that can be fortunate at the moment is that the military rations for this expedition are mostly marching rations. Because they are easy to transport and store, there is no danger of running out of food for the time being. However, the feed used by the war horses has been exhausted for a long time, and many war horses died of hunger and cold due to lack of food.

"It can last for another ten days at most..."

After Yu Wenhu reviewed various military affairs, he secretly estimated that according to the current situation, if the situation does not improve within ten days and the division and brigade continue to stay in Jiuqu City, the supplies will be exhausted. They will be exhausted, and the combat effectiveness of the soldiers who cannot get enough supplies will decline rapidly in this cold winter, and in the end they may not be able to leave even if they want to.

While Yu Wenhu was still thinking about some strategy to extend his persistence, Yu Chigang, who was inspecting the armies outside the mansion, hurried into the hall, looked at Yu Wenhu angrily and said: "Cousin, it's not serious. Okay! Da Sima and Da Zongbo, together with several generals, evacuated outside Jiuqu City privately this morning and headed west to Hongnong!"

"This is actually happening?"

After Yu Wenhu heard this, he felt a buzzing sound in his mind. His hands and feet felt a little cold, and he asked in a trembling voice: "How many soldiers did they take away? What is their purpose of leaving now?"

"They didn't lead many people away, otherwise I wouldn't have let them get away without noticing. But they must have had ulterior motives when they fled the front line privately. Once they return to Guanzhong and seize the personnel rights left behind in Guanzhong, how should we respond?"

In this cold weather, there was even a thin layer of cold sweat on Yuchigang's forehead, and his face turned pale as he trembled: "I was worried before that if Li Boshan refused to come to the rescue and instead attacked Guanzhong, what plan would we have to deal with it?" ? There was no conclusion before, but now that Da Sima and others have abandoned the army, how can they not conspire with them? If they return to Saitong Pass, we, the Guandong Division, will definitely die!"

"Li Boshan is not unrighteous. My uncle believed in him so much that even before he died... he wouldn't, he wouldn't!"

Yu Wenhu was already in a state of chaos at this moment. He couldn't restrain the fear and anger in his heart. He couldn't help but cursed loudly: "These thieves suppress slaves, they are really heartless! My uncle died recently, and we should be in the same boat, but they actually abandoned it." If you leave the army and ignore the overall situation, you should be damned, damned!"

"We can't stay any longer! The thieves' treacherous plot has been exposed. If we continue to stay here, no reinforcements will arrive. Once we are trapped internally and externally, we will probably die without a burial place!"

Yu Chigang said in a deep voice: "The only plan now is to evacuate while Da Sima and others are not far away. If we can return to Tongguan to defend, we still have a few ways to survive. Cousin, you must make a decision early. A single thought can mean the difference between life and death!"

After hearing this, Yu Wenhu also took a deep breath and quickly calculated in his mind, but because his mind was so chaotic, he really didn't have any plans for a while. His uncle's last words before his death still rang in his ears, but the private escape of Duguxin and others filled his heart with a sense of crisis. For a moment, he felt like he was burning inside and out, and he didn't know what to choose.

After pondering for a while, he then said: "While the news has not spread yet, summon Da Sikong, Duke Yang Ping and others to come to discuss the matter immediately!"

The matter was so important that Yuwen Hu found it difficult to make a decision for a while, especially since he did not have enough control over the armies at the moment. Even if he made a decision, he might not be able to fully implement it, so he decided to discuss it with Da Xiwu and other generals. Fan, reach a consensus.

Several generals soon arrived at the mansion. When they heard that Grand Sima Duguxin and others had evacuated Jiuqu City, their expressions became very ugly.

"The former Lord ordered us to retreat to Jiuqu City to wait for reinforcements from Xiangyang. However, with such a change happening now, continuing to stay here may be counterproductive. I don't know whether you should stay or go. Can you guys teach me?"

Yu Wenhu looked at the few people and said solemnly, and Yuchi Gang next to him said: "If anyone still has illusions about King Taiyuan coming to help, you can stay here and continue to wait."

After hearing this, everyone's faces became more and more ugly, and the dull atmosphere lasted for a while, before Li Yuan spoke again: "The Lord's worry when he came forward was that if he retreated lightly, he might lose his spirit and be taken advantage of by the enemy. Moreover, it is a long way back to Guanzhong. , it is better to temporarily lead the troops back to Hongnong. If the King of Taiyuan comes to help, we can still respond. If not, we can also retreat slowly and the army will not lose control."

After hearing the words, all the generals nodded in agreement with this plan, and had no other better ideas.

Many times, a seemingly stable situation is actually very fragile, and even a very small change can cause the situation to collapse quickly.

Although these generals were still planning a slow and orderly retreat, when the order to evacuate was given to the camp, it immediately caused huge panic among the camp.

"Why are you evacuating? Didn't you say that King Taiyuan is leading an army to rescue? Is it true that Otsuka Zai is no longer alive?"

The camp soldiers were full of surprises, but no one could answer this series of questions, which caused even greater panic.

As a result, many soldiers stationed in the military camps outside the city did not even pay attention to the military orders to set off, and directly packed their bags, broke camp and fled. As some people fled privately, the chaotic situation expanded rapidly, and more and more people joined the fleeing team.

As the collapse situation formed, Yu Wenhu and others could no longer control the situation, so they could only quickly summon their trusted followers and escort Yu Wentai's coffin and escape from the city. Even the original garrison soldiers in Jiuqu City were affected by this and joined in the rout.

The large-scale retreat of the Wei army in Jiuqu City naturally quickly attracted the attention of the Qi army that was confronting it, and the relevant situation was quickly reported to the Chinese army's tent.

Duan Shao had been leading his troops stationed in the north of Jiuqu City to confront the enemy at a distance. After learning about this incident, he immediately summoned his troops and advanced towards Jiuqu City. The arrival of the Qi army immediately intensified the panic of the Western Wei army. Soon Jiuqu City became an empty city and was easily lost by the Northern Qi Dynasty.

After entering Jiuqu City, the soldiers of the Qi army were very excited. This time they not only defeated the Western Wei forces and completely drove the enemy troops out of the Heluo area, they even recovered Jiuqu City, which had been occupied by the Western Wei for several years. It was a brilliant victory.

Because of the constant wind and snow in the past few days and the heavy snow on the road, Duan Shao did not immediately arrange personnel to pursue the fleeing Western Wei army after entering Jiuqu City. This relatively conservative approach also caused confusion Some people are dissatisfied.

The first person to question Duan Shao was Ping Qin King Gao Guiyan. He came to Duan Shao's tent and asked loudly in front of everyone: "Now that the Xiqiang are getting scared and are fleeing, it is the best way to pursue the enemy and win." Given the opportunity, why did King Pingyuan restrain his troops here and hesitate to move forward? "

Gao Guiyan was guilty, and he hoped in his heart that the results of the battle would be as glorious as possible, so that he could avoid being punished when he returned home.

"At present, the road is blocked by wind and snow, and it is difficult to advance and retreat. It is not a good time to attack and win. The Qiang division was defeated and fled, which has been fulfilled. If I am greedy for merit and enterprising, even if I achieve victory, I will not be able to completely avoid this harm!"

After hearing Gao Guiyan's question, Duan Shao patiently explained: "What's more, there are rumors among the thieves that Li Boshan of his country will go north to aid the war in the near future. Li Boshan is a powerful enemy of our country. Once this happens, the war situation may become unstable again. You also need to be on guard.”

Although Duan Shao's reasons are very good, there are still people who don't agree with them. In addition to Gao Guiyan who is eager for great achievements, Hu Luguang also frowned and said: "The difficulties mentioned by Pingyuan King are not reasons to stop fighting. The wind and snow jam Because of this, it will be difficult for the thief to escape far away. It is no different from bowing to the thief to see off the guests and leaving disaster behind! It’s not enough to stop my army from attacking just because of its false reputation!”

After Gao Guiyan heard this, he nodded his head in agreement. He glared at Duan Shao and said, "If Wang is still passive in avoiding the battle and wasting the opportunity to fight, and just waits for the thieves to escape without attacking, he will report it to me when I return." Your Majesty, the king has the heart to support bandits!"

After Duan Shao heard this, he couldn't help but feel a headache. Although he won the trust of His Majesty the Emperor, he did not dare to ignore the threat of Gao Guiyan. Not long ago, this man falsely accused Gao Yue, the king of Qinghe. If he really returns to the country to report Being black himself will also make him miserable.

Not only these two people, but the other generals are also eager to fight. After all, they all saw the scene of Wei Shi's retreat before, and they were all lively battle achievements!

So Duan Shao could only appoint Luozhou Sima Dugu Yongye to temporarily station in Jiuqu City. At the same time, he asked Zhaojun Wang Gaorui to lead his troops back to Jinyong City to coordinate the garrison, while he led the army to continue pursuing westward.