Chapter 938 Misfortunes never come singly

Chapter 938 Misfortunes never come singly

At the end of a battle, the army of the Western Wei Dynasty, under the command of Zhuguo Li Bi, formed an array in front of Tongguan Pass. After a fierce battle, they finally repelled the enemy and won a long-lost victory. However, the sky above Tongguan was still filled with A gloomy and gloomy atmosphere.

Even those soldiers who had just returned to the city after victory had little joy on their faces. Instead, they all had solemn expressions, either sad or angry, making the atmosphere in the city extremely depressing.

This situation is also normal. Since the defeat of Mangshan, the situation of the Western Wei Dynasty has taken a turn for the worse. They have been defeated one after another. From Mangshan to Yiyang, then Hongnong, and now they have been defeated to Tongguan.

In addition to the rout of the front, what was even more damaging to morale was the massive casualties. In the previous battle in Hongnong, nearly 30,000 soldiers were originally gathered in Hongnong City, but only a few thousand were able to escape from the battlefield and escape into Tongguan.

Even if Yang Jue, who was in charge of Jianzhou, had not promptly led his troops to the south to support him and ambushed the enemy general Hu Luguang who was still chasing after him on the way, the thousands of defeated soldiers might not have been able to escape back to Tongguan.

Thinking back to the beginning of the Eastern Expedition, the army of more than 100,000 people was strong and full of morale. Now, just over a month later, it was defeated. The army of more than 100,000 people was gone. The cumulative defeats in Tongguanzhong were There were only a little over 20,000 people in total, and even their overlord leader Yu Wentai died during the journey.

This defeat, both in terms of casualties and loss of territory, exceeded the Battle of Mangshan in the ninth year of Datong. Although the Battle of Mangshan in the previous year was also a huge defeat, at least the main generals were relatively successful. Wang Sizheng, who withdrew from the front line and was ordered to do so in danger, also successfully blocked the pursuing troops east of Hongnong.

Aside from these losses of troops and land, the most fatal thing for the Western Wei army was the death of Yuwentai, the leader of the Bafu, which caused the remaining forces to fall into a leaderless chaos.

Because Li Bi returned to Tongguan earlier, and his military organization was considered the most complete, there was basically no major personnel loss from the expedition to the withdrawal, and he also recruited some of Da Xiwu and Wang Xiong's defeated troops in Nancheng, Heyang. .

When the enemy continued to attack Tongguan, Li Bi took the initiative to fight in front of the pass, thwarting the enemy's attack this time and saving some face. But when he returned to Guancheng, there was no crowd to welcome and congratulate his new victory. Instead, they wanted to resolve internal disputes and conflicts immediately.

"Yuchi Poluo, come out quickly! Dog thieves always boast about their bravery, but when faced with a fierce battle with the enemy, they pull out the fence and flee first. They abandon our division and brigade to the thieves, causing heavy casualties to my sons!"

In front of the Guancheng City Lord's Mansion, Li Yuan was wearing a blood-stained military robe and was standing in front of the manor with a sword in his hand. He kept shouting and cursing at the gate of the manor opposite which was guarded by armored soldiers. All the guards around him were also present. The man was injured and looked miserable.

On the long street in front of the mansion, many governors and generals were standing here to watch, and they were constantly whispering to each other. Gradually, an outline of the matter was outlined, and it became clear why Li Yuan was so angry and blocked the door of the mansion to accuse Yuchi Gang.

It turned out that the two of them stayed in Hongnong before, Li Yuan was responsible for defending the city and the east defense, and Yuchigang was responsible for the west defense and supervising the rear battle. As a result, Li Yuan was leading his troops to engage in a fierce battle with the enemy, but Yu Chigang directly led his troops to flee to Tongguan, which immediately caused the collapse of the Hongnong Front. Even Li Yuan was directly surrounded by the rebels. His cronies fought hard After a pass and heavy casualties, Li Yuan was finally able to escape back to Tongguan.

Li Yuan was in an extremely angry mood right now. Of course Yu Chigang didn't dare to show up, but having him block the door and shout insults would have a bad influence. In particular, everyone knows that Li Yuan is a close general of Otsuka Zai. Now that Otsuka Zai has suffered a misfortune, his confidants and relatives are about to turn against each other, which will undoubtedly make people even more distracted.

Yu Wenhu also bravely came out of the house to persuade him, but he didn't have much face in front of the furious Li Yuan. Li Yuan still stubbornly insisted on asking Yuchi Gang to come out to see him quickly.

After Li Bi returned to the city, he learned of this matter and rushed in without having time to disarm. He first comforted Li Yuan, and then went into the house to personally lead Yuchigang out, and asked Yuchigang to pay homage to Li Yuan and ask for forgiveness. This dispute.

Next, under Li Bi's call, the generals gathered in the central hall of the mansion to discuss what to do next.

"Although the bandits have been defeated, they are still entrenched in Hongnong City and may continue to attack at any time. The current situation is extremely critical. Only by working together can you overcome the difficulties. If you still have other plans, If we cannot work together to fight the enemy, our country will be destroyed by thieves and we will be slaves of thieves, which is not a threat!"

Feeling that people were distracted at the moment, Li Bi took the lead in speaking seriously.

After hearing this, all the generals also nodded in agreement, including Li Yuan, who couldn't help but attack Yuchi Gang before, and they also expressed their opinions that they would not disturb the matter with personal anger again. They all know in their hearts that if they continue to complain and fight with each other, the situation will only become more critical.

After saying these words, Li Bi sat back at the table and said nothing more. Although he was already the person with the highest status among everyone present, and had just repelled the enemy's attack, he was only a commander of a partial division in this campaign, and he did not even know how the main army was defeated all the way. Even if we don’t know much about it, there is no point in trying to force ourselves to bear the responsibility.

Yu Wenhu had been lowering his head in thought, but when he saw that Li Bi stopped speaking and everyone turned their attention to him, he could only bite the bullet and said: "The Lord passed away on the journey, and the injury is heartbreaking. Right now. Tongguan was also affected by the spread of war, and it was really inappropriate to leave coffins and coffins on the front line for a long time.

The Great Situ was a veteran of the country, skilled in military affairs, and highly regarded both internally and externally. He had previously faced off against the rebel army and was defeated, so he was the perfect candidate to receive orders in times of crisis. He should be in charge of military affairs at Tongguan to resist the rebel army. I would like to carry the coffin back to the country and bury the Lord first, and then inform the court to recruit all the strong men from Guanxi as soldiers to help the Tongguan war..."

The army was defeated one after another, and the authority of Yu Wenhu, the man who was temporarily in charge of military affairs, was greatly reduced. Now there were not many people left, and they might not obey his orders. Now, taking advantage of Li Bi's new victory, he handed over this heavy burden and mess to Li Bi, and he left the front line in the name of helping the coffin return home, although he returned to Tongzhou to clean up the internal situation. For Yu Wenhu, this is undoubtedly the best choice at the moment.

However, although Yu Wenhu was shrewd, the others were not stupid, especially Li Bi, who was named by him to blame him. He immediately frowned after hearing this.

"Although Tongguan is close to the front line, it is still as solid as a rock. If Tongguan is in danger, so is the middle of the pass! It makes no difference whether Otsuka Zai Ling sets up Tongguan or Chang'an. Moreover, many Kansai princes died in the defeat of this expedition. In the matter of state affairs, all the people have turned into ghosts, and one spirit has returned alone. When the elders ask questions, how can Duke Zhongshan respond?"

Li Bi did not speak, but his younger brother Li Ge looked at Yu Wenhu politely and said.

After Yu Wenhu heard this, he was speechless for a while, and then Li Bi spoke again: "I have been a soldier for half my life, so why should I be afraid of war? Prime Minister Otsuka treated me like a soldier of the country, and I will not hesitate to sacrifice my country to repay him! Tongguan If Quan and Kansai are safe, the former's division and brigade have been defeated repeatedly. It can be seen that it is better to escape than to fight. It is natural for Zhongshan Gong to be in charge of the military affairs. However, if there is an appointment, no one dares to disobey!"

While speaking, Li Bi stood up and bowed to Yuwen Hu. The rest of the people were already dissatisfied with Yuwen Hu in their hearts, but seeing Li Bi making this statement, they all stood up one after another and still regarded Yuwen Hu as the leader of Guancheng.

After Yu Wenhu saw this, he could only accept the recommendation of the masses and did not dare to say anything about withdrawing first. As for Dugu Xin, Zhao Gui and others who had escaped before the battle, he could only appoint his confidants to report to the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office in Tongzhou, hoping that the Chinese and foreign The people left behind in the government can be alert. At least if he can't stop the rebel army here, it will be difficult to leave the Tongguan front line in a short time.

Although Li Bi strongly recommended Yuwenhu to take charge of military affairs, he did not dare to entrust all the affairs to Yuwenhu in view of Yuwenhu's previous performance. He still inspected and arranged various defenses in Guancheng with Da Xiwu and others, and did not dare to be careless.

Probably because their fortunes had reached rock bottom and they were beginning to have trouble finding peace, while Tongguan was still carefully arranging defenses, the scouts in front of the pass reported that the enemy troops stationed in Hongnong seemed to be showing signs of withdrawing. After further inquiring, they learned the good news that Taiyuan King Li Boshan had led an army into Heluo to fight, forcing the enemy to withdraw and return to defense.

When the news came back to Tongguan, all the lieutenants in Guancheng couldn't help but heave a long sigh of relief, and some even cried with joy: "The King of Taiyuan is here to kill us, everyone is saved!"

Although Yu Wenhu had a prejudice against Li Taiduo in his heart, but after learning that he had indeed led his army to Heluo, he couldn't help but sigh with mixed emotions: "Li Boshan is really a man of righteousness, and he has indeed lived up to his righteousness." It’s a pity that if we hadn’t evacuated Yiyang at that time, the situation might not have been possible to turn defeat into victory!”

The arrival of the Taiyuan King's Brigade gave the entire Tongguan garrison a shot in the arm, and the subsequent actions of the enemy forces in Hongnong to destroy the city and flee also proved that Li Boshan's army had caused huge damage to the enemy forces just after they arrived in Heluo. Under military pressure, they had to retreat hastily.

With the withdrawal of the enemy troops, the crisis in Tongguan has been resolved. Han Xiong and other generals in Western Henan who had previously retreated to Tongguan with the army expressed their hope to lead their troops back to the southern area of ​​​​Western Henan to cooperate with King Taiyuan in fighting the enemy. .

Yu Wenhu did not stop this. Although he was still worried about Li Boshan's forces entering Guanzhong, it was obvious that the most critical issue at the moment was to defeat the enemy first. He also hoped to use this to convey a kind signal to Li Boshan, so as to Next, strive for a larger negotiation space.

However, just when Yu Wenhu was still imagining that everything was going to be stable and good, what happened in Tongzhou Zhongwai Mansion behind him gave him a heavy blow!