Chapter 1069 Falling short of success

Chapter 1069 Falling short of success

In the city of Yining on the upper reaches of Qinshui River, the garrison officers and soldiers had already known about the Wei army's eastward advance. When Li Tai led his troops outside the city to observe the terrain, the garrison in the city had already prepared for battle. Although the Wei army did not directly attack the city, the defenders still remained vigilant and were waiting for danger all night long.

The city guard, Han Zunian, also did not dare to relax. He took a nap on the top of the city for less than two hours until late at night and still did not dare to disarm. In the early morning when it was just dawn, Han Zunian patrolled the top of the city and checked the various equipment and supplies used to defend the city and fight back. After confirming that everything was in order, he returned to the city to have breakfast.

Not long after, the scouts posted outside the city hurried into the city to report that all the Wei troops had retreated to the west of Heishui Ridge. After Han Zunian learned about this, his nervousness eased slightly. It seemed that the Wei troops were worried that Yining City would be difficult to defend and difficult to attack, so they did not dare. Move lightly.

However, he did not completely relax. Taking advantage of the Wei army's retreat, he arranged for his soldiers to go south via the mountain path to inform the ambush army in the south of the situation here, so that the soldiers ambush outside could be ready for battle at any time. If the Wei army cannot hold back anymore and enters the valley to attack the city, they can take the opportunity to give them a fierce counterattack!

The crisis was temporarily resolved, so Han Zunian removed his armor and returned to the inner palace after the meal to catch up on his sleep and regain his energy. In the afternoon, while he was still sleeping in a daze, he was suddenly awakened by the noise outside the room, so he stood up and asked displeasedly: "What happened?"

"Lord, something serious, something bad is going on! The scouts are reporting that the ambush troops downstream have been spotted by Qiang thieves. The Qiang thieves are rushing into the river valley from the south side of Heishui Ridge to pursue the ambush army!"

A servant had just rushed here from the outer hall. When he saw Han Zunian, he quickly reported it.

"Is this happening?"

When Han Zunian heard this, he immediately panicked. He hurriedly put on his robe and walked quickly towards the front of the house.

At this time, in the Zhitang, most of the city's governors and generals had gathered here. After hearing the news from outside, the scouts who saw the Wei army chasing and killing their own troops told about the enemy's situation: "The Qiang thieves are too vicious. They chased and killed them all the way. I The soldiers rushed into battle and were unable to fight, so they had to fight and retreat, resulting in heavy casualties..."

"Damn Qiang thieves, they don't dare to attack the fortified city, they only dare to bully the minority with their numbers!"

When a general heard that the soldiers outside the city were suffering heavy casualties, he couldn't help but cursed angrily.

Most of the defenders of Yining City are the children of the six towns military strategists who were placed near Qinyuan in the early years. There are many close relatives such as fathers, sons, brothers, etc. The friendship is far deeper and closer than the ordinary Pao Ze. When being chased and massacred by the enemy, I was naturally very panicked, and I couldn't help but curse at the enemy who was arrogantly killing me.

When Han Zunian walked quickly into the straight hall, the governors and generals who had already been unable to restrain themselves stood up one after another and asked to lead their troops out of the city to rescue the soldiers outside the city.

Han Zunian did not directly respond to everyone's request, but frowned and asked the scouts who returned to the city about the enemy outside the city. Then he looked at the people with eager faces and said in a deep voice: "The Qiang thieves are cunning and alert, and they can actually detect the ambush outside the city." , causing the previous plan to fail. The current pursuit was to lure the division in our city to go out for rescue, while his followers were waiting beside the city to attack the city. Seized by thieves..."

"Don't we save the men outside the city and just sit back and watch them die outside?"

Before Han Zunian finished speaking, he was immediately interrupted by his subordinates. Others also expressed their dissatisfaction, and some even said angrily: "Before, the army traveled south in vain, but Jinzhou was taken advantage of by the Qiang thieves. Come on, aren’t those kings planning something wrong? Now that the Qiang thieves have invaded, they are killing thieves both inside and outside the city, so what’s the difference?”

"Both the father and brother of the last general died in a royal affair, and the nephew of the family was ambushed outside by the prince. Now he is in danger outside the city. How can we bear to let him die outside without rescue? If the king refuses to send troops to rescue, the last general will I only ask you to lead your troops out of the city for rescue. If you are allowed to leave the city, I will not blame you, no matter whether you live or die!"

Someone said with a sad face, and his emotions were on the verge of losing control.

Han Zunian saw that the crowd was furious and all the generals were eager to fight. He was also worried that forceful suppression might make people more distracted and agitated. After weighing it for a while, he could only say: "I can send two thousand soldiers out of the city to rescue the divisions and brigades outside the city, but You must not act rashly, you must abide by military orders and defend the city, and you must not let the enemy take advantage of it and attack the city! "

When everyone heard that Han Zunian was willing to send reinforcements, their anxious mood calmed down a little, and they all nodded in agreement.

So Han Zunian hurried to the school field in the city, summoned two thousand soldiers, gave some instructions, and then arranged to leave the city. Fearing that the enemy would take advantage of the chaos to attack, he personally led his troops to line up in front of the city to meet the divisions and brigade outside the city. Return to the city.

After the reinforcements were dispatched, the garrison officers and soldiers in the city were all eagerly waiting. Time also passed quickly in this anxious atmosphere. Soon it was from afternoon to almost evening when the sun was setting. Finally, the defeated soldiers with hurried expressions finally returned one after another. Yining City.

According to these people's accounts, the reinforcements had already merged with the ambush soldiers who were being hunted. However, because the ambush had been cut off by the Wei army that suddenly rushed into the river valley, many soldiers were isolated in the lower reaches of Qinshui River. The troops did not immediately withdraw to Yining City after the rendezvous. They only arranged for the wounded and those who had lost combat effectiveness to return to the city. The other troops continued to fight southward along the river valley, hoping to rescue more Pao Ze.

"It's just nonsense!"

When Han Zunian heard this, he was furious. His willingness to send reinforcements out for rescue was considered a big risk, and he also arranged for himself to be compensated for the ambush. However, he did not expect that these soldiers who left the city did not know when to stop. How dare you act so recklessly when there are powerful enemies lingering around.

Sometimes things can go bad, and they will happen. Just as Han Zunian was anxiously hoping that the Wei army would not attack Yining City at this moment, the panicked look of the scouts who hurriedly withdrew from the Heishui Ridge Mountain Road told him that the situation was getting worse.

Soon the noise of a large group of troops marching quickly could be heard in the Heishui Ridge valley. After weighing it in his mind, Han Zunian decided to buy some time for the divisions and brigades outside the city. So he ordered a thousand heavily armed soldiers to leave the city and garrison at the entrance of the Heishui Ridge valley to prevent the Wei army in the mountain road from entering the valley.

The thousand soldiers of the Qi army had just completed their formation at the entrance of the valley, and the large army of the Wei army had already moved closer. With the situation in front of them, they immediately charged towards the Qi army's formation.

"Hold on, you must hold on! Don't let the Qiang thieves enter the river valley, otherwise the way out of the city will be cut off!"

Han Zunian wandered behind the battle formation, holding a sword on his waist and personally supervising the battle, shouting loudly to boost morale.

Guo Yan, the general of the Wei army, was naturally very excited when he saw that the enemy troops had left the city and lined up here. He sent his soldiers back to the camp on the west side of Heishan Ridge to report the enemy's situation, and at the same time led his troops to kill them. He said to the enemy: "The thieves have a fortified city but cannot defend it. They lined up in the mountains and fought with me. They are really asking for death! My sons, kill the enemy quickly and seize the city to repay your merits!"

The soldiers of both sides fought fiercely in the valley. Although the Qi army fought hard to defend it, the Wei army was unable to break through the blockade and enter the valley for a while, but the Qi army itself also suffered heavy casualties.

"Deploy another five hundred, no, eight hundred, another eight hundred sergeants out of the city to reinforce the battle formation!"

Seeing that the defense line was gradually being overrun by Wei soldiers, but there was still no news of the return of troops in the valley to the south, Han Zunian felt very angry. If you can still defend the city with peace of mind, the soldiers who died in the battle in front of the valley here are completely unnecessary losses.

But the situation was now like this. If he gave up, all his previous efforts would be in vain. Therefore, Han Zunian could only grit his teeth and order some sergeants in the city to fill up the battle formation, making sure to keep the enemy in the river valley. outside.

In the camp on the west side of Blackwater Ridge, Li Tai was stunned when he received the news reported by his former division. His previous inspection of the enemy's situation made him feel that the enemy general should be a relatively stable and intelligent person, so he only sent three thousand The soldiers went to put pressure on the enemy, but they did not expect that the enemy would be so unwise as to lure the soldiers out of the city to fight, using short attacks to attack the enemy.

After learning about this, he immediately led 5,000 elite soldiers to march directly through the Blackwater Ridge and kill the enemy city.

At the same time, although the soldiers of the Qi army heading south along the Qinshui River Valley temporarily pushed back the pursuing brigade led by Han Qinhu and continued to fight south, they soon encountered another enemy who had completed their pursuit and suppression mission. Li Yantou led his troops to return.

The two sides clashed with each other for several times in the valley, each suffering injuries. Seeing that the situation turned into a stalemate, the generals of the Qi army who came to the rescue finally remembered the instructions of their commander Han Zunian. Seeing that it was getting late, they did not dare to continue the confrontation with the enemy and stay overnight. Outside the city, they reorganized their troops and slowly retreated to the north.

When neither could see the other, the two armies rushed towards Yining City. After all, it was the light troops led by Li Tai who hurried forward with all their strength and arrived at the exit of Heishui Ridge first, joining the team led by Guo Yan. Guo Yan's troops were exhausted after a long battle. At this time, new troops from the rear arrived, so they withdrew from the front, and the rear divisions and brigades came forward to replenish them.

In order to block the enemy's attack, Han Zunian had mobilized more than 2,000 troops in the city. When he saw that the enemy's offensive was no longer as fierce as before, he was secretly glad, but when he saw the valley More enemy troops poured in, and his mood suddenly fell to the bottom.

"Retreat, retreat to the city!"

With his mentality collapsed, Han Zunian did not dare to persist anymore, because he had sent thousands of troops out of the city, and there were only just over 3,000 soldiers left in the city. If he continued to fight outside the city, The situation is probably going to be dire.

Under the pressure of Li Tai's reinforcements, the enemy troops in the valley finally retreated to Yining City, and the Wei army was able to successfully enter the valley.

It was a pity that Li Tai's team did not carry heavy siege equipment in order to reach the battlefield as soon as possible, and failed to seize this opportunity to directly attack the enemy city.

However, when he had just led his troops to take up positions in the valley, the sounds of soldiers rushing about suddenly sounded from the south of the valley, and the soldiers all raised their weapons and lined up to fight.