Updated: 2013-10-05

Knowing that Zhao Jun had entered Hanzhong, Situ Che, the king of Shu, was also taken aback. The latest free chapters of the book can be found here. Although he already knew that this Zhao army had the intention of going south. However, when Zhao Jun really went south, he was a little caught off guard. In the Battle of Hanzhong, although the Han army was defeated, the Shu army also lost 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers. This is also a great loss for the Shu army. You must know that the soldiers of the Shu army are only more than 200,000, and most of the rest are auxiliaries, recruits and local garrisons, and they are simply unable to deal with the battle of the princes.

Of course, even if the Zhao army went south, Situ Che would not give up the land of Hanzhong. While giving orders to the Shu army in Hanzhong to keep them out, he began to mobilize the Yizhou army and began to go north to support. In addition, it also gave orders to the generals of the ministries to be more vigilant. As for Zhao Jun, although the Shu army has not officially 'fought' with him, Situ Che has always been very taboo about Zhao Jun. You must know that the Shu army was also adapted from the Yongjun army in the past.

For Feng Yanzhang, the chief general of the Shu army in Xicheng County, Hanzhong, at this moment, he was furious. Just defeated the Han army and took Xicheng, but all the grain and grass in the city were destroyed. In addition, the grain and grass materials in the rear were blocked by the Zhao army and could not arrive in time, which had already made most of Feng Yanzhang's excitement about seizing Xicheng disappear. However, he finally took Xicheng and drove the Han army to the three counties in the eastern part of Hanzhong.

However, before he could rest and recuperate his soldiers, he was ready to support Chenggu and counterattack the Zhao army. There was an update from Chenggu. However, the news of this update made Feng Yanzhang feel cold and difficult to accept. Because, Chenggu was occupied by the Zhao army. Moreover, the Zhao army has already begun to kill Xicheng.

5,000 defenders, 5,000 reinforcements, in this way, the whole army was exhausted, and in this way, the Zhao army took its own rear fortification, and in this way, the Zhao army seized the grain and grass materials for the rest of the 20,000 army...... Hearing the news, Feng Yanzhang almost fainted on the spot. He thought that with more than 10,000 troops garrisoned, coupled with the benefits of the city, even if the Shu army was exhausted at the moment, it would be completely capable of blocking the advance of the Zhao army. But now, it has been conquered by the Zhao army in just over ten days.

Feng Yanzhang believes that if it weren't for the fact that Zhao Jun wanted to fight with the Han army, not because he wanted to seize Xicheng County from the Han army, not for the sake of being more convenient to seize from his own hands in the future, and didn't want to provoke the Han army, he was afraid that the Zhao army would have taken the city long ago and killed Xicheng.

Now Feng Yanzhang still has more than 7,000 soldiers in his hands, but it is extremely difficult to fight against the Zhao army. After all, before attacking Xicheng County, the Han army was not a soft persimmon. Even if the Han army finally withdrew, the Han army also suffered a lot of losses to the Shu army in the battle to defend the city. Of course, the biggest loss was the grain and grass in the city. Without food and grass supplies, the army of nearly 10,000 people simply could not hold on.

"Withdraw! General! To the east of us is the territory of the Han army, and behind us is the Zhao army, there are no reinforcements outside, and the food and grass are cut off, so we can't resist the Zhao army at all. What's more, we continue to hesitate like this, fearing that even retreat will be a problem. It's not that the last general is afraid of death, it's just that there is no benefit at all in dying here like this. In addition, the southern part of Hanzhong still needs the general to preside, if the general is not there, the southern part of Hanzhong is only afraid of ......" General Lu Shan said anxiously.

Adjutant General Zhang Pingyuan also nodded and said, "Yes, General, the last general also thinks that General Lu is reasonable." This Xicheng can no longer be defended, the Zhao army is coming, if we don't evacuate, I'm afraid that our seven or eight thousand soldiers will be the turtle in the urn. In addition, the southern part of Hanzhong really needed a general to preside over the anti-Zhao affairs. ”

"Hateful!" Feng Yanzhang's face was 'pale' and 'gloomy', and he was about to drip water. Half a month ago, he sealed Yanzhang and broke the Han army, and he was almost about to take the entire territory of Hanzhong, how high-spirited. didn't want to fight, as soon as Zhao Jun came, he beat him half to death. He was very unwilling, but he had no other choice.

"Withdraw the troops, withdraw the troops immediately, avoid the Zhao army from Chenggu, and return from the south! In addition, the order was sent to go down and loot the rations of all the people in Xicheng, confiscate all the big clans, and prepare enough food for our evacuation. Feng Yanzhang's eyes were red, as if he was crazy, and he ordered sharply.

"My lord, as you expected, the Shu army in Xicheng is about to escape." On a small hillside hundreds of meters north of Xicheng, in the midst of the dense forest, Qin You said to Yang Wangqing beside him with a smile.

Yang Wangqing said disapprerovingly: "Their current strength is on par with ours, but because they are exhausted from repeated battles, their strength is far behind ours. More importantly, this Xicheng is between us and the Han army, and they are worried that they will be attacked by our and the Han army, so they will naturally flee in rout. ”

"Prepare yourself to take over the city as soon as they leave the city. Thinking that in order to get sufficient food and grass materials, these Shu troops will definitely attack the wealthy families in the city, and in addition, the people in the city may also suffer because of this. However, in this way, it will also be convenient for us to take over the city. ”

Qin You nodded and said, "Don't worry, the last general will leave two battalions of men and horses into the city, and the last general will personally ambush this Shu army." ”

Yang Wangqing said in a deep voice: "That's fine, the commander of the Shu army who escaped will be the commander of the Shu army in Hanzhong, Feng Yanzhang, this person can defeat the Han army, I dare not say how smart he is, but this person is extremely stable in battle." This time, we were able to defeat the other party, and it was also related to the suddenness of our appearance and Feng Yanzhang's desire to win a big victory, so ambushing this Shu army cannot be regarded as normal. Perhaps, Feng Yanzhang is waiting for you to ambush him. ”

"Now Feng Yanzhang has more than 7,000 people in his hands, and only 3,000 can we send to ambush him. Therefore, if Feng Yanzhang is prepared, it may appear that the ambush will not be successful, but will be ambushed. ”

"Shall we just give up? This is a great opportunity, and it is not easy for the Shu army to evacuate back smoothly. Chenggu has now fallen into our hands, and the towns and cities in the southern part of Chenggu have also fallen into our hands. If these Shu troops want to go back, they not only need to detour hundreds of miles, but they also need to be on guard against us at all times. Wouldn't it be a pity not to clean them up this time. Qin You couldn't help but sigh.

"Leave them alone? Nature is impossible. However, you also said that it is not easy for the Shu army to evacuate. In addition to the difficulties you mentioned, they will have to watch out for ambushes and raids on them from here. So, we can drag them down and attack them again. We have 5,000 people here, and it will take 2,000 to take over the West City, and you can only use 3,000, and the remaining 2,000 will need to be garrisoned in the city. However, the Eighth Town of the Forbidden Army and the civil officials sent by it have already marched into Hanzhong and are now rushing towards Chenggu, and I will give an order to the army that has arrived from the Eighth Town, and ask them to set up an ambush around Shahe Town, southeast of Chenggu. When the time comes, the Shu army that has been dragged by you to be exhausted and worried will be the 'meat' in our mouths. ”

"Sand River Town? I see, it's action-friendly. Qin You thought about it, nodded and said.

Yang Wangqing smiled lightly and said: "Okay, the matter of this war will be 'handed over' to the general, as for me, I will enter Xicheng County to take over the whole city and appease the people, I will wait for the general's victory in the city and return." ”

As Yang Wangqing said, after Feng Yanzhang, who had evacuated Xicheng, left, he immediately suppressed all other thoughts in his heart and began to think about the overall situation. Of course, the most important thing for him at the moment is to bring these 7,000 soldiers back smoothly. Seven thousand soldiers are very important for the entire Hanzhong war situation and for the entire Shu army. Of course, these 7,000 people were also the escorts of his seal and successfully escaped back to Hanzhong City.

After learning through investigation that the Zhao army in this city was only more than 7,000 people, Feng Yanzhang knew that the current strength of the Zhao army was not very large. Soon after, he learned that the Zhao army had left 2,000 soldiers in Chenggu, recruited 3,000 young men, and selected 3,000 captives from 4,000 or 5,000 captives to form the Chenggu garrison. To Feng Yanzhang's surprise, Zhao Jun dared to let these three thousand participate in the defense of the city.

What Feng Yanzhang didn't know was that these 3,000 captives were all soldiers of Hanzhong nationality, and most of their hometowns were Chenggu County and the surrounding people, and now it was occupied by the Zhao army, and the Zhao army treated the people very well, and they betrayed the Shu army, so naturally they could only serve the Zhao army. Of course, they are under the command of Zhao Jun, and the treatment is also good.

Originally, Zhang Pingyuan also suggested that the army not retreat directly, but to raid Chenggu, but was rejected by Feng Yanzhang. He knew very well that since Zhao Jun occupied Chenggu, he naturally had the certainty that he would not lose it. Otherwise, there would not be more than 2,000 soldiers left to defend it, so they sent most of their men and horses to attack Xicheng. Sure enough, it didn't take long for him to get news from the spies arranged in Chenggu that the reinforcements of the Zhao army had come from the north.

Of course, the news obtained from Chenggu does not confirm that Zhao Jun really has reinforcements, and it may also be a rumor that Zhao Jun can spread in order to ensure the safety of Chenggu. However, the next news made Zhang Pingyuan dispel the idea of raiding Chenggu, because the scouts found out the news that the Zhao army that had attacked Xicheng had already caught up with him in the rear.

"No ambush? Strange, this is not very reasonable, it stands to reason that the Zhao army has fewer men than ours, so they should be ambushed on the way! Zhang Pingyuan was surprised when he heard the news. You know, in order to retreat smoothly and prevent ambush. Feng Yanzhang divided the army into two parts, and in addition, he also sent two groups of scouts to investigate the situation around for more than ten miles. As a result, Zhao Jun came like this, and their plans were all useless.

"A good Yang Wangqing, really powerful, can serve as a privy deputy envoy in the Zhao army, it is really extraordinary. In doing so, he made all of our original counterattack plans useless, and forced us to withdraw our troops carefully. In addition, it also held us back to the death. Feng Yanzhang said solemnly with a 'pale' face.

As a last resort, Feng Yanzhang could only order the whole army to assemble and retreat unhurriedly, and he could only retreat forty or fifty miles a day, because the Zhao army in the rear would 'force' close attacks from time to time to disturb them. So that the army did not dare to march quickly, let alone divide the ranks too scattered. Even in order to prevent the night attack of the Zhao army and the tired army of the Zhao army at night, the Shu army had to order a large camp and rest early every day when the sun was just in the west.

It's not that Feng Yanzhang doesn't want to leave earlier, it's not that Feng Yanzhang doesn't want to withdraw his troops quickly. Instead, Zhao Jun was like a steppe wolf pack, pounced on it and took a bite at every opportunity, making it difficult for the Shu army to parry. What made Feng Yanzhang and the Shu army even more annoyed was that the Zhao army made fake raids from time to time at night, beating gongs and drums, so that the soldiers could not rest. But when you really rest, Zhao Jun's fake night attack becomes a real night attack. All of a sudden, the Shu army was exhausted.

What's even worse is that the presence of cavalry in the Zhao army makes the scouts of the Shu army suffer great losses, and in addition, with the presence of cavalry, it is very easy for the Zhao army to attack. Once the team pulled away, it would be 'shot' by the cavalry of the Zhao army, which caused the Shu army to suffer a lot of losses. In addition, during the attack, the Zhao army also destroyed some grain carried by the Shu army. In order to ensure that his morale was not suppressed by such an attack by the Zhao army, in order not to destroy his own food, and in order not to let the Zhao army get into a loophole, Feng Yanzhang had to let the army form a group and form a formation to defend the Zhao army.

And the strength of the Zhao army is not as large as that of the Shu army, so the Zhao army does not dare to get too close easily, let alone directly engage in a frontal battle. The mourning soldiers will win, and Qin You is also very aware of this. If it is a head-on decisive battle, in order to survive, these Shu soldiers will definitely burst out with extraordinary combat effectiveness.

In this way, the Shu army fought and retreated, and the Zhao army pursued relentlessly. The pursuit lasted for five days until they reached the town of Shahe. In these five days, the Zhao army packed up the Shu army quite lightly. Of course, the Zhao army did not win a big victory, and one of the night attacks was used by Feng Yanzhang to kill more than 300 Zhao troops. If it weren't for the rapid charge of the cavalry of the Zhao army, which surrounded and dispersed the demoralized Shu army in time, I am afraid that the losses would be even greater. However, even so, the morale of the Shu army that arrived in Shahe Town fell to a low point, and the original more than 7,000 soldiers are now only more than 5,000. Most of the more than 2,000 of them were attacked and killed by the Zhao army, and some of the four or five hundred soldiers took advantage of the 'chaos' to escape, and were finally captured by the Zhao army.

"Rest in place, and also, set up defenses outside the town. Wait until we've had a good rest before we evacuate. "Feng Yanzhang, who arrived in Shahe Town, had to order a rest here. Because, the soldiers below have already complained because of the attack of the Zhao army and the 'commotion' at night. If the march continues, Feng Yanzhang is afraid that the soldiers below will be scattered.

Adjutant General Zhang Pingyuan and several other partial generals are all tired at the moment, and this time they have seen the 'insidious' and ruthlessness of Zhao Jun. In the past few days, they have not rested for a moment, and in addition, even the partial generals and generals have been senior generals, and in these five days, three people have also been killed. This made them feel extremely uneasy.

Because Shahe Town is just an ordinary town, there are no walls here. Even the people in the town are not much left because of the war. Therefore, the Shu army had to demolish the houses and set up a defensive network outside the town, and in the face of the relentless pursuit of the Zhao army, Feng Yanzhang did not dare to be careless, while carefully sending people to investigate the surrounding situation, at least half of the forces were arranged outside to guard in case the Zhao army raided.

Here, the two sides fought for a day and a night, each with damage, and there were no major 'engagements'. The Shu army did not dare to leave easily. Qin You's purpose in doing this was not to trap the other party in the town, but to wait for reinforcements from the Eighth Town of the Forbidden Army. Because the road is not easy to walk, in addition, the eight towns of the forbidden army not only transported a large amount of grain and grass materials this time, but also some civilian officials, so the speed was much slower than expected.

"General, there's news." When Qin You arranged to attack the Shu army from time to time, he was rewarded by Tanma.

"How?" Qin You hurriedly got up and asked anxiously.

"The soldiers have arrived, and now they are thirty miles to the northwest on the banks of the Muma River, ready to attack at any time."

"Very good, let them wait on the spot, the Shu army will arrive soon." Qin You said with a smile.

Subsequently, Qin You took advantage of the night 'color' to lead the army away and disappeared from the field of vision of the Shu army. Because there were not many scouts of the Shu army killed by the Zhao army, the Shu army did not know what was going on at all about the withdrawal of the Zhao army.

However, Feng Yanzhang made it clear that Zhao Jun would not give up on his job. However, for him, now they have no choice, there is not much food and grass left, if they do not take this opportunity to leave, then they can only be trapped here. Therefore, as soon as the matter of the withdrawal of the army was proposed by the general below, Feng Yanzhang immediately agreed to withdraw the army to the west when the sky was twilight.

"I don't know what 'yin' tricks Zhao Jun will have waiting for us, I don't know if I can take them back alive this time. Alas...... Careless, if I had evacuated in time and stopped attacking Xicheng, maybe this situation would not have happened at all now, I was too greedy......" looked at the soldiers who were heading west, and then looked at the limit of the eastern field of vision, Feng Yanzhang couldn't help but sigh.