"General, hurry up and retreat into the back camp." Chen Tai saw that the situation was not right, and hurriedly suggested: "Destroy the camp for the battle, we still have a chance." ”

Cao Zhen nodded: "You go and prepare, I'll take a look." ”

Chen Tai didn't persuade much, answered, and turned around.

The strong combat effectiveness of the Wei family's soldiers seriously interfered with Cao Zhen's rhythm, and the army was blocked in the camp, unable to go out of the camp and array, and could only fight the Shu army with stragglers, and the advantages of the defenders could not be brought into play. If the stalemate continues, when Wei Yan's main force arrives, I am afraid that the Wei army will suffer even greater losses. It was Chen Tai who suggested that Cao Zhen retreat into the rear camp, simply abandon the front army and the Chinese army, and use the interval between the two battalions to line up and prepare for battle. In this way, the large battalions of the front army and the Chinese army will inevitably suffer great damage, and there will be a loss of morale, but it can be exchanged for precious time and space, and it is still a wise decision to choose the lesser of two evils.

Chen Tai rushed to the rear camp and lined up as fast as he could, and as soon as he was ready, Wei Yan led the army to arrive. After a slight sweep of the situation on the battlefield, Wei Yan gave the order to enter the battle.

1,500 elite soldiers were thrown into the battlefield, and the Wei army, which had been beaten by the Wei family soldiers and had no power to fight back, could not resist even more and retreated. Cao Zhen sighed and ordered a retreat.

At the sound of an order, the surviving Wei troops were relieved and covered each other to withdraw from the battle group. Wen Qin covered his waist with one hand and held a bloody war knife in the other, glanced at Wei Wu who was tiptoeing with unfinished eyes, and quickly evacuated with the personal guard battalion.

Wei Wu was also not happy, and was about to chase again, when Wei Yan rushed over. Seeing Wei Wu limping away, he hurriedly asked, "Injured?" ”

"It's fine." Wei Wu put away the knife with a smile: "It's just a twist of the foot, that shaft is not simple, I kicked it, and it can still fight with me until now." ”

Wei Yan breathed a sigh of relief and ordered Wei Wu and the others to withdraw to the rear to rest, and he commanded the army to attack. After several years of fierce fighting, the number of Wei soldiers decreased sharply, and the total number was less than 1,000. Good steel should be used on the blade and cannot be easily consumed.

The Wei family's military soldiers and Wen Qin's personal guard battalion withdrew from the battlefield one after another. The ensuing battle ensued between ordinary soldiers on both sides. Such a battle. Wei Yan still had the upper hand. Cao Zhen handed over the elite to Cao Zhi, and the rest of the camp were old and weak or had not recovered from minor injuries, and they were also tired of dealing with the elite led by Wei Yan at this moment. However, relying on the camp and the pre-set haode position, he barely maintained his undefeated.

Cao Zhen also knows. The stalemate is only temporary. Although the strength of the two sides is similar, their combat effectiveness is not at the same level, and the longer it drags on. The more bad it is for him. Although he was not afraid of death, if the general of Wei died in battle, it would inevitably be a major blow to the morale of the entire army of Wei. For both public and private reasons, he can't die here.

Cao Zhen ordered that the baggage battalion should be led by the servant to withdraw first, and the grain, grass and wounded soldiers should be sent to the big boat docked by the river and transported to the other side of the river. In order to hinder Wei Yan, he ordered the four large battalions to be set on fire except for the rear army.

Seeing the fire, Wei Yan immediately understood Cao Zhen's intentions, and he ordered Wei Wu to lead 1,500 people, including Wu Shu, to attack Cao Zhen's flank along the riverbank, cut off Cao Zhen's retreat, and keep Cao Zhen here as much as possible. When Wei Wu heard the order, he immediately rushed out of the formation.

"Kill—" The warriors shouted, and as they ran, they pulled their strong bows and shot sharp arrows.

"Hold on!" Chen Tai carried a war knife, walked back and forth in the formation, and gave orders one after another: "Crossbowman, shoot!" ”

"Boom, boom!" The Wei army hid behind a barrier erected with a baggage battalion and fired with all their might. The crossbow cart roared continuously, shooting a rain of arrows at the incoming Shu Han army.

"Don't panic, hide behind the cart and fight back, advance slowly, and pay attention to covering each other." Wei Wu held up a large shield and shouted loudly. Under his command, the soldiers framed themselves together with their baggage wagons to build a tall rampart, and coordinated with each other to move forward. The Wei army had a crossbow cart to help, and the arrows were dense like rain, and they came in a hurry, without such a large ordnance, if they attacked and advanced, they would definitely suffer a big loss.

Although Wei Wu was brave, he was not reckless, he patiently pushed the front forward step by step, although it was a little slower, but it was not steady.

Chen Tai looked at the immature face hiding behind the big shield on the other side, and felt a chill in his heart. Wei Yan himself is a fierce general, but his son is even better than the blue, Wei Ba needless to say, he is now famous all over the world, and this Wei Wu is also not to be underestimated, he is so skilled and scheming at a young age, and he will inevitably be a general in the future.

After a quarter of an hour of fierce fighting, Wei Wu finally rushed to the front of Chen Tai's formation, and the soldiers behind the cart rushed over like a tide, and once again launched a ferocious attack on the Wei army. Chen Tai tried his best to resist, but he still couldn't stop Wei Wu's attack, seeing that the formation was about to be broken and the back road was about to be cut off, Chen Tai had to send an alarm to Cao Zhen.

Cao Zhen commanded the Chinese army to fight with Wei Yan, and he also insisted very hard, struggling to support Wei Yan in the face of his step-by-step pressing. Hearing Chen Tai's alarm, he no longer hesitated and ordered the Chinese army to withdraw to the warship. Once on board, he ordered all the ballista carts to be pushed aside and fired heavily at the shore to cover Chen Tai's retreat.

Under Cao Zhen's response, Chen Tai fought and retreated, and finally withdrew to the ship at the moment of Zuihou.

After two hours of bitter fighting, Cao Zhen retreated across the river with the remnants of less than 500 men, and Wei Yan won a complete victory. Although Cao Zhen struggled to support and bought a lot of time, as much as possible to transport grain, grass, baggage and some wounded to the other side of the river, but more than 1,000 people were still killed in battle, hundreds were captured, a large amount of baggage fell into Wei Yan's hands, and the camp was burned to the ground, with heavy losses.

Wei Yan quickly counted the battlefield and rushed back to Tongguan with the casualties of soldiers and prisoners. After resting for the night, he left Tongguan with 2,000 men the next morning. Because of his foot injury, Wei Wu was not very convenient to move, so he could only stay in Tongguan to recuperate.

Zhao Yun breathed a sigh of relief when he received the news that Wei Yan had defeated Cao Zhen, and he patiently guarded the camp and waited for Wei Yan's arrival while relaying the news to Ma Yan. Ma Tan got the news. I finally put my mind at ease, at least in the short term, there will be no danger in Tongguan.

At this time, Cao Zhi, who had rested for two days, began to march again, and he led the army towards Chang'an with great momentum. After receiving the news, Ma Tan did not dare to slack off, he personally guarded the workshop on the bank of the Weishui River, but handed over the task of guarding Chang'an City to others. He even made a decision that when necessary, he would rather burn the workshop with a fire than let it fall into Cao Zhi's hands.

But it was not what he expected. Cao Zhi had no intention of attacking the workshop. Like the 3,000 cavalry who passed under Chang'an City before, he did not make any stop under Chang'an City and hurried all the way west.

After Ma Tan and Zhao Yun and Wei Yan, who arrived later, they faced Cao Zhi's strange actions. Serious divisions arose.

Wei Yan's meaning is simple. Cao Zhi now has about 13,000 people. The three of them combined are about the same number. The two sides have similar forces and have the strength to fight. Heading west, they can get supplies. Places like Yixian and Chencang have grain stocks available, unlike Cao Zhi, who only carries baggage with him and has no source of supplies, so he is always in tension.

Wei Yan suggested that there was one more consideration. To the west of Chang'an, all the way to Longshan, it is the place of Tuntian, but most of them are people, some of them are the big clans of Guanzhong, and some of them are the heavenly masters and Taoists. They didn't have much means of self-preservation, and when they met Cao Zhi, they had no power to fight back, only surrender. If Cao Zhi defeats them, he can plunder the grain, grass and people, and he will be able to hold on for a longer time and strengthen his strength. If they catch up, Cao Zhi will not dare to attack those Mintun easily, and his grain and grass problem will not be solved.

Ma Yan agreed that Wei Yan's opinion was reasonable, but he had deeper considerations. Cao Zhi went all the way to the west, it was impossible for him not to know that Zhuge Liang's army was there, but he still wanted to go, just to join forces with Zhang He and lead Zhang He into Guanzhong? Have you ever thought about what if Cao Zhi traveled west just to lure us along, and then let Zhang He enter the customs from the north and enter the eastern part of Guanzhong?

Zhang He and Qin Lang have 40,000 people, their whereabouts are uncertain, how do you know if he is in Liupan Mountain or Huanglong Mountain?

Wei Yan also had to admit that Ma Yan had a point.

Say 1,000, say 10,000, they still suffer from the lack of troops, and the speed is not as fast as the Wei army. Originally, they could also take advantage of the geographical advantage to keep the enemy out of the country, but now Cao Zhi broke the cauldron and entered the pass, causing them great trouble, with Zhang He's 40,000 foot cavalry outside, and Cao Zhi's more than 10,000 outlaws inside, they did not have enough troops to defend, and they lost the other.

The three of them discussed Zuihou, but no one could convince anyone, so they had to take a compromise approach. Zhao Yun led 8,000 troops to guard Chang'an, taking into account the passes in the north, and Ma Jian and Wei Yan led 5,000 people to follow Cao Zhi, and before the reinforcements from Hanzhong arrived, they avoided engaging Cao Zhi as much as possible, just kept watch and acted on the opportunity.

……

Ma Dai strode into the tent and bowed to Zhuge Liang: "Prime Minister." ”

Zhuge Liang put down the pen in his hand, raised his head, and smiled calmly. "Bo Zhan, how is the training?"

"The progress is very fast, it is worthy of the generals' personal guard horses, and the foundation is good." Ma Dai said gratefully.

Zhuge Liang gathered the small number of personal guard cavalry of each department, about 4,000 cavalry, all of which were handed over to Ma Dai to take charge. This is the only cavalry in the Shu Han army with more than 1,000 people, Ma Dai knows the weight of it very well, and knows even more that Zhuge Liang relies on him, so he is very grateful to Zhuge Liang and obeys his words.

"Can you fight?"

"There's a war?" Although Ma Dai was happy, he did not get carried away, whether these people can fight or not depends on who the opponent is. If they encounter a strong enemy, they have no advantage to speak of.

"There are 3,000 Wei cavalry, which entered Guanzhong from Huanglong Mountain, and Zhao Zilong and Wei Wenchang have no cavalry and cannot catch up. It is estimated that it will be in Wangxian County soon. Zhuge Liang briefly explained the situation: "I want you to meet these uninvited guests, you can be sure." ”

Ma Dai pondered for a long time and arched his hand: "Please rest assured, Prime Minister, I will go all out." ”

Zhuge Liang smiled with satisfaction. He waved his hand and signaled Ma Dai not to worry: "Your subordinates have just been gathered, and the cooperation may not be tacit enough, I don't force you to defeat them, just let them not be unscrupulous." The tuntian here is our hope to hold Guanzhong, and I don't want to be destroyed in their hands. You go, let them restrain themselves, and if they want to fight, just come to me. ”

Ma Dai breathed a sigh of relief: "Whew." ”…… (To be continued......)