Zhang Xi led the troops to retreat and retreated all the way to Chongquan County.

In fact, according to Zhang Xi's meaning, it was best to withdraw directly to Gaoling County, and join Zuo Fengyi and Hu Zun, who were stationed there, to defend together, so that it would be closer to Chang'an, and it would be easy to protect the grain road and not be flanked by the Wei army, but the situation seemed to be a little unallowed.

One of the reasons is that Cao Zhen pursued very quickly.

This time, Cao Zhen's marching speed was no longer so slow and leisurely, sticky, and it was only less than a day away from Zhang Xi, and Cao Zhen had already led his troops to chase down Chongquan County.

If Zhang Xi chooses to abandon the city at this time, it is very likely that he will evolve from retreat to defeat, and will be pursued by Cao Zhen, and finally lead to the collapse of the whole army.

Even if it can be withdrawn to Gaoling, it is estimated that it will not be able to maintain sufficient combat effectiveness.

Moreover, Cao Zhen's pursuit this time also appeared to be premeditated, according to the scout's report, a cavalry of thousands of people appeared on the south side of Chongquan County.

The cavalry on the plain was not easy to mess with, the speed was fast, the impact was strong, and thousands of cavalry appeared on the flank of 30,000 people, and if they were not careful, they would be hit hard by the cavalry assault, so that even if Zhang Xi really ventured to retreat, the speed of retreat could not be raised at all.

And another reason is that Zhang Xi received a letter from Zhuge Liang.

It wasn't that Zhang Xi responded to the letter he wrote to Zhuge Liang before retreating under Dali City. Dali County is still quite far from Chang'an, and the letter should still be on the way now, and it has not arrived in Chang'an.

This reply letter from Zhuge Liang was when Zhang Xi had just arrived in Chongquan County, and he really didn't understand the meaning of Cao Zhen's use of troops, so he made a summary of the current situation and sent it to Chang'an to seek Zhuge Liang's opinion.

Zhuge Liang wrote a reply to this.

And Zhuge Liang's reply. Let Zhang Xi sigh that Zhuge Liang is Zhuge Liang in the end.

Zhuge Liang combined the current situation in the letter, roughly analyzed, and came to the conclusion that Zhang Xi was in Dali County.

Zhuge Liang also believes that Cao Wei must have some special battle plan, and the role of Cao Zhen's army cannot be determined for the time being, but at present, Cao Zhen should want to delay time and wait for variables.

It's just that Zhuge Liang at this time didn't want to understand where the variables of the Wei army were, so Zhuge Liang's advice to Zhang Xi was to deploy on the spot, don't rush in, and give him a little time to adjust the deployment of troops.

Zhuge Liang planned to order in advance to let the Zhaoyun Liangzhou army assembled in Xiaoguan quickly enter the pass and receive Zhang Xi's department, just in case.

The Liangzhou army led by Zhao Yun was composed of 10,000 Liangzhou cavalry and 20,000 Liangzhou infantry, and according to the Northern Expedition strategy, they needed to wait until the end of the Guanzhong defense battle to suddenly set off from Xiaoguan to encircle Cao Zhen's main army, and even counterattack Tongguan. But at present, it seems that neither Zhuge Liang nor Zhang Xi can quickly determine the true purpose of Cao Zhen's army, and Zhuge Liang can only let Zhao Yun enter the customs in advance.

If Cao Zhen didn't have any conspiracy, then Zhao Yun could threaten Cao Zhen's main army on the flank, as long as Zhang Xi on the front could drag Cao Zhen, then it was still possible to fight a decisive battle.

But if Cao Zhen has any conspiracy, then Zhao Yun's timely entry may play a key role in determining the success or failure of Zuo Fengyi's battlefield.

And now, combined with Zhang Xi's prediction, if the real purpose of the Wei army is to break through from the right Fufeng, and then attack their own flank in a roundabout way. Zhao Yun entered the customs in advance, which was very helpful to the battle situation.

Zhao Yun's Liangzhou Army came with cavalry, and the speed was generally not too slow, and if the Wei army that assaulted his flank was also cavalry, then Zhang Xi was in Zuo Feng Yi, and it was not without the capital to fight with the Wei army.

It is even said that if Zhang Xi and Zhao Yun can drag Cao Zhen's 50,000 army plus the cavalry corps attacking from the flank in Zuo Feng Yi, then Guo Huai's army in the right Fufeng area will inevitably be insufficient, and even if he can occupy part of the land of Right Fufeng, he will not have enough troops to attack Chang'an.

On the contrary, once the more than 30,000 people of the Han Army's Northern Army entered the right Fufeng, the comparison of the forces of the two sides was reversed, as long as Zhuge Liang could seize the opportunity to fight a battle of annihilation in the right Fufeng area, and then break through to Wuguan. Then Cao Zhen's battle in the Zuo Fengyi area lost its meaning.

This is a good opportunity to turn defeat into victory, the key lies in two points, one is whether Zhang Xi can block Cao Zhen's main force, and the other is whether Zhuge Liang can seize the opportunity to defeat Guo Huai in Youfufeng.

For the latter, Zhang Xi is really not worried, after all, it is Zhuge Liang.

And the former. Zhang Xi can't retreat now, and if he retreats, Zhao Yun's journey to help will be too long, and even part of the logistics supply line will be exposed to the attack range of the Wei army.

Therefore, Zhang Xi must choose to hold on to Chongquan County, and at the same time send people to seize the time to transport grain and grass from Gaoling County, and be prepared to defend it after being cut off from the back road.

In short, Zhang Xi planned to use himself as bait to attract Cao Zhen's army to fight a decisive battle in Chongquan County.

This decision, when Zhang Xi put it forward, was strongly opposed by Wei Yan.

Wei Yan is not against Zhang Xi's decision, in Wei Yan's opinion, in today's situation, such a response should be the best choice.

What Wei Yan objected to was that Zhang Xi should carry out this decision.

Zhang Xi is the assassin of Yongzhou, and he is also the minister of the Han Dynasty, so such a risky combat behavior should not be commanded by an important minister like Zhang Xi.

In case Zhuge Liang was unable to break through Guo Huai in a short period of time and break through to Wuguan Road, or if Zhao Yun could not quickly lead the Liangzhou Corps into Xiaoguan, and the Wei army had already attacked Chongquan from the flank, and even cut off the grain and grass supply line in Chongquan County. At that time, Chongquan County was an isolated city, and no one knew how long it could last.

Wei Yan believed that Zhang Xi should not be allowed to take the risk of sitting in Chongquan County, at this time Zhang Xi should lead the guards, take advantage of the fact that the Wei army has not yet caused a siege of Chongquan County, quickly retreat, and retreat to Gaoling to join Hu Zun to form a second battlefield, in order to cope with the situation in case Chongquan County cannot hold the future.

As for Chongquan County, he should be allowed to hold on, and Wei Yan believes that with his ability, there is no problem at all in holding Chongquan for half a month to twenty days.

Therefore, Wei Yan strongly suggested that Zhang Xi first retreat from Gaoling with 5,000 soldiers and horses, and holding Gaoling was equivalent to guarding the retreat of the whole army.

Wei Yan's suggestion was supported by Zhang Yi, Hao Zhao and others, but was opposed by Zhang Xi.

Gaoling has to be defended, but not by Wei Yan.

As the commander of the whole army, facing the pressure of the enemy's army and the possibility of being attacked from both sides, Zhang Xi can't do the shameless thing of choosing to retreat alone.

And doing so is also very demoralizing.

To put it mildly, it is to go to Gaoling to form a second line of defense to guard the rear road of the army, but to put it mildly, it is to escape from the battle.

The coach chose to retreat when he was in danger, leaving his soldiers to fight the front line. Who would fight for such a manager?!

I understand your kindness Wei Wenchang, but at this time, you should know best the responsibilities of the commander of the First Army, not only you Wei Wenchang can't withdraw, but I can't withdraw either.

As for Gaoling, there is still a certain necessity to guard Gaoling, which is not only the back road and grain and grass hoarding place of Zuo Fengyi's main army, but also the place where Zuo Fengyi is governed, and it is the gateway to Chang'an.

But now that there are cavalry of the Wei army roaming in the flanks and rear, it is not so simple to retreat to Gaoling.

Therefore, Zhang Xi ordered Hao Zhao, Xiang Chong, and Hu Fen to lead a thousand people each, break through the siege in three ways, and rush back to Gaoling by detour, obeying the command of Zuo Feng Yi and Hu Zun, and it is unlikely that the cavalry of the Wei army will also be pursued in three ways, and one of the three can always withdraw to Gaoling.

As for the rest, they were all guarding the spring and were not allowed to retreat.

Although I'm a little sorry for Zhang Yi for doing this, I'm sorry, who asked you to follow me at the earliest, if Zhang Yi is allowed to retreat at this time, Zhang Xi is also afraid that other people will have ideas.

Hao Zhao is a general, Xiang Zun himself is not familiar with him, Hu Fen is the son of Hu Zun, even if it is to appease Hu Zun to stick to Gaoling, he can't let him stay in Chongquan County to defend it. After all, only Zhang Yi has been with him for the longest time and is the most trustworthy.

Therefore, Zhang Xi forcibly issued such an order in the form of a military order, and then arranged for the three of them to go out of the city in batches in the evening of the next day to return to Gaoling.

The rest of the people are like this, whether they can win or not depends on this battle.

(End of chapter)