Facing the 3,000 cavalry who fled back to Chongquan County from Dali County, Cao Zhen's heart was really turbulent.

That is, Niu Jin does not know whether he lives or dies, and there will basically be no good end in this situation on the battlefield. Otherwise, Cao Zhen would have to find Niu Jin and scold a dog blood sprinkler.

13,000 cavalry went to attack the Shu thieves who supported 10,000 cavalry, and they actually came back with such a big defeat!!

Well, now, not only the cavalry troops have suffered heavy losses, but behind them, there will be nearly 10,000 cavalry to launch a surprise attack on them at any time.

"General, this is the end of the matter, and it is useless to be angry. Let's withdraw our troops! ”

General Cao was angry, and none of the generals under him dared to speak, so he could only be Situ Wang Lang, who was old and had no subordinate relationship with General Cao, stood up and advised General Cao.

Hurry up and retreat, if you don't retreat, when the cavalry wraps us in dumplings, then we can't retreat if we want to.

In the face of the speed advantage of the cavalry, a thousand miles of pursuit, where can the infantry run?!

Cao Zhen actually understands this truth, but the question is where to retreat?!

This is the fundamental purpose of Cao Zhen's convening of the generals to discuss today.

"The old man thought that the general should withdraw his troops as soon as possible and retreat to Tongguan in case the back road is lost." Wang Lang opened his mouth and said.

Although Wang Lang doesn't know much about military affairs, his own back road was cut off, and there was a cavalry threat behind him, which Wang Lang still has military common sense.

Therefore, Wang Lang suggested that he should retreat directly to Tongguan.

They all retreated to Tongguan, behind them is Hangu Pass, and then Luoyang Even if the Shu thief cavalry runs fast, it is impossible to cross the two levels and run to Luoyang to cut off the army's food route.

This is Wang Lang's very simple idea.

And there are not no people who support Wang Lang's suggestion, for example, Wang Chang, he supports the proposal to retreat to Tongguan.

Of course, Wang Chang's consideration is much deeper than Wang Lang's, after all, Wang Chang is a person who really understands military affairs.

"General, the Shu thief cavalry suddenly appeared, it must be the Liangzhou army to come to help. The Liangzhou army came so quickly, I think the Shu thieves had already taken precautions, and the general must not ignore it! Wang Chang first persuaded Cao Zhen twice, and then put forward his reasons for retreating to Tongguan.

The Liangzhou Legion came too quickly, earlier than everyone expected, maybe before the siege of Chongquan County, the Liangzhou Legion of the Shu thieves had already set off as a whole army.

If you think about it from this angle, it is difficult for you to say whether the Yongzhou army of the Shu thieves was besieged in Chongquan County by the Great Wei, or whether the Shu thieves deliberately used the Yongzhou army as bait to gather and annihilate the main force of the entire Great Wei Sili Army.

Wang Chang thought that Zhang Xi was not so stupid, and it was unlikely that he would be besieged so easily with his strategy of commanding troops, and his own march was a little too smooth. Now that the cavalry is behind him, if he wants to retreat, it is better to retreat directly to Tongguan to ensure that Luoyang is not lost.

Otherwise, once the Shu thieves were freed up and took a detour to capture Tongguan, the back road of the entire army would be cut off.

Wang Chang's previous words, to be honest, Cao Zhen didn't care how cunning Zhang Xi was, he was also a human, not a god, and it was impossible for him to predict the development of the entire battle situation more than twenty days in advance.

Judging from Zhang Xi's hasty response to the battle in the early stage, and the practice of retreating immediately after discovering hidden dangers, Zhang Xi could not have set up bait in advance, otherwise it would be too terrible.

Therefore, Cao Zhen is more inclined to say that the early entry of the Liangzhou army is a coincidence, maybe the Shu thieves themselves have a plan to attack Tongguan, but they were interrupted by themselves.

But there is one point, Cao Zhen agrees with Wang Chang's statement - in case the enemy army makes a detour to attack Tongguan and completely locks the retreat of the Wei army, at that time, the main force of the entire Sili Legion will be trapped in Zuo Fengyi, facing the siege of the Shu thief Yongzhou Legion and the Liangzhou Legion.

So. Tongguan is indeed a problem.

However, this does not mean that Cao Zhen is willing to retreat to Tongguan.

"General Wang's words, too careful!"

In the tent, another general stood up and said, "There are more than 3,000 cavalry under the command of General Wang. The Shu thief cavalry, but more than 10,000 people, the strength is comparable, why do you retreat lightly? ! ”

When Wang Chang heard this, he immediately turned his head and looked at the person who came. It's Han De.

Hawkers, this General Wang, he must be talking about himself, and he should call Wang Lang "Wang Situ".

Therefore, Wang Chang was ready to answer.

But before Wang Chang could speak, Dai Ling on the side also stood up and said, "General Han's words are very true. Our army has besieged the enemy in Chongquan for more than 20 days, the enemy can only do the battle of the trapped beast, even if the cavalry is coming, only need to select a good general, with cavalry to refuse, to capture Chongquan, after exterminating the Shu thief Yongzhou soldiers, only 10,000 cavalry, what are you afraid of? ! ”

The ideas of these two are different from those of Wang Chang and Wang Lang, and they think that there is no need to completely give up the current good situation because of the arrival of more than 10,000 cavalry.

One thing to say, Wang Chang wanted to spray on the spot.

There is still a little truth in what you said when the cavalry was fully organized.

After all, at that time, Niu Jin plus the cavalry in his hands had a total of 20,000 people.

Using these cavalry to protect the grain route, even if it can't repel the attacks of the Shu thieves, it is still not a problem to ensure that most of the grain and grass are transported.

But now, the 13,000 cavalry led by Niu Jin went to encircle and suppress the Shu thieves, but the result was a big defeat and loss, and only more than 3,000 cavalry escaped back, how do you have the confidence to think that I can lead 5,000 cavalry and 3,000 defeated soldiers to block the Liangzhou cavalry of the Shu thieves? !

Cavalry combat isn't what you bastards think it is, it's just a contest of strength!!

Even Niu Jin was defeated, obviously, this shows that the Liangzhou cavalry has defeated Niu Jin in terms of combat power and cavalry command. I am such a small person, and my understanding of cavalry is far inferior to Niu Jin, how can I fight against the Liangzhou cavalry?!

Wang Chang wanted to refute it, but he saw Cao Zhen nodding his head while listening to Dai Ling and Han De's words.

Obviously, Cao Zhen agrees with the statements of these two people. This made Wang Chang a little hesitant to continue.

After all, Cao Zhen is the general.

In fact, Cao Zhen was indeed more inclined to Dai Ling and Han De's ideas, and continued to stay in Chongquan County to besiege them.

The reason is simple, Cao Zhen is reluctant to give up the strategic advantage he has gained so far.

How embarrassed he was when he was driven out of Guanzhong by Shu thieves, and now Cao Zhen's desire to recover Guanzhong is so eager.

finally occupied the strategic advantage, as long as the main force of the Yongzhou Army was eaten, the ownership of Guanzhong would be completely clear.

This can't be blamed on Cao Zhen, he still thinks that Guo Huai, who is on the right side of the wind, should have captured Huaili and started to march towards Chang'an. The ghost knows that Guo Huai is also being beaten at this time.

The communication efficiency of these years and months is not so high, and it will take at least ten days or so for the war report of Youfufeng to be sent to Cao Zhen, so Cao Zhen still thinks that as long as he can capture Chongquan County and encircle and annihilate the main force of the Yongzhou Army here, he can completely lay the victory.

However, Cao Zhen is also a battle-hardened general, and his own ability and quality are not bad, it is impossible for him not to know what it means when a large number of cavalry appears on his back road.

Niu Jin's defeat made Cao Zhen understand that the cavalry on the back road must be difficult to deal with, and Cao Zhen also had experience as the leader of the tiger and leopard cavalry in his early years, and he also knew a lot about cavalry combat, so he didn't think that relying on the 5,000 headquarters cavalry and 3,000 defeated troops in Wang Chang's hands could block the Liangzhou cavalry behind him.

Niu Jin can't do anything with 13,000 people, do you expect Wang Chang, a halfway monk, to be the cavalry commander with 8,000 miscellaneous troops? !

Therefore, the threat from the back is still there, and if a decision cannot be made in time, then even if Cao Zhen has the advantage of troops, if he is not careful, he may indeed fall into an unfavorable situation.

And the most terrible thing is that the cavalry's march is extremely fast, the distance from Dali County to Chongquan County is less than forty miles, and if the cavalry rushes quickly, it will only be half a day's time, and there is no time for Cao Zhen to continue to think and hesitate.

Therefore, combining the opinions of both sides, Cao Zhen decided - to compromise.

A certain great writer once said that the Chinese always like to reconcile and compromise, although Cao Zhen certainly did not know this great writer, but this statement, in Cao Zhen, is also universal.

Cao Zhen decided to retreat to Linjin.

On the one hand, shorten their own logistical supply lines to ensure the safety of the rear road.

On the other hand, if the city is defended, the cavalry of the Shu thieves will lose their usefulness, and all they can do is to attack the supply line.

To the east of Linjin County, the closer it is to the direction of Tongguan, the terrain will slowly change from plains to hills. will become less and less suitable for large-scale cavalry combat.

And Cao Zhen still has 8,000 cavalry in his hand, and these 8,000 cavalry can't defeat the Liangzhou cavalry of the Shu thieves on the plain, but if it is placed in the rear to ensure the transportation of grain and grass, or to attack each other's grain and grass supply lines, it can still be done.

Anyway, Cao Zhen didn't believe that the grain and grass supplies of the Liangzhou Army could still be sent from Liangzhou all the way.

It is bound to share a grain and grass supply channel with the Shu thieves in Chongquan County, which will invisibly deepen the logistical pressure of the Shu thieves.

Once Cao Zhen retreated to Linjin, his logistics supply line was shortened, and if the Shu thieves followed, then invisibly, the Shu thieves' grain and grass supply lines would be lengthened. It's hard to say who will take advantage of it.

Moreover, let's recycle it a little bit, attract Shu thieves to come out of Chongquan County, and take the initiative to attack themselves to defend the city, and those who attack the city will become Shu thieves.

As long as this Shu thief continues to be contained here, then when Guo Huai fights the right wind and the army is in Chang'an, the Shu thief will not be able to return in time.

At that time, the final victory was still his general Cao's !!

(End of chapter)