How many days can Tongguan be guarded?!

In fact, Wei Yan asks himself this question almost every day, but in fact, he doesn't know the answer himself.

Wei Yan only brought 3,000 cavalry into Tongguan, and used 3,000 cavalry as infantry to defend the city, and no one knew how long it could be defended.

At first, it was better, there was no enemy behind Tongguan, and there were only 10,000 allied troops of Wang Chang and Dai Ling in front of Tongguan, and these 10,000 people were not in a hurry to attack the city, but first cut down trees and built siege equipment.

In this case, just take daily precautions.

But when Wang Chang and Dai Ling prepared some siege equipment a little and launched the siege, this day became more and more difficult day by day.

First, in the face of the siege of 10,000 Wei troops, the problem was not big, and then there were 10,000 Wei troops behind Tongguan, relying on the high and strong wall, and the problem was not big, but when Cao Zhen led 40,000 troops to Lintong Pass, Wei Yan's life was uncomfortable.

After seven or eight days of defending the city, Wei Yan's troops at that time had already suffered seven or eight hundred casualties, and only more than 2,000 people held on, and in the next three days, the Wei army's offensive strength was no less than 30,000 people.

And when the strength of the army dropped to 1,500 people, Wei Yan knew that it would not be unexpected when a mutiny broke out in this kind of battle damage.

Therefore, if you want to ask Wei Yan how long he can hold on now, Wei Yan can only return to Zhao Yun - if he can keep it for a day, it will be a day.

Don't look at Zhao Yun now with 800 people to help, but these 800 people are also cavalry, if you want to defend the city, you will also use cavalry as infantry, at best, it is just 800 more heads.

For guarding a pass, under the siege of a total of 40,000 Wei troops before and after, there is really no difference between 1,000 and 1,800 people.

The forces were not enough to fully cope with the two walls fighting at the same time.

And in terms of military morale, although you don't have to worry about it today, what will you do tomorrow?! What to do the day after tomorrow?!

Because Zhao Yun came to the aid in time today, this incentive effect can at least last until tomorrow, at least to ensure that before sunset tomorrow, there will be no big fluctuations in the morale of the army.

But tomorrow, if it is still a hard battle, the casualties will still be the same as in the past few days, but there will be no reinforcement of your own people again. That military spirit may not be as stable as it is today.

As the chief general who held Tongguan, and at the same time led this group of Liangzhou cavalry to hold the Tongguan for the longest time, Wei Yan actually knew the military heart very well.

Therefore, Zhao Yun's question, he couldn't answer it, so he could only say it with a hard mouth.

"If a certain family is there for a day, there will be Tongguan for a day."

But this is not what Zhao Yun wants to hear.

In fact, Zhao Yun was also very entangled.

Judging from the offensive and defensive posture in the past two days, Cao Zhen is also desperate.

After knowing that a large number of reinforcements from the Han army had arrived, Cao Zhen actually invested a large number of siege troops in front of Tongguan, and would rather put himself in danger with inferior forces than block the Han army's assistance to Tongguan.

This shows that the grain and grass of the Wei army must be in an emergency.

However, Zhao Yun didn't know how many days of food and grass were left in Cao Zhen's army.

Although it was said that Cao Zhen held a training speech for the soldiers in the morning, and the news that the Wei army's grain and grass could only last for three days at most would definitely be transmitted to the Han army camp through fine work, the two sides were clashing early in the morning, and in the afternoon, Zhao Yun had broken through the encirclement and helped Tongguan.

Zhang Xi may have known the exact information by now, and learned that the Wei army's grain and grass could only last for three days, but Zhao Yun really didn't know, and he didn't have a way to obtain this information now.

As far as the current situation in Tongguan is concerned, there is no chance for the detailed work to pass on the information.

Therefore, Zhao Yun was actually worried about whether Tongguan could hold on for five days if the grain and grass of the Wei army could still last for five days.

The situation of the Tongguan defenders can be observed by Zhao Yun, coupled with the statement of Wei Yan, the main general. Zhao Yun felt that even if he had the eight hundred cavalry he brought as reinforcements, Tongguan might not be able to hold it for three days.

According to what Zhao Yun learned, the daily casualties in Tongguan in the past two days were attrition at a rate of about 300 to 500 people, and the reinforcements brought by Zhao Yun could not withstand the casualties in two days.

In other words, if Zhang Xi can't break through Cao Zhen's blockade within two days and bring new reinforcements, then Tongguan will last until the day after tomorrow at most, and the strength will drop to about 1,000 again.

If this happens again, I'm afraid no one will be able to prevent Tongguan from falling.

As for whether Zhang Xi could break through the Wei army's blockade in time and lead his troops into Tongguan. Judging from the course of the operation in the past few days, I am afraid it is not so easy.

Cao Zhen is worthy of being a famous general of Wei, if he really wants to work hard, it will still be difficult to entangle.

If it is estimated from this perspective, the key to Tongguan is in the next two or three days.

If the Wei army's grain and grass can hold out for more than three days, then the loss of Tongguan is inevitable, and no one can stop it.

And if the grain and grass of the Wei army cannot last more than three days, then . It's up to whoever lasts a little longer.

The defenders of Tongguan hold on longer, then the Wei army is bound to fall into a state of chaos, and at that time, as long as Zhang Xi takes advantage of the chaos of the Wei army and leads the army into Tongguan, then the Wei army in front of Tongguan is not afraid, as long as it can deal with the Wei army behind Tongguan.

But if the Wei army rushes to break through the Tong Pass before the grain and grass run out. All the efforts before that will be in vain, after Tongguan changes hands, I am afraid that with the current strength of the Han army, it will be impossible to break through Tongguan.

Therefore, the choice in front of Zhao Yun is whether to gamble or not and stick to these three days.

Zhao Yun was really hesitant.

Theoretically speaking, since he had supported Wei Yan's strategy of "Alien Sect Meeting Tongguan", now Zhao Yun should not change his mind halfway. After all, once you hold on for three days, the benefits are very large, the Wei army's Sili army is trapped in Guanzhong, and Tongguan is in their own hands, so that in the future, attacking Sili, and even Luoyang, you only need to push all the way, and the biggest obstacle is just the Hangu Pass, which has been abolished for four hundred years.

But if he can't hold on, it doesn't matter if he Zhao Yun dies in battle, Wei Yan is not to say that the final result is still a defeat in battle, Tongguan changes hands, and the Wei army can still hold the pass.

What's worse is that no matter how Zhao Yun weighs the pros and cons, he still feels that the possibility of not being able to hold it is greater than the possibility of holding it.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yun made a decision.

Since it is more likely that Tongguan cannot be defended, then don't lose the future leading generals of the Han Dynasty and 1,800 cavalry in this place, talents like Wei Yan are rare, and cavalry is also rare.

It took five years to get 10,000 cavalry out, and only Zhao Yun, the cavalry organizer, knew how hard and difficult it was.

After this war, it will not be easy to get half of the people left.

Let's break through.

With the scale of 1,800 cavalry, if you give up the Tongguan breakout, you are actually very sure that you can break through the offensive position of the frontal Wei army and withdraw from the flank to join Zhang Xi.

It's just that in this way, it is tantamount to giving up the Northern Expedition of Tongguan in advance and giving up the strategy of "meeting Tongguan with different paths".

Zhao Yun believes that if he bears this responsibility, he must also bear it himself.

Therefore, Zhao Yun ordered the whole army, sorted out the armament, pacified the horses, and prepared to abandon the pass and break through early tomorrow morning.

This military order, before it was officially issued, was opposed by Wei Yan.

Wei Yan was anxious when he heard that he was going to break through, and as soon as he left, Tongguan was lost, and the strategy he proposed was a complete failure.

He thinks that it is not yet the time when the mountains and rivers are exhausted, and he can still keep it.

Maybe the Wei army will run out of grain and grass tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?!

At least hold on until tomorrow or early the day after tomorrow, Wei Yan is still confident, after all, with more than 800 reinforcements to support, it will not be impossible to hold on for a day.

But this kind of thinking of luck is no longer the mentality that a qualified commander should have.

As a general, my judgment is not based on reality and intelligence, but on ambiguous personal feelings such as "I think" and "maybe", and I have lost the calmness that a general should have.

Therefore, Zhao Yun directly rejected Wei Yan's objections, and as General Wei, directly took over the entire Tongguan defense and issued his own military orders.

And when the military order to break through was completely issued, Wei Yan knew that he could no longer stop it.

What the idea of the new 800 cavalry is, Wei Yan doesn't know, and it doesn't matter, but the remaining 1,000 Liangzhou cavalry who followed him to guard Tongguan have been holding back and wanting to abandon the pass and break through for more than a day or two.

I didn't dare to run before, one was afraid that I wouldn't be able to run out, and the other was also a little afraid of Wei Yan. Well, now that the actual commander of the Liangzhou Legion, the military order issued by General Da Hanwei, theoretically speaking, whether it is Wei Yan or Zhang Xi, there is no room for refutation.

Those Liangzhou guys, I'm afraid they don't have any intention to defend the city anymore.

Seeing that things could not be stopped, Wei Yan had to face the reality and face the failure of his battle plan, but at the same time, he dutifully offered a plan to Zhao Yun.

Anyway, they are going to abandon the pass and break through, this Tongguan must not be able to hold it, so the military rations and ordnance that the Wei army had hoarded in the Tongguan checkpoint before, can't they be kept? !

It just so happened that there was ready-made fish oil in the warehouse, and it was useless to use up much when defending the city, so it was better to pour all the grain, grass and ordnance to defend the city with fish oil and burn it on fire.

Can't you leave it to Wei Jun to continue to use!!

Seriously, that is, Tongguan is a pass, most of it is masonry deconstructed walls and various arrow towers, and there are not many wooden buildings, otherwise, Wei Yan really wants to burn Tongguan directly.

Anyway, I can't hold it, and you don't want to use it, but unfortunately, you can't do this.

And Zhao Yun did not hesitate to adopt Wei Yan's strategy.

It was not the people's rations that were burned, and once these military rations were left to the Wei army, they were still military rations and could not reach the people.

Although Zhao Yun has always been very merciful in dealing with the people, on the battlefield, Zhao Yun is also a decisive general.

Burn, burn everything that can be burned, and after igniting, everyone will abandon the pass and break through.

(End of chapter)