After nightfall, the main battlefield in Tongguan, which was full of murderous sounds during the day, fell into silence for a while, which added a bit of evil to this place that had experienced more than ten days of fighting.

In the Chinese army camps of the Han and Wei armies, whether it was Zhang Xi or Cao Zhen, they were all thinking about how to deal with tomorrow's battle.

As the commander of the Wei army, Cao Zhen must ensure that no Shu thieves can break through the defense line and support Tongguan, and at the same time, he must also find a way to break through Tongguan before sunset tomorrow.

The grain and grass can still support two days, if the Tongguan is not broken tomorrow, it will be difficult to say the day after tomorrow.

Perhaps the Wei army will burst out with strong combat effectiveness and continue to maintain the intensity of the offensive under the actual persecution of life and death, but in the same way, Cao Zhen must also be prepared for the possibility of turmoil in the army's morale and even the direct collapse of the army.

Tomorrow is a day when the military spirit can still be controlled, and if it is the third day, everything can only be handed over to the will of heaven.

And in the military tent of the Han army, Zhang Xi is actually also having a headache.

Why didn't I find out before that this Cao Zhen was so difficult and his combat style was so tough.

It's not that Cao Zhen's command is excellent, in fact, after two days of fighting, in general, the battle losses of the Wei army are greater than those of the Han army, but Cao Zhen is in such a situation, and he stubbornly supported the defense line.

If on the first day of the battle, it can be said that Cao Zhen relied on his own strength to bully others, but in today's daytime battle, in terms of the actual number of combatants, Cao Zhen is the inferior side.

The Han army once had the opportunity to make a breakthrough on its own offensive right flank and the left flank of the Wei army's defense, but in the end, it was blocked by the Wei army.

It can be seen that Cao Zhen can really carry it, and his judgment of the situation is also very accurate, leaving a lot of useful back-ups.

All this made it difficult for Zhang Xi to break through the defense line organized by Cao Zhen.

But fortunately, today Zhao Yun finally broke through the encirclement with nearly 1,000 cavalry and entered Tongguan.

If Tongguan has some reinforcements, it should not be too difficult to defend.

And another good news came from the fine work lurking in the Wei army - the Wei army's grain and grass were enough to support two days.

In other words, as long as Tongguan could hold on until the third day, the Wei army, which had no food available, would inevitably collapse.

As for Zhang Xi, the current combat goal is very clear.

Zhang Xi still had to take the initiative to attack the Wei army, try to break through the Wei army's defensive line, and send reinforcements to Tongguan If he can't do this for a while, he must also strengthen the offensive and attract more Wei troops to flank and deploy defenses, so as to reduce the pressure on the frontal attack at Tongguan.

Therefore, Zhang Xi thought about it, but he still had to continue to entangle with Wei Jun according to the current rhythm.

Moreover, after carefully calculating the results of today's daytime battle, Zhang Xi found that his side suffered nearly 3,000 casualties a day, and on the Wei army's side, it is initially estimated that there should be 3,000 or 4,000 casualties to fight like this, which may not be beneficial to the Han army.

In order to prevent themselves from breaking through the defense line to support Tongguan, the Wei army had to accumulate enough troops on the flanks to organize the defensive line, and the greater the losses, the fewer Wei troops who went to Tongguan to attack head-on.

Of course, if he Cao Zhen really dared to fight for his life, and tomorrow he would bring 10,000 people to form a defensive line to meet him, then Zhang Xi would really not be polite.

10,000 men defended such a long area on the flank, facing an attack of 20,000 men, including cavalry. Cao Zhen has great ability, and he can't stop it, right?!

Zhang Xi thought so, and then. The next morning, the two armies faced each other, and Zhang Xi somewhat respected Cao Zhen.

Cao Zhen really took 8,000 infantry and 2,000 archers, set up a defensive line on the spot, and continued to block Zhang Xi's flank attack.

Cao Zhen did not transfer any of the attacking troops in front of Tongguan, and even in order to make up for the losses of yesterday's siege, Cao Zhen also gave Wang Chang a thousand people to support.

Obviously, Cao Zhen is going to fight for his life, trying to block Zhang Xi's breakthrough, and at the same time pinning his hopes on Wang Chang to break through Tongguan as soon as possible.

Anyway, the grain and grass can still support two days, break through Tongguan, everyone lives together, if you can't break Tongguan, everyone is a dead end. What is the difference between dying two days early and dying two days late?!

I have to say that at this time, Cao Zhen really has the will to fight, either live or die, it depends on whether he can hold up the offense and defense of these two days.

Cao Zhen wanted to bet and dared to bet, but Zhang Xi definitely couldn't let him get his wish.

In terms of Tongguan, Zhang Xi is not very worried for the time being, after all, there were seven or eight hundred reinforcements just yesterday, and Zhao Yun is a veteran, much calmer than Wei Yanke, and it should not be a problem for him to guard Tongguan and support it for a day.

Therefore, his biggest task is still in front of him, breaking through Cao Zhen's defense line and striving to break through and enter Tongguan.

Facing Cao Zhen in front of him, Zhang Xi thought about it a little and made some adjustments to his offensive strategy.

Originally, Zhang Xi and Su Ze discussed it, and felt that the offensive effect during the day yesterday was actually good, and today it should be arranged according to yesterday's offensive plan. But now, after Zhang Xi saw Cao Zhen's defense, he hurriedly sent an envoy to talk to Su Ze, the main general of the right wing, and asked him to delay the attack a little.

Without him, Cao Zhen only has 10,000 troops deployed today, which is 5,000 fewer than yesterday's troops, but he has to take care of such a narrow flank defense line, and the depth of his defense line is somewhat insufficient.

Zhang Xi pondered whether it would be more effective to adopt the plan of attacking the east and attacking the west and making breakthroughs in key areas.

Zhang Xi's plan was to let the cavalry first assault the right flank of the Wei army's defense, but not a strong attack, just a feint, dispatch the Wei army's troops, let them shrink the formation defense as much as possible, and then lead the 10,000 Liangzhou army to attack Cao Zhen's Chinese army.

Yes, after yesterday's chaotic battle, Zhang Xi also understood that it was a mistake to mix the Liangzhou Army and the Yongzhou Army, so this time Zhang Xi directly led the 13,000 Liangzhou Army.

10,000 soldiers took the initiative to attack, and 3,000 soldiers served as reserves.

Of course, whether it is a strong attack in the middle or a cavalry assault on the left flank, it is all a disguise, and the real killing move is the right flank of the Han army's attack, the left flank of the Wei army's defense, and the more than 4,000 Yongzhou soldiers led by Su Ze.

When Zhang Xi launched a strong attack on the right flank and in the middle, Cao Zhen would inevitably be under great pressure, and the most likely way for Cao Zhen to respond was to close the formation and defend to ensure that the middle was not broken through.

Breaking through in the middle will not only cause the defense line to collapse, but even Cao Zhen himself may also be lost in the chaos, and it is difficult to say whether he can survive or not.

Since then, the left flank of the Wei army's defense is likely to be sent a large number of troops to the center to support, and at this time, the 4,000 Yongzhou soldiers led by Su Ze launched a surprise attack here, striving to break through the Wei army's defense line in one fell swoop and enter the main battlefield of Tongguan.

In the end, Zhang Xi believed that Zhao Yun, who saw this situation, would definitely send cavalry to meet Su Ze, so that Su Ze could smoothly break through the interception of Wang Chang in front of Tongguan and support those who entered Tongguan.

After all, it was General Han Wei, a veteran general who had fought on the battlefield for more than 40 years, and Changshan Zhao Zilong, who was both civil and military.

Zhang Xi's offensive plan is like this, but the development of things is a little different from what Zhang Xi thought.

Zhang Xi found that in the face of his strong attack, Cao Zhen did not send any reinforcements to support the middle lane.

On the right flank of the Wei army's defensive line, Dai Ling led 2,000 infantry and 1,000 archers to resist the cavalry and impact of 2,000 cavalry, and the defense line was crumbling, but it was still insisting, and Cao Zhen did not give any order to close the formation and retreat into the Chinese army.

And Cao Zhen's own Chinese army, only 4,000 soldiers, but to face the onslaught of 10,000 Liangzhou army, also carried very hard, Cao Zhen himself is less than sixty steps away from the front army, this distance, but if you are unlucky, maybe you will be shot by the battlefield arrows.

But even so, Cao Zhen still did not send any troops and horses to the left flank to help.

This stance. Are you going to fight to the death?!

Okay, Zhang Xi thinks, since you are willing to die, then I am not welcome. Directly press the last 3,000 reserves in your hand and strengthen the onslaught on the middle lane.

13,000 against 4,000, three times the strength, I don't believe you Cao Zhen can still bear it.

And Cao Zhen really can't bear it.

Since the battle plan was formulated early this morning, Cao Zhen knew that his defense today would have a hard time, and I am afraid that he would need to fight with his life and gamble.

But there is no way, in order to ensure that Wang Chang can have enough troops to attack Tongguan and strive to break through Tongguan today, Cao Zhen must do this, he can only take 10,000 soldiers to intercept the attack of nearly 20,000 Shu thieves.

As an old soldier, Cao Zhen had actually expected the current situation, and it was precisely because Cao Zhen had expected it that he did not dare to easily transfer the two wings of soldiers to support the Chinese army.

Cao Zhen knows very well how uncomfortable it is for 4,000 people to defend the attack of 10,000 people, but in the same way, the left flank was almost broken through by the Shu thieves yesterday because of the support of the Chinese army, and Cao Zhen knows it even better.

Therefore, Cao Zhen could only bite the bullet and do not hesitate to place his command position of the Chinese army at the forefront of the battlefield.

Cao Zhen wanted to use this way to tell the Wei soldiers that he Cao Zhen had always been with the soldiers, trying to use this way to arouse the morale of the whole army, so that he could hold on for a longer time.

But in this way, it can last for a while, but not for long.

As the attack of the Shu thieves became more and more fierce, the casualties in the army became larger and larger, and there were fewer and fewer companions around him. The manager is standing above me, and the morale should be lost.

At this time, Cao Zhen was really seriously considering whether to let the soldiers on the left and right flanks gather their formations and come over to support the Chinese army.

If you don't come again, I'm afraid that I, the boss, will really have to carry a gun and fight in person.

Just when Cao Zhen was seriously thinking about whether to give an order. On the wall of Tongguanguan, a burst of smoke suddenly appeared.

Immediately afterwards, the main entrance of Tongguan was opened.

(End of chapter)