Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2321: The armies surrounded Dabie Mountain, and Xie Ai was finally at the end of his rope

After arranging matters in Hefei, Guo Ziyi led the remaining troops and advanced westward, to meet up with Fei Peng, and together they gathered at the foot of the Dabie Mountains.

In addition, in cooperation with Wang Jian on the other side, they officially launched a two-pronged siege on Xie Ai who was hiding in the Dabie Mountains.

The Dabie Mountains are one of the widest mountain ranges in the eastern part of the Han Dynasty. The complex geographical environment is a huge challenge for the attacker, but a favorable condition for the defender.

Even though Wang Jian and Guo Ziyi had surrounded the Dabie Mountains from two sides, if they attacked rashly, they would still suffer heavy losses even if they could take it down.

Therefore, Wang Jian’s first step was to mobilize all the troops and force Yuan Chonghuan’s troops stationed at the foot of the Dabie Mountains.

Yuan Chonghuan led the remaining several thousand Guanning cavalry to station at the foot of the Dabie Mountains, so that they could echo with Xie Ai inside the Dabie Mountains and form a horn-shaped force.

Secondly, as a cavalry unit, if the Guanning Iron Cavalry really enters the mountainous area, their horses will be useless and their combat effectiveness will be seriously reduced. What is the difference between this unit and ordinary infantry at that time?
Wang Jian mobilized all his troops to force Yuan Chonghuan's troops stationed at the foot of the Dabie Mountains. It was impossible for Yuan Chonghuan's troops to fight alone.

At this time, if Yuan Chonghuan wanted to survive, he only had a few options.

One is to retreat directly into the Dabie Mountains and join Xie Ai.

The second is to ask Xie Ai for help.

If Yuan Chonghuan chose the first path, the combat effectiveness of the Guanning Cavalry would decrease, which would naturally be a good thing for the next battle.

If Yuan Chonghuan chose the second path, it would be better for Wang Jian and Guo Ziyi.

It is better to leave the battlefield with Xie Ai under the Dabie Mountains than to use the lives of the Jin army soldiers to flatten the Dabie Mountains, right?
However, although the second situation is the best solution, Wang Jian also knows that Xie Ai, who is famous for his wisdom, would never choose this path.

Although it is the second case, it is naturally the best solution for the actual situation.

However, with different positions, the interests of both parties are naturally different. It is the optimal solution for Xie Ai, but it does not mean it is the optimal solution for Yuan Chonghuan. Xie Ai's interests do not mean they are in line with Yuan Chonghuan's interests.

At the very beginning of the war, Yuan Chonghuan gritted his teeth and confronted Wang Jian, while on the other hand, he tried his best to get Xie Ai to support them. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he absolutely did not want to cut off his own arm and easily enter the interior of Dabie Mountain.

However, he sent three consecutive letters, but Xie Ai firmly disagreed to send a large number of troops to support, and was only willing to send a small group of troops to support Yuan Chonghuan into the Dabie Mountains.

In desperation, Yuan Chonghuan prepared to retreat into the Dabie Mountains. However, after he retreated, there were only 1,500 Guanning Iron Cavalry left.

As early as the Battle of Xuzhou, the Guanning Iron Cavalry had suffered heavy losses in that brutal battle. In Runan, they were also defeated by Guo Ziyi. Now, after fighting several battles with Wang Jian, it can be said that the Guanning Iron Cavalry is now almost dead in name only.

Therefore, even when he retreated into the Dabie Mountains, Yuan Chonghuan was extremely depressed.

He led the Guanning Iron Cavalry into the Central Plains to fight, and he definitely did not want to annihilate all of this army in the Central Plains. Not to mention Yuan Chonghuan, even Yuan Shao’s original intention was definitely not like this. However, even if he regretted it now, it was too late. It was impossible for him to cross the entire Central Plains and then cross the Yellow River to return to Hebei.

Not to mention crossing the entire Central Plains, I'm afraid that before he even left the Jianghuai region, the few remaining members of the Guanning Iron Cavalry would have all died, not a single one would be left.

The only possibility was to obtain Liu Bei's help and return to Hebei by water.

However, with the current Guanning Iron Cavalry, it would be extremely difficult to break through the blockade of Wang Jian and Guo Ziyi and fight all the way to the Yangtze River. In the process, I am afraid they would also be strangled by the enemy.

Besides, even if they could do this, whether Liu Bei's people were willing to help him was another matter.

Right now, the Jianghuai battlefield is in urgent need of manpower. How could Liu Bei's people be willing to allocate a large number of ships at this time to help them take the sea route and cross to Hebei?
Of course, Xie Ai and Guo Ziyi are now facing a huge problem, the problem of food and fodder.

Yes, they are now facing the problem of food and fodder, just like Zhao Kuangyin did in the Central Plains.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang's forces were not short of food, they were definitely not rich in food and grass, and could only barely support themselves. After all, in addition to supporting his own food and grass, Zhu Yuanzhang also had to provide food and grass for Liu Bei's people and Zhao Kuangyin's people in the Yangtze River.

There are tens of thousands of people on both sides, and the amount of food and fodder consumed every day is not a small amount.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang's forces were not short of food, the problem now was that the entire Jianghuai region, including Dabie Mountains and Shouchun, had become two isolated islands. As the most important town in the Jianghuai region, Shouchun itself had good grain reserves. Zhu Di did not know that it would face heavy sieges in the future, so he further stored a large amount of grain here to be able to support it.

However, Dabie Mountains do not have this advantage.

The Dabie Mountains had become an isolated island, with all the surrounding counties having fallen into the hands of the Jin army. No county could provide them with food and fodder, which meant that they had been cut off from logistical support.

The food and grass we have now is barely enough to last for a month. That's all, and that's after careful budgeting.

A month later, they will face the same difficulties that Zhao Kuangyin faced in the Central Plains again.

Xie Ai was now at the end of his rope. Even if he had a lot of tricks up his sleeve, he couldn't create food and grass out of thin air.

In fact, not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang, even the Jin army is now struggling for food and fodder.

A million-strong army has been fighting for more than a year, and the amount of food and fodder consumed is more than an astronomical figure!
Not to mention, with the recovery of the Central Plains, they also needed to solve the mess left by Zhao Kuangyin. Although, in the final analysis, the origin of that mess was started by Huo Qubing.

But it must be said that there are nearly ten million people in the Central Plains, and Wang Yu urgently needs to mobilize a large amount of food and grass to stabilize their lives.

Due to so many factors, even with the Jin army's financial resources, they still had to live a tight life with such huge consumption.