Xiang Yu fights the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 79 Strategic Shift
At this time, Xiang Yu had to admit one thing, that is, the combat effectiveness of these Xiliang cavalry in the mountains seemed to be somewhat beyond his expectations. In fact, Xiang Yu had never fought against the cavalry of the Huns and Qiang. Experience, he was also very good at using cavalry at that time, and he was the best at using shock cavalry.

However, shock cavalry is more powerful in civil wars, and when facing frontier minorities, it is better to use light cavalry who are good at cavalry and archery. Before that, Xiang Yu was able to lead very few cavalry to defeat the Qiang cavalry on the frontal battlefield. In addition to Xiang Yu's bravery and strong on-the-spot command, the major reason for the defeat was that the Qiang cavalry at that time underestimated the enemy. .

Therefore, the cavalry of the Qiang people did not show their best horse riding and shooting, and the place where the battle was fought was also the Guanzhong area with more plains, not the current mountainous terrain.

Now these Qiang cavalry have experienced the strength of the cavalry led by Xiang Yu on the frontal battlefield, so they dare not despise him any more, and dare not engage in hand-to-hand combat with Xiang Yu easily. The tactics of guerrilla cavalry and shooting in the mountains were taken out, and their own cavalry was more than Xiang Yu's, which made Xiang Yu's current situation very passive. If he wanted to fight these Qiang cavalry head-on, the opponent Instead of fighting, they just occupy a more critical location. Anyway, you fight when you come, and I don't care about you when you leave.

He was quite depressed about Xiang Yu, and he couldn't think of a solution for a while, and he later learned that Sun Jian had withdrawn the main force attacking Tianshui City, and the few remaining troops pretended to continue to besiege the city. Xiang Yu's troops were defeated by the support troops from the north and the defenders in Tianshui City. In this way, Xiang Yu's rear became less safe. It is obviously impossible for him to choose to continue to attack Xixian County in his current situation. , but must retreat as soon as possible, and it will be safer to retreat to Linwei City.

Several of Xiang Yu's lieutenants saw that the expression on Xiang Yu's face was not quite right, so they all wanted to advise Xiang Yu. In their opinion, although Xiang Yu was indeed very powerful from many previous performances, he was still an eighteen-nine-year-old after all. He is only a [-]-year-old boy, and his experience is still somewhat lacking. It is normal for him to be unable to figure out some key problems for a while.

Xiang Yu didn't say much, but rather patiently listened to the suggestions put forward by these lieutenants. Their general suggestions were mainly divided into two types, but the core idea was the same, that is, to retreat, but One is to choose to retreat from the mountains and retreat all the way to Linwei City. The straight-line distance of this plan is relatively short, but because it is a mountain, the actual distance and marching time may not be very short.

The second option is to retreat by boat from the Weihe River, but this option needs to pass near Tianshui City, but requires a boat, but considering that Han Sui's reinforcements from Ji County have already met with the defenders in Tianshui City It is very likely that the entire army will encounter these troops on the way to retreat. Xiang Yu's entire army is obviously at a disadvantage. It is very difficult to break out of the encirclement of such two combined armies head-on. The key is that there are no boats on the Weihe River for them to use, they have to find a way to build boats by themselves.

Therefore, after the second option was put forward, it was quickly rejected by the general who proposed the first plan, so the plan left behind was naturally the first one. They wanted to travel eastward from the mountains, although This plan may also encounter the pursuit of Xiliang cavalry behind them, but the number of opponents should not be particularly large, and judging from the opponent's main attack method of shooting from a distance, as long as the whole army is prepared in advance, at least it can still be defeated. Casualties were controlled within an acceptable range.

In fact, Xiang Yu didn't really want to retreat in his heart, because retreating meant that he admitted his failure, and for Xiang Yu, failure was a very unacceptable thing. If it was him in his previous life, he probably wouldn't Accept the option of temporarily retreating, but directly choose to fight to the death with the enemy army coming from the direction of Tianshui City.

However, Xiang Yu now is obviously more rational than he was in his previous life. He knows that if he uses his current strength to fight the opponent head-on, it is basically hitting a stone with an egg. No matter how strong his command and combat ability is, it will be difficult to reproduce it. The miracle came, after all, the gap in troop strength was too great.

In the end, Xiang Yu accepted the withdrawal plan proposed by his officers and men, and the whole army retreated from the mountains along the east line. Interestingly, those Xiliang cavalry who were behind Xiang Yu had no intention of chasing Xiang Yu, and just let Xiang Yu go. The troops withdrew to Linwei City.

On the other side, although Sun Jian took down Ji County quickly with a thunderbolt, his current position is still very embarrassing. On the one hand, the defensive ability of Ji County itself is not strong, but its position is actually pretty good. It is important because it is also adjacent to the Weihe River, which is similar to Linwei City, so that they can transport soldiers and military rations through the Weihe River.

However, the carrying capacity of the Weihe River is not very large. It is close to the upper reaches of the Weihe River, and there is no way for slightly larger ships to travel here. Therefore, even if soldiers and military rations can be transported through the Weihe River, the scale will not be too large. There is an important reason why Han Sui's troops did not choose to use the Wei River to transport grain and grass when they attacked eastward.

Han Sui's army was originally dominated by cavalry, and he had enough horses to carry food and grass. Moreover, his army was so large that transporting food through the Wei River could only be regarded as a supplement at most, but at the same time, Han Sui's army did not have any water troops. There are no ships, so there is no food transported through the Wei River.

But now Sun Jian has built some ships. Although they are not said to be able to transport soldiers and rations on a large scale, as long as they can ensure the connection between Jixian County and Linwei City, this is very critical. With a certain degree of initiative, when Han Sui's Xiliang cavalry occupied the mountains, which is a favorable combat terrain for them, Sun Jian mastered the Weihe River, an equally critical strategic element.

Now even if they don't attack Tianshui City and Xixian County, they can even consider going upstream directly along the Wei River, avoiding Han Sui's main force, and directly attacking the rear of Xiliang, and Han Sui's army is lacking. In the case of ships, it is also difficult to restrict Sun Jian from doing so.

But at the beginning, Sun Jian didn't realize that his occupation of Ji County would bring such a great strategic advantage. He just sent someone to report the situation here to Linwei City. The person who sent the letter set off from Ji County by boat. Down the river to Linwei City.

At this time, Zhang Wen and Dong Zhuo had also settled in Linwei City, and about half of the counter-insurgency army had been hoarded near Linwei City.

(End of this chapter)