Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 147 The troops are approaching the city

There is a saying that to shoot a man first shoot a horse, and to capture a thief first you should be diligent with the king. Since Zhang Zuo is defending the city, Huan Xi should go straight to Wuwei Guzang (today's Liangzhou District of Wuwei, Gansu Province) to compete with him.

But after determining the strategy of dividing the troops for siege and the main force and light troops to advance quickly, how many troops and horses should be divided and how much food should be carried are also the focus of debate.

Finally, Huanxi made the decision and assigned 10,000 soldiers to guard Cangsong (now southeast of Wuwei, Gansu), Yici (now northwest of Gulang County, Wuwei, Gansu), Puchuan (now east of Gulang County, Wuwei, Gansu), and Zhangye (now east of Gulang County, Wuwei, Gansu). There were five cities including Liangzhou District, Wuwei, Gansu) and Luanniao (now south of Wuwei, Gansu).

This Zhangye was not Zhangye County today, but Xiao Zhangye, which was known as one of the three giants in Hexi along with Guzang and Sheniao (Luaniao) in later generations.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang started a trend of renaming in various places, renamed Wuwei County to Zhangye County, and built a new city in Guzang County for Zhangye County, which is now Zhangye City in Wuwei County.

Huan Xi guarded a city with two thousand soldiers, and planted many flags in the camp to confuse the defenders in the city and make them afraid to fight.

Of course, Zhang Zuo could not allocate too many soldiers to guard each city.

The next day, Huan Xi led 23,000 men on foot and cavalry, carrying fifteen days' worth of food, and drove directly to Guzang.

Just when the Battle of Guzang was about to break out, Fu Jian's envoy Wang You also found a Chile tribe in the Monan grassland to rest temporarily.

The tribal chief warmly received Wang You and asked him why he came.

Wang You recounted through a translator:

"I am going to Liangzhou as an envoy on the orders of Emperor Dayu."

The tribal chief said in surprise:

"A few days ago, a Liangzhou delegation happened to pass by our tribe, and they were going to Dayu."

After hearing what the translator said, Wang You hurriedly asked the chief if he knew the purpose of the Liangzhou mission.

The tribal chief recalled:

"It is said that the Great Chanyu, who is the Tiefu Xiongnu, is attacking Liangzhou."

Wang You was shocked when he heard this.

Tiefu, the great Chanyu of the Xiongnu, is not Huan Xi.

really! The rebellion in Longnan was purely to deceive others. Huan Xi’s real purpose was to capture Liangzhou!

Wang You didn't care to chat with the tribal chief, asked him to point out the direction for him, and then left in a hurry.

He no longer went to Liangzhou, but first sent three messengers to rush back to Jinyang to report the news, while he and others hurriedly chased the Liangzhou envoy.

At the same time, after three days of march, the Jin army arrived at Guzang City.

Zhang Zuo obviously did not expect Huan Xi to arrive so quickly. He also hoped that the cities along the way could delay Huan Xi's march north.

When the Jin army appeared outside Guzang City, the defenders in the city were slightly panicked, but Zhang Zuo quickly stabilized the situation.

Huan Xi left his infantry to camp five miles away, and led his cavalry around the city. This move was not just to show off his power, but to observe whether there were any weaknesses in the defense of Guzang city, which could be the main direction of attack.

It's just that Guzang, as the former capital of Liang and the seat of Liangzhou and Wuwei County, has a strong city and sufficient defense within the city, so it is destined not to give Huan Xi any obvious flaws.

In this battle, Huan Xi, who was on the siege side, assigned 10,000 soldiers to guard the other cities. He was left with 20,000 Jin troops on foot and cavalry, including 5,000 lances and cavalry, 15,000 infantry, and Xie Ai's troops. Two thousand cavalry and one thousand infantry.

As for the five thousand Xiongnu archers, they will monitor the cities of Cangsong, Yici, Pupai, Luanniao, Xiaozhangye and so on together with the other five thousand Jin troops.

After all, the Huns' archers and cavalry were of no use in siege battles. They could only fight a smooth battle, but they really couldn't count on it in a fierce battle.

Letting the Xiongnu archers and cavalry attack the city is no different than driving them to death.

If the scholars do not teach, they cannot be conquered.

The five thousand lancers under Huan Xi will not participate in the siege. They have also never received siege drills, so they are only used to suppress the formation.

The only ones who will really be involved in the siege are the infantry.

After all, the daily training subjects of infantry soldiers include siege warfare.

Both cavalry and infantry have their own combat missions and should perform their respective duties.

Unless there is an important strategic goal and it is determined that the city's defenses are empty, for example, when Huan Xi attacked Hongnong County, he needed Deng Xia to lead 3,000 cavalry to attack Cao Wei's Hangu Pass and open up the road.

Otherwise, Huan Xi would not be so luxurious as to let the cavalry dismount and attack the city.

At this time, the garrison in Guzang City was naturally sufficient.

According to the news from the city, after Zhang Zuo assigned soldiers to guard each city, Gu Zang left 20,000 cavalry, including 10,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.

Guzang and Xiao Zhangye both belonged to the Liangzhou District of Wuwei in later generations. The two cities were adjacent to each other. They should have been stationed with heavy troops, and they were each other's horns.

However, Zhang Zuo's foundation was not stable. He stole power through women's edicts and knew that many people in Guzang City were dissatisfied with him.

Therefore, Zhang Zuo did not dare to allocate too many troops to Xiao Zhangye, but kept most of the troops with him.

Huan Xi was able to know Zhang Zuo's troop deployment very well, thanks to Xie Ai.

Xie Ai had previously guarded Jincheng County. Of course he didn't know how Zhang Zuo deployed his troops after he surrendered to Huan Xi.

But Zhang Chonghua had been in charge of Liangzhou for so many years, and Xie Ai was not the only loyal minister.

It's just that Zhang Zuo, with the support of the Ma family and the Pei family, took control of the military and Liangzhou, so they had to choose to endure it.

It stands to reason that when Huan Xi attacked Liangzhou, they should work with Zhang Zuo to defend the Zhang family's foundation. However, Zhang Zuo had an affair with Zhang Chonghua's mother and wife, which angered both people and gods.

The Lord humiliated his ministers and died. How could those old ministers who were loyal to Zhang Chonghua not hold grudges for this?

During Huan Xi's rest in Yuzhong, although the road was difficult, Xie Ai still sent his trusted followers to contact Suo Xia and others despite the hardships and told everyone that Huan Xi had promised in public that he would treat Zhang Chonghua's heirs well and immediately He has won the secret support of many people. Without Xie Ai, Huan Xi would have had to work harder to find internal agents in Guzang City.

Before Huan Xi approached Guzang, the city was not under martial law, so Suo Xia and others had many ways to send information to Huan Xi's army.

It's just that while Zhang Zuo relied on his confidants, he was also on guard against Suo Xia and others. Therefore, they really couldn't find a chance to open the city gate for Huan Xi.

When Huan Xi led five thousand spearmen and cavalry around the city to observe, Zhang Zuo was also at the top of Guzang City, looking from a high position and counting the number of Jin troops.

Wei Ji took the lead in estimating:

"There are probably thousands of Jin troops outside the city."

Zhang Zuo nodded slightly and agreed with this judgment.

After hearing this, Chang Zhao admonished:

"Marquis Changning, I heard that Huanxi often had the habit of inspecting the city when he was attacking the city.

"Now the Jin army outside the city only has a few thousand cavalry, why don't you lead Liangzhou's elite cavalry out of the city to attack them.

"If Huan Xi can be captured and killed, the enemy army will be defeated, and his son is still young, Guanlong will be in chaos, and Liangzhou can rest easy for a few years, or even ten years.

"Even my brother may not be able to send troops to occupy Guanlong and become the lord of Chang'an.

"Even if Huan Xi is allowed to escape by chance, it can demoralize the enemy and inspire the morale of the soldiers in the city."

Zhang Zuo was very moved when he heard this. He had ten thousand fine cavalry in Guzang City, and he never considered the possibility of defeat if he used the crowd to bully the few.

After all, the Jin army's spear cavalry under Huan Xi's command were indeed brave, but the Liang army's elite cavalry were also not weaklings. They had also experienced the test of Zhao Buqi and were elites trained in the war.

Ten thousand versus thousands, the advantage is mine.

Everyone also agreed and persuaded Zhang Zuo to take advantage of the few Jin troops outside the city to go out and attack.

The proclamations issued by Huan Xi before had more or less affected the soldiers and civilians in the city. As Chief Zhao said, even if Huan Xi could not be captured and killed, it could still boost the morale of the defenders.

Since ancient times, defending the city has always been the best strategy.

Zhang Zuo didn't have the courage to fight Huan Xi with equal strength, but he still dared to do so with more strikes and fewer blows.

Under the persuasion of everyone, Zhang Zuo plucked up the courage and ordered:

"Pass my general's order to recruit the best cavalry in the city to assemble at the north gate and follow me out of the city to meet the enemy."

The infantry of the Jin army are currently camped five miles south of the city, and Huan Xi is leading the cavalry around the city to observe. Zhang Zuo chose to fight in the north of the city, naturally in order to have more time to strangle the Jin cavalry.

Not long after, ten thousand fine cavalry in Guzang City gathered in Wengcheng in the north. Zhang Zuo left his sworn brothers Zhao Chang and Wei Ji to take charge of the city defense. The two were like grasshoppers on a rope with him.

Huan Xi had previously denounced them as treacherous and sycophants in his confession. Now that Huan Xi was in trouble, he naturally did not have to worry about their betrayal.

When Zhao Chang on the north tower gave a signal to Zhang Zuo, he informed Zhang Zuo that Huan Xi had arrived to the north of Guzang. Zhang Zuo immediately led 10,000 fine cavalry, poured out from the north gate, and headed towards the Jin army.

Thousands of horses galloped with great momentum. When Huan Xi saw Liang's army leaving the city, he was not surprised but overjoyed.

If Zhang Zuo made up his mind to defend the city, he really didn't have much choice but to attack the city with huge casualties.

Now that the Liang army dared to go to war, Huan Xi couldn't get it.

But he was not in a hurry to send his cavalry to fight, nor did he turn south toward the camp.

After all, he was in the north and the Liang army was in the south. If he went south, he would be intercepted by the Liang army. Huan Xi called to the soldiers and ordered them to follow him and retreat to the north.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Zuo thought that Huan Xi had been frightened away by him and that he could chase him to the north, so he quickly led his troops in pursuit.

After all, the main force of the Jin army's infantry was still in the camp five miles south of the city. Could it be that they could go there quietly?

The two groups of cavalry chased and fled, gradually moving away from Guzang City without realizing it.

Huan Xi couldn't help but feel secretly happy when he saw that the Liang army's fine cavalry had been chasing closely behind them and showed no sign of turning back halfway or returning to Guzang.

Yes, it was impossible for the main force of his infantry to rush to the battlefield, but the cavalry he brought with him in Guzang not only had 5,000 spears and cavalry, but also Xie Ai's 2,000 cavalry.

Under the leadership of Xie Ai, this cavalry camped out day and night. One step ahead of Huan Xi, they bypassed Guzang City and ambush north of Guzang.

Huan Xi went around the city to observe, and he actually had the intention of luring the enemy.

If Zhang Zuo was not fooled, he would have no actual losses. At worst, he would have to find another way or attack the city by force.

In fact, the real strength comparison in this battle was not five thousand versus ten thousand, but seven thousand versus ten thousand.

Of course, Zhang Zuo still had the advantage in military strength.

But Huan Xi knew that as long as he was lured out of the city, his plan would be half successful.

　Happy New Year, the update is half an hour late. I drank some wine at noon and took a nap first. The next chapter will be before 7pm.

　　Thanks to book friends Tea Worry Past Memories, Where Cause and Effect, Book Friends 20220201174452271, and Chong Axiu Wen for their rewards.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)