The Nameless of the Common Clans

In addition to the specific terrain like Bowangpo that is easy to ambush, ambush wars are actually fought unexpectedly. There will be scouts around the army. For example, when Zhang Fei led his troops to pursue, he was worried that Zhang Liao would set an ambush, so he was naturally more alert to the surroundings.

In this case, the adaptability of the generals on both sides is the key to the success of this ambush. As the ambushing party, Zhang Liao and Wei Yan had to avoid the opponent's scouts, and the location suitable for ambush was not easy to find on this section of the road.

After the ambush was launched, the ambushed party had to change into a battle formation that was beneficial to their own side in a short period of time according to the situation at the time.

In this regard, the Guanzhong Army had an advantage. Whether it was the daily battle formation training or the combat awareness of the soldiers themselves, they were superior to the Jingzhou Army. When the number of people was equal, the ability of the generals was the key to determining the outcome.

Zhang Fei's strength lies in his fierceness. No matter how bad the situation is, he doesn't know what fear is. Although it is a bit unreasonable, the mentality of a general can often be reflected in the morale of the army. So even though Zhang Fei usually beats and scolds his soldiers, when he really goes to the battlefield, he will find that his soldiers are often not very brave. If a soldier is a tyrant, a general will be a tyrant. Zhang Fei is the kind of general who can be a tyrant.

However, the invincibility of mentality cannot completely cover up the lack of military literacy. In this era dominated by cold weapons, the role of military formations accounts for at least half.

So when Wei Yan came out, although Zhang Fei changed the formation at the first time, the change of the formation of nearly 10,000 horses not only tests the command ability of the generals, but also the execution of the army and the tacit understanding of the generals at all levels.

The Jingzhou army was almost directly pulled to the battlefield shortly after being incorporated by Liu Bei. In this regard, it is impossible to compare with the well-trained Guanzhong soldiers.

Until Wei Yan led his army to attack, the formation of the Jingzhou army was still in chaos, but it was finally formed and not directly defeated.

But Zhang Da on the other side was in a more miserable situation. When Wei Yan launched an ambush, Zhang Da hurriedly ordered his troops to return for support, but at this time Zhang Liao led his troops to attack. Zhang Da's troops, who were already confused by the sudden change of formation, became more difficult to change their formation after Zhang Liao attacked.

Zhang Fei was still fighting hard with Wei Yan, trying to turn the situation around and waiting for support. Zhang Da had been beaten to pieces by Zhang Liao. When he fled back in a panic, he not only failed to help Zhang Fei, but also attacked the position that Zhang Fei had managed to stabilize.

No matter how capable Zhang Fei was, he was powerless in the face of such a situation. The strategy that he had high hopes for eventually broke his own army.

The defeat was like a landslide. Even if Zhang Fei had the courage of ten thousand men, with the collapse of the army, Zhang Fei once again proved that personal bravery could not play a role in turning the situation on the battlefield. After killing dozens of people in a row, Zhang Fei had to face the fact of failure and began to fight and retreat in the defeat.

If it was just a small defeat at Bowangpo the day before, then this time it was a big defeat. Zhang Liao and Wei Yan did not want to defeat each other, they wanted to break through Xi'e and rush to Wancheng. Even if Zhang Fei was defeated, the two of them chased him closely, fighting for more than 20 miles, and the corpses of the Jingzhou army were scattered all over the field.

When Zhang Fei led the remnants back to the Xi'e camp, there were only a few of the 20,000 troops left.

Chen Dao looked at Zhang Fei in such a miserable state, and had no time to ask what happened, because the army led by Zhang Liao had already arrived.

"Yide, don't say anything. Go back to the camp and rest!" Chen Dao hurriedly led his troops to meet Zhang Fei. When he saw Zhang Fei, he asked Zhang Fei to retreat to the camp and rest. He led his soldiers to line up outside the camp quickly. When the Guanzhong army came, they shot arrows and drove back the Guanzhong army.

The Guanzhong army rushed thousands of miles and arrived in Nanyang for three days. They first fought at Bowangpo and rested in Xi'e for a day. Then they ambushed Zhang Fei. After days of fighting, they were exhausted. Although their morale was high at this moment, they were exhausted. Facing Chen Dao's army, which was ready for battle, Zhang Liao came to the front and watched the enemy formation. He saw that Chen Dao's formation was rigorous and the soldiers were in order. He frowned slightly.

"I didn't expect that there were elites in the Jingzhou army?" Wei Yan rode his horse to Zhang Liao's side. Looking at the enemy formation in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder who the other general was? Just looking at this battle, it is not simple.

"Liu Bei has been in the world for many years, and there are always some elites under his command." Zhang Liao nodded, looked at the sky and said: "It is late today, let's withdraw our troops and go to the camp first, and then fight them after the soldiers have rested!"

"Yes!" Wei Yan nodded and agreed. The soldiers were exhausted after fighting for a long time. At this time, fighting with a fresh army, even if they have a numerical advantage, they will suffer heavy losses if they force a battle again.

The main force of the enemy has been defeated. Although the remaining ones look elite, even if they attack by force, the terrain here is not enough for these soldiers to completely stop them.

The Guanzhong army slowly retreated and began to set up camp again where they set up camp yesterday, leaving only the corpses of Jingzhou soldiers all over the mountains. After this battle, Zhang Fei was defeated miserably, and seven or eight out of ten of his soldiers were gone, which was not enough to stop Zhang Liao from crossing the river.

Chen Dao saw Zhang Liao retreating, but he did not feel any joy, but only a heavy pressure. He quietly withdrew his troops back to the camp to meet Zhang Fei.

In the camp, Zhang Fei was a little depressed. He had never thought that he would be defeated, let alone such a terrible defeat. The most important thing was that after this battle, it was difficult for him to stop Zhang Liao.

"Shuzhi, what should we do?" The oppressive atmosphere in the general's tent was finally broken by Zhang Fei. Even if he was fearless, after experiencing the despair of the overwhelming defeat on the battlefield today, he had to admit that the Jingzhou army was far inferior to the Guanzhong army. The army suffered heavy losses and low morale. It was almost a luxury to stop Zhang Liao again.

"I have 5,000 troops under my command, plus General Ji Ling's troops, and the fleeing soldiers, and nearly 10,000 troops. As long as we take advantage of the terrain of Xi'e, even if we can't defeat them, we can still hold on for a few days." Chen Dao pondered and said, "I will report this news to the lord. I just hope that the lord can break the city quickly."

Now it depends on whether they can hold Xi'e before Wancheng is captured.

The news was sent to Liu Bei overnight.

When Liu Bei learned that Zhang Fei was defeated by Zhang Liao in Xi'e, suffered a great defeat, and lost more than half of his troops, he felt a black screen in front of his eyes and almost fainted.

"My Lord!" Chen Gong, Wen Pin and others hurriedly supported Liu Bei.

"Gongtai, Xi'e can no longer be defended for long now." Liu Bei took a breath and looked at Chen Gong bitterly and said, "Should we withdraw our troops immediately?"

In the past three days, in order to break through Wancheng, all the means that could be used were used. Liu Bei even personally went to the battlefield to supervise the battle, but Wancheng was no less strong than Xiangyang, and the city was well-trained and well-fed. It was really difficult to break it in a short time. In addition, the Jingzhou army had just returned and was already tired of war.

These things pressed down on Liu Bei, and he did not feel like retreating. The strategy that Zhuge Liang had set for him was good, but there was not enough time. The combat method of the Jingzhou army still remained in the past. Although Liu Bei had many twists and turns in his life, his vision was not low. The Jingzhou army had no problem dealing with clan thieves and water bandits, but when it was really put on the battlefield in the Central Plains, let alone the elite Guanzhong army and Cao army, even the troops Liu Bei had formed in Xuzhou in the past were quite inferior.

If they were given three to five years to retrain, the Jingzhou army would have the strength to fight, but now, it was too early, and Zhang Liao came back too quickly. If they wanted to face the Guanzhong army head-on, the current Jingzhou army was not enough.

Chen Gong rubbed his temples and shook his head, saying, "My lord, Xi'e has not been lost yet. It is too early to say defeat now. Gong thinks we can wait a little longer."

Waiting for what?

Chen Gong didn't know, but the current situation was to see who would collapse first. The reinforcements from Nanyang were only Zhang Liao's, and Chen Dao led Liu Bei's most elite troops. He believed that this force was enough to buy them a few days. Although the strategy failed, the Wancheng garrison commander was not Cui Geng, so they had no chance at all.

Liu Bei nodded silently. At this point, he had already lost a lot. It would not hurt to fight again. At worst, he could retreat to Xiangyang and guard the ferry crossings of the Han River. Although the soldiers of Guanzhong were brave, water battles were not their forte. As long as they held on here, although they were not aggressive enough, they could protect themselves. Even Lu Bu, who was strong in the past, could not cross the Han River, and Zhang Liao naturally could not either.

"Then I'll leave it to Gongtai." Liu Bei stood up and looked at Chen Gong and said.

"Yes!"