No matter what, things have happened anyway, and what we need to do is to save the situation.
Then, after this defeat, Zhao Yang will definitely be hit in all aspects, and the severity of the blow will definitely be worse than that of Xun Lin's father, who lost the "Battle of Bi".
You must know that in the "Battle of Bi", the Jin State was not defeated too badly. It was purely because Xian Gu of the Xian family did not obey orders to cross the river on his own, which put the entire army behind in a dilemma and was finally defeated.
After the defeat in the "Battle of Bi", the Xun family suffered a great blow, and the Xian family was even worse. It can be said that the "Battle of Bi" laid the foundation for the Xian family's withdrawal from the historical stage.
This time it seems that all the nobles did not trust Zhao Yang, which led to the tragic defeat of Zhongfu. However, on the one hand, almost all the nobles, and on the other hand, Zhao Yang alone. Who is at fault?
Even if Zhao Yang is right, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, it is wrong in itself not to control the overall situation. It is a bit boring to mention other things.
What's more, Zhao Yang is on the opposite side of almost everyone?
"This wave of heavy military losses has caused the family to lose blood, and the Zhao family has suffered even more miserably!" Zhiyao knew she shouldn't be happy, but she still couldn't control the bursts of joy in her heart.
He didn't go to cause trouble, but the family's powerful rival messed up? Zhi's ability to take over, it's not too bad to be happy, right?
The Zhi family used almost three "divisions" of troops on the Fan family.
The Wei family used more troops on the Fan family than the Zhi family, reaching the strength of an "army".
When the two sides join forces, their military strength will be one "army" and three "divisions".
Logically speaking, the Wei family has more troops, so Wei Ju should be in charge of commanding the army. However, the person in charge of the entire army is Zhiyao, who has fewer troops.
This is because Wei Ju is very self-aware and knows that he is not capable of commanding such a huge force. Furthermore, Zhi Yao's record is a bit tough, and this time Zhi helped the Wei family a lot in dealing with Fan's city.
, has become such a distribution of authority.
"'Yuanrong' ordered me and I to lead the army to attack 'Wen' to cut off the coalition's return route." Zhiyao pointed to the mountain map and marked the location of 'Wen'.
Wei Judi Zhiyao was very interested in the mountain and river map he brought out.
In fact, the Zhi family's previous mountain and river maps were similar to those of other families. After Zhi Yao began to exert himself in various ways, the old Zhi family's mountain and river maps changed drastically.
Zhiyao knew very well how important it was to explore the geography of mountains and rivers. The mountain and river map he showed to Wei Ju was an abridged version. It only marked large rivers and various cities. The real unabridged version would have marked every city.
The detailed terrain of a place, including where water sources can be obtained, which areas cannot be marched, how many troops may be stationed there, etc.
"Taking 'Wen' can indeed cut off the coalition forces' retreat, but" Wei Ju felt very awkward. After a pause, he decided to speak out and said, "In this case, wouldn't it be a contribution to the Zhao family?"
So? Before, almost all the nobles suspected that Zhao Yang led his army south because he wanted to use public weapons for personal use. It is not far-fetched to mention that everyone would think so.
What is the reason that makes people think in the direction of Zhao Yang wanting to use public weapons for private use? It's not that the Zhao family has shown that there is no way to deal with the Fan family, and the "Qing" of Jin has several examples of using public weapons for private use.
As long as the Zhao family can defeat the Fan family, they will be somewhat willing to help even if they have that idea. If the Zhao family is unable to use it for public use, it will be extremely shameless.
Facing Wei Ju's frankness, Zhiyao looked a little embarrassed and said nothing was appropriate.
By the way, Zhao Yang is Zhi Yao’s future father-in-law, and if he scolds him, he is right or wrong. Zhi Yao can explain Zhao Yang a little, but it will turn into endorsing Zhao Yang’s behavior, and the situation is unclear.
Under the current situation, everyone has that kind of suspicion, and only fools do this.
Zhiyao said: "The land of 'Wen' is bordered by a big river in the south, a small amount of water in the east, and the Han River in the west. It is a narrow-angle land."
A series of words about geographical location came out of Zhiyao's mouth, and he also briefly talked about the nearby mountains and forests.
Wei Ju was stunned for a moment and asked: "Yao Jing"
"I've gone back and forth many times, how could I not know?" Zhiyao was fooling around insincerely.
Wei Ju showed a shameful expression and said, "I have never remembered it so well elsewhere."
Well?
If a person spends his free time thinking about how to sweep away the other families, and often plays war games by himself, it will be really difficult to forget the terrain of certain places.
All in all, Zhao Yang's instructions to Zhiyao and Wei Ju were correct. Even if "Wen" was not captured, the army could still block the retreat of the northward coalition forces when they reached that position.
They have led their troops to a place called "Huai", which is less than a hundred miles away from "Wen".
Some time ago, the coalition forces fought against the Jin army, which had suffered a disastrous defeat, in the lower reaches of the Shaoshui River. Later, Zhao Yang led his army to retreat to "Yuan", and the coalition forces stopped pursuing them when they reached the upper reaches of the Han River.
It must be mentioned that there are many river systems called Han River, and the one to the west of "Wen" is just one of them.
Wei Ju held it in for a while and said, "We're going to Wen, not to attack the city."
It's really not that Wei Ju or the Wei family are stingy. So what if they capture "Wen" in this wave? At most, they will get some share of the spoils, and the city and land will fall into Zhao's pocket later on.
Since ancient times, sieges have caused the most casualties. To participate in the national war and siege the city, you have to do it even if you don't want to. This time the "war" attack looks like a national war, but in fact it is still part of the civil war.
Zhiyao was puzzled, why did Wei Ju think that Zhishi was willing to attack "Wen"?
"Both your family and I have paid excessive taxes. The situation is like this. We are just serving the country." Zhiyao thought that after saying this, his attitude was very obvious.
Sure enough, Wei Ju understood it and looked relieved.
The next day.
The army composed of Zhishi and Wei Ju set off again. During the march, they received a report that the coalition forces had begun to move south and would pass through "Wen" in about three days.
At the same time, Zhao Yang was also heading south with his remaining army, but it would take them four to five days to reach the location of "Wen".
In that case, it would mean that Zhiyao and Wei Ju led their troops over and did not launch an siege against "Wen". They would still have to hold off the enemy for one to two days, and they might even be able to hold the enemy more alone due to some accidents.
much time.
Zhiyao felt that some ugly things should be said first, so she said to Wei Ju: "Ru Shaoshui's defeat was not an accident. You and I may have made preparations early."
Wei Ju thought so too, but he didn't say it out loud. Hearing Zhiyao say that, his sense of trust was overwhelming.
What is Zhiyao's so-called preparation? Their total strength is about 60,000. It is known that the number of coalition forces going north is about 90,000. Then there is Fan's nearly 10,000 troops on the "Wen" side, and across the river is Zheng
In addition to the Zheng State who may have reinforcements heading north, the Chu State has nearly 50,000 troops in Zheng State that have not moved.
Yes, although Zhiyao and Wei Ju led their troops to "Wen" to cut off the retreat route of the coalition forces heading north, why not Zhiyao and Wei Ju led their troops to give the coalition forces a chance to encircle them?
Even if Zhao Yang leads his army to arrive in time, Chu and Zheng will not be able to just watch in order to rescue their own troops who have been cut off, right? They will definitely cross the river to help!
Then, the situation will be that Zhiyao and Wei Ju's side and Zhao Yang's side will be surrounded by 90,000 coalition troops, and then Zhiyao and Wei Ju's side will be sandwiched by 90,000 coalition troops and an unknown number of southern coalition forces.
"'Yuanrong' has damaged the strength of each family. We will be in great danger when we go there." Wei Ju is not afraid of speaking harshly, he is just afraid that such a situation will really arise.
Regardless of whether it was a misunderstanding or not, something bad had already happened, which almost ruined Zhao Yang's character and made it difficult for others to have enough trust in Zhao Yang.
"So, your family will leave two divisions in Xingqiu, and I will leave one division in Shan?" Zhiyao asked.
Wei Ju said that he needed to take a look at the mountain and river map.
That "Xingqiu" is in the southeast of "Wen" area, also close to the river.
"Shan" is actually a Gongqing state of the Zhou royal family, located to the west of "Wen".
"Leave two troops behind. Even if there is a change, we will have a way out," Wei Ju said.
He was very satisfied with Zhiyao's arrangement. As for the separation of three divisions, it was also to reduce the number of troops blocking the allied forces moving south? What Wei Ju wants most now is to ensure that Zhao does not make a big move, even if he fails.
It doesn't matter if it blocks the coalition's retreat.
Is it better to fail the mission than to destroy an "army" by setting up a trap? And Wei Ju believes that Zhao Yang needs to explain clearly what happened when he was ambushed on the west bank of Shaoshui, so that the rest can be ignored.
The position chosen by Zhiyao to store troops was for the purpose of retreat. If the situation was good, it would be able to block the enemy troops coming from the direction of Zheng. Overall, no one could find anything wrong with it.
"Should the horse follow me to fight the enemy, or should we stay in 'Xingqiu'?" Zhiyao asked.
This time Wei Ju didn't hesitate and said, "How can Ju make Yao go into danger alone?"
What they want to do is to stop the enemy from returning.
What kind of army should you not mess with the most? The army that wants to go home is one of them.
When they arrived at the boundary of "Wen", an envoy from the Fan family came, but they left without receiving their request.
Setting up the camp required cutting down trees. Zhiyao anticipated that the Fan family would send troops to interfere, so he set up a trap to eat up Fan's troops who left the city. He spent an afternoon preparing the required wood and worked overnight to build the stronghold.
Because Zhiyao had taken care of all the things that needed to be considered, it not only gave Wei Ju a strong sense of security, but also made some people who knew the situation of the war put their minds back again.
Of course, the hard fortification cannot be completed in one afternoon or one night. At most, it can only be completed on a peripheral scale.
"Report! The enemy's vanguard is eight thousand, less than twenty miles away from me!"
Zhiyao and Wei Ju looked at each other, and then scanned the officers present with their eyes.
"I will lead two 'brigades' to fight and surround the enemy in the city." Zhiyao said.
Wei Ju was a little surprised and asked: "The soldiers of the second brigade"
Zhiyao was full of confidence and said: "Two 'brigades' are enough."