Chapter four hundred and eighty third old horse knows the way
The Shu army in Nanzheng City is running away!
Youqi discovered that the Shu army was building a pontoon bridge on the Mianshui River near Nanzheng City. As soon as Deng Ai heard the general's report, he immediately had this idea in his mind.
Deng Ai was sleeping in the tent. He opened the quilt on his body and immediately stood up from the blanket.
He opened his mouth and said to his generals: "Beat the drums and send orders...every camp, gather the troops and horses!"
Another general standing on the left said: "It's raining outside and it's pitch black."
Deng Ai simply said: "Nanzheng City... the bandits are trying to escape."
The general who had just entered the tent had a look of disbelief on his face. He froze on the spot and blurted out: "Nanzheng is the governor of Hanzhong County. The Shu army doesn't even want Nanzheng?"
Deng Ai urged: "Hurry up and go!"
The general came back to his senses, cupped his fists and said, "Here!"
Deng Ai didn't speak fluently, but he moved quickly. He walked to the tent door in a few steps, opened the tent and looked outside. Sure enough, in the light of the torch, he could see light rain floating in the air. It rained a while ago,
It has been cloudy for many days, and it started to rain again tonight. Fortunately, it was not heavy, and even the ground was not wet.
Deng Ai returned to the tent, pulled up his robe, stood tall, and said to the soldiers beside him: "Wear armor."
Soon the sound of "dong dong dong..." was heard outside the tent, which was very noticeable in the dark night.
A group of generals came to the Chinese army's tent one after another. Everyone was talking in gibberish. They almost didn't believe that the Shu army would give up Nanzheng so quickly! After all, the Shu army in Seoul and Yang'an Pass to the west were still there.
In my hands, the battle can still be fought.
In fact, everyone's opinions are reasonable, and even Deng Ai himself is not sure. As a general present at this time said: "In the evening, our rangers saw that a pontoon bridge was being built on the river, but the Shu army may not be able to do so tonight.
Crossing the river, there is no need to abandon Nanzheng and defend Nanzheng?"
However, Deng Ai had an intuition that the enemy was about to run away. This was the first thought that came to his mind after hearing the report.
Things are often so mysterious. Sometimes the more careful a person is, the more they will be swayed by too many reasons, which affects their judgment!
Deng Ai did not have a sudden idea, but had his own opinion on the situation. In the Battle of Hanzhong, Jiang Wei's hope of winning was already very small, and the time for the Nanzheng defenders to retreat might be chosen when neither of them expected it.
.What's more, General Qin Liang also had this suspicion and sent someone to remind Deng Ai to pay attention to the movements of the Nanzheng defenders.
However, these ideas are a bit too complicated to explain, and they also contain some unexplainable speculations and feelings. Especially for Deng Ai, it is almost impossible for him to explain clearly verbally!
The generals were still discussing, "Why don't you send out scouts to find out more?"
Duan Zhuo, Deng Ai's subordinate, said: "We can't see the moon and stars tonight, and the scouts will easily get lost. If we delay going back and forth, it will be dawn."
At this time, Deng Ai gave up his explanation and asked in a stumbling voice: "The military merit is right in front of us, do you want to take the credit?"
The generals immediately looked at each other.
It's very cold at night in winter, and it's still raining lightly. It's really not a good time to send troops. But military success is hard to come by. People have been here for so long, but they haven't gained much credit. No matter how difficult it is tonight, it's just one night.
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At this time, someone reminded: "You can't see clearly at night, so beware of bandits planning to ambush our army."
Deng Ai nodded and said: "Yes."
Another person said: "It is easy for our army to get lost when sending troops."
Deng Ai said: "I can...find the way."
He then looked at Duan Zhuo and stammered: "I will lead the soldiers and horses from the south bank to set off first. You will take my generals to the north bank, gather people and horses to cross the river, and then reinforce them."
Duan Zhuo cupped his fists and said, "Follow your orders!"
Deng Ai deployed for a while, and when the soldiers of each battalion were ready to go, he led the army to attack. He personally led the soldiers in the front army.
The tribes lit torches and left the camp one after another. In the dark night, the fire gradually formed a long dragon. However, the people around Deng Ai did not light torches. Fortunately, Deng Ai's soldiers in the central army were all riding horses, and their war horses were walking at night.
The road is still good.
Deng Ai's eyes adapted to the darkness, and with just a little light in the night sky, he could see the shadow of the mountain on the south side. Although it was pitch black and couldn't be seen clearly, he could roughly see the shape of the mountain.
After marching for a long time, Deng Ai sat on his horse and carefully observed the mountains. He suddenly issued an order: "Send the order... The soldiers in front of us, turn right into the mountains!"
There was a reply from behind. Then someone murmured: "Deng Shijun can really distinguish the shape of a mountain?"
The troops turned to the south, and sure enough they found a road between the low mountains. Following the road in the valley, after walking for an unknown amount of time, all the troops came out of the mountainous area one after another.
The terrain ahead is still somewhat undulating, but there are no outstanding features. Even when encountering a village, due to the low visibility and close field of view, people cannot tell the difference between this village and that village.
Deng Ai led the front army forward, and the army behind him also marched with the torch. In the dark sky, there was a bit of icy drizzle. At this time, no one among the soldiers knew whether they were going the wrong way.
But Deng Ai was not lost. He was very talented and interested in this area. When he was still a small official, he liked to observe the terrain and environment, and would associate them with the art of war.
When the terrain completely turned into a plain, the cavalrymen who had just been sent out suddenly came back and reported to Deng Ai: "Report to Envoy Deng that our servants have discovered the enemy! The enemy's large army is in front, but the flames have disappeared but not the end.
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There was a commotion among the soldiers, and someone said: "Shijun Deng is a master of calculation! The bandit army has really left the city."
Deng Ai asked: "In which direction?"
The cavalryman thought for a while and then said: "Keep going forward. There is a small river in front of you. Now turn left and follow the small river upstream. You will see the rear of the bandit army."
Someone next to him said: "Fortunately, you made a decisive decision and sent troops directly, otherwise we would not have been able to catch up!"
Deng Ai immediately ordered the front army to turn and thrust diagonally toward the southwest.
After walking for a long time, several torches suddenly appeared in front of us, and a man shouted in the distance: "Which unit are you from?"
Deng Ai immediately raised his hand, turned around and said, "Tell him, he is from General Zhang."
The general immediately came to his senses and encountered the skirmishers of the Shu army! Because the Wei army was riding nearby and knew the approximate location of the army, it was impossible to ask such a question.
So someone spoke with an accent from Longyou and replied using Deng Ai's words.
Zhang's surname was a common surname, and the other party didn't know which General Zhang it was for a while. Deng Ai signaled to the soldiers around him, and while giving orders in a deep voice, he made gestures to outflank him.
At this moment, a person in the distance suddenly shouted: "It's Cao Bing! The bandits are chasing us!"
The cavalry officers in front of Deng Ai immediately shouted, clapped their horses and charged forward to fight.
Deng Ai called for another cavalry general and ordered him to lead his troops to speed up the march, catch up with the enemy's brigade, and immediately launch an attack!
The soldiers accompanying the army reminded Deng Ai to be prepared for an ambush. But Deng Ai did not listen and did not explain.
Everyone continued to move forward, and soon they heard the noise of people and horses neighing in the distance.
Deng Ai led his troops around a small forest, and immediately saw a fire in the distance. A group of men and horses were moving quickly among the crowd with torches. It must be the vanguard cavalry of the Wei army rushing into the enemy's formation, because the infantry could not run that fast.
If it were the Shu army's own cavalry, it would be impossible for them to run around in their own ranks!
Deng Ai said to his subordinates: "Send the order, the front army...form up and attack."
The subordinate officer shouted: "General Deng ordered the front troops to form formation and attack!"
There was a commotion in the Wei army. All the troops roughly gathered around their generals, spread out horizontally, and began to walk forward without caring about reorganizing the queue. The cavalry were grouped on both wings, and followed the infantry forward slowly.
The rear of the Shu army had been penetrated back and forth by the Wei army's cavalry, and the crowd was in chaos. They saw the enemy troops coming in groups, so how could they bother to fight?
The light was very dim, and people could only be seen clearly in a circle around the torch. The Shu army column that was rushed away by the cavalry simply dispersed in a rush, running very fast!
When Deng Ai saw this, he didn't have time to think too much. He reacted very quickly, but unfortunately he couldn't keep up with his words. He still shouted loudly: "Infantry, don't chase, keep the formation. The cavalry will cover and kill!"
Soon the soldiers will discover that Deng Ai's military orders are very timely and wise!
Not long after, the pursuing Wei cavalry returned. Countless people were shouting and trying to revive the team. An almost still fire appeared in the distance, and the Shu army behind them was already in formation.
If the Wei army's infantry and cavalry had just been chasing after them in a chaotic manner, they would definitely not be able to break the military formation at this time, and it would be difficult to reorganize the soldiers at night. After all, everyone can't see the patterns and decorations on the flag clearly.
I can't find my general.
The air is somewhat humid, but it does not affect the use of the crossbow.
The skirmishers of the Wei army went first and fired a shot of arrows at the enemy formation. Then the light soldiers in formation came within a hundred steps and immediately began to shoot. A dense "crackling" sound of strings sounded, the firelight in the distance swayed, and there was a noise of people.
After three rounds of shooting, the Wei army's infantry moved out, with sword and shield bearers in front and spearmen at the back. People were noisy and shouting, but they generally maintained their formation.
After a while, the two armies charged together. Even with torch lighting, people in the distance could not see clearly and could only hear a huge noise.
Deng Ai looked back and saw that the next group of troops had arrived. Those men stopped, as if they were changing formations to prepare for battle. Deng Ai then handed over the battlefield to his generals, and led the guards to pat their horses and rush towards the rear.
This place is a plain, and the few troops in the rear of the Shu army have been entangled and cannot stop the Wei army at all. Deng Ai wants to take the newly arrived army and directly go around to chase the majority of the Shu army.
The shocking sound of fighting is floating in the night sky, tonight is destined to be a difficult and sleepless night!