The Zhenbei Army was not the only force sent out by Yumenguan to suppress the Loulan Army.
After the Zhenbei Army took the lead to leave Yumen Pass, Nie Ze sent many troops one after another to search small towns and villages one after another to search for the Loulan Army.
This is a arduous task, and it is not easy to find all those people.
Fortunately, the Zhenbei Army left early and killed most of the Loulan Army in the wilderness. The remaining enemies were all broken into pieces and went into the mountains and villages, but they were still able to harm one side and make the people miserable.
In addition to the Zhenbei Army, Nie Ze has already sent an army of 50,000 troops, divided into batches to the east. There are still 150,000 defense troops and more than 20,000 Qi Army troops left in the city.
Nie Ze was in the commander's tent, looking at the sand table terrain map in the eastern part of Yumen Pass, thinking about how to start the cleanup work next.
We are not afraid that those Loulan people will gather together and become mountain bandits, which can be easily wiped out, but we are afraid that they will hide in the mountains and rob and kill people in groups, which is the most unbearable thing.
Suddenly, soldiers came over to report outside the commander's tent.
"I'm reporting to Nie Shuai, something bad is going on!"
"What's wrong?"
Nie Ze frowned, how come there is always bad news coming out of a battle that is clearly guaranteed to win?
"The enemy's 100,000-strong Hami army has all left the camp and set up a formation east of Yumen Pass to rob and kill our troops who were out to clear out the Loulan Army."
"What? The country of Hami is also going to destroy itself? Why are so many people so confused today?"
Nie Ze picked up his helmet, put it on his head, and rode towards the east wall.
In the past, the directions he looked at most were the west and the north. The west was the Buddhist kingdom and the north was the demon clan. He rarely paid attention to the east.
But now, due to Loulan and Hami's tricks, I have to focus on my own country in the east.
After arriving at the east wall, Nie Ze turned his attention to the east.
On the endless desert, the troops of the Hami Kingdom lined up neatly in a defensive formation.
It's ridiculous to say that the attacking party ran to the enemy's hinterland, then set up a defensive formation, waiting for the defenders to attack them.
This was a tactic that completely reversed logic, but it actually happened in front of the soldiers of Yumen Pass.
"They are going to have an upright fight with me."
Nie Ze glanced at the enemies outside and sighed.
The deputy general next to him said,
"Shuai Nie, there is no need for us to go head-to-head with them. There are 100,000 of them, and we only have 150,000 troops left in the city. If we want to win, we have to send them all out to fight them.
Not only did we suffer heavy losses, but we also gave up our current city wall support and geographical advantages. It was unwise to go out to fight.
All we have to do is wait for work and cut off the enemy's food and grass supplies, and they will starve to death here. Then they will definitely attack the city, and we can deal with it calmly."
After hearing the deputy general's words, Nie Ze sneered and said,
"The enemy knows that they will lose and die, and they want to fight us at all costs. They want to force us out to fight and consume as much of our strength as possible.
Now, the Zhenbei Army and our cavalry have all been sent out to clear out the Loulan Army. Only the infantry are left in the city. As for the enemies, they are all determined to die and are not afraid of death. They can fight ten of them.
As you said, if we go out to fight, we will definitely lose a lot of money.
But have you ever thought that if we don't fight, they will run out of food and grass, and they will not attack our city.
The Loulan people have set a good example for them. Even if they starve to death outside the city, they will also die if they attack the city. Like the Loulan people, they will enter the hinterland of our country and plunder the people.
By then, before the Loulan people have finished killing them, another 100,000 Hami troops will enter, and the people will really have no way to survive."
"This... we will suffer heavy losses if we fight against them. If we don't fight against them, the people will suffer. This is the enemy's conspiracy to force us to make a choice."
The deputy general also understood at this time, his brows were furrowed and anxious.
"Yes, the enemy's tactics of mutual destruction directly eliminated our advantage. The enemy's commander is a smart man."
Yumenguan is an iron block that cannot be bitten no matter what.
If you want to fight, you can only lure the snake out of its hole.
The enemy first sent hundreds of thousands of Loulan troops into the hinterland of Dachuan to cause chaos to the people, and then led all the Zhenbei army and the cavalry in the city out of the city to kill the Loulan troops.
Then, the Hami army came again and waited east of Yumen Pass.
You send people to kill the Loulan army, and I will kill your reinforcements.
If you don't send troops out to fight me, I will follow the example of the Loulan Army and cause trouble to your people.
So you can only send a large army out to fight me, and you only have infantry at your disposal.
I will definitely die, but before I die, I have to bite you hard.
What the enemy uses is conspiracy and there is no solution.
Yumen Pass, this unsolvable iron knot, was forcefully bitten open by the enemy.
"Nie Shuai, what should we do now?"
the lieutenant asked.
Nie Ze smiled bitterly
"What can we do? We can only fight. It is better for the enemy troops to gather here than to disperse and cause trouble to the people, right? When the time comes, we will have to send out a large army to clear it out, which will be more time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the losses will be even heavier.
Go and inform Xie Xing and all the generals, and ask them to assemble their troops. All the defense forces will go out with me to fight. In addition, inform the head of the Qi family and ask the Qi family army to help defend the city.
The enemy is determined to die and is a tough guy, but we, Okawajiro, are not cowards who are afraid of death.
If they dare to come and attack us, we will try our best to kill them all!"
"As you command!"
The deputy general turned around and left to deliver the order.
Nie Ze looked at the dense military formations outside and sighed,
"It's a pity. If the Zhenbei Army is still here, and I send a large army to surround the enemy's position, the Zhenbei Army can easily kill the enemy with a single charge.
Give me 200,000 troops to suppress the North, and I can sweep across the entire Western Region..."
It's a pity that there is only one Zhenbei Army, and all of them have been sent out to kill the enemy.
This matter must be done by the Zhenbei Army. If it were any other army, no one would be able to stop the fast-running Loulan Army.
But the Zhenbei Army was too small, with only 20,000 people. They all dispersed, and the speed of killing the Loulan Army was still not fast.
It is basically impossible to build an army of 200,000 Zhenbei troops. Even with a lot of money, it cannot be cultivated. The equipment and soldiers are not bad. Even if we spend a lot of money to cultivate them, we can barely do it.
But who can get two hundred thousand desert wolves?
A large part of the Zhenbei Army's combat effectiveness comes from desert wolves. Whether on the grasslands, deserts, or mountains and forests, desert wolves are as fast as the wind, strong in strength, endurance, and have high defense capabilities.
Much stronger than horses and camels.
Coupled with the Zhenbei Army's equipment, which is armed to the teeth, it is enough to destroy all enemies.
But precisely because of this, the Zhenbei Army was destined to be sparse and unable to develop on a large scale.