Chapter 714 The worst plan!

At dawn on June 10th, more than 10,000 Fengwu Army soldiers arrived at Tiande Town, 50 miles east of Pingyun County.

The appearance of the Fengwu Army immediately disrupted the peaceful life of the people. However, all the people knew that the Fengwu Army had strict military discipline and would not harm the people, so they were not very afraid of the Fengwu Army. Some brave villagers even secretly observed the Fengwu Army soldiers, with envy in their eyes.

In today's chaotic world, becoming a soldier of the Fengwu Army is definitely a rare and good job for ordinary people. Not only can they have enough food to eat and have a meat meal every now and then, but they can also earn arrears to supplement their family expenses on the basis of reducing taxes for their families.

If you are lucky enough to kill a few more enemies on the battlefield, you may be able to get a share of the land and become an official, thus changing the fate of yourself and your descendants!

After entering Tiande Town, the Fengwu Army soldiers quickly rested and reorganized themselves. Some senior generals also borrowed a room from fellow villagers to hold an impromptu meeting.

"This battle went really fucking smoothly. I guess those bastards in the Xuanwu Army don't even know what happened yet! Hahaha!"

"Yes! I think if General He hadn't given the order, insisting that our Third Army retreat as soon as possible, our Third Army would have just defeated them and killed tens of thousands of them. Let's see if these bastards are still so arrogant!"

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"Thank you brothers from the Third Army for coming to our aid, otherwise our Eighth Division would have been defeated here!"

General Xun Ke of the Eighth Division stood up, clasped his fists and thanked the general of the Third Army beside him:
In the Battle of Yunbing, the Eighth Division under Xun Ke was ordered to guard the two county towns of Lingyuan and Pingyuan on the northern line of Jinzhong. At the beginning of the war, they were surrounded by 50,000 Xuanwu Imperial Army. Although the enemy's offensive momentum on the northern line was not so fierce, the Xuanwu Imperial Army also had more than 20,000 fewer troops than the Hujie Imperial Army.

However, for the newly formed and trained Eighth Division, the pressure of defending the city is still quite great!

In order to defend these two county towns, Xun Ke, who has always been known as a "wise general" in the Fengwu Army, racked his brains. In addition to the conventional means of fortifying the city and recruiting young and strong people in the city to assist in defending the city, Xun Ke also led his troops to launch night attacks on the enemy many times. Although he did not achieve particularly great results, he destroyed many of the enemy's siege artillery and equipment, greatly delaying the enemy's offensive.

Although they successfully dragged 50,000 Xuanwu Imperial Army troops to the northern line of Jinzhong City, preventing the enemy from taking a single step beyond the line, under the fierce offensive of the enemy, the Eighth Division under Xun Ke also suffered heavy casualties. With a full complement of 18,000 troops, nearly half of them had been killed or wounded, and they no longer had the ability to break out of the enemy's blockade!
As for the situation of the Eighth Division, although He Jingyun and Xun Ke turned against each other under the instigation of Ye Mingsheng in Fengzhou in their early years, the Eighth Division was, after all, a reorganized division of the Fengwu Army. If it was allowed to be annihilated by the enemy, it would inevitably cause great adverse effects.

Therefore, He Jingyun decided to let Guo Zhiping lead the cavalry of the Third Army to rush to the northern line to rescue the Eighth Division from the encirclement of the Xuanwu Army.

After receiving He Jingyun's order, Guo Zhiping felt the difficult situation of the Eighth Division on the northern front and understood that the rescue operation was urgent. He immediately led the cavalry of the Third Army to the north. After galloping for more than 200 miles, Guo Zhiping and more than 13,000 Fengwu Army cavalry arrived at the vicinity of Lingyuan and Pingyun counties.

Although he arrived at the location, Guo Zhiping was still stubborn and rushed in. After all, the Xuanwu Imperial Guards on the opposite side were not to be trifled with!
Although cavalry in the plains had a natural advantage over infantry in the era of cold weapons, the Xuanwu Imperial Army had suffered heavy casualties after nearly two months of siege, but now after some reinforcements from the rear, it still had nearly 40,000 troops, several times more than the cavalry under Guo Zhiping, and was equipped with dozens of Zhengdong cannons and thousands of Shenwu guns.

In a head-on clash, even if Guo Zhiping's cavalry could win, they would still suffer heavy casualties. In the past two months, in order to prevent Wang Muzhi's Liang army from crossing the Sanchuan River and attacking Jinzhong City, Guo Zhiping's cavalry also suffered thousands of casualties. Guo Zhiping, who led the Third Army, was heartbroken. Therefore, he was not prepared to fight hard in this battle!
Guo Zhiping led his men to lie in ambush first, and then after getting in touch with Xun Ke's troops in the city, the two sides agreed that last night, they would take advantage of the darkness of the night to attack the Xuanwu Imperial Army that was besieging the city by surprise, and successfully rescued the remnants of the Eighth Division.

After breaking out of the siege, they headed eastward according to the plan and arrived at Tiande Town at dawn for a temporary rest...
Guo Zhiping, who was sitting in the upper seat in the room, smiled and waved his hand after hearing Xun Ke's thanks.

"General Xun, you are too polite. You and I belong to the Fengwu Army, we are both loyal to the Marshal, and we are of the same blood. It is our duty to support each other!"

Xun Ke expressed his gratitude to Guo Zhiping for his statement, and even toasted several cups of tea to the generals of the Third Army in the room. Just when the atmosphere in the room was very heated, a messenger quickly came into the room. Seeing the messenger suddenly appear, Guo Zhiping was a little surprised. Without waiting for the messenger to speak, he took the initiative to ask:
"The Xuanwu army's Ma Chongyang has caught up with us?"

In response to Guo Zhiping's question, the messenger immediately shook his head and said:

"Report to the commander, Ma Chongyang's troops have occupied Lingyuan, and they did not pursue our army after Pingyun!"

Guo Zhiping nodded secretly when he heard this. Ma Chongyang was not stupid. Although he had tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under his command, he only had 2,000 cavalry. On the plains, those of his troops who relied on camps and used firearms would be a bit difficult to defeat, but chasing after the enemy on the plains would be courting death.

Although the Xuanwu Army's camp was destroyed last night and thousands of people were killed and injured, the situation seemed to be good, but Guo Zhiping knew that they were outnumbered and the situation would take a turn for the worse once they were entangled by the enemy. In addition, Shangguan Hongyuan led 30,000 Shenwu troops and could appear on the northern front at any time.

Therefore, Guo Zhiping did not get entangled with Ma Chongyang for long. He led his troops to rescue the Eighth Division and then withdrew.
Since it wasn't Ma Chongyang who led his troops to chase after them, what was the purpose of the messenger coming here? Just as Guo Zhiping was puzzled, the messenger said in a deep voice:
"Report to the commander, General Cui, who sent a letter for help. Shangguan Hongyuan and 30,000 Shenwu troops appeared at the Sanchuan River, and joined forces with Wang Muzhi's troops to force a crossing of the river!"

"Although General Cui led his troops to resist tenaciously, the enemy had too many troops and the Shenwu Army was very powerful. In order to avoid being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy, General Cui was forced to abandon the camp on the east bank of the Sanchuan River and lead his troops to retreat to Dakou Township to rely on the terrain to block the enemy. At present, tens of thousands of enemy troops have crossed the Sanchuan River!"

As soon as the messenger finished speaking, the room suddenly became silent. After a moment, all the generals in the room turned their attention to Guo Zhiping.

Guo Zhiping, with a serious expression, looked at the map. On the one hand, he was shocked by Shangguan Hongyuan's move, and on the other hand, he felt a lot of emotion in his heart!
Damn, the older the ginger, the spicier it is!
Shangguan Hongyuan, who had been in Jinyang for two months, would have been fine if he hadn't taken action, but this move was indeed earth-shattering! The situation of the Fengwu Army outside Jinzhong City took a sharp turn for the worse!

Before the messenger brought this information, Guo Zhiping had always thought that Shangguan Hongyuan would come to the northern front. The intelligence obtained by the scouts and the news from the Coordination Office also showed that Shangguan Hongyuan was preparing to lead 30,000 Shenwu troops to the northern front and work with the Xuanwu army to annihilate the Eighth Division!

No one expected that after a feint, the old man Shangguan Hongyuan actually turned his gun around to bite the hard bone of Sanchuanjiang...

During the period of confrontation with Wang Muzhi along the Sanchuan River, Guo Zhiping arranged a very complete defense system in the Fengwu Army camp, with trenches, chevaux de frise, sentry towers and so on. This was the reason why he dared to lead the cavalry to support the Eighth Division and let Cui Desheng lead the remaining 15,000 infantry to continue to defend the east bank of the Sanchuan River!
Because it was not expected that Shangguan Hongyuan would lead the Shenwu Army to appear in Sanchuan River, Guo Zhiping expected that Cui Desheng, who was relying on the camp, could hold off the tens of thousands of Liang troops under Wang Muzhi for seven to ten days. During this period, he could lead the cavalry to rescue the Eighth Division and then support Cui Desheng to withdraw.

But plans cannot keep up with changes. Now with Shangguan Hongyuan and the Shenwu Army appearing in Sanchuan River, the whole situation has become extremely dangerous again!
Thinking of this, Guo Zhiping was secretly surprised at the combat effectiveness of the Shenwu Army. Although he had always known that the Shenwu Army led by Shangguan Hongyuan was very powerful, because the Shenwu Army had always been under the command of Shangguan Hongyuan and had not experienced large-scale wars in recent years, no one knew how strong they were.

Guo Zhiping was most clear about the combat effectiveness of his troops. Although the enemy had several times more troops than the enemy in Sanchuan River this time, they were able to force Cui Desheng to abandon his camp and retreat to Dakou Township in one battle. This was enough to prove that the reputation was real and the Shenwu Army was indeed very powerful...
At this time, there are only two options before Guo Zhiping!

The first option is to continue to withdraw to Jinzhong according to the original plan regardless of Cui Desheng's life or death. In this way, the Eighth Division and their Third Army Cavalry, nearly 20,000 people, can save their lives, but Cui Desheng's troops will inevitably be surrounded by the enemy in Dakou Township, and annihilation of the entire army is an inevitable outcome!

The second route is to lead the troops to rush to the aid of Dakou Township, but with the 30,000 Shenwu Army plus Wang Muzhi's Liang Army, there are at least 70,000 enemy troops in the Dakou Township area, and with Shangguan Hongyuan personally in charge, the enemy's morale will be extremely high and it will become very difficult to deal with!

If they fail to rescue Cui Desheng's troops quickly, they will most likely be trapped. By then, whether it is the Xuanwu Army on the southern line or the Hujie Army on the northern line that will encircle them, not only will Cui Desheng's troops not be rescued, but the troops that come to support them will also be surrounded and annihilated!
Thinking of this, Guo Zhiping sighed inwardly. Although there seem to be two choices at the moment, there is actually only one choice!

Cui Desheng was the commander of his Third Army. About half of the 15,000 soldiers were his subordinates, Guo Zhiping. There was no way Guo Zhiping would sit idly by and watch his brothers being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy!
In addition, since the establishment of the Fengwu Army, although it has suffered some tactical failures, there has never been a situation where more than 10,000 people were surrounded and annihilated!

If Cui Desheng's 15,000 men were surrounded and annihilated, then Guo Zhiping would truly be engraved on the pillar of shame of the Fengwu Army!
So he must not allow this to happen! No matter what the result is, there is only a glimmer of hope that Guo Zhiping will not abandon these brothers!

Thinking of this, Guo Zhiping shifted his gaze to Xun Ke······························

Feeling Guo Zhiping's gaze, Xun Ke took a deep breath, clasped his fists towards Guo Zhiping and said generously:
"Commander Guo just said that we are all members of the Fengwu Army and are loyal to the Marshal. We are of the same blood and should support each other. Moreover, General Cui encountered such a dangerous situation this time because Commander Guo came to our aid, which gave the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of the Sanchuan River!"

"So there's nothing to say! Our Eighth Division is at the disposal of Commander Guo!"

Xun Ke's heroic statement also satisfied the generals of the Third Army, and they gave Xun Ke a thumbs up in their hearts. Guo Zhiping was also very satisfied with Xun Ke's attitude, but he was not going to mobilize the Eighth Division. After looking at Xun Ke deeply, he smiled and said:

"General Xun, we, the Third Army, appreciate your and the Eighth Division's kindness, but we ask you to withdraw to Jinzhong as planned!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals in the room were puzzled. Compared with the enemy, they were already at a disadvantage in terms of military strength. At this time, one more person meant more strength and one more possibility. The Eighth Division under Xun Ke still had five or six thousand people excluding the wounded. If they were to return to Jinzhong at this time, the possibility of rescuing Cui Desheng's troops would undoubtedly be reduced a lot.

Xun Ke was also somewhat puzzled by Guo Zhiping's words, so he continued to ask:

"Commander Guo! Although our Eighth Division is a newly formed unit, we are all brave men! If we escape now, how can we gain a foothold in the army in the future? Commander Guo, rest assured, our Eighth Division will never hold you back!"

Listening to Xun Ke's impassioned speech, Guo Zhiping was moved, but he also realized that Xun Ke did not understand what he meant, so he explained:
“General Xun, you worry too much! As the commander of the Third Army, it is my duty to save my subordinates, but this battle is too risky, and I am not confident that I can escape unscathed. So I must prepare for the worst. Jinzhong cannot be lost no matter what…”

(End of this chapter)