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Volume 2 Hu Qixi Liuzhe Chapter 104 Decisive Battle with the Shangdang (19)

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    ps: Thanks to Songlu, Stone from the Sea, Magic Shrimp, and Luanyu Luanyue for their rewards.  After three consecutive days of tentative attacks on the Yan army's Pingqiu camp, Zhou Dewei discovered that there were not as many Yan troops in the Pingqiu camp as he had imagined.  Zhou Dewei did not have a staff officer who was as proficient in calculation as Yan Jun, but he had extremely rich combat experience. Judging from the strength of the opponent's defense, it seemed that there were less than ten thousand people.  Zhou Dewei even guessed that the Yan army in the Pingqiu camp might not even have 7,000 people, because the number reported by Li Siyuan should be very inaccurate - even though he repeatedly emphasized that the Yan army's resistance was extremely fierce.  However, although the estimated enemy strength was nearly half less than originally expected, the defense facilities of this camp were very well built and very layered, making it impossible to attack them easily.  If attacked forcefully, it is likely to cause huge casualties.  Therefore, Zhou Dewei quickly adjusted his plan and changed the main combat goal from conquering the Pingqiu camp to ambushing the Yan Army cavalry.  On September 7, the three armies of the Shiyu Camp came out together and launched a feint attack towards the Yan Army's Pingqiu Camp.  In this battle, Zhou Dewei mobilized 18,000 infantry and launched attacks from three directions. Li Siyuan, Li Sizhao and himself were still responsible for one direction.  Zhou Dewei's request was that the attack should be more violent than in previous days, but the losses must be minimized as much as possible, and everything should be focused on creating momentum.  He hoped that through the siege of Pingqiu Camp, the Yan Army cavalry could be mobilized out of Xijiayan Village.  Of course, if you can open a gap, don't give up the opportunity to break the stronghold.  Zhou Dewei's real main force set up an ambush next to the passage from Xijiayan Village to Pingqiu, preparing to annihilate the Yan Army cavalry beside the Nangou River passage, which was five miles long and two miles wide.  There are several high ridges extending from Shiyu. Zhou Dewei hid 20,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry behind the high ridges.  He sent 800 horses to the entrance of Xijiayan Village to act as bait.  The number of eight hundred cavalry was decided by Zhou Dewei after long consideration. If there were too few troops or no troops at all, the trap would be more obvious and it would be easy for others to see the flaw; if too many troops were sent, he would be afraid of Zhao Zaili from Xijiayan Village.  He didn't dare to come forward and continued to sit back and watch the friendly troops at Pingqiu Camp being surrounded - this kind of behavior was too normal for a military leader.  The bait of 800 cavalry should be considered suitable. It can reduce Zhao Zaili's doubts and is just the limit that the Yan army cavalry can barely swallow in one gulp.  Faced with such temptation, Zhou Dewei felt that Zhao Zaili might be tempted.  Once Zhao Zaili is dispatched, the 800 cavalry will retreat northward and lead the Yan army's cavalry into the Nangou River channel. When the time comes, this cavalry will turn around and rush forward to entangle them, which can cover the Gaoling where the 20,000 infantry are hiding from the side.  They fought out everywhere and blocked the Yan army's return route.  Plus five thousand fine cavalry to cooperate.  Zhou Dewei believed that Zhao Zaili would have to shed his skin even if he didn't die.  One day passed, and another day passed, for two consecutive days, no matter how far the battle in Pingqiu Camp progressed, Zhou Dewei's attention was always fixed on the direction of Xijiayan Village.  Tan Qi kept feeding back the news to Zhou Dewei, and all the news was announced.  The Yan Army cavalry in Xijiayan Village did not move at all.  But Zhou Dewei was not in a hurry, he had enough patience to continue waiting.  In the second year of Qianning, Zhou Dewei accompanied Li Keyong to attack Wang Xingyu who had forced Chang'an into the palace. Zhou Dewei spent twelve days setting up an ambush and defeated Wang Xingyu's main force in one fell swoop; in the first year of Tianfu.  Facing the siege of Jinyang by Zhu Youning and Shi Shucong, Zhou Dewei withstood Li Keyong's strict order.  After waiting patiently for more than a month, he finally found a good opportunity and sent out unexpected troops from Jinyang to outflank Shi Shucong's flanks, forcing the 100,000 Xuanwu army to withdraw from the siege of Jinyang.  "Compared with these two classic battles of Zhou Dewei's fame, waiting for only a few days is nothing?"  Two more days passed, and there was still no change in the direction of Xijiayan Village. Zhou Dewei didn't mind and planned to continue waiting patiently, but the feint attack of Pingqiu Camp achieved unexpected results.  The Zheng Army under Li Sizhao and the Jin Army under Zhou Dewei made breakthroughs respectively in the north and west of the Yan Army's Pingqiu Camp.  Among them, the Zheng army broke into the Yan army camp three times, and the Jin army also broke into it once yesterday afternoon.  Unfortunately, because it was a feint attack and insufficient follow-up troops were invested, all the Yan troops defending the camp were beaten out and failed to capture the Pingqiu camp.  Li Sizhao personally rushed to Zhou Dewei to discuss with him how to change the strategy and make every effort to capture the Pingqiu camp.  Li Sizhao said excitedly that the Yan army was not as strong as imagined. Although it was well-equipped and advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, it lacked the will to die. As long as our side can tolerate the casualties at the beginning and launch an attack desperately, we can win in subsequent battles.  achieved great results.  Li Sizhao believed that as long as sufficient troops were deployed to maintain the intensity of the attack, taking the Pingqiu camp was a matter between Gu and Gu.  Zhou Dewei was not distracted by Li Sizhao's excitement. He focused on the important information revealed in Li Sizhao's words - the Yan army was far less numerous than expected, not even 5,000, let alone 7,000.  thenZhou Dewei sent someone to invite Li Siyuan to hear the status of his feint attack.  Although the Korean army under Li Siyuan did not attack as fiercely as the Zheng army and the Jin army, after many days in a row, they had already noticed something unusual in the Pingqiu camp.  Li Siyuan has been going south for almost two months. He is well aware of the actual strength of the Yan army. He knows that there should be tens of thousands of Yan troops stationed in the Pingqiu camp. This number is likely to be more than 15,000.  However, the defensive strength of the Yan Army cannot match this number at all. Just by saying one thing, it can be seen that in so many days of battle, the Yan Army did not organize a single side attack out of camp!  Hearing that both the Zheng army and the Jin army had successfully broken into the Pingqiu camp several times, Li Siyuan's mind immediately became active.  In fact, before the messenger sent by Zhou Dewei to him had even left the camp, Li Siyuan had already arrived.  The three of them got together to report the battle situation to each other, and came to the conclusion that the Yan army in the Pingqiu camp was weak and could fall with one blow!  Li Sizhao repeatedly instigated the idea of ??taking Pingqiu Camp immediately, but was stopped by Zhou Dewei.  A general must not easily change his original deployment. This is a taboo for military strategists!  Moreover, Zhou Dewei always believed that the key to the battle was not a Yan Army camp. Only by eliminating the Yan Army cavalry in Xijiayan Village could the initiative on the battlefield be grasped.  This is the most important thing.  Therefore, he tried his best to persuade Li Sizhao not to act rashly.  You must remain patient and continue to wait, using Pingqiu Camp as bait to attract the Yan Army cavalry into the ambush circle.  At the same time, Zhou Dewei also reminded Li Sizhao and Li Siyuan not to underestimate the enemy and to think carefully about how the enemy's troops stationed in Pingqiu were far lower than expected.  Just as Zhou Dewei was persuading him repeatedly, Li Siyuan suddenly burst into laughter, making Zhou Dewei look very unhappy.  Li Siyuan didn't mean to laugh at Zhou Dewei.  He couldn't bear it anymore. An inexplicable ecstasy surged into his heart, suddenly rushing away the depression he had been holding back for nearly two months. How could he hold back his laughter?  At this point, Li Siyuan felt that there was no need to hide it any longer. The great merit had been firmly obtained, maybe Licheng.  No, maybe even Luzhou has been captured by An Zhongjie's surprise troops. What needs to be done now is to encourage his two allies as soon as possible and immediately send his troops south to support An Zhongjie.  Li Siyuan laid out his plan of sending An Zhongjiao to surprise Li City from the Zhuozhang Valley Trail, and finally said it with an extremely certain tone.  An Chongjie's surprise attack was almost certain to be effective. He had even conquered Luzhou and cut off the enemy's retreat. The enemy's main force must have been transferred back to the south.  In a word, this is the time of sweeping events, so don¡¯t be hesitant!  Only then did Zhou Dewei understand Li Siyuan's strange behavior during this period.  I couldn't help but sigh and ordered to change the original deployment.  They demanded that the Pingqiu camp be captured immediately and then march south.  Seeing Li Siyuan leave the tent in high spirits, Zhou Dewei suddenly felt very uncomfortable. It seemed that a great victory was coming, but why was he so uncomfortable?  Looking at Li Sizhao, he saw Li Sizhao spitting heavily on the ground, and said bitterly: "Miao Jilie, you dare to do such an ungrateful thing, for your own selfish desires, even to conceal such a major military event, the future will not be good.  Die!" Li Siyuan was originally Shatuonu, and "Miao Jilie" was his real name. After he became famous, Li Siyuan changed his name and was very taboo about others calling him by his original name. At this time, Li Sizhao secretly called him "Miao Jilie".  Tuo Nu's name is obviously something he hates very much.  After a moment of silence, Zhou Dewei adjusted his guilty conscience and comforted Li Sizhao for a moment. Then Li Sizhao left angrily and went back to prepare for the attack on Pingqiu.  In Xijiayan Village, Zhao Zaili stood on a hill outside the village, staring anxiously in the direction of Pingqiu.  It has been several days in a row, and I don¡¯t know how well Zhou Kan is holding Pingqiu, how many casualties there are, and whether the baggage consumption can still sustain it?  Li Xiaoxi's Youyan Security Army and Gao Xingzhou's Guizhou Army's left wing were transferred from the Pingqiu Camp. There were only more than 4,000 Yan troops left in the Pingqiu Camp, including only four from the Guizhou Army's right wing.  The infantry battalion is a combat soldier, and the remaining more than 2,000 people are temporary supplementary battalions brought up from Luzhou.  With such a small number of troops to resist the attack of more than 50,000 elite troops from the Three Kings Alliance, one can imagine the pressure on Zhou Kan.  The communication between Pingqiu and Xijiayan Village has been blocked for seven days. The military report that Li Xiaoxi and Gao Xingzhou successfully attacked Wuxiang has been sent, but Zhao Zaili cannot deliver it to Zhou Kan.  In addition to this good news, Gaoping, where His Highness the King of Yan is located, also sent a military order from the General Administration of Military Staff regarding major changes in the overall battlefield strategy. This military order was also placed in the hands of Zhao Zaili, and Zhou Kan knew nothing about it.  .  According to the agreement between Zhao Zaili and Zhou Kan, Zhou Kan will try his best to hold off the three kings' coalition forces in Pingqiu to buy more time. When he can no longer hold on, he will use the agreed signal to summon Zhao Zaili to respond and help him withdraw.  Pingqiu camp.  This is also the reason why Zhou Dewei¡¯s ambush strategy never succeeded.?¡ªZhao Zaili wouldn¡¯t have come out on his own without receiving Zhou Kan¡¯s signal!  What Zhao Zaili was worried about was that if Zhou Kan held on for a longer time, he might not be able to retreat under the fierce attack of the enemy.  Mao Zhang came over with a bowl of soup and several noodles and handed it to Zhao Zaili: "General Zhao, it's time to eat." Zhao Zaili took it and ate it. While eating, he kept looking towards Pingqiu.  .  "The enemy is still provoking one mile outside the village entrance. Should we send troops to drive them away?" Mao Zhang asked.  Zhao Zaili replied nonchalantly: "Don't worry, it's probably a trick by the enemy to lure them. Let them make noise for now, and when the time comes, they will break it in one fell swoop." At this moment, a puff of white smoke suddenly bloomed high in the sky in the direction of Pingqiu.  , and then from the top of the big tree next to him came the cry of the distant observation post: "General Manager Zhou has sent a signal!" Zhao Zaili's anxious expression changed instantly, and he said happily to Mao Zhang: "Go and send the order quickly to receive the withdrawal of the troops from General Manager Zhou!"
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