Chapter 18: Han Army Retreat

Five days have passed since Zhou Qi led his troops to leave. Before the news has come, Fan Yi's heart is already cold. Now he has no intention of confronting Deng's army here. He wants to withdraw his troops. Now he can still preserve his strength. If the food is completely exhausted, he will not be able to retreat.

Han army's central tent

Fan Yi summoned his subordinates to discuss the withdrawal of the troops.

Fan Yi said with a depressed expression: "Everyone, there is no news about Zhou Qi's counterattack against Wuguan, and the food in the army has been exhausted. Now it is all relying on killing horses, digging wild vegetables and hunting around. However, when the manpower is exhausted, in order not to let the army fall into an irreversible level, I decided to withdraw my troops, join Zhou Qi, and make plans to recover Wuguan."

All the generals lowered their heads and remained silent. The battle was awkward. His 200,000 army came in full swing, intending to take down the Deng Kingdom in one go and expand the territory. However, they did not expect that they were fighting in the front and were stolen from the rear. A month ago, they were still ambitious. Who would have thought that they would retreat in less than a month, and it is still unknown whether they could return to Guanzhong safely now?

As a military advisor in the army, Chen Lin agreed with Fan Yi's withdrawal. The situation is now serious, and only by combining the entire army and recovering Wuguan can most of the power be preserved.

Since no one objected, Fan Yi decided to withdraw his troops, but retreating did not mean retreating at all. There were many things to be arranged, and the Deng army would not let him retreat so easily. If it were normal, he could still lead a large army and retreat while fighting. Not to mention that there were only tens of thousands of Deng troops, even hundreds of thousands of Deng troops could escape unscathed. However, now the Han army has run out of food and must retreat to Wuguan as quickly as possible. Before the food is completely exhausted, it will be difficult to maintain the formation during the march. If the Deng army pursues, it is difficult to counterattack, and people must be left to cut off the rear.

"This time we retreated, we will not go. Our generals marched all the way. In order to prevent the Deng army from pursuing, we must leave a team of troops to cut off the rear. I wonder who are you willing?" Judging from the current situation, cutting off the rear is like a dead end. Fan Yi dared not call the general, but only hoped that someone would take the initiative to take on the task.

The generals looked at each other, and they knew very well that the Han army retreated this time not to regroup, but to retreat all the way back to Guanzhong, leaving behind the troops and horses that were cut off, and there was basically no possibility of survival.

After a long time, Song Guang and Wang Ce made a list and said, "General, the last general is willing to stay and cut off the rear."

When the generals saw someone coming out, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they didn't have to stay and die by themselves.

Fan Yi nodded with a smile and said, "General Song, General Wang is loyal and brave. After I return to Chang'an, I will ask for merits from the king."

"I have no other requests. I just hope that after the general returns to Chang'an, he can take care of our family members for a while." Song Guang and Wang Ce have no extravagant expectations for whether to invite me or not. This time, it is a question whether they can go back alive. What can be done if they don't have any credit. Now the only ones who are far away in Chang'an are the families far away. In fact, they are also helpless. Among the Han army, there are only a few people who are capable of staying behind to cut off the rear. Zhou Qi and An Daoli are far away in Wuguan, Chen Lin is a civil servant, Wei Ning is Fan Yi's confidant general, Shang Long is a child of the Guanzhong family, with a noble status, and is also the brother-in-law of the King of Han. Xu Kang is the favorite general of the King of Han and one of the best generals in the Han country. If these people are lost here, Fan Yi will definitely not be able to take the blame. Instead of being named directly by Fan Yi, it is better to take the initiative.

Fan Yi: "Don't worry, two generals. As long as you have this general here in the future, you will never let the relatives of the two generals feel a little wronged."

"General Thank you!"

"This time, I will leave 30,000 troops to the two generals. The two generals can defend themselves by the way. After I recovered Wu Pass, I will send troops to help the two generals retreat." It was enough for Fan Yi to leave 30,000 troops. Now in Xi County, the Deng army is only about 50,000. Song Guang and Wang Ce are both generals. There should be no major problem with dealing with the Deng army with a 30,000 army.

After arranging the broken troops, Fan Yi stopped staying and immediately ordered people to gather their troops to retreat.

The Han army had abnormal movements, and the news had already been received in Xi County.

County yamen

Deng Sheng convened everyone to discuss the matter.

Deng Sheng: "You are here to report to the city, the Han army has had some abnormal movements, but I don't know what they mean?"

Cui Hao smiled and said, "Master, in my opinion, Fan Yi is going to retreat."

"Oh, how can I see it?" Although Deng Sheng had already guessed before, seeing Cui Hao so confident, he wanted to hear his opinion.

Cui Hao said: "King, now Chang Yuchun's troops occupy Wuguan, Zhou Qi's army has no choice but to attack for several days. They are about to run out of ammunition and food. In order not to let the 200,000 troops fall to death, Fan Yi can only retreat first, join Zhou Qi under Wuguan, and take down Wuguan first."

"Then I wonder how our army should act?" Deng Sheng asked again.

"Then I wonder what effect the king wants to achieve?" Su Hongdao.

"How do you say this?"

Su Hong: "Return to the king, if the king wants to stop when he sees it, it's very simple. The Han army will definitely leave behind the broken troops. There are at least tens of thousands of people. As long as our army eats this army, plus the lost troops and horses in the Han army's Wuguan and Xixian County, the Han army will be severely damaged. After Fan Yi arrives at Wuguan, the king asks Chang Yuchun to give up Wuguan and let the Han army return to Guanzhong. If the king wants to wipe out the Han army, he will be thunderous. The Han army was in a state of defeating the troops and horses that broke the Han army and pursued them all the way. The Han army was short of food and grass, so they dared not stop to fight with our army. In this way, when the Han army retreated to Wuguan, ten pavilions would go to the Four and Five pavilions. At the same time, they ordered Yang Yanzhao, Zhang Fei and Wang Yanzhang who were cruising around the Han army to rush to help Wuguan. After our main force arrived at Wuguan, the Han army, which had already been cut off, would be defeated without any attack. However, in this way, our Da Deng completely broke up with the Han Kingdom and had no room for maneuver."
Chapter completed!