Kansai, Sin'an Fortress.

Niu Fu led the army to the city of Xin'an, and was about to launch a battle to seize the city, when the scouts reported urgently: Shaanxi City was lost, all the grain and grass of the army were seized, and the back road was cut off.

Niu Fu was shocked and urgently summoned the generals to discuss the matter.

At this time, the situation was very clear, and the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army captured Shaancheng and surrounded the Western Liang Army.

In the case of the loss of grain and grass, the advantage of the Western Liang Army in terms of strength has disappeared, and the only way to retreat is to retreat quickly, otherwise there will be a disaster of annihilation.

Li Dao, Guo Yan and others were very angry, and they accused Niu Fu of not listening to Li Ru's advice, and insisted on advancing eastward quickly and attacking Kwantung, resulting in today's predicament.

Niu Fu sneered and was silent.

With the current strength of the Liang Army in the west, there is no problem at all in withdrawing to Tongguan. It's just that after withdrawing to Tongguan, everyone not only returned in vain, but also delayed the Taishi's plan to occupy Luoyang and stabilize Sheji, and the generals were more or less punished.

He is the son-in-law of the Taishi, and it is likely that he was just scolded by the Taishi, and at worst, he was beaten by the Taishi, which is not a matter of once or twice anyway. Being able to be beaten by the Taishi is because of his close relationship with the Taishi, and ordinary people don't have a chance to be beaten by the Taishi.

But Li Dao, Guo Yan and others did not have a good life. Taishi has been more and more dissatisfied with these old subordinates recently, these old guys are not only not fighting hard, but also have their own little Jiujiu in their hearts, Taishi has been putting up with them for a long time. Now that I have the opportunity, I will definitely teach them a good lesson.

After withdrawing to Tongguan, he immediately wrote a letter to Taishi, putting the responsibility for the defeat of Guanxi on Li Dao, Guo Yan and others, and then instigated Taishi to transfer these veteran Xiliang generals back to Chang'an.

Without these people to oppose themselves, the army has the final say on its own, and attacking Luoyang is just a gesture.

Of course, this is all in the future, and the top priority is to deal with the current crisis.

Withdrawal is a sure thing, but how to withdraw and how to retreat to ensure the safety of the army to the greatest extent and avoid suffering greater losses needs to be carefully considered. Niu Fu knew very well that Taishi attached great importance to this army, and this was the last capital in his hands. If the losses are too great, with the current situation in Guanzhong, it will be difficult to raise a strong army.

Now the territory occupied by the Xiliang army is only the three counties of Jingzhaoyin, Zuo Fengyi, and Right Fufeng in the west of Sili, as well as Beidi County, Anding County and Wudu County in Xiliang, the land of six counties, with a population of just over one million, and a place that has been war-torn for a long time, and its potential is very limited.

Therefore, Niu Fu knew that he had to keep this army no matter what, otherwise even if he was the son-in-law of the Taishi, he might not be able to escape death.

Niu Fu and Li Dao and others argued endlessly, and no one was willing to stay and defend the pond.

Hold Michi and prevent the two northern Xinjiang armies from meeting, so that the Xiliang army will have enough time to attack Shaancheng and ensure that the army can break through and leave.

But it is obvious that whoever stays behind to defend the pond will have to fight to the death with the Northern Xinjiang Army, and the loss of its strength is not very important, the important thing is that his life is in danger and in danger.

Niu Fu was helpless, and finally had to set his eyes on Li Ru, who was sitting silent, and looked at him for help.

Li Ru did not hesitate, and said, "I will stay to guard the pond." ”

"Wen You......" Li Wei shouted angrily, "Do you think you are old and don't want to live anymore?" On the opposite side is Zhu Jun, Yue Fei, and most likely reinforcements from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Zhu Jun and Yue Fei deliberately set up such a trap, not just to rob us of a little food and grass to force us back to Guanzhong. Their purpose is to kill us, to attack Guanzhong. ”

Li Ru sighed and said, "Don't worry, I can go back alive." ”

Niu Fu was very apologetic, patted Li Ru hard, and said, "Wenyou, I will leave 10,000 people for you." You must fight back to Tongguan and join us. ”

Li Ru shook his hand and said, "Just give me 3,000 people." The more people remain, the greater our losses, three thousand are enough. ”

Niu Fu smiled bitterly: "Brother Wenyou, I know that you have the confidence to hold Michi, but what I need is not your confidence. I need enough time to attack Shaanxi, and I need to make the pond unbreakable. There are too few people, how can the pond be unbroken? ”

Li Ru smiled slightly: "Shaancheng is down, Lao Niu, you can return to Tongguan in three days." ”

Niu Fu and the others looked at Li Ru in surprise, and they were skeptical.

"Brother Wen You, can you explain?" Niu Fu touched his short beard and asked very suspiciously.

Li Ru pointed to Hedong Pubanjin on the map and said: "Duan Xuan is attacking Hedong, according to Duan Xuan's battle report, only Chang Yuchun and Yu Ban are blocking Duan Xuan, and the rest of the Northern Xinjiang Army is gone, which shows that Li Yi has led the army to fight Jizhou." ”

"If Li Yi wants to fight Jizhou, the Northern Xinjiang Army will have to fight in two battlefields at the same time, and the strength of Northern Xinjiang will obviously not be able to do it. Then Li Yi must give up Luoyang painfully, but give up Luoyang and give Luoyang to us, and at the same time he sent troops to occupy Jizhou, then Li Yi's rebellious crime is confirmed, and he will be scolded and attacked by the people of the world. Therefore, for the sake of his own face and the safety of northern Xinjiang, Li Yi must insist on defending Luoyang no matter what. ”

In this dilemma, Li Yi first had to ensure that the troops in Guanxi were not lost, so as to garrison Luoyang and protect Hedong. Secondly, he wanted us to maintain our attack on the Kwantung region in order to maintain our threat to the prefectures and counties, and to force the prefectures and counties to provide food and grass for the Northern Frontier Army stationed in Luoyang for their own safety. ”

"Li Yi didn't want to be damaged by himself, and he didn't want to defeat us, so in the end he had to think of such a way to rob us of our grain and grass. The strength of Guanzhong is limited, and it will take time to raise 60,000 troops for a few months of grain and grass again, and it will not be until after the summer harvest at the earliest. In other words, our next attack will not start until mid-June at the earliest, and with the buffer during this time, Li Yi can attack Jizhou with all his strength and occupy Jizhou. ”

"Jizhou is in hand, Li Yi has a solid backing, and he can use Jizhou's money and grain to support the Northern Xinjiang Army in Guanxi to start a decisive battle with us."

Li Ru shook his head and said with a sad brow: "July, it should be the time for the decisive battle, this point must be made clear in the letter to the Taishi. ”

Then Li Ru patted the case lightly, and said with a relaxed expression: "It can be seen from the current Kansai strategy in Northern Xinjiang that Yue Fei's plan is aimed at forcing us to retreat, and has no intention of fighting us in a decisive battle, so the army can be unimpeded and return to Tongguan smoothly all the way." ”

Although Li Ru's analysis is the Tao, fighting is a war, and it is not a blind guess that can determine the situation of the war. Niu Fu and the generals were panicked, what should they do or what to do, and no one took Li Ru's words to heart.

Niu Fu left 5,000 men and horses for Li Ru to defend Michi, and he retreated overnight with his army.

One hundred and fifty miles from Xin'an City to Shaancheng, a two-day journey, the Xiliang Army arrived in one day and one night.

Looking at Shaanxi City in the twilight, looking at the big silk and colorful battle flags flying high on the city tower, Niu Fu and Li Dao and others were in a heavy mood. Is Li Ru's estimate correct? Did the main force of the Northern Xinjiang Army leave Shaancheng?

Scouts flew to report that on the Maojin ferry and the Shaancheng ferry, the boats were shuttling back and forth, and the flow of people was like banners, and there was no sign of retreat of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

At this time, the war drums in the city were like thunder, and the sound of killing was like a landslide and the ground cracked, which was earth-shattering.

Niu Fu hesitated.

The soldiers came in a hurry, exhausted, and could have suffered heavy casualties in the dark of night in a hasty siege, but Li Dao, Guo Yan and others strongly demanded an immediate siege.

Li Dao said: "Yue Fei is the number one general under Li Yi, and he has made countless contributions to the southern and northern wars with Li Yi over the years. Otherwise, with his age and connections, how could he be worshiped as a captured general? It is said that Yue Fei is very good at using tricks, and at this time, if Yue Fei ambushes a group of men and horses in Kunshan and raids the camp in the middle of the night, our losses will be even greater. ”

Yue Fei's fame is really too great, it can be said that he is second only to Li Yi in the Northern Xinjiang Army, and a group of generals in Xiliang have heard of him. This man was powerful in the early years of war, let alone now.

Niu Fu no longer hesitated, and resolutely ordered the siege of the city, and sure enough, it fell with a drum.

The Northern Frontier Army in the city retreated without a fight, and went directly out of the north gate to get on the boat and run away.

The Northern Xinjiang Army ran fast, and the Western Liang Army ran even faster.

Niu Fu and Li Dao and others threw themselves to the ground for the five bodies that Li Ru admired.

Niu Fu urgently ordered the army to withdraw to Hongnong, and at the same time urgently reported to Li Ru: The army has passed Shaancheng, please retreat quickly.

………………

Yue Fei did not attack the city for three consecutive days, and the pond was very quiet.

Li Ru did not retreat during the day, and in the middle of the night, he quietly led 5,000 men and horses out of the city and galloped all the way.

At dawn, the army rushed to Wangyun Pavilion and was blocked by Zhang Fei.

After Zhang Fei saw the main force of the Xiliang Army leaving Michi, he immediately went down the mountain to set up a formation.

Yue Fei's order to him was to stop the last group of Xiliang troops who had evacuated Michi at all costs. In this battle, no matter what, we must fight the Xiliang Army, so that they do not dare to continue to attack Kanto for the time being.

Li Ru didn't say a word, and ordered 5,000 soldiers of the Xiliang Army that the army had been surrounded and there was nowhere to escape. Those who want to surrender surrender surrender, those who don't want to surrender, drop their weapons and go home.

The Xiliang army immediately bombed the camp, and the 5,000 soldiers scattered in a hurry.

Zhang Fei and the soldiers were dumbfounded, they didn't expect the Xiliang Army to suddenly bomb the camp.

Li Ru took the opportunity to escape into Kunshan with more than a dozen personal guards, and went straight to Hongnong City by taking a small road. The five army commanders discussed with a group of officers of the Xiliang Army, and surrendered to Zhang Fei with a few hundred personal guards.

Xun Di and others led men and horses to chase and recruit the stragglers of the Xiliang army.

At noon, Huang Zhong and Li Zhong also rushed to Wangyun Pavilion with the forward battalion, and along the way they also recruited more than 2,000 stragglers of the Xiliang army.

Zhang Fei smiled bitterly and said to Huang Zhong: "In these years, wars have become more and more fresh, and there are still such wars. ”

Niu Fu left Zhang Ji to defend Hongnong City, and he withdrew with his army all the way to Taolin Fortress.

Niu Fu urgently reported to the Chang'an Imperial Court and Taishi Dong Zhuo. The army's grain and grass were taken away by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and they were unable to continue the attack and were forced to withdraw. (To be continued.) )