Chapter 895 Discussing Countermeasures
Back in the afternoon two days ago, in Geyang, Wang Ran was stunned by the news brought by the sudden arrival of the cavalry. His lord's 120,000 troops were likely to fall into the trap of Yuan Shu's army. To be precise, the army now has less than 120,000, probably only around 100,000. If it really falls into Yuan Shu's army's trap, it is very likely that the army's retreat route has been cut off. ‘
Wang Ran felt horrified when he thought of this. He hurriedly read Huangfu Chaobo's military order and then breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, his lord and the two military advisors had already made arrangements. So he shouted an order to the soldiers outside the door: "Come here, the commanders of the troops from each school will come to the county government office to see me within a quarter of an hour."
Wang Ran led a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses from one school and three schools of defenders to garrison Geyang this time. Considering that the cavalry did not play a big role in the subsequent siege battle, and the Guards Battalion also had 5,000 assault cavalry, There is also a need for a fast and mobile cavalry to support the cities in Geyang, so Huangfu Chaobo ordered to leave a school of Huang Zhong's cavalry to Wang Ran.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the four remaining captains had arrived at the county government office. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Wang Ran ordered: "Yuan Shu's army has set a trap in Anfeng. The lord's army is very powerful." They may have been targeted by Ji Ling's army. The Lord issued an order. From now on, all the first battalions in the four cities of Huainan will be on the offensive. "
"Wei Jiang will be here!" The four of them responded in unison;
"From now on, the city gates will begin to be closed. No one is allowed to enter or leave. The military uniforms will not be removed. The infantry from the three schools will take turns to go up to the city to guard the city."
"The general has not taken the order!" The three guard captains held their fists and took the order.
Wang Ran nodded, looked at the cavalry captain again, and said: "Colonel Lin, your army is divided into three groups. The three thousand cavalry will carefully explore the situation within a hundred miles east of Geyang. Once the situation of Yuan Shu's army is discovered, immediately Return to warn. Another thousand cavalry and the just-returned cavalry go to the general's army camp. Go as far as you can to check whether the road is clear. It would be best if you can find out the situation of Yuan Shu's army. This army is yours. Lead it yourself.”
After a brief pause, Wang Ran added: "There are also a thousand cavalry who will rush to the Huainan Camp and Xiyang City immediately to inform the Grand Administrator Zuo, General Han, General Kong and General Zhou of the Lord's military order. Please invite the Grand Administrator and generals to Come to Geyang as soon as possible to discuss the matter.”
Captain Lin was the cavalry captain of Huang Zhong's war camp. After hearing Wang Ran's order, he immediately stood up and accepted the order. Then the four of them left the county government and began to act according to the order.
After the four generals left, Wang Ran immediately handed Huangfu Chaobo's troop deployment order to Ge Yang's shadow guards, and ordered them to immediately send it to Kong Min and the other generals of the Yuzhou war camp in Yingchuan.
After everything was arranged, Wang Ran sat down and carefully thought about how to deal with it. It's a pity that after thinking for a long time, he couldn't think of a good way. One of the reasons for this is that the enemy's situation is unclear. The real purpose of Yuan Shu's army is the army or the cities of Huainan. Even his lord and the two military advisors are not sure yet.
The second is that if Yuan Shujun's purpose is really to march south, the number of troops he can use is really limited. Even with the two schools of soldiers from Lujiang Xuanwu Camp, there are only four schools of soldiers that can be used. In addition, there are less than 40,000 garrison troops in the four schools. As a result, the four cities and one battalion in Huainan will have no troops to defend. However, if too few troops are sent, it will be impossible to rescue the army.
Until it was getting dark, Wang Ran didn't think of a better way to deal with it. Fortunately, at this time, the five thousand cavalry sent out had already sent back intelligence. He first searched for the three thousand cavalry east of Geyang. So far, they have carefully searched a distance of nearly fifty miles and have not found any trace of Yuan Shu's army. Because it was getting late, they decided to send people back to Geyang to report first. However, the army did not return directly but stationed in Geyang. In a small town fifty miles east of Yangzhou, we will search for information further east tomorrow.
The cavalry captain responsible for exploring the army's retreat also sent people back to report that the pontoon bridge over the water had been destroyed.
Not only was the pontoon bridge that the army used to cross the river destroyed, but also the upstream pontoon bridge that the cavalry detoured when returning was also destroyed. This means that it is now basically certain that Yuan Shu's army went towards the main force of the army.
The cavalry captain sent a message and said that he planned to wait for an opportunity to wade through the water tonight to explore the specific information of Yuan Shujun.
At this moment, a report from the soldiers came from outside the county government office: "General Qi, please report from the city gate. The left prefect and the generals have arrived and are heading towards the county government office."
When Wang Ran heard this, he stood up and said, "That's great. I will go out with you to greet you."
Just as he was talking, hurried footsteps sounded outside: "General Wang, is there any latest information from the Lord's army?"
Several people walked in following the voice, and the leader turned out to be Kong Xin. Logically speaking, he was only a fifth-rank partial general, far inferior to the fourth-rank Hengjiang General Zhou Tai and Lujiang Prefect Zuo Chengzu. However, he and his lord Huangfu Chaobo were considered brothers, and the matter was urgent, so no one paid attention to such red tape.
After everyone came in in a hurry, before they could sit down, Kong Xin eagerly asked about the situation of the army again.
"Prefect Zuo, several generals, Wang already has some news. Come on, come on, let's sit down and talk first." Wang Ran led everyone to the side hall of the county government office. This is where Wang Ran places maps and usually gathers people. The place where generals discuss matters.
After everyone sat down, Wang Ran dismissed his personal guards and other people, and then carefully explained the news of the cavalry's return to everyone, and then showed everyone Huangfu Chaobo's military order.
After everyone listened carefully to Wang Ran's introduction and circulated Huangfu Chaobo's military order, Kong Xin spoke again: "General Wang, when are you going to send troops to support the lord's army?"
Wang Ran was stunned and said: "Wang has thought about it again and again, but he has not been able to make it sure. If we send troops, if Yuan Shu's army marches westward, the cities in Huainan will definitely be lost. If we don't send troops, we don't know what the situation of the lord's army is. That's why I invited you all to discuss a feasible strategy."
Kong Xin hurriedly said: "What else is there to discuss? It must be sending troops!"
Wang Ran said: "What about the county? I calculated that if the troops are less than 40,000, it will basically be of no help. But in this case, the troops of each county have basically been withdrawn. But if only 10,000 or 20,000 rear horses are dispatched, it will not be of much help to the battle situation. Moreover, the lord has clearly ordered us to defend the city tightly. If we send troops easily, it may disrupt the lord's layout."