Chapter 91 Hourglass Principle
The rescue teams sent by Xu Rong were all intercepted by Ma Teng's troops.
After all, Ma Teng was a veteran who had fought on the battlefield for many years. How could he not be prepared for this? He had already deployed rangers on the periphery and set up a tight net.
Not even a bird could fly out.
Not only that, Ma Teng also deployed three outposts in the outer area, especially in the direction of Bashui, to guard against the imperial army and reinforcements coming.
It is watertight.
The only thing Ma Teng didn't expect was that even if there was no one asking for help, reinforcements were already on the way.
…
The first to arrive were Zhang Ji's troops.
In fact, not long after Xu Rong led his troops to leave Xinfeng County, Zhang Ji's troops also set off and followed all the way, as if waiting for Ma Teng's troops to appear.
As soon as Ma Teng's army appeared, Zhang Ji also discovered it and immediately accelerated towards Chang'an City.
We will pass Baqiao soon.
Ma Teng received the report, but his expression remained unchanged. According to the information he obtained from Yi Ren, Zhang Ji's troops were originally stationed in Xinfeng County, so it was normal for them to appear on the battlefield in Chang'an.
The only unusual thing might be that Zhang Ji’s troops appeared too quickly.
"Liang Xing, the candidate!" Ma Teng named two generals.
"I will be here!"
"I want you two to lead your troops to Baqiao immediately and snipe Zhang Ji's troops. Make sure Zhang Ji's army is not allowed to pass through Baqiao and come to reinforce." Ma Teng ordered.
"promise!"
Liang Xing and Hou Xuan received the order and immediately assembled their troops and rushed towards Baqiao.
Ma Teng had just finished making arrangements and had not had time to breathe a sigh of relief when a spy from the south came to report: "General, a large army is coming from the direction of Du County."
"How many people are there?" Ma Teng asked anxiously.
"It's too dark at night to see clearly." The spy replied.
"Could it be Zhang Liao's troops that passed through Wuguan?" someone next to Ma Teng said.
But he is a player.
This person is Li Xiao, the leader of the Black Wind Mercenary Group, who is also the one who takes advantage of the situation as Qin Mo said.
"Eighty percent of it is true. There is something strange about their coming." Ma Teng finally felt that something was amiss. Before coming, he had obtained information that Zhang Liao's troops had just conquered Shangluo, which was a hundred miles away.
How come he suddenly appeared in Du County?
Little did he know that Zhang Liao, after receiving the order, played a trick.
There were only one thousand guards left in Shangluo, and the rest were either newly captured prisoners of war or local people pretending to be prisoners.
The real Zhang Liao's troops had already left under the cover of night, intending to catch Ma Teng off guard.
"Pound!"
Seeing that the situation was becoming tense, Ma Teng finally played his trump card.
"I will be here!"
Pang De rode out on his horse, looking majestic and powerful.
"You are to lead 10,000 elite troops south and make sure to stop Zhang Liao's troops." Ma Teng ordered.
The siege was entering its most tense moment. If Zhang Liao's troops attacked from the outside, all the previous efforts would be wasted. If they joined forces with Xu Rong, the situation would be reversed.
Ma Teng had no choice but to be cautious.
"I obey your command!"
Pang De took the order, assembled his troops, and marched south.
…
Inside Chang'an city.
"General, it seems that the number of Ma Teng's troops besieging the city has decreased a lot." Xue Kui, the deputy general in charge of supervising the battle outside the city, noticed something unusual and immediately rushed to report to Xu Rong.
"But did the troops you sent break out of the siege?" Xu Rong asked.
"No." Xue Kui shook his head. "Even if we break out, reinforcements won't arrive so quickly."
"so……"
Xu Rong frowned and his expression suddenly changed.
"General, have you thought of anything?" Xue Kui asked with concern.
Xu Rong shook his head.
In fact, he had already vaguely thought that perhaps all of this was expected by the base camp, and they were just bait used by the base camp to fish.
Only this can explain why the reinforcements arrived at the battlefield so quickly.
But this kind of speculation is groundless and could easily shake the morale of the army, so it cannot be said. Xu Rong said in a deep voice: "Since the reinforcements have arrived, we must be more alert and hold on to the end."
"Yes!" Xue Kui saluted subconsciously, and then said in embarrassment: "But General, even if Ma Teng's troops withdraw some, we are still attacked from both sides, and the casualties of the troops are heavy."
Xue Kui was worried that they would be defeated before reinforcements arrived.
The City Guards were, after all, a new army, composed of former Liaodong Army members, Dong Zhuo's direct followers, He Jin's direct followers, and even the former imperial guards.
The army's combat effectiveness, cohesion and willpower have not yet been tested.
It's normal to worry.
Xu Rong knew it very well. He had been thinking about this question for a long time. He subconsciously looked up and wanted to observe the situation outside the city, but his view was blocked by the high city wall.
"Um?"
Xu Rong suddenly had an idea and said, "Send an order to have the rear troops outside the city withdraw to the city."
"Retreat?" Xue Kui was puzzled. "General, the space in the city has been compressed to the extreme by Dong Min's army. There is no room for us to stand."
"Don't retreat to the streets, retreat to the top of the city." Xu Rong said.
"The top of the city?" Xue Kui was stunned, then reacted instantly and said happily: "Oh, why didn't I think of that."
Although Chang'an City was in ruins, the city walls were built according to the standards of a capital city and were not in ruins. They were wide enough to accommodate a large army.
There are also a lot of supplies for defending the city.
If the 30,000 city guards really wanted to hide on the top of the city wall, neither Dong Min's troops nor Ma Teng's troops would be able to do anything to them for a while, which would be enough to delay them for a long time.
"Go, bring Duan Wei here." Xu Rong said again.
"Yes, sir!"
Seeing the hope of winning, Xue Kui immediately became energetic and went downstairs to make arrangements.
After a while, Duan Wei was brought back to Xu Rong.
"Untie him!" Xu Rong ordered.
"yes!"
The soldiers received the order and untied the hemp rope on Duan Wei, who had a complicated expression on his face.
Duan Wei prided himself on being smart, but he never expected that from beginning to end he fell into the scheme of Dong Min, whom he had always despised, and felt extremely ashamed.
This time, he was no longer a human being.
"Duan Wei, are you familiar with the defensive fortifications on the city wall?" Xu Rong asked impolitely.
Since the war began, after Duan Wei was kidnapped, the 3,000 soldiers under his command were at a loss. Judging from the situation, it really didn't seem like they were cooperating with Dong Min in acting.
Only then did Xu Rong decide to give Duan Wei a chance.
"Familiar, too familiar." Duan Wei nodded.
The reason why they chose to take action tonight is because Duan Wei is on duty tonight, and the guards near the East Gate are all his men.
How could it not be familiar?
"You...you want to retreat to the top of the city wall?" Duan Wei reacted immediately.
"Is it not possible?" Xu Rong asked.
"Okay, that's a good idea." Duan Wei admired Xu Rong very much. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "This method is good, but it can only delay for a while. Are you sure that reinforcements will arrive?"
"Reinforcements are here!" Xu Rong informed about the situation outside the city.
This is also a disguised warning to Duan Wei not to have any ulterior motives.
"Very good!"
In a hurry, Duan Wei didn't think too much.
"Then let's do it."
Xu Rong is determined and once he makes a decision, he executes it immediately.
As orders were issued one after another, the city guards who were still struggling inside and outside the city gates quickly retreated to the top of the city walls in units under the unified command of Xu Rong.
The first group to withdraw was the archers.
As soon as they climbed onto the top of the city wall, they immediately had the advantage of vision. They could look down from above and remotely suppress Ma Teng's army and Dong Min's army, helping their own troops to withdraw from the battle.
It seemed as if the city guards were the defending force, and Ma Teng's army was the siege force.
Very funny.
With the assistance of the archers, the city guards retreated very quickly, and with less than two thousand casualties, most of them had retreated to the top of the city.
Near the city gate, Xu Rong still deployed 5,000 elite troops.
He wasn't ready to give up the gate.
This again demonstrates Xu Rong's brilliance.
The city gate occupies a small area and can accommodate very limited troops, but it is like a wedge, separating Dong Min's army inside the city and Ma Teng's army outside the city.
Make it impossible for the two to merge.
If the entire battlefield is compared to a flat hourglass, Dong Min and Ma Teng's forces are the upper and lower parts of the hourglass, and the city gate is the thinnest and narrowest point in the middle of the hourglass.
Quite deadly.
In addition, due to the narrow terrain, Dong Min and Ma Teng had an advantage in military strength, but the number of troops they could deploy at one time was equal to that of Xu Rong, so they could not make full use of their strength.
Not only that, because of the cooperation of Xu Rong's troops on the city wall, Ma Teng's troops were actually still fighting a siege.
Immediately fell into a disadvantage.
The situation was reversed. For a moment, the allied forces of Dong Min and Ma Teng were completely unable to withstand Xu Rong's army and continued to waste time like this.
Soon, the sky in the distance turned pale.
It's almost dawn!
