Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 487 The Sun is Too Dazzling
Yan Yan was heartbroken when he saw his elite troops being slaughtered by Zhao Yun!
First, watching the soldiers die in battle, whether they are grassroots generals or elite Ji-made soldiers, it is not so easy to replenish them. Second,... in the current situation, if there are no elite troops to stop the offensive of the Chu army, I am afraid that the large troops in the valley will also be lambs to be slaughtered.
However, Yan Yan knew better that if he went up now, he might be able to delay the enemy for a while, but he would be in greater danger of being killed in battle - Yan Yan would not act rashly, he knew very well that Zhao Yun was no match for him now!
Although he felt heartbroken, Yan Yan still rationally chose to retreat, and did not even give any unnecessary commands to the elite troops in the front.
As a veteran who had fought on the battlefield for many years, Yan Yan knew very well that the battlefield was definitely not a place where one could do whatever one wanted...
From training troops to leading them, Yan Yan's strengths all focus on "commandability", ensuring that the army can maintain a certain level of morale and military spirit even in adversity.
The effect of "refusing to fight" was derived from the core of Yan Yan's own understanding of the art of war.
However, even so, all Yan Yan could do was to slow down the decline in morale during defense, and it was impossible for him to truly "command the army as he pleased".
Not to mention real-life generals, even Ji-made soldiers will be affected by various aspects, which makes war completely different from video games - you can't just give orders and see the results!
Now the elite troops of Jiangzhou can still rely on their momentum and usual training to force their way forward, but once the order to retreat is given, they will definitely scatter like birds and beasts. Not only will the elite troops not be able to be saved, but the losses of the main force will also be even more serious.
Therefore, Yan Yan chose the most rational way...
The order was mainly given to the troops in the middle and rear, asking them to withdraw from the ravine as soon as possible and deploy their troops on the other side to take advantage of their numbers. If the Chu army dared to chase them out of the ravine, they would be given a head-on attack.
Finally, when Zhao Yun's "Dragon Gall" state subsided, the elite Jiangzhou army began to collapse because more than half of the surrounding friendly forces had been damaged. The reason why they began to collapse after suffering as much as half of the casualties was not only because of the inherent advantage of Yan Yan's soldiers in resilience, but also because the terrain of Yingou Mountain was not suitable for collapse!
If it were on a flat wilderness, 35% of the troops would basically collapse. In the era of cold weapons, this was considered "very tough."
The only thing that could possibly stop the "hard bone" was that under Zhao Yun's mowing, the elite Chu army around him cooperated with the wind to slaughter them. After that, the Chu army naturally became invincible in Yingou Mountain...
The Jiangzhou army had been traveling for a whole day. The Chu army had also feinted an attack on Linjiang City during the day, and then they continued to bypass Linjiang City and chase after the Jiangzhou army. Now they ran into the Jiangzhou army that had turned back to support Linjiang...
In fact, both sides are no longer at their peak in terms of physical strength, but this also better reflects the importance of individual soldier quality!
At their peak, if the Chu army could beat two with one, after both sides had carried loads for dozens of miles, the Chu army could beat five or even ten with one - if the enemy was a group of poorly trained miscellaneous soldiers, there was no need to fight, because the other side simply could not run away!
In addition to the absolute advantage in night vision, under the leadership of the three great generals, the five regiments of the Wancheng 1st Division, nearly 7,000 people, defeated the 40,000 Jiangzhou troops with an unstoppable force and made them flee in disarray.
The narrow terrain of Yingou Mountain forced the two sides to fight in waves, and the Wancheng First Division... was definitely the Kamehameha in this battle!
The enemy was pushed all the way out of Yingou Mountain...
Of the 40,000 Jiangzhou troops, only less than 20,000 were left standing in formation outside Yingou Mountain.
Of course, not all of the other 20,000 died in the ravine. When the casualties were counted after the war, the Wancheng 1st Division had killed more than 8,000 enemies in total, half of whom were grassroots generals and 95% were Ji Zao soldiers.
A typical casualty ratio of "cutting the grass with the wind" - you have to know that the ratio of officers to soldiers in the Jiangzhou army is at least eight to one, but the casualties are nearly twenty to one.
The normal casualty ratio of generals, even if it is lower than the ratio of generals deployed in the entire army, would not be so low. The current situation is that a large number of grassroots generals collapsed and fled, and they were unable to take care of commanding Ji Zao's soldiers.
Of course, it may also be because he really couldn't command the troops, after all, he was limited by night blindness, and the generals in the army cannot be blamed entirely. It was just because of this battle that Zhao Yun and others became more convinced that the morale of the Yizhou army was not strong and they were just "fat".
Because it was a night battle and the terrain was this kind of battle, there were not many prisoners, only more than 300 grassroots generals and more than 700 Ji-zao soldiers.
Well, the proportion of prisoners is quite normal, and generally the proportion of generals is relatively large.
As for the other tens of thousands of people, most of them escaped by climbing the mountain walls on both sides - although the mountains here in the ditch are steep, people who are good at climbing can still get up!
But if they all climbed up in front of the enemy, they would be like fools waiting to die, so only the defeated troops who no longer obeyed orders and just wanted to leave the battlefield as soon as possible would leave like this.
By dawn, a division from Wancheng had fought its way from the east to the west, and outside the West Mountain Pass, Yan Yan had already set up his battle formation...
Upon seeing this, Zhao Yun notified Wen Pin beside him to organize the troops, and at the same time, he ignited his engine and came to the front of the Jiangzhou army without affecting his floating position.
"I will spare your lives today. Go back and tell the Marquis of Shu that as long as you are still determined to destroy Chu and regard the people as your enemies, no matter who supports you, my Chu army will go straight to Huanglong and capture Liu Zhang alive! My Great Chu has the determination and confidence to crush all oppressors and conspirators!" Zhao Yun's voice spread all around in the silent environment through the loudspeaker of the armor.
After saying that, Zhao Yun turned around and landed back on the mountain pass, ordering the army to retreat directly - without any of the precautions that should be taken in a normal retreat, as if he didn't care... or he simply didn't believe that Yan Yan would dare to chase him!
This is indeed the case.
After hearing what Zhao Yun said, Yan Yan became furious - who wants to destroy Chu? Are you really talking about my lord? If my lord is really that ambitious, then I really want to thank you!
What is "regarding the people as enemies"? Just because they are at odds with the State of Chu, they "regard the people as enemies"?
The State of Chu... ...didn't it just have eight strategies for establishing a country? What's so great about that? Our Lord of Shu... at least... hasn't reached the point of "regarding the common people as enemies"!
What kind of "support" is this? It's just short of directly saying that the Marquis of Shu was instructed by the Han Dynasty and intended to "destroy Chu".
Although Yan Yan was so depressed that he almost vomited blood, he finally did not order a pursuit.
Most of the Jiangzhou troops who withdrew from the ravine at this time had never actually encountered the enemy before, and they were just confused and stunned for the whole night.
Although they were equally exhausted physically and mentally, their physical exertion was probably not as great as that of the Wancheng 1st Division, especially after they had set up the formation and waited until the enemy came out to attack. This period of time was considered a disguised rest for a while.
only……
Even so, Yan Yan no longer had any confidence, even though his own side still had three times as many people as the enemy and had already occupied an advantageous terrain!
Although they did not consume as much physical energy as the other side, they consumed much more mental energy. After all, they were the defeated party. Even when they did not encounter the enemy and seemed to be "resting", everyone was tense.
In contrast, the Chu army, which had fought a smooth harvest all night, was physically tired, but in high spirits - both were playing games all night, but which was more tiring, losing eight games in a row in ranked or winning ten games in a row?
Yan Yan stared at the retreating backs of the Wancheng 1st Division for a long while, his fists clenched tightly, but he still endured it.
The deputy general at the side asked unwillingly: "General... the brothers can still fight, the enemy is already exhausted, we..."
"The morning sun has risen. It is not good to fight against the light." After a moment of silence, Yan Yan said facing the dazzling morning sun.
It is true that the sun is now in the east, which is unfavorable to the army on the west side of the array.
But... Yan Yan is probably just making excuses when he says this now - otherwise he can't just say "we can't do it", right?
At least Yan Yan wouldn't make such a low-level mistake. Even if he didn't pursue her, he had to come up with an objective reason!
"General, shall we go back to the various villages in Pingdu County to garrison?" Although the deputy general was somewhat unwilling, he still did not question Yan Yan.
"No, the terrain north of Pingdu is flat, easy to attack but difficult to defend. We will go directly back to Zhi County to gather the defeated troops. With Zhi County as the front axis and Jiangzhou as the rear support, the Chu army... will be unbreakable!" Yan Yan tried his best to make the phrase "retreat to defend" sound more impressive.
Pingdu County is roughly the location of Fengdu County in the future. Theoretically, Yan Yan is already in Pingdu County, and Zhi County is roughly the location of Fuling District in Chongqing in the future. As for Jiangzhou, it is naturally near the main urban area of Chongqing...
Both counties are located across the Yangtze River and are in mountainous areas, but the mountains on the north bank of Pingdu County are gentler.
As for the current "Fuling County" of Ba County, it is located in the southeast of Ba County, the location of Pengshui County in later generations, and the place where the Wujiang River and the Yujiang River diverge.
"What about the city and military camp of Pingdu..." the deputy general asked hesitantly.
"Fortify the city and clear the fields!" Yan Yan said with a fierce look.
But he lost his ruthlessness a little later, and then added: "The summer rice will be harvested quickly. If the people don't want to move away, they can leave some food behind, and the clans don't have to force them."
Yan Yan is not such a cruel person after all, and... no matter whether it is Yizhou or Ba County, the stability of the people comes from the fact that Yizhou Prefecture does not make trouble, rather than being "trained" to be honest by warlords.
If you force them too much, it will only backfire, especially on the local nobles. Your control over them is already very weak. If you try to migrate... will they listen to you?
And if we force the migration, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause!
In the end, Yan Yan backed down and chose to retreat to Zhi County, which was closer to Jiangzhou and more convenient for defense. He only carried out a "symbolic" scorching and clearing of Pingdu County.
In any case, Chu will never be allowed to get supplies in Pingdu this year. In fact... If Chu really wants to maintain its "personality", it may have to give some subsidies to the people!
At the same time, the Jiangzhou army that was originally left behind to defend Linjiang City also retreated westward to Dangqu and Nanchong State after receiving the news. After the main force had retreated, they had no intention of fighting to the death in Linjiang...
