Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 133 Psychological Game
At night, Cao Jun retreated quietly.

They did not travel lightly, they had a large amount of baggage and weapons and equipment, which resulted in an extremely slow speed of less than three kilometers per hour.

Shen Chen did not send troops to pursue immediately, but cautiously sent scouts to investigate.

Since ancient times, when the army is retreating, because the army has no fighting spirit, it is often the most vulnerable to the enemy's pursuit and heavy losses.

For example, during the Hengwen Northern Expedition, even if they hit Guanzhong once and beat Fu Jian fiercely, when they ran out of food and retreated, they were defeated by Fu Jian with many casualties.

Cao Cao himself is an example. When he was retreating in Nanyang the year before last, he was chased by Zhang Xiu. The first time he personally broke the rear and repelled Zhang Xiu. The second time he failed to personally break the rear, he was defeated by Zhang Xiu.

Therefore, clever generals often arrange their troops according to the terrain when withdrawing troops. For example, Zhuge Liang's first Northern Expedition failed in Jieting, so he sent Zhao Yunduan and successfully returned the defeated Shu army to Hanzhong without causing major casualties.

Of course Cao Cao understood this truth. After nightfall, he arranged for Li Tong to lead 3000 people to cut off the rear.The rest of the troops turned back to Xudu as soon as possible to prevent Sun Ce from going north, or Yuan Shao took advantage of this opportunity to go south.

Except for the mountainous area of ​​Ziyun Mountain, the north of Kunyang is flat for dozens of miles, but there are also many forests and small rivers on the plain, which can barely be used as an ambush point after the break.

The reason why Shen Chen felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it was because Cao Jun withdrew his troops in the middle of the night on the day of the siege.

Moreover, after several days of continuous siege, the soldiers withdrew when they were extremely tired. This was Cao Cao's tactical error.

Under normal circumstances, no matter what, you should rest for a few days, and wait for the soldiers to recover their physical strength and morale.In this way, it will be very dangerous to withdraw troops when the siege fails and the soldiers are very tired.

It was for this reason that Shen Chen considered pursuing him.

But he had to calculate Cao Cao's psychology.

With Cao's powerful military ability of manipulating the world for many years and conquering the north and south, how could he make such a low-level mistake?
Therefore, Shen Chen, with a cautious personality, did not send troops to pursue immediately, but patiently waited for the scouts to report back.

Soon the scouts got the news and came back to report. Because the sky was too dark to see the specific situation, but they could vaguely see a long line of torches, stretching for several miles, all the way winding towards the north.

Upon receiving this news, Shen Chen immediately felt that it was unusual.

If Cao Cao really wanted to withdraw his troops, he would not have made such a big fuss, but dealt with it in a low-key manner.

If Shen Chen was in Cao Cao's position, after retreating from the city, he should keep his face and let the soldiers rest for a while, pretending to stop fighting today and attack the city tomorrow.

Wouldn't it be better to wait for the soldiers to sleep for a few hours and get enough rest, and then suddenly pull out of the camp at midnight, light less torches, and keep the warehouse in darkness?
Such an undisguised demeanor, on the contrary, I will leave swaggeringly, what can you do to me.

It's really confusing.

Could it be.

There is fraud in it?

Shen Chen frowned.

What exactly does Cao Cao mean?
He looked down on himself and was really withdrawing troops.

Or do you want to ambush yourself?
Or is it an empty plan, betting that he will become suspicious and dare not pursue him?
Shen Chen's head almost hurt from thinking about it.

In things like war, what is often considered is that you predicted my prediction, and I predicted that you predicted my prediction. This kind of nesting dolls.

For example, in the Battle of Nanyang, when Cao Cao retreated, he predicted Zhang Xiu's eagerness to pursue and expand the results of the battle, and he personally broke the rear, defeating Zhang Xiu who had come to pursue him.

When Zhang Xiu went back in despair, Jia Xu suddenly suggested that he should go after him again. It was Jia Xu who controlled Cao Cao's psychology and knew that Cao Cao was also eager to return to Xudu to prevent Yuan Shao from going south, so he would retreat immediately after repelling Zhang Xiu Walk.

Zhang Xiu pursued again, and he defeated Cao Cao's rear army.

If Zhang Xiu listened to Jia Xu's words for the first time, it would be equivalent to predicting Cao Cao's prediction, first to avoid the failure of Cao Cao's personal judgment, and then to succeed in pursuit.

This is the top psychological game, and it is also an extremely clever tactical game.

The same is true now.

Cao Cao's sudden withdrawal of troops in violation of military common sense gave Shen Chen a chance to play a game, to see if he dared to come out and fight with him.

And there are two ways to play the game.

The first one, if it is said that Cao Cao played an empty city strategy and Shen Chen was suppressed and did not dare to chase, then it belongs to Cao Cao's game success.

If Shen Chen is a fool, or if he sees through Cao Cao's empty city plan and chooses to chase after Cao Jun and defeats Cao Jun, then Shen Chen will naturally succeed in the game.

The second type, if Cao Cao is pretending to retreat, a real ambush.

It's the same as Jia Xu's time. After Cao Cao personally cut it off, he immediately went after him, which would definitely not be good.

The correct approach should be as Jia Xu said, wait first, wait until Cao Cao can't wait for his pursuers and leave by himself, then he can catch up and defeat Cao Cao's rear army.

It's just that he couldn't be sure what Cao Cao was thinking.

"What kind of tactics is he playing with me? An empty city plan or an ambush? Or... pretending to retreat, but actually killing the carbine?"

Standing on the top of the city, Shen Chen looked at the night sky in the distance, frowning.

The weather in the summer night is extremely clear, the evening wind blows slowly, the moon hangs high, the stars are scattered, and there is no cloud in the sky.

But at the moment Shen Chen was in a very bad mood.

He himself is not a scheming genius, and he is not as good at controlling people's hearts as Guo Jiajiaxu.

If one of Jia Xu and Guo Jia was here at this time, he would definitely be able to accurately grasp Cao Cao's psychology and give him advice.

It's a pity that neither of them is here.

"Ugh."

Shen Chen sighed.

It is really tiring to play tactical games with people like Cao Cao.

Seeing his distressed expression, his cousin Chen Tao asked curiously, "General, what's the matter?"

Shen Chen said: "Cao Cao made a big fanfare to withdraw his troops. There are two possibilities. One is to set up an ambush, and the other is to do it on purpose. I bet we dare not pursue it, and I can't make up my mind now."

Shen Tao thought for a while and said: "Then let's try it. If he does this on purpose, we will directly defeat them. If he sets up an ambush, then we should be cautious and try first, don't chase too quickly, if it doesn't work, we will retreat. "

"It's not that simple."

Shen Chen smiled wryly. At midnight, you went to chase the enemy's army. If they set up an ambush in some key places and the army was dispersed, it's not a question of withdrawing. It's hard to say whether you can save your life.

Shen Tao shrugged: "Although I don't know much about military affairs, I do understand a truth. Sometimes I don't think too much about problems. It's like if I'm worried that I'll die if I join the army, then I won't think about joining the army to avenge my parents. The only thought in my heart is revenge."

"you're right."

Shen Tao's words reminded Shen Chen, remembering what that great man once said, he nodded slowly and said: "No matter what, you have to try, even if it's a pot of raw rice, you have to bite the bullet and eat it, don't try it How do you know if you can win?"

"Pass me the order, the whole army gathers!"

"only!"

Shen Tao went to convey the order.

After a while, the Huangmenting soldiers who were resting in the city began to move closer to the gate of the city.

Gan Ning, Shen Zhen, Deng Zhao and others came in a hurry.

After the meeting, Gan Ning didn't ask any questions, Shen Zhen and Deng Zhao, as the commanders of Huangmenting's soldiers, came forward and asked, "Ah Chen, why did you gather all of a sudden?"

Shen Chen said, "Pursue Cao Jun."

"Pursue now?"

Gan Ning was taken aback: "But the soldiers are already very tired."

It is true that Cao's army was tired after attacking the city for a few days, but their army was not made of iron. Now that Cao's army has retreated, most of them have rested except for the necessary defense.

Shen Chen said: "Our army and Cao's army have been fighting fiercely for the past few days, and both sides are very tired. At this time, Cao's army is retreating, and he has no fighting spirit. If he pursues, it will easily cause huge damage to Cao Cao."

Gan Ning worried: "Even so, our soldiers are very tired. I'm afraid to pursue now."

Shen Chen shook his head and said: "That can't be helped, soldiers are raised for a thousand days and used for a short period of time. At this time, I personally led my men to chase after him. After half an hour, Uncle Xingba, you will bring another 3000 people to meet him."

"it is good."

Gan Ning knew that Shen Chen always had his own opinions, so he didn't question him, just obeyed the orders.

At that moment, the soldiers of Huangmen Pavilion started to act immediately.

In fact, his army was already very tired at this time. From the end of last year until now, he fought for four or five months and killed 300 people.

But thanks to Shen Chen's daily training methods and the perfect system of pensions and rewards, the morale of the army is still very stable.

This method can only train a small number of elites, and 3000 people is already the limit. It almost took out the entire Huangmen Pavilion to train them, so no matter how hard or tired they are, they can persist.

In the starry night, more than [-] people left the city gate and chased all the way north.

Shen Chen did not ride a horse, but chose to walk with the soldiers. Except for the messengers who rode horses, the commanders including Shen Zhen and Deng Zhao did not ride horses.

The visibility at night is not good, and the crowd needs to light torches for lighting.The shining target on horseback is easy to be shot by an ambush snipers with bow and arrow, just like Pang Tong, so walking is more convenient.

There are farmland and villages on both sides of the wilderness post road in the north of the city. Before Cao Cao's residence was around a village four miles away, there was a small river and forest.

When the Huangmenting soldiers were about to reach the forest, a cry resounded through the night sky: "Enemy attack!"

The scouts sent to check the forest situation engaged the enemy and suffered heavy casualties.

The sound sounded, and countless birds were startled in the forest.

Li Tong has been hiding in the forest since the afternoon before the birds entered the forest, and has not made too much noise to disturb the birds. Now they are clamoring, and the birds are flying to the sky.

"set fire!"

Shen Chen pulled out the ring knife at his waist and shouted.

The soldiers swarmed towards the forest, throwing torches directly into the forest. It was summer, the sky was dry, and the fire suddenly ignited.

At first, the forest was raining arrows, but when the flames grew stronger, Li Tong's ambush soldiers could only run out one after another, and were defeated one by one by Shen Chen's army, unable to form an effective counterattack force at all.

In the night, the two sides chased and fled back and forth. Li Tong lost a lot of troops and fled all the way north.

"Chase!"

Shen Chen hacked and killed two Cao Jun who were in a panic, and chased after them.

This is the case with fighting with the wind, like Dianwei and Xu Chudu once chased and killed the enemy for a day and a night.

However, Shen Chen also knew that Cao Cao was not a Yellow Turban Army that would be swept away once it was broken up. Although he left behind, it was by no means just one group, and there were likely to be others behind.

Therefore, we have always maintained a cautious attitude, and sent scouts to investigate while chasing.

Sure enough, after chasing for another seven or eight miles, they encountered an ambush again.

Shen Chen bravely killed the enemy and scattered them.

By the time he got close to the Ziyun Mountain area, he had already defeated three Cao troops in a row.

At this time, standing on the vast plain south of Ziyun Mountain, you can already see Cao Jun's main force torches growing into a dragon from a distance, winding forward slowly.

In this case, the Cao army has no combat effectiveness. Once it is overtaken, the rear army will be chaotic, and it will be a big defeat in an instant.

"General, are you still investigating?"

The few remaining scout teams were drenched in blood, and they came over to inquire about it.

The scouts suffered the most casualties in these three battles. They had to search everywhere in the forest and slopes. Once they were ambushed and rained arrows, if not everyone had armor, they might have died in the first round.

This is the case, and because the horses were shot to death, a scout team of 50 people now has less than 20 people left, and the casualty rate is much higher than that of ordinary soldiers.

"No need to go."

Shen Chen waved his hand: "Your casualties are too great."

Deng Zhao said, "Then what should we do now?"

"Catch up directly."

Shen Chen took a deep breath: "If you let the scouts go, you will scare the snake away and give them time to rectify their formation."

"it is good!"

Deng Zhao immediately went to give orders.

"The general ordered, prepare to fight."

"Shut up, don't light torches, move forward in the dark!"

"Archers spread out along the wings."

"Crossbowmen step forward, crossbow arrows ready."

"go!"

The people in Huangmenting basically put out the torches, relying on the summer night sky with few stars and moon, and walked in the dark.

Fortunately, the night sky at this moment is really bright and cloudless, giving a certain amount of light, and the soldiers in Huangmenting do not have night blindness, so they can see clearly and keep up with the long line of torches ahead.

When Shen Chen was less than two miles away from Cao Cao's rear army, he suddenly shouted: "Kill!"

"Kill!"

"woo woo woo woo!"

The melodious horn sounded for a long time, and the sharp whistles of the corporal commanders, division commanders, and captains continued, launching a fierce attack on Cao Cao's rear army.

Sure enough, Cao Jun was in chaos, countless torches were lit like stars, drums were beating and shouting, generals at all levels restrained their troops one after another, and then wanted to see what was going on.

However, Cao Jun, who was at the back of the team, had no time to adjust. Shen Chen led the soldiers to rush all the way, and almost saw the baggage vehicles behind Cao Jun.

"Okay, it's a trap!"

Just when Shen Chen led the personal guards to the rear formation of Cao Jun, he suddenly saw a scene.

There were not many Cao troops around the baggage carts. Under normal circumstances, a carriage should have at least four or five Cao troops guarding it. Some people drive, some follow, and some follow.

But at this time, there were basically two Cao Jun, one driving the chariot and the other lighting the torches. At the same time, there were many torches erected above the baggage cart. When I saw it at night, I thought it was Cao Jun's men, but in fact they were fixed on the carriage. .

In the next second, countless people and horses roared in the nearby mountains and forests, and there was also the sound of galloping horseshoes on the eastern plain.

Shen Chen's face suddenly darkened, and he failed in the game.

　Regarding the question that some friends said that the cavalry was very strong in the last book, the cavalry was indeed very strong in the last book, because the protagonist invented stirrups, saddles and horseshoes. . .The cavalry in this book is not strong because the protagonist didn't invent it. . .

　　
　
(End of this chapter)