Vol 2 Chapter 2863: Cao Cao wanted to fight decisively, so Bai Qi set up the dragon gate

Chapter 2863 Cao Cao wanted to fight decisively, but Bai Qi set up the dragon gate

Chapter 2863 Cao Cao wanted to fight decisively, but Bai Qi set up the dragon gate

With the arrival of Bai Qi's army, Cao Cao, who had finally entered Dingtao City, had to take the initiative to withdraw all troops from the city instead of choosing to defend the city.

This may seem contradictory, but it is actually a helpless move.

It’s not that Cao Cao didn’t want to defend, but that he couldn’t defend. He chose to move all his cavalry out of the city for three reasons:

 First, it is very difficult to defend the current Dingtao City;

Unlike Deng Jiugong and Cao Cao, who were all cavalry, Bai Qi led the Qin army with infantry as the main force, and his army must have carried heavy siege equipment.

A fire before Deng Jiugong's retreat did not burn out all the defensive equipment at the east gate of Dingtao, but it also greatly reduced the defense power of the east gate. In addition, there were still remnants of the Qin army in the city who were still resisting and were not completely wiped out.

Although the remnants of the Qin army in the city are unlikely to pose much of a threat to Cao Cao, facing Bai Qi, who has super strong siege capabilities, it is really too dangerous for Cao Cao to defend the city while annihilating the remnants inside. This is not how defensive warfare is fought.

The second is Cao Cao’s entire cavalry force, and cavalry is good at field battles, not city defense. Using cavalry to defend a city is to use your own shortcomings to attack the enemy’s strong points;

If the 3,000 Qin cavalry led by Deng Jiugong went out to fight in the city, the 5,000 cavalry led by Yin Shou and Tantai Yu might not necessarily be able to defeat these 3,000 Qin cavalry, excluding the lineups of fierce generals from both sides.

But it was Deng Jiugong who chose to defend the city. After the Qin army's cavalry entered the city, they were restricted and could not exert their due combat power. As a result, more than half of the casualties were suffered, while Cao Jun's casualties were minimal.

Of course, this does not count the fierce general’s personal force, so it does not mean that Deng Jiugong’s decision was wrong.

As for the third point, and the most important point, Dingtao City, which has insufficient defense, is not only not a barrier for Cao Jun, but may be a prison.

After Bai Qi defeated Puyang and Xuchang, the Qin army could mobilize relatively abundantly. If he adopted siege tactics, he would not even need to attack the city. He would only need to dig deep trenches. It would not be that easy for Cao Cao to escape from Dingtao. .

Even if Bai Qi's troops did nothing, as long as they held off Cao Cao's cavalry, it would still be a great achievement.

But Cao Cao is different. His fifteen thousand cavalry are Cao Wei's last savior. If they are trapped and die in Dingtao, it will be miserable to return the 100,000 troops left by Chen.

 So, instead of going through the thankless task of defending a Dingtao city that he might not be able to defend and might even be trapped and die in the city, Cao Cao might as well go out of the city and fight Bai Qi to the death.

 In the previous attack on Dingtao, Cao Cao's army suffered few casualties, with a total of nearly 500 casualties. This means that Cao Cao still has 14,500 riders.

As for the strength of Bai Qi's troops, they will not exceed 50,000 at most, and Li Cunxiao, Huang Feihu, Qin Niu and other powerful generals are not there yet, so the overall combat strength will definitely be greatly reduced.

 Cao Cao felt that he had nearly 15,000 cavalry and fought with Bai Qi's 50,000 infantry on the plains. Moreover, he also had strong generals such as Yin Shou and Tantai Yu on his side, so he might not be able to defeat Bai Qi, who had no generals to use.

If this battle is won, it will not only break Bai Qi's undefeated record, greatly boost our own morale, but also resolve the crisis on the Western Front and secure our own retreat. It is simply killing multiple birds with one stone.

Just when Cao Cao was immersed in the many benefits after victory, Fan Li, a military advisor, poured cold water on him.

"My lord, with Bai Qi's ability, it is impossible that he does not know the advantages and disadvantages of fighting on the plains on foot and cavalry, not to mention that his army is still in a situation where there is no strong general available, but he still dares to lead his army to fight me head-on. This shows what?"

Hearing Fan Li's words, Cao Cao was instantly excited.

Yes, although Bai Qi has a large number of troops, it is common sense that one cavalry can carry at least five steps. Even though the Qin army's heavy infantry is not inferior to the cavalry in combat effectiveness, its mobility is far inferior, and the disadvantage encountered in the plains is still huge.

It is impossible for Bai Qi not to know these, not to mention that he still has no strong generals at his disposal.

The Qin army clearly had so many disadvantages, but Bai Qi still dared to fight Cao's cavalry head-on. There were only two possibilities:

　　First, Bai Qi was bluffing. He wanted to put on a sure-win posture, hoping to frighten Cao Cao and make Cao Cao's army retreat without a fight.

 Second, Bai Qi is sure of victory, but the apparent strength of the Qin army definitely makes it impossible for him to win, so Bai Qi must have another plan.

Based on Cao Cao's understanding of Bai Qi, he felt that the probability of the latter was much greater than the former. After all, Bai Qi did not agree with other Qin generals.

 There are many generals in the Qin army who are good at taking risks, such as Huo Qubing, Xue Rengui, Zhang Liao and so on.

Especially Huo Qubing, who always used troops unexpectedly and was accustomed to taking risks. Although his winning rate was high, he had to admit that his style of play was a bit too risky.

　　That is to say, the opponents Huo Qubing encountered were inferior to him in terms of commander-in-chief and resourcefulness. If he encountered an opponent who was higher than him, his scheme would obviously not be successful.

This is also the main reason why Ying Hao placed Huo Qubing in the northern Xinjiang and specifically used him to deal with foreign tribes instead of using him to conquer the Central Plains.

The most indispensable thing in the Central Plains is a famous commander who is cautious and resourceful. With Huo Qubing's military style, it is obviously difficult for him to be successful in the Central Plains. It is better to put him in the northern Xinjiang and become an undefeated general who is victorious in every battle. Woolen cloth.

As for Bai Qi, he rarely takes risks, not because he can't seize opportunities, but because he always takes one step at a time, and there is no need to take risks.

Originally, Cao Cao thought that if a war started, he would have a high probability of defeating Bai Qi. However, after being reminded by Fan Li and realizing that this might be a trap set by Bai Qi, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

The price of defeat is something Cao Cao cannot afford, but if he really retreats without firing an arrow, Cao Cao cannot afford the price.

“Military advisor, how confident are you that this is Bai Qi’s trap and not a bluff?” Cao Cao gritted his teeth.

In fact, Fan Li was not sure. He only analyzed Bai Qi's past style. However, Bai Qi was an extremely rare general without any flaws in the history of military strategists. Any analysis on him would not be of much use. , so he could only give an ambiguous figure: "About 60%."

 “Sixty percent?”

Cao Cao's heart couldn't help but sink. After all, the probability was not low, but it was impossible for him to just abandon Dingtao and withdraw his troops.

After some thought, Cao Cao decided to test Bai Qi. All his cavalry had a certain error tolerance. If he really couldn't win, it would not be too late to retreat.

"Send the order to the whole army to immediately go north to fight Bai Qi." Following Cao Cao's order, the 14,500 cavalry of Cao's army assembled outside Dingtao City immediately rushed towards the Qin army twenty miles outside the city.

 At the same time, Deng Guan and Liu Tichun, who had escaped from Dingtao, also successfully joined Wei Rui and Fu Youde.

Although Wei Rui and Fu Youde did not reach Dingtao directly to fight Cao Jun, they were ready to respond. However, they did not expect that only more than a thousand cavalry, Deng Guan and Liu Tichun would arrive in the end. They all sank to the bottom of the valley at once.

“Deng Jiugong and General Deng Xiu both died in the battle in Dingtao City.”

Having said that, Deng Guan captured their east gate and told Wei Rui and Fu Youde exactly how they were overtaken by Yin Shou during their retreat.

After hearing this, Wei Rui and Fu Youde felt sorry for their deaths. After all, the father and son did not need to die. However, Deng Jiugong felt sorry for the casualties and made a wrong judgment.

If he did not go around the west gate, but broke through directly at the north gate, both father and son would definitely survive, and the casualties of the Qin army would not reach 2,000.

 But it was this wrong judgment that not only caused the death of Deng Jiugong and his son, but also the loss of 2,000 of the three thousand cavalry that came out for the expedition.

 This was also the battle in which the Northern Route Army suffered the second largest losses since the war began.

In the previous defeat of Jia Fu, although the Qin army suffered more than 12,000 casualties, most of them were infantry. But now these two thousand are cavalry, which is much more valuable than infantry. The casualties of the two thousand cavalry may not be It's smaller than 12,000 infantry.

“Before General Deng Jiugong withdrew his troops, he set fire to a lot of equipment at the east gate. Now the defense of Dingtao’s east gate is not as good as before, making it difficult to defend.

The main army led by the Grand Governor will arrive in Dingtao soon. Then they will settle the general accounts with Cao Jun and avenge the two generals Deng Jiugong and Deng Xiu. "Fu Youde said bitterly.

After hearing this, Wei Rui said worriedly: "But what if Cao Cao does not defend the city and chooses to go out to fight in the field?"

 Fu Youde, Liu Tichun, and Deng Guan were all stunned when they heard this.

Yes, if Cao Jun went out of the city to fight in the field, the Qin Army's 50,000 troops would have a decisive battle with 15,000 Cao Jun's cavalry on the plains. In the absence of Li Cunxiao, Huang Feihu and other fierce generals, they might not be able to win.

"Report...to the general, Cao's army gathered outside the city and headed north to where the general was."

"not good."

Wei Rui and Fu Youde exclaimed at the same time when they heard this. Wei Rui hurriedly ordered: "Go back quickly and go to support the general."

Following Wei Rui's order, the four thousand cavalry immediately changed direction and rushed towards Bai Qi's army's position at full speed. However, they received Bai Qi's flying pigeon message halfway.

What Wei Rui and other generals did not expect was that Bai Qi did not ask them to come and join him, but moved ten miles away from the army and stood still.

“The decisive battle is about to begin, and there are no strong generals in the army. Why would the general arrange it like this?”

Liu Tichun asked with a puzzled look on his face. He was a descended general of Cao's army. He was very aware of the power of Yin Shou and Tantai Yu. Li Cunxiao was not around, and Bai Qi had no strong generals under his command. If the infantry fought against the cavalry, it would be impossible to stop them. Can withstand the impact of Yin Shou and Tantai Yu.

In fact, Wei Rui didn't understand either, but he still chose to obey the order and said: "The general has never been defeated so far. Since he arranged it like this, it has his own reasons. We just need to obey the order."

On the other side, shortly after Cao Cao led his army northward, he encountered the main force of the Qin army led by Bai Qi in front of a large lake between Juyang and Dingtao.

At this time, the main force of more than 40,000 Qin troops had formed a large formation with their backs to the water, and the formation was very familiar to Cao Cao.

 “Is this true?”

Cao Cao recalled a period of the past in his mind, and said in a hesitant voice: "Dragon Gate Formation?"

Longmen Formation is Xue Rengui's famous formation. It is said to have great restraint on cavalry. It has appeared on the battlefield three times so far.

The first time it appeared during the war against Dong was during the Second Battle of Hulao Pass. Xue Rengui formed the Xiaolongmen Formation with eleven generals including Zhao Yun, Jiang Song, Ran Min, Gongsun Xuanyuan, and an additional 10,000 troops. But he blocked Li Shimin's 30,000 Xiliang army.

In the end, although the Longmen Formation was forcibly broken by Li Shimin with his strength, the casualties of the Xiliang Army were much greater than those of the Qin Army.

As for the second appearance of the Longmen Formation, it is even more extraordinary.

During the Second Battle of Hetao, Ying Hao formed a complete version of the Longmen Formation with an army of 100,000. Not only did he block Temujin's 200,000 cavalry head-on, he even won the battle in the end and achieved a record of killing 80,000 enemies. Even Yuan Emperor Temujin died in this battle.

The third appearance of Longmen Formation was in Luoyang. This time it was not the Qin army but Li Shimin who set up the formation, and Haihui Temple was used to deal with the Qin army.

 It's just that Li Shimin reversely deduced the Longmen Formation, which was obviously not as powerful as the original version. In addition, he had bad luck and met Zhang Liao, who had communicated with Xue Rengui.

 So, Li Shimin’s version of Longmen Formation was finally cracked by Zhang Liao.

The Longmen Formation was cracked once, and it fell from the altar and was no longer as legendary as before.

 But it was Li Shimin's version of the Longmen Formation that was destroyed. What does it have to do with Xue Rengui's version?

 So all countries are still studying ways to break formations to prevent them from being unable to deal with them when encountered on the battlefield.

 Cao Cao naturally also studied the method of breaking the formation, but unlike Li Shimin, he had Sima Yi steal the incomplete formation diagram to reverse it, so there was not much progress in cracking the Longmen Formation.

 (End of this chapter)