If Xiling City could hold on for a long time, the situation in the entire Xiling defense line would not deteriorate to such an extent.

This shows how bad the consequences of Ning Sui's escape at the last battle were. It was really hard to redeem his sins even if he died a hundred times. Sima Lun's direct detention was completely appropriate. As for how to deal with it, of course, Jiang Wei had to decide.

However, the mistakes Ning Sui made were even worse than those of Ma Su and later Hu Fen. If Jiang Wei wanted to favor Ning Sui, he would definitely not be able to convince the public, especially in the current situation of complex factions in the Shu army, the cohesion of the army itself was insufficient. The more unfair Jiang Wei was in the process of dealing with things, the more likely he would arouse the righteous indignation of various troops.

Therefore, Sima Lun didn't believe that Jiang Wei would deliberately protect Ning Sui. Someone had to pay for this failure. Ning Sui hit the gun this time.

Of course, this matter is a small matter for Sima Lun. The loss of Xiling has been a foregone conclusion. It is not very meaningful to hold anyone accountable at this time. The most urgent thing is to bring the Shu army in Yanting out of the predicament.

The way to cut off the rear is not feasible. Not to mention arranging a small number of people to cut off the rear, even if half of the troops are sent to cut off the rear, it will not be able to stop the Wei army's offensive. At that time, half of the people will be lost in vain. Such losses will be unbearable to Sima Lun.

Most of the troops on the defense line of the 落片片 are the remnants of Sima Lun from Guanzhong. This army has experienced several battles and is now half of the casualties. Moreover, this army cannot receive any supplements. Whether it is death or disability, one person is lost, and Sima Lun naturally cherishes these remaining Sima Jun and will never let them die in vain.

But if no one came to cut off the rear, how could the Shu army escape the Wei army's pursuit?

You should know that the Wei army has a natural advantage in speed. It is precisely because of the dangers that the Shu army can offset the cavalry advantage of the Wei army. However, if the Shu army gives up the defensive position, the Wei army's cavalry will come in handy again.

For the Shu army, these Wei cavalry were maggots attached to bones. No matter where they fled, these cavalry would follow like shadows, biting them tightly, and they could not get rid of them at all. After eating them all the way, even if the Shu army could retreat to Ma'anshan, there would probably not be many people left.

Therefore, Sima Lun had to find a way to stop the Wei army's pursuit. Only by hitting the Wei army with pain and being afraid of being afraid, would they not dare to pursue them with all their strength.

Sima Lun thought about it and thought that there was a Dengying Gorge behind Mount Qiting. The terrain was dangerous and it was the only way for the Shu army to retreat. In order to prevent the Shu army from sending people to attack this important road, Sima Lun also specially sent troops to garrison here. Now that the Shu army retreated on a large scale, it was bound to pass through Dengying Gorge. As long as the Shu army set up ambush in Dingying Gorge, if the Wei army dared to chase them, it would definitely hurt them severely.

Simalun arranged three thousand troops to guard the Dengying Gorge. After considering the ambush, Simalun immediately dispatched five thousand archers and crossbow soldiers to retreat to Dengying Gorge first, and asked Hu Lie to command, secretly telling him in detail about each precaution.

Hu Lie took the order and led his troops to set out first.

After the Bus Association led their troops to the Pavilion, Sima Lun did not let them rest here, but directly arranged the Bus Association's troops to move outside the Dengying Gorge. After crossing the Dengying Gorge, it was a relatively flat place. If the Bus Association's army wanted to rest, it would be the most suitable place.

And now, it's not time for them to rest.

Even if Bu Xie was willing to stay and help the battle, the long journey along the way basically consumed the physical strength and energy of the Bu Xie army. After barely fighting, it would not provide much help to Simalun. Therefore, Bu Xie gave up the idea of ​​fighting side by side with Simalun and followed Simalun's arrangements. As soon as he entered the mountain, he immediately turned west again and headed towards Dengying Gorge.

As soon as the Bu Xie evacuated, Sima Lun received an urgent report that the 30,000 Wei troops led by Shi Bao had already come from the direction of Huya Mountain, and it was less than fifteen miles away from the Qiting Pavilion. At the speed of the Wei cavalry, it arrived in a moment.

Sima Lun was also worried about Bu Xie. It was really so lingering. If the journey was longer, Bu Xie's troops could not escape the pursuit of the Wei army. The pursuit speed of the Wei army was really terrifying.

This undoubtedly reminded Sima Lun that if you simply retreat, the Shu army would not be able to win over the Wei army. Therefore, the battle in Dengyingxia is crucial. Whether more than 30,000 Shu troops can escape from heaven is all in this battle.

The Bu Xie's troops left first, and the Wei army's troops were about to come, posing a threat to the flanks of the Qiting. If they did not evacuate at this time, then once they were attacked by the Wei army, the collapse of the Qiting defense line would be in front of them.

So Simalun issued an emergency order to withdraw his troops.

Since most of the Shu army were unaware of it in advance, Sima Lun retreated and ordered the troops to be uproared. The defense line of the Huanting Pavilion was well guarded, so why should he retreat?

In order to avoid the phenomenon of military panic, Sima Lun did not disclose the news of Xiling's loss at this time, but only claimed that the Bu Xie's troops gave up Huya Mountain. The flanks of the Qiting were threatened by the Wei army and had no choice but to issue an order to retreat.

Simalun asked the troops of each battalion and division to retreat in an orderly manner, and each army should cover each other and alternate with the rear guard, rather than arranging the troops behind the rear separately, and to take all the people away from Mount Qiting as much as possible.

The Shu army had just taken action, and the Wei army had already received the news and immediately notified Liu Jing.

Although it was dark at this time, the Wei army's offensive power did not weaken at all. Liu Jing had long been staring at the stern part of the Shu army. If the main force of the Shu army continued to hold on, the Wei army would still have a conventional attack method. However, if the Shu army began to retreat and escape, the Wei army would start the pursuit mode and they would never be allowed to escape easily.

After Liu Jing learned that the Marine Corps had taken Xiling, he had already concluded that the Shu army in Qiting was the tail of a rabbit - if it couldn't grow, Sima Lun would definitely look for an opportunity to evacuate, and basically it was in a short period of time.

But unexpectedly, Sima Lun could last for two days and was so quiet that Liu Jing was also confused.

However, Liu Jing did not believe in evil. He continued to increase the attack until Sima Lun could not hold on anymore. Finally, he gave up on Mount Qiting and began to withdraw his troops westward.
Chapter completed!