Shu Chen

Chapter 204 Prestige
Cao Zhen, the Grand Sima of Wei who personally led the army to Anding County, breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the camps arranged by Ni Shu.

He has roughly deduced the outcome of this battle.

Because the seemingly menacing Shu army not only did not directly besiege the city and force the Wei army to come to help, which triggered a war of attrition between the two sides;

The headquarters in the center was naturally led by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Nishu, and the camp fell on the ruins of Wuzhi County abandoned by the Wei army.

The left army in the north approached Chaona County and fell into the camp. The banners were Wu Ban, the right general of Nishu, and Meng Yan, the tiger step supervisor of Nishu.

The right army in the south is Wei Yan, the former general of Nishu, and Gao Xiang, the general of Zhenxi, and the camp is located at the confluence of the two tributaries of Jingshui (now Pingliang City).

They are distributed in the shape of horns, separated by about thirty or forty miles.

But such an arrangement also spreads the troops too widely, which is not a good choice for attacking.

In other words, the Shu army did not hold the hope of capturing the city-they came to block the reinforcements sent to Liangzhou by Wei Guo.

Cao Zhen thought to himself that if the Shu army really wanted to fight to the death, they should leave a small number of troops in Wushi County to protect the grain road, and the rest of the army would come to besiege Chaona County, forcing the Wei army to break the siege at any cost.

Since he didn't besiege the city, Cao Zhen had plenty of time and food, and he was slowly consuming it by confronting them.

Because he had no intention of rushing to aid Liangzhou.

General Wei Ping, who is in charge of the four counties in Hexi, and Guo Huai, who is in charge of Jincheng County, have long been strictly ordered by him to stand firm.

There are dangerous places such as Siwang Gorge, Sangyuan Gorge, Lingjusai Defense Line, and Yuyin Fortress. As long as the Wei army does not fight, it will be difficult for Ni Shu to invade Liangzhou.

As for the safety of the Wushui River Basin, he has also made arrangements.

Tufa Shoutian, the leader of Xianbei's bald tribe, asked Zhan to lead the tribe to rush there with Xianbei's Qifu tribe to resist the attack of Nishu Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, and he agreed.

These two Xianbei tribes combined troops with tens of thousands of rangers.

Moreover, when fighting on the grasslands outside the Great Wall, they can also play the roaming tactics of "fight if you can fight, and harass if you can't fight". It is full of resilience and is not easily defeated by Nishu.

Even if they were defeated by Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, it would not affect Wei State's control over the Wushui Basin.

The real control of this area is Gaoping City (county), which is located at the northern end of the Liupan Mountains and the source of Wushui.

In a strategic sense, the left side controls the five plains, the right side leads the Lanhui, the Huangliu surrounds the north, and the Kongtong blocks the south. According to the shoulders of the eight counties, the three towns are the key points;

The city built along the mountains and rivers is very dangerous and solid, and was once known as the "first city" in the pre-Han period.

For example, when Kaixiao ruled Liangzhou, his general Gao Jun only garrisoned Gaoping City with [-] troops, while the famous general Geng Yan led a large army to besiege, and it took a year to fail to capture the city.

Today, it is Hu Zun, a general with a strategy in mind, who guards Gaoping City in Wei State.

With his prestige from a wealthy family in Anding County, he has [-] troops stationed there, unless he is sent ten times as many troops from Nishu, there is nothing he can do about it.

Besides, what Ma Dai and Zhao Guang supervised were all cavalry.

I can only look at the ocean and sigh for the city.

The only danger is Zuli County, which can only rely on a not-so-precipitous city.

The guard is Yin Feng, and there are only four thousand soldiers and horses in the city.

Moreover, Wei Ping, the general in charge of Hexi, has been told by Cao Zhen to rescue Zuli County "as appropriate".

Yes, in Cao Zhen's private letter to Wei Ping, he claimed that Zuli County could be saved as soon as possible; if the price was too high, such as endangering the Yinsai, then he would not save it.

Because even if Ren Nishu captured Zuli County, it would be nothing to Wei Guo.

Zuli County is an isolated city, there is no other city to rely on within a radius of [-] miles, it was originally used as an outpost of Shuyinsai!

If you can go against Shu, you can't stick to it.

In Cao Zhen's heart, once the battle in Liaodong was won and Sima Yi led the army back to continue guarding Jingzhou to deter rebellion against Wu, he would go to Luoyang at the end of the year and ask for a battle to attack Longyou.

The timing is great.

The background of the war against Shu is incomparable with that of Wei.

After all, it didn't take long to conquer Longyou against Shu.

Troops are sent out at the beginning of the year, and there will be another battle at the end of the year, which will more or less cause complaints from Li Shu who are suffering from corvee.

The route to send troops is to enter Zuli County through the Wushui River Basin.

Cao Zhen had no hope of capturing Xiaoguan or taking the Qinling Valley Road.

At that time, the main force of Guanzhong will come in mighty force, and they will have to spit out whatever Nishu swallowed into Zuli County.

Of course, it's still early days.

The most urgent task now is to confront the main force who went out of Xiaoguan against Shu.

For example, don't send a few elite soldiers and horses to test and attack, to see the combat power of the Shu army, so that the newly recruited soldiers can become familiar with the tactics of the Shu army as soon as possible.Or seize the flaw that the Shu army is too scattered, try to surround a part with a large army, and see if Zhuge Liang, the prime minister against Shu, plans to rescue the whole army.

It can be regarded as a conventional tactic of seeking victory in a steady state and finding out the opponent's flaws by probing conflicts.

This kind of thinking coincides with that of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang.

The prime minister also frequently dispatched elites to test and set traps to see if the Wei army would be fooled.

For example, let Wei Yan and Gao Xiang's troops pretend to cross the Jingshui River on a pontoon to attack Youfufeng;

There is also himself leading the Chinese army, slowly pulling out the battalion and advancing ten miles every day, pretending to slowly encroach on the scope of Anding County, and garrisoning troops for a long-term confrontation in the future.

and many more.

If there is a chance, the prime minister doesn't mind making the fake come true, and he will bring down Anding County in advance.

Both sides come and go, each fighting wits and courage.

But each other is also very cautious, and has never found an opportunity to trigger a war.

Therefore, the war in Anding County has also come to a stalemate.

There was also no movement in Jincheng County.

Guo Huai, who lost troops to the Han army last year, also had no plans to take risks.

Not only was Cao Zhen's strict observance of the order, but also because he could not see the opportunity to send troops to attack and gain profits.

The only direction he can send troops to is Sangyuan Gorge in Yuzhong County.

Outside, there were only three thousand soldiers led by Zhang Yi, the general against Shu, and there was no city to support them, only two small garrisons and one camp were left behind.

But with an army of nearly [-], he was not sure to wipe them out completely.

It sounds incredible.

However, the generals Hao Zhao, Jia Xu, and Pang Hui in Jincheng County, and even Ke Wu, the leader of the Qiang people, all agreed by coincidence that they should not send troops.

They fear being caught.

The [-] soldiers under Zhang Ni's command were the Xuanwu Army, which belonged to Zheng Pu, the general of Nishu Pingbei.

The Scar Pu, who was called "Wei's great trouble" by the great Sima Cao Zhen, was resourceful and decisive, and he liked to use tricks most.

Just as the best hunters often pretend to be their prey, they fear that the Zhang Ni tribe, which has a small force, is Zheng Pu's bait to lure them into battle.

This possibility is very large.

Although the scout Ranger has clearly found out that he has already led the army to Zuli County.

But if they return to the army to help, it will only take two or three days.

The generals in Jincheng, including Guo Huai, saw the huge Yuan Rong crossbows erected in the camps and garrisons of the Shu army, and they were not sure that they would wipe out Zhang Yi's troops in such a short period of time.

And after sending troops, you still need to worry about not being able to go back.

Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, the commanders of the two cavalry against Shu, are now in the Wushui Basin!

If they come back in a hurry, it will not take two days.

At that time, when the Wei army was besieging Zhang Yi's camp, the two cavalry suddenly came back, and they were cut off from their way back.

Or, Ni Shu took the opportunity to mix in with the defeated soldiers who fled back to Sangyuan Gorge, and seized the pass in one fell swoop.

In order to kill a mere [-] Shu troops and take such a huge risk, none of the generals in Jincheng County are willing to be stupid.

The same goes for Guo Huai.

Therefore, he gave up the idea of ​​sending troops.

He was transferred to Pang Huiling's headquarters to guard the Siwang Gorge, and he dispatched five thousand cavalry to be led by General Jia Xu, who was born in Wuwei County, and rushed to Zhiguzang of Wuwei County to help General Wei Ping.

Well, Wei Ping doesn't have enough troops now.

He had already kept [-] soldiers in the Heyinsai, but now he dispatched another [-] soldiers to Xianmei County to monitor Lushuihu, and then withdrew the garrison from Shandan Racecourse and guarded against horse thieves taking advantage of the situation. The remaining soldiers made him powerless even if he wanted to take care of Zuli County.

The arrival of Jia Xu led the army, which relieved him of his urgent need.

Immediately, he entrusted Jia Xu to monitor Lu Shuihu and Shandan Racecourse, and rode [-] steps to Shuyinsai himself.

Unlike Guo Huai, he had to lead the army out of Shuyinsai.

When Nishu besieged Zuli City, as the governor of the four counties in Hexi, he had to make a rescue gesture.

Otherwise, if you don't save yourself from death, and sit back and watch the success or failure, who will work for Wei Guo in the future?
And if he sent troops, he didn't have to worry about being surrounded by Nishu to help him.

He planned to come slowly along the ancestral calendar after leaving the fortress of Yinyin, and just let Yin Feng and the guards in the city see him.In order to prevent the morale of their perseverance from collapsing, it is also to make Nishu break the city even later.

In any case, he would not be impulsive, and lead the army to rush to the city to fight against Ni Shu.

Anyway, not many people were sent to Zuli County from Nishu, but more than ten thousand people.If you deduct the soldiers and horses besieging the city, you won't have an advantage against the [-] cavalry led by yourself.

As long as you leave the camp and be careful, Ni Shu will not dare to come to attack.

Even if Ni Shu gave up the siege and left some troops to monitor the ancestral city, they all turned to attack their own camp, and they fought and retreated according to the geographical advantages, and they could still save the soldiers and return to Shuyinsai.

Moreover, he had already told Xu Zhi, the general guarding the Shuyin Fortress, to prepare boats, sheepskin rafts and other materials for crossing the river, and come to pick him up at any time.

There is no need to worry too much.

However, what he didn't expect was that the Han army came a little fast.

He was waiting for General Jia Xu to lead the army to Wuwei County to assist in the defense, and he wasted too much time.

When he had just led the army out of Shuyinsai for more than [-] miles, and was able to get down Hanpingchuan, he saw that a Han army had already fallen into the camp and was building fortifications.

The scale of the camp is not very large, it should only be able to accommodate more than [-] people.

But the flag fluttering in the wind made the pupils of his eyes condense involuntarily—it was Zheng Pu, General of Nishu Pingbei.

The other party had already expected that he planned to lead the army to help Zuli County.

That's why I came to block the road ahead of time.

Of course, if he wants to bypass it, it is still possible.

For example, three or four thousand soldiers and horses were sent down to the camp to confront Nishu, and he continued to lead the rest of the soldiers and horses into Zuli County.

Anyway, the terrain here is flat and desolate, so there is no predicament of no road.

But he dared not divide his troops.

Regardless of whether the remaining soldiers and horses can withstand Bapu's attack, or whether they continue to lead the army forward, will they fall into an ambush by Nishu.

Inevitably, if he didn't go around, he wouldn't be able to boost the morale of Zuli County's garrison soldiers.

There are still more than a hundred miles away from Zuli City!
Why did Ni Shu come so fast! ?

He cursed secretly.

Then he ordered the soldiers to retreat three miles, and set off in front of the fortress of Yuyin.

Don't send out many ranger scouts, let them detour to Zuli County to find out the news - if possible, shoot the letter of the army's coming reinforcements into the city.

If they cannot be rescued, then it is good to pass on hope to them.

Yes, between Zuli County and his own safety, he chose the latter.

After all, this is also the private order of Da Sima Cao, and the overall situation is the most important thing.

His scheduling like this is exactly in the arms of Zheng Pu.

When he came to camp here, Zheng Pu used his weak force to hold back the Wei Hexi reinforcements, so that Guan Xing's troops could take down the Zuli city without distraction.

Because in the plan between him and the prime minister, the purpose of this dispatch of troops was to capture the fortress of Yuyin.

For this reason, the prime minister did not hesitate to go to Anding County in person, and even used all the senior generals in the army and the [-] troops to cover it.

Moreover, the time left for him and Guan Xing is very tight.

They had to capture Zuli County before Jiang Wei led the army to go around and attack Shuyinsai, and they had to turn all their attention to the defense of Niwei Shuyinsai to Hanpingchuan on the south bank of the river.

Otherwise, it is impossible for Jiang Wei, who went deep alone without the support of Zheng Pu and Guan Xing's department, to attack the rear smoothly.

The ending left for him was to be surprised by Wei Jun, and then be encircled and suppressed.

There is no place to die!

Conspiracies are meant to be dangerous.

Without an all-or-nothing decision, there will be no great victory in a single battle.

The prime minister trusted him without reservation, and Jiang Wei risked his life to trust him, and he would never allow this battle to fail.

Therefore, he also took risks.

There are two reasons for being able to arrive here two days in advance, before Wei Ping led the army into Fazuli County.

One is the Zuli River Valley, which was the only way to pass through the northern line of the Silk Road in the past.

Since the former Han Dynasty, there has been an endless stream of caravans passing through this valley, and the road conditions are very good.Moreover, Liang Yuanbi, the leader of the Xiongnu branch he incorporated, is very familiar with the terrain of this place and can lead him around the ancestral city.

On the other hand, it was because he made all the soldiers carry only ten days of food and fodder, and gave up the heavy Wugang vehicles, Yuanrong crossbows and other ordnance, and marched eighty miles a day.

Moreover, the soldiers he brought were only more than [-] soldiers from the Taibu of the state!
If Wei Ping had been bolder, he would have been unable to resist with just two thousand tired soldiers.

He is betting.

The bet was that the great plague in Xiaoguan in the past and the reputation of Xia Houru who broke Niwei Xia would make Niwei see his general flag and would not directly attack.

And he only needs to confuse Ni Wei for three days, and he can be out of danger.

Three days was enough time for Guan Xing to lead the follow-up army into the siege of the ancestral city, so that the warlord Liu Yin could safely escort the food and supplies, and come to support him.

　A few minutes late, alas~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)