Shu Chen

Chapter 393 Wuzhangyuan

Youfufeng in Guanzhong is also known as Zhouyuan (Yuan) in Li Shu's word of mouth.

Gein is the birthplace of the Zhou Dynasty, which has been passed down for nearly 800 years.

This piece of loess plateau sandwiched between the mountains of Longdong (Anding County) and the Qinling Mountains is about 50 miles (Han) in depth from north to south. Although the terrain is full of gullies and ravines, the top of the table-shaped platform allows Li Shu to live and farm in settlements. livestock.

If the division is more detailed, it is the north and south of the Wei River that runs through.

Beiyuan has a vast terrain and is rarely disturbed by disasters such as mountain torrents and earthquakes, so it is mostly gathered by Li Shu.After Sima Yi became the governor of Yongliang, the Chengguo Canal opened up, and the Xingxing Juntun and Mintian were all located in Beiyuan.

Nanyuan is much more desolate.

Originating from the fact that the Wei River almost runs eastward against the Qinling Mountains, affected by the continuous mountains, the terrain of Nanyuan is narrow and steep, and there is no basis for large-scale farming.

However, things are not absolute.

For example, Wuzhangyuan is a suitable place for farming.

The Qinling Valley Road that connects Guanzhong and Hanzhong is a natural road that was blown out by the water.

Baoxie Valley is no exception.

But its special feature is that there are two exits at the northern foot of the Qinling Mountains.

One can go directly to the mouth of Xieshui (Shitou River, also known as Wugong Water after entering Guanzhong) where Dong Zhuo built the dock in the past, and the other is the mouth of Mawei River (Suiyang Xiaogu) that can reach Chencangcheng. 【Note 1】

The loess plateau sandwiched between these two estuaries is Wuzhang Plain.

Sufficient water sources and the accumulated fan soil elements washed out by the river can be called fertile soil, so it is not surprising that Wuzhang Plain is suitable for farming.

In fact, Wei Jun did set up a lot of farmland in Wuzhangyuan.

It's not that Sima Yi was short-witted and couldn't see the danger of being invaded by the Han army if he set up a farm in Wuzhangyuan.

But at that time, the Han army was attacking Liangzhou, and anyone with a little strategic vision could predict that, with the national strength and war background of the Han army, even if Liangzhou was successfully occupied, there would be no room for marching into Guanzhong.

Moreover, the total length of Baoxie Valley is about 350 (Chinese) miles.

Compared with the income from harvesting the wheat from the Wuzhangyuan garrison, the loss of laboring troops and mobilizing people to trek through the valley and sending troops is more.

If the Han army does it, the gain outweighs the loss, which is ridiculous and generous.Sima Yi didn't mind such a mutual loss, and was even happy to see it succeed.

However, this time and that time also.

This time, the prime minister's unreasonable dispatch suddenly turned to occupy Wuzhangyuan, and it became a matter of feeding on the enemy.

Although, based on the estimates of the production of the farmland in Wuzhangyuan, it can roughly feed [-] Han troops for nearly a month, and it seems that it has little impact on the battle situation.

But in the eyes of military strategists, this is not the case.

Eat the enemy for one minute, be me for twenty minutes.

The Han army robbed the grain and fodder for nearly a month in Guanzhong. Based on the manpower and material resources for transshipment and the loss along the way, Hanzhong County saved ten months of grain.

Such a situation, how can it not make Sima Yi feel like a knife is twisting his heart?
The reason why Sima Yi was so anxious and rushed to supervise the troops was that Wuzhang was originally a "battlefield" for military strategists.

Wuzhang Plain, facing Qishan Mountain across the Wei River, is the narrowest place in the Guanzhong Plain.

If the Han army deployed properly in Wuzhangyuan, crossed the river and occupied Qishan Mountain in Beiyuan, then the area west of Mei County would be cut off and reduced to an enclave.

And he will no longer suffer from food shortages.

If the Han army can cross the Weishui River and enter the Northern Plains, how can it not be the reason why the Wei State will garrison all the land in the area?

Therefore, when Sima Yi learned that the Prime Minister had left the camp to the east, he immediately sent his confidant general Niu Jin to lead more than ten thousand elites as the front, and rushed to the area around Mei County to deploy defenses to prevent the Han army from crossing the river and entering Beiyuan to mow wheat.

As for why they didn't rely on the superiority of their strength, they went straight to Wuzhangyuan to compete with the Han army.
Sun Tzu said, "If you fight for land, you won't attack."

The Han army stepped into the plateau first and took the lead in occupying the geographical advantage. The strong attack only made the Wei army fall into a passive position.

This, Sima Yi expected.

Before the troops left, the prime minister who returned to Hanzhong from Baoxie Valley was appointed, and the march was very fast.

It is divided into three groups.

In addition to leading the army into Wuzhangyuan to snatch the wheat from the Wei Tuntian and occupy the dangerous points, he also led [-] soldiers to the Xiegukou to set up camp at the entrance of Xiegu, guarding the way to retreat in the future; The estuary where Xie Shui (Wu Gong Shui) flows into Weishui River falls into the camp. In order to prevent the Wei army from entering from here, the connection between Xiegukou and Wuzhangyuan is cut off.

The deployment of troops is in the form of triangular joint branches and mutual horns.

No matter where it is attacked, the other two battalions can fight accordingly.

And due to the relationship with the Qinling Mountains, there is no possibility of the three battalions being trapped to death, which can be regarded as minimizing the disadvantage of insufficient troops.

Such a deployment is no stranger to both the Han and Wei dynasties.

During the previous battle of Hanzhong, the first emperor Liu Bei's tactics were to rely on the Dingjun mountain to connect with the strongholds, so as to take advantage of leisure and waiting for work.

However, the strength of the Han army was still too small after all.

This time, the prime minister who led only [-] soldiers into Guanzhong could no longer send troops to stay at the mouth of the Mawei River to prevent the Wei army from entering the Baoxie Valley from Suiyang Xiaogu to occupy the small flat land in the middle (now Taibai County), and cut off the return route of the Han army. possible.

But the prime minister felt that Wei Jun would never send troops into Suiyang Xiaogu.

It's not that he deceived Sima Yi to be so reckless that he couldn't even see such obvious omissions.

Rather, he concluded that he dared not.

Because this omission is not only a flaw in the deployment of the Han army, but also a trap with hidden murderous intentions.

The southern section of Baoxie Valley has always been under the control of Hanzhong County. If Wei Jun dared to go deep into Suiyang Valley, he would face a situation where the prime minister and Wu Yi would attack from north to south.

Fighting on the plains, the Wei army was still weaker than the Han army.

Bi Sima Yi'an dared to send troops into the rugged valley to compete with the Han army who is best at fighting in the mountains?

If he dispatches like this, then he is truly reckless!

Naturally, Sima Yi is not a reckless person.

He, who was leading the army behind him, received military information brought by scouts along the road. After learning about the deployment of the Han army's troops, he didn't even bother to stop for a while when he passed the mouth of the Mawei River.

But the marching speed has slowed down a little.

Niu Jin had already rushed to the front of Beiyuan's defenses and sent people back to report. The Han army had no intention of crossing the river to snatch the wheat from the fields, and they didn't even build pontoon bridges to prepare for the fierce battle.

This puzzled him.

Could it be that Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of Shu, transferred his army here just to snatch a few farmlands in Wuzhangyuan?

In order to spend more time in Guanzhong for a month?
Such an inference was quickly dismissed by Sima Yi from his heart.

He didn't think the prime minister's intentions would be simple.

Even if there is no better reason to explain why the Han army is on the defensive.

Because Wuzhangyuan is about [-] miles away from Chang'an City, even if the Han army wanted to go east, they could not march in cover.

In fact, he had roughly guessed the prime minister's intentions.

The biggest reason why the Prime Minister moved to Wuzhangyuan was to delay the main force of Wei Guo Guanzhong for a little longer, so that Wei Yanbu in Hexi would be less worried.

Another layer of thinking is to follow the trend and take the opportunity to let the soldiers familiarize themselves with the topography and geography of Guanzhong.

Know yourself and know each other.

Sooner or later, the big man will launch the battle to restore Guanzhong and return to the old capital, and the right should be prepared in advance.

Naturally, if the Wei army came to attack, the prime minister would not miss the opportunity to try Sima Yi's dominance.

Compared with the previous Cao Zhen, Sima Yi seems to be more persevering. He has been the governor of Wei Yongliang for more than two years, and he has never led an army to confront the Han army!

The prime minister is looking forward to a head-on battle with Sima Yi.

With the strength of the Han army's soldiers, it will not dare to start the war easily in the future, and it will win time for the big man to recuperate.

[Note 1: Now the northern section of Baoxie Valley is National Highway 244, and Suiyang Xiaogu is National Highway 342.Those who are interested can go to pay tribute to the road of the last Northern Expedition of the Prime Minister]

(End of this chapter)