Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1381 Mutual Calculation
Guo Huai saw Sima Yi asking this question, thought for a moment, and then said, "General, you are only worried about Zhuge Liang."

"Looking back now, Zhuge Liang's every move over the past few years has been very much aimed at the general. It's hard not to say that he used his troops based on trying to figure out the general's thoughts."

"If the general cannot escape Zhuge Liang's speculation, I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to take the initiative in the future battles."

Sima Yi listened and sighed, "You are right. Zhuge Liang seems to have seen through me. No matter how I use my troops, he has a backup plan waiting for me."

"It's not that I'm inferior to others in strategy, it's just that Zhuge Liang saw through me."

"I also wanted to turn the tables on him, but Zhuge Liang had already anticipated this. Last year, I used my troops to lure Zhuge Liang into a trap several times, but each time I failed. So far, I have not figured out a way to counter him."

Guo Huai said in a deep voice: "Unless the person who makes the decision is not the general."

Sima Yi's eyes flickered, "What does Boji mean?"

Guo Huai said in a deep voice: "That's right. Let the other side think that it was the general who carried out the strategy, but in fact it was not the general's idea, so that Zhuge Liang's prediction would fail."

Xu Miao frowned and said, "That being said, our strategies are not as good as the general's, so our ideas will not pose a threat to the Jin army. If our ideas don't work, won't that backfire?"

Liang Ji agreed after hearing this and said, "That's right. There are only a few options for using troops. The general has already chosen the best one. If he had chosen other strategies, he might not have been able to cause any harm to the Jin army at all."

Seeing Guo Huai remained silent, Sima Yi encouraged him, "Bo Ji does not need to worry, just speak out what is in your mind."

Guo Huai said slowly: "I once followed General Xiahou. From the time the previous emperor started the rebellion to the time he conquered Yizhou, he was finally ambushed and killed by the Jin army in Jingzhou. In the more than ten years in between, his performance against the Jin army was actually getting worse and worse."

"General Xiahou is not getting worse as the battles go on. It's just that he tends to only use the option that looks the best, which is why the Jin army guesses everything."

"It is the same for us now. Under pressure, we can only seek stability and choose the best option, otherwise we will be suppressed by the Jin army step by step."

Xu Miao was unconvinced and said, "Then our counterattack strategy this time, which is actually risky, doesn't seem to be the best one, right?"

Guo Huai shook his head and said, "No, this is the best option at the moment, because we can't afford to delay, so we can only look for opportunities to counterattack, and the most effective way is naturally to deceive the enemy, and then take advantage of the weaker flaws of the Hannan Army, break through from there, and then counterattack the Jin Army's central camp."

"This idea is very clear, but because it is too clear, it is impossible for the other party not to be prepared."

"I guess the enemy has even reinforced the Hannan army with generals and soldiers. If we ambush them and wait for them to come in, I'm afraid they will counterattack with a force far beyond our ability to withstand, and thwart our intentions as quickly as possible."

After hearing this, Sima Yi and the others all fell into deep thought. Finally, Sima Yi said, "Then according to Bo Ji's opinion, how should we respond?"

Guo Huai said without hesitation: "Give up the route to Hannan Kingdom and do not attack the central army of the Jin army. We will go directly to Shangyong Fangling on Hanzhong Road to defend it."

Everyone was surprised. Liang Ji asked, "What's the reason for this?"

Guo Huai said: "The enemy will definitely destroy Wei in the end, so occupying Shangyong and threatening Hanzhong is the ultimate goal of the Jin army."

"But now that we are firmly defending the Han River, the enemy can't find any loopholes. They can only lure us into a fight and consume our strength. When we are too weak to defend the Han River, the enemy will come out in full force and attack Shangyong Fangling and occupy it."

"After that, they can rely on steamships to directly threaten Hanzhong. If my guess is correct, at least one of the troops besieging Chang'an will bypass Chang'an and go directly to Yizhou, completely cutting off the road to Chang'an and taking the opportunity to go south to Hanzhong."

Xu Miao lost his voice and said, "Isn't this too risky?"

"Even if they occupy Hanzhong, there are Wei troops on both sides. How long can they hold on?"

Guo Huai said in a deep voice: "The road in Hanzhong is dangerous and difficult for cattle and horses to pass. It is impossible to defend it by just transporting food and supplies on foot."

"But the Jin army is different. They have steamboats, which are the only ones that can transport supplies upstream."

"As long as we hold out for a year or so, the Wei Kingdom will be split into two. The situation is critical. Who knows if those people in Yizhou will surrender?"

"Of course, what I guessed is just a possibility. The Jin army is now in a state of great momentum, and there are many possibilities for how to fight. What we have to do is to prevent the worst from happening."

"For the State of Wei, if they lose Hanzhong in advance, everything will be over."

Now Xu Miao and Liang Ji were convinced. Sima Yi's eyes flickered, "If this is Zhuge Liang's real purpose, I can turn the tables on him."

"As long as Fangling is well defended, it will become a battle to defend the city. The Hannan Army and the Jin Army will have to pay several times the price. They dare not bypass it, otherwise I will send troops to cut off their retreat."

"But what I am most worried about is that if the Jin army really ignores this side and risks casualties to break through, then won't Chang'an be in danger?"

Guo Huai said, "The enemy is probably taking advantage of our reluctance to give up Chang'an, trying to make us waste our troops and then slowly drain our blood."

"So before the time for battle comes, as long as we hold our ground, the enemy will inevitably get impatient first."

Sima Yi listened and nodded heavily, "Okay!"

"Then we will follow Bo Ji's plan, abandon the Han River completely, and retreat westward to Fangling!" The two sides fought for a day the next day. That night, the Guan Ping navy and the Huang Zhong navy went out together to raid the Wei army camp on the north bank of the Han River. The whole process was unexpectedly smooth. After resisting for two hours, the Wei army defenders retreated one after another and disappeared into the night.

Guan Ping was overjoyed and was about to go ashore to attack. Huang Zhong advised him, "General, be careful. It's dark and we don't know where the enemy is. If they are ambushing ahead, it would be dangerous if we rush in rashly."

"Besides, the previous plan was to occupy the Wei army's camp on the shore and wait for them to return to defend and counterattack. Now it would be better to send out spies first to find out the truth before advancing."

Guan Ping thought it made sense, so he ordered the ships to form a battle array and search for the enemy on the shore, waiting for the spies to report.

When it was dawn, the two received news that the Wei army had all retreated.

After hearing this, Guan Ping and Huang Zhong looked at each other in confusion. What was going on?

It was not until more than a day later that news came from Zhuge Liang that they would be arriving soon, and asked the two men to occupy the banks of the Han River first and then make plans.

Another day passed, and Zhuge Liang came directly from the north bank of the Han River. When he saw the two men, he said, "It seems that our strategy has been seen through by the other side."

Zhuge Liang's plan was to take advantage of the Wei army's mentality of looking for the weakest side and counterattack Guan Ping. Then Huang Zhong would assist Guan Ping in delaying the enemy, while Zhuge Liang would take the opportunity to secretly cross the river from the direction of Fancheng, bypass the Wei army's front line, and directly raid the Wei army's center.

This was a good idea, but Zhuge Liang did not expect that the Jin army would withdraw directly, leaving him empty-handed. He had to come back and meet Guan Ping first.

Huang Zhong was puzzled and asked, "Did the Wei army see through the Prime Minister's plan?"

"Where are they now?"

Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "They may not have seen through everything. They just chose the most conservative strategy, which is to retreat to Fangling for defense to prevent the worst result, that is, we break through Shangyong and threaten Hanzhong."

"I did miscalculate. I didn't expect that at this time, they were still thinking about protecting the passage to Yizhou instead of lifting the siege of Chang'an."

Guan Ping slammed his fist on the table and said angrily: "They are just a bunch of scoundrels who only know how to protect themselves!"

"The country is in trouble, and they dare to do this. If it were Hannan, he would defend the passage even if it meant a fight to the death. Why would he do such a thing?"

Zhuge Liang was silent for a while, then said, "Strongness is easy to break. As the general of an army, you should know how to advance and retreat to preserve your usefulness, so that you can serve the country well. Don't be impulsive."

Guan Ping said "oh" but didn't take it seriously. He just listened to Zhuge Liang continue: "The only goal of a general is to win and prevent the other side from winning."

"The other party did a really good job this time. It seems that the State of Wei cannot be eliminated in a short time. I am a little too eager for quick success."

"Since they have gone to Shangyong Fangling by themselves, I will not be polite and will go straight to Xinye to see how Wei will respond."

Huang Zhong saw it and said, "I didn't see Wen Chang and the others. Could it be that the Prime Minister..."

"That's right," Zhuge Liang said, "I sent them to attack Xinye in two groups."

"Now if the Wei army wants to save Xinye, they need to advance westward from Fangling. The general and I will stay here and see if Sima Yi dares to come."

Guan Ping said, "What about me?"

"The order from above is to cross the Han River. Should I cooperate with you afterwards, or something else?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "That depends on the general. It is not impossible to occupy the Xichuan Road south of Fangling."

Sima Yi in Fangling soon learned the news that the Jin army was attacking Xinye, and said to everyone: "The Jin army has split into two groups. One group is going to attack Xinye, and the other group must be lying in ambush on the road to prevent us from lifting the siege of Xinye."

"If we don't do anything, we will be blocked here. I decided to deploy defenses in Yin County and Nanxiang, west of Xinye."

Xu Miao said, "The Jin army has probably figured this out. They will definitely set up an ambush around Xinye."

Guo Huai said, "That's right, so we need to calculate the ambush location in advance."

"This time the news is that Zhuge Liang personally blocked the road to the Lingling Mausoleum. The other two routes should be blocked by the generals of the Jin army. Their ideas are much easier to predict than Zhuge Liang's."

"I think it's very likely that they are ambushing in Zhuyang, south of Yin County."

"At least if that group belongs to Wei Yan, he will almost certainly be here."

Liang Ji said: "What's the reason for this?"

Guo Huai said: "Wei Yan was defeated by the general before. He has a strong desire for revenge and will definitely want to defeat the general to get back at him."

(End of this chapter)