Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1425 Disagreement
Zhuge Liang stayed in Chang'an until late autumn. During the half year in between, he tried to attack the Wei army from Chencang and Wuzhangyuan. However, because the roads were too steep and the Wei army was well prepared, Zhuge Liang finally ordered his troops to withdraw.

Zhao Yun also tried to attack from the direction of Jieting, but found that the Wei army had also occupied the mountain road behind Jieting. After a battle, the Wei army was defeated and destroyed the road and retreated. The plank road along the way was steep, and Zhao Yun found it difficult to repair the road, so he had to establish a stronghold in Jieting to prevent the Wei army from coming again.

Wei Yan went deep into the Qinling Mountains to search for traces of the Wei army. The two sides had several small-scale encounters, but Wei Yan never encountered the Wei army again after that.

After such stops and starts, time had already come to late autumn. Through these battles, Zhuge Liang discovered that it was not easy to attack Hanzhong Road. If he wanted to defeat Cao's army who were determined to defend to the death, he had to formulate corresponding tactics and fortifications based on the mountains of Yizhou. Otherwise, even if he passed Wuzhangyuan, it would be difficult to advance on the mountain road.

He believed that the reason why Wei was able to capture Jizhou and defeat Liu Zhang so quickly was not only because Xiahou Yuan and Sima Yi were indeed knowledgeable about military affairs, but also because the Yizhou soldiers themselves were poor and weak.

What the Wei army relies on now are tens of thousands of core veterans of Wei State. Their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with that of Yizhou soldiers. It is impossible to decide the outcome in one battle now. They can only consume them slowly. It would be a safe strategy to wait until the casualties of the backbone forces of the Wei army are almost over, and then break into Hanzhong Road in one fell swoop.

Zhuge Liang wrote all these details in a letter and sent it to Yuan Xi who had returned to Yecheng. Not long after, Yuan Xi's imperial edict came down.

Inside, Yuan Xi gave orders to let Zhao Yun stay in Chang'an, Zhang He be responsible for Wuzhangyuan, Wei Yan be responsible for breaking into the Qinling Mountains to find loopholes in Cao's defense line, and take the other generals back to their respective battle zones, and Zhuge Liang return to Yecheng.

After receiving the letter, Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun handed over military affairs and returned to Yecheng. From then on, the Jin army naturally would not launch a large-scale offensive again, but would build defense lines step by step and organize soldiers to cultivate land. For a time, the war stopped.

After Wei learned the inside story, Xiahou Shang said to Sima Yi: "We have finally made it through this year."

"Now the soldiers are exhausted and the food is running out. If the Jin army attacks at all costs, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to hold on."

Sima Yi said: "What I am more worried about is the problem of Yizhou's troops."

"In the past six months of fighting, nearly 10,000 people have been killed or wounded. This would not have been a problem in the past. We could just recruit more soldiers."

"But the combat capability of the Yizhou troops that were added some time ago really disappointed me."

"These people were quite obedient to orders, and were brave in the face of arrows and stones. They were able to advance upon command, but they were soon defeated after the fight, and their combat effectiveness was not even half that of the Central Plains soldiers."

"If this continues for a long time, if all the Wei soldiers are replaced by Yizhou soldiers, it will be clear that they will not be able to win any battle in the future."

Xiahou Shang was also depressed and said: "I didn't expect that the Yizhou soldiers were so useless before."

"These soldiers definitely have some potential, but they haven't experienced frequent battles in the Central Plains for so many years. Their first reaction when they go into battle is to save their lives. They don't have the determination of the Central Plains soldiers to fight to the death."

Previously, the territory of Wei State was concentrated in Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Sili. These places were all in the Central Plains and had been experiencing wars in the Central Plains. At that time, there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the invasion of Xiliang, the looting of the Xiongnu, and the attacks of the princes. These forced the civilians to practice martial arts to protect themselves. Therefore, the people were tough and could be recruited into the army and go to battle after a little training.

But the situation was not so good in Yizhou. Its environment had always been closed and the terrain was difficult to navigate. Even if there was harassment from the southern barbarians around it, it was only a minor one. Facing the enemy, the Yizhou soldiers only had to defend themselves based on the dangerous terrain or retreat to avoid fighting, and the enemy would often return empty-handed on the steep mountain roads.

This resulted in the overall combat effectiveness of the Yizhou soldiers being extremely poor, and was also the reason why Liu Zhang, who used the Yizhou soldiers as the main force at the beginning, could not even defeat Zhang Lu's Five Pecks of Rice Sect followers.

Later, Liu Zhang relied on the Dongzhou soldiers who were composed of young and strong people who fled from Jingzhou and other areas. Only then did he barely stop Zhang Lu and even fight back with the Nanman.

Then the Wei army invaded Yizhou. At that time, the Dongzhou army was defending Chengdu, so when Xiahou Yuan adopted Sima Yi's strategy to attack Chengdu, the Yizhou soldiers along the way were defeated, allowing the Wei army to easily attack the city of Chengdu and force Liu Zhang to surrender.

When Sima Yi led his army to attack, he did not think that the Yizhou army was troublesome as a friendly army. It was not until the armies of Jin and Wei were exhausted and Yizhou troops were sent to Hanzhong to reinforce them that Sima Yi realized that they were of little use.

Of course, it is not impossible to make these people become elite soldiers, but the prerequisite is that they must undergo several years of training. The key is whether the Jin army will give Wei this opportunity?

Sima Yi said: "If this continues, we might as well give up Wuzhangyuan and return the entire army to defend Hanzhong."

"It is not only much easier to cultivate land and train troops in Hanzhong, but it is also easier to shrink the defense. Now we have three locations, Jieting, Wuzhangyuan, and Chencang, and the battle line stretches for hundreds of miles, which consumes a lot of our troops. It is really not a long-term solution."

Xiahou Shang showed hesitation, "But what if Hanzhong is surrounded?"

"Zidan is stationed in Hanzhong. He also has to guard against the attack from the eastern route, the border with Jingzhou, and the southern Han Kingdom's Xiangyang."

"It is said that the military advisor Pang Tong is in charge in Xiangyang, and Guan Yu's son Guan Ping has been training troops. I am afraid that within the next one or two years, they will launch an attack from Xiangyang to Hanzhong."

Sima Yi said in a deep voice: "That is why we need to prepare for a rainy day and shrink our defense."

"It's actually not that dangerous to let the enemy in. On the contrary, it can stretch out their supply lines and make them lose their edge on the long and steep mountain roads."

"Wuzhangyuan is really not suitable for farming. Even if we plant crops on the hillside, how much harvest can we get from such a land with frequent heavy rains, floods, and landslides?" "So retreating to Hanzhong to farm and concentrate on defending one place is the long-term plan."

Xiahou Shang had been completely convinced by Sima Yi. He nodded and said, "That is true, but this matter is of great importance. We need to ask His Majesty for an order."

He suddenly realized, "Zhongda wants to submit a joint petition with me?"

Sima Yi smiled and said, "Bo Ren is smart. If I submit a report alone, His Majesty may not believe it. Besides, Shaoling Marquis in Hanzhong may not agree with my idea. If the two sides disagree, it will be difficult to convince His Majesty."

Xiahou Shang knew that Cao Zhen had some opinions about Sima Yi, so he said, "In that case, I will write a letter to Zidan to explain the trouble at Wuzhangyuan."

Sima Yi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately thanked Xiahou Shang, but the annoyance in his heart could not be shaken off.

Because the current situation of Wei State is completely passive defense, if it continues like this, it will inevitably be gradually eroded by Jin State.

According to Sima Yi's idea, Yizhou could not be defended and he had to find a way to fight it out. The best breakthrough point was not in the three routes of Chencang and Jieting in the north, but in the exit of Jingzhou in the east and the line of Anyang West City.

As long as they attack from this direction, they can reach Shangyong Fangling and occupy the territory of Hannan Kingdom. If Jin State cannot rescue it in time, Wei State may be able to destroy Hannan Kingdom in one fell swoop.

In Sima Yi's plan, even if he attacked Wuzhangyuan to threaten Chang'an, there would be no decisive change between Jin and Wei. Only by occupying Jingxi and Jingnan and integrating them with Yizhou could he seize the only glimmer of hope for counterattack. After that, he could destroy Hannan, use Jiangdong as the direction to break the deadlock, and finally occupy half of the country and confront the Jin army.

At this point, the fundamental difference between Sima Yi's thinking and that of Zhuge Liang in later generations can be seen. It seems more like the expansion of dividing the world into two parts in Jiangdong. However, both ideas regard Jingzhou as the most critical node.

Sima Yi thought that he would have to write a separate memorial to persuade Cao Pi. The Wei State was in a precarious situation now, but there was still a possibility of breaking the impasse.

But if we miss the opportunity to annex Hannan State and let Jin State get there first, then everything will be in trouble!
As the days passed and winter came, the three memorials from Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang and Sima Yi, as well as Sima Yi himself, were all placed on Cao Pi's desk.

After Cao Pi finished reading, he said to Queen Guo, "Come and see, who of them makes sense?"

Empress Guo looked at the three bamboo slips, hesitated, and said, "This is a major military matter. It would be inappropriate for me to speak out."

Cao Pi said calmly: "If I want you to watch, then watch it."

After hearing this, Queen Guo had no choice but to pick up the three bamboo slips and read them. Her face was solemn. After all, they were three great generals, and what they were reporting must be the most important matters for the Wei State.

So she read them one by one, and after understanding the situation, she smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, the three generals have different opinions on this issue. I am not in the army, so how can I comment on it?"

Cao Pi said calmly: "I am not in the army either. Just tell me what you think. I will not blame you."

Empress Guo pondered for a moment and said, "General Xiahou's idea is to use Hanzhong as a stronghold for defense and use the Hanzhong Mountain Road to consume the Jin army."

"General Sima's opinion does not conflict with General Xiahou's. He believes that while defending, we must also actively attack, focusing on Jingxi and giving priority to eliminating Hannan, which is the weakest."

"Of course, it also mentioned that Pang Tong and Guan Yu in Hanzhong were not easy to deal with, but compared to the Jin army, it was still much easier."

"General Cao's intention," she paused, "is to attack Jieting in the north, break through Xiliang, occupy the Hexi Corridor, reorganize the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and use the Hu people's tactics to harass and attack the rear of the Jin State."

Cao Pi nodded and said, "Which one do you think is feasible? Or should we let them try it individually?"

Queen Guo thought to herself, with Wei's national strength, could it possibly defend and attack on two fronts at the same time?
She expressed her doubts, and Cao Pi said, "Of course not."

"Stopping the Jin army is the most important thing from beginning to end. Now the three of them have different opinions and probably want to return to Chengdu, but I can't let them retreat for the time being."

"The Jin army is very good at launching surprise attacks. If Hanzhong is lost, Chengdu will be in danger."

"Their ideas are actually good, but given Wei's national strength, a counterattack is temporarily impossible, and now we need the Yizhou nobles to contribute some strength."

"I plan to select a general from among them to lead the army and attack southeast of Chengdu."

(End of this chapter)