Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 666: Troops on the Northern Expedition

Attack and defense seem to be different things, but in the eyes of a good general, they are actually two sides of the same coin. Offense is a method of defense, and defense is a strategy of offense, and the two have the same goal.

As for how to transform the offensive and defensive momentum, the key lies in whether the opponent is defeated. As Sun Tzu said, if you cannot win, defend; if you can win, attack.

In reality, when the enemy is entrenched and you cannot find an opportunity to attack, the enemy is in an invincible stage, and the attacker needs to adopt a defensive posture and confront the enemy.

In the defense or confrontation phase, the attacker needs to expose his weaknesses to lure the enemy into attacking. When the enemy launches an attack, he will expose his weaknesses, which will be an opportunity to use his troops.

The two sides exchanged roles. If the defender wanted to defeat the opponent, the best way would be to attack, take advantage of the defender's strengths, and gather superior forces to defeat the opponent. Or, the defender could show his strength to the enemy so that the enemy would not dare to attack.

Those who are well versed in the art of transformation from offense to defense are all famous generals in Chinese history, and the most typical one is Li Shimin.

Influenced by the result theory, people may think that Li Shimin often wins by attacking, but in fact Li Shimin mostly wins by defending.

Li Shimin's most common tactic was to first confront the enemy, then find their weaknesses and defeat them by setting traps or using cavalry attacks.

Therefore, when Li Shimin commented on the duel between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang, his tone was contemptuous because in Li Shimin's view, defense is not the goal but the means to win. Sima Yi should use defense to win, not just defense.

Of course, the art of attack and defense conversion seems simple, but it is actually very difficult to master. There are too many factors that affect victory or defeat on the battlefield, such as terrain, climate, source of troops, generals and other related factors. And excellent commanders are often able to understand these factors clearly.

Zhao Kuo was defeated at Changping, and Ma Su was defeated at Jieting. The essence of this was that Zhao Kuo and Ma Su were unable to control the battlefield situation and had difficulty in grasping the transition from offense to defense.

As Huo Jun experienced more battles, he had a very deep understanding of the essence of attack and defense, and even mastered it. And based on the original battles in history, Huo Jun was able to find the shortcomings of the original battles.

Taking the Battle of Zhongli as an example, the tactics used by Wei Rui were outstanding. However, they also had shortcomings, that is, they could not satisfy Huo Jun's wish to capture Shouchun.

Under such circumstances, coupled with the influence of other factors, Huo Jun was destined to be unable to replicate Wei Rui's tactics. He needed to think more deeply about the deployment of troops and use other factors on the battlefield to influence the outcome.

Therefore, Huo Jun never rejected the battles in his memory, because those battles could often help him find out the gaps and make up for the omissions, and also allow him to consider more relevant factors.

Sun Quan gave up Langya and Donghai counties and gathered troops to defend Muling Pass. Huo Jun vaguely knew that it was a trick, but he also decided to send troops to the two counties, which was essentially a show of confidence in himself.

Huo Jun believed that he could find a breakthrough to win in Sun Quan's attack, and his defense would leave Sun Quan helpless and thwart his conspiracy.

If Huo Jun made a mistake, it would make Sun Quan famous. Huo Jun believed in Sun Quan's military ability, so he dared to use his troops in this way.

After formulating the direction of advance, Huo Jun learned that the trial grain transport fleet had returned safely, and only then was he completely relieved about the logistics support.

The first month of the fourth year of Jianxing.

After New Year's Day, with the Han Canal waterway clear, Huo Jun led an army of more than 100,000 to Huaiyin, summoned officers from various units of the army, and announced the battle plan.

In the big tent, Huo Jun sat high on the couch, and the generals from Jianghuai and Jiangyang all came into the tent.

Huo Jun looked around the dark tent and asked, "Is there anyone who hasn't arrived yet?"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, all officers and soldiers from various departments have arrived, and no one is absent." Jiang Ji reported.

"good!"

Huo Jun nodded and said, "The Jianghuai River is a thousand miles long, bordering Yuzhou in the upper part and Xuzhou in the lower part. Now in Yuzhou, Man Chong leads troops to guard Runan, in Xuzhou, Lü Qian leads troops to occupy Pengcheng, in Qingzhou, Sun Quan leads troops to defend Muling, and in Yanzhou, Wang Ling leads troops to control the lakes and land."

"The above troops number tens of thousands, and some number 10,000 or 20,000. The total force is far more than 100,000. Now I want to lead a large army out of Sishui to attack Muling Pass and sweep across the seven counties of Qingqi. But the only thing I am worried about is the troops of Runan led by Man Chong. I am afraid that they will go down the Huai River, raid Sikou, and surround our northern expeditionary army." Man Chong led his troops to station at Rushui and was above the Huai River. The situation was like a sword hanging over Huo Jun's head. If Huo Jun wanted to march north to Qingxu, he had to take into account Man Chong in Runan to prevent him from going south along the river to block Sikou and thus surround the northern expeditionary army.

After all, there have been cases of blocking Sikou and encircling the Northern Expedition Army, not to mention that Huo Jun was almost trapped in Huaibei. Wu Mingche of the Southern Chen Dynasty led his army to the North to attack Pengcheng, but was cut off from Sikou by the Northern Zhou army, and Wu Mingche and his 50,000-man army were all captured.

Learning from past experience, Huo Jun had to send troops to Runan to contain Man Chong's military operations.

As he spoke, Huo Jun looked at Pang Tong on his left and said, "I have given you 30,000 soldiers today. I wonder if you can help me contain Man Chong's troops to keep the Sishui River open!"

Pang Tong's face straightened slightly, and he said, "Please rest assured, Grand Marshal, I will send troops to Runan to fight against Man Chong at the Ru River. If we encounter a large enemy, I will lead the troops back to Shouchun and Huaiyin to keep the waterway open."

"good!"

Then, Huo Jun looked at Gao Xiang and said, "To the northwest of Xia Pi, there is the army of Pengcheng. To ensure that Xia Pi is not lost, Feng Lu will lead 20,000 troops to defend Xia Pi City."

Gao Xiang stood up and accepted the order, saying, "Please rest assured, Grand Marshal. Xia Pi is a strong city. Xiang will use the navy to seal the river outside Xia Pi City, and the Wei thieves will not dare to look south."

"it is good!"

"Where is Shizai?"

"The general is here!"

Huo Jun ordered, "After the troops reach Xiapi, your troops will advance eastward to Yuzhou to open up the grain road from Yuzhou to Yishui."

"I obey your orders!" Huo Fan said.

Huo Jun stood up from the couch and said in a deep voice: "The rest of the soldiers will follow me to Xia Pi, abandon the boats and go forward to take over Langya and Donghai counties. After a short rest, we will attack Muling Pass!"

"promise!"

The day after the military meeting, Pang Tong led his own troops as well as the troops from Jiang and Yang, a total of 30,000 infantry and cavalry by land and sea, to march westward, preparing to first reach Shouchun, contact Zhuge Ke, and then advance westward to Runan.

Huo Jun led Gao Xiang as the vanguard and arrived at Xiapi first to join Huo Youzhi. Huo Jun led the main force in the rear and arrived at Xiapi in February.

After the army arrived at Xia Pi, Huo Jun contacted Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun, and the three agreed to send out troops in February and start fighting in March.

In February, Lu Xun ordered Wei Yan and Jiang Wei to lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry to station troops at Wating to prevent Guo Huai from sending troops to harass. Later, Lu Xun and Huang Quan each sent 30,000 troops to advance from Chencang and Weishui, respectively, and prepared to meet under the city of Chencang. Their 70,000-strong army falsely claimed to have 150,000 troops.

Zhuge Liang led his army from Xiangyang, through Xinye, and headed for Jingwan. His army of 70,000 men lied about having 200,000 men.

Pang Tong led his troops from Shouchun, passed through Rukou, and advanced upstream to Runan. His 25,000-man army falsely claimed to be 50,000.

Huo Jun left Gao Xiang stationed in Xiapi and led his army to Muling Pass, with an army of 120,000 men, but he falsely claimed that there were 400,000 men.

All of a sudden, the news that the Han Dynasty was marching north with an army of 800,000 spread throughout China, and all the provinces and counties in the Central Plains were shocked!
In 208 AD, Cao Cao claimed that he had an army of 227 to march south; in AD, the Han Dynasty announced that it had an army of to march north.

In just twenty years, the situation between Han and Wei changed dramatically, which is exactly what we call karma!

(End of this chapter)