Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 669: Dismount for Liang?

March, Wancheng.

"Zhuge is indeed a countryman. As the prime minister of a country, he actually goes to the fields to harvest wheat himself!"

Sima Yi stopped his horse on a low hill, looked at the fields that had been ravaged by the Han army, sighed deeply, and could not help complaining.

The reason why he moved his troops to Bowang was not only to use the strong city to consume the Han army as Zhuge Liang had thought, but also to wait for the spring wheat to mature, and then join forces with Zhang He to cross the Yu River to collect grain so that they would have sufficient food and grass to fight the Han army.

Wancheng spring wheat is so important, so why didn't Sima Yi expect Zhuge Liang to steal the spring wheat?

In fact, it cannot be said that he did not expect it, but Sima Yi made a wrong prediction. Sima Yi guessed that the spring wheat was not yet ripe, and Zhuge Liang might wait until April or May to take action.

Even if they were to start the war right now, Sima Yi would have set up camp first and then go to harvest the spring wheat, given Zhuge Liang's cautious character. However, Zhuge Liang knew that time was short and the task was heavy, so he led his team directly to the fields to destroy the wheat, catching Sima Yi off guard.

"General Huoqi, General Niu Jin has returned with his cavalry!" the attendant came hurriedly to report.

"Did you gain anything?"

The attendant hummed a few words and said, "The bandits fled lightly, and General Niu chased them and killed more than a hundred of them. Because Zhao Yun led his troops to cover the rear, General Niu did not dare to pursue them further!"

Sima Yi marched south overnight, sending Niu Jin to lead the cavalry ahead, hoping to contain the Han army that was harvesting wheat. However, Zhuge Liang was prepared, and upon learning of the whereabouts of Niu Jin's cavalry, he immediately led his troops to evacuate, leaving Zhao Yun to lead the cavalry to cover the rear.

The Han army was traveling light and did not have much baggage. After Niu Jin arrived, Zhuge Liang had already gone south. Niu Jin followed the trail and met Zhao Yun, who was leading the rear guard. The two armies fought briefly and suffered casualties on both sides.

Zhao Yun saw that Zhuge Liang had gone far away, and fearing that Sima Yi would lead his army to surround him, he broke away from the battle with Niu Jin. Niu Jin was afraid of an ambush ahead, so he did not dare to pursue him further, and led his troops back to the city.

Sima Yi calmed down a little and said, "Let General Niu come here and tell him that I have something to ask you."

"promise!"

After a while, Niu Jin came in wearing armor and holding a sword, and said with a folded hand: "Zhuge Liang withdrew his troops in an orderly manner. Jin did not dare to pursue him further, and he must have let down the governor's expectations!"

"nothing!"

Sima Yi stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the fields, and said, "Zhuge Liang is cautious in his use of troops. I sent the general to pursue them in order to find out the strength of the pirates' troops."

Sima Yi then asked, "General Niu has been through hundreds of battles, and now he is fighting against the pirates. What do you think of the enemy's infantry and cavalry? Can our army withstand the battle?"

Niu Jin hesitated for a moment and said, "From what I have seen, the troops under Zhuge's rule can move freely and their military discipline is very strict. Their soldiers are as elite as ours."

Sima Yi stroked his long beard with his hand, frowned and said: "I originally thought that most of the elite pirates were under Huo Jun's command, and the troops led by Zhuge Liang should be the pirates' detachment. Now I think it may be difficult to quickly defeat Zhuge Liang's troops."

After the last battle with Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi had a better understanding of Zhuge Liang's military skills. In his eyes, Zhuge Liang's military skills were not better than his, but he was more stable, and his camp was almost impeccable.

Judging from the situation of the pirates' northern expedition, Sima Yi believed that Huo Jun's army would be the main attack direction, and Zhuge Liang's headquarters should be a detachment responsible for containing the troops of Xu and Luo.

Although Zhuge Liang was a small army, he had elite soldiers under his command. If the elite soldiers defended the camp, the Wei army would not be able to defeat the enemy in a short time, and it would be difficult to achieve the initial steps of Tian Ji's horse racing.

"Commander-in-chief, what should our army do now?" Niu Jin asked, "Should we wait for General Zhang He and then march south together? Or should we station troops in Bowang and wait and see the outcome of the battle in Yuyang?"

Sima Yi hesitated for a moment and said, "The spring wheat is almost harvested. Zhuge Liang is leading his troops to retreat urgently. General Zhang He will join our army soon. It is useless for our army to stay in Bowang. If we want to defeat Zhuge Liang, we need to lead the army south."

Sima Yi then ordered, "Let all the troops rest for a while, and find a way to march south tomorrow!"

"Oh, right, let the people pick up the abandoned straw to feed the horses in the army."

"promise!"

Not to mention that Sima Yi led his troops southward along the route of Zhuge Liang's withdrawal. At that moment, Zhuge Liang, who was returning to the camp from Wancheng, was discussing military affairs with the civil and military officers in the army.

There was constant laughter in the big tent.

"The Prime Minister's plan is indeed brilliant. Our army has harvested the Wei army's spring wheat, forcing the Wei army to transport food from Xu and Luo. It also scared Sima Yi so much that he packed up his armor and marched south overnight, making it impossible for him to stay in Bowang." Shi Ran said admiringly.

Zhuge Liang stroked his feather fan and said with a smile: "Harvesting wheat is only a small trick, not enough to defeat the enemy!"

Wen Pin hesitated for a moment and said, "The Grand Marshal led the army out of Huai and Si, and the Prime Minister led the army to respond. Now it is better to rely on the grain from Jianghan and confront Sima Yi's army to contain the Wei army."

"Sima Yi is cunning and resourceful. If the Prime Minister is defeated by the Wei army, our army will withdraw to Jianghan. At that time, the Wei army will lead its troops eastward and join forces with the Central Plains troops to besiege Sima Yi. This will ruin the Northern Expedition!"

Because Wen Pin had been dealing with Sima Yi for many years and knew Sima Yi's strong military skills, he lacked confidence in winning. As a detachment of the army heading north, Wen Pin hoped to complete the tasks assigned by Huo Jun rather than take the initiative to attack.

Zhuge Liang stroked his fan and smiled, saying: "Zhongye doesn't understand the current situation!"

As he spoke, Zhuge Liang paced in front of the map and said, "According to the scouts, Sima Yi has more than 50,000 soldiers under his command. With his troops and horses, relying on Wancheng and Yushui, if he holds on, he can defeat us. But do you know why Zhang He led tens of thousands of elite infantry and cavalry to the south, not to help Sun Quan, but to help Sima Yi?" Wen Pin pondered for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, do you think the Wei army wants to defeat us first, and then turn to attack Sima?"

"Of course!"

Zhuge Liang had an idea and said, "Sun Tzu said, 'I am one, and the enemy is divided into ten. So ten attack one, and we are many while the enemy is few. Now the army is leading 800,000 troops to the north, and the troops are advancing in four directions. If I were to use the army, I would first gather the best troops to defeat the weak, and then gather the heavy troops to overwhelm the strong."

"Among the three armies, which one is the weakest?"

"Our army is the weakest?"

Wen Pin seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "The Grand Marshal is feared by the whole world, but Pang Yuzhou under his command is only the army guarding Huainan; the general's troops are from Longshu, they are experienced in using troops, and it is difficult to defeat them quickly. So among the three armies, our army is the weakest?"

"Exactly!"

Zhuge Liang said with a firm tone, "In the past, Tian Ji raced horses and hit the other horse with the upper horse. He defeated the lower horse with the middle horse, and the lower horse defeated the upper horse, so he won. Now Cao Rui wants to be the Grand Marshal, but it is not easy. Our plan now is to retreat the weak troops first, and then defeat the Grand Marshal."

There are many examples of large armies marching in multiple directions and then being defeated by one of the troops in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad. The most famous of these is the Battle of Sarhu between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty.

If Cao Wei wants to break up the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition, it would be best for it to adopt Liu Ye's strategy, like the story of Tian Ji's horse racing, and fight a Battle of Sarhu that belongs to Cao Wei.

Once the Wei army can defeat Zhuge Liang, the troops in Jing and Wan regions can be used as mobile forces and deployed to other battlefields. If according to Cao Rui's arrangement, Zhang He can lead a large force to the east, first repel Pang Tong's troops, and then raid Huo Jun's army.

As for Lu Xun's main force, upon learning the news of Zhuge Liang's defeat, they will not dare to confront Cao Zhen and will automatically lead their troops to withdraw.

Unfortunately, unlike the Ming, the Southern Han was not well prepared before the war, had no detailed marching strategy, and had aging senior generals. The Southern Han had anticipated this before the war, especially Zhuge Liang, who had predicted that Cao Wei might concentrate its elite troops to attack them.

When he learned that Zhang He was leading his troops south, Zhuge Liang became even more determined to engage the Wei army in a field battle, that is, to take advantage of the Wei army's eagerness to fight.

Ma Su served tea to Zhuge Liang and said with a smile: "Now Zhang He is leading his troops southward. Prime Minister has expected that he is eager to fight, so why not take advantage of him. A military expert says that if you know the place and day of the battle, you can fight thousands of miles away. So our army can choose a battlefield to lure Sima Yi and Zhang He to advance."

Ma Su was well versed in the tactics of Sun and Wu, and could almost find suitable military reasons for Zhuge Liang's military actions. The only one in the army who specialized in military tactics the most and could recite the tactics of Sun and Wu by heart was Ma Su!

Wen Pin was impressed by Zhuge Liang's plan and said, "The Prime Minister has a far-sighted vision that I could not have expected. But I wonder how we should arrange our military supplies given the current situation?"

Zhuge Liang took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then handed it to Ma Su and said, "To the west of Yuyang there is a river called Laoshui. The river is narrow and wide, and the water flows gently from northwest to southeast. It flows into Yushui River 20 miles south of Yuyang City."

"There are gentle hills on both sides of Laokou. Liang planned to lead the army to retreat southward and set up camp at Laokou. The camp was set up on both sides of the river, and a floating bridge was built to connect the north and the south to prepare for the joint forces of Zhang He and Sima Yi."

Wen Pin was very puzzled and said, "If we divide the army to lie on both sides of the river and set up camp on the hill, if we want Sima Yi to divide his troops to attack the southern camp or destroy the pontoon bridge, wouldn't the army's retreat be cut off?"

Wen Pin suggested, "The Prime Minister should lead his troops across the Yu River, and I will lead my troops to guard the south of the Lao River. The Yu River is vast and convenient for the two armies to fight in the field. I will lead a small army to serve as the Prime Minister's wing. If the enemy attacks us, I will take advantage of the two rivers and lead my troops to resist them. If the enemy attacks the Prime Minister, I will lead my troops to attack the enemy from the side."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "General, you are deeply concerned about the country. I know this very well. However, the strategy of flanking the river from north to south is the way to defeat the bandits and cannot be changed. I will leave the affairs of the South Camp to you. As for the affairs of the North Camp, I will lead the army to defend it myself."

"This~"

Wen Pin wanted to say something, but seeing Zhuge Liang's firm tone and recalling his previous intention to defeat Sima Yi, he gave up on making his remonstrance.

"Please rest assured, Prime Minister. I will defend the South Camp to protect the retreat route of your army." Wen Pin said with a bow.

"good!"

Zhuge Liang ordered, "General Wen will lead 30,000 soldiers to guard the southern camp, and Liang will lead 40,000 soldiers to station on the northern bank."

"promise!"

Zhuge Liang remembered something and asked, "General, do you have any military reports to send?"

"Have!"

Yang Yi submitted a military report, saying: "After the general went through Guguan and Weishui, his army was blocked by Chencang and could not enter Guanzhong."

Yang Yi added: "The defender is the veteran general Hao Zhao, who is very wise and brave. Cao Zhen has led his troops to Chencang and should confront the general."

Lu Xun originally wanted to attack Chencang with a surprise attack, and ordered Yang Ang to lead 5,000 elite troops to go out of the Weishui Road first. Unfortunately, Hao Zhao was already on guard, and Yang Ang's surprise attack on Chencang failed, so he turned to find a place to set up camp. While setting up camp, Hao Zhao led his troops to attack suddenly, and Yang Ang was beaten by Hao Zhao.

Lu Xun led the follow-up troops to arrive and besieged Chencang for ten days but failed. At this time, Cao Zhen led reinforcements to arrive. Lu Xun gave up the siege plan and led the army to garrison on both sides of the river, preparing for a long-term confrontation with Cao Zhen.

ps: There are two more chapters today

(End of this chapter)