Chapter 435: Mountains and rivers are our bed, and we sit at the gate of the country
Author: Soy Sauce Mixed History
Chapter 435: Mountains and rivers are our bed, and we sit at the gate of the country
Ma Chao, who led the army stationed in Mianyang, received the message from Nanzheng in early March.
When he received Fa Miao's urgent letter, he did not set out for Nanzheng immediately.
He found his only confidant Ma Dai.
After Ma Dai arrived, Ma Chao gave him Fa Miao's letter to read.
Since Ma Chao's position was higher than that of Mi Yang, the letter written by Fa Miao on Mi Yang's behalf was not an order to summon him.
To be precise, this is a letter seeking Ma Chao's help.
After Ma Dai read the contents of the letter in his hand, he couldn't help but frown.
The "Essay on Defeating Shu" published by Cao Zhen had spread throughout Hanzhong not long ago, and he had also read the contents of this letter.
The appearance of this proclamation undoubtedly announced that Cao Wei's Guanzhong Army, headed by Cao Zhen, would officially declare war on Liangzhou where Mi Yang was located.
Ma Dai came from a family of generals, and he had received good military training since he was a child. Under such circumstances, his military strategy was not considered to be the best in the world, but some basic situation analysis could not trouble him.
But it was after analyzing the situation facing the Han army today and knowing Mi Yang's purpose in writing this letter to Ma Chao that Ma Dai frowned.
For the Han army, the current situation is more than just a bad word to describe it?
Because he knew that the current situation was unfavorable to the Han army, Ma Dai, who had already regarded Ma Chao as his reliance, naturally did not want Ma Chao to go to Nanzheng.
Anyway, in Ma Dai's view, even if Ma Chao helped Mi Yang win the Hanzhong defense battle, he might not only not be rewarded by Liu Bei, but also arouse Liu Bei's further suspicion of him.
In this case, why would Ma Chao go into this muddy water?
Liu Bei could accept an incompetent Ma Chao who abandoned the city and fled, but he certainly didn't want to see a majestic and heroic general.
But after Ma Dai spoke out to dissuade Ma Chao, Ma Chao did not agree with Ma Dai's suggestion this time.
Since all his clan members were slaughtered by Cao Cao in his early years, Ma Chao regarded Ma Dai as his successor. In the past, he rarely disapproved of Ma Dai's suggestions.
But now, Ma Chao's attitude is very decisive.
"I must go."
Seeing that Ma Chao was about to make an unwise choice, Ma Dai was anxious. He was about to persuade him, but Ma Chao's next words made Ma Dai fall into silence.
"I have experienced the Guanzhong Legion of the Wei Army before, and they are very strong.
However, the troops in Liangzhou Mu's hands were not enough.
Today there is a huge disparity between the enemy and ourselves. This is a fact.
But as long as their surname is Cao, then they are the ones I will fight.
In the end it’s just death.”
Ma Chao's words were quite sad, but when he said these words, his tone did not appear low.
On the contrary, there was still a faint light of expectation in his eyes.
Jin Ma Chao, are you afraid of death?
Ma Chao has not forgotten the agreement he made with Mi Yang. In the past days, he has made a lot of efforts for that agreement and achieved certain results.
But the reason why Ma Chao reached such an agreement with Mi Yang before was because at first he thought Mi Yang was going to attack Wudu County on his own initiative.
Now when Ma Chao knew that Cao Zhen would launch hundreds of thousands of Wei troops to attack Liangzhou, he suddenly understood the true purpose of Mi Yang coming to him in the first place.
Mi Yang didn't want to take the initiative to attack. It was clear that he had received the warning information a long time ago, so he was making preparations for a rainy day.
From this point of view, Mi Yang did not say enough about him.
It's just that for friends, sincerity should be the first priority, but for a superior, isn't it best to be aware of the subtleties and take precautions?
Only such a superior person has the qualifications to command Ma Chao to fight.
Ma Chao took back the letter from Ma Dai's hand, and then said to Ma Dai: "Take my armor."
Mi Yang did not let Ma Chao lead his troops there, so Ma Chao planned to go to Nanzheng with only Ma Dai.
Ma Chao knew that this was Mi Yang's way of guarding against him. As long as there were no troops from his headquarters by his side, he would not be a threat to him.
Ma Chao was not surprised by Mi Yang's precautions.
Under Ma Chao's order, Ma Dai quickly fetched a silver-white armor and came to Ma Chao. Then, under Ma Chao's eyes, he put on the armor for Ma Chao.
When the heavy armor fell on Ma Chao's body one by one, he soon felt the weight that was unbearable for ordinary people.
But after feeling this weight, his slightly bent back suddenly straightened at this moment.
Only when a hero is equipped with precious armor can he embark on a journey.
Ma Dai's movements were very skillful, and soon he helped Ma Chao put on this heroic silver armor.
After putting on the silver armor, Ma Chao took off his sword from the sword stand, and then said to Ma Dai:
"Would you like to go retrograde with me?"
After hearing Ma Chao's inquiry, Ma Dai did not hesitate at all.
"Dai, life and death follow you."
Ma Dai's answer made Ma Chao burst out laughing.
Among the tens of thousands of Xiliang cavalry who followed him on the battlefield, now only Ma Dai is left.
But, it's enough.
On this day, the gate of Mianyang Cavalry General's camp was opened. After a while, two Cavalry Generals galloped out and headed northward.
The biggest purpose of "Fighting Shu" is to shake the morale of Liangzhou's military, but what Cao Zhen didn't know was that there were always some people who didn't care about military morale and only talked about their original aspirations.
After traveling day and night, Ma Chao and Ma Dai soon arrived outside Nanzheng City.
After learning about the arrival of Ma Chao and Ma Dai, Mi Yang met them immediately.
Ma Chao met Mi Yang in the meeting hall.
When he arrived at the meeting hall, there were no other ministers of Liangzhou in the hall, only Mi Yang's personal guards guarding the hall inside and outside.
As for Liangzhou Mu, Mi Yang was not sitting on the main seat in the hall at this moment. Instead, he was sitting directly on the ground regardless of his appearance.
But what was under his butt at this moment was not the cold floor, but a huge and detailed topographic map of Liangzhou.
This topographic map was made by Mi Yang when he first came to Liangzhou.
It is not easy to make a detailed topographic map in this world.
No matter how difficult it is, as long as the support from the superiors is in place, it can always be produced.
Mi Yang is no longer a newbie in military affairs. The longer he leads the army, the more he realizes the importance of terrain in warfare.
Therefore, he has always been very concerned about making a detailed topographic map of Liangzhou, and he does not mind no matter how much manpower and material resources are spent.
With Mi Yang's strong support, this large-scale Liangzhou topographic map, which Mi Yang regarded as a military secret, was finally completed last year.
Sitting on the vast mountains and rivers of Liangzhou, the young Zhou Mu had a smile on his face after seeing Ma Chao's arrival.
With the enemy ahead, Mi Yang didn't care about etiquette.
He waved to Ma Chao to come forward.
Facing Mi Yang's call, Ma Chao whispered to Ma Dai behind him and quickly came to the edge of the terrain map.
But after reaching the edge of the terrain map, his steps suddenly stopped, and his eyes even started to dodge.
Anywhere, local topographic maps are one of the most important military secrets.
What's more, the topographic map of Liangzhou below Mi Yang is more detailed and marked with more military information than most maps in the world.
Can a person like him view such a topographic map at will?
Ma Chao's hesitation was noticed by Mi Yang, and after thinking about it, he understood what Ma Chao's concerns were.
Mi Yang is the best at helping people resolve their concerns.
Mi Yang stood up on the Liangzhou Mountains and Rivers Map, walked step by step to the edge of the map, then grabbed Ma Chao's hand and pulled him into the vast mountains and rivers of Liangzhou beneath his feet.
When Ma Chao's white shoes and socks stepped on the soft terrain, facing Mi Yang's unsuspecting gaze, his heart gradually became calmer.
With every step he takes, Ma Chao becomes more down-to-earth.
Then he and the young Zhou Mu who trusted him walked step by step to the center of the Liangzhou Mountain and River Map - Nanzheng City.
When the two of them stood above Nanzheng, Mi Yang took Ma Chao and sat down together.
Ma Dai, who was standing outside the hall, saw this scene, and for some reason, some gratitude to Mi Yang emerged in his heart.
There is something called trust, which was abandoned by Ma Chao like worn shoes in the past.
But when the loss of this precious thing caused a series of negative consequences, Ma Chao began to value trust very much.
Just because of Ma Chao's past evil deeds, how can ordinary people trust Ma Chao again?
But now that Mi Yang has given it, perhaps Mi Yang's trust in Ma Chao is limited, but this is enough to make Ma Dai feel precious.
Presumably the general feels the same as him now.
When Mi Yang and Ma Chao sat down together, Mi Yang looked at Ma Chao in front of him, and he actually felt that the Ma Chao today was not the same person as the Ma Chao he saw not long ago.
The appearance is the same, but the difference in spirit shown by Ma Chao after meeting him twice can be described as a change of appearance.
Seeing Ma Chao like this, Mi Yang felt a lot more relaxed.
"It's been a while since I last saw you. The general is looking more and more energetic. I'm very pleased to congratulate him."
This was Mi Yang's heartfelt appreciation. After all, if Ma Chao was still the same depressed person, Mi Yang would not dare to use him.
Facing Mi Yang's praise, Ma Chao smiled slightly and did not respond to Mi Yang on this point.
He asked Mi Yang: "I hope Zhou Mu can tell Chao more information about the enemy."
After Ma Chao asked about this, Mi Yang nodded, and then told Ma Chao all the military information he had received so far.
Because of Si Wen Cao's existence, it would be more convenient for Mi Yang to collect military information in Guanzhong.
But after all, the current world lacks advanced communication methods, so even though Mi Yang has watched many spy movies in his previous life, he cannot apply that knowledge mechanically to the current world.
In the absence of this point, Si Wencao's role is not unlimited.
For example, Mi Yang knew long ago that the Wei army was going to attack Hanzhong, but it was not until recently that he roughly obtained the total strength of the Wei army for this expedition.
I have to say that Cao Zhen's early confidentiality work on this matter was really good.
However, no matter how hard Cao Zhen tried to keep it secret, when his army was gathered, he could control the leakage of some key military information.
But as soon as his army moves out, a lot of information will naturally surface.
For example, the approximate actual total strength of the Wei army, such as the division route of the Wei army, who are the leading generals of each branch of the Wei army, etc.
What Mi Yang told Ma Chao now was this key information.
After listening to all the military information told by Mi Yang, Ma Chao undoubtedly had a clearer understanding of the current situation between the enemy and ourselves.
But it was this realization that made Ma Chao's face look solemn.
Based on the current strength comparison between the two sides, this battle is really difficult to fight.
After thinking carefully, Ma Chao made a suggestion to Mi Yang based on the current situation between the enemy and ourselves:
"Of the three enemy armies, the Eastern Route Army has the largest number of troops. Since Cao Zhen personally commanded the Eastern Route Army, we know that this must be the main force of the rebel army.
Xie Valley is located outside Chencang, and Luo Valley is outside Chang'an. Judging from the time, the bandit army may have been marching towards the two valleys at this time.
Our army's strength is far weaker than that of the enemy, and the enemy's army is divided into three groups. On the surface, although it seems that he wants to divide our Hanzhong into three parts, making it impossible for our armies to respond, but with Cao Zhen's military strategy, his purpose will not be like this.
Simple.
I predict that his three-way division of troops is also a strategy to lure the enemy.
If our army wants to avoid being defeated by the traitor army one by one, it must take the initiative to prevent the traitor army from succeeding.
But in this way, our army loses the city's support and may play into the thieves' ambitions.
As the saying goes, it is better to cut off one finger than to hurt ten of the enemy's fingers.
Since the Eastern Route Army is the strongest main force of the rebel army, and its target is the center of our Han Dynasty, it is better for our army to shrink its strength and abandon the cities outside Yangping Pass.
We may even abandon Yangping Pass when necessary and stick to the Nanzheng City area. With the strength of our army, it is not difficult to hold Nanzheng City for a period of time.
As long as our army can defend until the reinforcements from Yizhou arrive, the rebel army will inevitably retreat.
Even if the reinforcements from Yizhou cannot arrive in time, the morale of the rebel army will definitely decline after a long period of attrition. By then, our army will take advantage of the situation and attack, which may achieve miraculous results."
After Ma Chao expressed his thoughts, he looked at Mi Yang with his eyes.
He was judging whether Mi Yang would agree to his suggestion.
During the Warring States Period, due to the emergence of a large number of famous generals, tactics became more flexible and changeable.
But no matter how changeable the tactics are, in some cases, there are fixed routines for war.
For example, when the enemy attacks our side, how should our side respond?
It's very simple. The best secret is to strengthen the wall and clear the field, and lure the enemy deep into the eight characters.
Ma Chao's current tactics against Mi Yang are based on these eight words.
The strong walls and clear fields mean that the enemy troops cannot get any supplies locally.
Luring the enemy deeper means that the enemy's supply line will be continuously stretched, which will undoubtedly create some good fighter opportunities for our own army with favorable geographical location.
On the basis of these two points, as long as it takes long enough, the enemy's morale will inevitably decrease.
From a common sense point of view, there is indeed a chance to achieve what Ma Chao said at the end.
Moreover, for our own side, this strategy can also concentrate the national power of the entire county to defend one city, which can make up for the fatal injury of Hanzhong's current lack of food and grass to a certain extent.
In Ma Chao's opinion, this strategy is the most suitable response strategy for the Han army at the moment.
But Ma Chao, who thought Mi Yang would agree, saw him shake his head firmly.
The young state pastor, who used the mountains and rivers of Liangzhou as his bed, in front of Ma Chao, who looked like a bear and a tiger, vigorously tapped the great mountains and rivers under his buttocks, and said impassionedly:
"The country's gates must not be lost, and the enemy must be defended outside the country's gates!"
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!