Take the diagonal valley road from Hanzhong to Guanzhong, and the exit is a similar "T" shaped terrain.
The horizontal line above the character "D" represents the Wei River flowing through the mouth of the Xie Valley.
The vertical line below the word "D" means martial arts water originating from Taibai Mountain and finally injected into the Wei River.
In "The Road to Shu is Difficult", it is the Taibai Mountain where "there is a bird's way to Taibai in the west".
And the martial arts water is the stone river of later generations.
The exit of Xiegu Road is on the triangle area to the left of the "D" character.
Sima Yi's army was stationed in the triangle area on the right side of the word "D", across the Wugong River from a distance away from Wuzhangyuan.
After leaving Xiegu, go west along the Wei River to reach Chencang.
Crossing the Wugong River to the east and heading east along the Wei River, you can reach Chang'an directly.
When the red-armored Han army actually appeared at the entrance of Xiegu, Sima Yi, who had been waiting here for a long time, was rewarded and couldn't help but smile:
"I expected that the Ge thieves would come out from this way a few years ago, and now it turns out to be true. The Shu captives don't know how much preparation I have made here. I will let him know how powerful I am when the time comes."
All the generals laughed.
"The Shu captives have come a long way and traveled on mountain roads for a long time. They must be tired and have low morale. In addition, they have just left the sloping valley and have not yet established a stable footing. Who dares to go to the battle to establish their power?"
If faced with the legendary Feng thief, the generals might still hesitate.
After all, it is rumored that everyone under Feng Thief's command is a fierce bandit, as fierce as a mountain tiger.
But now that the old army of the Shu army on the opposite side is tired and it is time to attack, is there any reason to be afraid?
So all the generals asked for battle one after another.
After Sima Yi looked around, he called out:
"General Niu, are you sure?"
Niu Jin was overjoyed when he heard this, clasped his fists and said loudly:
"Please ask the Great Sima to see how the enemy will be defeated in the end!"
"Okay, I will give you three thousand soldiers and horses to go and defeat the Shu captives."
"promise!"
When Zhuge Liang leads his army out of the Xie Valley, he will naturally not be unprepared.
So he used the sharpest knife at hand: Wei Yan.
Wei Yan, as the vanguard, led the army out of Xiegu firstly, firstly to explore the military situation, and secondly to prepare for the garrisoning of the subsequent army.
As soon as the former army came out of the valley, a sentinel came to report:
"General, there are thieves attacking from ahead!"
When Wei Yan heard this, he was not surprised but happy:
"The Prime Minister expected that the Wei thieves would not be willing to let us leave the valley in peace, so he sent me here to see how I can defeat the enemy!"
So he ordered the front to guard against the mountain, put on his armor, mounted his horse, and led his troops to the front.
Niu Jin quickly finished reorganizing his army here, and immediately led the army to charge directly.
He originally thought that the Shu army would be caught off guard by him, but he did not expect that the opponent would quickly defend against the mountain and try to stabilize its position.
Niu Jin charged twice in a row. Although he killed some Shu troops, he was unable to shake the opponent's position.
Only then did he feel a little surprised:
"Could it be possible that the Shu captives had anticipated this and were therefore prepared?"
Sima Yi on the other side of the river also saw this scene, and he couldn't help but said to his left and right people suspiciously:
"I observe the army of the Shu captives. They are well-organized and marching and retreating in an orderly manner. Their leader must be an extraordinary person. Send someone quickly to investigate. What words are written on the commander's flag?"
"Here!"
When he heard that Tan Ma reported that the character "Wei" was used as the commander's flag, Sima Yi's face couldn't help but change:
"No, it couldn't be Wei Yan. This man must be the most brave man in Ge's army! Order General Niu to retreat immediately!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a shout suddenly sounded in front of the formation.
But when the drums of the Han army were beating loudly, a general led his army out of the valley and rushed into Niu Jin's army formation.
For a moment, the two armies were fighting together.
Sima Yi was afraid that Niu Jin would be lost, so he quickly ordered thousands more troops to be sent across the water to reinforce from both sides.
Wei Yan personally led the army and charged left and right among the Wei army. They were fighting vigorously when they heard loud shouts of killing from both wings. It turned out that another Wei army was coming.
Under his leadership, the Han army had gradually suppressed Niu Jin's army. Now that this happened, Wei Yan couldn't help but become a little anxious:
"I was careless and eager to make meritorious deeds. I wanted to give the Wei thieves a blow, but unexpectedly I was entangled by the thieves. If the first battle was unfavorable and the prime minister's army could not leave the valley in time, this would be a big mistake!"
When rushing to kill in front of the battle, how can there be room for distraction?
As soon as his hand slowed down, the Wei thief on the other side raised his spear and stabbed him. At the same time, Niu Jin rushed from the side and hit the vital point.
Fortunately, the personal guards who were following Wei Yan tried their best to block him, and then he protected Wei Yan and took a few steps back to keep him safe.
The guard who was blocking the gun was shot down by Niu Jin, and it seemed that he would not survive.
The personal guards sacrificed their lives in exchange for Wei Yan's safety, but the two wings of the Han army were already a little unable to withstand it.
When Wei Yan saw this, his face was filled with anger. Regardless of the danger, he rushed forward again, hoping to defeat Niu Jin first.
It's just that Niu Jin can be regarded as a brave general. Now that his side has the upper hand, how can he easily let Wei Yan get his wish?
Seeing that the Han army was about to be defeated, at this time, the drums suddenly sounded louder at the entrance of the valley, and a Han army holding high the flag with the word "Meng" appeared at the entrance of the valley.
The reinforcements quickly formed a formation, first suppressing the Wei army on both wings with a hail of arrows, and then rushed up to meet Wei Yan.
With the reinforcements, the Han army's position was stabilized again.
In this battle, Sima Yi originally wanted to test the situation, but now that he saw that he could not gain any advantage, he began to withdraw his troops while the two sides were taking a breather.
The Han army did not take the opportunity to catch up. After the two sides broke away from contact, the Wei army quickly retreated to the east bank of Wugong River.
Wei Yan was originally a proud and arrogant person, but he almost lost someone this time, and his face seemed a little offended.
When facing Meng Yan who saved him, he felt a little embarrassed.
However, Meng Yan was a Yi general who surrendered to the Han Dynasty when the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty pacified Nanzhong, so he had always acted cautiously.
At that time, King Feng Gui was sent by the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty to govern Yuexun County. Meng Yan was the nominal governor of Yuexun County, but in fact he was the one who took the blame for King Feng Gui at any time.
At that time, the big ass was wiped off. At most, when King Feng Gui led the army to Hanzhong, Meng Yan once said a famous saying:
What King Feng Gui said was indeed all lies, and I really can’t believe a word of it.
Now facing Wei Yan, Meng Yan knew that he was not easy to get along with, so when he saw Wei Yan's ugly face, he pointed at the other side of the martial arts water and cursed:
"The Wei thieves are so cunning that they came to attack the general while he was out of the valley. It's really abominable!"
When Wei Yan saw that he didn't mention the incident of rescuing him just now, but instead scolded the Wei thief, his heart suddenly felt relieved and his embarrassment was gone.
He couldn't help but also gritted his teeth and cursed:
"If he hadn't taken advantage of me, how could the Wei thieves have taken advantage?"
Then he bowed his hand:
"Thank you so much for your help, General Meng."
Meng Yan waved his hand and said with a smile:
"General Wei and I are both seeking thieves for the country, so why should we be divided between you and me? Besides, I led the army here on the orders of the prime minister. If the general wants to thank you, let me thank the prime minister."
The first half was okay, but the second half made Wei Yan feel a little uncomfortable:
Since the Prime Minister has sent me as the vanguard, but also ordered Meng Yan to follow closely behind, doesn't he expect that I will suffer this defeat?
He felt that he had lost face, but now that he thought about it again, he felt even more unhappy.
Meng Yan saw that his expression suddenly looked wrong, and he was a little confused at the moment. He didn't know what made him act like this.
The two of them exchanged a few polite words, then separated to lead their own troops and began to prepare for the arrival of the army behind them.
Two days later, a large flag with the word "Zhuge" written on it appeared at the entrance of Xiegu, marking the final arrival of the main force of the Han army's Northern Expedition.
Sima Yi, who had been watching the Han army's movements closely, saw that the Han army did not cross the Wugong River, but turned to the west and climbed to Wuzhangyuan. He couldn't help but put his palms in his hands and laughed:
"If Zhuge Liang crosses the Wugong River to the east, borders Junshan to the south, and the Wei River to the north, and comes eastward, then he wants to take Chang'an directly, and we will have to fight to the death."
"Now that he is heading west to Wuzhangyuan, I already know what he wants, so how can I let him get his wish?"
So he summoned General Sima's military advisor Du Xi, and then ordered Wang Shuang, a fierce general, to assist him and lead 30,000 elite troops to cross the Wei River north.
Sima Yi sent troops and generals, but Zhuge Liang was not in a hurry. He ordered the army to be stationed in the center of Wuzhangyuan.
Then he was asked to push a four-wheeled cart and take him to the bank of Wugong Water to observe Wei Camp in person.
Today's Han Dynasty Prime Minister has shown his age.
Not only do my legs feel weak, but I also need to ride in a four-wheeled vehicle and be pushed around when I go out.
At the same time, my eyes have also become presbyopic.
He raised his eyes to look into the distance, but saw that the other shore was blurry and unclear, so he raised his telescope to look.
But when I saw the Wei army camps on the other side, with high fortresses, deep trenches, and countless deer antlers standing on the other side, I couldn't help but be a little surprised:
"Sima Yicheng is a powerful enemy. With such a tight camp, if we attack it by force, it will probably cost a lot of soldiers' lives."
Wei Yan, who was following, heard this and was rather disapproving:
"When the Wei thieves saw my army arriving for the first time, they didn't even think about attacking me while I was still on a weak footing. Instead, they took such strict precautions early. Is this cowardly?"
"Besides, our army has an engineering camp, and its stone cannons can fire large rocks. As long as we don't stop day and night, why worry about not destroying the camp?"
"I see that the antlers are all made of wood. Just use some oil fire with a stone cannon to destroy them all!"
When Zhuge Liang heard this, he just smiled and said nothing.
Feng Yong had used oil and fire to attack the city ten years ago. How could Sima Yi not understand this?
Just seeing that he dug a lot of trenches, we knew that they were used to isolate fire.
I just looked at it with my telescope and found that the barrier was mostly made of clay. Even if there was wood, the front was coated with wet mud, so I knew it was prepared to prevent fire.
Looking at the endless barracks on the other side, no matter how powerful the stone cannon is, there is no way to destroy all the other barracks!
Even if there is an inexhaustible supply of stones, so what if we can smash all the camps?
The other side just has to move step by step, continue to dig trenches in the rear, build barriers, and so on. Do you want to move to Chang'an City step by step like this?
If you really want to do this, it would be feasible in theory.
But when does it actually have to wait?
Besides, soldiers are in great danger.
If the battle lasts for a long time, the soldiers will be tired of fighting, and they will be far away from their hometown. By then, the morale of the army will be low before they reach Chang'an City.
There is still food and grass. If the battle lasts for a long time, no matter how much food there is in Shu, it cannot support such consumption!
If you really want to fight like this, if it lasts for a long time, and in the end you have to bet that the opponent can't hold on before you do, it's really a bad idea.
Therefore, the stone cannon is indeed a powerful weapon for siege, but in field battles, the most it can do is smash down the obstacles and barriers placed by the thieves in front.
It is too natural to rely on stone cannons to destroy the enemy.
Feng Yong told Zhuge Liang these things, and Zhuge Liang had also deduced them, so he knew them well.
It's just that Wei Yan didn't know. When he saw the Prime Minister was silent, he understood that the Prime Minister disagreed with what he said, and he was secretly unhappy.
The prime minister didn't bother to look at him.
Over the years, Wei Yan has repeatedly said in private that his talents cannot be fully utilized, so he is placed above him by juniors. His complaints are beyond words.
How could the Prime Minister not know these things?
He just pretended not to know.
During the first Northern Expedition, opportunities were fair to everyone.
Wei Yan was still assigned as the forward, while Feng Yong was assigned to transport grain in the rear.
The results of it?
The forwards could not capture Xiangwu, but the grain transporters were able to capture Longguan without hurting anyone.
The vanguard lost many soldiers in Xiangwu, and those who transported grain supported the enemy and solved the crisis of the Northern Expedition.
Who is to blame?
Not to mention the battle at Xiaoguan, could Wei Yan defeat 100,000 Wei thieves?
What a boast!
Therefore, as long as he is the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty for one day, Feng Yong will be the future pillar of the Han Dynasty that he values most.
Regardless of Wei Yan, who looked unhappy, Zhuge Liang just asked people to push the four-wheeled cart back and forth along the west bank of Wugong River to check on the enemy's situation.
The movement on the east bank had already alerted the Wei army, who had been paying close attention here. Sima Yi heard about it and personally brought people over to check.
One person is riding a horse, the other is riding a chariot, a great Sima of the Wei state, and a prime minister of the Han state, meet like this.
The wheel of history, rolling here, seems to have returned to its original track again.
Almost at the same time, sergeants from both sides shouted loudly: "May I ask who is on the other side?"
"Sima Yi, the Great Sima of the Wei Dynasty."
"Zhuge Liang, Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty."
Their eyes seemed to have traveled through the time and space of history, as the Prime Minister and Da Sima looked at each other across the martial arts water.
Dong'an: "I've heard of your name for a long time, and I'm honored to meet you today!"
Xi'an: "You come from a famous family, and you are really magnanimous."
Both sides laughed.
"Gong Jin personally led the army out of Hanzhong. Do you want to cross eastward? Do you want to cross north?"
"You want me to cross east? Do you want me to cross north?"
Laughed again.
In just two sentences, it was already a round of secret confrontation.
"I would like Gongnan to return, what should I do?"
"I'm afraid I won't be able to do what you want."
"Then let me see whether Duke is crossing east or north."
"But please wait and see."
After chatting for a few words, it was enough, and the two of them said goodbye.
As soon as he returned to the army, Wei Yan couldn't wait to say:
"Prime Minister, when we were at the water's edge, Sima Yi asked the Prime Minister whether to cross eastward or northward. It seems that he probably knew what the Prime Minister meant. Why don't we let the last general go north across the Wei River first and occupy the high ground on the north bank?"
"If not, it will be very difficult for Wei Thief to react!"
Zhuge Liang was about to agree, but after thinking about it, he nodded and said:
"That's all right, I'll give you ten thousand people, and we'll cross the Wei River north immediately tomorrow."
Wei Yan was overjoyed: "Here!"
At the same time, after Sima Yi returned to the army, he said to his left and right:
"Tomorrow the Shu captives are afraid that they will cross the Wei River north and occupy the northern plateau to defeat the Qian County army!"
Zuo Zuo asked: "Zhuge Liang went to the east bank of Wugong River today to investigate the military situation. Isn't this preparing for the eastward crossing of Wugong River? Why did Da Sima say that he wanted to cross the Wei River north?"
Sima Yi laughed:
"What is said is that what is true is false and what is true is false. If he really wanted to cross the Wugong River eastward, he would not have gone to Wuzhangyuan. If he went to Wuzhangyuan, he wanted to cross the Wei River and climb to the North Plateau to cut off the east and west!"
They only waited until the second day when they saw a Han army beginning to cross the Weishui River northward and heading towards the highlands on the north bank of the Weishui River.
So all the generals in the Wei Dynasty obeyed the great Sima for his foresight.
At this time, Du Xi, who had been sent out by Sima Yi a few days ago, looked at the Han army below Beiyuan and laughed:
"Da Sima has already expected that you will come, and has asked me to wait here for a long time!"
Wei Yan was shocked when he heard that the sentinel said there were Wei thieves in the North Plains. He rushed to the front of the army to check, and saw numerous figures on the North Plains and high fortifications.
He couldn't help but stamp his feet angrily:
"It's too late again! If we had come here earlier, why would we be like this?"
After some testing and finding that it was indeed difficult to capture, Wei Yan had to send people back to Weinan to explain the situation to Zhuge Liang and request more reinforcements.
Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang rejected his request and even ordered him to lead his army back directly.
Wei Yan received the order, but reluctantly led his army back to Weinan.
After he returned to the army, he went to the commander's camp to ask for an audience.
"Prime Minister, when we came here this time, we were unable to cross the water in time, and our attack was not decisive. This is a taboo in the art of war, Prime Minister! If there is any disharmony, it will be too late to regret it!"
Zhuge Liang, who was looking down at military documents, raised his head and asked slowly:
