Ma Di "whipped" Zhang Xiu at the city gate, and ordered him to lead his troops to the city gate the next day to call for battle.
Xu Miao did not go out of the city to fight, but just laughed up at the sky on the tower, laughing at Ma Su's stupidity for using such tricks to deceive a child and make a fool of himself in front of him.
Zhang Xiu reluctantly reported back: "Although Xu Miao, the governor of Liangzhou, is old, he is a famous scholar in the world, with both civil and military skills. He has seen through the general's plan and will hold on to the city without coming to fight."
Dai Ling also advised: "General, this plan has failed, why not think of another way?"
In the eyes of both of them, since the plan has been exposed by the other party, there is no need to continue the act.
But Ma Su didn't think so.
This time, in front of everyone, he "whipped" both Dai Ling and Zhang Xiu severely. Then he withdrew his troops and returned to the stronghold, and sent people into the city to give Xu Miao a complete punishment.
"If the old man comes and surrenders as soon as possible, I will spare you and the people in the city from death; if you still persist in your stubbornness, when the city is leveled, no chickens or dogs will be left behind!"
Xu Miao heard this in the city, but he was not angry. He ordered people to serve good wine and food to entertain the envoys.
The envoy was just an unknown soldier that Ma Su randomly recruited from the Qu family army. He was immediately flattered by this courtesy and did not even dare to say so.
During the dinner, Xu Miao put the cup in his hand and asked enthusiastically: "May I ask your honorable envoy, is the general who conquers the west strict in his military conduct?"
The general who conquered the west in Xu Miao's mouth naturally refers to Ma Di.
The envoy thought for a while and felt that this question did not involve military matters, so he replied cautiously: "It's not strict. General Ma's rule is quite relaxed, and the soldiers can move around as they please."
Loose management of the army means chaos on the battlefield... Xu Miao nodded and asked, "How are General Dai and his more than a thousand soldiers doing lately?"
The messenger shook his head: "General Dai Ling is quite good, and he is highly regarded by General Ma. As for the current situation of more than a thousand soldiers, I don't know."
Dai Ling's more than a thousand soldiers didn't come, which means that a hundred thousand troops didn't come either... Xu Miao stroked his beard, raised his glass and said, "Drink, drink."
After a while, the banquet was over and the guests and hosts were enjoying themselves. Xu Miao sent the envoy away with a smile and looked at the Shu army camp in the distance, silent.
General Zuo Pian scratched his head and asked in confusion: "Why are you smiling and saying nothing?"
Xu Miao squinted his eyes, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Ma Di is lax in running the army. Many soldiers have escaped in the past few days. Now they have gone deep into Liangzhou alone. The troops are so powerful that they don't even know that a disaster is coming."
"In ten days, I will capture this man alive!"
The generals on the left and right hurriedly praised Xu Miao for his skill, and Xu Miao laughed, feeling greatly benefited.
In the next few days, Xu Miao stood at the top of the city every day, carefully observing the movements of the Shu army. Seeing that the Shu army deserted more and more, and visually estimated that there were only about 2,000 soldiers left, Ma Su still sent Zhang Xiu to challenge the city every day.
Suddenly my mind started to wander and I had a bold idea.
He was about to gather his three thousand troops and head out of the city to meet the enemy. Suddenly he thought: "Back then, Ma Di was in Lueyang, Weixian County, and he was able to handle the enemy with a small number. A fire almost killed me, and even Zhang He was defeated in a row.
We must not underestimate the enemy's formation. We can only hold on to deep ditches and high fortresses now. The morale of the army is low, and deserters are becoming more numerous every day. They will be dispersed in less than a month. Only by taking advantage of the situation to attack them can we be sure of victory."
Having made up his mind, Xu Miao resisted his impulse and only taught the soldiers to protect the city as best they could and wait and see what happens.
…
The messenger went back to see Ma Su and told him the truth. When Ma Su heard what he said, he felt secretly happy.
He was indeed very loose in running the army.
The messenger was right about this.
In sharp contrast to him was Zhuge Liang, who was extremely strict in running the army, and all the soldiers in the army camp were grimacing and unhappy.
If Zhuge Liang's way of running an army is modeled after Cheng Bushi, then Ma Di's way of running an army is based on the flying general Li Guang.
"Wei Qing's undefeated luck was due to nature, while Li Guang's lack of success was due to luck." Li Guang, the famous general of the Western Han Dynasty, has always been a very frustrated existence. As a famous general of the Han Dynasty, he has been active on the front lines of fighting against the Xiongnu and other foreign tribes. He has made numerous military exploits, but he has always been victorious.
He was not promoted, so he had the eternal regret of "Li Guang could not be sealed".
However, there is another person with a lower sense of existence than Li Guang. He is the famous Western Han Dynasty general Cheng Bushi who was at the same time as Li Guang. Li Guang was at least known to later generations through the recitation of "Historical Records" and Tang poetry.
Cheng Bushi was not so lucky, and his popularity was far less than that of Li Guang.
Before Wei Qing and Huo Qubing became famous, the most outstanding twins in the Han Dynasty were Cheng Bushi and Li Guang. Cheng Bushi never even suffered a defeat in his life. But even so, Cheng Bushi was still not well known.
Li Guang and Cheng Bushi were both famous generals in the Western Han Dynasty, and their promotion processes in the army were very similar. They both served as governors of border counties and commanded a group of soldiers to guard the border, fighting to the death against the Qiang and Hu foreigners to maintain peace on the empire's borders.
The difference is that the two have completely different views on how to run a military.
Li Guang's way of running the army was relatively casual. Whenever he marched and fought, he always went with a group of people, without arranging troops or making detailed strategic arrangements. He was just like a straggler, setting up camp where there was water.
There was no restraint on the soldiers, and they were allowed to move freely and casually.
But Li Guang did not relax his vigilance. Whenever he arrived at a place, he would always send out scouts in advance to detect the enemy's situation, so that he could have a clear understanding of the enemy's situation and be sure of victory throughout the process.
If they don't know much about Li Guang's fighting methods, the general enemy commander will think that he is just a general person, so they will relax their vigilance against him. When they finally meet on the battlefield, the troops led by Li Guang are often extremely brave and beat the opponent.
Caught off guard, Li Guang scurried away. Over time, Li Guang became accustomed to it and paid little attention to managing the army and rectifying military appearance and discipline. Instead, the skirmishers he led became the most adept at winning by surprise in history.
Cheng Bushi was born in the regular army. He had been familiar with the art of war and military books since he was a child, and received a rigorous education, so he was very strict in running the army.
Cheng Bushi's marching formations were like ordering troops on the battlefield. The establishment and organizational structure were very tight, and the command system and military regulations were very orderly. In view of the seriousness and rigidity of this military management model, the army under Cheng Bushi's rule followed the rules.
, marching and fighting meticulously, without slacking off at all.
Cheng Bushi himself also worked hard at night and was busy handling military affairs until dawn every day.
Because of strict military discipline, Cheng Bushi's army never suffered a defeat from beginning to end.
Cheng Bushi and Li Guang treated the soldiers completely differently, which naturally caused the soldiers to have completely opposite attitudes towards them.
After most of the soldiers were assigned to Cheng Wushi's army, they were as sad as if their parents had died, and had a headache. However, they were very much looking forward to following Li Guang in conquering the world. Over time, Li Guang's army often prospered and the soldiers
more and more.
Li Guang's own reputation is also much higher than that of Cheng Bushi.
However, he was not banned until his retirement, which was also criticized by later generations.
In fact, this has a lot to do with Cheng Bushi and Li Guang's military management style.
Li Guang's style of leading troops in battle was simple and rough, and he was extremely lenient to his soldiers. On the battlefield, the soldiers would do their best and risk their lives to protect Li Guang. This kind of army is what every general dreams of.
Since ancient times, military power has been a concrete manifestation of power. In addition to being brave and good at fighting, generals also hold military power and have the power to command the four directions.
Therefore, as a general in the Han Dynasty where imperial power was supreme, if every general was like Li Guang, he trained the country's army into the Li Family Army, surrounded by a group of brothers who could fight in all directions, eat large pieces of meat, and drink from large bowls. Then, sit down
The emperor on the dragon throne will not be able to sleep at night.
Because of this, Li Guang was never awarded an award throughout his life.
Cheng Bushi, who was strict in running the army, was a serious imperial general. He did not engage in personality worship or mountain-headism, so naturally he would not become a thorn in the eyes of those in power, so he was awarded many awards.
After gathering his thoughts, Ma Su personally put on his armor and mounted his horse, leading hundreds of horsemen to come to Wuwei City to challenge him.
This time Ma Di changed his strategy and ordered the soldiers to stand in several rows and yell at Xu Miao that he was "a brilliant man", "an old thief with a gray beard", and "as timid as a mouse".
When all the troops in the city saw Xu Miao being insulted in all kinds of ways, they were so angry that they asked Ying to go out to fight, but Xu Miao stopped them all.
The general on the right was eager to protect the Lord and led his troops to the city gate. Just as he was about to open the door and leave the city, he was scolded by Xu Miao and returned to the camp.
Early the next morning, Ma Su led his troops to fight again, but he still cursed loudly.
The Wei soldiers were very worried.
Xu Miao was still leaning on the tower, not worried at all.
Ma Di pointed at Xu Miao from a distance, deliberately made a hateful expression and gnashed his teeth, jumped up and cursed.
Two old foxes, one big and one small, showed off their acting skills from afar.
