There is only one reason for Xu Miao to express such emotion:
The Shu army came too fast!
Although it is not known how the Shu army quickly captured Jincheng, it is obvious that Ma Di must have mastered some kind of secret weapon.
However, Wuwei City, which was garrisoned with only 3,000 soldiers and horses, would be unable to withstand the attack of tens of thousands of Shu troops no matter what.
It can be foreseen that the three thousand Wei troops are in an extremely embarrassing situation at this moment. It is impossible to fight, withdraw or defend.
Because this time was different from the last time, this time the Shu army was led by Ma Di, and Xu Miao didn't even have the means to delay waiting for reinforcements.
The last time, Zhuge Liang led an army of 150,000 troops out of the five counties of Longyou. Three of them fell in the wind. Seeing the fierce soldiers in Longxi city and the danger of the city, Xu Miao sent an envoy to Zhuge Liang and said: "Please do not attack the city I am defending."
, as long as you can guard the Long Road for a month and prevent the Wei reinforcements from entering Longyou, we are all willing to surrender. If you cannot prevent the Wei reinforcements from entering Longyou, it is better to retreat as soon as possible."
Although Zhuge Liang was not deceived by Xu Miao's "slow-down strategy" at that time, he also slowed down the pace of attacking the cities in Longxi.
But this time, things are different.
Xu Miao knew that this "delay strategy" would not even have the slightest effect on people like Ma Su.
Different from Zhuge Liang who was "more conspiratorial than decisive", "ambitious but not blind to opportunities" and "cautious first", Ma Di was cautious and prudent, steady and stable. However, he was a general who was good at "making decisive decisions on the spot" and acted very decisively.
, very energetic.
As soon as there is a fighter opportunity, we will attack quickly.
To put it simply, Ma Su doesn't follow any tricks, so it's very difficult to fool him.
Coming to this conclusion, Xu Miao waved his hand and said to the people behind him: "Just do whatever you have to do."
"Whether this city can be defended or not is not something we can decide at this moment."
The generals were silent.
The Shu army has 50,000 to 60,000 cavalry, and its commander is a man as cunning as a fox, Ma Di. He also has Zhao Yun's old and strong general...
A full twenty times difference in military strength.
How to fight this battle?
This is impossible to fight!
As long as Ma Su is willing to attack fiercely regardless of the casualties of the soldiers, Wuwei City will definitely not be able to defend it.
As if to verify Xu Miao's words, amidst the rumbling sound of horse hooves, black cavalry emerged from the western horizon one after another, like a torrent of steel, roaring towards them with monstrous murderous intent.
When they reached the bottom of the city, the cavalry slowly stopped their momentum.
However, it was visually estimated that there were only three or four thousand cavalry, not fifty or sixty thousand.
The military formation dispersed, and catapults with four wheels on their bases were pulled out, arranged in a row, and aimed at the west gate of Wuwei City.
"There are only three or four thousand soldiers and horses?"
"A large catapult?"
Xu Miao narrowed his eyes slightly, and suddenly he didn't panic anymore.
At the same time, I instantly understood why the Shu army was able to quickly attack Jincheng.
The boulder smashed into the door!
But if Ma Di wanted to repeat his old tricks and use this method to attack Wuwei City, it would be a fool's errand.
The gates of Wuwei City and Jincheng are different. Jincheng has only one gate, while Wuweicheng has two gates, and there is a concave urn inside the outer gate.
No matter how powerful the trebuchet is, it can at most break through the first city gate, but it will never be able to break through the second city gate.
The advantages don’t end there!
The moat of Wuwei City is very wide, and the city wall is more than one foot higher than the city wall of Jincheng, reaching 35 feet high (about 9 meters), which greatly increases the difficulty of throwing stones by trebuchets.
In addition, there are only three to four thousand Shu troops under the city.
How can this not be a huge relief!
"Hahaha……"
The gloom in his heart was swept away, and his chest was instantly filled with ecstasy. Xu Miao held his hands on the city wall, looking up to the sky and laughing.
All the soldiers looked at each other, puzzled: "Why are you laughing, sir?"
"I laugh at Zhuge Liang for his shortcomings, and Ma Su for his lack of intelligence. He wants to defeat my martial prowess with just a few catapults? Hahahaha..."
Xu Miao deliberately spoke loudly so that Ma Su, who was stationed at the foot of the city, could hear him.
The generals were astonished.
As Xu Miao said, the Wei State had many trebuchets. Although they did not look as big as the Shu army's trebuchets, their performance was the same.
It's all about throwing stones.
This method really cannot break the city.
Therefore, Wuwei has no worries for the time being!
Realizing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and high-fived each other as if they had survived the disaster.
However, the happiness lasted only three seconds. The expressions of the generals gradually became serious. They stared and opened their mouths, looking in disbelief at the slightly trembling city wall under their feet.
In the roar.
Tens of thousands of Shu troops appeared on the western horizon and rushed to the city.
At the same time, trebuchets were pulled out one after another, so densely packed that they were difficult to count.
According to visual inspection, there are at least a thousand trebuchets placed outside the west gate.
There were more trebuchets, which were dragged by Shu soldiers and deployed to the other three gates.
"Sir, this..." The generals looked at Xu Miao with horrified expressions.
Xu Miao coughed awkwardly, looked up at the sky, and said nothing.
…
Under the city.
Ma Su sat on the horse with his legs crossed, holding his chin in thought.
Not only did he know that Wuwei City had an inner gate, but he also knew every situation in the city. He also knew that the city could not be broken by catapults alone.
But the trump card of the Shu army is not only catapults, but also three siege vehicles, ballistae...
He has at least five ways to break through Wuwei City.
Five kinds!
At this moment, I am confused, just debating which siege method is better.
Attacking the city forcefully... the casualties are too high, so skip;
Diverting water to irrigate the city... is sometimes time-consuming, but also troublesome and a waste of manpower;
The fire attack... seems a bit cruel. Under the fire, Wuwei City will become a scorched ruins, which is not conducive to garrisoning after the war;
The three-pronged approach of boulder bombing + three siege vehicles + aerial ladders... was not very appropriate, and the casualties seemed to be quite high.
Use the "arrogant enemy strategy" to lure Xu Miao out of the city like in the training scene... No, this strategy takes too long, skip it!
…
After much thought, Ma Su finally decided to continue to imitate the story of Qiang Qin,
Use indiscriminate bombing until Xu Miao leaves the city and surrenders!
So he ordered more than 40,000 cavalry to surround the four gates, and then set up camp to prepare for the siege.
The first day when the two armies met ended uneventfully without any fighting.
When the sky was dark, the smoke from cooking fires rose around the outside of the city, and the heroic songs of the Qiang and Di soldiers rang out from the Shu army, which diluted the murderous atmosphere that enveloped Wuwei City.
The Wei soldiers on the city wall looked stupidly at the bottom of the city, and everyone's mind was blank.
Including Guo Huai, who previously laughed at "Ma Su Shaozhi". At this moment, he didn't know whether he should be grateful that he was still alive or worry about his fate tomorrow.
"How did the situation in Liangzhou get to where it is today?"
"The advantage lies with our Great Wei. That's right! Why does Shu have more than 200,000 troops and horses on the western front, including 50,000 elite cavalry. But our Great Wei only has 100,000 troops and almost no cavalry among them."
"Where are the 100,000 elite cavalrymen of the Wei Dynasty?"
"Oh, they were all wiped out by Ma Su, so it's okay..."
"If you lose, I will lose."
Xu Miao sighed secretly.
…
Ma Su was very happy, although he was indeed a little uneasy before he decided to send troops to Liangzhou. He was worried that Wei would rise up with overwhelming troops to resist, and Shu and Wei would form a long-term stalemate.
But now it seems that since there are enemies on all sides, Wei can only deploy no more than 200,000 troops on the western front.
This made Ma Su gradually feel relieved.
Now the first step of the plan is going very smoothly. Jincheng was captured in two hours. If nothing goes wrong, Wuwei will be captured within three days, and then the troops will be divided to capture Xiping and completely cut off the connection between Wei State, Liangzhou and the Western Regions. .
Shu Han is rejoicing!
However, Ma Su still has a hidden worry.
This time he raised troops to attack Liangzhou, just like when Guan Yu raised troops to attack Xiangyang, he did not consult Zhuge Liang and his successor Liu Chan in advance, which was a self-initiated military action.
Although Zhuge Liang didn't say anything after learning the news, he even personally mobilized 100,000 troops to gather in Xixian County to contain Sima Yi.
But Ma Su still felt a little unsure.
The first person to raise this concern was Zhao Yun. He hesitated for a while whether to inform Zhuge Liang about this matter (raising troops to attack Liangzhou), but then he has delayed it without saying a word until now.
Zhang Xiu then raised a question.
At that time, Ma Su was preparing for the expedition and arranged more than a hundred tasks for Zhang Xiu in just a few words. Zhang Xiu was immediately too busy to think about this problem.
But this problem must be faced eventually.
Especially when the great wizard's pet eagle brought back an autographed letter from Zhuge Liang from Xi County early the next morning, Ma Su finally realized that something big had happened.
Zhao Yun, who came in a hurry, looked surprised after reading the letter.
"The Prime Minister proposes to His Majesty that you be made the King of Liang and the governor of Liangzhou, Qiang land, and the Western Regions?"
"hiss……"
Zhao Yun took a breath of cold air and immediately glared at him, "Youchang, tell me the truth, did you have this intention?"
Ma Su nodded slowly.
"If I say yes, old general, will you kill me?"
Canglang——
The sharp sword was unsheathed and placed on Ma Di's neck with a snap.
Zhao Yun's beard and hair were spread out, he was glaring angrily, and even his arms were trembling.
"Old General Zhao, no!" Zhang Xiu looked panicked.
Ma Su had his hands behind his back and looked extremely calm, facing death without changing his expression.