Cao Shuang choked on these two words and almost suffered internal injuries.
He took a few sharp breaths, trying his best to suppress the turmoil deep in his heart, and his face turned red. He took another deep breath to calm down his overly intense heartbeat.
Seeing Cao Shuang resigned and surrendered, Ma Su looked up to the sky and laughed, with strong disdain and ridicule in his laughter.
As if to say: "That's it? The elite Wei army is famous all over the world, but this is just this bit of courage?"
Cao Shuang's head was so stimulated by the laughter that he almost died on the spot.
If military advisor Du Xi hadn't held him tightly, he might have rushed up the mountain alone.
Die.
This is already the most outstanding of the three sons... Cao Zhen looked at the impetuous Cao Shuang, his heart suddenly ached slightly, and he felt a sense of sadness that he had no successor.
However, he still said in a persuasive manner: "Shuang'er, our army's top priority is to find ways to avoid being attacked by enemies from both front and rear, instead of competing with them here for verbal advantage."
Cao Shuang pressed the hilt of his sword, his eyes were red, and his teeth were clattering: "Father, please let me lead the army to rush up the mountain and capture Ma Su alive!"
"Don't be reckless!" Cao Zhen shouted coldly and motioned Cao Shuang to look around.
Cao Shuang raised his eyes and looked around. All the soldiers looked tired and fell silent for a moment.
Cao Zhen said earnestly: "The mountains are high and the roads are dangerous. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. A hard attack will only increase casualties. You should remember the defeat of Zhang He Street Pavilion in front of the Lord to prevent the army from making the same mistake again."
In fact, during the half month of the feigned attack on Hanzhong, the soldiers had been running back and forth on the rugged and difficult Chencang Road. Both men and horses were extremely tired. At this time, many soldiers had been injured, and some even had worn out soles of their feet.
Previously, Cao Zhen had planned to rest his army before leaving after entering Hulu Valley. He did not want to encounter an ambush by Ma Di suddenly, so he could only brace himself to deal with it.
At this moment, even he, the coach, felt numbness in his legs and strong muscle soreness.
Presumably the soldiers would be more exhausted than him.
But the tension of facing a formidable enemy forced everyone to hold back their fatigue and strengthen their spirits.
They all know that the real danger is right in front of them. If Ma Su is not dealt with, they may not be able to easily get a chance to breathe.
As the son of the commander-in-chief of the Wei army, Cao Shuang knew the details of the two defeats in Jieting, so after his father gave him some advice, he quickly calmed down.
In this era of cold weapons, any party will be invincible as long as it has the right time, right place, and one of the three elements.
The current situation is: Wei soldiers are numerous and elite, so they occupy the people and people; Shu soldiers are small but in a high position, so they have favorable geographical advantages.
Even if there are 100,000 Wei soldiers, they will not be able to defeat the 2,000 Shu soldiers who have geographical advantages in a short time.
In the face of the power of nature, human beings appear small and powerless. Even if the Wei soldiers were as elite as ten, they could not attack the cliff guarded by thousands of people.
In the same way, two thousand Shu soldiers can do nothing against Wei soldiers.
As long as the Wei army does not enter the Hulu Valley, the Shu army can only stare blankly.
However, the three elements of the right time, right place, and right people will not remain unchanged, but will quietly shift over time.
For example, at this moment, the Shu army has all the geographical advantages. But once the Wei soldiers surround this mountain range and do not attack, then the side with the geographical advantages will be the Wei army.
In this way, the Shu army could only sit back and wait for death.
Of course, if Zhuge Liang arrives with hundreds of thousands of troops, holds the main road, and forms a pincer attack with Ma Su, then the human advantage will be transferred to the Shu army.
After calming down, Cao Shuang quickly came up with a bold idea.
He raised his eyes, looked at Cao Zhen who was calm and said slowly: "Father, I would like to lead an army, climb the mountain, and cut off the return route of the Shu army on the mountain."
Cao Zhen glanced at the tall and long mountain beams, and waved his hand to Cao Shuang: "No, Ma Di is not a concern, and the loss of Chencang is not a big deal."
"The lives of these 100,000 soldiers are the most important."
"You have to remember that if a city is lost, it can be taken back again. If the elite soldiers of a hundred battles are gone, then it is really gone."
"People are always the most important!"
There was another sentence that Cao Zhen refrained from saying because Cao Shuang didn't understand it.
Let’s just say this.
Cao Shuang nodded: "Father, what should we do?"
Cao Zhen glanced at the still immature Cao Shuang, then turned and pointed to the south of Chencang Road: "Fifty miles south along this road, there is a narrow mountain road that leads directly to the Chencang Wei River. With this narrow road, our army will have peace of mind."
"I order you to command 30,000 troops and return to the south. You must seize this narrow road before Zhuge Liang."
"In this way, our army can advance and retreat freely!"
Cao Zhen gave the order and turned to look at military advisor Du Xi without waiting for Cao Shuang to respond.
Du Xi understood the idea and quickly handed over his hand: "Great Governor, Xi is willing to go with the young master!"
Cao Zhen nodded and watched Cao Shuang and Du Xi order their troops to leave. He was slightly worried and at the same time extremely troubled.
He knows his son better than his father. He knows how much his son weighs...Cao Shuang is definitely no match for Zhuge Liang. This task of guarding the narrow road may be difficult to accomplish...
But the lost Chencang City had to be recovered.
Although he said it lightly, "People are more important than victory or defeat in the city." But that was just an excuse to comfort his son.
The strategic position of Chencang City is too important.
If the Shu army occupies Chencang, it can advance to attack and retreat to defend. It can cut off the grain and grass supplies sent from Chang'an to Longxi from the side, threaten Chang'an from the front, and keep an eye on Guanzhong.
Moreover, the responsibility for losing the city and the land was so great that even he, the governor, had to go through a lot of trouble to bear it.
After all, Cao Rui had just ascended to the throne, and it was the time when rewards and punishments were clearly defined to establish authority. After all, Cao Zhen was just the adopted son of Cao Cao, Emperor Wu of Wei, and his status was lower than that of Grand Sima Cao Xiu.
Cao Xiu was a legitimate royal family member.
Whether it is near or far, Your Majesty's heart is like a clear mirror.
In addition, there were many secret intrigues and dirty things in the court.
If Chencang cannot be recovered quickly, ministers will often criticize him, either openly or secretly.
Therefore, Cao Zhencai took the risk to stand in a stalemate in front of Hulu Valley. He would rather send Hao Zhao to attack Ma Di than lead his troops to retreat safely and retreat to Guanzhong through the narrow road around the Weishui River. Xu made a good plan.
…
On the mountain, Ma Di saw Cao Shuang dividing his troops and knew Cao Zhen's plan. He was secretly happy and immediately went down to the mountainside and shouted loudly:
"Captain Cao, I have something to say, do you want to listen to it?"
The implication is that Cao Zhen comes to talk to him.
Cao Zhen restrained his thoughts, looked at Ma Su warily, and said nothing.
After the Battle of Jieting, all information about Ma Di had been spread throughout the Wei court.
His Majesty Cao Rui gave Ma Su a twelve-character mantra: cunning, steady, and unscrupulous means to achieve the goal.
With such an enemy, Cao Zhen has no reason not to be wary.
He even knew that Ma Su had a stone-throwing expert beside him, who could hit the target with every shot within a hundred steps.
Therefore, he took it for granted that Ma Su didn't have any good intentions at the moment, and what he was going to say was definitely not a good thing. He might even be tricking him into approaching so that the little stone-throwing expert could shoot him.
Thinking of this, Cao Zhen was horrified and retreated instead of advancing. He reined in his horse and retreated a distance, saying expressionlessly:
"If you have something to say, say it quickly, and if you have something to say, let it go quickly."
