Chapter 225 Bloody battle, either you die or I die
Chapter 225 Bloody battle, either you die or I die
In July of the fifth year of Wei Taihe (231), Weiyang Palace, Chang'an.
Cao Rui was sitting high in the hall, with four people standing below him, arguing fiercely.
Wang Ling, the governor of Yuzhou, looked around at the crowd, raised his hands and said: "Now Ma Di leads 60,000 soldiers and horses into Guanzhong to attack the city and plunder the land. It is like entering an uninhabited country. The generals are frightened and cannot fight with the enemy. Please recall your Majesty quickly." General Sima Yi, first relieve the siege of Guanzhong, and then return to Longliang."
Yanshou Ting Hou Gaorou followed closely and said, "Your Majesty, what you said is wrong! If we call back the general now, wouldn't it mean that we are handing over the five counties of Longyou? I think General Cao Shuang should lead the 80,000 troops in Guanzhong to fight Ma Su." , and then order Sima Shi to follow and respond. If we can defeat them in battle and drive them out of Guanzhong, the Longyou area will be lost and regained."
Jiang Ji, the Marquis of the Central Guard Army and Guan Nei, shook his head and objected: "Although Cao Shuang is the successor of General Cao Zhen, he does not have the outstanding military talents of Cao Zhen, so he is definitely not Ma Su's opponent. Besides, the enemy is coming from far away, so we can fight quickly. The army should take advantage of the dangerous city in Guanzhong and the large number of people to deal with it, and hold on to wait for the changes."
The Marquis of Yingxiang and Weiwei Xinpi cupped their hands and said: "Mr. Jiang's words are reasonable, and I second my opinion."
Wang Ling retorted: "May I ask Mr. Jiang, where does change come from?"
Jiang Ji gently uttered two words: "Soochow!"
After a pause, he added: "Have you not seen the destruction of Guan Yu in the past?"
Xin Pi agreed and said, "Mr. Jiang, I agree with you, and I agree with you!"
Hearing this, Gao Rou's expression changed and she remained silent.
Old man, why are you everywhere?...Wang Ling glanced at Xin Pi angrily and continued to question: "Now Wu and Shu are allies, and the two emperors share the world, how can there be a separation?"
Jiang Ji laughed: "If you don't try it, how will you know if it works?"
Wang Ling snorted coldly: "Even if he can alienate the Wu-Shu alliance, what kind of person is Zhuge Liang! How can he not guard against Soochow? Sun Quan wants to repeat his old tricks and re-enact the sneak attack on Jingzhou. I'm afraid it won't be that easy?!"
Xin Pi finished the conversation: "My lord, whether Sun Quan's attack on Shu succeeds or not, it will be of great benefit to the Wei Dynasty without any harm. Once the war between Wu and Shu begins, I can mobilize the troops on the southern front and attack the Shu Han with all my strength. At that time, The siege of Guanzhong can be solved by flipping hands!"
"Even under the attack of Wei and Wu, it is not difficult to destroy Shu."
Wang Ling was silent for a while and then asked: "What do you want to say?"
Jiang Ji smiled slightly: "Shu and Wu can share the world with two emperors, and so can I, the Wei Dynasty."
"Now we can send an eloquent person as an envoy to Soochow, and ask Sun Quan to divide the river and rule it, and share the benefits of the world. It is stated that after the destruction of Shu, Sichuan and Han will return to Wu; Long and Liang will return to Wei . Come to think of it, Sun Quan should be aware of it..."
"Your Majesty, Mr. Jiang, I second my opinion, second my opinion!" Xin Pi had another wave of presence.
Seconded by NMGT!
A wallflower, a yes-man, a shameless old thief! Oh, push!... Wang Ling gave Xin Pi a fierce look and turned away.
Although I was still not convinced, I had to admit in my heart that this strategy...
It’s so poisonous!
"..."
Cao Rui has been sitting there, quietly listening to the arguments of these important ministers, without saying a word, but he has a lot of thoughts in his heart...
After the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Liangzhou, Cao Wei lost all its physical advantages over Shu and had to adjust its strategy of defending from the west to attacking from the east to defending from the east and attacking from the west, and changed its goal to regaining the vast Liangzhou area. This area is located in the northwest of the empire and covers a large area. It is vast, has many ethnic groups, complex relationships, is good at producing elite soldiers, and is rich in fine horses.
Losing this area was an unbearable burden for Cao Wei.
But before Cao Wei could prepare for a counterattack, Shu Han's follow-up offensive came.
At this moment, Cao Rui regretted his previous strategic decision of continuing the late emperor Cao Pi's "defend in the west and attack in the east", believing that it was this decision that gave the Shu Han a breathing space to make a comeback.
At this time, it is obviously unwise to go head-to-head with the powerful Shu army.
Therefore, whether it was Wang Ling's proposal to withdraw troops or Gao Rou's decisive battle strategy, they were all bad strategies. Only Jiang Ji's "distancing strategy" was reluctantly agreed upon.
There are three reasons for this.
First, the withdrawal strategy proposed by Wang Ling is equivalent to drinking poison to quench thirst. Let’s not talk about whether Sima Yi can expel Ma Di from Guanzhong after withdrawing his troops. First of all, this withdrawal is equivalent to giving away the Longyou area. If he wants to take it back later, It's not that easy.
Second, the monarchs and ministers of Cao and Wei seriously misjudged Ma Di's military capabilities, and it was a bad idea to gather troops for war at this time.
At first, both Cao Wei and his ministers thought that Ma Di, who had only 50,000 soldiers and horses, would be unable to break through the Chencang defense line. However, in the end, Ma Di easily broke through both defense lines, and Wei's 20,000 soldiers and horses stationed in Xiegu and Chencang were wiped out.
As a result, the Shu army carried the power of consecutive battles and victorious battles, and its troops were unstoppable, making it much more difficult to fight head-on.
Third, judging from Sun Quan's reaction to standing still after Shu's victories, Sun Quan obviously did not intend to attack Wei together with Shu.
Ma Di captured Liangzhou at the end of April, and now it is the end of July. After nearly three months of development, the war has become very detrimental to Wei.
Under such circumstances, once Sun Quan sends troops to the north, the Wei State will not only be unable to resist, but will also be overwhelmed by the left and right forces.
But for three whole months, Sun Quan only sent troops to the river and showed no sign of taking action against Wei.
So, there is a lot to do here!
Cao Rui looked around the four of them, his eyes resting on Jiang Ji: "Your plan is very much in line with my wishes, that is, I will order Taichang Qing Xing Zhen to go to Wu in the future!"
The emperor spoke, and the four people quickly praised him and praised him as "Your Majesty is wise."
Cao Rui waved his hand to stop everyone, and asked with a worried look on his face: "The water far away cannot quench the thirst nearby. The battle in Guanzhong is going on. Who should be sent to the battle?"
Jiang Ji hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said: "I recommend one person, the general of the army, Hao Zhao, the Marquis of Guannei, to take up this task and stop Ma Su from advancing eastward."
Hearing this, Cao Rui waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, Hao Zhao was defeated by Ma Su. I can't believe it."
"Otherwise!" Jiang Ji argued with reason: "Your Majesty does not know that Hao Zhao and Chencang were both defeated for a reason. The previous defeat of Chencang was due to deputy general Wang Shuang's reckless pursuit, and the current defeat of Dasanguan was due to Guo Huai's loss of Chencang. Strictly speaking, Hao Zhao was never defeated by Ma Di."
"..." Cao Rui was speechless for a while.
On the battlefield, if you lose, you are defeated. How can we talk about the front and the side?
A soldier never tires of deceit.
Frankly speaking, Cao Rui didn't trust Hao Zhao a little, and always felt that he couldn't stop Ma Su. But at the moment, except for Hao Zhao, there were no generals around Chang'an who were very capable of fighting.
A dead horse can only be used as a living horse.
…
In the fifth year of Taihe, on the first day of August, Ma Di's troops entered Zhouzhi County and confronted Wei general Hao Zhao across the city. The two sides ordered their troops to fight against each other and began the offensive and defensive battle in Guanzhong.
At the same time, on the Longyou battlefield, Zhuge Liang ordered General Wei Yan to lead 30,000 troops, with Wu Yi and Deng Zhi each leading 10,000 troops as flanks, and sent troops to Shanggui where Xiahou Ba was guarding.
Zhuge Liang personally commanded 50,000 elite cavalry, with Zhao Yun as the vanguard, Jiang Wei, Zhao Guang, Dai Ling, Fei Yao, and Qu Bu as guard generals, and marched into Ji County where Sima Yi was stationed.
Sima Yi personally led more than 70,000 troops and stationed troops outside the city of Ji County, and the Battle of Longyou began.
After learning that Zhuge Liang was attacking in two directions with a hundred thousand troops, some generals were very alarmed. They thought that the Shu army had strong soldiers and strong horses, and the cavalry had long spears and fast horses, and was brave and good at fighting. They should take the initiative to attack while their foothold was not stable, and first dampen their spirit.
, and then seek a decisive battle, otherwise it will be difficult to resist the Shu army's attack.
In this regard, Sima Yi said: "The decision of whether to fight or not to fight lies with me and not with him. Although Zhuge Liang has strong troops and horses, I will make their cavalry useless. Just wait for the victory!"
While boosting morale and stabilizing the morale of the army, Sima Yi immediately carried out a series of pre-war deployments:
First, Sima Zhao was ordered to guard Ji County and lead generals and civil servants to strengthen internal control.
Second, he led the generals and tens of thousands of troops to station outside the city to form a cornered force.
Third, order all frontline units in the Longyou area to hold on to the city and not to engage in rash battles with the Shu army.
Soon, Zhuge Liang's army rushed outside the city of Ji County and confronted Sima Yi across the Weishui River.
During this period, there were attacks and defenses, with Wolong constantly showing off his ingenious tactics, while Tsukasa was unable to defend.
On the other side, Wei Yan urged his troops to attack the city for several days, but failed.
The battle situation is tense and indistinguishable.
In the blink of an eye, after more than a month of stalemate, it was already late autumn in August. Zhuge Liang was shocked when he learned that the Soochow troops were gathering towards Jiangling.
Seeing that the generals did not understand the reason, Zhuge Liang explained: "The terrain of Longyou is rugged, with rivers and mountains crisscrossing it, and the territory is vast. If Sima Yi's troops defend according to the danger, the difficulty of our army's victory will not only increase several times, but it will also take a long time.
We cannot solve them in a short time."
"Now the main force of the Wei army has been attracted here, and the war situation is anxious. It is a good opportunity for the Northern Expedition of Soochow. However, Soochow not only does not send troops to the north, but gathers troops in Jiangling. Such a change makes me uneasy."
Zhao Yun further said: "Prime Minister, currently the other main force of our army has occupied half of Guanzhong, blocking the food route between Chang'an and Longyou. However, the Wei army in Longyou refuses to retreat. It seems that it is not worried about losses in Guanzhong. This is really strange.
extremely."
Jiang Wei thought over and over again and asked uncertainly: "Is it possible that Soochow wants to betray the alliance again?"
Zhuge Liang nodded. The word "you" already made it clear what kind of person the Soochow rat was.
At this stage of the battle to defeat Wei, Shu Han has taken advantage in all aspects.
However, the longer this war went on, the less at ease Zhuge Liang felt.
Because Wu State is too quiet at the moment, so quiet that it's scary.
Although Zhuge Liang deployed more than 30,000 troops in Yong'an and Badong, this amount of troops was far from enough to defend the entire Kingdom of Wu.
What's more, the four great generals stationed in Yong'an and Badong, Hu Ji, Ma Zhong, Zhang Yi, and Fu Kuang, were of average ability and were no match for Lu Xun.
Zhuge Liang can even imagine that Soochow is holding back at this moment, not because he is concerned about whether the Shu-Wu alliance will break up, but because he is waiting for a better opportunity to strike.
After much thought, Zhuge Liang had to slow down his offensive and ordered Jiang Wei and Wu Yi to lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry people to Badong and Yong'an. At the same time, he sent an order to Ma Su to step up the offensive in Guanzhong, forcing Sima Yi to retreat and give up Longyou.
Early September, Guanzhong battlefield.
Seeing that the city of Zhouzhi was fortified and the pond was deep, and that Hao Zhao's more than 20,000 soldiers and horses were well organized and impatient, he led the main force of 40,000 Shu troops to bypass Zhouzhi and cross the Weishui River north. After capturing Xingping, Yongshou and other places, he crossed the river again.
Heading south, the troops arrived at Chang'an.
For a time, the situation was extremely critical.
Although there were more than 50,000 Wei troops in Chang'an City, no one dared to go out of the city to fight due to Ma Su's reputation.
Hao Zhao saw that the situation was not right and Chang'an was in danger of overturning at any time, so he immediately led his troops to return for reinforcements.
During several battles with Ma Su, Hao Zhao knew deeply that Ma Su was very cunning. Although he did not like to attack the city forcefully, he was good at defrauding and stealing the city.
So he had no other choice but to go back and save Chang'an.
Unexpectedly, Hao Zhaofang was intercepted by the Shu army when he was halfway there.
The two sides fought a battle fifty miles west of Chang'an City.
Hao Zhao took the lead, holding up a shield to resist the bows and arrows fired by the Shu army, killing Shu soldiers, and sending people into the city to ask for help.
Soon, Cao Shuang led 50,000 soldiers and horses from the city and came to help.
More than 100,000 troops from both sides fought bloody battles on the Guanzhong Plain. They fought from morning to afternoon, and then until dark, before each side retreated twenty miles and stopped for a while.
This battle was extremely brutal. The corpses of dead soldiers on both sides piled up like mountains, and the blood gathered into a river, dyeing half of the Wei River red.
This battle was also Ma Su's first direct confrontation with the Wei army.
In the past, he had scorned this kind of meat grinder-style warfare with no technical content, and only liked sneak attacks and tricks.
Today, I suddenly discovered that it is this level of fighting that can best temper a soldier. It is this level of fighting that is bloody, hearty and live up to the true qualities of a man.
When it was completely dark, the battle losses were quickly tallied up.
In this battle, nearly 10,000 Shu troops were killed.
According to estimates of the battlefield situation, the Wei army lost approximately 15,000 people.
While inspecting the camp, Ma Su discovered that although 10,000 Shu soldiers were killed, the remaining 30,000 soldiers had perseverance and murderous intent in their eyes.
This shook Ma Su's belief in "sneak attacks" that he had always insisted on.
Perhaps, the experience of blood and fire is the correct way to develop a king's army?
Frankly speaking, if Zhuge Liang hadn't urged him, Ma Di would never have chosen this straightforward style of play.
There is no other reason than the loss of soldiers.
However, now that the situation has reached this point, the only choice is to decide the outcome.
If nothing else, tomorrow will still be a bloody battle.
Ma Su turned on the light screen and took a look at his stable balance, and suddenly had a mature idea.
