Wei Da Sima Cao Zhen, who personally led the army to Anding County, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the camp arranged by Ni Shu.
He had already roughly inferred the outcome of this battle.
Because the seemingly menacing Shu army not only did not directly besiege the city and force the Wei army to come for reinforcements, thereby triggering a war of attrition between the two sides, but instead divided the army into three parts and arranged them in an inverted "pin" shape.
The headquarters in the center was naturally led by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu, and the camp was located at the ruins of Wushi County that was abandoned by the Wei army.
The left army in the north approached Chaona County and settled in the camp. Their flags were Wu Ban, the right general against Shu, and Meng Yan, the tiger step supervisor against Shu.
The right army in the south was composed of the former general Wei Yan who rebelled against Shu and the general Gao Xiang who held down the west. The camp was located at the confluence of the two tributaries of Jingshui River (today's Pingliang City).
They are distributed like horns, and they are about thirty or forty miles apart.
However, such an arrangement also spreads the troops too thinly, making it not a good choice for an attack.
In other words, the Shu army did not hold out any hope of capturing the city - they came to block the reinforcements sent by the Wei State to Liangzhou.
Cao Zhen thought to himself that if the Shu army really wanted to fight to the death, they should leave a small number of soldiers and horses in Wushi County to protect the grain road, and the rest of the army would come to besiege Chaona County, forcing the Wei army to rescue the siege at any cost.
Since he was not besieging the city, Cao Zhen had the time and food he had to slowly confront them.
Because he had no intention of rushing to aid Liangzhou in the first place.
Wei Ping, the general in charge of the four counties in Hexi, and Guo Huai of Jincheng County had long been strictly ordered by him to hold on.
There are Siwang Gorge and Sangyuan Gorge, making the Jusai defense line and the Anyin Fortress dangerous. As long as the Wei army does not go out to fight, it will be difficult for Ni Shu to invade Liangzhou.
As for the safety of the Wushui Basin, he also made arrangements.
The leader of the Tufa Tribe of Xianbei, Tufa Shouguan, asked Zhan to lead his tribe to rush over and join the Xianbei Qifu Tribe to resist the attack of Nishu Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, and he agreed.
The two Xianbei tribes combined and had tens of thousands of cavalry.
Moreover, when fighting on the grasslands outside the Great Wall, they can also use the roaming tactics of "fight if they can fight, harass if they can't". They are very resilient and will not be easily defeated by Ni Shu.
Even if they were defeated by Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, it would not affect Wei's control of the Wushui Basin.
The one who really controls this area is Gaoping City (County), which is located at the northern end of Liupan Mountains and the source of Wushui.
In a strategic sense, it controls Wuyuan on the left, Lanhui on the right, Huangliu flows around to the north, and Kongtong blocks the south. It holds the back of eight counties and the key points of Wansan Town; it is a battleground for military strategists of all ages.
The city built along the mountains and rivers is very strong and solid, and was once known as the "First City" in the Pre-Han Dynasty.
For example, when Kaixiao separatized Liangzhou, his general Gao Jun only garrisoned Gaoping City with 10,000 troops, while the famous general Geng Yan led a large army to besiege the city, and it took a year to capture the city.
Today, Wei Guo's guarding Gaoping City is Hu Zun, a general with great strategy.
With his reputation as a wealthy man from Anding County, he had five thousand troops stationed there. Unless he sent ten times as many troops as possible to attack Shu, nothing could be done to him.
Moreover, Ma Dai and Zhao Guang were commanding cavalry.
I can only look at the ocean and sigh with admiration at the city.
The only one in danger is Zuli County, which can only rely on a not-so-dangerous city to defend it.
The guard general is Yin Feng, and there are only four thousand soldiers and horses in the city.
Moreover, the general in charge, Wei Ping, had been told by Cao Zhen to rescue Zuli County "as appropriate".
Yes, in Cao Zhen's private message to Wei Ping, he claimed that Zuli County would be saved if possible, but if the cost was too high, such as in a critical situation, then he would not save it.
Because even if Ni Shu captured Zuli County, it would be nothing to Wei.
Zuli County is an isolated city. There is no other city within a radius of two hundred miles to rely on. It is originally used as the outpost of the Yin Fortress!
Even if Ni Shu wins, he will not be able to hold on.
In Cao Zhen's mind, once the Liaodong war was won and Sima Yi returned with his army to guard Jingzhou to deter Ni Wu, he would go to Luoyang at the end of the year and ask for a battle to attack Longyou.
The timing is great.
The war history of Ni Shu cannot be compared with that of Wei.
After all, it won't take long to conquer Longyou from Shu.
Troops were sent out at the beginning of the year, and wars were fought again at the end of the year, which more or less caused complaints from the common people who suffered from corvee service.
The route for dispatching troops was to take the Wushui River Basin and enter Zuli County.
Cao Zhen no longer had any hope of capturing Xiao Pass or taking the Qinling Valley Road.
At that time, the main force from Guanzhong will come in force, and Ni Shu will have to spit out whatever he has swallowed into Zuli County.
Of course, this is still early days.
The most urgent task now is to confront the main force coming out of Xiaoguan against Shu.
For example, instead of sending a few elite soldiers and horses to test and attack, see the combat power of the Shu army, so that the newly recruited soldiers can become familiar with the military formation tactics against Shu as soon as possible. Or you can seize the flaw that the Shu army is too scattered and try to
The army surrounded one part of the army, and it was to be seen whether Zhuge Liang, the prime minister who had rebelled against Shu, planned to use the entire army to rescue them.
It can be regarded as a conventional tactic of seeking victory steadily and finding the opponent's flaws through probing conflicts.
This kind of thinking coincides with that of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang.
The prime minister also frequently sent out elites to test and set traps to see if the Wei army would be fooled.
For example, Wei Yan and Gao Xiang's troops were asked to pretend to cross the Jing River on a pontoon to attack Youfufeng in the south; for example, Wu Ban and Meng Yan were asked to dig trenches outside Chaona City, pretending to besiege the city for a long time.
Still leading the Chinese army, he slowly moved out of camp and advanced ten miles every day, pretending to slowly encroach on the territory of Anding County, and to prepare land for future farming and stationing troops for a long-term confrontation.
etc.
If given the chance, the Prime Minister would not mind making the lie come true and capture Anding County in advance.
The two sides come and go, each competing for wisdom and courage.
But both sides were also very cautious and never found an opportunity to trigger a war.
Therefore, the war in Anding County also came to a stalemate.
There was also no movement on the Jincheng County side.
Guo Huai, who had suffered a heavy loss of troops and generals from the Han army last year, also had no plans to take risks.
Not only was Cao Zhen's order strictly observed, but also because he could not see the opportunity to send troops to attack and gain success.
The only direction he could send troops to was Sangyuan Gorge in Yuzhong County.
The outside was only guarded by Zhang Ni, the general against Shu, leading 3,000 soldiers, and there was no city to support it, only two small garrisons and a camp were left behind.
But with an army of nearly 30,000, he was not sure that he could completely wipe it out.
It sounds very incredible.
However, the generals Hao Zhao, Jia Xu and Pang Hui in Jincheng County, and even the Qiang leader Ke Wu all unanimously agreed not to send troops.
They worry about falling into a trap.
The three thousand soldiers commanded by Zhang Yi were part of the Xuanwu Army and were subordinate to Zheng Pu, the general in the north who had rebelled against Shu.
Scar Pu, who was called "Wei's greatest trouble" by Grand Sima Cao Zhen, was resourceful and wise, and he liked to use deceitful tactics in his military operations.
Just like the best hunters who often pretend to be prey, they worried that Zhang Yi's tribe, which had few troops, was Zheng Pu's bait to lure them into battle.
This possibility is very high.
Although the scouts and rangers had clearly found out that he had led the army to Zuli County.
But if the army comes back to help, it will only be two or three days' journey.
The generals of Jincheng, including Guo Huai, saw the huge Yuanrong crossbows mounted in the Shu army's camps and garrisons, and they were not sure that they could wipe out Zhang Yi's tribe in such a short period of time.
And after sending troops, you still need to worry about not being able to return.
Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, the commanders of the two cavalry forces against Shu, are both in the Wushui Basin now!
If they rush back, it won't take more than two days.
At that time, when the Wei army was besieging Zhang Yi's camp, the two cavalry suddenly came back and their return was cut off.
Or perhaps, Ni Shu took the opportunity to blend into the defeated troops who fled back to Sangyuan Gorge, and captured the pass in one fell swoop.
In order to kill a mere three thousand Shu troops, no one among the generals in Jincheng County was willing to be foolish.
The same goes for Guo Huai.
Therefore, he gave up all thoughts of sending troops.
Pang Hui was transferred to lead his headquarters to guard Siwang Gorge, and 5,000 cavalry were transferred to the command of General Jia Xu, who was born in Wuwei County. He rushed to Wuwei County to govern Guzang to help General Wei Ping.
Well, Wei Ping does not have enough troops now.
He had already left 5,000 troops to garrison at Jianyin Sai, but now he has dispatched another 3,000 troops to Xianmei County to station and monitor Lu Shuihu, and then deducted the garrison strength of Shandan Racecourse and guarded against horse thieves from various places taking advantage of the situation to cause chaos.
The remaining soldiers made him unable to take care of Zuli County even if he wanted to.
Jia Xu led the army and arrived to relieve him of his urgent need.
Immediately, he entrusted Jia Xu to monitor Lu Shuihu and Shandan Racecourse, and he led eight thousand horsemen to Eanyinsai.
Unlike Guo Huai, he had to lead the army out of the Yin Fortress.
When Ni Shu besieged Zuli City, as the governor of the four counties in Hexi, he had to make a rescue gesture.
Otherwise, if we do nothing to save the enemy and wait for success or failure, who will still sacrifice their lives for Wei in the future?
And if he sends troops, he doesn't need to worry about being surrounded by Ni Shu for reinforcements.
He planned to come out of the Jiyin Fortress and slowly follow the ancestral calendar, so that Yin Feng and the garrison officers in the city could see him. In order to prevent their morale of holding on from collapsing, Ni Shu would be forced to break the city even later.
No matter what, he would not be impulsive and lead his troops to rush to the city to fight against Ni Shu.
Anyway, the number of people sent to Zuli County against Shu was not large, only more than ten thousand. If we deduct the troops and horses that besieged the city, we would not have an advantage against the 8,000 cavalry led by ourselves.
As long as you stay in the camp and be careful, Ni Shu will not dare to attack.
Even if Ni Shu gave up the siege and left some troops to monitor Zuli's city, then all turned to attack his own camp, and he could fight and retreat according to the favorable geographical conditions, he could still save his soldiers and return to Yanyin fortress.
Moreover, he had already told Xu Zhi, the general who was guarding Guanyinsai, to prepare small boats, sheepskin rafts and other supplies for crossing the river, and come to help him return at any time.
No need to worry too much.
However, what he didn't expect was that the Han army came a little quickly.
He was waiting for General Jia Xu to lead the army to Wuwei County to assist in the defense, which wasted too much time.
When he had just led his army more than 20 miles out of Jiyinsai and reached Hanpingchuan, he saw that a Han army had settled down in the camp and was building fortifications.
The scale of the camp is not very large, and it should only be able to accommodate more than 4,000 people.
But the general's flag fluttering in the wind made the pupils of his eyes shrink rapidly - it was Zheng Pu, the general who rebelled against Shu and Pingbei.
The other party had long expected that he planned to lead an army to aid Zuli County.
That's why I came to block the road in advance.
Of course, if he wants to avoid it, he can.
For example, he sent three or four thousand soldiers and horses to the camp to confront Nishu, and then he continued to lead the remaining soldiers and horses to Zuli County.
Anyway, the terrain here is flat and desolate, so there is no dilemma of no way out.
But he did not dare to divide his troops.
No matter whether the soldiers and horses left behind can resist the attack of the victor Scar Pu, or whether they can continue to lead the army forward, they will fall into an ambush by Ni Shu.
Inevitably, if he did not bypass it, he would not be able to boost the morale of the garrison soldiers in Zuli County.
This place is still more than a hundred miles away from Zuli City!
Why did Ni Shu come so quickly!?
He cursed secretly.
Then he ordered the soldiers to retreat three miles and fall into the camp in front of the Yin Fortress.
Don't send out many mounted scouts and ask them to take a detour to Zuli County to get information - if possible, shoot letters into the city announcing that the army is about to come for reinforcements.
If they can't be rescued, then it's better to give them hope.
Yes, between Zuli County and his own safety, he chose the latter.
After all, this is what Grand Sima Cao really told him privately, to put the overall situation first.
His arrangement played right into Zheng Pu's hands.
When Zheng Pu came to set up camp here, he wanted to hold off Wei's reinforcements from Hexi with his weak force, so that the Guanxing tribe could attack Zuli City without any distractions.
Because in his plan with the Prime Minister, seizing the Jiyin Fortress was the purpose of sending troops this time.
For this reason, the Prime Minister did not hesitate to rush to Anding County in person, and also mobilized all the military generals and 70,000 troops to provide cover.
Moreover, the time left for him and Guan Xing was very tight.
They must capture Zuli County before Jiang Wei leads his army around to attack the Fortress, and turn all the attention of the defense of the Fortress against Wei to the Hanpingchuan on the south bank of the river.
Otherwise, Jiang Wei, who was alone and without the support of Zheng Pu and Guan Xingbu, would not be able to successfully attack the rear.
The outcome left for him was to be surprised by the Wei army and then be surrounded and suppressed.
Death without a burial place!
A strange plot is meant to take risks.
Without a desperate decision, there can be no decisive victory.
The prime minister trusted him unreservedly. Jiang Wei risked his life to trust him. He would never allow this battle to fail.
Therefore, he also took risks.
There are two reasons why we were able to arrive here two days in advance before Wei Ping led his army into Fazuli County.
The first is the Zuli River Valley, which was the only route along the central line of the Silk Road in the past.
Since the Han Dynasty, there has been an endless stream of caravans passing through this valley, and the road conditions are very good. Moreover, the leader of the Xiongnu branch he recruited, Liang Yuanbi, was very familiar with the terrain here and could lead him around Zuli City.
On the other hand, it was because he asked all the soldiers to carry only ten days of food and supplies, abandon the heavy Wugang chariots, Yuanrong crossbows and other ordnance, and march eighty miles in one day.
Moreover, the soldiers he brought were only more than 2,000 soldiers from the Zhoutai tribe!
If Wei Ping had been bolder, he would have been unable to resist with only four thousand tired soldiers.
He is gambling.
Betting on the great plague in Xiaoguan in the past and the reputation of Xia Houru who defeated Ni Wei, Ni Wei would not attack directly after seeing his general flag.
And he only needed to confuse Ni Wei for three days and he would be out of danger.
Three days were enough for Guan Xing to lead the follow-up army to besiege Zuli City, and for Liu Yin, the governor of Shuli, to escort the grain and baggage safely and come to support him.
