Feeling that Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei could defend Xiaoguan Dao, the prime minister slightly changed his plan.
Since Cao Zhen dared to use 20,000 cavalry to contain him, then the prime minister wouldn't mind doing what he wanted.
Instead, he moved the front of the camp to guard the mouth of the valley, and thinking that he had already been promoted to a general with various titles, especially Jufu, who was good at attacking, he led his three thousand troops out of the valley, marched more than ten miles to Gaoping City, and inserted diagonally into Cao Zhen and Gaoping City.
Set up camp in the middle to isolate the Wei army's food route.
It is equivalent to "treating others in their own way."
Cao Zhen's troops here are few, and if he dares to send other troops to attack the Jufu tribe, the prime minister can wait for the opportunity to destroy the other tribes or break down their camp.
But if Cao Zhen did not move and instead dispatched Wei Da Sima's military advisor Zhao Yan from Gaoping City to lead the rear army, or recalled a general army from Fei Yao's tribe, then the prime minister would continue to confront him.
Because Cao Zhen's conspiracy to plot Xiao Guandao's plan was broken - even if Fei Yao's troops broke through Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei's camp, Cao Zhen, who was right under the Prime Minister's nose, would not be able to secretly rush to Xiao Guandao smoothly.
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As for whether Cao Zhen will transfer all Fei Yao's troops back, this is unlikely.
The prime minister's main force did not leave the river valley, and the geographical advantage was still there. Even Fei Yao's troops returned, which did not help.
With such an arrangement, the only danger is that the Kufu Department will be cut off from its return path.
For example, Cao Zhen could mobilize nearly 10,000 cavalry led by Zhang Xiong and the Xiongnu Zuoxian King Liu Bao, rush back to monitor the Prime Minister's movements, and then join forces with Zhao Yan to trap the Jufu tribe.
If the Prime Minister wanted to save him, Cao Zhen would surround him and help him.
If not rescued, the Jufu tribe will be wiped out in the face of Cao Zhen's absolute military superiority.
However, the Prime Minister was not worried about this.
The leader of the Xiongnu branch, Liang Yuanbi, with more than a hundred tribesmen, is now monitoring the cavalry against Wei.
They have been nomadic here all year round and are familiar with every ravine in this area. The nearly 10,000 cavalrymen who went against the Wei Dynasty to gallop back without knowing it were nothing more than a dream.
The two hundred armored cavalry led by Governor Zhang Te temporarily acted as light cavalry on their spare horses.
They were scattered around Jufu's camp, intercepting and killing the cavalry scouts who rebelled against the Wei Dynasty. They also acted as eyes and ears for Jufu: once the rebel Wei army came, they would notify Jufu and withdraw.
Cao Zhen also responded quickly.
After knowing that the Han army left the camp, he really planned to transfer Zhang Xiong and other cavalry back.
But before nearly ten thousand cavalry arrived, he saw smoke rising into the sky from the Han army's camp, and Jufu's troops immediately left camp and returned.
The two camps of the Han army were only ten miles apart, so he couldn't intercept them.
Otherwise, it will turn into a small force rushing in and be ambushed by the Prime Minister along the way.
However, after he continued to send the cavalry to the Changli River Valley, the prime minister repeated his old trick and once again sent his cavalry out to disturb the grain road.
After repeating this several times, he became extremely annoyed.
Simply, he personally led the army to monitor the prime minister's main force, and also sent three thousand elite generals to protect the food road, with the intention of forcing Jufu to retreat.
But the result surprised him.
Jufu retreated as he wished.
But before returning, he had a head-on battle with his general.
In that battle, both sides had no geographical advantages to rely on. They were all elite infantry in the army, and they fought head-on.
It ends quickly too.
In less than half an hour, the Wei army was able to escape with more than 600 people killed and more than 400 wounded (escaping).
The number of casualties in the Jufu tribe was less than 400.
He only came back to rest for two or three days, and then he came out again to show off his power.
This small conflict made Cao Zhen take no chances and directly asked Zhao Yan to lead the 20,000 rear troops from Gaoping City to come and confront the Prime Minister evenly.
At this point, all of Cao Zhen's troops were on display, and there was no chance of sneaking into Xiao Guandao.
It also allowed the variables that determined the outcome of the war to fall back on the offense and defense of Zuli County.
For the Wei State, if it could capture Zuli County, it would re-establish the connection between Guanzhong and Liangzhou, provide a place to store grain, and avoid the difficulty of transporting grain thousands of miles to continue attacking Longyou in the future.
For the Han Dynasty, if you hold on to Zuli County, you will not lose Longyou, and you can always be at ease waiting for work.
Waiting for Ni Wei to slowly turn into a rebellion due to the disadvantage of transporting grain from thousands of miles away, and lose the chance to attack Longyou again in the future.
Let me ask, how much civilian power will be lost when Cao Zhen leads an army of more than 100,000 people?
If an expedition goes on for months and months but returns without gaining an inch of territory, how much of a blow will it have to the morale of the army?
Just the number of civilians who were required to serve as corvees numbered hundreds of thousands!
Due to the delay in farming and mulberry production caused by the war, the loss of military supplies, and the sluggish morale of "invincible against the Han", the Wei State will not be able to organize a large army to attack Longyou again for at least a few years!
Not to mention, the wealthy Guandong family of Wei State insisted on giving up Liangzhou and using the three assistants in Guanzhong as a barrier to protect the capital Luoyang.
If Cao Zhen's campaign was fruitless, then there would be no voice in the entire Wei temple to support the campaign against Longyou.
Moreover, the reason for their refusal was very good - Cao Zhen had tried his best once and failed once. Who would want to believe that he could succeed the second time?
Even Cao Rui, who is the emperor, cannot suppress this kind of voice.
Otherwise, it will cause public anger and will inevitably arouse people's longing.
After all, the Wei State was established by usurping the Han Dynasty.
There is not such a stable foundation for rule, and there is not such loyal people's aspirations.
At that time, the Han Dynasty could take advantage of the few years when the Wei State was unable to conquer, and use the army to attack the Hexi Corridor and Jincheng County with a large army, completely erasing the worries of "conquering the Central Plains and returning to the old capital".
This is the biggest reason why the Prime Minister is on the defensive.
Endure for a while and seek further.
As for whether the Anyinsai and Zuli counties, which were trapped in the siege of the Wei Dynasty and the Han Dynasty would not rescue them, could be defended, the prime minister did not have much concern.
Needless to say, it is the gateway to the Hexi Corridor.
Although the prime minister had not visited the territory in person, Zheng Pu claimed that he only needed to provide sufficient food and baggage, and only allowed Liu Yin to use his own army of 2,000 dragonflies. No matter how many soldiers and horses came from the Wei Dynasty, he could rest easy.
Jiang Wei also asked for help in person, claiming that he could protect the city with only his own infantry.
You know, Jiang Weiqiang camp has only three thousand infantry, and nearly half of them are new soldiers!
This greatly increased the Prime Minister's confidence.
It also reminded me of Huo Jun's deeds in the past when he defended Jiameng Pass with hundreds of men, faced more than 10,000 enemy troops and held the pass for a year without breaking, and pursued and beheaded generals.
The steepness of Jiyin Pass is at least five or six points similar to that of Jiameng Pass.
As for Zhang Bao, who is behind the generals, plus Yan Yu and Liu Yin, who was recommended by Zheng Pu, he is at least six or seven points as talented as Huo Jun, right?
So, what does the Prime Minister have to worry about?
If we go against the Wei Dynasty and attack Guanyinsai, it will only accumulate merits for Zhang Bao and others.
As for the general who is holding on to Zuli County, Wei Yan is now the leading general in the Han Dynasty, so the Prime Minister does not need to worry.
Or to put it another way, if Wei Yan who once said, "If Cao Cao comes with the whole world, please reject it for your Majesty; if Cao Cao comes with an army of one hundred thousand, please swallow it for Your Majesty", Wei Yan does not dare to trust his defensive ability, then
The Prime Minister has no generals whom he can trust.
In fact, Wei Yan also lived up to his trust.
When Xia Houru and Guo Huai came together with 60,000 troops, and when they first arrived at the city to look at the city's defenses, they couldn't help but frown.
The Zuli City on the west side, leaning on the river, is no longer the low and easy-to-break impression it had in my memory.
First, the Han army forcibly raised the city wall by half a foot.
However, the original crenel was not filled in, but was left as a launching hole for Yuanrong's crossbow, bed crossbow and other equipment.
This approach is very clever.
At least if the Wei army wanted to use thunderbolt chariots to throw stones to destroy these defense weapons, they could not do it.
Secondly, there are changes to the city gates.
The Han army demolished both the north and east city gates and built them with earth and stones to form part of the city wall, leaving only the south gate. If the Wei army wanted to invade the city, they should not use the city gates.
We can only rely on the ant-climbing method that causes the most casualties and pile human lives on top of the city.
Finally, there is the outside of the city.
In addition to common roadblocks such as pits, antlers, and buried iron caltrops within a stone's throw of the city wall, the Han army also dug a canal of more than one foot along the perimeter of the city wall and diverted it from the Zuli River on the west side to form a four-circuit road.
The moat. The water surface was ruffled by the early wind and constantly reflected light, making it impossible to tell the depth of the moat.
But one thing that is certain is that there must be sharp wooden stakes or something buried under the river.
With such a complete fortification, no matter who sees it, they can't help but bare their teeth.
Both Xia Houru and Guo Huai felt that if their soldiers wanted to touch the Zuli City Wall, they would have to sacrifice at least two to three thousand soldiers to clear the barrier!
However, they soon discovered something unusual.
I don’t know whether the Han army wanted to lure them to focus their attack on the south gate, or whether the guard Wei Yan was too arrogant. At the south gate of the city, between the moat and the city wall, the Han army actually built two small garrisons.
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It's not high, just over ten feet, about fifty-sixths of the height of the city wall; it's not big either, it can barely cover the city walls on the left and right sides of the city gate.
It seems to be set up to prevent the Wei army from filling in the moat.
But it's also weird.
There was obviously a city wall as a support, so why did the Han army bother to do so?
Is this kind of temporary garrison made of wood as the main body stronger than a thick city wall?
Furthermore, once they were breached, these two small garrisons would become an aid for the Wei army to scale the city wall.
Xia Houru and Guo Huai were puzzled.
They did not think that Wei Yan, who had always been relied on by the Han Dynasty as a barrier to the country, would do useless things.
It could be that they were deliberately trying to make the Wei army attack in a direction where there were no city gates; it could also be that there was an ulterior motive, and there was a murderous intention hidden in the small garrison.
The two men asked their respective generals to lead their troops, and when they surrounded the city and settled into camp, they discussed it in detail.
But neither can say for sure.
In the end, it was decided that Xia Houru would lead the main attack on the south gate, while Guo Huai and other generals would lead their respective headquarters to try to attack the north and east of the city.
no way.
The north and east parts of the city can only be climbed by ladders or long ladders.
As for the south side of the city, there is at least more hope of using a ram to break through the city gate.
If you are worried about other dangers, you can simply set them on fire after breaking through these two small garrisons!
While the two of them were looking at the city, Wei Yan and Guan Xing were also standing side by side on the top of the city watching the incoming Wei army.
When he saw that the Wei army had transported many siege equipment to the south gate and piled them up, Guan Xing couldn't help but smile, turning his head and saying softly, "As General Wei expected, the rebels will attack the south of the city! It's done!"
"It's just a small plan, it doesn't matter."
But Wei Yan didn't show much joy, but waved his hands absentmindedly, still holding on to the new crenel and looking around.
It seems that he is looking for something.
It also made Guan Xing a little surprised.
What is General Wei looking for?
Could it be that there is still a secret behind his rebellion against the Wei army?
After thinking to himself, he looked around carefully and found out the differences.
But he didn't want to. Just a moment later, Wei Yan beside him punched the city wall with his fist, and cursed with a hint of irritation, "How dare that traitor Cao Zhen'an underestimate me! I personally defended the city, but he didn't come in person! Could it be that he didn't come in person?"
Do you think that Xia Houru, Guo Huai and other unscrupulous people can capture the city I am guarding?"
Well.
Hearing this, Guan Xing couldn't help but be speechless.
It turns out that just now Wei Yan was looking for Cao Zhen’s Great Encyclopedia.
Moreover, he also felt that Cao Zhen did not come to supervise the battle in person because he looked down on his ability.
Alas, General Wei is the mainstay of the Han Dynasty, capable of both offense and defense, and loyal, but there is only one shortcoming.
He has a high self-esteem and is not good at getting along with others.
For example, there are many things wrong with what I just said.
Bi Cao was really the Great Sima of the Wei Dynasty, so he naturally led the army to confront Zhuge Cheng. Can An Neng come here to supervise the battle and siege the city?
Is it possible that the Prime Minister's identity or abilities are not as good as yours?
But Wei Yan obviously didn't realize his gaffe and was immersed in anger.
When he was young, he turned his head and whispered, "An Guo, come and supervise the soldiers on duty tonight."
Suddenly, Guan Xing's face was startled.
As a young and talented man, he understood immediately that Wei Yan was planning to leave the city for a night attack!
Otherwise, if the officers on duty in each department were alerted to any military information, they would report it to the commander-in-chief Wei Yan. How could it be his turn to take over?
Although, if you attack at night when the enemy has just arrived and is not yet firmly established, your chances of winning are very high.
But Xia Houru and Guo Huai on the other side are both veteran generals in the army. Would they rather be unprepared?
He couldn't help but lower his voice and urged him urgently, "General Wei, I think it is inappropriate to attack at night, and the rebels may be on guard. The Prime Minister ordered us to just hold on to the city, and we should not cause unnecessary trouble!"
"Hey, it's okay! It's okay!"
But Wei Yan was having fun, and Gu Pan retorted with a hint of complacency, "This is because An Guo has too few conquests. Come, come, look here." After saying this, he pulled Guan Xing to point outside the city.
"The rebels have camped on three sides and besieged the city. The siege equipment is most numerous in the south of the city, so they will be heavily guarded. Therefore, the troops in the north and east of the city must be weak! And now that the north and east gates have been sealed, what can they do?
Do you think I will attack at night from the north of the city?"
Attack the north of the city?
Guan Xing did not answer immediately, but lowered his head and frowned in thought.
As Wei Yan said, he rebelled against the Wei army and laid siege to the city. Common sense would not allow the Han army to dare to leave the city for a sneak attack.
In particular, Wei Yan did not intend to attack the south of the city where siege equipment was stored.
But there are also problems.
To go out from the north of the city, you can only rely on ropes tied to the crenel to hang down.
You can still hang down one by one when you go out, but the speed of coming back to the city is too slow. Once things go wrong and Wei pursues him, how will Wei Yan come back?
"Well, that's it!"
But Wei Yan was not discussing with Guan Xing at all, but was ordering, "Please pay more attention to An Guo tonight."
After saying these words, he turned around and walked down the city wall to prepare to go.
