In the wild, using foot to resist riding will naturally put you at a disadvantage.
With their strong mobility, the cavalry controls the absolute initiative on the battlefield. They can come and go freely, and it is up to me to fight or not to fight.
The cavalry of the nomadic tribes took the wolf hunting tactics to the extreme.
Just like a pack of wolves looking for the easiest prey when driving, they will cleverly use their speed to harass the tired enemy, discern the weakest link of the infantry and strike with one blow, and then stage a drama of driving the troops to rout to win the battle.
The right general Wu Banai guarded Ayang City with more than 5,000 men.
After the rebel Wei army besieged Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei's camp for three months, they planned to lead 3,000 soldiers to support them.
Even if they cannot break through Ni Wei's blockade and enter the other camp to fight alongside Zheng and Jiang, as long as the besieged soldiers can see their general's flag and know that the Han will not treat them as abandoned sons, it will boost their morale.
But he is also battle-hardened.
When he led his army less than ten miles out of the city, he saw thousands of cavalrymen of the Southern Xiongnu Zuoxian King Liu Bao blocking the road, and he knew that rushing for reinforcements was a delusion.
His troops were too few to defeat the cavalry.
Nor can we rely on the car formation to fight and advance to reach the other camp of Zheng and Jiang.
After all, if Liu Bao couldn't find a flaw in his march, he would definitely use his speed advantage to rush to the front and destroy roads and bridges. Then he would know that the infantry of the rebel Wei came to ambush and destroy his entire army in the wilderness.
Therefore, after thinking for a while, he dispatched Zhang Yi's tribe to Ayang City.
I want to combine two soldiers to see if there is a chance to break through the cavalry blockade.
However, after Zhang Ni led his army to arrive, he felt that according to Wu Ban's thoughts, he would be trapped in a dilemma of being surrounded and calling for reinforcements.
With the strength of the counter-wei army, they could leave more than 10,000 men to trap Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei, and then cooperate with the infantry and cavalry to trap them in the wilderness. The rescue would become a self-defeating trap.
Wu Ban has also thought about the consequences of this.
The reason why they persisted is because if Wei Wei divided its troops and trapped itself, the separate camps of Zheng and Jiang could hold on until the prime minister's main force came back for reinforcements.
However, after hearing Zhang Yi's alternative approach, he no longer insisted on his own opinion.
Zhang Ni had previously followed Zheng Pu to guard Xiaoguan Road and was very familiar with the terrain in this area.
Moreover, the Xuanwu Army under his command, whether they were originally recruited from Nanzhong Zanggao County or the Badi people who were gradually added later, are all good at walking on mountain roads. The terrain here with continuous mountains and crisscrossed ravines may look like to others.
The natural chasm is difficult to cross, but for the Xuanwu Army, even if there are frequent winter snows, it is not a challenge.
Therefore, he planned to lead his army over the mountains, into the valley of the tributary of Changli River (Hulu River), and into the other camp where Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei were holding firm.
There is no need to worry about carrying provisions and other burdens.
He and Wu Ban both agreed that if they could successfully enter Zheng and Jiang's camp, they would not be in trouble for food and crops.
The war lasted for more than three months, and the soldiers were bound to be killed and injured, and the food stored in other camps would be relatively abundant. This is common sense in the army.
Moreover, Ayang City is about a hundred miles away from the camp.
Taking into account the difficulty of traveling on the windy and snowy road, the soldiers only need to have enough food for three days.
You only need to carry your own swords, spears, arrows, crossbows, etc., which is equivalent to traveling lightly. How difficult is it to march!
Naturally, in order to conceal their whereabouts, Wu Banbu still needs to provide support.
It was to imitate the battle between Zheng Pu and Xia Houru outside Yuzhong County in the past, and build a movable camp based on Wuhan Iron and Steel vehicles. Captain Wu led three thousand soldiers to leave the city one day early.
For the Huns cavalry, the Han army's tactic of relying on bunkers to form strong crossbow formations was unsolvable.
As early as the Pre-Han Dynasty, before Wei Qing and Huo Qubing used cavalry to resist cavalry, the Han army relied on chariot formations to deter the Huns' cavalry from taking the lead.
Even temptation is out of the question.
The riding bows they used were weak and had a short range.
Even if it is a projectile, it needs to be within the range of the powerful crossbow array.
Therefore, when he saw the Han army hiding behind the chariot camp and advancing slowly, Liu Bao, who could not stop him, quickly sent someone to inform Fei Yao and Wei Ping, asking them to send another infantry to fight with them.
The cavalry was able to find the fighter plane and destroyed Wu Ban in one fell swoop.
When Fei Yao and Wei Ping got their revenge, they ordered a deadly attack on other camps.
Naturally, they did not tolerate the trapped Han troops from another camp. When they learned of the news of reinforcements, their morale was greatly boosted.
After some discussion, he asked General Hu Zun to take charge of his headquarters of five thousand troops and march towards Wu Ban's headquarters.
However, he missed the opportunity.
After Wu Ban's troops left the city, they only marched about twenty miles every day, and they only left the city for three days before returning home.
It's like giving up on rescue.
Both Liu Bao and Hu Zun were puzzled, and they would not besiege Ayang City, so they had no choice but to give up.
Send people back to report to Fei Yao and Wei Ping, waiting for new general orders.
Who would have expected that Zhang Yi's tribe, who was originally far away in Longxi County, would have taken this opportunity to cross the mountains, walk in the snow-capped ravines, and come step by step to other camps?
Before their messenger could reach the other camp, Zhang Ni led the Xuanwu Army to arrive.
The Wei army's siege force deployment was thick in the north and thin in the south.
This was because he wanted to be on guard against Prime Minister Zhuge’s main force coming from the north.
No one could have imagined that the Han army in Longyou would have mobile troops to attack; no one could have imagined that in such weather, the Han army could climb over the mountains and reach the frozen tributaries of Changli River.
Killing came from the river.
Caught off guard, the Wei army had no time to deploy its troops to stop it.
When Fei Yao and Wei Ping had just learned that the Han army was coming for reinforcements, Zhang Yi, who ordered his soldiers not to fight, had already led his troops to rush to the other camp's vehicle formation.
Therefore, Fei Yao and Wei Ping both had livid faces.
In the long-lasting cheers of the Han army, all the scouts were killed with military methods.
But no matter how angry you are, you can't solve the problem.
The tenacity of the Han army, without reinforcements, depleted baggage and low morale, still made it impossible for them to break through the chariot formation.
Now that reinforcements have arrived and morale has improved, can they still break through in the short term?
Originally, there was no need to think about it during the half-month period.
Just by consuming the crossbow arrows brought by the reinforcements, they didn't know how many soldiers would be killed or injured.
Things can happen once, but not again.
The war has lasted for three months and consumed the lives of countless soldiers. It was finally possible to capture the Nishu camp and secure victory.
Now we have to start everything from scratch again.
Not to mention that the soldiers were complaining and had no fighting spirit. The generals like them felt a little discouraged.
Perhaps, for the present plan, it would be better to change the attack to a trap, which can not only allow the soldiers to rest, but also be ready at any time to attack the main force of Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu!
Yes, Grand Sima Cao Zhen had already sent someone to inform him.
Let Fei Yao and Wei Ping attack the separate camps of the Han army. If they can capture them, they will attack them; if they cannot capture them, they will trap them.
Because Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, who was in the tributary valley of Wushui (Qingshui River), showed faint signs of wanting to return for help.
Cao Zhen asked them to always be vigilant about the military situation in the north.
Even the Guohuai tribe on the other side of Pingxiang City was ordered to keep an eye on the two cavalrymen of Ma Dai and Zhao Guang at all times, and they must not be ignored while they went north to support Prime Minister Zhuge's return.
Therefore, Fei Yao and Wei Ping summoned their generals and worked together, but finally changed the situation to a siege.
Anyway, even if the Han army's other camp received reinforcements, it still could not change the situation of being besieged. As long as Prime Minister Zhuge's return reinforcements were prevented, the other camp would still be unable to escape the fate of destruction due to Wei's absolute military superiority.
Wushui tributary valley.
Indeed, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang's main force will take action.
Or in other words, after Jiang Wei sent the Qiang camp commander Sima Zhuyi and two thousand Qiang cavalry to come here, the prime minister began to take action after learning about the battle situation at Xiaoguandao.
Initially, Zhuyi was sent to lead the cavalry outside Gaoping City to attack Ni Wei's grain road.
He wanted to force the two cavalry of the Wei State in Longyou - the Xiongnu Liu Bao's ranger and the Yongliang Qingqi led by Zhang Xiong to return.
As long as a cavalry force against the Wei can be forced back, Ma Dai and Zhao Guangbu in Changlishui will be able to find opportunities to harass the rear of the Wei army at Xiaoguandao and relieve the pressure on Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei.
But Cao Zhen was well prepared this time.
As if he had expected it, while he was sending his generals Wei Ping and Guo Huai to Longyou, he had people transport enough grain to last until next spring and February in advance.
Therefore, he chose to let the two thousand Qiang cavalry do what they wanted.
Seeing that his plan did not work, the prime minister led his army out of the valley and slowly marched to Cao Zhen's camp, intending to fight with him in the field.
But Cao Zhen ordered the village gate to be closed tightly.
All ministries are heavily guarded. Anyone who dares to fight privately will be killed!
Times have changed, and he is no longer in a hurry to fight with the Prime Minister.
Instead, he planned to wait and wait for Prime Minister Zhuge to make a decision in the dilemma.
If the Prime Minister stays here all the time, he is confident that he can hold on to the camp, allowing Fei Yao and Wei Ping enough time to break through Zheng Jiang's camp and occupy Xiaoguandao.
Thus, Xiaoguan was recaptured, and Guanzhong could sweep the entire Longyou at any time from now on.
If the prime minister returns to help, he will lead the army and sneak behind.
No matter whether the Prime Minister goes to attack the Guo Huai tribe outside Pingxiang City, or rescues the Xiao Guandao, he will inevitably fall into the dilemma of enemies from both front and rear!
In this way, he will use all his strength in Guanzhong this time, and Emperor Cao Rui will search for materials and troops from Jizhou, Hedong, Hanoi and other places to support his war, and the war will come to a perfect ending - the main force of the Han army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
!
It is even possible that Prime Minister Zhuge was attacked and killed by the rebel army.
Of course, this possibility is slim.
Moreover, if the Han army's 40,000-strong army suffered heavy casualties, Wei would have to pay a heavy price.
Given the combat prowess the Han army has demonstrated over the years, a one-to-one battle loss is considered lucky.
More likely, twice as likely.
But Cao Zhen felt that he could happily accept any outcome.
In the land of Bashu, how many troops can be lost in battle?
In several battles in the past few years, the number of Han soldiers killed was no less than 40,000.
If we can kill the 40,000 main force under the supervision of Prime Minister Zhuge, the entire Bashu army will be reduced to 60 to 70!
By then, even if Wei suffered heavy casualties and could no longer attack Longyou, Bashu would voluntarily give up because they did not have the troops to defend these places.
Yongliang, a land with numerous Qiang and Hu populations, is a fertile ground for nurturing ambitions!
Even with Wei's strong national power, it could not stop the frequent rebellions of careerists.
Not to mention, Bashu fell into a state of despair after the war.
Therefore, Cao Zhen was very cautious this time, like a patient old hunter, waiting for the prime minister to fall into his trap.
Moreover, he also dispatched more than 10,000 people from the Xiahou Ru army in Zuli County to come here to continue to have the advantage in strength for the upcoming war.
The Wei army in Zuli County, after being separated from the Guohuai tribe, still has more than 40,000 soldiers.
Originally, Cao Zhen wanted to dispatch 20,000 people.
Anyway, Xia Houru is no longer attacking the city, so there is no need to stay there doing nothing and wasting food.
However, when Wei Yan rebelled against Shu, he was unwilling to be left alone. When the Wei army that was besieging the city divided into more than ten thousand troops and came here, he frequently led his troops out of the city to conduct sneak attacks or invite battles.
When Xiahou Ru led his army, he retreated to the city; if he had not sent several troops away, he would have taken the opportunity to destroy them.
And it succeeds frequently, which is quite disturbing.
In this regard, Cao Zhen could not dispatch too many soldiers to avoid being taken advantage of by Wei Yan.
In any case, Wei Yan was good at attacking against Shu and was quite famous in the Wei state.
But what Cao Zhen didn't expect was that since the Northern Expedition, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, who had rarely led troops to attack cities or fight in the field, was actually better at attacking than Wei Yan!
However, it is said that the prime minister led the army out of the river valley several times and Wei State avoided the war, and then began to lead the entire army back.
Instead, he used the two thousand Qiang cavalry who had been sent to guard him, and asked the Jufu tribe to clear the way for the front army. They used tiger steps to monitor the rear of Meng Yan's palace, led the Chinese army to escort grain, fodder, baggage and other items, and returned slowly.
Such a large-scale march would inevitably be detected by Wei scouts.
In particular, in addition to the river valley, the Han army also set fire to all the Luzhai and camps in the river valley that could not be taken away.
The thick smoke rising into the sky allowed Cao Zhen, who was camped twenty miles away, to see clearly.
Immediately, he did not hesitate.
In other words, he has been looking forward to this moment.
Immediately let the waiting soldiers file out of the camp one by one, and sneak behind the Han army in strict formation.
And they always maintain a distance of more than ten miles.
With this distance, even if the Han army tried to lure the enemy by pretending to retreat, he could still prepare his soldiers to fight when they suddenly turned around and attacked.
There will be no worries about the enemy taking advantage of the formation if the marching array is not in order.
Scouts were also scattered within a radius of twenty miles to prevent the Han army from ambush on the road.
However, an ambush is unlikely.
After several months of confrontation, both sides knew each other's troops very well.
When the Han army burned its camp and left the valley, every soldier and horse was under the eyes of the Wei army's scouts, and there was no possibility of concealment or ambush.
Naturally, it was inevitable to send people to inform the Guo Huai tribe, as well as the Fei Yao and Wei Ping tribes to prepare for a pincer attack.
At that time, the dripping water turned into ice, and the light snow continued.
The road was difficult to travel, so the Prime Minister and his army only traveled more than twenty miles on the first day after returning, and then they settled in camp to rest for the night.
The Wei army followed behind and was heavily guarded.
And after nightfall, more than a thousand soldiers were sent to act as scouts to monitor the Han army's camp so that they could not send other troops to ambush first under the cover of night.
On the second day, the Han army marched another twenty miles.
The Wei army remains heavily guarded.
On the third day, the two armies remained the same.
On the fourth day, the Han army did not march immediately after the meal. For some reason, they delayed for about half an hour before leaving camp.
Cao Zhen was quite puzzled, but still followed quietly.
However, this time the Han army only traveled ten miles before the entire army turned and fought back.
At this time, the Wei army happened to arrive at the place where the Han army camped last night.
Cao Zhen also discovered that the terrain here was flat and extended in all directions. It was a battlefield that the Han army had planned for a long time. Because in a short period of time, he could not let his army of more than 50,000 find all the terrain that was conducive to defense.
There is no other choice but to fight to the death.
