The sky was half overcast, and the slight coolness ruffled the water surface of the Wei River, creating sparkling waves.
If the leisure time of catching a few fresh fish is combined with the joy of harvesting it in the autumn, it will be a peaceful time in life.
However, the roaring battles of the armed forces destroyed this beautiful scenery.
Sima Yi finally made up his mind and led his army to pursue the Han army who was about to stop and return.
Although he didn't have much chance of winning the pursuit.
"Sun Tzu: Military Struggle Chapter" says, "When you return to the army, don't contain it; if you surround the army, you must guard it; if you are poor, don't force it."
Since Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, entered Youfufeng, he has not taken any measures to attack the city or drive for a long time to gain advantage. Therefore, there is no theory that the old soldiers in the division are tired and their morale is sluggish.
Facing the Han army, which was heavily arrayed and retreating in an orderly manner, it was not the best idea for the Wei army to pursue them.
But Sima Yi really had no choice!
The difficulty of the Guanyin City Fortress has been solved. The Wei State has lost countless grains and supplies, and mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to launch a battle. No one can calmly accept the result that it ended in nothing.
Especially Xia Houru also died in the battle.
The Dukes of Luoyang and Gungun would not place the blame for strategic miscalculation on the emperor Cao Rui who insisted on launching the campaign.
Only he, as the governor of Yongliang, cannot escape the blame!
During his several years as governor, he was criticized for being "afraid of war."
If we now have a superior force and still sit back and watch the Shu army advance and retreat freely in the pass without taking any measures, not only the generals will think that he is "fearful of Shu as a tiger", but everyone in the world will think so!
Don't doubt this.
Niu Jin, his confidant general who had been following him for many years, had generously asked for orders several times in the past few days to lead his army in pursuit.
Although the reason he kept saying was to avoid the shame of the previous warlord's failure to attack the Shu camp.
But Sima Yi knew that Niu Jin was taking the opportunity to express his attitude: Not only the Yongliang tribes that were originally subordinate to Cao Zhen were dissatisfied with Shu, but even the soldiers who followed him from Jingzhou to Guanzhong could not bear the humiliation and were eager to fight!
Yes, in the recent months of the confrontation at Wuzhangyuan, the Wei army had already tried to attack the Shu army once.
When he was urging other soldiers to harvest wheat from the fields, he also asked Niu Jin to supervise more than 10,000 men in his headquarters to try to attack Meng Yan's tribe who were camped at the entrance of Xieshui River into Weishui.
The original intention was to see whether the main force in Guanzhong could be evenly matched with the Han army after resting for more than two years.
If possible, he would attack with all his troops, trap Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of Shu, in the pass with superior force, and force the soldiers and horses of Hanzhong County to come out to rescue him! Furthermore, he achieved the goal of causing endless wars against Shu and the collapse of people's livelihood and finances.
But if he couldn't, he would continue to stand still, use more abundant food and fodder to prepare for the rest, and wait for the Shu army's food generals to come and attack his camp as a last resort.
But the result of the trial made him disappointed.
Niu Jin is a brave general, and the more than ten thousand people under his command can also be called elites.
However, Meng Yan's tribe relied on the natural location of Xieshui (Martial Arts Water) and used strong bows and crossbows to prevent the Wei army from crossing the river, leaving Niu Jin helpless.
Without him, the Wei army would have been within fifty steps of Shu Yuan's crossbows, and there would have been almost no survivors!
The Wei army only tried for three days and suffered more than 800 casualties. They could not even build a pontoon bridge to cross the river.
In desperation, the only option was to continue the attack.
However, if they pursue and fight, Yuan Rong's crossbows against Shu will not be afraid.
The Yuan Rong crossbow, which was huge and heavy and required several men to operate, had to be dismantled when Ni Shu retreated his troops before they could be transported back. Naturally, they could not be used to contain the Wei army's pursuit.
This was also one of the reasons that prompted Sima Yi to pursue the pursuit.
From the perspective of the Wei State, Gein could not allow the Shu army to return intact.
Now Wei's strategic advantage is gone. If he doesn't take advantage of the opportunity to fight the Shu army when they enter Guanzhong and fight with them to lose soldiers, Wei may never have the chance to leave Longyou in the future!
right!
The war situation has progressed to this day, and he can only make one final move to ensure that Wei's strategic goal is achieved.
As long as the 30,000 soldiers and horses under the command of Shu Prime Minister Zhuge Liang can be severely damaged, he will not hesitate even if his 60,000 troops are 10 to 10!
Because Ni Shu had a small land and few people, once it lost more than 20,000 soldiers, it would be severely damaged. It would not be able to recover for several years, and it would be unable to guard the long defense line from Hanzhong to Hexi.
But this was not the case in Wei State.
In the "World Military System", where father dies and son dies, brother dies and brother dies, there will be no shortage of troops to replenish the army.
At most, he risked offending the interests of the wealthy family and went to Luoyang to ask the emperor Cao Rui to strictly inspect the hidden households, attach themselves to the tenants, and force the prisoners, son-in-laws, and merchants with low status into the army!
Another reason is that there have been frequent military reports from Jingzhou in recent days.
It's not that after the thief Wu suffered a great defeat, he still has the courage to join the bandits again this year.
Instead, Sun Quan not only personally harvested the rice fields in Wuchang, but also visited Jiangling City to feed the garrison officers. He frequently sailed up the Mian River in a boat to watch the Wei army's defense and garrison areas in Xiangfan City.
The intention conveyed by this move is obvious.
Sun Quan, the son of the traitor, saw that the Wei State was using a large army to confront Ni Shu in Guanzhong, leaving Jingxiang's defense line empty, so he was eager to try to profit from it again.
For example, an elite naval force was deployed between Xiangyang and Fancheng to cut off Wei's northern aid, so that the generals in the rear could lead their troops to plunder the common people and return.
There is no need to question Koto's inability to do this.
As a result, the Wei State's Jingzhou defense line was indeed empty of troops.
Another reason is that in the previous battle, all the soldiers lost in Jiangdong were infantrymen, and the naval forces suffered no losses because they had no chance to face the battle.
Furthermore, at the turn of summer and autumn, the water levels in the rivers surged, and Sun Wu only needed to dispatch seven to eight thousand naval troops to achieve his goal.
In terms of upright military warfare, Sun Wu's record was not good.
However, Jiangdong is already familiar with the behavior of making small fuss and seeking small profits.
Therefore, it is easy to understand why Sima Yi wanted to pursue the Han army.
Try your best to destroy the war background of Ni Shu, making it difficult for the defense line to be fully defended, creating opportunities for the Wei State to send troops to Longyou in the future, and give an account to the Luoyang Temple and the Emperor!
And with this strategy of not hesitating to lose both sides, he took advantage of the situation and intimidated Sun Quan so that he would not dare to think any more.
When he had made up his mind, Sima Yi sounded the drum and gathered the generals.
He placed the yellow ax given by Emperor Cao Rui on the general platform and promised generous rewards for his gains and the military law that he would be killed before the battle was stopped, in order to inspire the soldiers' vigor and willingness to die. Afterwards, he used ox gold to supervise more than 10,000 people. As the vanguard, he led the army behind and marched toward the entrance of Xiegu in a mighty manner.
At this time, the Han army also returned here.
When the prime minister heard that the scouts had come to report that he had deliberately slowed down his return to the army, he was immediately overjoyed.
Originally, he thought that Sima Yi would not pursue him, but he didn't expect that at the last moment it would be revealed.
Don't delay either.
He ordered Zongyu and Hu Ji to escort the heavy supplies of food and fodder into Baoxie Valley first, and ordered Meng Yan to supervise the tiger infantry to stand ready at the entrance of the Xiegong Valley. Zhang Yi's troops fortified themselves step by step in the Xiegong Valley to support Meng Yan, who was fighting and retreating.
As for himself, he placed the banner behind Meng Yan's troops, waiting for Sima Yi to lead his army to arrive, and then slowly retreated.
This will make the Wei army greedy for merit and pursue relentlessly.
