Just because he went to take office, Guo Huai and Guan Qiu Jian unanimously warned him to increase the number of troops. This shows that Zheng Pu already had a reputation as one who "seizes his strength before fighting".
But not everyone is afraid of Zheng Pu.
After receiving a message from Sima Yi asking if reinforcements were needed in Helan Mountain from Guanzhong, and if so how many troops and horses would be needed, Deng Ai felt that Zheng Pu had nothing to fear, and Helan Mountain did not need reinforcements from Guanzhong.
At least not now.
The reasons are also very good.
First, it is not easy to be self-sufficient in farming in the Helan Mountain area.
Considering that there are still nearly 7,000 soldiers today, excluding the soldiers guarding the camp and outside the siege, there are not many manpower for border garrison, so the food production will naturally be greatly reduced; and recruiting the surrounding small Qiang and Hu tribes for animal husbandry will also be difficult. It must be divided in half. If reinforcements of three or four thousand troops and horses are coming from Guanzhong, he will really have no food to supply.
Transshipment from Guanzhong is also undesirable.
It is true that Scar Pu is supervising the battle in Hexi, but no one can be sure when he will raise troops to attack Helan Mountain!
If Scar Pu does not come to invade, the reinforcements will not be able to return. The manpower and material resources that have been lost in transporting grain and fodder from Guanzhong are really amazing. If Scar Pu comes to invade again after he is one year old, and the reinforcements and horses cannot bear the pain of transporting grain and fodder in advance, If you go back, it will be self-defeating and the morale of the original troops will collapse!
Moreover, Zhao Guang, the heroic cavalry general of Ni Shu, has been guarding the Wushui River Valley with his cavalry for many years. It is difficult to ensure that the grain transported from Guanzhong to Helan Mountain will not be detected and invaded by Ni Shu for a long time.
Secondly, Deng Ai felt that it would not be easy to attack Helan Mountain against Shu.
The Shu army was trapped in grain and fodder. Even if they sent troops to his location, they would still have to suffer from the long-distance transportation of grain and fodder, and they did not have the strength to fight for a long time. He relied on the natural dangers of the river, and used Quwu Mountain and Mingsha Mountain as strongholds to deploy defenses. He ordered Liu Bao, the Southern Xiongnu, to send all his light cavalry to harass the Shu army's food routes, and there would be no problem in resisting the Shu army for two or three months. But after two or three months, the Shu army would naturally retreat due to running out of food.
Maybe he will still have the opportunity to chase after him and add another achievement to himself!
Thirdly, he was not worried about being breached by the Shu army along Dahe's defense line.
The Wei army's main camp here is Lingzhou, Dingxicheng and Fuping County, which are quite far away from Quwu Mountain, which also gives him enough strategic depth.
Even if Ni Shu captured the Dahe defense line at Quwu Mountain, he would transfer to Dingxi City to garrison, leaving Ni Shu in a dilemma.
If he pursues him, it will be a taboo for military strategists to go deep into the enemy's territory. He has Shuofang County and Wuyuan County as backup. Who knows who will be killed by then? If he does not pursue him, then he will wait for the Shu army to stop and return. Come back and rebuild the fortifications again, but it will be in vain!
Ha~
The final reason cannot be expressed verbally, but it is due to the pride in Deng Ai's heart.
He felt that he was no worse than Zheng Pu.
The reason why Zheng Pu became famous all over the world was just due to good luck. As soon as he started his official career, he was valued by Shu Prime Minister Zhuge Liang and was given the opportunity to display his talents. If he had not wasted more than ten years, he would have won the title of Yong when he was crowned. With the promotion of Sima Yi, the governor of Liang, his current achievements will be no less than those of Zheng Pu!
What is there to fear?
Furthermore, although the Battle of Helan Mountain allowed him to lead a unit and win the favor of Emperor Cao Rui and Dukes of Luoyang Gungun, he himself knew that Sima Yi should take credit rather than himself.
He wants to prove his talent.
Let everyone in the world know that Sima Yi does not need to give up his reputation, he is also a good general who deserves his reputation.
Now, Scar Pu supervises the battle in Liangzhou, which is his best opportunity.
As long as he can defend Helan Mountain without losing, he will be able to defeat the Yongliang generals; if he can defeat the invading Shu army, he will be a good general of the time!
The future Qiancheng of Wei!
Therefore, he quickly wrote a reply to Sima Yi.
He recorded his thoughts one by one, and also claimed that he did not need reinforcements from Guanzhong for the time being.
After Sima Yi got the book, he held up his palm and praised, "The scholar has great integrity!"
There is also a sentence of "Shi Zai knows my current difficulties" and the relief quietly falls in my heart.
Yes, Guanzhong is also in dire straits now.
The previous campaign used hundreds of thousands of troops for more than a year, which almost depleted the income from farming during his several years as governor of Yongliang. In addition, a lot of grain was transferred there due to the famine in Luoyang.
Last year, the heart of the Central Plains of Wei State was hit by floods, and the state and county officials released grain to provide relief. Therefore, this year there is no grain to supply the Chinese army stationed in Luoyang.
In other words, Guanzhong will definitely have to transfer grain to Luoyang this year...
Under such circumstances, it is really difficult to send a force of troops to garrison in Helan Mountain and transport grain from Guanzhong for a long time!
Therefore, he wrote a letter to commend Deng Ai, and also stated that if the Shu army was too impatient to attack, he could seek help from Hu Zunxiang, who was guarding Gaoping City.
Yes, after deducing with Guo Huai, Guan Qiujian and others, he felt that if Zheng Pu sent troops to Helan Mountain, he should wait until after the autumn is collected into the treasury. At that time, Guanzhong will also transfer grain and grain into Gaoping City, and take advantage of the situation to let some troops
It is not difficult for horses to carry grain to the north of Helan Mountain.
But before his letter reached Helan Mountain, Deng Ai was already worried.
Although Deng Ai felt that Zheng Pu was not to be feared, it did not mean that he would despise Zheng Pu who was good at strategizing.
Therefore, after learning that Zheng Pu had come to Hexi to take up his post, he handed over the supervision of farming to his subordinates, personally came to Quwu Mountain to guard the defense line, and also sent many scouts outside.
I also learned two military facts.
First, Ni Shu was escorted by hundreds of Xiliang cavalry, and each led more than a hundred heavy infantry and armored cavalry on the banks of the Shuiquansha River entering the Wushui River Valley to perform martial arts on the outskirts of Mingsha Mountain.
Yes, martial arts.
That's what the scout said.
But after Deng Ai heard this, he knew that the Han army was conducting an on-the-spot investigation to see if the sandy soil along the river in these two places could withstand the charge of heavily armored soldiers and horses.
There is no false person under the great reputation, and Scar Pu can be called this!
In response to this, Deng Ai sighed in his heart, and also vaguely realized: The invasion of the Shu army may not wait until after the autumn harvest...
Another military situation is that the Shu army sent hundreds of infantry to the abandoned Yuwei County, cutting down wood and collecting stones, as if to build a military camp along the mountain col.
Deng Ai couldn't understand this.
Hundreds of soldiers come to build a military camp. Even if it takes several months, it will be built to a large scale. If you build it first, it will not be beneficial to the subsequent war.
But it doesn't make sense to say that they were building a garrison or outpost.
The Wei army did not have the strength to invade the west of Hexi again or to besiege the Manyin city fortress, and hundreds of miles of uninhabited desert was the best line of defense. Why did the Shu army have to mobilize so many troops?
Deng Ai was puzzled. After ordering his scouts to investigate at all times, he sat alone in the case and murmured.
"What kind of evil does Scar Pu want to do?"
............
"Bo Yue, I want to use you to destroy Helan Mountain and kill Deng Ai!"
In the Hexi Corridor, Wuwei County, and in the Liangzhou Governor's Mansion, Zheng Pu said to Jiang Wei and Fei Yi with a solemn face.
He just arrived in Guzang County today.
After Fei Yi, who was still serving as the governor of Liangzhou, and Jiang Wei, who had been demoted as a bandit general, welcomed him into the governor's house, he stepped back without even taking a sip of water, shouting loudly.
In this regard, Fei and Jiang had completely different reactions.
Fei Yi was slightly stunned, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, then went straight to his seat, turned over the documents and started writing.
He has never participated in military preparations.
But as the governor, he had to prepare for things such as grain and baggage and the transportation of people.
Since Zheng Pufu announced that he would send troops as soon as he arrived, he could only calculate the grain and manpower available for each county in advance to avoid being in a hurry. It was only last year that Hexi paid off the grain borrowed from Haoyou, and now it was time to plan for the spring plowing season.
Bing, he really didn’t want to raise food through the method of “eating Yin’s food” again.
Perhaps this is why the prime minister asked Zheng Pu to supervise the battle in Liangzhou.
When Jiang Wei was the general of the Western Conquest, he was responsible for supervising the war in Hexi. Now Zheng Pu's authority also covers the two counties of Jincheng and Xiping, and he can also recruit grain and fodder from these two counties for military warfare.
But Fei Yi still felt embarrassed.
Traveling a long distance to attack the Helan Mountains where there were thousands of Wei troops and tens of thousands of Liu Bao troops from the Southern Huns, the Han army could not have used too few troops.
Also, the consumption of food and fodder along the way will be huge.
How much food can the soldiers be supplied with just two more counties?
It’s hard to make ends meet!
Fei Yi lamented in his heart while looking through the inventory documents of Jincheng and Xiping counties.
Jiang Wei's reaction was different.
After hearing what Zheng Pu said, he looked slightly haggard, and a trace of guilt instantly appeared on his face.
After the defeat at Helan Mountain, when the prime minister was repairing the temple in Chengdu, he claimed that the battle was with his approval and that the people in Hexi were not to blame. Therefore, Jiang Wei, as the governor, only received a slight punishment and was demoted to the title of general without a heavy title.
And there is a real rogue general.
Such a caring heart made him deeply moved.
Zheng Pulai, who is now related to Zhang Bao by marriage, did not criticize him at all or express his anger at all after he took office. He also gave him a chance to wash away his defeat. How could he not blame himself even more?
In fact, he hoped that Zheng Pu would curse him mercilessly.
This will make him feel better.
call.........
He quietly exhaled a breath of thick air.
Jiang Wei took the order and said with emotion, "Zi Jin is supervising Liangzhou with integrity, how dare I disobey the general's orders? How to fight? Zi Jin can only give orders. I will not return until I break Helan Mountain and kill Deng Ai!"
After saying that, he added softly, "Zijin, if I don't save Wen Rong at this time, I really can't cross the river..."
But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zheng Pu raising his hand.
"Accommodate things as they come, but do not welcome the future. Do not mix at the time, and do not love after the past. The court has made a conclusion on this battle. Bo Yue should blame himself. If we break Helan Mountain, killing Deng Aifang is the best thing for Brother Wen Rong.
Condolence."
At this point, Zheng Pu, who had clear eyes, patted Jiang Wei's arm gently before turning to Fei Yi who was present and asked, "Brother Wen Wei, do you have a map of the Helan Mountain area?"
Fei Yi didn't answer, raised his head slightly and made a gesture toward Jiang Wei.
Jiang Wei turned sideways and stretched out his hand, "Zijin, I've set up in the side room. Follow me and take a look, please."
"please."
When I was young, I entered the side room.
The side room should be separated, and the space is not large but seems empty, because there is only a model about more than ten feet in size displayed here.
It imitates Ma Yuan's method of "gathering rice to make mountains" in map making in the past, using silk cloth to wind out the rivers and Wushui Valley, using gravel to spread out the desert, using clay embryos to shape mountains, and using small stones to represent cities.
At the garrison point, wooden blocks of different lengths represent the garrisons of the Wei and Southern Xiongnu; the strength of the Han army and the forts or sieges are represented by small needles with red tassels on their tails.
The topography from Wushaoling to Helan Mountain, as well as the deployment of enemy and friendly troops, can be clearly seen at a glance.
"Zijin, this is a map I made based on the military information obtained by the scouts, tortured the prisoners of the Wei army, and bribed the small Qiang and Hu tribes in the Monan area to describe the landforms. It took me a year to complete it. There may be errors in their oral descriptions, and they are against the Wei Dynasty.
The deployment may change from time to time, but the difference will not be too big."
Jiang Wei didn't wait for Zheng Pu to ask questions. After entering the house, he explained directly. He took a long wooden stick from the corner and pointed at various places in order, telling them in detail, such as water sources, trails and whether the trees were lush, etc. The map could not mark the display.
of branches and ends.
It can be seen that he spent a lot of effort in collecting military information.
It must be that he also harbors thoughts of revenge.
Zheng Pu, who had roughly seen the map when he was in Ji County, did not interrupt Jiang Wei's narration and listened quietly with his beard lifted.
After a while, Jiang Wei finally spoke.
"Bojo is concerned."
Zheng Pu first smiled and praised, and then continued, "Since Boyue has fully analyzed the enemy's and our deployment, he must have a strategy to defeat the enemy! I would like to hear the details."
"I have indeed thought about it, and I hope Zijin will not hesitate to correct it."
Nodding gently, Jiang Wei spoke modestly and then told everything in his mind.
"Since Jiangdongyin attacked Huainan and captured the new city of Hefei, both the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the Wuhuan Cavalry moved to fight in the Central Plains. Now there are not many cavalry in Yongliang. It is said that Sima Yi of the Rebel Wei has already recruited and expanded the cavalry in Beidi County.
, but now there are only more than a thousand elite cavalry from Guanzhong left in Helan Mountain."
"The fine cavalry in Guanzhong were defeated by our army, and the former general Fei Yao took off his armor and returned. Now Deng Ai has used the corpses of the enemy and our dead soldiers to build the capital, losing the morale of the soldiers, so their morale and combat effectiveness
Not high.”
"According to the scouts' inquiries, the Qiang and Hu tribes in the northern part of Anding County have become disaffected due to the Wei army's massacre of Zahu, and they no longer have the intention to become vassals to help the war. The Southern Xiongnu Liu Bao was awarded the title of Great Chanyu by the Wei Dynasty at the beginning of the year, but he
He is a cunning person with evil intentions and will not fight to the death against Wei."
"Our army of Xiliang cavalry gathers like hills, disperses like wind and rain, is as fast as thunder and lightning, and is as agile as eagles and falcons. They are especially good at running thousands of miles; and they have been in the army for decades, and they will not worry about the collapse of morale in long-term battles or deep enemy territory.
.So it can be said that our cavalry here can defeat the enemy! Therefore, I secretly believe that before the battle begins, our army can ride into the enemy's territory from here to invade and harass them."
"Zijin, look, this is the road I want to ride on."
At this point, Jiang Wei used the slender stick in his hand to draw across the map from the Shuiquansha River behind the Fortress of Manyin to the middle of the Wushui River Valley (later Tongxin County), and then across the desert to the Kushui River (later Hongsi Fort District).
Then it went north along the Kushui River Valley to Dingxicheng and Fuping County (both of which are on the south bank of the Yellow River).
Zheng Pu followed the point of the slender wooden stick and felt that it was feasible.
Although this journey may seem very far away, it is actually not difficult to walk.
For example, the Kushui River Valley-Nishui (Malian River) River Valley was the main route connecting Guanzhong to the Hetao Plain since Mengtian of the Qin Dynasty went north to attack the Huns!
Now that Jiang Wei plans to advance like this, the only danger is how to avoid being discovered by the anti-Wei cavalry when crossing the Wushui River Valley and setting up an ambush in Dingxi City in advance.
"Zijin, against the Wei Dynasty and Deng Ai's defense on the south bank of the river, the garrison is to guard the place where Wushui merges into the river. Due to the long distance, there is no precaution that our army will detour nearly a thousand miles and attack the heart of the farmland through this route. If
Our army selects a thousand warriors from Xiliang's cavalry, and rushes off with three horses and one man, we will surely catch them by surprise!"
"If everything goes well, our army can destroy all the Wei Wei's farmland in the Helan Mountains and kill all the cattle, sheep and horses they raised, leaving them with no food to eat this year! At this time, our army is driving our infantry to look at Mingsha
If you go up the mountain without food, you will collapse without a fight!"
Naturally, a general should not worry about victory but first worry about defeat.
After Jiang Wei explained his plan, he pointed out its flaws.
"Zijin, what I am plotting has two hidden problems."
"First, before sending the cavalry across the Wushui River Valley, our army needs to make a main offensive posture in the Mingsha Mountain area to attract all the rebel soldiers and horses to the west of the river, so that Deng Ai has no time to distract himself from the Wushui River Valley."
"The other thing is that Liu Bao of the Southern Xiongnu is now collaborating with the Wei Dynasty. The Southern Xiongnu cavalry are facing each other head-on, and their combat power is really not comparable to that of our Xiliang cavalry. However, the Xiliang war horses are good at rushing into battle, while the Southern Xiongnu war horses are like Chao Cuo in the past.
It is said in "War on Military Affairs" that "going up and down mountains and rivers, going in and out of streams, China's horses and horses are the same", he is better at trekking. If our army succeeds in attacking Dingxicheng and Fuping County, Liu Bao will use thousands of cavalry to fight against the elites in Guanzhong of Wei Dynasty.
The cavalry will be surrounded and suppressed together, and the more than a thousand Xiliang cavalry who have driven away may not be able to return! Therefore, if Zijin succeeds in this plot, please use me as your general to lead the cavalry away."
"Haha, what a coincidence!"
After hearing this, Zheng Pu smiled sternly, "I can resolve all the concerns Bo Yue mentioned, and one of them is already being prepared!"
"Zi Jin is serious about what he said?!"
Suddenly, Jiang Wei was overjoyed and asked a question.
He immediately reacted and his face became even more joyful, "Did Zijin mean to send troops according to my plan?"
"Um."
Zheng Pu nodded and said slowly, "Before I came to Hexi, I was also thinking about how to attack Wei's important land. The plan was roughly the same as Bo Yue's, but it was not as detailed as Bo Yue's. As for how to resolve the hidden dangers Bo Yue mentioned.
......."
After trailing off, Zheng Pu took the slender wooden stick from Jiang Wei's hand and pointed it at Yuwei County, "I have asked Brother Xiuran to send troops to build a small camp here to store the transshipped grain.
If Deng Ai saw the procession of transporting grain and fodder, he would definitely not pay attention to the Wushui River Valley."
Jiang Wei was stunned.
When he was young, he said softly, "Zi Jin is storing grain and fodder here. Is it because he has concluded that Wei Wei will not dare to abandon the camp and go to war?"
"Well, I don't dare."
Zheng Pu nodded, and immediately showed a smile, "If he dares, I will give him the grain."
Liangzhou, which has always been short of grain and fodder, could store excess grain and fodder right under the eyes of the enemy!
Zijin must be cheating!
However, it is not difficult to see through this fake grain-transporting deception. Will he fall into Wei Wei's trap?
Or could it be said that Zijin has other plans?
Jiang Wei thought about it for a hundred times, but he couldn't figure it out.
But Zheng Pu did not say much on this matter, but continued, "Bo Yue's concern that the Southern Xiongnu Liu might help the rebels against Wei can be easily resolved. I can just go to Xuanwei City."
