It is indeed a strange thing to look at the weak enemy in front of you and not destroy it immediately.
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others were all generals who killed enemies on the battlefield. They may be good at leading troops in battle, but they are not very proficient in wisdom and strategy.
But Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang and others are very smart themselves. They are all familiar with military books and historical materials, so how can they not see the difference?
Although Chinese civilization and many military strategies originated from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the difference between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is still too great with that of the Unified Dynasty, and many things cannot be compared.
For example, right now, if Liu Bei continues to attack, Yuan Shao will be dead.
Because many national wars during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were due to the strong national identity between the army and the people. After the fall of the Zhao State, they still resisted tenaciously for six years. After the fall of the Chu State, Xiang Yu established King Huai of Chu, and the hometown of Chu State responded. This is the reason
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But after the Han Dynasty, the common people have generally accepted the title of Han Dynasty people. The court has great righteousness. Most of Yuan Shao's soldiers came to join the army for food and pay, and even a large part of them were captured strong men.
The fighting will of these soldiers is far from being compared with the unity of the country during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Therefore, let alone those with intelligence above 90 such as Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Chen Qun and Yang Xiu, even those with intelligence below 90 such as Kong Jian, Huang Qi and Yao Bo
Even with a second-rate level, you can still see the clues.
The eight people looked puzzled, but they were soft-spoken. They were not even qualified to go inside and sit in the meeting, let alone put forward opinions. Therefore, even Yang Xiu, who had a low emotional intelligence and liked to show off, could only do it outside.
I was anxious and didn't dare to go in.
Liu Bei issued the order, and all ministries began to take action.
Guan Yu returned to Yecheng, and the imperial court's three-pronged army, totaling 100,000 men, surrounded Yecheng from Shexian, Wucheng and Pingyang, east, west and south. However, according to Liu Bei's deployment, they began to prepare to retreat for about ten miles.
The land no longer presses outside the city.
After Liu Bei met Guan Yu in Yangping, he went north across the Zhang River and Fu River and headed for Liangqi. Liangqi County is located fifty miles north of Yecheng and thirty miles south of Handan. It is right in the middle of the two cities, so he occupied this place.
After that, the connection between the two cities can be cut off.
As the capital of Zhao State and the accompanying capital of Wei State during the Warring States Period, Handan and Yecheng were not small cities. Small county towns in the Han Dynasty were generally only four or five meters high, and some small towns were even only three meters high. There were only two cities in Chang'an and Luoyang.
The city wall is twelve meters high, and the bottom and top widths are more than fifteen meters.
Handan and Yecheng are the few city walls with a height close to ten meters. The height of the city is about four feet, and the width and top width are both five feet. Although the area is not as large as Chang'an and Luoyang, this is the advantage of Handan and Yecheng.
Because Chang'an and Luoyang are so big, there are more than ten city gates alone, which makes it difficult for the defenders to cover everything. Without an army of hundreds of thousands, it is impossible to defend. Handan and Yecheng are much smaller than Chang'an and Luoyang.
With about 50,000 to 60,000 troops, they can easily hold it, so these two cities are more difficult to defeat than Chang'an and Luoyang.
Liu Bei listened to Chen Mu's advice, and after capturing Liangqi County, he continued northward and surrounded Handan. However, he did not immediately approach the city with troops. Instead, he deployed a heavy siege network on the outside and set up camp more than ten miles away from the city to prevent
Yuan Shao jumped over the wall and fought with him to the death.
After the encirclement was set up, Yecheng and Handan became a dead place. Luoyang's 100,000 troops besieged Yecheng, Qingzhou's 100,000 troops plus Xian Yufu's Youzhou army besieged Handan. The two cities were so besieged that it was difficult to fly.
.
There is a moat outside the city, a road under the city, and willows clinging to the river. Liu Hui and Jiang Yiqu watched the situation at the top of the city. Seeing the Qingzhou army receding like a tide, the two of them, who had been in suspense, breathed a sigh of relief.
It's not like they didn't consider going south to Yecheng immediately after arriving in Handan.
However, Yuan Shao was very ill. Since he vomited blood at the Battle of Jieqiao, he had a high fever every day, sometimes waking up and sometimes falling into coma. In addition, Qingzhou was chasing him in a hurry, so he had to stay in Handan.
There are still 30,000 to 40,000 troops in Handan City, but the morale of the army is low and the morale of the soldiers is very low. If Liu Bei takes advantage of the victory and pursues it at this time, it is very likely that he will break through the city. So when they saw the enemy retreat, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, I am full of doubts.
"Jianjun, why do you think the Qingzhou Army retreated?"
Jiang Yiqu looked confused.
Liu Hui shook his head and said: "I don't know, maybe they have other considerations. In the past few days, they sent letters to the city to persuade them to surrender, but I threw them out again. Maybe they knew that we would not surrender, so they were preparing to attack the city.
.”
"Are you going to encircle us without attacking and plan to kill us?"
Jiang Yiqu said.
Liu Huidao: "It's possible."
Jiang Yiqu sighed: "There is not much food and grass in the city, I'm afraid it won't last long."
"So we must get in touch with Gongzi Tan as soon as possible."
Liu Hui's face was heavy.
Yuan Shao's physical condition was worrying, and there was not much food and grass in the city. The main reason was that he was too late. Originally, there was still some food stored in the counties of Julu Zhao Kingdom, but the pursuers were chasing closely. They could only arrange for people to go south, and the food and grass could not be transported immediately.
There is not much food left in the city now. It is only enough to feed the army for two or three months. Even if you save a little, there will be no food in the city for three months. By that time, I am afraid that even if the Qingzhou Army does not attack, they will have no choice but to leave the city and surrender.
, or they will all starve to death this way.
While Handan City was watching the situation outside the city, Liu Bei's army was also setting up camp on the outside in full swing. In addition to Zang Ba's troops stationed in Liang Qi, Qianzhao's, Zhang Fei's, Zhang Liao's, Gaoshun's and Xianyu's auxiliary's troops
, one after another built new camps on the periphery, surrounding Handan from all sides.
Chen Mu himself led a school of troops, located in the west of the city. This is a plain. A river flows slowly from the depths of the Taihang Mountains, heading towards Handan. The trees and vegetation on both sides of the river are dense, and the northwest is rolling.
The Taihang Mountains are looming in the distance, and there are many ruins such as ruins in the north, as well as some villages and farmland.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Because this place is not far from Congtai. In those days, Congtai was just west of Handan City. It was a large palace complex where King Wuling of Zhao reviewed the army and watched singing and dancing. After many years
After the war, it had long been destroyed in history. What can be seen now is only the vague remains of some palace walls and courtyard tiles, willow banks, and the waning moon in the morning breeze.
Chen Mu's camp was built against Congtai. There were still some palace walls left in Congtai, which he used as village walls. It took a day to build the camp, but he only used the palace walls and fences to circle a camp.
, many infrastructure facilities have not yet been built. The soldiers were tired for a day and hastily erected tents to rest. They will wait until tomorrow to start work and continue to improve the entire camp facilities.
At night, the bright moon hung high, and the lights in Chen Mu's tent were like beans. Soldiers were constantly patrolling outside the tent. With a token hanging on his waist, Zhuge Liang walked unimpeded from his tent to the outside of Chen Mu's tent, but
Just by the light of the brazier set up in the camp, I saw a young scholar walking slowly from the opposite side.
"Brother Zhongda!"
Zhuge Liang knew him as Sima Yi.
Sima Yi, Sima Lang, Chen Qun, and Yang Xiu were not under Chen Mu. They were assistant officials in the Luoyang army. Unlike Zhuge Liang and others, they were Chen Mu's direct subordinates, so they should have followed Guan Yu.
But Chen Mu left Sima Yi, Chen Qun, and Yang Xiu behind and asked Sima Lang to go back, so now all seven of them are with Chen Mu, acting as assistants.
Of course Chen Mu didn't need them as his staff, so he actually had other arrangements to keep them.
Sima Yi was three years older than Zhuge Liang, and he was just twenty this year. When he saw Zhuge Liang coming, he smiled and said in return: "It turns out to be Kong Ming. During the day, I had an official document and wanted to ask Kong Ming for advice, but it happened that the young master asked me to
I was delayed in going to deal with the rest of the camp in the north."
"I don't dare ask for advice. If Brother Zhongda has something you don't know, just come and ask me as soon as possible."
Zhuge Liang responded humbly.
Because Sima Yi followed Guan Yu before, he was familiar with the affairs of Guan Yu's army. But when he came to Liu Bei's side, he had to become familiar with it again. Some specific data had to be asked by Zhuge Liang, Kong Jian and others, so everyone still had a lot of exchanges, and increasingly
Familiar.
"Are they Kong Ming and Zhongda? Come in."
At this moment, Chen Mu's voice sounded in the tent. The two of them were talking quietly at the door, but they didn't expect that Chen Mu, who had sharp ears, heard them.
Ah Da Ah Er, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, who were on duty at the door, moved out of the way and let them in.
Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang declined each other and filed in. They saw Chen Mu wearing a single coat and sitting at the table, concentrating on reading.
A lamp was lit on the desk, and Chen Mu's face was illuminated brightly.
His skin is fair and his face is like a crown jewel. The 32-year-old Shaofu Qing looks like a 23-year-old youth. There is only a trace of white hair on the temples, but it tells the world that time flies by and time never changes because of someone.
He held a high position without leaving any trace on him.
"Master!"
"Young Master!"
Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi bowed their hands to him.
Chen Mu closed the book in his hand, raised his head and looked at the two of them and said, "Sit down."
"Thank you Master (Shaofu)."
After the two thanked each other, they sat down on Chen Mu's left and right sides.
Chen Mu looked at the two of them and said with a smile: "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi looked at each other. After a while, Zhuge Liang raised his hands and said, "Master, Liang is a little confused."
"Wondering why I didn't immediately attack Yuan Shao, whose army has been demoralized?"
Chen Mu said with a smile.
Sima Yi also held up his hands and said: "I can't hide anything from the young master. Yi is also puzzled."
Chen Mu put the book down, pressed it gently, rubbed his fingertips slowly on the paper, and said softly: "Kong Ming, you are my most proud disciple. Zhongda, you are my most promising subordinate. You are all
My best disciple, I can tell you some things, but there are some things that you just need to keep in mind and do. Don’t say too much or ask too many questions. Do you understand?”
Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi looked at each other. Both of them looked at each other, and there was a sudden realization deep in their hearts. Then almost at the same time, they felt a sense of vigilance in their hearts. Both of them felt like they were facing a formidable enemy, with a look in their eyes.
Looking at each other with a hint of coldness.
A most proud disciple and a most promising subordinate.
This sentence itself has a deeper meaning, that is, what Chen Mu values most is the two of them. In the future, Chen Mu's successor will most likely be selected from the two of them.
This means that because of this sentence, the two people instantly became their biggest competitors, causing the initially harmonious relationship to immediately change.
Although they, as smart people, also understood that this was done deliberately by Chen Mu, maybe it was the leader's favor, maybe he had other intentions. But no matter what, the tone of the relationship was set at this moment, and between them
, will regard each other as their formidable enemy.
"Liang (Yi) understands."
The two of them raised their hands almost at the same time and said.
Chen Mu laughed and said: "Taking advantage of the victory to pursue and destroy Yuan Shao is a strategy. But letting Yuan Shao go and letting him continue to live is politics. This matter should be treated as a test for you. Think about it carefully.
Why do I need to go slowly rather than later? Once you have figured this out, come to me again and you can go back."
"only!"
The two stood up and walked respectfully backwards out of the tent.
After coming out, Zhuge Liang smiled and said to Sima Yi: "Brother Zhongda, what do you think is the reason for the politics that Master mentioned?"
"have no idea."
Sima Yi shook his head. He had already determined that Zhuge Liang would be his biggest competitor in the future. How could he tell him his guess?
However, Zhuge Liang looked to the southwest and murmured to himself: "I think it may be above the court."
"Chatang?"
Sima Yi licked his dry lips and said lightly: "Maybe."
"Brother Zhongda, I'll take my leave now."
Zhuge Liang smiled and cupped his hands and said, "If there is anything you don't know about military affairs, you are welcome to ask me."
"Then it will be a lot of trouble for Kong Ming."
Sima Yi also returned the gift with his hand, and the two parted ways here, thinking about the political considerations Chen Mu mentioned.
However, on the way back, Sima Yi felt even more terrified after thinking about it.
I hadn't noticed it before, but I didn't expect that Zhuge Liang was so powerful, and he was at a disadvantage without knowing it.
If Zhuge Liang came out and immediately turned away without even saying hello to him, he would probably look down on him a lot and not think that such a person could be his opponent at all.
But after he came out, he was generous and still maintained his previous demeanor. He boldly told his guess, and his level was a level higher than him.
At least Sima Yi himself had vaguely guessed at the so-called political considerations, maybe in the court, but he would never tell Zhuge Liang.
But he is so calm, maybe because he is a gentleman, maybe because he thinks that he is not his opponent, but no matter what, at least his attitude makes people very comfortable, and it is difficult to find fault with this point.
The best students in Taishan Academy are really terrifying.
Sima Yi was filled with emotions.
But then, Sima Yi's gaze became even firmer.
With the existence of such a powerful opponent, you can ignite your fighting spirit. Only by being taken seriously by the Shaofu Qing can you rise to the top in the future.
At least.
Even if there is such a powerful enemy ahead, Sima Yi will never admit defeat!