In October of the third year of Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, he was outside Yelang County, Xangqi County.
I still remember that in early February, Deng Ai, on the order of Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, led thousands of Liangzhou troops into Xianggao County to attack Zhu Bao.
But unfortunately, Deng Ai's army was infected with the miasma as soon as it entered the territory of Zangda County.
Although the number of people infected was not large, and although Meng Huo who accompanied the army found a way to treat the miasma in time for the Liangzhou army, the combat effectiveness and morale of the Liangzhou army were still affected by this incident.
Under this unfavorable situation, Deng Ai's five thousand Liangzhou Army encountered an even more difficult dilemma.
Tens of thousands of Jiaozhou soldiers who set out from Jiaozhou arrived at Xangqi County under the leadership of Shi Hui. Taking advantage of the unstable morale of the Liangzhou army and declining combat effectiveness, they gradually formed an encirclement against the Liangzhou army by virtue of their numerical and geographical advantages.
The most important thing is that Yu Fan, who is beside Shi Hui, proposed the strategy of "besieged on all sides" for Shi Hui.
Under the influence of this strategy, the military morale of Liangzhou Army became even more depressed.
But fortunately, the Liangzhou Army had two outstanding generals at that time-Deng Ai and Shi Bao.
After deliberation, Deng Ai and Shi Bao promptly took a series of measures to stabilize people's hearts and led their troops to defend the camp. This prevented thousands of Liangzhou troops from falling into an irreversible situation.
As time goes by, the situation in Yelang County has also undergone many changes.
The first change is that although Zhu Bao sent people to intercept the road, thanks to Deng Ai's timely dispatch of a messenger, a messenger finally broke through the encirclement and went to Yizhou County to ask for help from Zhuge Liang.
After learning about the danger Deng Ai's army was facing, Zhuge Liang was shocked.
He had thought that Sun Quan would secretly assist the Nanzhong rebels, but he did not expect that Sun Quan would send out so many troops and be so blatant!
After Zhuge Liang was shocked, he immediately changed his tactics.
Since Yong Kai had just suffered a major defeat, Zhuge Liang decided to give up attacking Yizhou County temporarily.
He immediately led nearly 10,000 Han troops who had just entered Yizhou County to go to Zangqi County to rescue Deng Ai.
Zhuge Liang knew very well that Deng Ai's army had to make mistakes, otherwise the entire Nanzhong counterinsurgency situation would be reversed.
No matter how worried he was, the terrain in Nanzhong was steep and difficult to move, and the marching speed of Zhuge Liang's army was still greatly affected by this.
By the time Zhuge Liang led outside Yelang County, a month had passed since Deng Ai asked him for help.
In the past month, Deng Ai has been fighting hard almost every few days.
But thanks to the strict military discipline of the Liangzhou army and Deng Ai's good command, thousands of Liangzhou troops did not suffer a fatal blow during this month.
The news of the arrival of Zhuge Liang's army was soon known to Shi Hui.
After learning the news, Shi Hui asked Yu Fan for advice. Yu Fan, who was well versed in the art of war, did not disappoint Shi Hui. He once again said to Shi Hui: In order to prevent the Jiaozhou soldiers from falling into a situation of being attacked from both front and rear, Yu Fan suggested that Shi Hui Let go of the encirclement to the west.
This is a strategy of encircling three and missing one, which can not only reduce the Han army's fighting spirit, but also prevent the Jiaozhou Army in the west from being attacked from both front and rear.
Shi Hui had also read the Art of War, and Yu Fan's suggestions made him feel that they were very suitable for the current war situation, so he followed Yu Fan's suggestions.
Because Shi Hui deliberately let go of the encirclement, Zhuge Liang's army was able to successfully enter the heart of Yelang County and meet up with Deng Ai's army.
When the two Han armies joined forces, it meant that the Han army was capable of fighting the enemy.
However, Zhuge Liang was cautious by nature, or perhaps he had other plans in mind. Faced with the generals' invitation to fight, Zhuge Liang did not agree.
In the next few months, Zhuge Liang only did two things:
The first thing is to send Shi Bao back to Liangzhou to report a letter to Mi Yang.
If the first thing was not strange to everyone, the second thing Zhuge Liang did was even more incomprehensible.
On the one hand, Zhuge Liang did not allow the generals to take the initiative to fight, and on the other hand, he did not lead the Han army to retreat slowly to Yuexi County.
As if he didn't know that there were tens of thousands of enemy troops a few miles away, he quietly led the Han army to station outside Yelang County, and only raised troops and practiced martial arts every day.
Not only the generals of the Han army did not understand the second thing Zhuge Liang did, but also Shi Hui and Yu Fan were confused.
Judging from Zhuge Liang's previous performance, he is not what the rumors say - he only knows internal affairs.
Although Zhuge Liang's record is not as impressive as Mi Yang's, he can still be regarded as a man who knows the military.
But it was precisely this kind of person who knew how to fight, but he made an operation that other people who knew how to fight were completely incomprehensible.
There are only two possibilities for this situation: either Zhuge Liang's strategy exceeds theirs by too much, or Zhuge Liang is just giving directions blindly.
At the beginning, Shi Hui and Yu Fan thought Zhuge Liang might be deceitful, so they followed Zhuge Liang's lead and adopted the tactic of holding back.
But as time went by, Shi Hui, who wanted to be more patient than Zhuge Liang, could no longer hold back.
For several months, Zhuge Liang remained stationary and sent troops to challenge his camp. Zhuge Liang also refused to fight on the grounds that he did not understand the language and could not understand what the enemy soldiers were saying.
Shi Hui cannot be said to be impulsive and impatient, but he is an ambitious person.
Shi Hui knew that his purpose here was to defeat the Han army and become famous all over the world. The Han army never went out to fight, so how could he defeat it?
Should we continue to storm the Han army camp?
When this idea came to mind, Shi Hui naturally gave up the idea without Yu Fan's dissuasion.
At first, only a few thousand Liangzhou troops stood firm in the camp, but his tens of thousands of troops could not storm down, and instead lost a lot of soldiers and horses.
Now the Han army has tens of thousands of troops, and it is even more impossible to capture the Han army's camp by means of a fierce attack.
After getting rid of this idea in his mind, Shi Hui, who felt that he was helpless against the Han army, would inevitably become impatient.
Then he thought of Yu Fan again.
Yu Fan had nothing to do about the current battle situation, but under Shi Hui's urging, Yu Fan finally came up with a plan.
He concluded that Zhuge Liang might not have other plans, but it was precisely because Zhuge Liang had no plans that he had no choice but to adopt the tactic of holding his troops back.
After judging this, Yu Fan had a new strategy in mind.
He suggested to Shi Hui that since Zhuge Liang had made up his mind to stand still, Shi Hui could take this opportunity to contact Zhu Bao and Yong Kai and ask them to mobilize more troops and surround the Han army again.
If Zhuge Liang senses the danger and retreats before several armies encircle him, then Shi Hui can use the geographical advantage to launch an attack on the retreating Han army.
If Zhuge Liang still sticks to the camp and is indifferent to external affairs, then after several armies surround Zhuge Liang's army, the morale of Zhuge Liang's army will definitely be shaken.
By that time, their fighter planes will arrive.
After Shi Hui thought about Yu Fan's strategy, he felt that Yu Fan's strategy did have merit.
Shi Hui was also a decisive person. After deciding to adopt Yu Fan's strategy, he quickly sent a messenger to contact Zhu Bao and Yong Kai.
In the previous war, Zhu Bao had been conserving his strength due to Shi Hui's enthusiasm.
After receiving Shi Hui's letter, Zhu Bao wanted to reject Shi Hui's request, but he thought that Shi Hui was his ally. The current Zangda County could not do without Shi Hui's help, not to mention that in Zhu Bao's view, Shi Hui The idea also has a high possibility of success.
If he could defeat the Han army in one battle, Zhu Bao would be very happy.
As for Yong Kai, let alone him. He had just been defeated by Zhuge Liang a few months ago. He was sinister and always wanted to find an opportunity to take revenge.
Now that the opportunity has come, and with the support of powerful allies, Yong Kai has no reason not to agree to Shi Hui's request.
So not long after, Zhu Bao and Yong Kai led their troops outside Yelang County respectively.
Among the two, Zhu Bao had been conserving his strength, so the army he brought with him numbered 8,000, which was considered his entire family fortune.
Compared with Zhu Bao, Yong Kai, who had just suffered a major defeat, really couldn't use much troops. This time he only led 3,000 troops to the outside of Yelang County.
Of course, although the number is not as large as that of Zhu Bao, these three thousand troops can be regarded as the last support in Yong Kai's hands.
It can be said that for this battle, Shi Hui, Zhu Bao and Yong Kai all used all their trump cards.
When he learned that Zhu Bao and Yong Kai had led an army to help, Shi Hui was overjoyed.
Even though the army brought by Yong Kai was not large, the total strength of the three of them now exceeded 20,000.
It is still difficult for the more than 20,000 troops to break through the Han army's camp, but it is not a big problem to use the geographical advantage to surround the Han army again.
So at the end of October in the third year of Han Zhangwu, the Han army in Yelang County was once again surrounded by rebels.
It seemed that for a while, the embattled situation that the Han army faced half a year ago was about to happen again.
In order to further undermine the morale of the Han army, Shi Hui not only spread rumors outside Yelang County, but also spread the news that Zhuge Liang's army was surrounded by several nearby counties loyal to the Han army.
Judging from the current situation, this news can be regarded as fact.
So when the news spread, it soon reached Liu Bei's ears, causing him to be anxious and worried.
But no matter how anxious Liu Bei is, what's the use of worrying?
At present, the Han Dynasty has no generals to use, let alone soldiers to mobilize. All Liu Bei can do is to trust Zhuge Liang.
And when this situation, which seemed very dangerous to outsiders, happened, what was Zhuge Liang, the commander-in-chief of the Han Army in South China, doing?
He was looking at the map in the big tent.
It was a very dark night today, and the entire Han army camp was plunged into darkness except for the torches lighting up the necessary positions.
This thick darkness seemed to foreshadow the future situation of the Han army, and it was so overwhelming that the tens of thousands of Han soldiers were suffocated.
However, in this vast and dense darkness, there is a light that always exists.
That light came from the candlelight in Zhuge Liang's tent.
It was this light that left a sense of hope in the hearts of tens of thousands of Han troops.
How could Zhuge Liang not know what kind of turmoil the Han army's morale would face under the current situation?
Perhaps this situation was something he had anticipated in advance.
After all, the current situation faced by the Han army is directly related to him, the commander-in-chief of the army.
In the past, it was not that no generals had made suggestions to Zhuge Liang. They hoped that the Han army would either return to Yuexi County in time, or defeat Shi Hui's troops before the enemy army encircled him.
But these suggestions, which they considered to be very pertinent, were all rejected by Zhuge Liang.
And Zhuge Liang's refusal was very firm.
Zhuge Liang never hoped that anyone could understand his inner plan. In the mountains and rivers, bosom friends are always hard to find.
Due to his firm determination, Zhuge Liang was not affected by the doubts from everyone and the fact that the morale of the Han army declined.
During this period of time, he didn't even hold a meeting. He just quietly observed the terrain outside Yelang County in the big tent.
Zhuge Liang's wise eyes followed the movement of the candlelight in his hand and observed the map of Yelang County bit by bit.
Yelang County has a special geographical location. It is located at the intersection of the main roads of Yuexi County, Yizhou County and Zangda County.
This makes Yelang County a battleground for military strategists in this southern expedition.
If this were not the case, the three rebels would not even think about trying their best to eliminate the Han army outside Yelang County.
But even though Yelang County is very important to the three counties, due to the backward economy of Nanzhong, the development of Yelang County has not been good for hundreds of years.
Yelang County is surrounded by dense mountains, and there are only three important roads outside the county connecting the three counties.
This is also the most important reason why the three rebels were able to encircle the Han army.
You don't need too many soldiers and horses, just send heavy troops to guard these three important roads, then all the ways out for the Han army will be blocked.
To this day, Zhuge Liang already knows the terrain outside Yelang County very well.
The more he understands, the more confident Zhuge Liang will be in his plan.
At this moment, Yang Yi suddenly walked in from outside the tent.
After Yang Yi came in, he saw Zhuge Liang staying up late at night, reading maps and working on state affairs. A look of worry suddenly appeared on his face.
"Prime Minister, it's already dark, go to bed early!"
Zhuge Liang turned around after hearing Yang Yi's voice. Facing Yang Yi's worry, Zhuge Liang just smiled lightly.
He did not respond to Yang Yi's concerns, but asked softly: "Isn't he gone yet?"
When asking this question, Zhuge Liang was not idle. He returned to his seat and continued to deal with the military affairs on the desk.
Seeing that Zhuge Liang did not listen to his dissuasion, Yang Yi's face became more worried.
But he also knew that he couldn't persuade Zhuge Liang.
Yang Yi quickly answered Zhuge Liang's inquiry: "Captain Deng has never left since early morning."
Hearing what Yang Yi said, Zhuge Liang gave a noncommittal hum.
Deng Ai asked to see him early in the morning, and Zhuge Liang knew what Deng Ai's purpose was in asking to see him.
But because there were still some details that needed to be worked out in the plan at that time, Zhuge Liang did not receive him.
I originally thought that Deng Ai might realize his interest and leave soon, but unexpectedly, Deng Ai has waited until now.
A few hours ago, Zhuge Liang had told Yang Yi that if Deng Ai had not left at this time, then he would come and inform him - even if he had fallen asleep.
Deng Ai's persistence made Zhuge Liang feel more and more that he was a talent that could be created.
Zhuge Liang then raised his head and said to Yang Yiyan: "Call him in."
Zhuge Liang's words made Yang Yi bow and walk out of the tent.
After Yang Yi left, Zhuge Liang looked at the empty tent and couldn't help but tug on his cold-proof cloak.
He is also a human being, how can he not feel the cold and fatigue?
But he is the prime minister of the Han Dynasty!
At this time, Zhuge Liang remembered Shi Bao who left a few months ago, and he thought that Shi Bao might have already brought his letter to Mi Yang.
The letter he asked Shi Bao to bring to Mi Yang, in addition to asking about the situation in the north and his views on the Wei army, also said one sentence emphatically:
"No later than the end of the year, I will win as a teacher. Just wait a moment and let me help you."
Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang let out a long breath.
The end of the year is here, and it’s time for the battle between Nanzhong and Nanzhong!
(End of chapter)
