At the end of February in the fifth year of Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, just half a month after Liu Feng led his army to Jieting, Wei Zuo General Zhang He also led his army to outside Jieting.
The speed of the Wei army's approach shocked Liu Feng.
Liu Feng originally expected that the Wei army would send a large army to Jieting, and it would take three months at the earliest.
This was not Liu Feng's random guess, but the unanimous conclusion of all the generals in the army before Liu Feng left Tianshui.
In the first month of the year, Liu Bei had just led his army into Longyou, and it was only that month that the three counties of Tianshui surrendered without a fight.
Luoyang is thousands of miles away from Longyou. Even if Cao Zhen rushed the news to Luoyang for 600 miles, in the face of such a huge change, Cao Wei would normally have to discuss it for a while.
This is a natural shortcoming of any large central court under decentralized checks and balances.
Especially the current pseudo-emperor of Cao Wei is still the same Cao Pi who is obsessed with power.
Cao Wei's mobilization of reinforcements from outside was a time-consuming task.
Due to the above factors, it is reasonable for Han generals to speculate that Cao Wei's reinforcements would arrive at Jieting as early as March.
But what they didn't expect was that Wei Jun's arrival was faster than expected.
To think that the Wei army could advance so quickly, apart from the fact that the general of the Wei army may be good at attacking and fighting, the Cao Wei court also maintained unimaginable efficiency in dealing with this great change.
Liu Feng's guess was correct. No Han before would have thought that Cao Rui, who was only twenty years old, could decisively react to the great changes in Longyou in one day.
After learning about the arrival of the Wei army, Liu Feng climbed up the mountain again and wanted to observe the Wei army's military situation from a high perspective.
From Liu Feng's sight, he saw that the Wei army had just arrived at Jieting Road and was not in a hurry to attack the Han army.
The Wei army is building a camp on the spot.
Liu Feng also saw that many Wei troops went to the surrounding dense forests to collect materials and began to build and assemble various siege equipment.
Perhaps due to the distance, Liu Feng could not fully see other information about the Wei army at once.
But at least judging from the smoke and dust floating in the distance, the number of Wei soldiers will definitely not be less than tens of thousands.
In addition to having a rough estimate of the number of the Wei army in his mind, Liu Feng also knew the identity of the general who came to aid the Wei army from the general flags hung high by the Wei army.
Zhang He!
After learning that Zhang He was leading his army to the street pavilion, Liu Feng gradually became cautious.
Although Liu Feng had been in confinement for three years, as a deputy general, he knew a lot of information about the Wei army before he was in confinement.
For example, in the early years, the Wei army had a reputation similar to the "Five Sons of Good Generals".
Cao Wei always valued clans over different surnames in military affairs. In the decades since Cao Cao's war, there are only a handful of examples of people with different surnames being able to individually control the military power of a place.
And these five good generals are all manifestations of this rare case.
Cao Cao can attach special importance to these five people. It is obvious that the talents of these five people are among the best in the world.
Although to this day, only Zhang Bu is left among the so-called "Five Good Generals" of Cao Wei. The others died or surrendered, and most of them were defeated generals of the Han army.
But the person who accomplished this great feat was the old general Guan Yu, not Liu Feng.
Moreover, Liu Feng also knew that the reason why those three good generals were defeated by Guan Yu was that, apart from Guan Yu's superb ability, another important reason was that all three of them were framed by the Cao clan.
For example, Yu Jin, whose seven armies were flooded, actually did not want to set up camp in low-lying areas after he led his troops outside Fancheng.
It was Cao Ren who forced Yu Ban to do this...
Without the help of Cao Ren and Cao Pi, Guan Yu might not have won those battles back then.
The more he knew, the more fear Liu Feng felt.
With Liu Feng's character, he wouldn't have been afraid before the battle started, but who made Liu Bei so afraid of Zhang He?
Liu Bei's fear of Zhang He was clearly reflected as early as the Battle of Hanzhong.
"He knows the variables, is good at setting up camp, and knows the battle situation and terrain, and everything is worse than a plan." This was Liu Bei's evaluation of Zhang He back then.
Liu Feng has always regarded Liu Bei as a god. It is normal for Liu Bei's attitude to affect Liu Feng.
But Liu Feng did not show his fear on his face. After roughly observing the situation of the Wei army, he returned to the camp.
But what Liu Feng may not have expected is that while he was observing the Wei army's situation on the high mountain, Zhang He was also on the other side of the mountain, observing the Han army's situation.
About half a month, coupled with Ding Feng's day and night supervision, was enough for the Han army to establish a camp on the flat ground.
Perhaps some details of the fortress have not yet been perfected, but the general framework has been established.
Looking at the Han army camp that stretched for miles and had defensive facilities gathered together, Zhang He couldn't help but sigh.
Five good generals, each with his own strengths.
One of Zhang He's strengths is that he is good at setting up camps according to the terrain.
As an expert in setting up camps, Zhang He could see at a glance the power of the Han army's camp.
The Han army's camp was directly at the throat of the main street of Jieting.
When Zhang He and Cao Rui faced each other in Luoyang, Zhang He had predicted to Cao Rui three responses to the Han army's arrival at Jieting.
Among the three countermeasures, the one Zhang He didn't want the most was for the Han army to take the lead and attack the stronghold.
This method is most beneficial to the Han army and most disadvantageous to him. But now that the matter has come to this, Zhang He doesn't lament too much.
After all, there are many talented people in the world, and we cannot expect that the Han army will not think of anything he can think of.
After observing the situation in the Han army's camp, Zhang He glanced at the general flags hanging high in the Han army's camp, and then his eyes showed joy.
The Han army can fly any general flag, as long as it does not fly the military flag with the word "mi". As long as Mi Yang didn't come in person, the battle would still be fought.
Although according to the mainstream view of the world, Xu Huang and Zhang Liao were defeated at the hands of Guan Yu, Mi Yang made indelible contributions in those two battles.
"The letter reflecting the connection with Jiangdong was sent to Fancheng" and "Giving women's clothing to Cao Pi". Without these two magical touches, how could Xu Huang and Zhang Liao be defeated so easily by Guan Yu?
As one of the five good generals, how could Zhang He not feel the sadness of a rabbit dying and a fox dying when he faced Mi Yang after Guan Yu's death?
Zhang He soon returned to the army.
After he returned to the army, Man Chong immediately greeted him.
Man Chong was previously sent by Cao Xiu to lead troops to Luoyang, but after leading his army to Luoyang, Cao Rui kept Man Chong behind.
Guanzhong is in danger, which is the time to employ people.
On the other hand, although Jiangdong sent troops to the Northern Expedition, according to Cao Xiu, there was nothing to worry about. In this case, Cao Rui naturally wanted to use a talent like Man Chong in the Guanzhong battlefield.
When Zhang He led his army to Longyou, Man Chong was named a general and became Zhang He's deputy general.
After Man Chong came up to greet him, he asked Zhang He: "Can General Zuo think of a way to defeat the enemy?"
There was unconcealable anxiety in Man Chong's tone. Longyou was divided into two parts by the Han army and was in danger.
Faced with such a dangerous situation, it was difficult for Man Chong not to be anxious.
The reason why Zhang He went up the mountain to observe the enemy's situation in person was to think of ways to defeat the enemy.
Under Man Chong's eager gaze, a smile appeared on Zhang He's face. He nodded slowly and said:
"He now has a strategy in mind."
Hearing what Zhang He said, Man Chong couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly asked: "May I ask what the general's strategy is?"
Seeing that Man Chong was so eager, Zhang He did not delay. He took him to a table and sat down. Then he took a piece of white paper and roughly drew a map of the Han army's camp formation on the white paper.
After completing this move, Zhang He pointed to the Han army camp on the paper and said:
"The enemy general chose to camp on a key road that is several miles wide, leaving us with no choice but to attack one way. This is enough to show that the enemy general is a good general.
But the situation is unpredictable, and the terrain of the street pavilion gave our army the possibility to defeat the enemy. "
Looking at the Han army camp on the paper, Man Chong looked thoughtful.
He was also good at military strategy, and the layout of the Han army's camp made some ideas emerge in his mind.
While Man Chong was deep in thought, Zhang He continued: "According to the military information received previously, Liu Bei currently has at most 50,000 infantry troops.
However, Longxi and Guangwei counties have not yet rebelled. If Liu Bei wants to seize the entire Longyou land, he will definitely divide his troops to attack Longxi and Guangwei counties.
Longxi County is located in the northwest, the road is far away, and the local people are dangerous. If Liu Bei wants to quickly attack Longxi County, it will take at least 30,000 troops to do it.
Guangwei County is located to the east of Longshan. Shanggui in the county has always been the main route for our army to enter Longyou, and it is also the back and front of the rebel army's food route.
Even if Liu Bei does not immediately lead his army to capture Shanggui, he will definitely leave a heavy force behind to guard his retreat.
With the two forces divided, how many soldiers could Liu Bei send to the street pavilion?
I think it's no more than ten thousand at most. "
Zhang He expressed his judgment bit by bit. Zhang He's judgment made Man Chong nod repeatedly.
Although no specific military information has been reported yet, Zhang Bu, a famous general,
Still relying on his keen judgment, he came to an inference that was close to the facts.
After Zhang He said this inference, a smile appeared on his face and he asked Man Chong:
"With several miles of battalions and tens of thousands of troops, we can't keep it airtight, let alone just over 10,000 enemy troops?"
This is the opportunity for victory that Zhang He discovered after observing the Han army's camp just now. Of course, if you want to turn the opportunity to win into the final victory, you must have corresponding tactics.
"Our army is several times larger than the enemy's, and there are tens of thousands of cavalry.
After our army builds siege equipment, we can first storm the bandit camp. When the offensive is fierce, the enemy general will definitely dispatch sergeants from other places for rescue.
At that time, our army can detach a cavalry army to cooperate with the infantry and look for opportunities to storm another part of the enemy's camp.
If the enemy's army is saved in the east, our army will attack in the west. If the enemy's army is in a defensive position, our army will be broken into pieces and consolidated to attack the enemy's weak point.
In the long run, the enemy army will definitely be exhausted and in a panic.
When the enemy's morale is depressed, why can't the enemy camp be broken? "When Zhang He finished explaining the strategy in his mind, Man Chong couldn't help clasping his hands and laughing. "When Emperor Wu was there, he once praised the general's ability to become unparalleled, and Chong saw it today. "In Man Chong's view, Zhang He's strategy is excellent.
But after laughing, Man Chong still had a question in his mind.
"Our army can break through one area of the enemy's camp with a few points of attack, but if we don't annihilate all the enemy troops, our army's retreat may be in danger."
What Zhang He just talked about was the strategy of breaking through the Han army's camp. Just because the Han army's camp was breached, it does not mean that the Han army will be completely annihilated.
At worst, the Han army can concentrate its remaining forces in one place and guard a large camp.
In this case, Wei Jun still cannot pass through the street pavilion safely. Zhang He had already made plans for Man Chong's doubts.
Zhang He said confidently: "As long as our army can tear open a hole in the enemy's camp, and the enemy's entire army will be annihilated, it will be a foregone conclusion!"
Faced with Zhang He's determination, Man Chong was surprised.
Facing Man Chong's surprised gaze, Zhang He's eyes showed a fierce look.
"Because at that time I will send troops to circle behind the enemy's camp, cut off their food routes, destroy their water sources, and lose all their water and food. If Mi Yang comes personally, what should the enemy be afraid of?"
After hearing Zhang He's next plan, Man Chong was stunned for a moment, and then laughed again.
If this can be done, it will be great.
Some people died, but not completely...
