As for the importance of Qishan Fort, Zhang Xi emphasized it to Zhuge Liang and others as early as when Chengdu was planning the Northern Expedition, and it was recognized by everyone.
This nail must be removed, otherwise it will be quite uncomfortable if it is stuck in your own food supply line.
It doesn't matter when the attack goes well, but once the attack doesn't go well, or the front line is frustrated, then this Qishan Fort will be as uncomfortable as a fish bone stuck in the throat.
However, when we were in Chengdu, because we were talking on paper, no one knew the specific situation of Qishan Fort very well, so we could only treat Qishan Fort simply as a military fortress.
To break through a military fortress, even if it requires a quick break, there is no way out.
After all, Qishan Fort is not a group of fortresses, it is an independent fortress. The surrounding counties are also quite far away from Qishan Fort, and they cannot provide mutual rescue and coordination. In this case, whether it is using tricks to attract the defenders out or attacking by force, there will be Method.
But when they arrived in Hanzhong, after Fazheng collected the information about Qishan Fort, he also gasped - this military fortress was actually built on a mountain? !
What made Fazheng even more uncomfortable after that was that Qishan Fort was not only on the mountain, but also had only one road up the mountain. It occupied a geographical advantage from a high position, and there was no shortage of water on the mountain, which made it uncomfortable.
Fazheng took this intelligence information and found Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi. The three people had discussed it and came to a unanimous conclusion.
Or, let the soldiers crowd on the mountain road, attack from bottom to top, and pile down the Qishan Fort with human lives.
But the scale of Qishan Fort can station an army of three thousand to five thousand people. Given the geographical advantage, you can't pile up tens of thousands of people at all.
The loss of this soldier is a bit unacceptable.
Then the only way left is to besiege but not attack, wait for the defenders in Qishan Fort to run out of food and grass, and then go down the mountain to surrender.
So, to a certain extent, if Ma Di can really control the water source, it is not unacceptable to go up the mountain. If he chooses to let Zhang He's cavalry go over, all the remaining food and grass you have will be under my threat, and there will be no more. Liangcao, even if you go to rescue Liangzhou, you won't be able to last a few days.
As for Zhang He's cavalry encircling the mountain, Ma Di was actually not afraid. Anyway, his purpose was to buy time. If you can, Zhang He, continue to surround me until I run out of food and supplies.
But Ma Su's problem was that he didn't expect Zhang He to arrive so quickly, and he hadn't fully controlled the water source yet. Zhang He arrived when he was ready to defend the water source area, and Ma Su was still at a loss to deal with it, allowing Zhang He to easily occupy the water source.
This is the most critical factor why Ma Su failed to defend the street pavilion.
But these problems do not exist in Qishanbao.
Until Zhang Xi led his troops as the vanguard and quickly marched towards Wudu County, Zhuge Liang and Fazheng suggested that Qishan Fort besieged with a small number of soldiers and horses, bypassing Qishan Fort and heading towards Liangzhou.
But Zhang Xi finally wanted to try and see if he could remove this Qishan Fort.
Zhang Xi's idea was to attack by surprise.
They called Jufu, Zhang Yi, Wei Yan, and Zhang Xi to discuss their ideas with the three of them to see if they could work.
"Wudu County can be conquered soon, but the key to this expedition is not Wudu, but Qishan Fort!" Zhang Xi pointed out the location of Qishan Fort to the three people with a military map, and said, "If we don't capture this place, It’s like it’s stuck in your throat and you can’t feel free!”
Jufu and Zhang Yi are not novices on the battlefield, and they also have good strategic vision, and Wei Yan is not to mention the dignified prefect of Hanzhong. If he can't see the importance of Qishan Fort, then don't mess around.
Therefore, after hearing the specific situation of Qishan Fort, the three people all frowned and thought.
In the end, it was Wei Yan who was the first to suggest something, saying, "Why not take advantage of the fact that you don't know the movements of the army at this moment, and are unprepared to take a detour to attack this place?!"
Although Wei Yan and Zhang Xi didn't get along, matters in the military formation were related to national affairs, and neither Wei Yan nor Zhang Xi had any intention of settling old scores.
Not to mention, this time Wei Yan's ideas coincided with Zhang Xi's.
"I also have this intention!" Zhang Xi nodded and said to Wei Yan, "I intend to postpone the march to Wudu so that the Qishan Fort guard will not notice it. I will send people to take a detour through the mountains to avoid the surveillance of Wudu County and launch a surprise attack. Qishan Fort. After taking Qishan Fort, conquer Wudu again."
But this strategy actually has its risks.
Jufu was a junior, so he just frowned, thinking about how to say this.
But after all, Zhang Yi had followed Zhang Xi for a while and knew Zhang Xi's temper, so he said bluntly, "But Qishan Fort is still a hundred miles away from Wudu. A raider hundreds of miles away may not be conducive to the battle. Let's wait A large army of more than 20,000 people, how can such a large army avoid Wudu’s surveillance and make a detour to attack?!”
Zhang Xi still nodded and agreed with Zhang Yi's statement, but still insisted, "Therefore, the raiding army must be mainly elites, with no more than a few thousand people. They need to travel day and night to raid Qishan Fort. Qishan Fort is about 30 kilometers away from Wudu County. A hundred miles away, the march is only three or four days away. Four days after the assault army sets off, we will lead a large army to besiege Wudu."
"In this case, if we attack Wudu and the raiding army fails to capture Qishan Fort, Liangzhou may be prepared!" Jufu finally put forward his suggestion.
Once the Northern Expedition begins to attack, whether it is attacking Wudu County or Qishan Fort, these two places will send warning messengers to Liangzhou. If they cannot quickly conquer these places and lead the army to advance, I am afraid Liangzhou will be able to get it soon. News, be on guard.
After all, Fazheng also said that the most important thing in sending troops this time is surprise and speed. If Liangzhou is prepared, the next battle will be difficult to fight.
In fact, Zhang Xi also knew, but he felt that the problem should not be big.
Wudu County is not difficult to defeat. Most of Wudu County has been infiltrated to the point of infiltration. Basically, when the army drove over, they opened the city and surrendered. What Zhang Xi did now was just to attack Qishan Fort four days in advance.
Even if the Liangzhou Legion learned the news four days in advance and wanted to adjust its deployment and switch its defense focus, it might not even have enough time to mobilize its troops, so there shouldn't be much of a problem.
The soldiers of this era are not mechanized troops, nor are they rabbit troops. It is simply unrealistic to adjust the soldiers in place and change the entire battle situation in four days.
Therefore, Zhang Xi insisted on implementing his own strategy.
Jufu and Zhang Yi were not too insistent. After all, Zhang Xi's reason was that with the deployment of troops in the past few years, it was a miracle that even elite troops could be deployed within ten days. In just four days, it was indeed a miracle. not enough.
And Wei Yan
"No one but the general can handle this battle!"
Well, Wei Yan emphasized this point.
Indeed, there is a saying that they have to take thousands of soldiers to climb mountains and detours in three days to launch a surprise attack at Qishan Fort, which is more than a hundred miles behind Wudu County. They also require that the surprise attack be successful despite occupying a geographical disadvantage. No one It is absolutely impossible to lead a general who can fight.
But when Old Man Wei said this now, he did not mean to remind Zhang Xi that he should carefully consider the personnel he hired. What he meant was that he had to do this raid.
Among the four people present, the only person who could bear the title of "general", apart from Zhang Xi, the former governor of the Northern Expedition, was Wei Yan, the prefect of Hanzhong.
The old man was asking for a fight euphemistically.
As for Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi really didn't have the time to quarrel with the old man. When he came up with this plan, he knew that the only one who could do it was Wei Yan.
"The general can personally select the best in the army, and the number is limited to 5,000. If there are more, it will be disadvantageous." Zhang Xi nodded and agreed to Wei Yan's request for a battle, and said, "This time we raid Qishan Fort, if we can defeat it, we will defeat it. If we cannot defeat it, we will defeat it." , there is no need to force it, just surround it without attacking, just wait for our army."
However, Wei Yan sneered and said, "Wei has never encountered an invincible place since he joined the army. He does not need other soldiers. He only needs 3,000 troops to defeat Qishan Fort!!!"
Zhang Xi frowned slightly after hearing this.
Let's put it bluntly, Wei Yan's words are indeed encouraging. At this time, the general needs to have such will and confidence, but is it really enough for you to only bring 3,000 people? !
This is not the time for us to be angry.
Zhang Xi thought for a while and then said to Wei Yan, "General, don't be careless. We are taking risks this time. The more we use risks, the more cautious we must be. Although the general's headquarters is elite, the number is too small, so we still bring five thousand It is safer for people to go forward.”
To be honest, Zhang Xi was really not arguing with Wei Yan, he really felt that way.
But Wei Yan also had his own reasons.
Although Zhang Xi graciously allowed Wei Yan to select elites in the camp and form 5,000 men, who knows what is going on with the training and organization of the army these days.
We are all generals. How can we not understand the virtues of our subordinates? !
Rather than letting Wei Yan select five thousand so-called elites that he was unfamiliar with, Wei Yan would rather take his own three thousand people to do such a dangerous thing.
After all, they were soldiers trained by himself. Although they were not necessarily the most powerful in combat, they were the ones Wei Yan was most familiar with.
Wei Yan knew very well where the marching limit of his soldiers was, what their thoughts were, what methods needed to be used to motivate them, and where they should be arranged to maximize their combat effectiveness when commanding.
Therefore, Wei Yan was not arguing with Zhang Xi. He really felt that taking his own 3,000 men was more suitable for long-distance attacks than taking 5,000 men with whom he was unfamiliar.
But Zhang Xi was still concerned and tried to persuade Wei Yan, but Wei Yan didn't want to explain so much to Zhang Xi.
I have my own thoughts, and there is no need to tell you.
"We don't have to worry about this matter. Wei Yan only needs to lead three thousand soldiers and horses. If you can't conquer Qishan Fort, please behead me!!!" Wei Yan said with arrogance.
Really, it's just because there is no such thing as a military order these days, otherwise Zhang Xi would say this to this old man and give him a military order.
Don't think that the military order is only valid for Ma Su, do you understand? !
(End of chapter)
