Chang'an City is difficult to fight and cannot be fought. This is Meng Da's judgment on the current situation.
But if they just withdraw their troops, Kou Feng's army will only play a role in mobilizing a small number of Cao's troops, and it will not even play a role in muddying the waters. The final situation will still not change much. This credit is not enough to offset Meng Da. The crime of sending troops without permission.
After the war, let alone being awarded a title for his merits, it was a good thing that Meng Da didn't lose his head.
This is not what Mengda wants to see.
Therefore, Mengda thought hard, looking for a breakthrough strategy, looking for a way to break the balance of the current situation.
In the current Guanzhong area, the defense of Chang'an City is indeed not tight, but it cannot be conquered in the short term. If they indulge in attacking Chang'an and cause the returning Wei army to cut off their own retreat, then Meng Da and Kou Feng may be directly wiped out under Chang'an City.
Therefore, Chang'an cannot be used as an offensive option.
Since Chang'an cannot be chosen as an offensive option, and we have to find a way to break the situation, we can only focus on the returning reinforcements of Cao Jun.
Meng Da quickly found a soft persimmon, and immediately found Kou Feng to discuss with Kou Feng the issue of changing the focus of the attack.
After all, Kou Feng is the leader of this army. In order to avoid being held accountable after the war, Meng Da has always been more careful about this aspect. He always caters to Kou Feng and praises Kou Feng so high that if he turns around and is held accountable, There is also Kou Feng blocking the front.
Kou Feng, a boy in his thirties, is not as mature as he was when he was young. The experience of guarding one side over the years has also made Kou Feng mature a lot.
But after all, Kou Feng has the temperament of a warrior and is relatively straightforward. When dealing with people like Meng Da who are used to playing tricks, he can easily be fooled by Meng Da's few words and be fooled.
Therefore, Meng Da told Kou Feng that Chang'an was not easy to fight, so Kou Feng really chose to adjust the direction of the attack. Meng Da said that he could find Cao Zhen, who had relatively few reinforcements, to attack, and Kou Feng immediately agreed to Meng Da's plan. .
Really, sometimes Meng Dadu feels that it would be much easier to deal with his immediate superiors like Kou Feng than Guan Yu.
After getting Kou Feng's consent, Meng Da immediately began to dispatch his own soldiers, adjust the direction of the attack, and sent a large number of scouts to look for traces of Cao Zhen's return reinforcements.
Meng Da's idea is very simple.
Chang'an cannot be attacked, and Xu Huang is a famous general, known for his strict military management, and has a large number of troops. He will definitely be prepared on the way back to support, and it will definitely not be easy to fight. Then there is only Cao Zhen, who is not well-known and is a member of the Cao clan. The young generals are easier to bully.
After all, although the generals of Cao's clan hold high positions, not everyone has real abilities.
There are famous generals like Cao Ren and Xiahou Yuan, as well as Xiahou Dun and Cao Hong, who make up the numbers. If this is the case for the first generation, it is even harder to say for the second generation.
That Cao Xiu was so powerful that Cao Wei boasted about him, what a "Cao family's thousand-mile horse".
The results of it? !
In Shiting, Zhou Yu pushed him to the ground and rubbed him. He beat him so hard that he didn't even know which way the door of his house was opening. In the end, Jia Kui, who didn't get along with him, risked his life to fish him out. The most powerful "Qianliju" has this kind of virtue. , this Cao Zhen is probably not much better.
This is Meng Da's idea, pick the persimmons and pick the soft ones.
You really can't say that Meng Da's idea is wrong. After all, in terms of the information efficiency of this era and Cao Zhen's reputation in this era, Meng Da's choice is really not wrong.
But Cao Zhen, from the perspective of future generations, can be said to be the only famous general among the second generation of the Cao family.
Cao Ren led more than 40,000 Chang'an garrison to suppress Zhao Yun and Chen Dao at Baoxie Pass. Cao Zhen only relied on more than 10,000 people. Although the fight was very hard, they still blocked the attack of Zhao Yun and Chen Dao. Firmly guarding the entrance to Baoxie Road.
Such a person is definitely not comparable to a headstrong person like Cao Xiu.
This time, Cao Zhen received Cao Pi's order to return for reinforcements. Cao Zhen did not bring many soldiers, only 5,000 men, but this was not because Cao Zhen was careless and underestimated the enemy, but because Cao Zhen had his own ideas.
First of all, it is impossible for Cao Zhen to relax the surveillance of Baoxie Pass just because he is returning reinforcements. If Zhao Yun at Baoxie Pass knows about the changes in Chang'an, he will definitely attack the pass at Baoxie Pass with all his strength. Cao Zhen must leave enough soldiers to guard the pass. Prevent Zhao Yun from rushing out from Baoxie Road and threatening Chang'an.
Secondly, Cao Zhen believed that since he wanted to quickly lead troops back to support, he would bring more soldiers and the marching speed would be slower. It would be better to set off with 5,000 soldiers, which could ensure the speed of returning reinforcements. At the same time, once these 5,000 people entered Chang'an, they would be in trouble. Chang'an's defensive help is not small, and may even be decisive.
Cao Zhen's return of reinforcements was purposeful. How could a person like him, who had carefully thought about it, not consider a sneak attack by the enemy and take no precautions on his way back to reinforcements?
Meng Da sent a large number of scouts to search for Cao Zhen's traces, and Cao Zhen did not forget to send scouts to investigate the surrounding situation on the way back for reinforcements.
Therefore, when Meng Da discovered traces of Cao Zhen's return for reinforcements, Cao Zhen actually already knew that Meng Da's army had changed its direction and was coming towards him.
Cao Zhen's mind immediately started working at high speed, thinking about Meng Da's intention of doing this.
In fact, there is really no need to think too much. No one is worse than the other. Cao Zhen quickly understood Meng Da's intention - he planned to eat his own returning troops and then move westward, cooperating with Zhao Yun and Chen Dao at Baoxie Pass. Break through the Baoxie Road Pass, let Zhao Yun and Chen Dao's army enter Guanzhong, and then attack Chang'an.
Once the Shu army is allowed to open the passage from Hanzhong into Guanzhong, Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong will definitely organize reinforcements to enter Guanzhong in time. Faced with this situation, Cao Ren will no longer be able to confront Liu Bei at Longshan with peace of mind, and will definitely retreat to Chang'an. In this way, Liu Bei We can achieve the goal of cutting off Long and thus overpowering Guanzhong.
After Cao Zhen figured out Meng Da's intentions, he immediately responded.
Since you, Meng Da, have changed the direction of attack and no longer attack Chang'an, it means that Chang'an is not in great danger, so why are you rushing to rescue Chang'an.
Cao Zhen immediately ordered his soldiers to suspend their march and set up camp on the spot to organize defense.
Cao Zhen's response plan was to use himself as a bait to attract Mengda to take the initiative to attack, defend while buying time, fight and retreat, slowly retreat to the direction of Baoxie Road, and defend himself at the pass.
Then Cao Zhen hurriedly wrote a letter to Cao Pi in Chang'an, asking him to order Xu Huang to quickly lead his troops westward, attack Mengda from the rear, completely defeat the Shu army that had penetrated into the hinterland of Guanzhong, and completely lift the alarm in Chang'an, Guanzhong.
I have to say that Cao Zhen's plan is very risky, but Cao Zhen is confident.
These days, the first factor to become a famous general is to have confidence in yourself. If you don't even have confidence in yourself, you won't be able to win this battle.
Cao Zhen really felt that he was sure to attract the 20,000 army led by Meng Da with 5,000 men. At the same time, he also believed that Xu Huang could arrive in time to completely defeat Meng Da's army.
But the problem is that Meng Da didn’t get it for free.
Meng Da was a figure that Cao Pi, Xia Houshang, Li Yan, and Fazheng all valued in history. Meng Da did not just rely on his eloquence and flattery.
After discovering that Cao Zhen had suspended his advance and set up defenses on the spot, Meng Da knew that Cao Zhen had been aware of his plan to sneak attack him.
Now that this plan has been exposed and Cao Zhen has taken precautions, Meng Da will not continue to implement such a plan foolishly, as it is clear that there will be no good results.
Moreover, this Cao Zhen was so cautious, which was a bit beyond Meng Da's expectation. This was not an easy opponent to deal with.
After gaining a clearer understanding of his opponent, Mengda adjusted his plan again.
This time, Kou Feng, the coach on the surface, really needs to come forward.
On the frontal battlefield, Meng Da hoped that Kou Feng would lead an army of 15,000 men to hold Cao Zhen back and prepare to besiege Cao Zhen.
As for Meng Da, he led more than 7,000 soldiers, bypassed Cao Zhen's army, and attacked Cao Zhen's base camp at Baoxie Road pass.
The strategy is still the same, but Mengda can change the plan at any time and adapt to changes. As long as Mengda's opponent is not a strategist of Sima Yi's level, Mengda really has nothing to fear.
Of course, Meng Da in this time and space had never met Sima Yi, and even Sima Yi was not famous at this time. Except for Deng Ai, who was fighting him in Xinye, no one knew how difficult this middle-aged old man was.
So Mengda is really not afraid of anyone. If he had no real ability, how could Mengda take such a big risk and raise an army without permission to gain wealth for a lifetime.
This time Cao Zhen did not notice the change in Meng Da's troop strength. After all, the Shu army really appeared in front of Cao Zhen, and there were 15,000 people and 20,000 people. It was difficult to tell the difference just by observing and judging with the naked eye. .
In addition, Kou Feng, as the commander-in-chief of an army, was right in front of him, and his troops were several times his own. Cao Zhenzhen did not dare to be careless, and he never expected that Meng Da could actually allow the commander-in-chief of an army to cover his personal meritorious service.
Besides, although Meng Da is not easy to mess with, Kou Feng is not a good person either.
In terms of conspiracy and intrigue, Kou Feng is definitely not as good as Meng Da, not even Cao Zhen.
But in terms of offensive bravery, Meng Da and Cao Zhen combined could not compare to Kou Feng.
Once he confronted Cao Zhen, Kou Feng had no intention of competing with Cao Zhen. After a tentative attack and a rough understanding of Cao Zhen's combat power, Kou Feng directly pressed forward across the entire line and attacked Cao Zhen's temporary defense line.
Even Kou Feng, the commander-in-chief of the first army, had already rushed to the front line and started to attack the city.
Cao Zhen was really under great pressure. He had never seen such a desperate army general.
This is not a general. He is a reckless man, a reckless man who fights without his life.
But this reckless man's force value is really not low. After personally leading the attack, it has a great effect on the morale of his own soldiers. Cao Zhen was beaten in every corner, and for a while he really couldn't spare any time to deal with this reckless man.
And when Cao Zhen finally commanded his soldiers to temporarily stabilize the defense line, and wanted to mobilize archers to focus on sniping Kou Feng, Cao Zhen was shocked to find that Kou Feng, a reckless man, had retreated to the central army tent and began to rely on command to attack. .
So, this is not a simple reckless man! ! !
(End of chapter)
