Cao Pi made a decision and sent it to Cao Zhen in the form of an edict. This was a very responsible act, and it was better than some leaders who took credit for their victory and the incompetence of their subordinates for their defeat. Much.
As for Cao Zhen, as Cao Pi expected, Cao Zhen did not wait foolishly for Cao Pi's edict, but took decisive action before the edict arrived.
It's not that Cao Zhen doesn't understand this rule, or that Cao Zhen doesn't know that his plan is related to Wei's control of Guanzhong. It's actually that this plan was originally to gain time, and now, time is very unfavorable to Wei.
Cao Zhen must find a way to get this time back.
Liu Ye could see the key points of the plan in Luoyang. He was on the front line and was the first supporter of Guo Huai's plan. Of course Cao Zhen also knew about it, so he had to march to Mei County as soon as possible to get there before Wei Yan's main reinforcements arrived. Before that, they launched an attack on Mei County.
Wei Yan from Mei County is also hesitant now.
According to the strategic intention formulated by Zhuge Liang and others, it was believed that after Wei Yan occupied Mei County, he was likely to be encircled and suppressed by the Wei army and counterattacked. Therefore, the plan made at that time was to let Wei Yan hold on to Mei County for a period of time and wait for the main force of the Han Dynasty in Wuzhangyuan. The army comes to the rescue.
But the current situation is not quite the same as when Zhuge Liang and others formulated their strategy.
Obviously, Zhuge Liang and others believed that the Wei army would counterattack against Wei Yan because it would take Wei Yan at least twenty days to seize Mei County. By that time, the Wei army should have already moved to the vicinity of Mei County and faced Wei Yan's unsteady foothold. , If you don't fight back, it would really go against common sense on the battlefield.
But the current situation is that Wei Yan's march was too fast and the journey was too smooth. From the beginning of the attack on Chencang to the end of the capture of Mei County, it took less than ten days in total.
At this time, there were no Wei troops near Mei County, and Guo Huai's army was still confronting the main Han army at Wuzhangyuan.
The situation on the battlefield has changed, and so has Wei Yan's mind.
Wei Yan has always been a general with his own ideas. He has his own set of rules for judging the battlefield situation.
When the development of the battlefield situation was inconsistent with the pre-war strategic plan, Wei Yan had no intention of executing it in accordance with the strategy.
When generals lead troops in battles, situations that do not conform to pre-war strategies often occur. In this era, there are no means of instant communication such as telephones and telegraphs. Many times, the generals need to make their own judgments.
And Wei Yan is not that kind of brainless general. Of course, he can also analyze it himself.
Because he advanced too quickly, the time to seize Chencang Road and Mei County was too short. At this time, Wei Jun may have just received the news that he had seized Chencang Road, but he did not necessarily know that he had already seized Mei County.
At this time, the Wei army will definitely send reinforcements to rescue Mei County. If so, after sending reinforcements to Chang'an, will there be a situation of empty troops? !
If I lead the troops to attack Chang'an at this time, it seems that I will really get something done! ! !
Wei Yan was really not just out of his mind. After thinking of this idea, Wei Yan started studying the map.
….
This time, Cao Wei's defense measures against Guanzhong basically adopted the strategy of keeping the enemy at bay.
Guanzhong has a very natural advantage. It is surrounded by four passes and blocked by the Qinling Mountains, making it very easy to defend Guanzhong.
Although during the last Northern Expedition, the Wei army lost the Longshan Road, allowing the Han to complete the break of Long and easily capture Liangzhou, the four important checkpoints in Guanzhong are still in the hands of the Wei army.
In particular, Sanguan facing Longshan Road and Xiaoguan facing Liangzhou were the most important barriers to prevent the Han from marching into Guanzhong from the northwest.
As for the southwest, because the Han army occupied Baoxie Road, the Wei army had to focus on defending Wuzhangyuan and Chencang Road. Regarding Shangyong in the south, veteran general Zhang He was asked to lead troops to guard Youfufeng. The overall idea was to defend the enemy outside. The defensive thinking is going on.
But Zuo Fengyi, who was behind Xiao Guan, had Xiao Guan at the front, and the Wei army was at Zuo Fengyi, so there was no
There were too many troops to guard the huge Zuo Fengyi, and the total number of defenders did not exceed 5,000.
Therefore, if Wei Yan crossed the Wei River from Mei County, entered the southeastern area of the Wei River, detoured from here to Zuo Fengyi, and then attacked Chang'an all the way from Zuo Fengyi, it would be possible to directly attack the city of Chang'an.
And once Wei Yan's army approaches the city of Chang'an, with the current number of defenders in Chang'an, it is really possible to defeat them in a single battle. This is much more reliable than the Ziwu Valley conspiracy he mentioned before.
There are two problems that cannot be avoided in the execution stage of Ziwu Valley Conspiracy. Wei Yan was criticized by Zhang Xi more than once, so Wei Yan's memory is very deep.
The first is that Wei Yan cannot guarantee that he will occupy Chang'an in the short term.
Second, even if Wei Yan could capture Chang'an, there was no guarantee that he would be able to get reinforcements from his own people in time to defend Chang'an.
But now, these two problems seem to be no problem.
Now the defenders of Chang'an are coming to Mei County to support them. The army left behind in Chang'an can't survive thousands of soldiers, but with 20,000 soldiers and horses, it is a surprise attack. Maybe they can really defeat them in one battle.
As for the second question, the main force of the Han Dynasty is in Wuzhangyuan. The march from Chang'an is only fifteen to twenty days' journey. How can it be that his 20,000-strong army cannot hold on for such a short time? !
Not to mention how much combat power the Wei army has left to besiege them at this time. If Wei Yan wants to surprise Chang'an, he will definitely burn all the food stored in Mei County before leaving Mei County. It is impossible for the Wei army to get it. How can we maintain combat effectiveness with any supplies? !
The more Wei Yan thought about it, the more he felt that something was going on. As soon as the rear army led by Wu Ban arrived, Wei Yan planned to send troops directly, detour into Zuofeng Yi, and make a surprise attack on Chang'an.
But...waited, waited, Wei Yan waited for two days, but never saw the Wu Ban leader arrive.
This is very strange.
After occupying Chencang Road almost without bloodshed, Wei Yan took Zhuge Qian and 7,000 front troops to set off first in order to drive Xiahou Mao to Mei County, leaving Wu Ban to arrange defense on Chencang Road.
Logically speaking, most of the defenders of Chencangdao were taken away by Xiahou Mao. Chencangdao is not a big city, and Wu Ban is not an incompetent and short-sighted person. Arranging defense should not waste too much time of Wu Ban. That is to say, he set off one or two days later than Wei Yan.
….
If the time is too long, it cannot be called the front and rear armies. Even if Wei Yan is in danger, Wu Ban will be too far away and cannot even rescue him in time.
Therefore, the distance of two days is already the limit that Wu Ban can delay. It is impossible for Wu Ban to delay until they have not reached Mei County yet.
When the Wu squad arrived at Mei County, Wei Yan took the remaining 6,000 men to sneak attack Chang'an. It was a small matter to be scolded by Zhang Xi for being "brave and foolhardy". This was just for the sake of being beaten. .
Six thousand men captured Chang'an. Now Wei Yan no longer dares to think about such a thing.
Therefore, Wei Yan had to wait for Wu Ban to join forces with him before taking any real action. Now, all Wei Yan could do was to quickly send out scouts to find traces of Wu Ban.
Although theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any accidents along the way to Wu Ban, but just in case!
Well, this is really not a matter of caution, it is just military common sense. Wei Yan was determined not to admit that he was influenced by a certain native dog.
As for Wu Ban, it was true that they set off only about a day and a half later than Wei Yan, maintaining a marching distance of about sixty miles from Wei Yan along the way.
At this distance, once Wei Yan is in danger and retreats for a period of time, Wu Ban accelerates the march for a period of time, which is enough to meet Wei Yan. With Wei Yan's command ability and his 7,000 soldiers, it is basically impossible to encounter a situation where he cannot sustain it for a day.
Even Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi do not have such ability.
Wu Ban was indeed marching according to Wei Yan's estimation, and indeed did not encounter any accidents along the way. Until Wu Ban found that a Wei army of thousands of people suddenly appeared behind him, and another army of more than a thousand people, The Han army was fighting desperately with this Wei army.
Appeared in the hinterland of Guanzhong
Wei Jun is nothing new, but the appearance of Han Jun besides himself is not only new, but also weird.
Wu Ban had to temporarily slow down his marching speed, and at the same time sent out scouts to fully investigate the origins of these two troops.
Soon, Wu Ban learned through the scouts that the two troops were coming from the direction of Sanguan, and they were really fighting. Both sides fought hard all the way, with a lot of casualties.
In any case, the three groups of scouts sent by Wu Ban did not think that the Wei army was digging holes for Wu Ban's army, and no trace of any other ambush was found within a radius of thirty miles around the two fighting armies.
Of course, the most important thing is that the casualties of the Han army are very high. If the army does not go to rescue, it is hard to say how long this Han army can last.
Now Wu Ban could no longer hesitate.
He really didn't know why a Han army that he didn't know appeared behind him, but this Han army had been fighting the Wei army and refused to let the Wei army come from behind him. No matter who it was, he had no reason to ignore it. of.
However, just in case, Wu Ban still cautiously sent out his captain and led three thousand troops to respond to the Han army. If there was a change, he still had a back-up.
However, Wu Ban was shocked to find that the three thousand soldiers he sent out did not suppress the Wei army, but instead fell into a fight.
This is a very abnormal imagination.
Generally speaking, when the enemy is blocking the front and pursuing troops behind, it is difficult to ensure the organization and morale of the army. In this case, the combat effectiveness will definitely be greatly reduced. How can you put yourself in such a situation? The forward troops sent were also suppressed and could only engage in dogfights? !
After Wu Ban thought about it, there was only one possibility - this Wei army was coming for him, and it was extremely powerful! ! !
If that's the case, there's nothing you can do about it.
Wu Ban ordered the entire army to press forward and must annihilate the Wei army's pursuers!
(End of chapter)
Batu Caves