The term "beheading operation" was not originally invented by Wang Ping. It was a tactics specifically recorded in the Wudang Feijun's army register.
It is to take advantage of the enemy's neglect of defense to launch a infiltration raid on the enemy's commander's formation and kill the enemy commander, thus completely disrupting the enemy's strategic deployment.
Well, this was really not added by Zhang Xi, but was added voluntarily by Zhuge Liang after summarizing the military tactics of his predecessors. When Zhang Xi saw it at the time, he was dumbfounded. He was using troops in accordance with the ancients, so early. Already understand the importance of decapitation tactics? !
However, strictly speaking, Wang Ping does not have the conditions to launch a "decapitation operation" now.
In the army formation manual of Wudang Feijun, the prerequisite for describing "Operation Beheading" is that it requires a sufficient understanding of enemy intelligence, and it also requires various preparations for infiltration warfare. If you want to infiltrate, at least you You have to know the enemy’s military orders and slogans, and you need to have the enemy’s clothes and flags, right? !
But now, Wang Ping has none of these.
Even if Wang Ping meets all these conditions, this kind of beheading operation is basically a narrow escape. As long as he is noticed by others, he will fall into the enemy's siege.
The success rate is quite low.
Even if Wang Ping is not afraid of death, the more than 600 useless flying troops under his command are not afraid of death, but there is no enemy intelligence and no conditions for infiltration, so they can directly launch a surprise attack on the enemy commander's formation. Unless the enemy commander is Sun Quan, Otherwise, it would be no different than committing suicide.
Guo Huai is obviously not Sun Quan. He is a veteran general who has led troops for many years and is also a famous general with both wisdom and courage. He is very clear about the importance of the Chinese army and will not do such embarrassing and stupid things like Sun Quan. .
Wang Ping led his troops to take a detour and approached Guo Huai's forward army. After careful observation, he came to the conclusion that Guo Huai's military formation was very rigorous and it was difficult to directly attack.
Although strictly speaking, as the commander of the first army, it is somewhat risky for Guo Huai to personally serve as the vanguard of the army. However, with the thickness of Guo Huai's military formation and Wang Ping's only 600 men, it can indeed be ignored by Guo Huai. .
If you go for a surprise attack, it's basically no different than seeking death.
"Operation decapitation" is not a waste of death. The manual makes it very clear that if the conditions are not mature, it is better not to launch this kind of operation than to lose the lives of soldiers in vain.
Therefore, Wang Ping was very hesitant. While following Guo Huai's front army in secret, he was thinking about whether or when to launch an assault.
Wang Ping was worried about Guo Huai's withdrawing troops, and Wei Yan was also worried about Guo Huai's withdrawing troops.
At this time, Wu Yi had already led his troops to the foot of Mei County. After being personally identified by Wu Ban and proving his identity, Wu Yi had entered Mei County and met Wei Yan.
Wu Ban has taken care of the placement of Wu Yi's soldiers. The most important thing for Wu Yi now is to discuss with Wei Yan how to fight the next battle.
"Your Majesty's military order, if the rebel army is in a hurry to attack the city, please ask General Wei to hold on with all his strength, and reinforcements will arrive soon. If the rebel army leads the troops to retreat, please also ask General Wei to choose an opportunity to leave the city, delay the rebel army's retreat, and wait for the arrival of the army. Encircle and suppress the bandit army."
This is the military order Wu Yi wants to convey to Wei Yan.
Well, from the moment Wu Yi appeared in front of him, Wei Yan knew that the Wei army was really retreating, and was not specifically trying to lure him out of the city so that he could set up an ambush.
As expected, I was still infected by that kid, and I became suspicious.
If he had known this, he should not have let Wang Ping lead his troops out of the city. He should have led his troops directly out of the city to attack the Wei army. In this way, Guo Huai would not have dared to easily set up camp.
But forget it now, think about what to do now.
It didn't take long for Guo Huai to break camp and retreat. It only took an hour now. He shouldn't have gone too far and he could still catch up.
But the question is, after catching up, how should we fight to delay Guo Huai's marching rhythm? !
If he follows the conventional strategy of sending troops to bite the rear flank of the Wei army and delay the retreat of the Wei army, then Guo Huai can do the same as he did to stop Wu Yi just now, divide his troops of 5,000 or even 10,000 to block the pursuers, and lead the main army to quickly advance eastward , meet up with Cao Zhen.
Another thing is that the troops in Wei Yan's hands are now seriously insufficient.
He only has more than 7,000 soldiers at hand, and they are all ordinary soldiers. In terms of combat effectiveness, they can only compete with Cao Wei's ordinary soldiers. When encountering the elite of the Forbidden Army, Wei Yan even has to worry about whether he will Being defeated.
Although Wu Yi brought the elite Northern Army of the Han Dynasty with 3,000 men, this army has only been recruited and trained for more than a year since its establishment, and has not actually been on the battlefield. How effective is it? Wei Yanhe Wu Yi didn't even know.
Besides, the number of 3,000 men was too small. It would be difficult for them to play a key role in the face of more than 30,000 Wei troops.
Therefore, we must find a way to let Guo Huai take the initiative to expose his flaws through some maneuvers and strategies.
For this reason, Wei Yan thought for a while and said to Wu Yi, "I have a plan. Please consult General Wu for details."
Wu Yi was stunned at that time. How could Wei Yan actually speak well? !
Wu Yi has often dealt with Wei Yan, and has a very deep understanding of Wei Yan's character. To be honest, if Wei Yan's status was not there, Wu Yi would not want to know Wei Yan.
This guy is too arrogant and his words really don't make sense.
But today, this guy actually said something that he wanted to "see for details"? !
Wu Yi didn't believe that Wei Yan had suddenly changed his gender, so he just cupped his fists and cupped his hands and said, "I'd like to hear the details."
Let's hear what you want to say first.
Then, Wu Yi finally understood why Wei Yan wanted to "refer to the details" by himself.
Wei Yan wanted to send out all the soldiers who were still able to fight in Mei County, leaving only hundreds of old, weak and injured soldiers who could not fight to defend the city. This was already a very taboo thing.
But Wei Yan also had his own reasons - he didn't have enough troops and combat power. If he didn't send more people, how could he complete the delaying task? !
Secondly, when Guo Huai withdrew his troops just now, although Wei Yan couldn't see clearly, he could probably guess that Guo Huai was unlikely to put his headquarters' supplies in the rear army. This was a bit too dangerous.
There is a high probability that the baggage is in the position of the Chinese army. Wei Yan wants to attack the Chinese army and make a posture of attacking the grain and baggage to force Guo Huai to take the initiative to divide his troops and weaken the defense capabilities of the forward or rear wings.
However, given that the rear army is responsible for breaking up the rear and has important responsibilities, as well as Wang Ping leading the harassment, it is unlikely that Guo Huai will transfer troops from the rear wing. The most likely possibility is to transfer troops from his front army to the central army. In this way, The defense of the former army became weak.
At that time, Wu Yi personally led his 3,000 elite Northern Army troops to attack Guo Huai's front army, hoping to defeat the enemy in one battle.
This was Wei Yan's entire battle plan. After hearing this, Wu Yi almost wanted to curse.
This is not a battle plan, this is a death plan.
There is an army of more than 30,000 people on the opposite side. Our total number is only 10,000 people. Do you still dare to send out the entire army? !
If the battle is defeated then, even Mei County may not be able to be saved unless Guo Huai is prevented from withdrawing his troops.
If the Wei army were allowed to retake Mei County, wouldn't the strategy of this Northern Expedition fail? !
No wonder this old boy wants to "refer to the details" by himself. This is not a reference to details. He is asking for his own endorsement, and he will bear the responsibility together in the future.
Wu Yi didn't want to do such a risky thing, so he objected on the spot.
But Wei Yan asked Wu Yi - apart from this method, do we have any other methods that can slow down Guo Huai's advance? !
Wang Ping and Liubai Wudang flying army just outside the city? !
You are dreaming! ! !
But Wu Yi also had something to say: Your method is not a way to delay the enemy, but a way to defeat the enemy in one battle.
It is true that if it succeeds, there is no need for Zhang Cheqi to lead troops to support him. As long as the raid on Guo Huai is successful, even if Guo Huai cannot be killed, as long as Guo Huai is forced to retreat into the central army, then the Wei army of more than 30,000 people will The morale of the army is in chaos, and it may even collapse in a single battle.
But if we fail, then all of us, whether it is Mei County’s 7,000 defenders, our own 3,000 elite Northern Army, plus Wang Ping’s 600 useless flying troops, will only end up dying on the battlefield.
By the way, Guo Huai no longer needs to retreat. He can directly return to his army and occupy Mei County, so that he can continue to hold on and stop His Majesty's Northern Expedition.
Judging from the comparison of military strength, combat power, and generals' command capabilities of both sides, Wei Yan's plan has a much higher chance of failure than success.
Wu Yi still persisted in the end. He didn't want to use this method to delay Wei Jun's retreat. Why not just bite Wei Jun's rear flank troops? !
I will bring 3,000 Northern troops, and you will send 5,000 troops and leave 2,000 troops for Wu Ban to defend the city. In this way, we will have 8,000 troops. Even if we eat the thousands Guo Huai used to cut off his rear, Wei Jun also made a great contribution.
Besides, if the Wei army wants to withdraw, they cannot unite in one place in a day or two, and even if they unite in one place, if they withdraw to the east, Wugong County will be more than 400 miles away from Mei County.
Isn’t it true that former general Zhang Xi led his troops to block him? He couldn’t escape.
Unless they can find a way to cross the Wei River, reach the other side of the Wei River, and withdraw from the territory of Youfufeng to Chang'an. Where can the Wei army mobilize so many ships? !
You must know that the rear army led by the cavalry general Zhang Fei is only a day or two away from Mei County. In these two days, they can search for ships. How many can be found can allow a few Wei troops to cross the river. ? !
Once the main force of the Han Dynasty arrives, how many of the Wei troops who are eager to cross the river are willing to stay and resist? !
When the morale of the army is in chaos, our army will only need to adopt a posture of encirclement and expulsion. Maybe these Wei troops will be driven into the water to feed the bastards.
If such a simple and easy tactic is not used, why must we use such a risky strategy? !
Wu Yi really didn't understand, what was Wei Yan so worried about? !
(End of chapter)
