The Xiangyang Legion entered Deng County after a smooth journey.
Along the way, the Xiangyang Army of the Northern Expedition did not encounter any decent enemy harassment except for some harassment by Cao Wei's reconnaissance cavalry on the way. Sima Yi also did not send any large-scale troops to stop it, and almost let Xiangyang go. The regiment settled in Deng County.
This situation made the three children headed by Guan Ping very uneasy.
This is inconsistent with military common sense.
Deng County is less than a hundred miles away from Wancheng. It takes only two days to march in a hurry, but it takes about three days to reach Deng County in a normal march. It would be fine if Sima Yi did not occupy such an important geographical location, and even blocked and harassed it. It’s a bit unreasonable to not send any troops, right? !
Although it was the first time for the three young men to lead an army on their own, it did not mean that the three of them were all rookies. Such an approach that went against military common sense made all three of them feel uneasy, strengthen their defenses, and strive to be cautious.
Therefore, after successfully entering Deng County, Guan Ping immediately sent out reconnaissance cavalry to investigate the surrounding enemy situation, for fear that the enemy might take a roundabout route and cut off his escape route. At the same time, the three primary schools also gathered together and held a meeting to discuss for the first time. , the next military strategy.
However, although the three primary schools all have some experience in leading troops, it is also the first time for them to take on the role of decision-maker. Especially Guan Ping, who needs to make up his mind as the head coach, has too many concerns in this regard.
None of the three people believed that the reason why Sima Yi did not send troops to attack and stop him was because he had not received news that there was such a big movement of 40,000 people from the Xiangyang Army heading north. Even if Sima Yi was a dead man, he should have received the information.
Not to mention, although there was no enemy harassment along the way, the intensity of the confrontation between the enemy's reconnaissance cavalry and the Han army's reconnaissance cavalry was not low. There was no reason why the Wei army could not get any information.
Therefore, before he understood Sima Yi's plan, Guan Ping really didn't dare to rush into the army rashly, for fear of falling into Sima Yi's trick.
On this point, Deng Ai holds a positive attitude.
Deng Ai actually had experience in dealing with Sima Yi.
The first time the two fought against each other was during the First Northern Expedition. Deng Ai had a sudden idea and wanted to venture into Runan County. As a result, when he was passing through Xuchang, he happened to encounter Sima Yi personally leading troops to attack Xinye. The two sides fought in confusion. The battle ended with Deng Ai retreating to Xinye and holding on.
In that fight, Deng Ai had just joined the army and his methods were still immature. When reviewing the game afterwards, Deng Ai found that he had actually made many mistakes. But this was not the real reason for Deng Ai's failure.
The real reason for Deng Ai's failure was that Sima Yi was very sophisticated in his military tactics and did not reveal any major flaws from beginning to end. He used force to suppress Deng Ai, forcing Deng Ai to give up his tactical goals and finally retreat to Xinye.
During that battle, Sima Yi lamented that Deng Ai was a formidable young man. Similarly, Sima Yi left a deep impression on Deng Ai.
The second time they fought was during the Second Northern Expedition, when Sima Yi took over the command of the defense of Wancheng in place of Zhang Liao. Deng Ai tried to pretend to be Wei reinforcements and pretended to open the city gate. If Deng Ai hadn't seen the opportunity quickly and retreated quickly enough, he said Maybe they were all tricked into Wengcheng by Sima Yi and shot to death with random arrows.
In both confrontations, Deng Ai was at a disadvantage. Facing Sima Yi, Deng Ai, who was somewhat influenced by his master, felt that he could never be too cautious.
The old fox is not easy to deal with.
But, although Deng Ai agrees with Guan Ping's cautious attitude, he can't just stay in Deng County like this.
Indeed, from the perspective of war, one cannot act on impulse. Faced with Sima Yi's obvious violation of military common sense, if one cannot find Sima Yi's intention in doing so and enter the army without permission, he may fall into the trap carefully laid by Sima Yi.
However, because he has never been able to figure out the enemy's commander's intentions and has never sent troops, this military operation to Wancheng will also fail because it cannot achieve its strategic purpose.
Therefore, after staying in Deng County for five days to rest, Deng Ai couldn't bear it anymore.
He suggested to Guan Ping that if it didn't work, allocate him 10,000 troops and let him rush to the vicinity of Wancheng to investigate the specific situation.
The purpose is not to defeat the enemy, but to mobilize the enemy's movement through its own movements, thereby finding the enemy's true strategic purpose.
This trick, speaking of it, was also taught to Deng Ai by Zhang Xi, to mobilize the enemy's troops and lure them to reveal their own weaknesses.
It is not a new trick. It is a common trick used by the Rabbit Army in later generations. It is a summary of many years of war experience. Zhang Xi, a dabbler, has heard of such classic battle cases twice, so he used it for his own use.
But in this era when few people have read military books, this kind of summary of war experience, to a certain extent, even a general with more than ten or twenty years of experience in leading troops may not be able to summarize it without any understanding.
Therefore, when Deng Ai mentioned this strategy, both Guan Ping and Guan Xing felt that what Deng Ai said made sense.
Through the mobilization of our own forces, we can induce the enemy to make corresponding force adjustments. By observing the direction of the enemy's force adjustments, we can more or less see the enemy's defense focus, and then guess the enemy's strategic purpose.
Moreover, even if Sima Yi really had a conspiracy and set up an ambush to surround the 10,000 vanguard troops led by Deng Ai, Guan Ping could at least lead the troops to respond with 30,000 troops. Although it is a bit risky, it is better than guarding Deng County blindly. I guess Sima Yi’s purpose is much stronger.
Guan Ping, unable to think of a better way, finally agreed to Deng Ai's strategy and gave Deng Ai 10,000 troops to launch a tentative attack on Wancheng.
But Deng Ai's move made Sima Yi, who was in Wancheng, frown a little.
Actually, Sima Yi didn't have any conspiracy at all, he was just wasting time.
Regarding this point, in fact, as early as when the Xiangyang front army led by Guan Ping arrived in Xinye, Sima Yi's eldest son, Sima Shi, had specifically suggested to Sima Yi whether to send troops to intercept them at all levels to prevent the Shu thieves from approaching Wancheng.
Sima Zhao even volunteered to lead 5,000 soldiers and horses to Deng County, occupy whatever area he wanted, and defend it on the spot.
But Sima Yi refused.
It's not that Sima Yi didn't want to occupy Deng County, but there was no need to occupy it immediately.
During the last Northern Expedition, after the Shu thieves withdrew, Deng County was basically in a state of neglect. Sima Yi did not send anyone to recover this place, and the Shu thieves did not leave any troops to defend it. All the people and officials in the city were killed by Xu Shu and Wang Jinan moved back to Xiangyang. Deng County was almost an empty city.
This place is a buffer zone specially set aside by Sima Yi. If you want to occupy it, you can occupy it at any time. There is no need to specially station troops, which would be suspected of dividing the troops.
Originally, Sima Yi's garrison strength was not large, only about 30,000, which was enough to defend Wancheng. If he divided his troops rashly, there was a risk of being defeated by the enemy one by one.
After all, although in the view of the Xiangyang Army, Deng County's geographical location is very important and it is a good offensive bridgehead, in Sima Yi's defense strategy, Deng County is not a strategic location.
Deng County is still a bit far away from Wancheng. A round trip, even a forced march, will take four or five days, which will not be of much help to Wancheng's defense.
This is the reason why Sima Yi did not send troops to occupy Deng County.
In Sima Yi's view, the Xiangyang Army's march north this time did not look like they were going to attack Wancheng with all their strength.
The number of troops dispatched was only about 40,000. Although they were fighting under the banner of Guan Yu, the general of the Shu thief, based on the reconnaissance and detailed reports, Guan Yu was almost never seen in the Shu thief army. The person who actually led the battle was It is Guan Ping, the son of Guan Yu.
Although, according to the detailed reports in Xiangyang over the years, Guan Yu is indeed seriously ill and has not been seen in Xiangyang City for a long time. If he really leads the army into battle and uses Guan Ping to lead the army openly while he recharges his energy in the central military tent, It makes sense to mobilize soldiers.
But Sima Yi still tended to believe that the real leader of the Shu thieves who attacked Wancheng this time was not Guan Yu.
The reason is simple - Guan Yu's temperament is such an arrogant person. Even if his physical condition is not good, it is impossible for him to hide in the military tent for a long time without showing up and use his son to lead the army.
Therefore, Sima Yi judged that this was a bluff by the Shu thieves, using the banner of Guan Yu, but it was actually just a part of the Xiangyang army led by Guan Ping.
As for their strategic purpose, based on the above intelligence judgment, Sima Yi came to the conclusion that this group of people did not really want to attack Wancheng. There was a high probability that they were just encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao in order to coordinate the war in Guanzhong.
Sima Yi, who was in Wancheng, knew more about the development of the war in Guanzhong than Guan Yu and others in Xiangyang. In addition, the main framework of the entire counterattack in Guanzhong was formulated by Sima Yi, so he knew very well what the current situation in Guanzhong was. how.
Although the Shu thieves in Guanzhong are not without back-ups, the Wei army has now taken the advantage. Even if the Shu thieves have back-ups, Guanzhong coach Zhang Xi has been restrained by Zuo Fengyi. At least on the right side of Fufeng, the Shu thieves have no power. Damn it.
Therefore, when the Xiangyang Army went north, trying to open up a second battlefield to deal with the Shu bandits in the Youfufeng area of Guanzhong, Sima Yi's response strategy was very simple.
Hold on, refuse to fight, and delay time.
As long as the battle in Guanzhong is settled, the Shu army in Jingzhou will not be able to stay in Nanyang and will inevitably retreat without a fight.
Doing this will not only preserve one's own combat power to the greatest extent, but also thwart the Shu thieves' conspiracy to encircle Wei and save Zhao, killing two birds with one stone.
Therefore, when Sima Zhao proposed to divide his troops to guard Deng County, Sima Yi refused without thinking.
As long as there are deep ditches and barriers, if I don't fight them, what can the Shu thieves do to me? !
But now, that boy Deng Ai led 10,000 people to suddenly advance towards Wancheng. What was his purpose? !
Want to attack Wancheng with only 10,000 people? !
Sima Yi would not believe this kind of thing. That boy Deng Ai must have other motives.
This little fox is hard to deal with! ! !
(End of chapter)
