Sima Yi was indeed not commanding the battle on the south gate tower at this time.
It's not that Sima Yi didn't want to go, but that something unexpected happened midway.
When Sima Yi assembled the three thousand reserves he had on hand and rushed to the south gate to command the operation, he suddenly received intelligence that the west gate had been lost.
Yes, Sima Zhao ultimately failed to recapture the West City Gate within a quarter of an hour, and was supported by Wang Ping until his main force came for reinforcements.
Three thousand five hundred Wudang flying troops attacked a thousand ordinary Wei army soldiers. Let alone Sima Zhao coming to command, even if Sima Yi himself came, there was no other choice except retreat.
Therefore, after seeing the enemy's strength, Sima Zhao had to make a simple judgment and temporarily retreated to the northwest granary. He did not even have time to greet the thousand soldiers who were left behind on the city wall.
In fact, there was no need for Sima Zhao to greet him. When the thousand soldiers saw that the gate below the city was lost, they would definitely not stay on the city wall looking for death. They would definitely retreat along the city wall to other gates.
But in this way, as soon as Sima Zhao withdrew and the defenders on the city wall withdrew, the west gate was completely lost.
But Sima Yi was beaten by this sap, and he couldn't recover for a long time. He quickly asked the scouts who came to report how Ximen was lost.
When Sima Yi learned that the Shu army had captured the west gate through a sneak attack and that the west gate had been lost due to internal and external attacks, he almost cursed on the spot.
In the end, I had no choice but to hold back. General Ximen, that was his own son.
What can I say? ! I don't know how to teach my son, how could I teach such a bastard? !
Is now the time to talk about this? !
Moreover, Sima Yi was a little confused. With Zhao'er's ability and the various precautionary arrangements he had made in advance, how could he allow Shu thieves to sneak attack the city gate? !
Didn’t he repeatedly request that he must strengthen the defense of the city gate to prevent the Shu thieves lurking in the city from making a "detailed" sneak attack? !
Unfortunately, the scout who came to report the message could not give Sima Yi a reply now. On the contrary, the messenger gave Sima Yi even worse news - Sima Zhao failed to intercept the Shu thieves, and the main force of the Shu thieves rushed towards the northwest of Wancheng.
Well, when he first heard the news, Sima Yi really wanted to "kill his parents and children with tears." Unfortunately, Sima Yi was not so selfless and finally gave up the idea.
But at the same time, Sima Yi was also seriously thinking whether he had overestimated his second son.
In fact, Sima Yi also knew that despite the fact that the aristocratic families had been praising his two sons, many of them were fueled by Shu thieves and could not be taken seriously.
However, Sima Yi still knew something about his son. He was indeed a very good general and prime minister, much better than a bunch of idiots from other aristocratic families who only knew how to talk.
Of his two sons, Sima Shi was better at military strategy, while his second son, Sima Zhao, was better at political strategy and people's hearts. But Sima Yi also didn't expect that Sima Zhao would actually stretch his hips like this in his first battle command.
Now Sima Yi really began to doubt whether his two sons really had the talents he thought they had. Don't just pretend to be in front of him, but they wouldn't be able to do it once they get into actual combat, right? !
The war situation was urgent now, and Sima Yi couldn't think too much about it. But after the war was over, Sima Yi felt that he still had to seriously test the abilities of his two sons.
In this troubled world, a family heir with high ambitions and low abilities is not a good thing for a family.
However, that is all for later. Now, Sima Yi's priority is what he should do now.
Should he continue to go to the south gate to command operations and block the main attack of the Jingzhou Army, or should he quickly lead his troops to rescue the granary and prevent the Shu thieves from breaking through the granary defenders and burning the granary ordnance.
Soon, Sima Yi made a choice.
The main force of the Shu thieves marched to the northwest. Needless to say, they must have attacked the granary. Once the granary and the armory were lost, even if Sima Yi finally defended the south gate, blocking the main force of the Shu thieves from entering the city. Without the support of grain and grass, Sima Yi He couldn't last more than a few days.
Yes, if you search carefully in the city, you can still find some food, but these days, the only family that can hoard food during the war must be the Nanyang family.
If Sima Yi forcibly confiscated these people's food and property, Sima Yi himself couldn't say what would happen next.
He himself is from a noble family, how can he still know about the virtues of a noble family? !
The most important thing is that Sima Yi doesn't know when Cao Zhen will arrive with reinforcements. It may take five or six days, maybe seven or eight days, or it may take more than ten days to arrive.
If there were not enough reinforcements to deter the aristocratic families in the city, Sima Yi might not have to wait until his own soldiers mutinied, and the aristocratic families in the city could take the initiative to create unrest no matter how hard Sima Yi requisitioned grain and grass to replenish military supplies.
It's not shameful to "eat a pot of slurry to welcome the king's master".
Although it sounds unbelievable, the Wancheng family would fall out with the Wei Dynasty court for a little food and grass. Indeed, in other places, such as Yingchuan or Hedong, this kind of thing is unlikely to happen, but in Wancheng, it is absolutely possible occurring.
There was no one in the Wancheng family who did not share the same hatred as the Wei Dynasty. Cao Ren massacred Wancheng only eleven years ago.
Not even a generation has passed.
When Guan Yu attacked Xiangfan, the Wancheng family was able to "eat pots of milk to welcome the king's army." Now that Guan Yu has troops at the city, the Wancheng family can still be peaceful until now, which can be regarded as the result of being shocked by Cao Ren's massacre.
When it came time for Wancheng to fall, Sima Yi absolutely did not believe that these Wancheng families would choose to live and die with the Wei Dynasty.
So, after much deliberation, Sima Yi still felt that food, grass and ordnance were the key points. As for the South Gate, as long as he could rescue quickly, repel the Shu thieves as soon as possible, and then rush to the South Gate to stabilize the morale of the army and unify the command, there should be no big problem.
Sima Yi is not the only commander in charge of the entire Wancheng guards. There are also guards at the south gate. General Chen Ying, who was born in the Chen family of Yingchuan, is responsible for guarding the south gate.
Although this person's ability is very average, in a city defense battle, as long as he doesn't waste time and sticks to his planned city defense strategy for half a day, it shouldn't be a problem, right? !
Compared with the urgency of defending the northwest granary, guarding the south gate seems less important at this time.
Therefore, Sima Yi just weighed the pros and cons, and without even taking a minute, he immediately ordered the entire army to turn around and rescue the northwest corner granary.
In this way, Sima Yi did not go to the south gate to rescue and command and stabilize the morale of the army. As a result, Deng Ai discovered during the attack that the Wei army's guards were very weak.
What's even more terrible is that Wang Ping, who had breached the west gate, did not lead his troops to attack the Wei army's granary at this time. Instead, he handed over the main force to Du Yue's command and pretended to attack the granary, while he led about 500 useless flying troops. Prepare to copy Duyo's tactics and sneak attack on the south gate.
It has to be said that Wang Ping is not short of adventurous ideas.
In fact, Wang Ping also knew that as long as he led the Wudang flying army to attack the Wei army's granary and burn the grain and grass, the Wei army's morale would be in chaos. Even if he did not attack the city and retreated from Wancheng, Wancheng would not be able to defend it for too long. Long.
At first, Wang Ping really wanted to lead his troops to attack the granary, but Wang Ping gave up the idea after asking Du Yue why he took such a risk to attack the city gate in the early morning.
According to Duyo's description, Wancheng's city-defending commander was a man with outstanding strategies and extremely difficult to deal with. It was he who forced the useless flying army lurking in the city to no longer be able to hide their whereabouts and had to take a risk.
How could such a person not take more precautions at such important locations as granaries and armories? !
It is impossible for Wang Ping to think of problems that even Du Yue can think of.
And if Wang Ping led his troops to attack the granary, he would most likely face the situation of not only having to deal with the defenders of the granary, but also encountering a flanking attack from the Wei army who came for reinforcements.
Once the granary cannot be captured and burned down, Duyo's successful sneak attack will be ruined, and Wang Ping will have to lead his team to break out from the west gate again.
Therefore, Wang Ping thought carefully and decided to follow Du Yue's strategy.
Wang Ping asked Du Yue to lead three thousand Wudang flying troops to attack the granary, creating as much momentum as possible to lure the Wei army to send reinforcements to the northwest granary.
And he himself, with five hundred Wudang flying troops, took advantage of the chaos in the city to get as close as possible to the south gate of Wancheng, opened the city gate, and welcomed Guan Yu into the city.
This matter is an adventure, and the most important thing is that in order to avoid being discovered by the Wei army in the city as much as possible, Wang Ping cannot bring too many soldiers and horses there. Five hundred people is already the limit.
In fact, the scale of five hundred people is not small. An army of five hundred people is marching in the city. If the city is in order, it can be spotted at a glance.
But fortunately, the area near the west gate was completely in chaos at this time. In addition to the panic patrolling Wei troops nearby, there were also many civilians fleeing to avoid the war. With the cover of these people, Wang Ping took advantage of the chaos and approached the south gate. The probability is still there.
Although it is impossible not to be discovered forever, the later it is discovered, the better.
In this way, Wang Ping also made his own choice and prepared to divide his troops to attack the south gate.
(End of chapter)
