For Sima Yi's withdrawal, Zhuge Liang is really not to blame, nor can Zhang Xi, Deng Ai, Zhao Yun, and Zhang Fei be blamed on any of the Han generals.
After all, none of these people expected that Sima Yi would directly break his promise and withdraw his troops after taking the initiative to invite a battle and both parties agreed to a fight.
People these days still have a certain moral bottom line, and those who go back on their word like Sima Yi will be despised by everyone in the world.
Therefore, everyone including Zhuge Liang believed that Sima Yi, a son of a famous family, would abide by the agreement and fight Zhuge Liang outside the south gate of Luyang. No one expected that Sima Yi would take advantage of this time to withdraw his troops and run away. .
What to do next? Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi looked at each other, and Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei also scratched their heads.
Chase it? !
The Wei army has already fled. It is not clear exactly when it started to run away, but it certainly did not withdraw overnight last night. Maybe arrangements were made three days ago to withdraw the troops in batches.
If I chase him now, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up.
Not chasing? !
Then we can't just wait here. Could it be that Sima Yi can lead the army back again and go to the promised battle? !
Therefore, Zhang Xi ordered Deng Ai to lead troops into Luyang and take over the city defense. The remaining soldiers returned to the camp, packed up, and prepared to break camp and march to Yingchuan County.
As for Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang is in a bit of a bad mood right now.
To face such an opponent, Zhuge Liang even attached great importance to this opponent for a time, but found out that his opponent turned out to be such a thing. It would make everyone feel very bad.
However, there is one thing to say. From a tactical point of view, Sima Yi's move was indeed very beautiful in getting rid of the possibility of being pursued by the Han army, and perfectly completed the goal of withdrawing troops and returning to Luoyang. His tactical level was quite high, and his strategic vision was very good. Also very outstanding.
His character is really poor. Alas! ! !
This is an era where character and virtue are important when looking at and employing people. Zhuge Liang has always been a person who strictly demands himself with moral integrity. However, when he met such an opponent, Zhuge Liang didn't know how to describe his feelings.
Of course, if you change it to Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi would be easier to describe—it’s just Zhuge Liang’s new pair of shoes that stepped on dog poop.
Zhuge Liang was not able to accept that Sima Yi, a world-renowned celebrity and general, was such a virtuous person, but Zhang Xi was more able to accept it. This man swore to Luo Shui and turned around and thought it was bullshit. How high a moral bottom line can you expect from him? !
Zhang Xi really didn't expect to do this now, but soon, when he thought about what the Sima family was in history, he was instantly relieved.
At least compared to his son who committed regicide on the street, Sima Yi already had a moral bottom line.
Don't think so much. The gate of Luyang has been opened. Now Yingchuan County is no longer in danger. It is better to march as quickly as possible, occupy Yingchuan County, attack Henan, and march into Luoyang.
We can't delay the entire Northern Expedition just because of Sima Yi's moral issues.
Zhuge Liang also quickly realized this problem, quickly adjusted his mentality, and then began to arrange his troops.
After capturing Luyang, the Han army actually had two marching routes.
If the Han army goes directly north along the Luyang Avenue, they can enter Henan County. The only ones blocking Luoyang are Liangxian County, Xincheng, and Yique and Dugu Passes among the eight passes of Luoyang.
Similarly, if the Han army marches eastward and crosses Ru River, they can directly reach Xiangcheng, an important town in Yingchuan County. After conquering Xiangcheng, they can attack Xuchang directly and occupy Yingchuan.
In other words, the passages to Yingchuan County and Henan County have now been opened.
The next thing Zhuge Liang had to consider was whether to concentrate his forces to raid Luoyang first, or to attack slowly and steadily, first clearing out the threat from Yingchuan County on the flanks, and then move into Luoyang in a large scale.
According to the intelligence sent by Beidi Xizhao, Cao Wei's Hebei County soldiers, led by Cao Zhen, have quelled the rebellion of Liaodong Gongsun Yuan. This round of operations will take at least two months, and the time for quelling the rebellion is even harder to estimate. No matter how bad Gongsun Yuan is, he should still have the ability to last for a month. If Cao Zhen's advance does not go smoothly, it is not impossible that he will not be able to put down the Liaodong rebellion in three to five months.
So now Zhuge Liang has at least three months, and at most even half a year, to capture Sili, which is plenty of time.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang's idea was to at least clear out the soldiers from Yingchuan County near Xiangcheng and Ru River, and establish a grain and grass transportation channel for the guard army to enter Henan County, so that he could march to Luoyang with more confidence.
As for Xuchang, it is also a fortified city, and not far to the east of Xuchang is Chenliu County, and not far to the south is Runan County. There may be Wei soldiers coming to help from these places. Once Xuchang gets into a fight with the Wei army, then the pair attacking Luoyang It's very disadvantageous.
This idea did not cause controversy in the army. After all, even if the Han army wanted to go directly north to attack Luoyang, the logistics supply channels still needed to be protected. It was also necessary to wipe out the Wei army from Rushui to Xiangcheng.
Otherwise, you have to worry about your future being compromised at any time.
Another thing is that although Luyang has been defeated, it is still unknown whether the Wei army on the Kunyang side has retreated and where it has retreated to. Wu Yi has not sent a military report, so he cannot just wait.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang gave Zhao Yun 10,000 troops and asked Zhao Yun to lead the troops across Ru River and attack Xiangcheng.
On the one hand, it clears the flank threats, and on the other hand, it poses a threat to Kunyang's rear, forcing Chen Tai in Kunyang to withdraw his troops, or simply cooperate with Wu Yi to attack Chen Tai from front to back.
Zhuge Liang and others led the remaining 47,000 soldiers of the Northern Expedition and continued towards Henan County. After Zhao Yun, Wu Yi and others cleared the flank threats, they quickly followed up and joined forces in Luoyang.
This was the march route of the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition.
Let's go back to Sima Yi. Sima Yi abandoned the battle regardless of his reputation and used the three-day time difference to withdraw from Luyang. He almost completely withdrew all 35,000 Wei troops to Luoyang City.
The reason why there are 35,000 people is because we want to leave a group of troops in Luyang to confuse the Shu thieves. This group of people must be at least about 3,000 people. In addition, the casualties of the defenders some time ago can reach 35,000. Thousands of people retreated to Luoyang. It was considered that Sima Yi had led his troops well, and there were no deserters during the retreat.
After retreating to Luoyang, Sima Yi immediately asked Xinpi about the battle situation at Hangu Pass to see if he still had a chance to send troops to rescue his son. However, he was caught by Xinpi and suffered a bitter meal.
At this time, Sima Yi knew that his eldest son had already taken one step ahead of him and rescued Hangu Pass.
This is another very gratifying thing.
Regardless of whether Master Sima saved Hangu Pass out of strategic considerations or out of love for his younger brother, at least for now, Hangu Pass has not been lost, and his son should not die in the battle. This is always a matter of fact. Delightful thing.
But, in front of Xin Pi, Sima Yi still had to curse "Shu Zi" a few times to vent his anger on Xin Pi's behalf.
In any case, Master Sima disobeyed the order. Although Xinpi had no choice but to complete the transfer procedures for Master Sima, it did not mean that Xinpi had no grudges against Master Sima.
In this case, it would be beneficial to everyone if Sima Yi scolded his son to vent his anger on Xin Pi.
Next, Luoyang still needs everyone to work together to defend it, but we can't have conflicts at this time.
After appeasing Xin Pi, Sima Yi immediately ordered Wang Ling, who had returned to Luoyang, to lead 10,000 troops and set off immediately to Hulao Pass to strengthen defense.
Hulao Pass is the junction of Sili and Chenliu County. Guarding this place is equivalent to guarding the passage for reinforcements from Hebei for the Luoyang garrison.
If Hebei County soldiers want to support Luoyang, there are only two directions they can go.
One is to go to Hanoi County, cross the Yellow River, and come from Mengjin to help.
But the problem is that now that Luyang has been lost and the gate of Yingchuan County is wide open, the Shu thieves can enter Henan County through Luyang at any time. Once the Shu thieves enter Henan County, they will definitely attack Hangu Pass to the west first and follow the enemy outside Hangu Pass. The Shu thieves gathered together.
Under this situation, Hangu Pass had no value in holding on, so Sima Yi planned to notify his two sons to withdraw from Hulao Pass and directly return to defend Mengjin Ferry and guard the northern passage to Luoyang.
The Shu thieves will obviously not let go of this place that cuts off the connection between Henan County and Hanoi County, and will definitely divide their troops to attack Mengjin Ferry. In this case, regardless of whether Mengjin Ferry can be defended or not, Hebei County soldiers will have to cross the Yellow River. Due to the natural dangers, it is difficult to cross over from Mengjin to help.
Then, another reinforcement channel through Hulao Pass becomes very important.
After all, Hulao Pass is much stronger than Mengjin Ferry, and the east side of Hulao Pass is close to Chenliu County, and it can also get support from Jia Kui of Yanzhou. Even if there are not enough troops to help Hulao Pass, it can provide some food, grass and ordnance. , allowing Hulao Pass to hold on longer, Yanzhou Jia Kui can still do it.
Therefore, Hulao Pass is very important, and Sima Yi has no generals available, so he can only send Wang Ling there to guard Hulao Pass.
As for Chen Tai in Yingchuan County, Sima Yi had already sent military orders to Chen Tai before withdrawing troops from Luyang, allowing him to withdraw into Yingchuan on his own according to the situation, preferably to defend Xuchang.
From a strategic point of view, Xuchang is connected to Chenliu to the east and Runan to the south. In both places, Chen Tai can get some support. Neither Jia Kui nor Guo Huai will sit back and watch Xuchang fall.
Otherwise, the connection between Runan County, Yanzhou, and Heluo would be completely severed, and Guo Huai, who guarded the three counties of Runan, would be completely isolated.
Guo Huai will definitely send troops to rescue Xuchang and cannot sit idly by. As for Jia Kui, Sima Yi believes that he is also a rare handsome man with an overall view. Naturally, he will not sit back and watch Runan being isolated and cut, causing the Soochow Army to move north. , Yanzhou will definitely take corresponding actions when facing the threat from the Soochow Army.
Therefore, when Chen Tai retreated to Xuchang, it was not impossible to hold on to half of Yingchuan County.
From a selfish point of view, Sima Yi knew that Chen Tai would not abandon Yingchuan so easily. He was from Yingchuan, and the Yingchuan family would not be willing to see Yingchuan occupied by Shu thieves so easily. After all, Shu thieves were against The attitude of the wealthy family will definitely affect the interests of the Yingchuan family.
Therefore, Sima Yi ordered Chen Tai to defend Xuchang. Privately, he also hoped that Chen Tai could rely on the support of the Yingchuan family to drive a nail in the flank of the Shu bandits. If the main force of the Shu bandits attacked Yingchuan, he could also reorganize Henan County for him. Defense provides enough time.
After all parties made arrangements, Sima Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Sitting quietly in Luoyang City, waiting for the arrival of the Shu thieves.
(End of chapter)
