The two generals Wang Ping and Zhang Yi are probably the two generals whose abilities are seriously underestimated in the entire Northern Expeditionary Army.
Without him, of these two people, one has been guarding Fancheng all year round and has little reputation, and the other is dragged down by his status as a traitor. Although he has great talents, he is still seriously underestimated.
If these two men were sent to guard Luyang and Kunyang, Sima Yi and Chen Tai would not suspect anything fishy at all, and would even think that Zhuge Liang was not good at employing people, which was a breakthrough point.
Sima Yi might be a little more cautious, after all, his second son was bullied miserably by Wang Ping, but Chen Tai in Yingchuan County might not think so.
Letting these two people go would not only confuse Chen Tai and lure him to take the initiative to occupy Xiangcheng, but also ensure the relative safety of the Han army's rear food road.
Anyway, Zhang Xi trusts the abilities of these two people.
However, Zhang Xi still felt that Zhuge Liang's strategy was somewhat risky.
Although these two people are very capable, the question is, how many soldiers should you leave them? !
With more troops, Chen Tai did not dare to harass the grain road. With fewer troops, Zhang Xi was worried that they would not be able to defend them. Ability and military strength are two different things. Ability can reduce the gap in troop strength, but if the difference in troop strength is too large, the consequences will be huge. Even his ability cannot defend the city.
The abilities of the late emperor, the second master, and the third master are not low, aren't they still unable to defend Xuzhou? !
It doesn't matter if he was knocked down by Cao Cao. After all, he was a rare military genius in a century. But the matter of being stolen by Lu Bu had nothing to do with ability.
Therefore, Zhang Xi still persuades Zhuge Liang to think of other ways. Such a risky strategy is not in line with your Zhuge Liang's character.
But Zhang Xi did not expect that Zhuge Liang was determined to implement such a strategy this time. No matter how Zhang Xi persuaded him, Zhuge Liang would have reasons to refute Zhang Xi.
It is said that Zhuge Liang was only cautious in his life. That was because Ji Han at that time really couldn't afford to lose. Now Zhuge Liang has no such worries.
Another one. Zhuge Liang's strategy in the Battle of Lucheng in history was actually a very risky strategy.
If Zhuge Liang cannot lead his main army over the mountains and outflank Sima Yi's retreat in time, then Sima Yi really has a chance to encircle and annihilate Wei Yan and Wu Ban's other troops.
When the time comes that a man with a three-thousand-a-thousand-a-thousand head will be beaten, it will not be Sima Yi, but Zhuge Liang.
Then there is no later saying that King Sima Xuan "feared Shu as much as a tiger".
The current Zhuge Liang is just replicating the mentality of that time. It's just that compared to the historical Battle of Lucheng, Zhuge Liang has more confidence in this strategic deployment. He can really afford to lose now.
Zhuge Liang felt that he was still very sure, and Zhang Xi, Zhuge Liang also understood Zhang Xi. After all, Zhang Xi was too cautious in using troops, and he would never take risks as long as it could be justified.
The mentality is understandable, but in the current Sili war situation, if you want to push back, unless you mobilize all the remaining county troops in Jingzhou, Qinzhou, and Yizhou, it will be impossible to form a fighting force.
But the troops in these places really cannot be mobilized easily.
Apart from anything else, Zhuge Liang didn't know what role Soochow would play in this war.
It may be that they are fishing in troubled waters as before and strive to go north to seize Yanzhou, but it is also possible that they will send troops from Jiangxia and Lukou to attack Jiangling Sun Shiwan. No one can guess.
Jingzhou is too important to lose.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang could only use strategies to win based on the existing force size.
As Zhuge Liang made up his mind and began to mobilize troops to return reinforcements, Cao Wei also began its own response.
First of all, on the Yingchuan side, Chen Tai was quite surprised by the sudden withdrawal of Zhao Yun and Wu Yi.
Yes, now with the help of Jia Kui and Guo Huai, Chen Tai can defend Xuchang with ease. But Chen Tai did not expect that the Shu thieves suddenly retreated.
So. To pursue or not to pursue? !
Chen Tai hesitated, but Guo Huai did not.
Now that Xuchang is safe, Guo Huai immediately asked Chen Tai to lead his troops back to Runan.
According to reports from Guo Huai's people who stayed in Runan, Zhu Ju, who is currently stationed in Ruyin, has not yet moved north to attack Shangcai, and the three northern counties of Runan are relatively safe.
But Guo Huai did not dare to bet that Zhu Ju would not attack.
In a short period of time, Zhu Ju may have needed to mobilize troops and prepare food and fodder, or he could not guess the real purpose of Guo Huai's troops heading north and did not dare to move lightly.
But as time went by, Zhu Ju would be crazy if he didn't go north to attack Shangcai.
Therefore, Guo Huai really did not dare to stay in Xuchang for too long. Taking advantage of the fact that Soochow Wu had not yet gone north to attack Shangcai, he quickly led his troops back to defend his homeland. He could also protect the three northern counties of Runan and prevent his reputation from getting worse. .
Guo Huai wanted to leave, but Chen Tai obviously couldn't agree.
He only had a total of 10,000 troops and horses, and some were lost during the defense of the city. If the 10,000 troops and horses brought by Guo Huai left, what would the Shu thieves do if they came back with carbines? !
In any case, Chen Tai still hoped that Guo Huai could stay for a while, at least until the Shu thieves really evacuated Yingchuan County, and it would not be too late to leave at that time.
This was for the sake of the overall situation, and Guo Huai actually knew it, but he was still worried about Runan. In the end, Jia Kui joined in the persuasion, and Guo Huai temporarily let go of his thoughts and stayed with peace of mind.
After all, Jia Kui's character is still very good, and Jia Kui himself said it. If the three counties of Runan are lost, the door to Yanzhou will also be opened. In fact, compared with Guo Huai, Jia Kui is also very worried about Runan. Three counties.
Besides, Guo Huai only wants to guard the three counties of Runan, while Jia Kui is responsible for the entire Yanzhou. If anyone is more anxious, it is obviously Jia Kui who is more anxious to return to Yanzhou.
In this way, under Jia Kui's persuasion, Guo Huai finally decided to stay in Xuchang for the time being.
At this time, Chen Tai couldn't do nothing.
Now that the Shu thieves had retreated, Chen Tai also sent a force of 1,000 men and began to pursue them. It was said to be a pursuit, but in fact, it was to see where the Shu thieves had retreated, and whether they would kill any of them, or whether they would kill one of them. Go and explore other counties in Yingchuan.
Chen Tai could afford to lose a thousand men and horses. Besides, he might not be able to escape.
As a result, Chen Tai got the news that the Shu thieves retreated to Xiangcheng, leaving 6,000 soldiers to defend it, while the main force of more than 10,000 people went north to move toward Liang County.
As soon as the news reached Chen Tai, Chen Tai started to get confused.
Obviously, the Shu thieves are going to gather their forces and attack Luoyang.
The troops staying in Xiangcheng only stayed to protect the safety of the grain road.
In this situation, it seemed a bit inappropriate for Chen Tai to do nothing.
But if you want Chen Tai to lead the troops north to rescue Luoyang, let’s not worry about whether he will be discovered by Shu thieves along the way and try to catch turtles in a jar. The wealthy families in Yingchuan County will definitely not want Chen Tai to go. Save Luoyang.
You led the troops to rescue Luoyang, but what about Yingchuan? !
There are still six thousand Shu thieves in Xiangcheng.
Chen Tai cannot let his 10,000 soldiers stay to guard Yingchuan and let Guo Huai and Jia Kui lead troops to rescue Luoyang. This is a bit too shameless.
Another thing, for the Yingchuan family, the fate of Luoyang really has little to do with them. If you, Chen Tai, really think about the people of Yingchuan, you should not march into Xiangcheng at this time and completely regain the whole of Yingchuan. County? !
The pressure faced by Chen Tai from all parties is actually not small, especially as the young master of the Chen family in Yingchuan, it is impossible for him to ignore the voices of the "uncles" and "uncles" in Yingchuan County.
But as a minister of the Wei Dynasty, Chen Tai could not sit back and watch Luoyang besieged. Otherwise, regardless of whether Luoyang was defended or not, Chen Tai would still be held accountable if he stood still in Yingchuan County.
Therefore, Chen Tai thought about it and decided to lead his troops to capture Xiangcheng.
On the one hand, after capturing Xiangcheng, he can directly threaten the Shu thieves' food routes. If the situation permits, Chen Tai can take the initiative to send troops to harass Luyang or Kunyang to block the Shu thieves' food routes, which can also be regarded as defending Luoyang. Reduced stress.
On the other hand, recovering Xiangcheng is in the interest of the Yingchuan family and guarantees the farmland in the Ru River Basin. This is what these Yingchuan families care about most.
But the problem is that Chen Tai only has less than 10,000 soldiers from Yingchuan County. If he wants to capture Xiangcheng guarded by 6,000 Shu bandits, he does not have enough troops.
In the end, Chen Tai still had to find a way to convince Guo Huai and Jia Kui to lead troops to help him. Otherwise, he would not be able to achieve his goal.
When talking to these two people, we can't say anything about the Yingchuan family. We can only proceed from the interests of the Wei Dynasty and the interests of guarding Luoyang, and ask them to agree to lend them troops to attack Xiangcheng.
Chen Tai really spent a lot of effort to convince Jia Kui and Guo Huai that it was mainly Guo Huai.
Guo Huai really doesn't want to worry about Xiangcheng now. He just thinks that his Shangcai must not be captured by Wu Gou.
In the end, it was Jia Kui who came forward to persuade. In addition, Guo Huai's own strategic vision was still there, and he knew the importance of Xiangcheng to the defense of Luoyang, so he reluctantly agreed.
But there is also a condition - Guo Huai goes to fight Xiangcheng himself.
With this condition, it's really not that Guo Huai wants to take away Chen Tai's credit. In fact, in terms of Chen Tai's military level, Guo Huai really doesn't like it.
Even though Guo Huai is just a governor of Runan, he can only live in three counties, but Guo Huai's military level is definitely among the top three in the entire Wei Dynasty.
Guo Huai took the initiative to attack Xiangcheng, which is actually quite understandable - finish the attack early and don't delay his return to defend Cai.
When Chen Tai heard that there was such a good thing, he immediately gave troops to the generals and asked Guo Huai to lead the army to go out.
Then, in less than ten days, Guo Huai captured Xiangcheng.
(End of chapter)
