Zhang Fei's current state is really subtle.
Since the capture of Luoyang, Zhang Fei felt as if he had lost all his energy and could not get up his energy for anything. Even the affairs of the army were left to Wei Yan to control on his behalf.
It even got to the point where Zhang Fei locked himself up in his mansion in Luoyang and saw no outsiders.
According to the steward of Zhang Fei's Luoyang Mansion, Zhang Fei's behavior during this period was very strange, and he was sometimes very irritable. If his servants were slightly dissatisfied, they would be scolded and beaten by Zhang Fei. But sometimes, Zhang Fei He is also extremely easy to talk to and always smiles at everyone. He always smiles when his servants make mistakes and doesn't take them seriously.
This state is obviously not the state of a normal person.
Zhuge Liang also invited famous doctors all over Luoyang City to diagnose Zhang Fei. As a result, the famous doctors said that Zhang Fei had symptoms of "excessive thinking and damage to the heart".
To put it bluntly, as I get older and think too much, I end up in a trance.
As for the reason, we can probably guess it based on the two decades of friendship between Zhuge Liang and others and Zhang Fei.
The late emperor and the two generals have both passed away. Of the three Taoyuan brothers in the past, only the three generals are still alive.
The third general was able to hold on before, because the second general left a mission to the third general, asking him to capture Luoyang and change his "Sili Xiaowei" from a remote leader to a real one. The third general has been holding on for a long time. tone.
Now, Luoyang has also been captured, and the three generals have lost all their life goals. In addition, it is not impossible that they have become like this due to missing their two brothers.
After all, the Third General is also old, almost seventy years old. There are not a few old men of this age in the countryside who have the same symptoms as the Third General.
Considering this special situation, Zhuge Liang is currently in charge of Luoyang's military affairs, and the actual execution of the army is also left to Wei Yan.
And Zhang Fei now serves more of a mascot and spiritual symbol.
Zhuge Liang still invited Zhang Fei to this military meeting, but Zhang Fei's speech could not be taken seriously.
If nothing else, just respond to Zhuge Liang's words towards Zhang Fei, you can see it.
Zhang Fei actually called Zhuge Liang "strategist" during the military meeting.
Zhuge Liang has not heard Zhang Fei call him this for almost ten years.
The last time Zhang Fei called himself this was when the late emperor had just captured Hanzhong.
Zhang Fei's character is different from Guan Yu's. Although Guan Yu respects Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang and others, he is also aloof and arrogant. In addition, he is used to being a head coach. He is used to calling Xu Shu "strategist" instead of calling Xu Shu his official position. It reflects Guan Yu's recognition and respect for Xu Shu.
But Zhang Fei is different. Zhang Fei respects the scholar-official class very much. Under normal circumstances, he will not talk to Zhuge Liang and others in the tone of a superior speaking to a subordinate. Under normal circumstances, Zhang Fei at this time should Zhuge Liang will be called "Prime Minister".
In the past, when Zhuge Liang was only the "strategist general" or "strategist general", Zhang Fei had a higher official position than Zhuge Liang. Calling Zhuge Liang "strategist" showed closeness and respect, which was equivalent to elevating Zhuge Liang to a position similar to his own.
But later, as Zhuge Liang's official position gradually became almost the same as Zhang Fei's, Zhang Fei usually called Zhuge Liang's official position out of respect for scholars and officials, instead of continuing to call him "strategist".
Therefore, Zhang Fei in this situation is obviously in an abnormal state.
In addition, there is another supporting evidence. Zhang Fei did not remember who Huang Quan was at all, and when he saw Wei Yan, he actually asked why Wei Yan appeared in the meeting hall instead of guarding his eldest brother.
Wei Yan didn't know how to answer this.
Obviously, Zhang Fei's mental state is very chaotic now. He is a little confused about the place and situation he is in now. Of course, what he said cannot be used as a reference.
But no matter what, regardless of Zhang Fei's opinion, most of the generals in Luoyang City now support a foreign war.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang wrote a reply to Sima Yi, agreeing to have a showdown outside the east gate of Luoyang City three days later.
For three days, Sima Yi was not given the opportunity to mobilize reinforcements from the south gate or the north gate.
As long as Zhuge Liang agrees to fight on Sima Yi's side, it will be a good thing beyond Sima Yi's expectation. It doesn't matter whether he sends troops for reinforcements or not.
Besides, Sima Yi is not that hopeless.
There are about 40,000 defenders in Luoyang City, and Sima Yi now has 40,000 troops in his hands, almost the same number of troops to invite a battle. If Sima Yi still seeks to mobilize troops and bully Zhuge Liang with the number of troops, even if he wins, it will show that Sima Yi is not strong enough. , lack of confidence.
Sima Yi didn't think that he was really inferior to Zhuge Liang.
Forty thousand versus forty thousand, Sima Yi was confident enough to win.
Three days later, the two sides set up their formations outside the east gate of Luoyang City and agreed to fight.
On Sima Yi's side, 40,000 troops came out and formed a formation outside the city.
Zhuge Liang only had 30,000 men to fight. In order to prevent Sima Yi from shamelessly betraying his promise again, Zhuge Liang left Huang Quan and Xiang Chong behind, each leading 5,000 men to guard the south gate and the north gate.
There was no way, Sima Yi was an old boy with a criminal record. Last time he agreed to a fight and fled without a fight. This time he pretended to agree to a fight but actually made a sneak attack plan. It was not impossible.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang left 10,000 elite troops of the Northern Army to guard two gates to prevent Sima Yi, an old boy who was trying to lose his reputation, from making sneak attacks.
As for Sima Yi, Sima Yi actually didn't realize that Zhuge Liang had 10,000 fewer people to fight at the beginning.
There were too many people, and Sima Yi did not occupy the high ground, so his field of vision was limited. If he observed it with the naked eye, he could only see densely packed Han troops leaving the city. The number of troops was difficult to distinguish for a while.
Zhuge Liang's formation was also a regular circular formation, focusing on defense first. With the circular formation, at least at the first time, Sima Yi could not see clearly how many people Zhuge Liang had hidden in the rear.
Only after Sima Yi took the initiative to launch an attack and Zhuge Liang mobilized his troops to meet the enemy, did Sima Yi realize that Zhuge Liang's circular formation seemed to be somewhat weak at the defensive level.
So Zhuge Liang didn’t send out all his troops? !
By observing the changes on the battlefield and judging based on his own experience, Sima Yi finally discovered that Zhuge Liang's army lacked about 5,000 to 10,000 troops to fight.
This matter is troublesome.
Of course, Sima Yi would not have thought that Zhuge Liang was guarding against his shameless betrayal, so he left his troops to defend the city. Sima Yi subconsciously believed that Zhuge Liang deliberately held back a hand, preparing to win with one blow when he found a flaw in his attack.
This resulted in Sima Yi needing to always pay attention to changes in his offensive formation, not to create opportunities for Zhuge Liang to entangle him, and at the same time, he had to be ready to deal with Zhuge Liang's surprise attack at any time.
For this reason, Sima Yi deliberately gathered a reserve force of 5,000 people to coordinate with his 3,000-strong central army, just in case.
Theoretically speaking, Sima Yi's response was not wrong, but the problem was that after a while, Sima Yi finally realized that things seemed to be a little different from what he expected.
Actually, Sima Yi had some expectations for this invitation to fight.
He knew that the Shu thieves had an elite northern army in Luoyang City, and the overall combat effectiveness of this Shu army was stronger than the county soldiers in his hands.
But the problem is, in Sima Yi's view, the combat effectiveness of this elite Northern Army is not to the extent of crushing Cao Wei's county soldiers, and except for this Northern Army, the combat effectiveness of other Shu Army's soldiers may not be as good as that of the Wei Army's soldiers. Be strong.
Another thing is that this is a battle of 40,000 people. Even if the soldiers have excellent combat power, it depends on whether the commander can make adjustments through command and exert their maximum combat power. Even if he can, Sima Yi's side is not unable to make tactical adjustments and entangle them. This elite northern army then sought the possibility of a breakthrough in the defense areas of other Shu thieves.
On the battlefield, it all depends on the commander's dispatch. The combat effectiveness of soldiers may be very important, but there are also many factors that affect the combat effectiveness of soldiers. It all depends on who can truly seize the opportunity.
Again, Sima Yi had enough confidence in himself when it came to commanding on the battlefield. He really didn't think that Zhuge Liang, a man with a civil service background, could compare to him in making adjustments before the battle, even if he had studied military skills for several years.
Then Sima Yi was slapped in the face.
No matter how he commanded and adjusted, Zhuge Liang was able to respond very well in the shortest time. In terms of the tactical execution ability of the soldiers, Zhuge Liang's soldiers were obviously better than the Yanzhou County soldiers under Sima Yi.
Sima Yi obviously underestimated Zhuge Liang's talent in command. Zhuge Liang could almost immediately make corresponding adjustments after he made any tactical changes.
Moreover, Zhuge Liang's formation was indeed a circular formation at the beginning of the battle. However, as he continued to fight, Sima Yi discovered that Zhuge Liang had some of his troops retreat and some of his troops advance into a circular formation. It was not like a A round formation.
Rather, it resembles an octagonal formation.
Yes, Zhuge Liang used the Northern Han Army as the backbone, pushed the Northern Han Army forward, and shrank the Nanyang County troops inside, forming his own original formation-the Eight Formations.
I'm really lazy today and only have two updates. I'll see if I have time to make up for it tomorrow or the day after.
(End of chapter)
