Whether the intelligence is trustworthy or not is a matter of opinion.
At least Pang Tong said he could trust it, because from the current point of view, there are no errors or omissions in this intelligence. On the contrary, the development of the situation is basically consistent with the intelligence.
Even if Cao Wei becomes more powerful, he will not use the deployment of troops in the entire Heluo area as false information. If it backfires, the current Cao Wei cannot afford the consequences.
As for Zhang Xi, he didn't dare to put too much hope in the authenticity of the information.
Not to mention that the information is so detailed that it is really hard for people to believe it easily. Even if it is true, it was information from half a year ago. It is hard to say what the current military deployment within Heluo and Yanzhou County is.
Sima Yi is not an easy person to deal with. His troops are deployed in such a way that the north is more heavily weighted than the south. Could Sima Yi see that and make adjustments? !
Therefore, Zhang Xi still suggested that since the Han Dynasty wants to make a Northern Expedition and formulate a strategy for the Northern Expedition, it should still insist on putting me first, and not believe this intelligence information easily.
In fact, everyone had people who agreed and opposed the two ideas. In the end, the six people discussed each other and came to a compromise conclusion.
You can conditionally believe it and use it as a reference for formulating strategies, but you cannot formulate strategies completely according to the description of this intelligence.
With such a premise in mind, the six people began to continue discussing how to arrange the Northern Expedition of the Northern Expedition.
Zhuge Liang's idea was to focus on Yingchuan County, strive to capture Yingchuan County as soon as possible, march into Chenliu, and break into the hinterland of Yanzhou.
Regarding the Heluo area, Zhuge Liang's idea was to use Luoyang as his base and mainly use feints to contain the enemy. After the main force entered Yanzhou and defeated Sima Yi, he would then concentrate his forces to attack Hanoi and head north to Hedong County.
This kind of tactics is quite satisfactory. Concentrate superior forces and break through all the way. Although Yanzhou has a hundred thousand people, there are too many places that need to be defended, so it is not impossible to defeat them in one fell swoop.
It may take some time, but it's better to be safe.
As for Pang Tong, he was not opposed to concentrating his forces to attack Yingchuan, but he believed that attacking Yingchuan could be used as a cover to attract Cao Weijun's troops in Yanzhou to move south, and then select elite troops to start from Mengjin Ferry and attack along the Yellow River. Enter Dongjun, wipe out the northern part of Yanzhou, and then go south to attack in a pincer attack, encircling and annihilating the main force of Cao Wei's army gathered in Chenliu and Yingchuan.
This combat idea is not impossible, but it is a little risky. After all, the prerequisite for attacking Dongjun along the Yellow River is that Yanzhou County troops are transferred southward, leaving the northern troops empty. At the same time, Hanoi County and Jizhou County soldiers are not ready to go south. preparation.
If either of the two parties is prepared, it will not be easy for the Han army to retreat along the Yellow River once the Han army attacking Dongjun is stalled.
Will be besieged by Yanzhou's heavy troops.
So, Zhang Xi's opinion is to combine it a little bit. First follow Zhuge Liang's early strategy. It is best to capture Yingchuan. If Yingchuan cannot be captured and the passage into Yanzhou cannot be captured, then the strategic goals can be changed. , according to the actual situation, it is not impossible to adopt Pang Tong's approach to break the situation.
As for the county soldiers in Hedong and Hanoi counties, they cannot be left alone and must be restrained. Zhang Xi suggested that in fact, you can also take the initiative to cross the river from Mengjin and send troops to Hanoi County to suppress the Wei soldiers in Hedong County.
But this way, there is a small problem: how to distribute the troops? !
According to Zhuge Liang's strategic idea, he planned to concentrate the most elite 200,000 Han troops to attack Yingchuan and enter Chenliu County. The remaining 100,000 troops would be used to contain the soldiers of Hedong County and Hanoi County in the Luoyang area.
Although there are not enough changes in this way, Sima Yi may see through it, but it is better than safety.
If we follow Pang Tong's strategic plan, we must deploy the northern and southern armies to stand by in Luoyang, and then wait to attack Dongjun via the waterway. If Yingchuan still sends 200,000 county troops to attack, Luoyang will only have 50,000 troops left. Now, take the lead to contain the two counties of Hedong and Hanoi. It would be strange for Sima Yi not to lead 100,000 Yanzhou County troops to attack Luoyang.
As for Zhang Xi's idea, it is even more outrageous. He has to cross the river to contain the two counties of Hedong and Hanoi. Do we have so many troops? ! Should we reduce the number of troops attacking Yingchuan, or should we stop defending Luoyang? !
Anyway, they just quarreled with each other, and finally, they reluctantly made a battle plan - attack Xuchang with 150,000 troops, and cross the river north from Mengjin with 50,000 troops to attack Hanoi County and contain Hedong County. The remaining 100,000 people were waiting for a fighter plane in Luoyang.
If Yingchuan County's attack goes smoothly, Luoyang will immediately divide 50,000 troops to capture Gongxian County and suppress the Hulao Pass to contain the Yanzhou County troops.
If the attack of Yingchuan County is unfavorable, Yingchuan County will turn into a strategic stalemate on the spot, attracting the Yanzhou Wei army to go south. Luoyang will divide its troops from Mengjindu and go down the river to attack Dongjun, so that the rebel army cannot take care of both the north and the south, so as to find opportunities to defeat the enemy.
This combat plan was finally unanimously approved by the six people.
The next step is to assign commanders to lead the troops.
There is no need to ask Li Yan. His duty is to sit in Chang'an and be responsible for arranging supplies of grain, grass and ordnance. He does not need to lead troops on expeditions.
The Qinzhou County soldiers led by Jiang Xu were assigned by Zhuge Liang to attack Yingchuan County, but he was not the commander of the attack on Yingchuan County.
But Xu Shu.
This appointment was actually somewhat unexpected. In fact, even Xu Shu himself had not thought of it.
The Han Dynasty really has no shortage of military commanders now. Whether it is Zhang Xi, Wei Yan, Zhuge Liang in the mature stage, or Deng Ai, Jiang Wei, Guanqiu Jian and others in the growth stage, they actually all have certain abilities.
Yes, a 150,000-strong army is attacking Yingchuan. It is indeed inappropriate to leave such a large group of troops to Deng Ai, Jiang Wei and others to fight, but there are also Wei Yan and Zhang Xi.
These two people, regardless of their qualifications or abilities, are enough to lead so many armies in combat.
The explanation given by Zhuge Liang was that Zhang Xi would lead troops to attack Hanoi County, while Wei Yan would be on standby in Luoyang at any time, and would decide whether to attack Dong County based on the development of the subsequent war.
Strictly speaking, the tasks in these two places were much more difficult than when Xu Shu led his troops to attack Yingchuan.
Zhang Xi wants to attack Hanoi County with 50,000 people and 40,000 people, and at the same time contain Hedong County's infantry and cavalry force of 60,000 people. Zhuge Liang is really worried about not letting Zhang Xi go on this task.
As for the cross-river attack on Dongjun, if it were not led by a wise and courageous general, Zhuge Liang would not worry. To be honest, in fact, Zhuge Liang wanted to use Deng Ai more along the way. This was the most suitable candidate.
But considering that Deng Ai's prestige and qualifications in the army are insufficient, although Wei Yan's character and temper are not reassuring, after so many years of experience, it is not possible for Zhuge Liang, a brave and foolhardy man, to be in such an important position. There is no need for Wei Yan.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang can only use Wei Yan in this place, and at the same time assist Deng Ai, which may be safer.
As for Zhuge Liang himself, he not only had to stick to Luoyang and coordinate the overall situation, but even when necessary, Zhuge Liang also needed to lead his troops forward to capture Gongxian and approach Hulao Pass to share the offensive pressure in other places.
Therefore, there is really no choice but to leave it to Xu Shu to lead the army along the Yingchuan route.
Moreover, Xu Shu led troops to attack Yingchuan County, which actually had another advantage. Xu Shu was from Yingchuan.
Using Xu Shu to lead the army to attack Yingchuan is to appease the Yingchuan family. You see, the army commander is from your hometown, and he has brought so many soldiers. Do you understand what to do? !
If you don't "eat the pot of pulp to welcome the king's army", then when you capture Yingchuan in the future, don't blame the big man for being rude! ! !
By letting Xu Shu lead the troops to attack this route, Zhuge Liang actually wanted to reduce the resistance of Yingchuan County.
Of course, Zhang Xi can actually lead this group of troops. After all, Zhang Xi is also from Yingchuan.
But the problem is that Xu Shu can lead troops to attack Yingchuan County, but Xu Shu cannot replace Zhang Xi and lead troops to attack Hedong. He can only retreat and make such a choice.
Zhang Xi didn't have any objections to this arrangement, but Xu Shu was worried about it.
He has always followed the general in battle, responsible for making plans and coordinating the various armies. Although he occasionally has experience in leading troops, he has never led so many soldiers.
Xu Shu expressed his concerns on the spot and suggested that it would be better if General Zhao was the commander instead and he could assist.
In the strategy-making stage, you must speak frankly if you have any problems. It is still too late to make changes. When the war actually starts, there will be no chance for you to say "I can't do it."
But Zhuge Liang persuaded Xu Shu not to worry about this.
First of all, Xu Shu's qualifications and abilities are fully capable of managing the 150,000-strong army.
Secondly, the generals assigned by Zhuge Liang to Xu Shu were Guan Ping, Guan Xing, Zhang Yi, Kou Feng, Wen Qin, Jiang Xu, and Pang De. Except for Wen Qin and Pang De, they were all very familiar with Xu Shu and commanded him. Getting up is no problem at all.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang believed that as long as Xu Shu could coordinate the relationship between these generals, it would not be difficult for Xu Shu to lead an army of 150,000 to attack Yingchuan.
As for the leading generals of the other ministries, Zhuge Liang does not need to worry about this.
Zhang Xi himself has a wide network of contacts in the army, and Wei Yan also has his own team. These two can just bring the leading generals they need without having to worry about it themselves.
(End of chapter)
