Because Zhuge Liang assigned 5,000 soldiers to Xiang Chong to garrison Hangu Pass, Zhuge Liang's garrison in Luoyang has indeed dropped by a very dangerous 5,000 men.
Through the detailed operations of the Wei Dynasty in Luoyang, Sima Yi soon learned the news. At the same time, Sima Yi also realized that this might be his best chance to break through Luoyang in this counterattack.
Sima Yi knew that with Zhuge Liang's cautious style of using troops, he would not give himself too much time and opportunity. The defensive loopholes in Luoyang's insufficient troops would soon be filled by Zhuge Liang, so he must seize the opportunity and send troops immediately.
Moreover, in order to prevent Zhuge Liang from urgently recalling Wei Yan to defend Luoyang, Sima Yi also had to make a posture of heading towards Gong County with the main army to attract Wei Yan's attention.
At this time, Sima Yi actually had two choices.
One is to lead 50,000 main troops to Gongxian first, defeat Wei Yan's 30,000 soldiers head-on, and then march to Luoyang.
Doing this is the safest and the best choice for you when there are no other reinforcements in Luoyang.
But alas, this is impossible.
Judging from Zhuge Liang's military style, if he dared to divide his troops, he must have prepared enough reinforcements in advance. From the geographical location, this reinforcement was either from Hongnong County or Nanyang County.
It only takes about ten to fifteen days to send troops from these two counties to Luoyang.
Sima Yi felt that he probably didn't have time to go step by step like this. After defeating Wei Yan in Gong County, he slowly marched into Luoyang.
Therefore, after leading his troops less than forty miles away from Hulao Pass, Sima Yi immediately chose the second method of attacking Luoyang.
He assigned 30,000 troops to Jia Kui, pretending to be 50,000 men and continuing to advance towards Gong County to attract Wei Yan's attention.
He led 20,000 soldiers and bypassed Gong County, intending to surprise Luoyang and catch Zhuge Liang by surprise.
Sima Yi's abacus was very good. The route he chose was to first capture Feng County south of Gong County, and then directly attack the south gate of Luoyang via Yique Pass on the south side of Luoyang.
According to Sima Yi's prediction, no matter how careful Zhuge Liang is, his current attention should be on Gong County in the east and Mengjin Ferry in the north. There will definitely not be too much defense to the south of Luoyang.
Bypassing Gongxian and attacking Fengxian to the southeast of Luoyang and Yique Pass to the south should be easy to capture.
If the advance goes smoothly along the way, it may only take seven or eight days to reach the gates of Luoyang City. In order to be prepared for war, Sima Yi is at least 60% sure that he can conquer Luoyang in a battle before the Luoyang reinforcements arrive.
In fact, this idea is not wrong. Zhuge Liang did not arrange too many troops to garrison in these two places. There were only 300 garrison troops in Feng County and only 500 garrison troops in Yique Pass.
This led to Sima Yi's march into Feng County going very smoothly and winning without a fight. The magistrate of Feng County chose to surrender when faced with the siege of Sima Yi's 20,000 soldiers.
But unfortunately, when Sima Yi led his troops to attack Yique Pass, he encountered trouble.
The guard general of Yique Pass did not choose to surrender under such an obvious disadvantage. Instead, he warned Luoyang and prepared to defend to the death.
Originally, this was nothing. A checkpoint built to collect taxes was guarded by only 500 enemy troops. In front of Sima Yi, who had 20,000 soldiers, it was not worth mentioning. It only took three days at most for Sima Yi to break through this checkpoint. Continue to march to Luoyang.
But it happened that during these three days, Sima Yi encountered an enemy that he had never expected.
Soldiers from the three eastern counties.
In other words, it was the soldiers of the three eastern counties led by Meng Da.
Yes, Meng Da sent reinforcements to Yique Pass in a very short period of time, temporarily stabilizing the defense line south of Luoyang.
Historically, Meng Da, who was guarding Dongsan County, did not expect the speed of Sima Yi's advance. As a result, he was easily defeated by Sima Yi without sufficient preparation and lost his life.
But in this time and space, Sima Yi never expected that Meng Da could come so quickly, causing him to be blocked in the south of Luoyang.
Meng Da actually didn't have many troops, only about 5,000. Sima Yi had 20,000. If he attacked Yique Pass hard, it would not be impossible to defeat Yique Pass.
What Sima Yi cared about was not Meng Da at all, but Meng Da's sudden appearance outside Yique Pass at this time. This meant that Luoyang's reinforcements were about to arrive, and it also meant that his plan to sneak attack Luoyang had completely failed.
Sima Yi regretted it, he really regretted it.
He knew that Zhuge Liang would not give him too much time, but by such a coincidence, he was blocked when he attacked Yique Pass. Sima Yi was really unwilling to do so.
How could this Meng Da come so quickly? !
A normal march from Nanyang County to Luoyang would take fifteen days, right? Did these Shu thieves fly here with their wings? !
Sima Yi couldn't figure it out, just like Meng Da couldn't figure out why Sima Yi came so quickly in history.
In fact, Meng Da came quickly, which was actually the result of a combination of two reasons.
On the one hand, it is Sima Yi's own problem.
In his own detour to attack Luoyang, Sima Yi wanted to lead his troops in a large circle to avoid the scouting range of Wei Yan's regiment in Gong County, so it took a little more time.
In addition, the defender of Yique Pass did not choose to surrender at the first time, but chose to defend to the death, and relied on a thousand defenders to hold on for a day, which also bought Meng Da to come to the rescue for one more day.
On the other hand, due to Mengda's own eagerness, at this special moment, not only did it not cause trouble, but it actually played a key role.
From Wancheng to Luoyang, according to the normal marching speed, it would take about fifteen days. But it only took Mengda seven days to lead 5,000 soldiers from the three eastern counties to Yique Pass.
Meng Da had been holding back for half his life, and finally got a chance to prove himself again with the help of his friend Li Yan. Therefore, Meng Da was very eager to make a contribution in this battle.
And this time Zhang Xi led troops to support Luoyang, which was another opportunity to show off his abilities in front of Zhuge Liang, and Meng Da would not let it go.
Therefore, not long after Zhang Xi led the army to leave Wancheng, Meng Da found Zhang Xi and put forward his own suggestions.
Meng Da thought that the fighting ahead was tense, and after Luoyang had divided its forces, the defenders were seriously lacking.
Although Meng Da also believes that with the ability of Prime Minister Zhuge and the bravery of General Wei, Luoyang seems dangerous, but in fact it is as safe as Mount Tai. But there are some things that are not afraid of ten thousand, but afraid of the unexpected.
What if Sima Yi bypassed Gong County and chose to attack Luoyang? !
What if Guo Huai and Chen Tai of Yingchuan County move their troops northward to attack Luoyang at this time? !
At least judging from the current force configuration, the defensive force in southern Luoyang is seriously insufficient.
Not to mention anything else, there are only a thousand old and weak soldiers guarding the area from Liang County to Dagu and Yique Pass. How many days can this small number of troops be able to withstand an enemy attack? !
Therefore, Meng Da suggested that forward troops should be sent first to Yique and Dagu Pass to increase the defensive strength on the south side of Luoyang, just in case.
Zhang Xi actually didn't care about Meng Da's other words.
Let’s not talk about whether Sima Yi would choose to take a detour to attack Luoyang. Let’s talk about Chen Tai and Guo Huai of Yingchuan. It is absolutely impossible for them to avoid the surveillance of Zhang Yi of Xiangcheng and Wang Ping of Jiaxian County and lead their troops north to attack Luoyang.
But the phrase "Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst case" indicates that Meng Da has figured out Zhang Xi's military strategy.
Zhang Xi was right when he thought about it. After all, his opponent was Sima Yi. If the old boy really chose to take a detour and sneak attack on Luoyang, it would not be impossible.
But the problem is, Zhang Xi led an army of 50,000 people to the north to support Luoyang. Even if he wanted to mobilize such a large-scale force quickly, so many people would not be able to move quickly.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is follow Meng Da's suggestion and send out the vanguard troops first, at least get to Dagu Pass and Yique Pass in advance to strengthen the defense in the south of Luoyang.
But, who should we send as this vanguard force? !
Logically speaking, it would be best to leave Meng Da to do the suggestion he made. But in view of Meng Da's criminal record, Zhang Xi is not sure about letting Meng Da do this now.
The advice given by this guy is good, but if you want this guy to lead the army, Zhang Xi can't say whether he will drag his feet all the way and cause trouble.
Therefore, Zhang Xi's first reaction was to ask Jiang Wei and the others if it was possible for the three of them to lead the Southern Army to take the first step and go to Dagu Pass and Yique Pass to set up defenses.
After all, the Southern Army's combat effectiveness is still guaranteed. In addition, after the Battle of Yingchuan that year and the Battle of Jingnan three years ago, the Southern Army has also accumulated combat experience. This rapid The march should be left to the Confederate Army with greater certainty.
However, Meng Da repeatedly asked for help, saying that with his five thousand troops, he could arrive at Yique Pass to defend the area within seven days.
Jiang Wei and the three of them were a little stunned when Qi Tian said this.
Zhang Xi didn't believe it at first. A normal march from Nanyang County to Luoyang would take about fifteen days. Even if it was just to reach Yique Pass in seven days, it would be a bit too childish.
But Meng Da and Zhang Xi repeatedly promised that if they couldn't do it, they could be treated as missed.
Failure to meet deadlines, in military law, can result in direct beheading in the most serious cases.
This is equivalent to Meng Da personally issuing a "military order" in front of the military generals, and he must arrive at Yique Pass within seven days to set up defenses.
Having said this, if Zhang Xi disagrees, it will be too disrespectful to Meng Da, and it will be tantamount to directly denying Meng Da's ability in front of the generals in the army.
Since Zhang Xi decided to take Meng Da on the expedition, he naturally did not take this guy to gain military merit. When it was his turn to contribute, he should still be allowed to contribute.
Moreover, since you, Meng Da, have planted such a conspicuous flag, if you continue to refuse to give in, it will appear that you are too unkind.
Therefore, Zhang Xi could only agree to Meng Da's request and let him lead his own 5,000 troops from the three eastern counties to rush to the aid of Yique Pass.
As for Dagu Pass, Zhang Xi handed it over to the Southern Army. The Southern Army general Wen Qin led 5,000 people and also set off first to garrison Dagu Pass.
(End of chapter)
