Zhang Xi's proposal cannot be said to be unreasonable.
Crossing the river from the direction of Heyang County via a warship pontoon and entering Hanoi County, wreaking havoc in Hanoi County can indeed force the Wei army to abandon the siege of Mengjin Ferry and return to rescue.
However, if this happens, Huang Quan's navy at Mengjin Ferry must retreat. Without the navy to contain it, the Wei army will have no scruples. If 78,000 to 80,000 Wei troops cross the river together to break through Mengjin Ferry and head towards Luoyang, it will be a big deal. Troublesome things.
Seventy or eighty thousand Wei troops are approaching the north gate of Luoyang. Even though Zhuge Liang now has 20,000 more Southern troops and Zhuge Liennu guarding the city, he still cannot take it lightly.
Once Sima Yi, who was in Gong County, learned about the breakthrough of Mengjin Ferry, he would definitely press forward with his entire army to defeat the Northern Han Army led by Wei Yan, who also came to besiege Luoyang.
By that time, there will be hundreds of thousands of Wei troops gathered around Luoyang.
Admittedly, there are still many uncertain factors here. For example, after Zhang Xi crossed the river, a large number of cities in Hedong County were captured, and the Wei army's rear was unstable, forcing the Wei army to return for reinforcements, or Wei Yan could block Sima Yi's attack and prevent Sima Yi from following. The Wei army joined forces at Mengjindu and so on.
It is indeed impossible to deduce the outcome of the Luoyang defense battle based on these unknown circumstances, but if Sima Yi is really cruel and chooses not to return to Hedong, and fights to destroy the Hedong area but also storms Luoyang, Luoyang will still be very dangerous. .
Moreover, once Luoyang is in danger and falls under enemy siege, not to mention whether it can be defended, but also the various strategies of the subsequent Northern Expedition will not be implemented smoothly because of Luoyang's instability. This is what Zhuge Liang is most worried about.
The Northern Expedition is always the first priority. Therefore, if Luoyang can avoid being in danger, it is best not to be in danger.
Zhang Xi actually also knew that his plan was a bit too cost-effective. It was not a good idea, but it was better than passively responding at Mengjindu.
The current problem of Mengjindu is actually a problem of insufficient troops. As long as we think of ways to make up for this gap in troops, it is not that important to mobilize naval forces.
For this reason, Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi discussed for a long time, and finally Zhuge Liang came up with a compromise.
Zhang Xi's troops who wanted to go to Hedong had not arrived yet.
Zhang Xi brought 50,000 soldiers to support Luoyang, of which only 30,000 Shangyong soldiers were under Zhang Xi's command within the strategic plan. The remaining 20,000 Southern troops were to stay in Luoyang as a reserve force.
Zhang Xi should have had 20,000 rangers as his own strength, but now these rangers have just reached Youfufeng and have not yet passed Wuguan.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang's suggestion was to let Zhang Xi lead 30,000 Shangyong soldiers to support Mengjin Ferry and block the wave of Wei army's attack. Wang Chang's 20,000 Hongnong County soldiers did not need to return to Luoyang and would first follow Zhang Xi's command.
The purpose is to create a stalemate between the forces of both sides in the direction of Mengjin Crossing, so that Sima Division, Xiahou Ba and others on the Hedong side believe that the Han Dynasty will fight a stalemate at Mengjin Crossing.
Then, after the 20,000 Qiang and Hu Rangers led by Ma Dai arrived in Luoyang, they immediately assembled in the direction of Heyang County. At that time, Huang Quan's navy was mobilized to build a pontoon bridge.
In this case, in the direction of Mengjin crossing, Zhang Xi led more than 50,000 soldiers to block the Wei army's 70,000-strong force, and contained the main force of the Wei army. In the direction of Heyang, after crossing the river, 20,000 rangers used the speed of the cavalry to quickly plunder Hedong. Forcing the Wei army to retreat from Mengjindu.
It is such a compromise method, and this method is actually not without its shortcomings.
One of the most obvious shortcomings is that although the rangers are very destructive, they are unable to attack cities. At most they can only plunder places, but they cannot truly and effectively threaten many large counties in Hedong County and Hanoi County. Sima Yi or If the Sima Division could really withstand the pressure and not return reinforcements, there would be little point in the cavalry crossing the river.
But the current method is already as balanced as possible. Things on the battlefield cannot be perfect.
Luoyang's safety is more important than conquering Hedong County.
Although Zhuge Liang's method is not perfect, it is at least safer than Zhang Xi's method. That's all.
After discussing with Zhuge Liang, Zhang Xi rested in Luoyang City for three days. On the fourth day, he led his troops to Mengjin Ferry north of Luoyang to support Zhang Yi, Wang Chang and others who were still holding on to Mengjin Ferry.
Zhuge Liang continued to sit in Luoyang, guarding against Sima Yi in Gong County, while waiting for the Qiang and Hu Rangers led by Ma Dai to arrive and arrange their next march route.
Zhang Xi marched all the way and reached the Mengjindu front line in less than three days.
After all, we were about to approach the battlefield. Although we were anxious for rescue, we still had to be prepared for the battle and not make any mistakes.
Only after successfully arriving at the front line of Mengjindu and rendezvousing with Wang Chang did Zhang Xi know the true battle situation at Mengjindu.
Zhang Yi is still holding on to Mengjindu, but to be honest, Zhang Yi has lost three-quarters of Mengjindu, leaving only the south corner, and Zhang Yi is still fighting hard.
As for Wang Chang, after leading the army to arrive here, he tried to persuade Zhang Yi to withdraw directly from Mengjin Ferry and set up a new line of defense on the outside, but Zhang Yi did not agree.
The reason for Zhang Yi's objection is also very simple - he has few soldiers.
Once they give up holding on to Mengjin Ferry and release the enemy troops to fight, then more than 20,000 Han troops will have to face the attack of 780,000 to 80,000 Wei troops. From the perspective of military superiority, there is no chance of winning.
It would be better to continue to block the south gate of Mengjin Ferry and work hard all the way, maybe it can last a little longer.
Wang Chang also had to admit that Zhang Yi's approach made some sense, but since then, Zhang Yi had to face the siege of the Wei army that was seven or eight times his own strength. The 20,000 Hongnong County soldiers Wang Chang brought with him could not only help Zhang Yi. If the wing strengthens the defense lines on both wings, it will not be able to help at all.
Wang Chang had nothing to say, because it was Zhang Yi himself who bet on Mengjin Ferry. He was buying time with his own life, not using other people's lives as cannon fodder. What could Wang Chang say? !
Fortunately, Zhang Yi's persistence was not fruitless. He finally managed to hold on until Zhang Xi arrived with his troops.
Zhang Xi led his troops to the vicinity of Mengjindu. After learning the specific situation from Wang Chang, he immediately began to think about how to deceive the Wei army at Mengjindu.
If you want to trick people, you must first take them by surprise. In this case, the Wei army cannot be aware that they have led troops to help.
For this reason, Zhang Xi did not hesitate to go through another trouble. The leader of the army withdrew thirty miles with the troops retreated thirty miles, leaving only Wang Chang's troops to defend the outer perimeter of Mengjindu.
Secondly, Zhang Xi ordered Zhang Yi to give up guarding the south gate of Mengjin Ferry, retreat to join Wang Chang's army, and release the Wei army.
In the end, Zhang Xi will let Wang Chang pretend to be defeated and retreat in his own direction. When the Wei army catches up, Zhang Xi will use the Zhuge Liannu he polished from Zhuge Liang to teach Sima Shi and Xia Houba how to behave. .
The trick is not new, but this routine has caused countless generals to suffer losses and be fooled. Sometimes on the battlefield, the simpler the strategy, the easier it is to succeed.
Without him, the situation forces you.
The enemy is defeated and retreats. Will you pursue them? !
Not chasing? !
A waste of opportunity gave the enemy a chance to regroup and gather the defeated troops.
The possibility of being ambushed is not small.
This is a matter of either choice.
What a good coach has to do is to try his best to induce the enemy general to make him mistakenly think that his judgment is correct, thereby increasing the probability of him falling into the trap.
Of course, if you don't succeed, there's nothing to be discouraged about. This is the case on the battlefield. Being exhaustive is just an adjective, and no one can really do it.
Anyway, the move is just like this. Whether you can be fooled or not depends entirely on whether Wang Chang's acting is real and whether Master Sima will be fooled.
At this time, Master Sima. To be honest, he is very hesitant now.
Looking at it, it seemed that he could really capture Mengjindu.
After capturing Mengjin Ferry and gaining a breakthrough, he could join Xiahou Ba and lead an army of 80,000 to attack Luoyang in one fell swoop and avenge his shame. But the problem was that doing so seemed to violate his father's strategic plan.
At the beginning, my father sent military orders and strictly emphasized that the attack on Mengjin Ferry was just a feint attack. The purpose was to attract Shu thieves to divide their troops at Mengjin Ferry and create opportunities for my father to sneak attack Luoyang. Therefore, when attacking Mengjin Ferry, you need to control the speed. .
It is necessary to create pressure on Mengjindu, but at the same time, Mengjindu cannot be completely captured.
Otherwise, with less than 4,000 soldiers and horses led by the Shu bandit general named Zhang Yi, he still wants to guard the south gate of Mengjin Crossing? !
Yes, Zhang Yi is able to guard the south gate until now, which is entirely the result of Sima Shi's letting go.
But, after this battle, Master Sima gradually felt that something was wrong.
Sima Division actually knew that Wang Chang led troops to help. After all, Wang Chang had been here for a long time. Although Sima Division's troops were blocked by Zhang Yi, they could still do it by sending some reconnaissance scouts.
Logically speaking, Wang Chang has been transferred here for almost half a month, and his father should have achieved results in Luoyang. If he wins and the sneak attack on Luoyang is successful, the Shu thieves in front of him should have withdrawn long ago.
But what should I do if I lose? !
(End of chapter)
