Meng Da and Ma Dai took the order and set off.
Meng Da only took away 5,000 crossbowmen, while Ma Dai's 20,000 Qiang and Hu horsemen were not in Wen County's siege sequence, so their departure did not make Xiahou Ba have any doubts.
Moreover, Zhang Xi would not give Xiahou Ba time to be suspicious. Zhang Xi arrogantly asked his army sergeants to cut down trees near Wen County, pretending to be a truce and building siege equipment, to attract Xiahou Ba's attention.
Xiahou Ba was still very nervous about this.
After all, he only has 20,000 people guarding Wen County, while there are about 60,000 to 70,000 Shu bandits outside the city, three times the strength, plus the help of siege equipment, is he really sure that he can defend Wen County? Hard to say.
Therefore, during this period, Xiahou Ba was also busy reinforcing Wen County's defenses and building defensive equipment, and he really had no time to worry about anything else.
But Meng Da and Ma Dai didn't have any delays along the way. They hurried along the official road and arrived at the foot of Taihang Mountain.
In terms of distance, Qin Lang led his troops from Hedong County, detoured to Bingzhou and then headed south. The distance was much farther than Meng Da and his two men from Wen County to the foothills of Taihang Mountains, so it was normal to be a step slower.
Meng Da and Ma Dai had a brief discussion and immediately made a division of labor according to the strategic plan.
Ma Dai camped on the official road, blocking the official road and preventing Cao Wei's soldiers from leaving Taihang Mountain easily. Meng Da followed the official road all the way to the foothills of Taihang Mountain, looking for a suitable ambush location.
This location cannot be too deep. If it is too deep, it will be easily surrounded and suppressed by the Wei army. After all, Mengda only brought five thousand crossbowmen. Although the crossbowmen are very powerful from a distance, once they are close, the combat effectiveness of five thousand people will be reduced. It's not enough to watch, and it can't defeat the 20,000 infantry on the opposite side.
But it cannot be too shallow. If it is too shallow, the Wei cavalry can directly break through the encirclement with a single charge and fight Ma Dai on the outer official road. Once a melee breaks out, the crossbowmen will lose their combat goals.
You can't even shoot your own people too.
Therefore, Mengda did not dare to go too deep. He just walked along the official road for about twenty miles, observed carefully, and finally selected a mountain col about fifteen miles away from Ma Dai to set up an ambush.
This place is great.
Five miles ahead, there is a stretch of steep rocks, which just sandwiched the official road. After passing the rocks on this side, there is this mountain col.
Mengda also had his own considerations in choosing to set up an ambush in this place.
If we say the most suitable place to set up an ambush, it is actually the steep rocky area. If we set up an ambush there, even if their whereabouts are exposed, the Wei army will not be able to kill them. After all, the rocks are so steep that they cannot climb up at all.
But the problem is that such a place is obviously suitable for an ambush. If the generals and scouts of the Wei army who are not fools will conduct a key investigation of this place, if they discover the ambush in advance, they will circle up from the gentle slope in front of the rocky area. I am afraid that none of my five thousand ambushes will be able to escape.
Therefore, Mengda gave up this most suitable place for an ambush and chose to set up an ambush in the mountain col behind this rocky area.
The area of the mountain col is relatively wide, and the slopes of the mountains on both sides of the official road are not too high. On the surface, it is indeed not suitable for an ambush.
But Wei Jun had just passed through the mountainous area with fear, and when he came to this place that seemed very safe at first glance, he would definitely relax his vigilance.
In addition, the interior of the mountain col is not a flat land. In addition to the official road, the woods and grass are relatively lush, providing natural hiding conditions. Setting up an ambush here can have unexpected effects.
It has to be said that although Meng Da's character is not very strong, he still has some strategies, especially in this kind of trick of playing with people's hearts, which is much better than Qin Lang.
If everything is normal, Mengda will definitely choose to set up an ambush in this mountain col and wait for the arrival of Qin Lang's troops. However, there will always be some changes.
This change comes from changes in the enemy's situation.
The scouts sent by Mengda to investigate the situation on the official road came back and reported that they had discovered the enemy's whereabouts.
However, it was not 30,000 Wei soldiers, but only 10,000 cavalry.
Ten thousand cavalry? ! ! !
Meng Da immediately realized that something was wrong with this situation.
Although Qin Lang has not been heard to have any special talents, since he was entrusted with the important task of guarding by the Cao Wei court, he obviously cannot be an idiot, right? !
When infantry and cavalry march together, the cavalry is fast and the infantry is slow. As the commander, he must slow down the cavalry and wait for the infantry to follow up.
Now his scouts actually said that there was only cavalry smoke for about twenty miles ahead, but there was no trace of infantry behind them. Are the infantry and cavalry marching out of touch? !
This is not the behavior a qualified coach should behave.
This is a march, not a war. During the march, the most important thing is to ensure the response between the front and back. Otherwise, Sun Quan's embarrassing scene in Hefei may be repeated.
Well, when he thought of the people Sun Shiwan lost in Hefei, Meng Da suddenly felt that this was not impossible. Sun Quan could make such a mistake, why couldn't Qin Lang make it? !
Mengda thought for a while and ordered the entire army to stand still for the time being. He himself followed the scouts to the high ground and looked in the direction of the official road.
Cao Wei's cavalry was obviously in a marching state, and they did not increase their speed. They were slowly advancing towards the ambush circle.
Because of this, the smoke and dust caused by the cavalry was not very large, and Meng Da could barely climb up to see clearly what was happening behind Cao Wei's cavalry.
Indeed, the distance from the ambush circle is about twenty miles. At the speed of the cavalry, it will most likely take the defender about an hour to reach him.
But the official road behind the cavalry was completely quiet, so quiet that it was a bit embarrassing.
This is not like the rhythm of cavalry and infantry being disconnected, but more like only cavalry units.
Meng Da has decades of military experience, and he still has this basic judgment. No matter how out of touch, the distance between cavalry and infantry cannot be too far, otherwise it will be inconvenient when setting up camp to rest at night.
But as the official road wound past, until Mengda could see to the limit, he could not see any trace of large-scale troop movements behind the cavalry.
There is only one possibility. Behind Cao Wei's cavalry, there may be no infantry at all.
If this is the case, the whereabouts of Cao Wei's infantry may be a bit troublesome.
Yes, with Meng Da's strategy and experience, he quickly made a prediction - Qin Lang did not foolishly follow only one official path as Zhang Xi predicted, and he divided his troops.
Let the cavalry take the official road in Taihang Mountain, and let the infantry take the mountain road in Wangwu Mountain, and attack separately. This can not only save time, but also reinforce Wen County from two different directions, so that the Han army cannot be completely vigilant.
Obviously, this Qin Lang is really not an imbecile. Even Zhang Xi misjudged him, which led to mistakes in his judgment on the use of troops.
If you continue to wait stupidly in this encirclement, use Ma Dai's rangers to block the road, and set up an ambush to kill the cavalry team with crossbows, but the remaining 20,000 Cao Wei infantry will probably have enough time to rush to the rescue. Wen County.
Now there are probably only two ways to go before Mengda.
One is to act according to the original plan.
If he does this, Meng Da will set up an ambush on the spot, let go of the vanguard of Cao Wei's cavalry, let Ma Dai successfully attract the attention of Cao Wei's cavalry, and then take advantage of the opportunity of Cao Wei's cavalry to rush forward to fight, and use bows and crossbows to kill a large number of Cao Wei's rear cavalry. force.
Then, in conjunction with the counterattack of the Ma Dai cavalry troops in front, they used bows and arrows to block the retreat of this group of cavalry, and finally achieved large-scale destruction and even annihilated Cao Wei's battle plan of cavalry.
By doing this, Meng Da achieved his first success without any doubt.
The second one is that Meng Da immediately asked Ma Dai to lead the Qiang and Hu cavalry along the official road to the direction of Wangwu Mountain, to intercept the Cao Wei infantry emerging from Wangwu Mountain, and he stayed here with five thousand crossbowmen. , intercepting Cao Wei's cavalry troops.
If he does this, it is hard to say whether Ma Dai can pursue Cao Wei's infantry in time. He, Meng Da, will probably fight to the death at the foot of the Taihang Mountains.
Obviously, the first one is more in line with Meng Da's human nature. After all, Meng Da has never been a person willing to sacrifice his life for righteousness.
But there are some things that Mengda can't help but think about.
Since the Northern Expedition, Mengda has made great achievements, but he has also made mistakes.
At Yique Pass, Meng Da had merit and was in time to destroy Sima Yi's sneak attack, but there was no actual result. There were no casualties. This military achievement can be great or small.
But in Hexin Prefecture, when Meng Da had the upper hand, he was defeated because of his greed for credit, and his strategic plan was also affected. Zhang Xi also wrote down this incident, which was equally big or small.
Judging from Mengda's current record in the Northern Expedition, it is not enough for him to stand up again and gain the trust and reuse of the imperial court.
Of course, if the first option is adopted this time and the Cao Wei cavalry is gathered and annihilated here, then Meng Da's contribution will be enough. But in case Zhangxi cannot stop the Cao Wei infantry reinforcements, Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba can join forces. Of course, the biggest responsibility belongs to Zhang Xi, but his own contribution will be greatly discounted.
Second, the biggest flaw is that it is too risky. Once it fails, Mengda's old fate will be handed down in the Taihang Mountains.
However, if the battle is successful and Zhang Xi annihilates all 30,000 Hedong soldiers, the contribution will be much greater than annihilating 10,000 cavalry.
Mengda thought about it over and over again, and his heart changed. I'll fight for it! ! !
Mengda ordered three thousand conventional crossbowmen to leave the originally scheduled ambush area in the mountain col, and immediately move forward to occupy the heights of the cliffs and rocks in front of the mountain col and prepare for an attack.
Since the Wei thieves have no infantry, they are still afraid of birds. If you have the ability, you can attack the mountain on horseback.
Meng Da himself personally led two thousand crossbowmen using the Zhuge Liannu No. 2 machine to establish a stronghold and stick to the official line.
I will be crucified here today.
Back then, that common man Huo Jun was able to defend Jiameng Pass with three thousand soldiers. Am I, Meng Zidu, not as good as that brainless man? !
(End of chapter)
