Sima Yi made his own plan to withdraw his troops, and his old rival in history, Prime Minister Zhuge of the Han Dynasty, was also working hard to deal with it.
One thing to say, breaking through Hulao Pass was really not within Zhuge Liang's expectations.
It's not that Zhuge Liang didn't think about capturing Hulao Pass, but it was after Xu Shu successfully invaded Yanzhou. After the Wei thieves suffered heavy casualties, they had to voluntarily abandon Hulao Pass. Zhuge Liang really didn't think about taking Hulao Pass directly like this. Pass.
Therefore, in fact, Zhuge Liang was somewhat unprepared for the march that could break through Hulao Pass and march all the way east to Suanzao.
However, the rice has already been brought to your mouth, and there will be no side effects if you eat it. It would be a disgrace to God if you don’t eat it.
We can talk about the rest of the other things later.
For example, after Zhuge Liang led his troops to join Wei Yan and Pang De, they marched eastward. Who was left to guard Luoyang? !
While Zhuge Liang was marching, he wrote a letter to send people to Chang'an to convey orders, asking Pang Tong to hand over the logistics affairs to Li Yan as soon as possible, and then asked Li Yan to go to Luoyang in person to take charge.
Although Luoyang is considered a relatively safe rear area after the three-way breakthrough, it is not without threats if there is an emergency.
Li Yan was capable of both literary and military skills, so he was indeed more suitable than Pang Tong to take charge of Luoyang.
Even if this would cause Li Yan to gain real power, Zhuge Liang would not have time to consider this issue for the time being.
This is to solve the problem of selecting candidates to guard the rear. When they arrived at the Zizao front line, Zhuge Liang discovered during the battle with Guo Huai that Guo Huai was far more difficult to deal with than he thought. With the current configuration of troops, he had to quickly break through Zizao and intercept the Wei army. The retreat may be a bit unrealistic.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang was considering whether to increase his troops.
As for the entire Northern Expedition battlefield, the only place where troops can currently be mobilized is probably the Hedong area.
At Mengjin Ferry and Beizhong City, Zhang Xi's restrained Hedong Wei army was divided into two groups. As a result, the Wei army was never able to merge and the threat was not great.
Moreover, Zhang Xi's men still owed Wang Chang's 20,000 troops who should have been under Luoyang's command.
Soldiers were mobilized from the Hedong area to assist in the battle. With Zhang Xi's commanding ability and military style, the situation in Hedong should not collapse.
Of course, in Zhuge Liang's understanding, the collapse of the situation in the east of the river meant that Zhang Xi was unable to defend the north bank of Mengjin Crossing and was driven back to the south bank of the Yellow River by the Wei army.
There is a saying that Zhang Xi was indeed not forced to this point by Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba. But when Zhuge Liang's troop deployment documents were delivered to the north bank of Mengjindu, Zhang Xi still frowned and thought for a long time.
It is true that from the perspective of strategic goals, Zhang Xi's strategic mission was completed quite perfectly.
The 30,000 soldiers led by Sima Division were forced to guard Hedong County, and nearly 70,000 Cao Wei soldiers, including the Bingzhou cavalry led by Bi Gui, were restrained in Hanoi County. They were never able to form a joint force, and the troops were scattered and the threat was not great.
Zhang Xi firmly contained at least half of Cao Wei's troops in the two counties of Hedong. This was also the key reason why Xu Shu was able to lead the troops from south to north on the Yanzhou battlefield.
Moreover, Zhang Xi is still able to fight with ease. Even if he loses half of his soldiers, he is sure that he can defend the north bank of Mengjindu and will not be driven back to the south bank of the Yellow River by Qin Lang.
However, if he obeys Zhuge Liang's order and allocates at least 20,000 soldiers to support Suanzao, then with Zhang Xi's remaining troops, there may not be any chance to take the initiative to defeat Qin Lang's troops or even capture Wen County. .
The strategy will not be destroyed, but Zhang Xi's pursuit of greater military exploits is basically out of the question.
For this reason, before Zhang Xi officially expressed his stance, Meng Da was the first to stand up and express his dissatisfaction with Zhuge Liang.
At least, Meng Da put forward his own thoughts and doubts about Zhuge Liang's failure to defeat a small jujube with his 60,000 infantry and cavalry coalition, and the need to mobilize troops from Hedong!
Although he didn't say it explicitly, Meng Da's doubt itself showed his attitude - he believed that Zhuge Liang was deliberately diverting troops from Hedong to make contributions to himself.
Meng Da's personality is just like this.
Really, if he hadn't been so petty and selfish, if he had been a little more open-minded and a little higher-minded, he wouldn't have fallen to this point.
This person's ability is really not bad, but his personality really limits his upper limit.
Once Zhuge Liang transfers the Han army attacking Hanoi, it means that Zhang Xi must shrink his defense line and actively defend the north bank of Mengjin Crossing. Beizhong City may also be voluntarily abandoned. After all, it no longer makes any sense whether the Wei army in Hanoi can go to Dongjun to support it. .
Once Zhang Xi shrinks his defense, with the ability and courage of Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba, he probably will not dare to besiege Mengda on the north bank of Mengjindu after joining forces, and Mengda will lose the opportunity to establish meritorious service again.
This is unacceptable to Mengda.
In this Northern Expedition, Meng Da actually did a pretty good job. Whether it was blocking Sima Yi at Yique Pass or Dai Ling at the Taihang Pass, the credit cannot be said to be without.
However, the time when Sima Yi was defeated, there was no merit in the battle, and the time when Taixing Guandao was blocked, there were many merits in the battle, but the final result was that the Bingzhou cavalry broke through. Although the battle was wonderful, the final result was Still lost the official road.
Even Mengda himself felt that it was not enough to rise again with this military exploit, and even be promoted to a noble title.
Therefore, Meng Da firmly opposed the idea of dividing his troops to assist Zhuge Liang in the war, and repeatedly persuaded Zhang Xi not to divide his troops. In order to persuade Zhang Xi not to divide his troops, Meng Da even proposed a new plan - he could personally lead 10,000 elite troops. Cooperate with Ma Dai's Qiang and Hu cavalry to go north and go around the official road, and then follow the official road to attack Chaoge.
The cavalry is used to cut off the communication between Heyang and Wenxian areas and Chaoge, and the infantry is used to attack the city.
Once Chaoge falls, the door to the southwest of Yecheng will be wide open. At that time, I don't believe that Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba will still stay in Heyang and Wenxian, and they will definitely return to support.
At this time, Zhang Xi is pursuing with the main force of 40,000 troops, and cooperates with Meng Da to hold on in Chaoge. He will definitely be able to defeat the Wei thieves in one battle, and even the military peak can be directed towards Yecheng after the war.
Really, if Meng Da didn't propose this strategy, then Zhang Xi would actually be a little hesitant.
As the head coach of one side, Zhang Xi did not want to just retreat so mediocrely after completing his strategic tasks outstandingly. He also wanted to seek some possibilities to break the situation.
It's not for power. After all, Zhang Xi's current status and power in the Han Dynasty has basically come to an end, and he can't get higher no matter how high he is.
Zhang Xi just wants to end this troubled world as soon as possible to avoid causing unnecessary casualties. This world has been in chaos for almost half a century.
Moreover, ending the troubled times is only the first step. The most important thing is how to quickly restore people's livelihood, limit the power of aristocratic families, avoid possible tragedies in the future, and prevent the Han Dynasty from returning to the old path of the two Jin Dynasties.
Therefore, in fact, Zhang Xi does not want to achieve anything in Hedong, but simply acts as a flanking containment.
However, Zhang Xi really couldn't think of any good solution for a while.
When Meng Da mentioned this strategy, he reminded Zhang Xi that haste makes waste in some things.
This is also Meng Da's fault, he really underestimated Zhang Xi's "cautious" temperament. As soon as Meng Da proposed such a risky strategy, Zhang Xi immediately thought of the previous secret letter conversation with Zhuge Liang, and .Old man Wei.
The plan to attack Chaoge and Yecheng had already reached a consensus after Zhang Xi and Zhuge Liang exchanged secret messages. This strategy was basically unfeasible.
Even a man as arrogant as Wei Wei would probably not propose this strategy in front of Zhang Xi. After all, there are too many uncontrollable factors in this strategy.
For example, Meng Da did not make it clear at all how he should hide the secrets from Qin Lang in Heyang and Xiahou Ba in Wen County and go north with the 30,000 infantry and cavalry coalition because this was almost impossible.
As long as Meng Da dares to lead his troops north, Qin Lang of Heyang will definitely let the Bingzhou cavalry pursue Meng Da. It is impossible for him to march to Chaoge with peace of mind, or even conquer Chaoge.
They will be chased and intercepted by Bingzhou cavalry halfway.
The Ziwu Valley strategy proposed by Old Man Wei, at least during the marching stage, is no problem with Old Man Wei's plan. When the troops leave Ziwu Valley, they are unlikely to be attacked by the enemy. The only place where he wants to gain an advantage is Can we capture and hold Chang'an?
And Meng Da's plan could not fool anyone from the beginning. If he really wanted to attack Chaoge, he would basically be killed.
Moreover, to say the least, even if Mengda could avoid the pursuit of Bingzhou cavalry during the march and had enough time to conquer Chaoge, once Chaoge fell, Mengda's strategic purpose would be completely exposed.
It's hard to say whether Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba will return to the army immediately. Chaoge will definitely be targeted by the Bingzhou cavalry.
Under the threat of Bingzhou cavalry, Meng Da could not leave Chaoge and continue to attack Yecheng northward. At most, he could just stay in Chaoge and wait for Zhang Xi's rescue.
In this case, wouldn't he have made the same mistake as Qin Lang and Xiahou Ba, causing the troops to be dispersed?
In the end, it's hard to say who defeated whom.
When he thought of this, Zhang Xi felt that it would be better to be more stable.
Meng Da, once he became aggressive, was more terrifying than Wei Yan. For the sake of the lives of his soldiers, he chose to cooperate with Zhuge Liang's strategy, which was safer.
In this way, Zhang Xi finally decided to withdraw the defenses of Beizhong City, open up the passage, and let Qin Lang lead his troops to join Xiahou Ba.
After Zhang Yi returned to Mengjin Ferry, Zhang Xi assigned another 30,000 troops to Wang Chang, asking him to lead troops to support Zhuge Liang and obey Zhuge Liang's orders.
As for Mengjindu, Zhang Xi decided to defend the entire line and hold on to this stronghold across the river.
It’s not easy to conquer the two counties in Hedong this time, so we’ll have to wait until next time.
(End of chapter)
