One thing about Zhang Xi was that he inadvertently reminded Zhuge Liang and helped him get out of his psychological misunderstanding.
Zhang Xi mentioned that the soldiers he mobilized could not guarantee combat effectiveness, but Zhuge Liang realized that in fact, three armies marching together did not require each army to have the ability to fight difficult battles.
According to the strategic plan, among the three armies, one has the largest number of soldiers and horses, but its responsibility is to feint attack. So the combat effectiveness of the soldiers in this army has little effect.
As long as the number of people is large enough, it will be enough to scare Cao Wei into gathering troops to deal with it.
The rest is just a matter of doing a good job of deployment before the battle, covering up the shortcomings in combat effectiveness through on-the-battle command, preventing the enemy from noticing the uneven combat effectiveness of the Han soldiers, and preventing the enemy from seeing the flaws.
Although it is a bit risky, it is not impossible to temporarily recruit tens of thousands of people to join the army.
After all, Zhuge Liang still has time.
Even if there is a Northern Expedition, it does not mean that Zhuge Liang gives the order today and the army will set off tomorrow. There is too much preparation work to be done.
Food and grass must be allocated and stockpiled in advance, soldiers must be assembled in advance, and ordnance must be prepared in advance. Even the generals must arrive at their respective combat areas in advance and plan the time and route of the march.
It will take at least half a year, or even longer, to complete all these things.
This time is enough for Zhuge Liang to temporarily recruit 40,000 to 50,000 new soldiers.
And for these new recruits, Zhuge Liang does not require them to have much combat ability. He only requires them to be familiar with formations and be able to do basic formations. That is enough. It is used to bluff people anyway, and he does not expect them to Really go into battle and kill the enemy.
In this case, plus the 30,000 more people Zhang Xi squeezed out from Jingzhou, we can make up 70,000 to 80,000 people to arrange the third line of troops.
Pang Tong made a careful calculation and also proposed that if those who were not worthy of flying troops were included in the third line of troops, then 70,000 to 80,000 people should be enough to achieve the goal.
The reason why Pang Tong wanted to prepare 100,000 men was because he wanted to attack Huguan. If he did not have enough strength, he would not be able to defeat Huguan in one battle. Once Cao Wei responded and sent additional reinforcements to Huguan, then this would The soldiers and horses on the road completely failed.
Now the quota of 20,000 people is less, but if there can be one more Wudang flying army who is good at mountain warfare, imitating the combat method of crossing Wuguan and attacking Huguan from both front and rear, then it will not be a big deal.
This question is not a big deal.
Zhuge Liang thought about it for a while. No matter whether he was fighting in Hanoi County or fighting across the river in Dong County, in fact, the mountain combat ability of the non-flying army would not be fully utilized. He would just be used as an enhanced version of the county soldiers, and it would be in vain. The combat talents of the useless flying army were wasted.
This arrangement can be regarded as making the best use of everything.
Even if this matter is settled, what remains is the arrangements for the feint attack, the actual attack, and the selection of leaders for each army.
The direction of the feint attack was finally determined - 200,000 troops would be sent from Luoyang, crossing the north bank of Mengjin, and feigning attack on Hanoi County.
On the one hand, it is because there is a ready-made landing point on the north bank of the Yellow River, and it is impossible not to use it due to circumstances and reasons. Attacking from here will make it easier for Cao Wei to believe in the Han's main attack direction and attract Cao Wei to gather troops.
On the other hand, among the three armies, the soldiers and horses of this group are right in the middle and can easily respond to each other. Once the situation changes and the strategic deployment needs to be adjusted, whether the soldiers and horses of this group are going to support Dongjun or rescue Hedong, they will Easier.
And the commander of the troops and horses along the way could not be anyone else. It must be Zhuge Liang himself.
After all, this route has the largest number of soldiers and horses, and it also needs to play the role of attracting Cao Wei's troops. If Zhuge Liang hadn't personally commanded it, Zhuge Liang himself wouldn't be worried.
The deputy commander is Xu Shu.
One of the other two groups of troops to actually attack, Dongjun, sent 100,000 troops, including 50,000 Yanzhou County soldiers and 50,000 Han forbidden troops. The commander was Zhang Xi and the deputy commander was Wei Yan.
This is not difficult to understand.
Now Zhang Xi is the number one person in the military. For such a big thing as the Northern Expedition, it is impossible for him not to appear in the Northern Expedition. If Zhang Xi were not there, that would be the thing that would arouse Cao Wei's vigilance.
Moreover, arranging Zhang Xi in Dongjun to face Guo Huai on the other side of the Yellow River is also a way to contain Guo Huai and force Guo Huai not to easily mobilize his troops. In this way, Cao Wei will be more convinced that the Han Dynasty's main attack direction It's in Hanoi County.
As for Wei Yan, Wei Yan and Zhang Xi are also old partners, and as the guarding general of Yanzhou, Wei Yan is more comfortable commanding Yanzhou County soldiers, which is a matter of course.
The candidates for the head coaches of these two directions are easy to decide, and they will not arouse Cao Wei's suspicion. But the third line, the coach of the attack on Hedong, is still a bit controversial after several people discussed with each other.
What does Zhang Xi mean? Jiang Xu and Pang Tong are still idle. Let them take charge of the troops along the way.
Just in time, Pang Tong was put in command, with Jiang Xu as deputy commander.
Jiang Xu himself is not bad at commanding troops and can make up for Pang Tong's gap in commanding experience. This strategy was also formulated by Pang Tong. He knows best where the focus of this strategy lies. If there is a need to adapt to the situation, it is most appropriate for Pang Tong to be present. Candidate.
But Pang Tong unexpectedly rejected this head coach candidate.
There are three reasons.
First, it is because the situations of Pang Tong and Xu Shu are different.
Xu Shu was able to lead the army alone in the last Northern Expedition. On the one hand, the generals under Xu Shu's command included many generals from the Jingzhou clan. Xu Shu could achieve results as long as he commanded these people well.
On the other hand, Xu Shu actually had no experience in leading troops. When he assisted Guan Yu in guarding Jingzhou, he had a lot of experience with the army and was very familiar with military affairs. What he lacked was just the command ability to make decisive decisions on the battlefield.
But Pang Tong is different from Xu Shu. He is actually the same as the late Yihou Fazheng. Both of them are pure counselors.
Although it cannot be said that Pang Tong has no experience in accompanying the army on expeditions, Pang Tong is accustomed to making plans rather than making decisions on his own, and he has no experience in commanding operations on the battlefield. It is not appropriate to suddenly lead troops into battle.
Second, Pang Tong also needs to sit in Chang'an and handle rear government affairs with Li Yan.
Especially in the current situation, Zhuge Liang has just made a mess of personnel reform and hurriedly went to the Northern Expedition before he was finished. If there is a change in the place, he needs someone who can take charge of Chang'an and someone who can lead the troops to put down the rebellion. Therefore, both he and Li Yan must stay in Chang'an as a precaution.
Third, Pang Tong recommended a more suitable leader than him-Deng Ai.
According to Pang Tong, Deng Ai now has nearly twenty years of battle experience. What he lacks now is not ability, but an opportunity to lead troops into battle.
Therefore, Pang Tong suggested appointing Jiang Xu as commander-in-chief and Deng Ai as deputy commander-in-chief to lead the third line of troops on the expedition.
This is my suggestion. Zhang Xi was a little hard to reply.
Gotta avoid suspicion.
Everyone knows that Deng Ai is Zhang Xi's direct disciple. As for Deng Ai's abilities, at least in the eyes of the senior Han officials, there should be no problem for him to take over Zhang Xi's mantle in the future.
But Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others can say this, but Zhang Xi cannot say this.
Zhang Xi also believed that Deng Ai now had the ability to take charge of his own affairs, but as a master, he could not take the initiative to bring up this matter. When Pang Tong suggested it, Zhang Xi had to shut up.
But fortunately, over the years, Deng Ai's ability has been recognized by many people.
For example, Xu Shu.
Since Zhang Xi entered Sichuan, Deng Ai has basically grown up in front of Xu Shu. Over the years, Xu Shu is the clearest about Deng Ai's actual abilities. Deng Ai served as the deputy commander of the Third Route Army, and Xu Shu was almost the first to agree. of.
As the coach of the Third Route Army, Jiang Xu actually didn't know much about Deng Ai's abilities.
But, Jiang Xu has no reason to object to this matter.
On the one hand, Deng Ai is Zhang Xi's direct disciple. Even if Jiang Xu really dislikes Deng Ai, he still has to give Zhang Xi some face.
On the other hand, in this battle, the Imperial Army of the Han Dynasty fought under the command of Zhang Xi, which meant that his nephew Jiang Wei also fought under the command of Zhang Xi. For the sake of his nephew, Jiang Xu could not offend Zhang Xi. creek.
In addition, Deng Ai himself is not bad in ability, and he only serves as Jiang Xu's deputy. So why does Jiang Xu still object? !
Pang Tong proposed, Xu Shu and Jiang Xu agreed, Zhang Xi didn't say anything, Li Yan. Li Yan is a good person. He finally repaired the relationship with Zhang Xi through Meng Da's incident, so that he would not be like this at this time. Saying annoying things.
Just like that, the head coach of the three-way army was decided.
After that, they will discuss the issue of deploying combat generals. But these are already trivial and not very important things.
At this point, the strategy decided that the Han Dynasty would start the Sixth Northern Expedition.
(End of chapter)
