In the south of Wei County, inside the Han military camp.
Zhang Xi was pacing back and forth in his tent, looking at the map from time to time, then looking down to think about it, and then turning back to ask Jiang Wei, "Wen Zhongruo, is there any military report coming?!"
Jiang Wei shook his head somewhat helplessly and said no. This was General Zhang's third inquiry today.
When Zhang Xi saw Jiang Wei's reaction, he frowned and continued to pace, circling back and forth, muttering, "It shouldn't be. Is this old fox really the reincarnation of a tortoise?!"
That's right. Jiang Wei also frowned a little. After thinking for a moment, he came closer to Zhang Xi and whispered, "General, in my opinion, Sima Yi is just waiting for change and may not really have the intention to fight." .”
When Zhang Xi heard Jiang Wei's words, he hesitated for a while. He paced back and forth in circles even more.
Zhang Xi still believed in Jiang Boyue's strategy, but Sima Yi shouldn't have given it to him in vain, right? !
Yes, whether it is "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or in history, Sima Yi was indeed overpowered by Prime Minister Zhuge, but, even if you don't like the virtues of the Sima family, you still have to admit Sima Yi's strategic vision, at least as good as Prime Minister Zhuge level.
In history, Sima Yi was unable to hold out at Wuzhangyuan because Cao Wei's national power was strong and he could defend it at a cost. Sima Yi chose a strategic choice that was most beneficial to his own side based on his current conditions.
From a strategic perspective, Sima Yi understood Prime Minister Zhuge's weakness.
But the current situation is different from that in history. Now the Han Dynasty is strong, Cao Wei is weak, and Yecheng is about to face a three-pronged attack. Where did Sima Yi get the confidence to be so calm? !
Couldn't he see that continuing to persist for a long time would be the greatest disadvantage to Cao Wei? !
If analyzed according to this common sense, Zhang Xi really could not imagine the significance of Sima Yi's persistence.
But the reality is this. Sima Yi is guarding Wei County without any sign of movement. Then his plan of deliberately designing and leaking his own grain garrison location to the Wei army will fall short? !
Yes, Zhang Xi deliberately leaked the information about the grain storage area of the Northern Expeditionary Army on the Eastern Route. The purpose was to lure Sima Yi to take the initiative to leave the city for a sneak attack.
Since there was a precedent of the Battle of Guandu and the Wei army was not conducive to a long battle, Zhang Xi did not believe that Sima Yi would let go of such a good opportunity to defeat the enemy and win.
Even, in order to attract Sima Yi to send troops to attack as much as possible, the information about this grain storage area is still true. The grain storage point of the entire Eastern Route Northern Expedition Army is really in Cangshan Ridge in the southeast of Fanyang County.
This is genuine information.
By temporarily fabricating a grain storage point, Zhang Xi was afraid that Sima Yi would see the flaw and the plan would fail, so Zhang Xi directly revealed a real grain storage location to Sima Yi.
And these days, Sima Yi's every move also shows that Sima Yi does show signs of taking the initiative.
Although, Sima Yi attacked many times and burned down the counterweighted catapult, and indeed succeeded in getting Zhang Xi to focus on frontal response and protecting the counterweighted catapult, but the problem is, whether it is Wei Yan guarding the east gate or the Jiang Wei, who was guarding Ximen, was not a fool.
However, Zhang Xi had no time to count how many people Sima Yi had withdrawn. The difference between 3,000 people and 5,000 people was difficult to judge accurately by just relying on the naked eye.
However, Wei Yan, who attacked the east gate, had extremely rich battle experience. It was obvious at a glance that the proportion of soldiers escaping after the failure of the Wei army was a bit high. Even if it was explained by the lack of morale of the Wei County defenders, it was a bit abrupt.
As for Jiang Wei, who attacked the west gate, although his battle experience was not as rich as that of Wei Yan, he was very clever. Wei Jun's attack frequency was a bit too frequent, and every time he attacked, he did not retreat from the original route. He had to go around in a circle and attack from the other two sides. The door was withdrawn, which seemed a bit strange.
Therefore, with the timely reminders from Wei Yan and Jiang Wei, Zhang Xi finally saw Sima Yi's specific plan clearly.
The old fox is trying to hide his secrets by dividing his forces! !
Combined with the information on the grain storage locations that Zhang Xi had deliberately released before, Zhang Xi judged that Sima Yi should lead his troops to attack Cangshan Ridge in the next few days.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why this old fox went to so much trouble to send troops outside the city.
This is the basis for Zhang Xi's judgment. Zhang Xi really believes that Sima Yi will lead his troops out of the city in a short period of time to attack Cangshan Ridge.
However, Zhang Xi had already taken the initiative to gather his troops, paused the attack, and pretended to re-build siege equipment, giving Sima Yi the opportunity to break out and send troops. However, the Wei army in Wei County still remained stationary, and no active attack was seen. posture.
This made Zhang Xi a little doubtful. Could it be that his previous judgments were all wrong? Is that old turtle Sima Yi really planning to waste time with him? !
In order to deal with Sima Yi's possible sneak attack, Zhang Xi first sent Wen Qin and five thousand troops to Cangshan Ridge for reinforcements in the name of escorting grain and grass. However, Sima Yi couldn't really sneak attack the grain field, that would be a big trouble.
After that, Zhang Xi asked Wang Shuang to feign an attack at the east gate under Wei Yan's banner, while Wei Yan quietly returned to the central army and led a reserve force of 5,000 people. Without flags, he quietly went to ambush on the only road from Fanyang to Cangshanling. Prepare to ambush the Wei army.
Now the two groups of people have been sent out, but there is still no movement here in Wei County. Is it really a miscalculation? !
If it was really his miscalculation and Sima Yi didn't plan to attack Cangshan Ridge, then he might as well call Wei Yan and Wen Qin back.
It's okay to say that Wen Qin didn't appear on the battlefield. After all, Wen Qin's reputation was not too high to begin with, and he was leading the reserve army. Sima Yi probably wouldn't pay too much attention to Wen Qin's existence.
But Wei Yan can't do it. Wei Yan is the general of the Han Dynasty. He is responsible for besieging the east gate. If he doesn't show up for a long time, it will definitely not work.
Wang Shuang could pretend to be Wei Yan for a while, but the two's ability to organize troops was not at the same level. Over time, Sima Yi would inevitably find out.
Or withdraw it? !
Zhang Xi was a bit muttered. For this reason, he also specifically asked Jiang Wei for his opinion.
Jiang Wei's opinion is also inclined to withdraw Wei Yan and Wen Qin.
On the one hand, Jiang Wei actually didn't agree with Zhang Xi's battle plan from the beginning. How could he really use his own grain harvesting land as bait? !
If Wen Qin could not hold on and Sima Yi really burned his own food and grass, even if he could contain Sima Yi, it would be a lose-lose outcome.
It's too risky.
On the other hand, Jiang Wei felt that even if it were delayed like this, it would not be without benefits for the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition.
With 50,000 Wei troops pinned down in Wei County, Sima Yi did not dare to act rashly. As long as the other two armies made breakthroughs, there was no need for Sima Yi to withdraw his troops and return reinforcements, so he could just wait.
The person who is anxious for a decisive battle now should be Sima Yi, not the big man.
So, Jiang Wei's suggestion is that instead of competing with Sima Yi for a short period of time, it is better to withdraw all the troops and horses and continue to besiege Wei County. This is enough.
Well, by the way, we must also remember to newly select the grain storage land. The Cangshanling grain storage land has been exposed and must not be used anymore. The safety of the grain road must be ensured.
After Jiang Wei's repeated persuasion, Zhang Xi felt that there was no need to continue to delay like this. Just as he was about to order Wei Yan and Wen Qin to retreat, Wen Qin's army reported.
The Wei army sent five thousand troops and raided the grain storage area in Cangshanling.
When the news reached Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi was surprised and happy at the same time. The old turtle couldn't hold it back after all.
Although Zhang Xi didn't know how Sima Yi got out of the city under his own surveillance, and how he quietly avoided the detection of Han army scouts along the way and arrived at Cangshan Ridge.
However, is it true that Wen Qin's attack on Cangshan Ridge with 5,000 soldiers and horses was just a piece of cake? !
What's more, at Fanyang County Official Road in the northwest of Cangshan Mountains, there is still Wei Yan leading five thousand soldiers.
Zhang Xi immediately sent an envoy to Wei Yan to convey an order to him to rush to Cangshan Ridge to help.
At the same time, Zhang Xi asked Jiang Wei to lead 10,000 troops and march south from Wei County to form a second interception network. It was necessary to block Sima Yi near Cangshan Ridge and catch turtles in a jar.
Finally, Zhang Xi ordered the entire army to start gathering troops to attack the city from three sides. They must capture this place before Sima Yi fled back to Wei County, leaving Sima Yi homeless.
Bracing himself and getting ready, Zhang Xi personally led his troops to the formation early the next morning, preparing to command the siege.
However, Zhang Xi was surprised to see that Sima Yi's banner was still erected on the Wei County city tower.
What surprised Zhang Xi even more was that Sima Yi himself was actually standing under his banner? !
This immediately gave Zhang Xi a bad premonition. The old thief Sima was still in Wei County. Could it be that he had fallen into a trap? !
The same inner feeling actually emerged in Sima Yi's heart.
Seeing that two general flags were missing from the three city gates, Sima Yi was shocked in his heart. He had fallen into a trap! ! !
(End of chapter)
