There is no need to think about looking for Zhuge Liang's flaws for the time being.
After all, according to Sima Yi's opinion, both sides are still at the stage of consuming their patience.
Of course, Thief Feng has appeared now.
If Zhuge Liang had agreed on a time period with Feng Thief before sending troops, then the other side would most likely enter the next stage: a small-scale trial attack.
But for Sima Yi, this was all within his expectations.
As long as you stick to the camp and don't give the other side a chance to cross the water on a large scale, everything will be under control.
Moreover, it was impossible for Zhuge Liang to cross the water on a large scale without being completely sure.
Again, Thief Feng has appeared in the north.
That means there is no pressure on Longshan, and the 50,000 Chinese troops stationed in Qian County can come from the direction of Chencang at any time.
If Zhuge Liang really dares to cross the Wugong River eastward on a large scale, Qin Lang coming from the direction of Chencang can threaten his flanks and rear at any time.
Zhuge Liang himself was not afraid of being in trouble, so what did Sima Yi have to fear?
Not to mention that there will be a martial arts water separated from the head and tail of the Shu captives.
Wouldn't this be a half-crossing attack and a flanking attack?
Sima Yi didn't believe Zhuge Liang would take such a risk.
Therefore, now it depends on who is determined enough and who can break the situation from other places first to put pressure on the frontal battlefield. Whoever can take advantage.
After receiving Sima Yi's advice, Deng Ai suddenly realized it and quickly clasped his fists and said:
"Da Sima, Ai Yuan please go to Qian County!"
After several years of farming in Guanzhong and his usual hobby of observing mountains and rivers and imagining attacks and defenses, Deng Ai was already quite familiar with the terrain in Guanzhong.
Since Da Sima has said it, it is not easy to find any loopholes in Zhuge Liang at this time.
Then the rest is either Feng Thief or Deng Zhi.
Thief Feng's words... probably don't need to be thought about.
To the north of Qiaoshan is flat land.
There may be people in the world who can defeat the cavalry led by Feng Thief on flat ground.
But Deng Ai knew that he was definitely not included.
At least not now.
So the last remaining direction is Deng Zhi.
Sima Yi was very satisfied and nodded:
"Although General Qin has won the trust of His Majesty, he is a low-key person and never makes things difficult for others. Wherever you go, he should be a bit mean to me and will not look down on you."
Deng Ai said gratefully:
"Thank you, Da Sima."
"Tomorrow I will send a grain transport team to Qian County to deliver grain. You will be the grain escort officer then."
"promise."
Compared with Sima Yi who was able to respond immediately after learning the news about Feng Yong, the Han army's response seemed a bit slow.
After all, as Deng Ai said, the troops are divided into three groups and cannot communicate with each other. Naturally, the three groups can only fight on their own.
For the Prime Minister's army, there is insufficient information, so they can only follow the plan before the expedition, step by step, and fight steadily.
This is a sound approach.
Just as Sima Yi believed, with the formal establishment of the tripartite power, the armies of various countries are also moving towards regularization.
The confrontation between the two armies is no longer a matter of rushing forward and slashing with a sword.
Even if you want to rush, others may not give you a chance. Instead, it is very likely to give your opponent a chance.
The commander-in-chief needs to consider all aspects of the country's war potential, logistical support, popular support, engagement timing, etc., not just the confrontation between the two armies.
This is the so-called temple calculation.
It's just that what the commander has to consider is not what the general has to consider.
For example, Wei Yan.
Seeing the Wei State grain transport team on the north bank swaggering past, their arrogant appearance seemed not to notice the Han army on the opposite side at all, Wei Yan wanted to draw his bow and arrow and shoot the leader off his horse.
It's just that the Wei River is too wide. Not only bows and arrows, but even the heavy crossbows in the army can barely reach the shore.
Not to mention being able to shoot at the Wei army far away from the shore.
"Northern Expedition, how can this be the Northern Expedition? It's clearly child's play!"
Wei Yan said angrily, "Fighting or not fighting is just a waste of money and food. When can we defeat the Wei thieves?"
After saying this, he threw the long bow on the ground, asked his bodyguard to take the horse, turned over, and galloped towards Wuzhangyuan.
Entering the military camp, Wei Yan dismounted and strode towards the commander's tent.
As the number one general in the Prime Minister's army, no one would stop him along the way.
"General Wei."
"I want to see the Prime Minister."
"General, the Prime Minister went to Wugong Water to check on the enemy's situation."
I don't plan to cross the water to attack the thieves. I watch the enemy's situation every day. How can I watch the Wei thieves to death?
When Wei Yan heard this, he felt a little impatient. He muttered, then turned around and headed towards the martial arts water.
Summer is coming and there seems to be more rain.
It rained just two days ago. Zhuge Liang sat in his wheelchair, looking at the rising river water, thoughtfully.
"Come here, shoot an arrow to the other side with a crossbow."
"promise."
Soon a sergeant came up with a heavy crossbow. He squatted down, pulled the string, and released the arrow. His movements were very standard.
"May I ask, Prime Minister, which direction should I shoot?"
Zhuge Liang squinted his eyes, then picked up the telescope and looked at it, and then pointed to a conspicuous big rock on the opposite shore:
"Do you see that rock? Just shoot at that location."
"promise."
The sergeant took aim and pulled the trigger.
"Peng!"
The improved heavy crossbow has a very long range. Not counting its lethality, the farthest one can reach nearly two hundred steps.
The surface of the martial arts water does not exceed a hundred steps.
To be honest, when he met Sima Yi for the first time, the Han Prime Minister may not have had the intention of letting people give him a cold shoulder.
It's a pity that the guy is very alert. Not only does he stand far away, but he also has personal guards holding big guns beside him.
Even when both sides were shouting, it was the sergeant who came close to deliver the message.
It seemed that he had already known how powerful the big man's crossbow was.
The Han Prime Minister was sitting in a wheelchair, looking at the water and meditating, when he heard someone shout:
"Prime Minister!"
Zhuge Liang, whose thoughts were interrupted, followed the source of the sound and found that it was Wei Yan who had just arrived.
"Oh, it's Wen Chang!"
Zhuge Liang took out a small piece of brocade cloth from his arms, carefully wiped the lens of the telescope, and asked casually:
"Chang Wen, is there something wrong?"
"Prime Minister, I just saw the Wei thieves escorting a batch of grain to the west." Wei Yan looked a little unhappy, "My army came from afar and consumed far more food than the Wei thieves."
"Even if the Prime Minister intends to farm in Wuzhangyuan, how can it compare to the Guanzhong land behind Wei Thief? In the long run, I'm afraid I won't be able to consume Wei Thief! We..."
Wei Yan held back his breath and was about to say everything, but the Prime Minister suddenly interrupted him:
"Wei thieves escorted a batch of grain to the west?"
Zhuge Liang's attention seemed to be attracted by Wei Yan's first words, as if he didn't hear what he said next, "Just now?"
Wei Yan was stunned for a moment and nodded subconsciously: "That's right."
Zhuge Liang was a little confused:
"For so long, the grain and grass of the Wei thieves in the west have basically been transported from Chang'an. Why did they go from the north bank this time?"
Of course, even if you start from Chang'an, it is most convenient to walk along the Wei River on weekdays.
But doesn’t Wuzhangyuan on the south bank have its own army now?
Food and fodder for tens of thousands of horses is not a small amount.
Who would expose the food transport team to the enemy's eyes?
So it is naturally safer to go north of Beiyuan.
Wei Yan became a little impatient again.
"Prime Minister, what I want to say is that the Wei thieves not only have more soldiers than me, but also have more food than me, and it is easy to transport them. If we continue to stalemate with them, we will be the ones who cannot afford it in the end!"
The prime minister did not answer Wei Yan's words, but looked to the other side and said to himself:
"When things are abnormal, there must be a reason. I think it is very likely that the grain and fodder team did not set off from Chang'an, but was sent by Sima Yi on the other side."
The Prime Minister's attitude made Wei Yanru's punch empty, and he had no focus at all. He also looked to the other side and said dullly:
"so what?"
"That means things have changed, and Sima Yi took action now." Zhuge Liang narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "I'm afraid that's not the real grain and forage team, but the reinforcements sent by Sima Yi to Qian County."
Wei Yan finally showed a surprised look: "Reinforcements? Over at Longyou, does the Prime Minister have other plans?"
It shouldn't be. The entire Han Dynasty only has so many troops. Where can Longyou get the extra troops?
Zhuge Liang shook his head: "If there was an emergency in Qian County, how could Sima Yi cover it up like this? It's impossible to say that he wanted to take the initiative from Qian County..."
At this point, Zhuge Liang turned his eyes and looked northeast, "It seems that Sima Yi already knows where Feng Mingwen is."
Calculating the time, it's almost time.
"Prime Minister, what should we do?"
Wei Yan said anxiously:
"It seems Longyou can't hide it anymore. Do you want me to lead the troops to the west to attack Chencang? Let the Wei thieves in Qian County not dare to move lightly."
"Divide your troops to attack the city. You have to bring 20,000 to 30,000 troops at least. Why do I have so many troops to divide you?" Zhuge Liang shook his head again, "It's better to just cross the water and test it."
"Crossing the water?"
"Yes, cross the martial arts water." After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he ordered, "Where is Meng Yan?"
Meng Yan, who was guarding the Prime Minister, stood up quickly:
"The general is here!"
"I will divide you into five thousand tiger infantry troops. Prepare your equipment today and cross the water as soon as you get the military order tomorrow!"
"promise!"
The Tiger Infantry Army is an elite force carefully trained by the Prime Minister over the years. Except for Jiang Wei who is qualified to lead 5,000 people alone, the rest are all led by the Prime Minister himself.
Now Meng Yan is asked to lead the Tiger Infantry to cross the water first. It can be seen that the Prime Minister is serious this time.
Wei Yan couldn't care anymore and directly interjected:
"Prime Minister, why don't you let me be the vanguard?"
Zhuge Liang said calmly:
"If you want to successfully cross the water, you must use the elite Tiger Infantry troops. Meng Yan is the Tiger Infantry Supervisor, leading the Tiger Infantry troops to cross the water. It makes sense."
"You are not a member of the Tiger Infantry Army, how do you know the key to the Tiger Infantry Army's formation?"
Wei Yan was speechless.
Zhuge Liang glanced at Wei Yan and saw an angry look on his face, so he said one more sentence:
"If Meng Yan can successfully cross the water, you will be the second group to lead the crossing."
After Wei Yan got the promise, he calmed down a little.
Zhuge Liang sighed in his heart:
I did not let Wei Yan cross the water first because I knew that he was too impetuous and eager to achieve success. After crossing the water, he might not be willing to dig a camp and stand firm in the face of the Wei thieves.
Meng Yan, on the other hand, may not be as brave as Wei Yan, but he is better than him because he can act exactly as I tell him.
At dawn the next day, the noisy West Bank quickly attracted the attention of Wei Jun spies.
"Da Sima, there is movement among the Shu captives!"
After Sima Yi received the report, he quickly took people out to take a look and saw that the Shu captives on the other side were carrying a bamboo raft and putting it into the water.
"No, the Shu captives are trying to cross the martial arts river!" Sima Yi was startled and quickly ordered, "Send the order to assemble the army immediately!"
Since arriving at Wuzhangyuan, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty has been asking the army to cut down bamboo and wood, just for crossing the water.
But the raft, which was three to four feet long and nearly two feet wide, was constantly pushed into the water, and then tied head to tail with thick hemp ropes.
At the same time, there was a "bang bang bang" sound. In order to increase the stability, a sergeant nailed a special iron rod between the two rafts.
Because Wei is in the east and Han is in the west, for the Han army, when the sun just rises, the sun is dazzling and the confrontation is unfavorable.
Only when the sun rose higher were the larger rafts pushed into the water. On each raft stood two hundred Tiger Infantry soldiers armed with bows and spears.
Large pillars were erected in front to guard against the arrows of Wei thieves - the Han army began to cross the water.
Sure enough, as soon as the raft crossed the center of the river, Wei Thief's crossbow arrow came with a sound of breaking through the air.
The Tiger Infantry soldiers on the raft all huddled behind the raft, trying not to expose their bodies.
In this case, there is no other option but to be beaten passively.
As they got closer, the Wei army's archers began to shoot.
"Prepare!"
"Wow!"
The soldiers on the raft began to draw their bows and arrows.
"shoot!"
"Puff!"
Entering the range of the archers, you can finally fight back.
If we say that among the Three Kingdoms, Wei is best known for its fine cavalry, while the Han Dynasty is best known for its bows and crossbows. As for Wu, it is naturally its boats.
Of course, with Liangzhou and the use of humanoid weapons, the big man has made up for the shortcomings of the cavalry.
But the Wei army was not so lucky, and there was no way to catch up with the big man on the crossbow.
The archers of the Wei army started shooting arrows, which meant that the Wei army had also entered the bow and arrow attack range of the tiger infantry on the bamboo raft.
Although the arrows fired by the Han troops on the raft were somewhat sparse, they were not unable to fight back as before.
Facing the arrow feathers falling from the sky, the large frame erected in front was of no use.
Soon, screams sounded one after another.
No matter how big the bamboo raft is, it can't be compared with the ship. In order to reduce the weight, except for the team leader who wears iron armor, the rest of the soldiers basically wear leather armor.
Among the Tiger Troopers on the bamboo raft, some were constantly hit by arrows, in their necks, shoulders, backs, and even heads.
The blood of the soldiers who fell on the raft seeped through the gaps in the raft and dyed the water red.
And more of them were soldiers who couldn't stand and fell directly into the water.
The injured soldier couldn't even struggle a few times. After a few blisters popped up, he never came up again.
Only wisps of red spread slowly...
This is just the beginning.
The first raft finally rushed to the shore. The Wei army, which had been prepared for a long time, shouted in unison and pressed their spears against the big rafter erected in front.
"Wow!"
The Han army was caught off guard, and the big raft overturned backwards, crushing the soldiers on the raft.
Only about twenty soldiers were left standing on the raft, and the team leader roared:
"kill!"
Taking the lead, he rushed forward.
At the same time, not far from the bamboo raft crossing the water, the upstream end of the connected raft bridge was pushed into the water, and with the help of the current, it began to slowly and automatically move towards the other side.
The downstream end was firmly fixed on the pile.
"Kakaka..."
The raft bridge made a heartbreaking sound, and finally got stuck on the east bank with a "clatter".
Meng Yan, who had been impatient for a long time, jumped up, led the Tiger Infantry soldiers, stepped on the raft bridge, and went straight to the other side.
A Wei army wanted to rush over and block them, but then they heard another burst of "pengpengpeng" crossbow arrows, and the strong crossbowmen on the west bank fired a torrential rain of arrows.
No one dares to come within fifty steps of the shore.
By the time the Tiger Troops who had passed the raft bridge reached the other side, almost all of the first batch of soldiers who arrived on the shore in raft boats had been killed.
"Da Sima!"
"Not in a hurry!"
Sima Yi, who saw this scene from a distance, looked calm.
A small number of Han troops rushed across the shore, which was nothing.
Only when Zhuge Liang sent a large number of men and horses to start crossing the water was the time to truly attack halfway across the river.
In this situation, it can only be a close fight between infantry and infantry, and it is far from the time for the elite cavalry to be dispatched.
If Jingqi were to go out now, it would have no other effect than rushing itself into the water.
In this kind of small-scale battle, it depends on who is more resilient and who is better organized.
It is obvious that the Han army crossing the water now is the elite in Zhuge Liang's hands.
In addition, the water surface of Wugong River is not wide enough, and the strong crossbows on the other side can cover the crossing. The Wei army has a military advantage, but there is no way to outflank it from both sides.
After the first raft bridge was successful, the second one came next...
The third one was washed away by the water...
At the same time, the pontoon bridge built from the beginning continues to extend to the east bank...
Along the several-mile-long shore, the soldiers of the Han and Wei armies were like ferocious beasts aroused by blood, constantly shouting and fighting.
At the same time, a cavalry army of tens of thousands was walking slowly on the Qinzhi Road in Qiaoshan.
The reason why he walked slowly was because Guo Huai had already destroyed the Qin Zhidao on the bridge mountain in advance.
Every other section of the road, deep ditches were dug, ranging from two to three feet short and four to five feet wide.
The method is simple but effective.
Along the way, Feng Yong had to fill in these trenches before he could move forward.
