On November 12, the fifth year of the Jianxing period of the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang gathered tens of thousands of soldiers at the Shima Camp in Mianyang to swear an oath. The troops were divided into three groups and officially launched the Northern Expedition. navel
According to the predetermined plan, Zhao Yun and Ziwu Valley will set off first, while Zhuge Liang and the main army will set off a few days later. Of course, the first to set off is the 10,000-strong army led by Ma Su. They have already gone to the East Three Counties for reinforcements a few days ago. .
The person leading the troops along the Ziwu Valley was Wu Que, Yang Qing's sect general and intelligence chief. This man had a calm personality, a sharp mind, extraordinary martial arts, and sincerity towards the Han Dynasty, so he was just right for leading the troops.
Therefore, Yang Qing asked him to lead the five hundred Wudang flying army, the most courageous and skilled warriors, to ride on Nanzhong ponies to carry out Ziwu Valley's strange plan. Even so, Yang Qing was still worried, and ordered Yue Zhao to lead more than ten personal guards to cooperate with Wu Que. .
Going to Chang'an to distribute the imperial edict for the Northern Expedition would not be possible without Han soldiers at the head. Besides, once Wu Que is mobilized to lead the army, he will probably have no time to take care of intelligence. With Yue Zhao by his side, he can be a helper, which will make the Ziwu Valley plan a great success.
Just as Zhuge Liang was intensively mobilizing troops and condemning generals to deploy for the Northern Expedition, Sima Yi, an important minister of Cao Wei's hussar general and commander of Jingyu's military forces, was also summoning his subordinates to prepare for a sneak march to Shangyong.
Previously, in order to stabilize the confusion of Meng Da, Sima Yi wrote a sincere letter to Meng Da to comfort him.
He said in the letter: "In the past, the general abandoned Liu Bei and joined the country. The country commissioned the general to take charge of the territory, and appointed the general to serve Shu. It can be said that his heart is clear. Navel.
Shu people are so stupid that they will gnash their teeth at the general. Zhuge Liang wanted to break up with each other, but he had no way out. What Muzhi said is not a trivial matter. How can it be revealed lightly? This is almost difficult to understand.
Meng Da was overjoyed after receiving the letter, thinking that Sima Yi still believed that he had no objection, so he relaxed his vigilance, hesitated, and postponed the incident. "
However, Zhuge Liang had sent someone to warn him a few days ago, asking him to take precautions and be careful of Sima Yi's attack, and not to take any chances.
Unexpectedly, after seeing Sima Yi's letter, Meng Da disapproved of Zhuge Liang's instructions.
He also said complacently in his reply to Zhuge Liang: "It is appropriate to inherit Jun's teachings, and I dare not be lazy. There is no need to be afraid of whispering about Sima Yi."
Wancheng is about 800 miles away from Luoyang and 1,200 miles away from Xincheng. If Sima Yi hears about Da and takes action, he must report to the Lord of Wei. After a month of going back and forth, the city was already secured, and all the generals and the three armies were in a dangerous place. Sima Yi is coming, why should Da be afraid? The Prime Minister is generous and only listens to the good news! "
On this day, Zhuge Liang was packing his bags and preparing to lead the main army to set off. After receiving Meng Da's reply, he looked up to the sky and sighed: "Without foresight, Meng Da would have died at the hands of Sima Yi."
Yang Yi happened to be at the side. Hearing this, he was surprised and asked, "Why did the Prime Minister say this?"
"Alas, although Guo Mo pretended to surrender, Meng Da's rebellion against Wei was absolutely true. How could someone like Sima Yi not understand the true meaning of our estrangement? Poor Meng Da thought that Sima Yi didn't know the whole story and believed in him. Really? Really desperate.
The Art of War says that if you attack an enemy unprepared and take it by surprise, how can you expect it in one month? I predict that Sima Yi is already on his way to Shangyong and will catch Mengda off guard. "
Yang Yi was shocked: "Then how can we rescue him?"
"Fortunately, Ming knew that the enemy had suggested sending reinforcements early. He had calculated the distance and was afraid that they would soon reach the West City. With this reinforcement at his side, Shang Yong should be able to turn the danger around.
But Meng Da needs to be reminded about this matter again. Wei Gong Ru hastily drafted a letter asking Meng Da to take precautions and not to be deceived by Sima Yi. "
"No." Yang Yi quickly accepted the order and went to write a letter. navel
On the other side, in the Wancheng camp, Sima Yi left General Zhang He on the left to guard Wancheng. He personally ordered troops and horses to prepare to rush to Shangyong at night to put out Mengda's rebellion. Before leaving, there were still generals who said: "The two thieves Meng Da and Wu Shu are fighting. The situation is unknown. We should report it to Your Majesty first, and then wait and see before taking any action."
On the podium, Sima Yi stroked his beard and smiled and replied: "Meng Da has never been trustworthy. Now is the time when he is doubting himself. He should make a decision before he can decide."
After hearing this, all the generals bowed in admiration and obeyed the order. So Sima Yi immediately ordered the men and horses to set off, doubling the route at the same time, taking two days of walking in one day, and sneaking to Shangyong.
Get Zhuge
After Liang's reply, Meng Da finally came to his senses and immediately took action. While urging Wu and Shu reinforcements to come quickly, he also built wooden fences outside the city to strengthen the city's defenses.
However, Sima Yi had already led his army for most of the journey. After learning that Meng Da had raised a rebel flag, he galloped through the starry night, preparing to arrive at Shangyong City within ten days.
Outside the west city, tens of thousands of Han troops were blocking the sun with banners and a forest of spears. Ma Su took the lead and stood in front of the formation. There were two generals on his left and right, Wang Ping and Liu Yin.
The reinforcements following Ma Su from the east were 5,000 Wudang Feijun and 5,000 Hanzhong County soldiers. The leading generals were Wang Ping and Liu Yin, two wise and brave generals that Yang Qing had always been optimistic about. navel
Yang Qing was still a little worried about Ma Su, for fear that he would cause some trouble, so he sent the two most courageous and resourceful generals around him to follow him, hoping that Ma Su could make great achievements this time, and that the two would become friends in vain. .
Following Zhuge Liang's orders, Ma Di led his troops to the three eastern counties at night. He arrived at the foot of Xicheng the day before and immediately divided his troops to attack the city in three directions.
In the west city, Shen Yi was already panicking. He didn't expect the Shu soldiers to arrive so quickly. He was caught off guard and the city was crumbling. He had to do his best to defend the city with all his strength.
Although the Han army has a large number of people, Shen Yi has been operating in Xicheng for many years. The city is strong and has sufficient food and grass, so it is difficult to break through in a short time. That night, Ma Su was discussing with Wang Ping, Liu Yin and other generals how to break the city. Suddenly, his own bodyguard came in to report, saying that some wandering guards had arrived and wanted to propose a plan to break the city.
"Who are you subordinate to?" Ma Di, who still had some understanding of the operations of Youwei Mansion, asked immediately.
The Youwei replied: "I am joining the army. I am under the command of the former deputy captain Guo Mo. I have been ordered by my deputy captain to come here with a plan to break the city."
Before coming to the three counties in the east, Wei Min had told Ma Su the whole story of Guo Mo's plan to fake surrender according to Zhuge Liang's instructions, and told him to cooperate with Guo Mo inside and outside to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy when he arrived in the west city. navel
Therefore, Ma Su was not surprised by this person's arrival. He immediately checked the token and asked, "What does Vice Colonel Guo mean?"
"I'm going to join the army. My deputy captain wants me to..."
In the early morning of the next day, when people were most sleepy, Guo Mo, a thief from Weixing County, led more than 20 thieves to seek help and slowly walked towards the west city gate.
After Ma Su besieged the city, Shen Yi, in order to strengthen the city's defense, recruited a large number of people and strong men, and ordered the officials from the prefecture and county levels to inspect and inspect the city. Guo Mo was the person in charge of this matter.
When he brought people over, the city gate defenders didn't think anything was wrong. They thought they were here to check the details of the female officers again.
"Brothers, thank you for your hard work." Guo Mo walked up to the city gate captain with a sharp knife in his hand and said with a smile.
The captain of the city gate was still awake, rubbed his eyes, and replied casually: "It's Guo Caopu, here to patrol again?"
"Yes, brothers, thank you for your hard work." Guo Mo nodded, stretched out his clenched left fist and said, "Captain Wang, what do you think this is?"
Lieutenant Wang looked over curiously, and suddenly his eyes flashed, and he noticed a headless corpse standing in front of him. He hummed twice and wanted to say something, but suddenly he realized that the headless corpse was his own.
"Kill." After Guo Mo killed Wang Xiaowei with one sword, he immediately led his troops to fight forward.
He had already replaced these thieves with wandering guards and executed sudden killings. Before the soldiers could react, Guo Mo and others suddenly attacked and killed the Wei army until they were on their backs. Everyone rushed to the city gate, removed the bolts, opened the city gate, and lowered the drawbridge.
Ma Di, who had been prepared for a long time outside the city, pointed his flag, and thousands of Han troops poured into the city, seized the city gate, and under the guidance of Guo Mo, attacked the prefect's mansion directly.
Hearing that the Han army had entered the city, the Wei army's morale suddenly dropped and panicked. As more and more Han soldiers entered the city, the Wei army lost the will to fight. They dropped their weapons and just ran for their lives.
Ma Di immediately ordered people to occupy dangerous places in the city, and then mobilized troops and horses to besiege the prefect's mansion. navel
Shen Yi still led the crowd to resist in the prefect's mansion, and Liu Yin personally led the troops to break through the gate and enter the mansion. Seeing that Shen Yi couldn't resist, she immediately knelt down and asked to surrender. Liu Yin surrendered Shen Yi and other Wei officials, and sent people to inform Ma Su.
It was already daybreak. While Ma Su sent troops to wipe out the enemy troops who were still resisting, he also ordered people to post notices.
To appease the people.
As a result, Ma Su recovered everything inside and outside the west city. After resting for three days, he ordered Liu Yin to lead 3,000 troops to defend the city, while he and Wang Ping led the army to Shangyong.
