In the rugged mountain road, Sima Yi was jolted while sitting on his horse. Although he worked hard, it was much easier than ordinary soldiers walking on foot.
"Hurry up, all the troops, hurry up. As long as we get to Shangyong City, you can take the gold, pearls, wealth and silk." Liang Ji, who joined the army, loudly encouraged the soldiers.
Ever since Sima Yi led 30,000 soldiers and horses to march to Shangyong in double the number of routes, they have been sneaking in the rugged mountain roads for nearly 20 days. Now they have passed more than half of the journey. Arrive at the foot of Shangyong City.
"Shaowei, how many men and horses have we fallen behind now?" Sima Yi halted his mount, stopped by the roadside, and asked Liang Ji.
Liang Ji replied: "I report to the Commander-in-Chief, there are probably thousands of people left behind, and now there are still more than 20,000 people in our army who can maintain their formation."
"It's not bad. More than 20,000 divine soldiers descended from the sky to kill Shangyong City, which was enough to defeat the thieves." Sima Yi nodded and replied.
"Continue to give orders to all the troops to speed up their advance."
Liang Ji cupped his hands and said, "No."
After several days of hard march, Sima Yi finally led his army to Shangyong City on the eighth day of the Mengda uprising.
When Meng Da saw the arrival of the Wei army, he was naturally frightened. He originally thought that Sima Yi would wait for the Wei Lord to issue an edict before marching. In this way, it would take at least more than a month before he could lead his army.
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi personally led the troops just eight days after he raised the rebel flag. Meng Da looked at the densely packed Wei army in the distance from the top of the city, and sighed in his heart: "I wish I could listen to Prime Minister Zhuge's words."
"Where is Meng Da? Come out and answer the question." After Sima Yi surrounded the city on three sides, he immediately ordered a small colonel to step forward to call for battle.
Mengda, fully clothed, stood at the top of the city and loudly replied: "This general is here."
Sima Yi pushed his mount out of the formation, stopped within a stone's throw, raised his whip and shouted: "Mengda rebels, now I have led the heavenly troops here, why don't you surrender early? Otherwise, the army will destroy the city, and you will all be destroyed." "
"Sima Yi, you don't want to be so arrogant. I am a loyal and righteous man. I am returning to the Han Dynasty now to obey the will of God. Besides, I have a deep and fortified city in Yongcheng. How can your exhausted army break the city?"
What's more, Prime Minister Zhuge has already sent reinforcements to rescue him at night, and even Lu Xun of Jingzhou has reinforcements on the way. What should I fear? Meng Da bravely replied.
Sima Yi laughed heartily: "Mengda dog thief, I want you to know that I have already sent troops to Anqiao and Mulansai to intercept the Wu and Shu reinforcements. Now you have become a turtle in the urn. I will capture you sooner or later."
After a pause, he shouted again: "Listen, the military and civilian officials in the city, whoever captured and killed Mengda will not be punished for the crime of rebellion. In addition, there will be rewards, and the rewards will be given to knights. It's not a big deal."
Meng Da listened to his deception and immediately shouted: "Quick, shoot the arrow, shoot the arrow!"
Sima Yi sneered, retreated to his own formation, and then ordered the troops to besiege on all sides, day and night.
Although the Wei army was on an expedition, Sima Yi was good at training his soldiers and was strict in running the army. In addition, he received generous rewards. All the soldiers worked hard to take the lead. In the first two days, most of the wooden fence outside the moat was damaged, and Shangyong City was on the verge of collapse.
Mengda was frightened when he saw this, so he had to send out all the young men in the city to defend with all his strength. He also sent messengers to the west and south to ask for help from the Han and Wu families.
Just as Shangyong's moat was being filled in, with the sound of drums and horns shaking the sky, seven thousand Han troops appeared in the west of Shangyong City. Sima Yi was shocked when he heard the news and quickly sent an order to suspend the attack on the city and withdraw his troops and return to camp.
"Reporting to the Governor, General Mo led his troops to the west city. Unexpectedly, he was attacked by the Shu army just halfway. General Mo had few soldiers and could not resist, so he had to withdraw to Shangyong. He also sent scouts to investigate, and then he found out that the Shu army had attacked him a few days ago. We have conquered Xicheng and are heading towards Shangyong." reported the general who went to Anqiao to block the attack.
Sima Yi frowned and asked, "Who is the leader of the Shu army?"
"I report to the Commander-in-Chief that it is Ma Su who joins the army of the fake Prime Minister of Shu."
Liang Ji cupped his hands and said, "Captain, it is said that Ma Su is well versed in the art of war and knows strategy, and he is highly relied upon by Zhuge Liang. Now he has arrived with reinforcements and has set up camp in the west of the city. He has become at odds with the rebels in the city. And his strength is equal to our army. , if you want to attack the city by force again, I’m afraid it will be a little difficult.”
"Oh, it's a pity that I was one step behind Zhuge Liang after all." Sima Yi said expressionlessly.
"What do you mean by the governor?"
Sima Yi smiled bitterly and said: "Now the total number of enemy troops inside and outside the city is no less than 20,000, and their strength is similar to ours. It is impossible to attack the city by force.
As the saying goes, one step is slow and every step is slow. I thought that I could attack Mengda quickly with soldiers and gods, but I didn't know that Zhuge Liang had been prepared for it. The reinforcements had arrived, and the chance of victory was lost. "
"What the Commander-in-Chief means is that there is nothing we can do, so why not just withdraw our troops?" a lieutenant general asked unwillingly.
Sima Yi said: "The opportunity to fight has been lost. Don't force it. The three eastern counties will eventually no longer be owned by the country. The generals will obey the order and make rice early tonight and withdraw to Wancheng without any mistakes."
"No," the generals responded.
Sima Yi said again: "Shaowei, please stay here for a while."
At night, in the stronghold outside the city, Ma Di sent people to communicate with Mengda, and at the same time sent detective horses to the Wei camp opposite to inquire about the news.
Suddenly, a horseman came and reported back, saying that the Wei army was lighting stoves at the first watch, lighting fires at the second watch, and making rice at the third watch. They had already had dinner and withdrew to the east, leaving only an empty camp.
"Zi Jun, Sima Yi is trying to run away. Do you think we are chasing him or not?" Ma Di asked Wang Ping in the tent.
Wang Ping replied: "Join the army. Now my army has connected with Mengda in the city. The momentum of the fight has been established. Sima Yi is no longer able to break the city. All the three eastern counties are in my hands. Since the Wei army has retreated now, it is better to let them go." If we leave, all we have to do is defend the city, which will be a great achievement. Prime Minister, we can rest assured and return to our ears."
"Haha, Zijun's words are too cautious." Ma Su said with a smile: "The reason why I led the troops here is not only to reinforce Meng Da, but also to defeat Sima Yi. Now that the thief has fled in fear, if we don't take advantage of the victory to pursue him, , don’t you just sit back and watch the Wei army retreat safely?”
Wang Ping asked: "What about joining the army?"
"According to my wishes, immediately lead the troops in pursuit and must defeat Sima Yi." Ma Su said proudly,
Wang Ping cupped his hands and advised: "You can't join the army. That Sima Yi knows the art of war well, how can he not stop the attack without leaving troops. If our army pursues him, he will surely ambush him."
"Zi Jun's words are too cautious. The art of war is full of energy, mournful for the second, and exhausted for the third time. Today, our soldiers have won consecutive battles and their morale is high. It is the time to defeat the enemy's army. How can we be timid to fight because of timidity? Please don’t say anything else, I have made up my mind, I will send my army to hunt down the Wei thieves quickly without delay.”
Wang Ping sighed softly and said: "Now that I have decided to join the army, I will not persuade him any more. But I think that I can't pursue him anymore, so please leave an army for me to respond later. Then write a letter and send it to the city, asking General Meng Send troops to respond."
"Then it's up to you. If we are to defeat the enemy's army, your contribution must not be shared." Ma Su said impatiently when he saw that Wang Ping was still stubborn.
The plan was decided, Ma Su immediately mobilized his troops and went to pursue the Wei army in person, leaving only 3,000 troops for Wang Ping as a way out.
It's night, the sky is clear and the clouds have dispersed, and the bright moon is high. Ma Di led the army to chase Sima Yi at a gallop. Hearing the loud noise from the people in front, he immediately knew that he had caught up with the Wei army. So he ordered the troops to catch up and kill the Wei thieves.
Unexpectedly, just after turning around the mountain pass, two soldiers and horses rushed out from the mountains on the left and right. Fires shot into the sky and the sound of killing was loud. Ma Su was immediately surrounded in the middle, and they could not get out of the conflict.
"I regret not listening to Zijun's words, my life is at stake!" Seeing the Wei soldiers surrounding him more and more, Ma Su looked up to the sky and sighed.
On the opposite hillside, Sima Yi reined in his horse and stopped. Seeing that the Shu army at the foot of the mountain could not run, he waved his flag and ordered the troops to open a road, allowing Ma Su to lead his troops to escape to Shangyong.
It turned out that Sima Yi did not really give up on regaining the East Three Counties, but instead planned a false retreat to set up an ambush for his pursuers. Now he pretended to let go of his pursuers, preparing to drive Ma Su's defeated army through the gate of Shangyong City and reverse the situation of the battle in one fell swoop.
Not long after walking, a Biao army horse suddenly came out from the sloping ground, intercepted the Wei army's pursuers, and fought hard. It turned out that it was Wang Ping who arrived with his troops, who happened to rescue Ma Di, joined his troops and fought back.
When Sima Yi saw this, he frowned and secretly said in surprise: "Ma Su actually has a back-up plan." However, seeing that the Han army was small, he immediately led his generals to move forward in order to defeat the Han army in one battle.
In the dark night, the two armies were mixed together and fighting each other. One tried his best to resist, and the other tried his best to cover up. They were stuck together without knowing the outcome.
While Sima Yi was hesitating, there was another soldier behind the Han army.
The army and horses arrived, and the leader was none other than Meng Da himself. He was notified by Wang Ping and happened to lead his troops out of the city to respond.
Ma Di and Wang Ping received reinforcements, and their morale was greatly boosted. He led his troops to counterattack, causing the Wei army to retreat continuously. Sima Yi saw that his final plan to survive in death had failed, so he immediately sent an order to retreat and surrender to Wancheng.
Ma Su and others did not dare to pursue them deeply, so they each led their troops back to the city to rest and reorganize their soldiers.
