In front of the Wei army's camp, Cao Zhen saw Sima Yi dismounting from his horse and walking towards him quickly, and he greeted him with clasped fists: "Haha, Zhongda, I haven't seen you for a while."
"Yi has met the general." Sima Yi bowed and said.
Cao Zhen quickly helped him up and said with a smile: "Zhongda doesn't need to be polite. I led my army thousands of miles to come to my aid. All the troops in Guanzhong are grateful and we all shed tears of gratitude. Cao is also very grateful. Now it's better. Zhongda has more than ten thousand fine cavalry. Now that they have arrived, the Shu thieves will be defeated and Zhuge Liang can also capture them."
"General, I wonder what the current military situation is like?" Sima Yi asked with concern.
Cao Zhen said: "Now the Shu army is divided into three, and one is heading towards the south bank of the Wei River..."
"General, Mr. Sima must be tired from traveling all the way, and the wind is strong at the door. Should we move to the camp to talk?" Fei Yao reminded.
Cao Zhen blamed himself: "Blame me, blame me, I didn't think well. Let's go, Zhongda, you and I go inside to talk." After that, he took Sima Yi's hand and returned to the camp.
As soon as he entered the commander's tent, Cao Zhen quickly ordered someone to bring him some food and treat Sima Yi to enjoy wine and meat while informing him of the latest military situation.
After Sima Yi had eaten and drank enough, he put down his chopsticks and said in his hands: "General, since the main force of the Shu army has withdrawn to Wugong, we must set off to pursue it immediately early tomorrow morning, otherwise our army will be unable to catch up after the main force of the Shu army escapes for a while. .”
"Yes, we have to hurry up. Now that Yang Qing and his men have rushed to the south bank of the Wei River, Zhang Junyi and the others will not be able to count on them for a while, and we have to rely on our own strength to rush and hold back the Shu army. "Cao Zhen nodded.
Fei Yao said: "How should we deal with the thieves who are approaching? If our army ignores them and bypasses the city and goes straight to the west, they will definitely come out of the city and harass our army's retreat."
"At daybreak, we will lead our troops to the Zhouzhi City and wait and see for a while before making any calculations. If the thieves are weak, we will first break the city and destroy them. If the city is difficult to break, then we will leave the infantry to contain the thieves in the city. Army, we will lead the cavalry to chase the main force of the Shu army." Sima Yi said thoughtfully.
Cao Zhen stroked his beard and said, "Well, Zhongda's plan is very clever, so let's do it like this."
At dawn the next day, Cao Zhen, Sima Yi, and Fei Yao led their troops to the gates of Zhouzhi City. Unexpectedly, as soon as they formed their formation outside the city, they were stunned by the sight in front of them.
It turns out that instead of being tightly closed by the Han army, the four city gates of Zhouzhi were opened wide. More than 20 people were sweeping their heads inside and outside the city gates, and they showed no signs of panic when they saw the swarming Wei army approaching outside the city. As if there is no one around.
As for the city, not a single soldier was seen, and even the hundreds of flags that were still fluttering in the wind yesterday were nowhere to be seen. There seemed to be no Han troops stationed in the entire city.
"General, what's going on? There doesn't seem to be a single soldier of the Shu army in the city. Could it be that this is an empty city?" Sima Yi wondered.
Cao Zhen didn't know what was going on. He shook his head and said, "I don't know. Yesterday, the scouts reported that there were at least two to three thousand Shu troops in the city. Why can't we see a single sergeant today?"
"General, I think there must be a fraud here. Looking at the people sweeping the streets, they neither ran away nor came to greet our troops when they saw them coming. It's quite suspicious. Moreover, they are all very powerful, and they are obviously soldiers pretending to be soldiers. ." Sima Yi said.
Cao Zhen nodded and said, "Yes, these are not real people, they are pretenders of the Shu army. But what is their purpose in doing this?"
"General, Sima Gong, I have just asked the scouts. I am sure that the Shu army did not leave Zhouzhi last night." Fei Yao came riding from a distance and said.
Cao Zhen said: "It seems that the Shu army is hiding in the city. The four gates are wide open just to lure our army into the city?"
"Didn't you say that the Shu army only has two or three thousand men? They may not be able to defend the city wall with this small number of troops. How dare they set up an ambush in the city and engage in street fighting with our army?" Sima Yi was still surprised.
Cao Zhen couldn't think of a reasonable explanation for a while. He looked at the open city gate and wondered if he should send a small force in to investigate first. Even if there was an ambush inside, it wouldn't harm the overall situation.
Just as he was about to issue military orders based on this idea, Fei Yao on the side suddenly pointed at the tower opposite and exclaimed: "General, look, Zhuge Liang."
Cao Zhen followed his hand and looked over, but saw a middle-aged man wearing a turban on his head, holding a feather fan, and a crane cloak. He looked as if he were an immortal. It was Zhuge Liang who he had seen from afar in Anling before.
"Zhuge Liang?" Cao Zhen was also shocked: "Zhuge Liang did not retreat to Wugong with the main force of the Shu army, but instead personally led the army to break up the rear. This is really strange!"
Sima Yi was also shocked. This was the first time he saw Zhuge Liang. Although he could only vaguely see his outline and couldn't see Zhuge Liang's face clearly, he couldn't help but feel a little sad when he saw his handsome posture and measured manners.
At this time, two children placed a harp in front of Zhuge Liang, and then one held a sword and the other held a tassel, standing on the left and right. Zhuge Liang sat on the railing and burned sandalwood. After a while, the sound of a musical instrument floated down from the top of the city.
The three of them listened quietly, and they felt that the sound of the piano was clear, distant, and continuous, just like rowing a boat on a calm lake, leisurely and comfortable, like taking a bath in the spring breeze.
After a while, the sound of the piano suddenly changed, rising and falling, sonorous and powerful, as if we were on a battlefield with powerful men and horses, murderous intent, and thrilling.
"Zhongda, Gongming, Zhuge Liang is playing tricks and tricks on the city. There must be a deep meaning in it. I wonder what you two have in mind? Should our army attack the city or go around the city?" Cao Zhen asked.
Fei Yao said: "General, Zhuge Liang has always been cautious and never took risks. If we open the city gate now, there must be an ambush inside. Zhuge Liang appears at the top of the city to lure our army into the city. If our army really enters the city, This is because he fell into his trap.
Yao thought it would be better to leave the infantry here to contain him, and the cavalry circled the city west to pursue the main force of the Shu army. After defeating the main force of the Shu army, it would not be too late to return and capture Zhuge Liang.
"What do you think Zhongda thinks?" Cao Zhen nodded slightly and asked Sima Yi again.
Sima Yi said: "There is a saying in the art of war: virtuality is real, realism is virtual. Zhuge Liang is familiar with the art of war and strategy. How could he know that he is not playing a trick of virtuality and realism?
General, is this Zhouzhi city really an empty city? Zhuge Liang used these tricks to deliberately mislead us, making us think that Zhouzhi city in front of us is not an empty city. In this way, we will defeat his plan to suspect soldiers. . "
"Zhuge Liang has always been scheming, so this is not impossible." Cao Zhen pondered for a moment and said, "Let's do this, Zhongda, you lead your troops to chase the main force of the Shu army first, while Gongming and I stay here to launch a probing attack. After all, Zhuge Liang He is the most important person in Pseudo-Shu, and now that we have the opportunity to capture this thief, we cannot let it pass easily."
Sima Yi also felt that it was appropriate to be prepared in this way, and nodded in agreement: "That's good, then Yi will go ahead." After that, he led 10,000 fine cavalry around the west city and galloped away in the direction of martial arts.
Cao Zhen and Fei Yao mobilized their troops and prepared to send 2,000 cavalry into the city to launch a test attack. If there were not many Shu troops in the city, they would let the remaining troops attack and take the opportunity to seize the city and capture Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang saw that the Wei army was divided into two as he had imagined, with one part staying and the other going west. He finally felt relieved, his hand movements slowed down, and the sound of the piano became melodious and sweet again.
