Chapter 229 Grabbing Grain
This time, Cao Wei launched several large armies to attack Shu at the end of spring plowing in Guanzhong. Hundreds of thousands of troops have been fighting back and forth from Guanzhong to Longyou for so long, it's already early summer.
The northwest is inland, and rainfall is not as high as in the southeast. The two types of food generally grown here are wheat and corn, and the seasons happen to be different.
Corn, that is, millet in the northwest, is usually planted in autumn and harvested in summer. When Zhuge Liang's army was stationed at Wuzhangyuan, the corn on the Guanzhong side was almost mature.
For Zhuge Liang, although Ma Su has been brought back, he cannot withdraw his troops immediately. He needs to station troops locally for a month or two to show that he has the idea to continue the attack.
After all, you led an army of 20,000 to the Northern Expedition, and it cost so much to take the Baoxian Road just to respond to Ma Su's words. It would be difficult to convince the public. Zhuge Liang must show that this time it is to counterattack the Wei army's offensive, and that responding to Ma Di is a matter of convenience.
However, when the troops came down to check, Zhuge Liang did not carry enough food. So after seeing the ripe corn in Guanzhong, Prime Minister Zhuge had an idea.
"Prime Minister, we have found out clearly that the corn in this area is the grain of the pseudo-Wei army in Yongzhou. The quantity is enough to sustain the loss of the army for several months!"
The person responsible for the investigation was a grassroots captain in the Shu Han Dynasty, whose famous saying was Fu. After investigating with the troops, he quickly reported to Zhuge Liang.
After hearing Jufu's report, Zhuge Liang took the report and looked at the map, and his brows suddenly wrinkled.
At this time, Chen Tai stationed his troops to the north of Wuzhangyuan and set up a camp to defend it. All roads heading north were blocked, leaving only a few gaps for small groups of troops to sneak across.
In other words, if Zhuge Liang wants to harvest grain from Weibei, he must first defeat Chen Tai's troops.
This goes against the strategy of stationing troops to defend the Wei River. What's more, Zhuge Liang did not lead many troops on this trip, and it was very difficult for him to forcefully cross the Wei River.
And even though Chen Tai lost so miserably before, his army did not collapse when he withdrew. Up to now, Chen Tai's total troops still have to be 20,000.
"I'm afraid it's going to be troublesome..." Zhuge Liang stroked his beard, frowned and began to think about it.
Soon, Zhuge Liang saw the mountains to the west of Wuzhangyuan. That area of land is densely forested, and the passage of troops will hardly be noticed.
Even if they forcefully cross the Wei River, Wei Jun will not notice it as long as the movement is not too loud.
The only problem is that when they are rushing to harvest corn, it is difficult for the Wei army not to notice it in such a large area. Unless Wei Jun's attention is diverted, they have to look elsewhere.
Soon, Zhuge Liang thought of a figure who could really attract attention.
After all, if you don't look at him, Wei Jun will suffer a big loss.
However, Zhuge Liang was not sure. After all, he would have to keep an eye on this guy when he came out. If you don't pay attention, he will go straight to Guanzhong Sanfu.
That's right, I'm talking about you, Ma Di!
After pondering for a long time, Zhuge Liang made a decision.
"Go and call Ma Su, the general of the auxiliary state. I have something to arrange for him!" Zhuge Liang waved his hand and asked his bodyguard to call Ma Su.
At this moment, Ma Su was depressed in the camp.
After being captured by Zhuge Liang, Ma Di lost the opportunity to express himself freely. Not only that, as if he was upset, the Prime Minister wanted to take away all three thousand horsemen from Ma Di!
That's three battalions of three thousand cavalry! Ma Su's heart was bleeding.
Of course, this cannot be blamed on Zhuge Liang. After all, cavalry is too precious to be kept in Ma Su's hands.
Although the Shu Han now has a large horse-producing land in Longyou, in fact the Shu army still lacks cavalry. Except for the two thousand cavalry in Ma Su's hands, the entire Shu Han had less than three thousand cavalry in total!
Therefore, Prime Minister Zhuge had no choice but to commit the robbery himself at this time.
Just when Ma Su was depressed, the prime minister suddenly summoned him, which made Ma Su a little strange.
"What's wrong? The Prime Minister is still angry and wants to take away the remaining two battalions from me?"
He was called all the way to the military tent by the personal guards, and then received orders from Zhuge Liang.
"Attract Wei Jun's attention?" Ma Di scratched his head and expressed doubts about the task given by Zhuge Liang.
"That's right, now you need to lead your troops to sneak across the Weishui River and head east..."
"The Prime Minister is going to attack Chang'an? Someone can be a pioneer!" As soon as he heard Xiangdong, Ma Su stood up excitedly and asked for his orders.
"Pa!" The feather fan suddenly hit Ma Su on the head, and pushed Ma Su down again.
"You really dare to think! You dare to attack Chang'an with only 20,000 people. If I give you 50,000 people, do you want to sneak attack Luoyang?" Zhuge Liang was speechless, said angrily and then pointed at the map.
"Harassing martial arts! Attract the attention of Chen Tai and Wei Jun to the east."
"At this moment, the Wei army on the Chencang front line has not yet returned for reinforcements. There are only more than 20,000 Wei troops on the north bank of the Wei River. Once the Wei army transfers its troops to the east, they will have no time to watch the corn in the west."
"At that time, I will bring my own army to Meiyang County to harvest corn. In this way, I can not only defeat the enemy for one minute, but also treat me for twenty, and also give a huge blow to the puppet Wei's logistics!"
"From now on, the next year our army marches north to Liangzhou, the puppet Wei will no longer be able to threaten Longyou!"
"But this time, although I have given you military power, don't think about running around. I have already selected someone to be your supervisor. If you dare to send troops randomly without a supervisor's nod, you will be idle in Chengdu for the rest of your life!"
At this moment, Zhuge Liang could see Ma Su's weakness.
This kid Ma Su is not afraid of death at all. You are even more excited when you threaten to kill anyone who disobeys military orders. However, he is not fearless. He is most afraid that you will deprive him of his military power.
The punishment of not letting Ma Su go to the battlefield was more uncomfortable for him than killing Ma Su.
So Zhuge Liang directly changed the punishment from killing those who disobey military orders to seizing military power for those who disobey military orders!
As soon as Zhuge Liang said these words, the effect was immediate, and the old horse who was originally eager to try suddenly became timid.
grass! Why is the Prime Minister getting darker and darker and starting to make deadly moves?
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After receiving Zhuge Liang's military order, Ma Di returned to his military camp and prepared to set off.
And here, Ma Di met the supervisory army sent to him by the prime minister. This is an extremely young scribe who looks very talkative.
"This is Chen Zhi, who has met Ma Fuguo!" The scribe bowed his hands and saluted Ma Su.
"Chen Zhi?" Ma Su was shocked. He didn't expect that the supervisor sent was him!
As a minister of the Later Han Dynasty, Chen Zhi had outstanding abilities and became a pivotal figure in the Shu Han Dynasty after Fei Yi's death. Moreover, he also had the will to carry out the Northern Expedition. After taking the post of Shangshu Ling, he kept jumping up and down, almost begging to help Jiang Wei collect military funds for the Northern Expedition.
In history, Jiang Wei's several large-scale northern expeditions were basically carried out during the Chen Zhi period. As soon as Chen Zhi died, Jiang Wei was so poor that he had to go to Tazhong to farm.
But shouldn't Chen Zhi still be idle in his hometown at this time? How did you end up in the military?
But soon, Ma Di understood what Chen Zhi said next.
"Thanks to the general's recommendation, Prime Minister Zhuge promoted someone from a low position. I am extremely grateful!"