Chapter 315 Sima Yi feels something is wrong
After Ma Di arrived in Hanzhong County, he immediately went into the arsenal and discussed the research and development of new siege equipment with Master Pu Yuan, the number one craftsman of the Han army.
Up to now, the Han army is actually very rich in siege equipment. But Ma Su was still dissatisfied. It was still a bit troublesome to attack the fortified city with the current siege equipment.
The strategic goal of this Eastern Expedition was to capture cities and territories in Nanyang, and most of the cities had to be conquered hard. Especially their ultimate goal, Wancheng, is still the strongest city in northern Nanyang.
This requires the Han army to attack with all its strength, otherwise it will be difficult to conquer.
So Ma Su explained a lot of his ideas to Master Pu Yuan. In the end, Pu Yuan tried his best to figure it out for Ma Su based on Ma Su's words.
However, I have to say that the understanding of ancient craftsmen was indeed extraordinary. Without any attempt, Pu Yuan just made up most of the conjectures based on Ma Su's words.
In October of the 10th year of Jianxing, after the autumn plowing, the 40,000 Han troops in Yongliang, under the leadership of Zhuge Liang, marched out of Longshan, marking the beginning of the Fourth Northern Expedition.
This time the Han army marched out from Chencang Road, and Yongliang's baggage and grain went down the Wei River. With smooth logistics, the Han army quickly crossed the Lishui River and met the Wei army in Yongzhou.
The governor of Yongzhou was now replaced by Chen Tai, who had less than 20,000 troops. Within two days of joining the Han army, Chen Tai quickly led his troops to withdraw from Youfufeng and retreated to Duyang.
Zhuge Liang's reputation has long been proven by Sima Yi's use of six thousand soldiers in Liangzhou. In addition, the ghost-like Ma Di was still unknown, so Chen Tai did not dare to fight the Han army.
With the Wei army retreating all the way, the Han army quickly occupied the entire right Fufeng. Zhuge Liang then took the former general Wu Yi as the vanguard and led thousands of light troops to bypass Du Yang and march directly to Meiyang County, in a bid to cut off Chen Tai's return route.
At the same time, Jiang Wei, Shu Ji, Zhang Yi and several others led more than 10,000 Hu soldiers southward and crossed the Yellow River to attack Xinping County. Under attack from the north and south, Chen Tai did not bother to ask Sima Yi for instructions, and directly led his army to abandon the city and flee.
After the victory in the battle, the counties of Yongzhou were informed, and the Han army captured the entire Yongzhou with almost no effort.
Seeing this situation, Sima Yi had no choice but to send troops in advance, leading tens of thousands of troops from Guanzhong and personally taking command to come to Fufeng to confront the prime minister.
However, Sima Yi did not dare to send out his entire army, but left his son Sima Shi to defend Ziwu Valley. After all, the heavyweight player Ma Di has not finished yet, and Sima Yi dare not leave heavy troops behind.
In November, Sima Yi left 30,000 elite troops on the front line in Chang'an and put Sima Division in charge of garrisoning the town. Then he took Guo Huai as the vanguard, led Zhong Yao, Fei Yao, Xia Houba and other generals to command 80,000 elite troops, and stationed in Wugong to confront Zhuge Liang.
Wugong is located to the east of Baoxie Road and south of Meiyang. It is the last barrier of Chang'an. Stationing here can effectively shorten one's own grain road, prevent Ma Su from suddenly coming out of Shu Road, and use the Wei River to block the Han army.
At the same time, after Chen Tai withdrew from Du Yang, he returned to Sanfu in Guanzhong and became rivals with Sima Yi. At the same time, they relied on the Wei River to protect their own Tongguan Road to ensure that reinforcements from Guandong could enter Guanzhong smoothly.
In terms of layout, Sima Yi was already prepared to deal with the fierce attack of Shu Han's overwhelming troops. Not only did he clearly calculate the terrain, but he also began to calculate how many troops each military region could send.
Sima Yi stationed in Wugong and set up more than a hundred camps with the Weishui River as a defense line to defend against the Han army. When Zhuge Liang saw the main force of the Wei army approaching, he did not continue the attack. Instead, he took advantage of the situation to repair the city wall on the Meiyang line and set up camp to hold on.
After all, this time the Han army was feigning an attack. Facing twice as many Cao Wei's elite troops, Zhuge Liang still did not dare to rashly encroach.
But as soon as Zhuge Liang was stationed in Meiyang City, the old fox Sima Yi immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"Old Zhong, isn't the Shu army's posture wrong?" Sima Yi himself rode to the edge of the Wei River, looked at the Han army's camp from a distance, and pulled Zhong Yao next to him and said.
Facing Sima Yi's words, the seventy-year-old Zhong Yao just rolled his eyes and didn't bother to reply to him.
Zhong Yao didn't reply, and Sima Yi didn't say anything. He just touched his chin and started thinking.
"What does Zhuge Villager mean by this? If he comes to attack Guanzhong, shouldn't he attack while our camp is still unstable? Even if Zhuge Liang is only stable in his life, he should divide his troops to attack Chen Tai, right?"
"Setting up a camp like this, and garrisoning the elites in the camp, it looks like they are coming to confront..."
Sima Yi did not believe that Zhuge Liang was here to fight a protracted war with him. For Shu Han, any fight was possible, but a protracted war was absolutely impossible.
If we really fight a protracted and protracted war and let Cao Wei's Guandong forces continue to enter the pass, Zhuge Liang and Ma Di will have no chance of winning even if they fight again?
Waiting for news from Soochow? Sun Quan was defeated in Hefei during the spring plowing this year, and it was impossible for him to invade again in the same year.
This situation made Sima Yi a little suspicious, and he began to doubt Zhuge Liang's purpose.
Is this villager holding back some bad water and preparing to plot against him?
Or... waiting for Ma Su?
"Ma Su is stationing troops in Hanzhong and has probably been dispatched." Sima Yi narrowed his eyes and began to think slowly.
"If I were Ma Su, which road would I take? Baoxie Road, Jinniu Road, Ziwu Valley, Dong...etc.!"
Sima Yi's squinted eyes suddenly widened, and all his thoughts suddenly came together.
"No! Xishu's goal is not Guanzhong at all!"
Zhong Yao on the side looked at him inexplicably, took two steps away without leaving any trace, and even picked his ears because Sima Yi shouted a little too loudly.
But Sima Yi no longer cared about this. He just turned his horse and left, returning to the military camp as quickly as possible.
"The target of Xi Shu is not Guanzhong at all, but Nanyang! Zhuge Liang is not leading the main force of Xi Shu, he is here to feint attack!"
"We must send someone to notify Nanyang immediately. We must not allow the Shu army to take advantage of it, otherwise everything will be over!"
Nanyang is the guarantee for the rear of Guanzhong and is the key to whether the Wei army can quickly mobilize its forces to enter Guanzhong. If Nanyang fails, Guanzhong will be completely surrounded on three sides.
By then, relying solely on Tongguan Road support may not be able to support Guanzhong's combat readiness!
Sima Yi reacted quickly at this time and immediately sent people 800 miles away to Nanyang to rush for reinforcements.
However, although his reaction was quick, it seemed to be a bit late.
Before and after he entered Wugong, 50,000 Han troops in Hanzhong had already been assembled. Ma Di took office as commander-in-chief, with Zhang Yi as the vanguard, his old partner Wang Ping as his deputy, and Gou Fu, Ma Zhong (Wu) and others accompanying the army.
In Ma Su's first large-scale battle, he led tens of thousands of Han troops out of the three eastern counties!