Chapter 316 I don’t know your name
Wudang Town, Nanxiang County,
This is the only pass for the Shu Han in the Nanyang Basin, and it is the northern gate of Dongsanjun.
Originally, Zhang He and Zhao Yun were stationed here together, with more than ten thousand Han troops guarding the place. However, General Zhao died of illness last year, and Zhuge Liang sent veteran Wu Ban to take over Zhao Yun's squad and guard this place together with Zhang He.
There is no way Zhang He is a surrendered general of Cao Wei. Such an important pass must have his own people.
Originally, there were only 10,000 Han troops guarding this place, which seemed relatively deserted. But today, Wudang may never be deserted again.
In November of the 10th year of Jianxing, Ma Su led 50,000 Han troops from Danshui and marched out of Wudang! Under the command of vanguard Zhang Yi, he launched an attack on Nanxiang County together with the Wudang Han army.
Nanxiang County is the territory of the Wei army outside Wudang, and there are many troops stationed there. However, because Wei Jun did not expect that the main force of Shu Han would come out from here this time, he was caught off guard.
Because the troops and horses were strong this time, Ma Su quickly defeated the garrison of Nanxiang County. Then he divided his troops into various places, surrounded all counties in Nanxiang at the same time, and stormed the city with heavy troops.
Within two days, all the counties in Nanxiang County surrendered to the Han army.
After quickly conquering Nanxiang and ensuring that the Han army's logistics could continue to be transported from Danshui, Ma Su led his troops eastward.
"In this battle, we have two goals, one is Xiangfan and the other is Ye County!" Ma Di spread out the map in the military tent and told all the generals participating in the Eastern Expedition the next deployment.
But at this time, Zhendong General Zhang He stood up and expressed his doubts,
"Wait a minute, didn't the Prime Minister's order I received say that this strategic target is Wancheng?"
"Not anymore." Ma Su waved his hand and said very directly.
"The road from Nanxiang to Wancheng is blocked by many county towns and the road is far away. Moreover, the entire Nanyang Plain is basically undefensible. If we cannot occupy the entire Nanyang, even if Wancheng is captured, it will be impossible for us to defend it. .”
"We must capture Ye County and even Kunyang, and occupy the entire Nanyang County!"
Ma Di has been deliberating on the next strategic goals since he left Liangzhou, and he overturned and started over several times. In the end, he discovered that if the target was only Wancheng, then they would not be able to stop the Wei army's counterattack.
To the north of Nanyang is Luoyang. As soon as you leave Kunyang, you will reach Yingchuan, the land of Longxing, Boss Cao. This is Cao Wei's core interest area. As long as a war starts here, there will be a fierce counterattack by the Wei army.
So this is why Ma Su was victorious in every battle, but Zhuge Liang still said that if there were not enough troops, he could still get them. This battle is definitely a fierce battle. Cao Wei's counterattack has at least 100,000 troops.
So you have to play big from the beginning, otherwise you won’t be able to get your money back even if you win.
Facing Ma Su's deployment, Zhang He was silent for a while and nodded.
"You are the commander-in-chief, you have the final say."
"Very good. This time our goal cannot be limited to Wancheng. After all, we are the main force in the Eastern Expedition." Ma Di nodded. If Zhang He didn't raise any questions, others would naturally not object. So Ma Di told all his plans.
"General Xiang of Jingzhou will lead his troops north and attack Xiangfan from Dangyang. We also need to divide our troops and attack Xiangfan together with the Jingzhou army to prevent the Wei army from moving here."
"The key to this battle is Ye County and Kunyang. Only by winning these two places quickly, intercepting the Wei army from Yuzhou for reinforcements, and blocking the entire Nanyang Basin can we slowly attack Wancheng."
"This battle is extremely difficult and dangerous, so I must personally go to capture Kunyang in Ye County. The capture of Wancheng, Xinye and other places depends on your generals!"
Zhang Yi, Zhang He and others looked at each other and accepted the order.
"only!"
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Fifty thousand Han troops, together with 10,000 Wudang garrison troops, were almost 60,000 Han troops, which was basically all Ma Di's assets when he attacked Nanyang.
Of course, there is also the Jingzhou army in the south to support Liu Yin, and there are also 20,000 people.
This small number of troops is only slightly more than Cao Wei's Nanyang garrison. Ma Su needed to complete a series of strategic goals such as blocking Xiangfan, conquering Xinye, besieging Wancheng, and occupying Kunyang.
Overall, it was even more difficult than the Prime Minister's first Northern Expedition.
But if you think about it carefully, there is still room for maneuver.
After occupying Nanxiang County, Ma Di quickly led the main force of the Han army to advance eastward. Passing by Shunyang, Champion, Anzhong and other places paid no attention and led the army to pass quickly, leaving some troops to besiege the city.
At this time, Prime Minister Zhuge's feint in Guanzhong had already taken effect. In order to rush to support Guanzhong, Nanyang mobilized some troops to Guanzhong, and the Wei army in the entire Nanyang Basin was unprepared.
Ma Su led his light troops to march day and night, and rushed slowly to the foot of Xinye City in several days. At this time, Xinye City had just received news that the main force of the Han army had left Nanxiang!
"How is it possible? Didn't the Shu army just come out of Wudang? Why did they suddenly attack Xinye City?" At this time, Cao Wei's Jingzhou governor was Hu Zhi, who was almost stunned when he heard that the Han army appeared outside the city.
Then Hu Zhi, who did not believe in evil, walked up to the city wall in person. When he saw the mighty Han army, with at least ten thousand people in the vanguard, he almost collapsed to the ground.
"We were deceived! The target of Xishu is not Guanzhong! It's Nanyang!"
"Everyone in the city, listen. Today, our Han army has been ordered by Your Majesty to fight against the rebels! Now we have millions of troops marching eastward from Wudang. Their momentum is unstoppable. Don't make the mistake of surrendering as soon as possible!"
Ma Su, accompanied by the generals, swaggered outside the city and began to persuade them to surrender at the top of the city.
"Don't even think about it!" After hearing Ma Su's persuasion to surrender, Hu Zhi reacted and quickly shouted from the top of the city.
"Today, we, the Wei Dynasty, inherited the Han Dynasty and rose up in compliance with the destiny of heaven. You are going against heaven by joining the invaders. You will definitely be spurned by heaven. All the heroes in the world will be your enemies!"
"Today you are just bringing thousands of tired people to attack our great Wei Dynasty. You are bringing your own disaster! Retreat quickly, don't get angry!"
Hu Zhi was also a leader with a strong political stance and did not listen to Ma Di's advice to surrender. Not only that, he also quoted scriptures and refuted Ma Su fiercely to boost the morale of the defenders.
However, seeing this situation, Ma Su was not angry, but narrowed his eyes and looked at the gray-haired old man at the top of the city.
He speaks very eloquently and looks quite old... I wonder if my words can scold this old bastard to death!
"I don't know your name?" Ma Di cupped his hands in a polite manner.
Seeing Ma Su being so polite, Hu Zhi snorted lightly,
"I am Hu Wende, the governor of Jingzhou in the Great Wei Dynasty! You must leave as soon as possible. As long as I am still alive, you will never enter the new wilderness!"
"It turns out it's Hu Zhishi. I've admired his name for a long time, so I'm going to dismount Ma Su!" Ma Su smiled honestly and looked at Hu Zhi reporting his family background.
"It turns out to be General Ma. I have admired you for a long time...wait a minute, you are Ma Su!"