Chapter 359 Go and kill Ma Su
"The Shu army is forcibly crossing the Jishui River? Is Ma Su coming for us?"
The governor of Yuzhou at this time, Wang Chang, who was commanding the army in Dingling, received the battle report from the front line, and everyone was a little confused.
The Shu army stationed in Kunyang suddenly left the city and prepared to cross the Jishui River under the eyes of tens of thousands of Wei troops in Dingling. In order to cross the river safely, Ma Di personally led 500 cavalry and 2,000 infantry to cross the Thorn River first and set up camp with his back to the water.
Although Wang Chang was not very capable in military affairs, he was not blind either. You Ma Su behaved so arrogantly, even if Sima Zhao came, he would still be able to react.
"General, the Shu army is currently building ships in Jishui and building pontoons to cross the river. At this rate, it will only take two days for the Shu army to build a bridge to cross the river."
The general reported the battle report on the front line to Wang Chang, emphasizing that the Shu army was about to cross the river. If the Shu army is allowed to successfully cross the river, with 20,000 Shu troops plus a powerful Ma Di, Dingling's small force may not be able to stop this man's offensive.
Look, how worried are you? With 50,000 people sitting in a strong city, you are so afraid of 20,000 Shu troops. If Ma Su was given an army of 100,000, it is difficult to say whether these Cao Wei coaches would simply abandon the city and flee.
"We must stop them! If we let the Shu army cross the river, we will have a hard time driving them out of Yingchuan!" Wang Chang looked solemn and his face was a little ugly. At this moment, he had to find a way.
Dingling and Xiangcheng are two cities to the west of Yingchuan, facing Kunyang across the river. If these two cities are lost, the road to Xuchang further east will be flat!
Your Majesty has already taken charge of the expedition and will soon go to Xuchang to supervise the battle in person. What if Ma Su crossed the river and led the cavalry to Xuchang for a beheading operation?
The more I think about it, the more terrifying it becomes, and I must drive Ma Su back quickly.
"But..." The general looked embarrassed when faced with this order.
"Your Majesty, there are more than 2,000 vanguard troops of the Shu army crossing the river in advance, and they are personally commanded by the Shu general Ma Di. With Ma Di here, I am afraid that with the small number of troops, it is very likely that the Shu army will turn defeat into victory..."
"So the task of eradicating Ma Di is left to you. I will personally supervise the rear army to guard the grain road." Wang Chang nodded with deep sympathy, then patted the general on the shoulder and quickly ordered,
General: "???"
"You are my most valued subordinate. Your ability and attitude are very good. However, it is difficult for you to reach a high position because you are from a low background." Wang Chang seemed not to notice the confused expression on his subordinate's face, and he acted very skillfully. Quality takes the blame,
"Although Ma Su himself was good at fighting, he was able to get ahead of the cavalry's sudden advance. At this moment, Ma Su only brought two thousand infantrymen across the river. It was the time to put in the bid and sell his head. This is a God-given opportunity!"
"Such a great achievement is here. If you kill Ma Su, you will be treated like a noble of ten thousand households. I will give you this credit. Go and kill Ma Su. I will personally express my merits to Your Majesty."
"By the way, even if you don't kill Ma Su and die in battle, it doesn't matter. Your wife will be raised by me, no worries!"
General: "..."
Why haven't you noticed that Shijun looks like a dog before?
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Ever since Ma Su debuted, none of the generals he faced had a good ending. Even if you don't suffer a loss on the battlefield, all kinds of outrageous things will happen later and make you extremely unlucky.
For example, Lu Xun, the governor of Soochow next door, only communicated with Ma Di once during Zhuge Liang's eastern expedition, and never met on the battlefield. As a result, rumors have spread all over Jiangdong in recent years. Although it has not reached the point of being infamous, it is not easy to live with.
Wang Chang is quite superstitious and would not touch such nonsense. Leave it to the subordinates to be the vanguard to fight, and just pretend to be transparent and hide behind to watch the show.
If I can win, it will be because I know people well, and the first achievement is mine. If we lose, it will be the temporary worker’s fault, and I will be jointly and severally liable.
All in all, don't underestimate these old officials who come from aristocratic families. The ability to do things may not be great, but the ability to shirk responsibility is definitely comparable to that of a loach.
Later, under Wang Chang's arrangement, the Wei army sent 30,000 troops, with his own general Wang Sheng as the vanguard to drive Ma Di away from Jishui. He personally led 10,000 soldiers and horses to follow him, nominally to protect the grain road, but actually just to watch the show.
As soon as he saw that the situation was not good, Wang Chang and his men would turn around and run away.
In this way, under Wang Chang's deployment, 40,000 Wei troops rushed from Dingling to drive the Shu army that had crossed the Jishui River back to Kunyang.
In this era, crossing a river for an army was a delicate job, and if you were not careful, the team could easily get confused. Especially in the middle of crossing the river, the troops will be in an extremely vulnerable state.
The soldiers crossing the river were unable to form a military formation for a while. The team was in a loose position and the main force had not yet crossed the river. This situation was called a half-crossing.
Those who have read the Art of War generally know the strategy of attacking halfway across the border. If you are lucky, you can even use this as an opportunity to defeat the enemy.
Because of this, before crossing the river, vanguard troops are usually sent in advance to cross the river at night in small boats and establish a beachhead on the other side of the river.
This time, the person responsible for spearheading the crossing was naturally led by Ma Di, a scholar who had no strength to restrain the chicken.
Because the water flooded the three armies, Ma Su's cavalry suffered too much loss, and most of the survivors were recovering from their injuries. Ma Su could not lead one or two thousand cavalry across the river first and indulged himself. Without hardware support, and with too few troops and Wang Ping refusing to let him leave, Ma Su could only scrape together 2,000 Jingzhou old troops to follow him.
Crossing the river first this time, Ma Su led 2,000 infantry and 500 cavalry, of which there were only more than 100 cavalrymen. The overall quality of the army was so different from that of Ma Su's headquarters, which made Ma Su feel... really wonderful!
Ma Su has not experienced this extremely insecure situation for a long time.
"It seems that it is right to take the initiative to attack. This army has such a good opportunity to commit suicide before crossing the river." Ma Di nodded slightly, and had already begun to think about how to deploy in order to make the war situation go smoothly without him falling into death.
Pulling Liu Yin along is also an insurance policy for yourself. With this great talent here, even if Ma Su dies, Liu Yin will be able to bring the 20,000 Shu troops back to Kunyang safe and sound.
"General! The Wei army came out from Dingling, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses!" While Ma Su was deep in thought, the scouts suddenly rushed back. Report to Ma Su urgently.
"They really couldn't hold it in any longer. Good luck." Ma Su smiled slightly and waved his hand confidently.
"So far, the Wei army has always believed that I, Ma Su, are good at cavalry combat and assault and blitzing, but inferior to infantry combat. This is a complete stereotype. I must correct them!"
"Give me my order and form a formation to meet the enemy!"
This time, Ma Su prepared a small gift for Wei Jun, intending to open Wang Chang's eyes.