Chapter 378 Sima Yi’s plan
"Nanyang is lost?"
"Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, it is indeed true. General Sun and General Guo have returned to Wuguan."
"I see..." Sima Yi looked calm at the moment, as if he didn't have any mood swings.
However, the Sima Master who was familiar with him could tell that his father was very angry.
This is normal. Although Sima Yi does have second thoughts, he does want to do something to give himself more leverage. Sima Yi took over Guanzhong when the entire northwest was in turmoil. During this time, he had been working overtime to consolidate the Guanzhong defense line.
All this is to keep the Shu army out of Chang'an City.
As a result, before the battle started on Sima Yi's side, his teammates were pulling their crotch. Not only did he fail to defend Nanyang, but he also caused trouble for him in Guanzhong. It would be strange if Sima Yi wasn't angry.
But what can be done if he is angry? No matter how angry Sima Yi is at this moment, it will be of no use. So Sima Yi acted extremely calm at this moment, and no one except Sima Master could see Sima Yi's anger.
"That's all, if you lose Nanyang, just throw it away. It won't have much impact on Guanzhong." Sima Yi straightened his back, not only did he not show any anger, but also showed a bit of a smile.
"What's more, Western Shu has few people and troops, and its national strength is not as good as ours, the Wei Dynasty. Now it is even more presumptuous to capture Nanyang, which will inevitably contain a large number of its troops and prevent it from attacking Guanzhong with all its strength."
"What's more, Zhuge Liang is resourceful and resourceful, and Ma Su is willing to take risks. Even if the two of them go together, what would I have to fear?"
Sima Yi is worthy of being the most arrogant king in the Three Kingdoms era. Even though he was at such a huge disadvantage, he still refused to give up his arrogance. If he hadn't seen Sima Yi's missing front teeth, Chen Tai might have believed it.
But being tough does have its benefits. At least Sima Yi's words made many generals who didn't understand the situation feel a lot more at ease.
"Captain, now that Ma Su has conquered Nanyang, I'm afraid Zhuge Liang will withdraw his troops in the near future. What should we do?" At this time, Chen Tai stood up and asked Sima Yi.
The battle has reached this point, and even a blind man can see that Zhuge Liang is here to feign attack and contain him. Now that the war in Nanyang is basically over, Zhuge Liang should probably prepare to withdraw his troops.
In Chen Tai's opinion, this is a good opportunity. After all, Zhuge Liang only had 30,000 men, and his fighting was not as perverted as Ma Di's. How could he not pursue him now?
Sima Yi could only laugh at this, and became angry when he saw Chen Tai who was eager to try.
The sky has cleared up, the rain has stopped, and Ma Di is no longer in Guanzhong, but you feel you can do it again. If this kid hadn't been Chen Qun's son, Sima Yi would have really wanted to scatter him to death.
However, it is definitely necessary to pursue Sima Yi, but the candidate will have to be chosen separately.
"Zhuge Liang is cunning and good at using troops. I estimate that sending a young general will easily be ambushed by the Shu army. What's more, Zhuge Liang is Ma Su's master. Every time he fights, he must have a backup plan. I don't worry about sending others." Sima Yi touched his chin. , while pondering and looking away,
"This pursuit of the Shu army requires a highly respected and experienced veteran to be competent. I think..."
"Commander Sima, if you want me to be killed, you can just say so." Zhong Yao, who was sitting at the side with an expressionless face, suddenly spoke, without any emotion in his tone.
"General Zhong, what do you mean by this? Zhongda can't bear this responsibility?" Sima Yi's face quickly showed surprise. He suddenly looked at Zhong Yao and defended seemingly honestly.
"You didn't say to let General Zhong go, so why did you say that?"
The corners of Zhong Yao's mouth twitched slightly, and then he sighed softly.
"Okay, but I am definitely the most suitable for this pursuit. It is really not safe for other juniors to go."
Zhong Yao is over seventy years old, and he has a clear understanding of Sima Yi's character.
I don't know when Sima Yi began to suspect that he was collaborating with the enemy. And because of his involvement in the Wei Xi case, Zhong Yao was not clean at all, which made Sima Yi even more afraid of him.
This time, Sima Yi's plan was obviously to let him die, and let him, a highly respected old general in Guanzhong, die at the hands of the Shu army.
This can not only deal with the hidden risk of Zhong Yao, solve this potential mole, but also arouse the hatred of the soldiers in Guanzhong against the Shu army, thereby checking the tendency of people in Guanzhong to miss the Han people, and Sima Yi himself can be more powerful because of this. Dominate.
No matter from which point of view, Sima Yi must control him to death.
Isn't it ridiculous? The war has not even started yet, but we have already started plotting against our own people. But his family members were all detained in Luoyang, especially his youngest son, who was under strict supervision. What could Zhong Yao do?
Even if he knew that Sima Yi wanted to kill him, Zhong Yao had to take the initiative.
Seeing that Zhong Yao was very knowledgeable, Sima Yi was determined and quickly made a decision to let Zhong Yao lead an army to pursue the retreating Zhuge Liang.
No lieutenants were given, and only Zhong Yao led thousands of people to pursue him.
No matter how you look at it, this is a life-threatening job, but Zhong Yao still takes it calmly.
It's not that easy to be free. Living in this world is more of a last resort like Zhong Yao.
A few days later, Sima Yi's scouts discovered that Zhuge Liang had led the Han army to sneak across the Wei River at night and withdraw from the hinterland of Chang'an. Then the 30,000-strong army marched with flags in order and slowly retreated towards Yongzhou.
Seeing this, Sima Yi immediately sent Zhong Yao to pursue him, and he himself led the army to meet him from a distance.
Zhong Yao led his army to pursue the Han army all the way. After only a few days of attacking, they suddenly encountered a Han army ambush at the border of Yongzhou.
Obviously, Zhuge Liang had already made arrangements to guard against pursuing troops, and Zhong Yao ran into the Han army's ambush circle. Then Chen Shi on the left and Wu Yi on the right attacked from two sides, and the Wei army was defeated.
Zhong Yao quickly led his troops to defeat. When passing through the broken valley, a group of repeating crossbowmen appeared on the cliffs on both sides.
"General Zhong, I have long admired your name."
A few pawns pushing a four-wheeled cart appeared on the edge of the cliff. It was Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty.
"General Zhong is already on his deathbed. If we don't surrender now, how long will it take?"
"I have family in Luoyang, so I have no choice." Seeing this, Zhong Yao didn't say much and said directly.
"Kill me quickly, I can't surrender."
"Hasn't General Zhong heard about Zhang He's old story? The family always has a way." Zhuge Liang raised his eyebrows and looked at Zhong Yao calmly and said.
Zhong Yao and Zhuge Liang had long heard that the founder of the Cao Wei Northwest War Zone was of extraordinary value. He originally wanted to shoot a horse, but accidentally caught a demon.
If they can be persuaded to surrender, it will be of great help to disintegrate the fighting will of Cao Wei's Guanzhong army.
However, Zhong Yao shook his head and said firmly,
"Since Zhang He's incident, Luoyang has become more strict with hostage management. Once a certain person surrenders, his young son's family will die and he will not be allowed to surrender."
"Today, I have no choice but to die here." After saying this, Zhong Yao fiercely drew his sword and cut himself with a horizontal sword, without giving Zhuge Liang a chance to continue speaking.
Zhong Yao died and the remaining Wei troops surrendered, but Zhuge Liang's expression gradually became grim.
"Sima Yi, Sima Yi, you are more ruthless than I thought!"