Chapter 399 The Prime Minister’s Deployment
After resting in Chengdu for two days, Ma Di followed the next step and headed to Nanzheng.
It is now the spring of the twelfth year of Jianxing, and spring plowing is over. Troops of the Han army stationed in various places have begun to gather in Hanzhong in a steady stream. A large number of grain, grass and weapons were also being hoarded towards Yongliang at this time.
Among them, Chencang became the center of the Shu Han's grain and grass hoarding for the Northern Expedition. A large amount of grain and grass were transported from Chencang Road to Chencang City and stored here in preparation for the next Northern Expedition.
In this Northern Expedition, all the capable generals and officials of Shu Han went into battle. Even some retired cadres were dragged up, ready to conquer the entire Guanzhong in one fell swoop.
For this Northern Expedition, personnel changes were made in all border defense areas from Yongliang to Nanyang.
For example, Li Mu, who was the first to follow Ma Su with mixed seniority, was promoted to the governor of Yongzhou, and Chen Zhi was appointed the governor of Liangzhou. Prince Liu Xuan also withdrew from Wuwei to Jixian County to supervise the country, and was responsible for supervising the transportation of grain and grass for the Northern Expedition.
When the Northern Expedition is launched, Prime Minister Jiang Wan will arrive in Hanzhong in person, and he and Fei Yi will be responsible for the transportation of grain and grass north to Yizhou. Li Hui and Xiang Chong were in charge of Nanyang and Wuling, keeping an eye on Soochow's every move.
Because Ma Su exchanged 30,000 Soochow soldiers and horses with Soochow, the two sides temporarily claimed to have a misunderstanding, so Sun Quan was obviously still the Han Dynasty Marquis of Wu. But both sides knew that they were almost at odds and that the covenant was in name only.
Therefore, no matter what, there must be a big boss in the southeast, keeping an eye on every move in the direction of Soochow.
Nanzhong was also put in charge of Guan Xing brother and sister on Ma Su's recommendation. Since then, all the manpower around Shuhan has been arranged, and as for the rest...
They all have to go to the front line of the Northern Expedition!
When Ma Di came to Nanzheng, the first person to receive him was Deng Zhi.
"You Chang acted so fast. Nanzhong was really pacified in three months?" Deng Zhi couldn't help being surprised when he saw that Ma Di not only came back, but also brought a large number of Nanzhong prisoners as civilian husbands.
Ma Su suppressed the rebellion in Nanzhong and captured more than 20,000 barbarians. These barbarian soldiers who had rebelled obviously could not stay in Nanzhong, otherwise they would be a factor of instability, so Ma Di simply brought them all to Hanzhong to serve as civilian husbands.
"It's just a ragtag group of people. As long as I make a small move, it will be the limit of Nanzhong." Ma Su waved his hand and said very calmly, never mentioning how much he wanted to die in Nanzhong.
The Prime Minister is currently sitting in Hanzhong. If he spills the beans, it will definitely be reported to the Prime Minister. Ma Su didn't want to be beaten by the Prime Minister again before the Northern Expedition had begun.
"How are the preparations for the Northern Expedition? Are all the food, fodder, and armor ready?"
"It has been prepared for a long time. It stands to reason that the army should have set off for Yongzhou half a month ago." Deng Zhi smiled, pointed to the guide, Zheng shook his head gently and said,
"The Prime Minister is waiting for you! Everyone has to wait until you arrive...look at your status."
"Ahem..." Seeing Deng Zhi's smile, Ma Su scratched his head and felt a little embarrassed. With so many people waiting for him alone, how could this blessing be any smaller?
"Hurry in and find the Prime Minister, everyone is ready to go." Deng Zhi waved his hand and said to Ma Su.
Under the guidance of Deng Zhi, Ma Di came to the Nanzheng County Sheriff's Mansion and met Zhuge Liang in the main hall. At this moment, Prime Minister Zhuge was not dealing with government affairs, but was spreading out the map to deduce the battle situation.
"You Chang, are you back?" After Ma Di came in, Zhuge Liang raised his head and took a look. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with the boy, he lowered his head again.
"Come and show me how we should deploy the next Northern Expedition."
Ma Su stepped forward and saw that Zhuge Liang had already marked many places on the map. A map is densely packed with markings and lines, and many places have even been daubed and redrawn.
From this point of view, the Prime Minister is not so sure about the upcoming war.
Of course, this is nonsense. The Northern Expedition in Guanzhong, like the Battle of Nanyang, is about to face a decisive battle with Cao Wei. Ma Su also had the help of Kunyang's terrain and Runan's river network when he attacked Nanyang, while Guanzhong was a true decisive battle on the plains.
Although in Liangzhou before, Zhuge Liang relied on the three-dimensional military formation and Zhuge Liannu to defeat Sima Yi head-on. But after all, it was based on the terrain. If the plains were really strong and the terrain was on the opponent's side, Zhuge Liang would not be absolutely sure.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang continued to deduce the battle situation and figured out how to fight in the safest way and maximize the benefits of the Northern Expedition.
Ma Su made a careful analysis and saw Zhuge Liang's plan from the messy lines.
In general, Zhuge Liang planned to gather the main force in Yongzhou first, and then attack the Sanfu in Guanzhong. Then the troops were divided to watch the martial arts, and then the main force was divided into two groups, all the way east to attack Xiaoguan and Tongguan, and all the way south to attack the Wei River.
Attacking in two directions, no matter which one was successful, Sima Yi would face the risk of being surrounded and would have to withdraw his troops.
From this arrangement, Ma Su basically saw the prime minister's plan.
"Prime Minister, do you plan to level the entire Guanzhong in one battle? Return to the old capital in one step?" Ma Su was a little surprised, feeling that this arrangement was a bit unlike the Prime Minister's style.
"Prime Minister, is this really your plan? It's really not General Wen Chang... Oh no, Wen Chang is not in Nanzheng."
Not only were the troops divided into two groups, but according to the Prime Minister's wishes, the target this time was not just Chang'an. Xiaoguan, Pubanjin and even Tongguan are all within the scope of strategic attack!
This is the intention to level the entire Guanzhong in one battle and move the capital here directly after the war!
If Ma Su looks at it, this strategy is still a bit conservative. But for the Prime Minister, this style of play is not too risky, and it is completely unlike the style that the Prime Minister should have.
"If it's not my plan, who else can it be? If I let you designate the plan, I might move all of Luoyang into the combat zone." Zhuge Liang was speechless and patted Ma Su's head gently with his feather fan.
"Don't think too conservatively of me. I was helpless before because I couldn't afford to lose. This time, I mobilized hundreds of thousands of people and spent countless amounts of food and armor. Is it just for one Chang'an?"
"not to mention……"
Zhuge Liang raised his head, glanced sadly towards the south, and then sighed softly,
"Although we have developed rapidly in the past few years and our military strength has expanded rapidly. But the only place that really supports the main logistics expenses is Yizhou."
"It has been seven years since the fifth year of Jianxing. There have been wars almost every year. Yizhou is exhausted and has almost reached its limit. What's more, the talent for governing the country is declining. Many of the old ministers have passed away. In the future, The pressure will build.”
If the entire Guanzhong cannot be regained in this battle, it is hard to say whether there will be enough power in the future. "