Chapter 419 Xiahou Ba’s clever plan

Chapter 419 Xiahou Ba’s clever plan

When the Han army advanced from Chiyang along Xiaoguan Road, thousands of Wei troops also walked out of Xiaoguan under the command of Xiahou Ba and formed camp behind the pass.

Xiahou Ba's move aroused unanimous opposition from all his subordinates. They all felt that Xiahou Ba was crazy for revenge.

Opposite him is Ma Di, who has been fighting in the north and south for many years and has never been defeated. Not to mention Xiahou Ba, even Sima Yi had to huddle up and act like a tortoise when he came.

As a result, Xiahou Ba not only did not intend to defend the dangerous pass, but also led his troops out of the pass to prepare for a head-on confrontation with the Han army. He was completely crazy.

However, Xiahou Ba did not reply and still insisted on leading his troops out of the city. Under Xiahou Ba's order, all the generals could only reluctantly lead their troops out of the city and form formations under the city, waiting to confront the Han army.

Of course, Xiahou Ba obviously didn't do this because he wanted to die. Although he is not as good as Cao Zhen, he is not confident enough to think that he can fight Ma Su to death.

Under Xiahou Ba's deployment, the Wei army's cavalry and shield bearers formed a coordinated formation and quickly established three lines of defense under the city. There is space for the front and rear military formations, and they are crisscrossed for defense.

The crossbowmen were arranged at the top of Xiaoguan City, deploying from a high position, echoing the Wei army below the city.

This arrangement could not resist Ma Di's sudden advance, but it was enough to entangle the Han army's vanguard.

This is enough.

"If you stay here, no matter how fierce the Shu army's offensive is, you will at least be able to block the Shu army's vanguard for a stick of incense!" Xiahou Ba summoned his generals, arranged the deployment, and gave everyone a fatal order. .

"Don't try to escape. I will order the gate of Xiaoguan to be closed as soon as the war starts. Either move forward and defeat the Shu army and survive, or die here!"

After giving the death order to the soldiers, Xiahou Ba also gave the order to the crossbowmen at the top of the city. If there are soldiers fleeing, they can be shot first without asking for instructions!

After giving the death order to these soldiers, Xiahou Ba then personally led more than a thousand elite soldiers forward. A trench was dug about a mile in front of the Wei army's formation, covered with shields, and covered with sand, soil, and vegetation.

Xiahou Ba's plan was to personally lead a thousand elite soldiers and lie down in the trench under the shield when the battle began. Everyone was holding spears and hiding hundreds of powerful crossbows to surprise Ma Su.

It is worth mentioning that it has been a year since the stirrups and horseshoes of the Han army were unveiled in the Battle of Nanyang. Cao Wei was not a loser. He had long understood the principle of stirrups and horseshoes.

As for the armored cavalry of Ma Su's headquarters, it is no longer a secret.

It's just that the Han army's Northern Expedition was too fast and there was no time for the Wei army in Guanzhong to prepare. As a result, most of the Wei cavalry units were still assault cavalry, and even heavy cavalry had no time to form.

However, the shortcomings of the Han army's armored cavalry have long been discovered by Cao Wei. Although such heavy armor has a strong impact, it lacks endurance and cannot fight for a long time.

Therefore, Xiahou Ba also made certain arrangements.

Because he and Ma Su had fought against each other in Ziwu Valley, Xiahou Ba knew that Ma Su was the one who would always charge forward in every battle. Moreover, he didn't care about his reputation at all and took the initiative to attack. I guess Ma Di would also personally lead the heavy cavalry to charge forward.

Xiahou Ba didn't think that his thousand spearmen could stop Ma Su's armored cavalry. Those tin cans might not be able to be killed even if they put a crossbow in their faces, and Xiahou Ba would not take the risk.

However, after the Han armored cavalry passed through, the equipment of the light cavalry behind was not so good. And without Ma Su leading the team, the Han army's light cavalry was actually not that scary.

Xiahou Ba planned to imitate the way Qu Yi used to deal with Gongsun Zan at Jie Bridge. The elite warriors crouched behind the shield, put Ma Di himself and the armored cavalry who could not stop him past, and then suddenly rushed out from under the shield, surprising the Shu army light cavalry behind them.

Xiaoguan Road is originally narrow and steep, so the impact of the cavalry will be offset to a certain extent. In addition, the uniforms of the Han army's light cavalry were relatively thin, and Ma Su was leading the troops at the front, so they would definitely not be on guard.

Xiahou Ba estimated that by then he would lead his soldiers to fight with Yangchen's shouts and fire crossbows at the same time, and he would definitely be able to severely damage the Shu army. By then, the armored cavalry who have lost their endurance will also be surrounded and intercepted, and victory will be within easy reach.

It doesn't require a big gain, even if it can frustrate the Shu army's offensive and break the myth of Ma Su's invincibility, his goal will be achieved!

Although the risk is indeed not small, Xiahou Ba feels that he can take a gamble. If it happened, he would have avenged his uncle and father.

The plan goes through! Now just wait for Ma Su to take the bait!

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While Xiahou Ba was plotting against Ma Di and constantly deploying troops to fight against the Han army, Ma Di also led his troops to the vicinity of Xiaoguan.

Because the goal was to conquer Xiao Pass, the main unit led by Ma Di was the Wudang Flying Army, with only 3,000 cavalry as the vanguard.

When the army arrived at a place more than ten miles away from Xiaoguan, the Han army scouts also reported the detailed arrangements of the Wei army. Seeing this formation, Ma Di suddenly frowned.

"What is Xiahou Ba's plan? Such a formation does not seem like he wants to fight a decisive battle with our army. Instead, it is aimed at delaying time..."

Ma Su felt something was wrong, and his intuition from years of fighting made him feel that something was wrong.

"General, why don't you let me lead the troops into battle this time? I will definitely capture Xiahou Ba alive for the general!" At this time, Jiang Wei suddenly stood up and confidently asked Ma Su for advice.

"Huh?" When Ma Su heard this, his expression suddenly became a little subtle.

In the original history, Xiahou Ba was a general of the Northern Expedition in the late Shu Han Dynasty, and he was regarded as Jiang Wei's golden partner. Unexpectedly, Jiang Wei and Xiahou Ba became rivals when things developed to this point.

Well, that's really interesting (Sociology +3)

"In that case, then Bo Yue will be responsible for leading Long Wuyi to charge into the battle this time." Ma Su pondered for a moment, then suddenly changed his mind, and in an extremely rare gesture, he nodded and agreed to Jiang Wei's request to fight.

"I will personally lead most of the cavalry to follow you. If there is any ambush by the Wei army, I can also provide timely support. If the Wei army's target is somewhere else, I can also respond in time."

Because of the difficulty of Xiao Guandao and the fact that Ma Su didn't understand Xiahou Ba's arrangement, Ma Su finally chose to play it safe.

But Ma Su didn't know that his arrangement would give a certain Xiahou young general a surprise.

In short, after Ma Su suddenly changed his attention, the Han army quickly adjusted its deployment. Jiang Wei wore heavy armor and led Ma Su's elite troops in front, while Ma Su followed behind with three thousand light cavalry.

Finally, there was Deng Fan, who commanded the Wudang flying army for Ma Su. If there was a crisis that even Ma Su couldn't handle, Deng Fan would lead his troops to fight against it.

Deng Fan accepted the task, but his eyes couldn't help but flicker.

He seems to have a bold idea...