Chapter 975 Crossing the Water
There is no need to think about looking for Zhuge Liang’s flaws for the time being.
After all, according to Sima Yi's opinion, both sides are still at the stage where their patience is being exhausted.
Of course, Feng Thief has appeared now.
If Zhuge Liang had agreed on a time period with Feng Thief before sending troops, then the other side would most likely enter the next stage: a small-scale trial attack.
But for Sima Yi, this was all within his expectations.
As long as you hold on to the camp and don't give the other side a chance to cross the water on a large scale, everything will be under control.
Moreover, it was impossible for Zhuge Liang to cross the water on a large scale without being completely sure.
Feng Thief has already appeared in the north.
That means there is no pressure on the Longshan side, and the 50,000 Chinese troops stationed in Qian County can come from the direction of Chencang at any time.
If Zhuge Liang really dares to cross the Wugong River eastward on a large scale, Qin Lang coming from the direction of Chencang can threaten his flanks and rear at any time.
Zhuge Liang himself is not afraid of being in trouble, so what does Sima Yi have to fear?
Not to mention that there will be a martial arts river separating the Shu captives from the beginning to the end.
Isn't this just a half-crossing attack and a flanking attack?
Sima Yi didn’t believe that Zhuge Liang would take such a risk.
So, now it depends on who is determined enough, who can break the situation from other places first, thereby putting pressure on the frontal battlefield, who can take advantage.
After receiving Sima Yi’s advice, Deng Ai suddenly realized it and quickly clasped his fists and said:
“Da Sima, please go to Qian County!”
Deng Ai has been working in Guanzhong for several years, and he likes to observe mountains and rivers and imagine attacks and defenses. Deng Ai is already familiar with the terrain of Guanzhong.
Since Da Sima has said it, it’s not easy to find Zhuge Liang’s flaws at this time.
Then the rest are either Feng Thief or Deng Zhi.
To the north of Qiaoshan is flat land.
There may be people in the world who can defeat the cavalry led by Feng Thief on flat ground.
But Deng Ai knew that it definitely did not include him.
At least not for now.
So the last remaining direction is Deng Zhi.
Sima Yi was very satisfied and nodded:
“Although General Qin has won the trust of His Majesty, he is a low-key person and never makes things difficult for others. Wherever you go, he should be a bit mean to me and not look down upon you.”
Deng Ai said gratefully:
“Thank you to Da Sima.”
"Tomorrow I will send a grain transport team to Qian County to deliver grain. You will be the grain **** officer then."
)
Compared with Sima Yi who was able to respond immediately after learning the news about Feng Yong, the Han army's response seemed a bit slow.
After all, as Deng Ai said, the troops are divided into three groups and cannot communicate with each other. Naturally, the three groups can only fight on their own.
For the Prime Minister's army, there is insufficient information, so they can only follow the plan before the expedition, step by step, and fight steadily.
This is a prudent approach.
Just as Sima Yi believed, with the formal establishment of the tripartite power, the armies of various countries are also moving towards regularization.
The confrontation between the two armies is no longer a matter of rushing forward, drawing a sword and slashing.
Even if you want to rush, others may not give you a chance. Instead, it is very likely to give your opponent a chance.
The commander-in-chief needs to consider all aspects of the country's war potential, logistical support, popular support, engagement timing, etc., not just the duel between the two armies.
This is the so-called temple calculation.
It is only something that the commander must consider, not the general.
For example, Wei Yan.
Seeing the Wei State grain transport team on the north bank strutting past, their arrogance seemed not to notice the Han army on the opposite side at all, Wei Yan wanted to draw his bow and arrow and shoot the leader off his horse.
It's just that the Wei River is really too wide, and even the heavy crossbows in the army, not to mention bows and arrows, can barely reach the shore.
Not to mention being able to shoot at the Wei army far away from the shore.
“The Northern Expedition, this is not the Northern Expedition, it is clearly child’s play!”
Wei Yan said angrily, "If we fight and don't fight, we will waste money and food. When will we defeat the Wei thieves?"
After finishing speaking, he threw the long bow on the ground, asked his bodyguard to take the horse, turned over, and galloped towards Wuzhangyuan.
Entering the military camp, Wei Yan dismounted and strode to the commander's tent.
As the number one general in the prime minister’s army, no one will stop him along the way.
“General Wei.”
“I want to see the Prime Minister.”
“General, the Prime Minister went to Wugong Water to check on the enemy.”
If you don’t plan to cross the water to attack the thief, and watch the enemy’s situation every day, how can you still watch the Wei thief to death?
When Wei Yan heard this, he felt a little impatient. He muttered, then turned around and headed towards the Wugong Water.
Summer is coming, and there seems to be more rain.
It rained just two days ago. Zhuge Liang sat in his wheelchair, looking at the rising river water, thoughtfully.
"Come here, shoot an arrow to the other side with a crossbow."
)
Soon a sergeant came up with a heavy crossbow. He squatted down, pulled the string, and released the arrow. His movements were very standard.
“May I ask the Prime Minister, in which direction should I shoot?”
Zhuge Liang squinted his eyes, then picked up the telescope and looked at it again, and then pointed to a conspicuous big stone on the opposite shore:
“Do you see that rock? Just shoot at that location.”
)
The sergeant took aim and pulled the trigger.
“Peng!”
The improved heavy crossbow has a very long range. Not counting its lethality, the farthest one can reach nearly two hundred steps.
The surface of the martial arts water is not more than a hundred steps away.
To be honest, when he met Sima Yi for the first time, the Prime Minister of Han Dynasty might not have thought of letting people give him a cold shoulder.
It's a pity that the guy was very alert. Not only did he stand far away, but he also had bodyguards holding big guns beside him.
Even when both sides shouted, it was the sergeant who came close to deliver the message.
It seems that he has already known how powerful the Han Dynasty's crossbow is.
The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty was sitting in a wheelchair, looking at the water and meditating, when he heard someone shout:
“Prime Minister!”
Zhuge Liang, whose train of thought was interrupted, followed the source of the sound and found that it was Wei Yan who had just arrived.
“Oh, it’s Wen Chang!”
Zhuge Liang took out a small piece of brocade cloth from his arms, carefully wiped the lens of the telescope, and asked casually:
“Is there something wrong, Mr. Wen?”
"Prime Minister, I just saw the Wei thieves escorting a batch of grain to the west." Wei Yan looked a little unhappy, "My army came from a long distance and consumed far more food than the Wei thieves."
"Even if the Prime Minister intends to farm in Wuzhangyuan, how can he compare with the Guanzhong land behind Wei Thief? In the long run, I am afraid I will not be able to consume Wei Thief! We..."
Wei Yan held back his breath and was about to say everything, but the Prime Minister suddenly interrupted him:
“Wei thieves escorted a batch of grain to the west?”
Zhuge Liang's attention seemed to be attracted by Wei Yan's first sentence, as if he didn't hear what he said next, "Just now?"
Wei Yan was stunned for a moment and nodded subconsciously: "That's right."
Zhuge Liang was a little confused:
"For so long, the grain and grass of the Wei thieves in the west have basically been transported from Chang'an. Why did they go from the north bank this time?"
Of course, even if you start from Chang'an, it is most convenient to walk along the Wei River on weekdays.
But doesn’t Wuzhangyuan on the south bank have its own army now?
Food and fodder for tens of thousands of horses is not a small amount.
Who would expose the grain transport team to the enemy's eyes?
So it is naturally safer to go to the north of Beiyuan.
Wei Yan became a little impatient again.
"Prime Minister, what I want to say is that the Wei thieves not only have more soldiers than me, but also have more food than me, and they are easy to transport. If we keep fighting with them, we will be the ones who cannot afford to waste them in the end!"
The Prime Minister did not answer Wei Yan's words, but looked to the other side and said to himself:
“When something is abnormal, there must be a reason. I think it is very likely that the grain and fodder team did not set off from Chang’an, but was sent by Sima Yi on the other side.”
The prime minister's attitude made Wei Yanru's punch empty, with no focus at all. He also looked to the other side and said dullly:
"so what?"
"That means things have changed, and Sima Yi took action now." Zhuge Liang narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "I'm afraid that's not the real grain and forage team, but the reinforcements sent by Sima Yi to Qian County."
Wei Yan finally showed a surprised look: "Reinforcements? Over at Longyou, does the Prime Minister have other plans?"
That shouldn’t be the case. The entire Han Dynasty only has so many troops. Where can Longyou get the extra troops?
Zhuge Liang shook his head: "If there was an emergency in Qian County, how could Sima Yi cover it up like this? It's impossible to say that he wanted to take the initiative from Qian County..."
At this point, Zhuge Liang turned his eyes and looked to the northeast, "It seems that Sima Yi already knows where Feng Mingwen is."
Calculating the time, it’s almost time.
“Prime Minister, what should we do?”
Wei Yan said anxiously:
"It seems that Longyou can no longer hide it. Do you want me to lead the troops to the west to attack Chencang? Let the Wei thieves in Qian County not dare to move lightly."
"Divide your troops to attack the city. You need to bring at least twenty or thirty thousand people there. Why do I have so many troops to divide you?" Zhuge Liang shook his head again, "It's better to just cross the water and test it."
“Crossing the water?”
“Yes, cross the martial arts water.” After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, he ordered, “Where is Meng Yan?”
Meng Yan, who was guarding the prime minister, quickly stood up:
“The end is here!”
"I will divide you into five thousand tiger infantry troops. Prepare your equipment today and cross the water as soon as you get the military order tomorrow!"
“No!”
The Tiger Infantry Army is an elite force carefully trained by the Prime Minister over the years. Except for Jiang Wei who is qualified to lead 5,000 people alone, the rest are all led by the Prime Minister himself.
Now let Meng Yan lead the Tiger Infantry to cross the water first. It can be seen that the prime minister is serious this time.
Wei Yan couldn’t care anymore and directly interjected:
“Prime Minister, why don’t you let me be the vanguard?”
Zhuge Liang said calmly:
“If you want to successfully cross the water, you must have elite tiger infantry soldiers. Meng Yan is the tiger infantry supervisor, leading the tiger infantry troops to cross the water. This is reasonable.”
"You are not a member of the Tiger Infantry Army, how do you know the key to the Tiger Infantry Army's formation?"
Wei Yan was speechless.
Zhuge Liang glanced at Wei Yan and saw an angry look on his face, so he said one more sentence:
“If Meng Yan can successfully cross the water, you will be the second group to lead the army across the water.”
Wei Yan finally calmed down a bit after receiving the promise.
Zhuge Liang sighed in his heart:
I did not let Wei Yan cross the water first because I knew that he was too impetuous and eager to achieve success. After crossing the water, he might not be willing to dig a camp and stand firm in the face of the Wei thieves.
On the other hand, Meng Yan, although not as brave as Wei Yan, is better than Wei Yan in being able to do exactly what I asked him to do.
At dawn the next day, the noisy West Bank quickly attracted the attention of Wei army spies.
Sima Yi received the report and quickly took people out to take a look. He saw the Shu captives on the other side carrying a bamboo raft and putting it into the water.
"No, the Shu captives are trying to cross the martial arts river!" Sima Yi was startled and quickly ordered, "Send the order and assemble the army immediately!"
Ever since he went to Wuzhangyuan, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty has been asking the army to cut bamboo and wood for the purpose of crossing the water.
The raft, which was three to four feet long and nearly two feet wide, was constantly pushed into the water, and then tied head to tail with thick hemp ropes.
At the same time, there was a "bang, bang, bang" sound. In order to increase the strength, a sergeant nailed a special iron rod between the two rafts.
For the Han army stationed on the west bank, when the sun just rose, the sun was dazzling and the battle was unfavorable.
Only when the sun rose higher, the larger rafts were pushed into the water. On each raft stood two hundred Tiger Infantry soldiers with bows and spears.
A large frame was erected in front to guard against the arrows of Wei thieves - the Han army began to cross the water.
Sure enough, as soon as the raft crossed the center of the river, the Wei thief's crossbow arrow came with a sound of breaking through the air.
The Tiger Infantry soldiers on the raft all huddled behind the rafts, trying not to expose their bodies.
In this case, there is no other option but to be beaten passively.
As they got closer, the Wei army's archers began to shoot.
"Prepare!"
“Crash!”
The soldiers on the raft began to draw their bows and arrows.
"shoot!"
“Puff!”
Entering the range of the archers, you can finally fight back.
Among the Three Kingdoms, Wei is best known for its fine cavalry, while the Han Dynasty is best known for its bows and crossbows. As for Wu, it is naturally its boats.
Of course, with Liangzhou and the use of humanoid weapons, the Han Dynasty has made up for the shortcomings of the cavalry.
But the Wei army was not so lucky, and there was no way to catch up with the Han with their crossbows.
The archers of the Wei army started shooting arrows, which meant that the Wei army had also entered the bow and arrow attack range of the tiger infantry on the bamboo raft.
Although the arrows fired by the Han troops on the raft were somewhat sparse, they were not unable to fight back as before.
Facing the arrow feathers falling from the sky, the large frame erected in front is of no use.
Soon, screams sounded one after another.
No matter how big the bamboo raft is, it cannot be compared with the ship. In order to reduce the weight, except for the team leader who wears iron armor, the rest of the soldiers basically wear leather armor.
The tiger-stepping soldiers on the bamboo raft were constantly hit by arrows, in their necks, shoulders, backs, and even heads.
The blood of the soldiers who overturned on the raft seeped through the gaps in the raft and dyed the water red.
Most of them couldn't stand and fell directly into the water.
The injured soldier couldn't even struggle a few times. After a few blisters popped up, he never came up again.
There are only wisps of red, slowly spreading...
This is just the beginning.
The first raft finally rushed to the shore. The Wei army, which had been prepared for a long time, shouted in unison and pressed their spears firmly against the large pillars erected in front.
“Crash!”
The Han army was caught off guard, and the big raft overturned backward, crushing the soldiers on the raft.
With less than a hundred soldiers still standing on the raft, the team leader roared:
"kill!"
He took the lead and rushed forward.
At the same time, not far from the bamboo raft crossing the water, the upstream end of the connected raft bridge was pushed into the water, and with the help of the current, it began to slowly and automatically move towards the other side.
The downstream end is firmly fixed on the pile.
…
The raft bridge made a heart-wrenching sound, and finally "clattered" and got stuck on the east bank.
Meng Yan, who had been impatient for a long time, jumped up, led the soldiers of the Tiger Infantry Army, stepped on the raft bridge, and went straight to the other side.
A Wei army wanted to rush over to encircle them, but then they heard another burst of "puffing" crossbow arrows, and the strong crossbowmen on the west bank fired a torrential rain of crossbow bolts.
Within fifty steps of the east bank, it became a death zone, and no one dared to approach it.
By the time the Tiger Infantry who had passed the raft bridge reached the other side, almost all of the first batch of soldiers who arrived on the raft boat to the shore had been killed.
“Da Sima!”
"Not in a hurry!"
Sima Yi looked calm when he saw this scene from a distance.
A small number of Han troops rushed across the shore, this is nothing.
He didn’t expect the martial arts water to completely block Zhuge Liang from the other side.
Only when Zhuge Liang sent out a large number of men and horses to start crossing the water was the time to truly attack halfway across the river.
In this situation, it can only be a close fight between infantry and infantry, and it is far from the time for the elite cavalry to be dispatched.
If the Jingqi goes out now, there will be no other effect except rushing themselves into the water.
In this kind of small-scale battle, it depends on who is more resilient and who is better organized.
Obviously, the Han army crossing the water now is Zhuge Liang's elite.
In addition, the water surface of Wugong River is not wide enough, and the strong crossbows on the other side can cover the crossing. The Wei army has a military advantage, but there is no way to outflank it from both sides.
After the success of the first raft bridge, the second one...
The third branch was scattered by the water...
At the same time, the pontoon bridge built from the beginning has also been continuously extended to the east bank...
Along the several-mile-long shore, the soldiers of the Han and Wei armies were like ferocious beasts aroused by blood, constantly shouting and fighting.
At the same time, a cavalry army of tens of thousands was walking slowly on the Qinzhi Road in Qiaoshan.
The reason why he walked slowly was because Guo Huai had already destroyed the Qin Zhidao on the bridge mountain in advance.
At every section of the road, deep trenches were dug, ranging from two to three feet short to four to five feet wide.
The method is simple but effective.
Feng Yong had to fill in these trenches along the way before he could continue to move forward.
ˆPS:
The following are free of charge:
A brief discussion on the military guiding ideology of the Three Kingdoms Han and Wei.
Let me make a clarification first: some of the following content is what I have seen others say online before, but now I can’t find the original words, so I wrote them based on my impressions (infringement and deletion).
At the same time, I added some of my personal understanding.
Okay, let’s start the text.
When we modern people talk about the Three Kingdoms, most of them only focus on who has a good record and how many times they have won.
But few people will notice such a thing, that is, if you look closely, there are only about four or five figures from the Three Kingdoms who will be called military strategists in later generations, including Liao Liao.
It seems that there are only two military works that have been handed down.
One is Cao Cao and the other is Zhuge Liang.
These two, one is the establishment of Wei's army construction policy, and the other is the re-formulation of Ji Han's army guiding ideology after Liu Bei's defeat.
Because of the different national conditions of the two countries, they have different priorities.
Before talking about their differences, let’s first take a look at the two military representatives during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
One is Wu Qi and the other is Sun Bin.
Wu Qi's military thinking has an obvious feature, which is that everyone must strictly abide by laws and regulations. At the same time, he attaches great importance to cultivating the combat effectiveness of grassroots soldiers.
The soldiers of Wei trained by Wu Qi were the most elite soldiers in the world at that time. They were the kind that made Old Qin howl and almost raise the white flag when he beat them.
As for Sun Bin, he valued the role of generals more than ordinary soldiers.
For example, he believes that factors such as large numbers of people, abundant food, and sophisticated weapons are not enough to guarantee victory in battle.
Only when generals master the laws of war, understand the situation of both the enemy and ourselves, and command properly can they ensure victory.
These two military thoughts were the two schools of thought at that time.
Probably Lao Qin was defeated by Wei soldiers and almost failed to defend the capital.
So after Wei repeatedly committed suicide, Lao Qin worked hard to become stronger and chose to accept Shang Yang's reform, which was similar to Wu Qi's reform.
Finally, the land in Hexi that had been taken away by Wei for nearly a hundred years was recovered in one fell swoop.
Everyone knows what happened later. It was with this military and political system that Lao Qin laid a solid foundation for sweeping the six eastern countries.
After Lao Qin, the Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system and further optimized this system. At the same time, on this basis, it absorbed the military thought of the school represented by Sun Bin, creating the military glory of the two Han Dynasties.
So you can see that the generals at that time included both Huo Qubing, a genius military god, and Wei Qing, a commander who combined military talents and valued soldiers.
There is even Cheng Bushi who is as famous as Li Guang (it is estimated that few people have heard of this general now, but at the time he was as recognized as a famous general like Li Guang.)
Cheng Bushi has very distinctive characteristics as a leader. He is very rigorous. He trains the troops according to the strictest discipline on weekdays, divides them into units, and has a hierarchical command system with clear responsibilities.
When troops go into battle, they are always in a state of alert with neither men disarming nor horses unsaddled. His army was mainly infantry and marched slowly but solidly.
His army is well organized in setting up camp. Once he sets up camp, the enemy will not be able to break through his camp.
He never allowed the Huns to succeed, but he never achieved a major victory himself.
But he has a great advantage, which is that he can continuously accumulate small victories and then turn them into big advantages while keeping his losses to a minimum.
Compared with modern people who don’t know Cheng Bushi, in the Western Han Dynasty, everyone knew that Cheng Bushi was a famous general because he never failed in his life.
This man can be said to be a typical example of a person who is good at fighting but has no outstanding achievements.
Do you feel a familiar feeling when you see this?
That’s right, Zhuge Liang inherited this kind of military thinking.
So many people in modern times don't understand why Zhuge Liang is respected by military strategists of all ages?
It’s because many times we don’t understand the ancients’ views on cold weapon warfare from the perspective of the ancients.
Sun Tzu’s Art of War has made it very clear:
Those who were good at fighting in the past were first invincible and waited for the enemy to become victorious. The invincible lies with oneself, but the victorious lies with the enemy. Therefore, those who are good at fighting can be invincible, but those who cannot make the enemy victorious are certain.
This is not to say that Zhuge Liang was promoted to the ranks of the ten wise men of the martial arts temple just because of his loyalty to the emperor because of political needs.
Of course, Zhuge Liang attached great importance to laws and the training of grassroots soldiers, which is also related to Ji Han's national conditions.
Because the country was too weak and a large number of undisciplined barbarians were drawn into the army, he had to do this to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army.
After talking about Zhuge Liang, let’s talk about Cao Cao.
Cao Cao’s army construction is closer to Sun Bin’s military guiding ideology:
Attach importance to the role of generals. A general who can seize opportunities in time on the battlefield is a good general.
Cao Cao will pay attention to the construction of a part of the army, but this is only for elite soldiers, not all, and the representative is the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.
As long as the lower-level soldiers can keep up with the average level of the times, there is no need to comprehensively strengthen them.
So we see in the history books how many soldiers Cao Cao received. In fact, most of them were human shields and could not be considered as his real elite soldiers.
At critical moments, he often needs generals to lead elite troops to reverse the situation of the war.
The defeat of Yuan Shao in the battle of Guandu, the defeat of Yuan Tan in the battle of Nanpi, the defeat of Ma Chao in the battle of Guanzhong, etc. are all this kind of tactics.
This requires generals to have a high level of leadership.
There are too few people of his generation who can compete with Cao Cao in leadership.
In fact, Cao Cao suffered a lot in Chibi. In addition to the failure of the right time, place and people, there was also a failure of tactics: the elite soldiers could not play their role, and the superior army was defeated instead.
The previous tactics were no longer effective. I couldn't react for a while and could only think, "Why is the Prime Minister laughing?"
Cao Cao’s idea of building an army naturally influenced the later Wei army.
The biggest weakness of this kind of army-building thinking is that the enemy's general ability cannot be higher than that of one's own generals.
Otherwise, even if one's own troops are superior, the probability of defeat will be higher than others.
This is also the reason why in history, after Zhuge Liang suffered losses in the first Northern Expedition, he began to learn lessons, trained his troops in Hanzhong, and worked hard to develop an elite army. Then Sima Yi wanted to fear Shu like a tiger:
Soldiers cannot be compared, nor can commanders. Although they have the advantage of having more soldiers, they are not very safe.
If that’s the case, can’t it be over if I just keep it?
Anyway, the state of Wei has strong national power and can afford it, and there are natural dangers that prevent Zhuge Liang from exerting his full strength. What should he be afraid of?
Try your best to avoid using your own shortcomings to attack the enemy's strengths, and at the same time use your own advantages to bring down the enemy. It must be said that Sima Yi is also a generation of military strategist.
(End of this chapter)