Chapter 975 Countermeasures

  From Chang'an, take the Qin Zhi Road to Jiuyuan, gallop all the way, spare no effort, and reach it in three days.

   But this is only the case of referring to the emergency military situation.

  Even if the whole army of Liangzhou Army and Xianbei cavalry rode on horseback—regardless of cavalry or infantry—then there was no way to reach this speed.

  For the army, if it is faster, it may reach Qiaoshan in ten days, and if it is slower, it will not take more than half a month.

   But in general, compared with the short distance that the prime minister led the army to walk the Xiegu Road, it would take more than 20 days, which is many times faster.

   After all, the distance from Jiuyuan to Chang'an is nearly three times the distance from Hanzhong to Chang'an.

   This is the difference between a smooth road and a mountain road.

  But precisely because it was a smooth road, Governor Feng's army had only traveled halfway, and the outposts of the State of Wei, which were deployed on the front line of Jushui, had already ignited the smoke.

  Qin Zhidao was originally built for military purposes.

   Not only are military depots and military cities set up along the road, but there are also continuous beacon towers.

  Due to disrepair, most military depots have lost their proper function.

  But over the years, because Sima Yi attached great importance to the defense of Beidi County, not only had people repair the beacon towers, but even built some new beacon towers.

  When the first beacon tower raised three pillars of thick billowing black smoke representing the highest alert, not long after, the second beacon tower also began to ignite...

  At the same time, Chuanqi frantically ran towards Guanzhong along the Qin Zhidao on the Qiaoshan Mountains, desperately chasing the constantly ignited smoke.

  Benghuo could only tell the rear that many, many bandits had come, but could not tell how many had come.

  The Chuanqi now want to tell Guo Huai the military situation detected by the outpost as quickly as possible.

  Just half a day later, thick smoke began to billow from the beacon tower under the main peak of Qiaoshan Mountain.

   "General, there is an enemy situation!"

  In Guancheng on Qiaoshan Mountain, some soldiers exclaimed.

  From the day he took over Qiaoshan's defense, Guo Huai never stopped looking north.

  Now that the flames are rising suddenly, Guo Huai has already run towards the highest point of Guancheng without saying a word without being reminded by others.

   I don't know if it was because I was running too fast, or because my heart was beating too fast.

   Along the way, there was only the sound of dong dong dong in his ears.

coming?

   Is it really coming?

   Is Bandit Feng really coming from the north as Da Sima expected?

  He was so upset that he climbed up to the watchtower of Guancheng, and couldn't wait to turn his eyes to the north.

  Beacon smoke, every lit beacon is full of three pillars of beacon smoke representing tens of thousands of enemies.

  Guo Huai tightly grasped the hand railing, because of too much force, the back of the hand has sprouted veins.

   "Wait, wait, wait..."

  Guo Huai warned himself in his heart, "Wait for Chuanqi to send back the news, and see if it is Feng thief, or the Hu people want to take the opportunity to commit crimes south."

   There was still a trace of luck in his heart, hoping that the enemy coming from the north would be the barbarians who took the opportunity to commit crimes in the south.

   Instead of Feng Zei as imagined.

  But thinking of Feng thief is too cunning, if he doesn't show up for a day, no one dares to take it lightly.

  The sooner Feng thief appears, the sooner everyone can feel at ease, and at the same time, Da Sima can also arrange countermeasures sooner.

  So Guo Huai felt a little conflicted again: It seems that Bandit Feng should come too?

  But if it is really Feng thief, does that mean that he has to face that vicious and cunning Shu captive again?

  He is in his tens of years, and he has not seen how many times he even died before the battle.

  But at this time, Guo Huai was like a young man who was going to meet his favorite girl for the first time. He always felt that time passed very slowly, and he couldn't stop his beating heart.

   Until the afterglow of the sun gradually disappeared on the other side of the mountain, and still did not see Chuanqi appearing at the foot of the mountain, Guo Huai became more and more entangled.

   "General, all the hilltop camps have reported back and are ready."

  Guo Huai gave a somewhat absent-minded "hmm", turned around and prepared to go downstairs, and at the same time ordered:

   "I predict that Chuanqi will definitely arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest. If there is any situation at night, remember to report it immediately, and there must be no mistakes!"

   "No!"

   At midnight, someone knocked on Guo Huai's door suddenly, and a personal guard shouted urgently:

   "General, there is an urgent report!"

  Before he yelled a second time, the door of the room was opened with a "squeak" and a well-dressed Guo Huai appeared at the door. It turned out that he was sleeping with his clothes on.

   "Where is the man?"

   "It's in the lobby."

"Walk!"

  The legendary knight soldier in the front hall was already drenched to the skin, his lips were chapped, holding his breath and waiting for Guo Huai to arrive, he said with all the remaining strength in his body:

   "Shu captives... no less than 50,000, everyone rides, the handsome flag is... Feng..."

   After uttering the last word, he passed out on the spot.

   Soon someone took out Wei Jun's unique talisman from his arms and handed it to Guo Huai.

   "Help me down and rest!"

  Guo Huai tightly squeezed the talisman in his hand, and ordered:

   "Come here, pass on my military order, and send out cavalry overnight to report to Chang'an. Feng Thief led 50,000 bandits from the north!"

   Regardless of whether the military information is true or not, it must be passed on as soon as possible.

  In the current situation, it is better to kill the wrong than let it go.

  The Chuanqi who will come one after another will confirm the truth of the news with each other.

   I'm really going to make a mistake, and it won't be too late to correct it later.

   After finishing the order, he sat down heavily on the chair, let out a long breath, and didn't know what it was like in his heart:

   What should come, will come after all!

  In less than two days, with Chang'an as the center, the news of Feng's invasion spread to all directions, and the two key directions were Luoyang and Meicheng.

   "What I fear the most is that Feng bandits will come down from Longguan to attack Sixian County. The second fear is that they will go south from Xiaoguan to Qinxian County."

  Sima Yi, who got the news from Feng Thief for the first time, held the military newspaper sent from Chang'an, with a relaxed look on his face:

   "After all, Thief Feng is not only good at siege, but also good at field warfare on flat ground, so the one I hope most is that he comes from the north."

   Having said that, he couldn't help stroking his beard and said with a smile:

   "I didn't expect this thief to be so willing to follow me. Is this God helping me?"

  Hearing the words from left and right, they all showed the same relaxed smile as Sima Yi, who had not seen for a long time.

  Shu captives violated the border this time, only Feng thief has not been seen for a long time. It would be a lie to say that everyone is not worried.

   There are quite a few people who have participated in the battle of Xiaoguan and know how powerful this person is.

  Nowadays, the common people in Guanzhong all say that Feng Thief was known as the king of ghosts for a long time, and he had three thousand ghost riders under his command, who were hungry for human flesh and thirsty for human blood.

   It can be regarded as a cunning thief who can stop the children in Guanzhong from crying at night.

  So someone laughed and echoed what Da Sima said:

   "The bridges and mountains are stretching, and there are many dangerous passes. No matter how powerful the cavalry under Feng Thief's command is, can they still go up and down the mountains like walking on flat ground? Can they still carry siege equipment and cross the desert?"

   "At the end of the day, Feng Zei abandoned his leadership and went to attack the place that Da Sima had prepared for a long time ago. I'm afraid he will suffer a lot!"

"Hahaha…"

  Everyone laughed out loud.

"I think Feng Thief wants to imitate Huo Qubing of the Han Dynasty. He doesn't even think about it. Can the Xiongnu be compared with the Great Wei? What they have done to each other, I think they are trying to imitate tigers, but they are like dogs! "

   Laughter grew louder.

  Sima Yi didn't stop everyone either.

  After all these days, all the generals are worried about where Feng thief will come from, and their emotions are a little depressed.

   Let everyone laugh and talk at this time, which can be regarded as a morale booster.

  After everyone laughed, Sima Yi reminded:

   "Feng Thief crossed the desert this time, and he was able to echo Zhuge Liang's army without losing time. It can be seen that his leadership is indeed outstanding."

   "Thus, although we have been prepared for this time, we should not be careless and underestimate this person."

  Hearing what Sima Yi said, someone suggested:

   "Big Sima, shall we send reinforcements to Qiaoshan to support General Guo?"

  Sima Yi shook his head:

   "Since Bandit Feng led the army to the south, his intention has been revealed. If Qiaoshan is unprepared, let him succeed. Now that Qiaoshan is prepared, why worry?"

   "No matter what, our main enemy is the 100,000 army led by Zhuge Liang on the other side. As long as Zhuge Liang doesn't take advantage of it, the thief Feng in the north will be like a rootless weed, and he will have nothing to worry about."

   Zhuge Liang's army that invaded Guanzhong this time should number fifty or sixty thousand to fight.

  Combined with the auxiliary soldiers and civilian husbands, it is not an exaggeration to say that he has one hundred thousand people.

  Since Zhuge Liang went west to Wuzhang Plain, he has been setting up camps without haste.

  After setting up camp, they have been cutting down bamboo forests and trees recently, as if they are making water-crossing equipment.

   At the same time, there was news that the Shu captives planned to recruit local refugees to open up wasteland.

  In Sima Yi's view, Zhuge Liang was planning two things:

  First, if Bandit Feng succeeds, he will definitely take the opportunity to cross the water and fight himself head-on.

  Second, if Feng Zei misses, he plans to farm on the opposite bank and confront himself for a long time.

  Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help sighing:

   "I think Ge Thief's ambition to take Guanzhong is very firm! It's better to be cautious."

  At this time, I only heard someone below say:

   "Da...Da Sima, there is a way that if you keep it for a long time, you will lose it. In front of us...our army is on guard because we don't know where the bandit Feng came from."

   "Now that Feng's thief has appeared, and the intentions of the Shu captives are clear, the captives have fewer soldiers than the Great Wei, but they marched in three ways, which is a violation of the taboo of military strategists."

  As soon as the words came out, Sima Yi followed the source of the sound and couldn't help saying "Huh".

   It turned out that the speaker was none other than Deng Ai standing in the corner.

  Deng Ai stuttered even worse when he saw Da Sima paying attention to him:

   "Shu...Shu...Shu captives this time, look, it seems that they are taking the initiative, but in fact, none of the three routes can communicate with each other, and they are fighting on their own."

   "We, the Great Wei, not only have more troops than the other, but also can help each other in time. The great disadvantage of this sincere enemy, but our great benefit is also."

   Having said so much, he finally took a breath, and finally concluded:

   "So in Ai...Ai...Ai's view, as long as you can mobilize your forces and defeat the enemy one way, you will lose the rest of the way."

  Deng Ai was promoted by Sima Yi.

  The reason is that in the past few years, he has achieved great results in farming in Guanzhong, providing a large amount of food for the Guanzhong army.

  At the same time, this is also the confidence that Sima Yi has no worries after seeing that Zhuge Liang intends to stay in Wuzhangyuan and may confront him for a long time.

  It’s just that the farmland returns to the farmland, and wars start to fight.

   From beginning to end, Deng Ai basically picked up some negligible military achievements when cleaning up the Hu tribe in Beidi County.

  So he can enter Sima Yi's handsome tent to discuss matters, and everyone will not say too much for the sake of Da Sima and food.

  Who would have thought that this guy standing in the last corner would dare to rush ahead of everyone and propose a military proposal to Da Sima?

   Someone sarcastically said on the spot:

   "Ai has not yet stated how many Ai there are, how dare you make false claims about the military?"

   So many people snickered.

  Deng Ai blushed with anger, and said loudly:

""The Analects of Confucius Weizi" has a saying: Feng Xi Feng Xi! Is this not a phoenix? The Zhou Chang of the Han Dynasty in the past, the period cannot be said, but Xiao He and Cao Can are all humble. .”

   "Zhou Chang can look forward to it, why can't I love Ai?"

  As soon as this remark came out, everyone was speechless.

  Sima Yi was even more surprised when he heard about it.

  Seeing the contempt on the faces of the generals, Sima Yi's heart skipped a beat and he coughed:

   "Okay, I've already made up my mind, so you don't need to fight too much, so as not to hurt your peace."

  The generals saw that Da Sima had spoken like this, so it was difficult to say anything more.

  They did not expect that after the military discussion was over, Sima Yi had someone quietly summon Deng Ai back:

  "All the generals in the army have either made many military achievements or are eminent nobles. Only you have neither made military achievements nor come from a rich family, so you will inevitably be excluded by others."

   "Now if you want to change other people's minds, you don't have to fight with them. The only way is to make more military exploits, you know?"

  When Deng Ai was in Runan, an elder from the same county saw that his family was poor and had a lot of money. He didn't express any gratitude at first.

   It can be seen from this that Deng Ai is really a proud person.

  After he was promoted by Sima Yi, the generals in the army did not like him, and he never thought of getting along with others.

   Therefore, his relationship with his colleagues in the army is not good.

  Hearing Sima Yi's private words of encouragement at this time, Deng Ai was moved and couldn't help calling for a fight:

   "If Da Sima intends to fight Ge Zei decisively, Ai is willing to be the vanguard, to be the pioneer of Da Sima!"

  Sima Yi smiled and patted him on the shoulder:

   "Hundreds of thousands of troops stand against each other across the water, how can it be decided in one battle? What this reckless man did is right. If there is any disharmony, isn't it a sinner of the country?"

  When the world was in chaos at the beginning, the princes fought in melee, which could be regarded as a random fight, and even the side with more brave men was the stronger.

  But the further you go to the back, the more the two armies pay attention to the art of war and strategy.

  Because of the random fighting, the guys who didn't talk about strategy all disappeared in the chaos of the war, or they became the minions of the hero.

   Just like the current confrontation between the two armies of Wei and Shu, it looks calm, but it is actually just testing the patience of the other side.

  If you are patient enough, neither side will show their flaws because of impatience.

  The next step is small-scale offense and defense, and then find out the possible shortcomings of the opponent.

  Even when the two armies are in a large-scale battle, they must reserve five points of strength for defense, so as not to fall into a situation where they cannot be controlled once they are defeated.

  In Sima Yi's view, Cao Zhen just didn't realize this, and was still stuck in the thinking of Emperor Wu when he was fighting in all directions.

  If the soil turtle is here, it will conclude:

  In fact, with the improvement of military literacy of soldiers, wars are becoming more regularized.

  Sima Yi felt that Deng Ai was a talented person, so he told him a little about his experience.

  As Da Sima, he personally explained to himself the essentials of the confrontation between the two armies, and Deng Ai was even more moved.

   "So I am here, I am afraid that for a while, there will be no need for pioneers."

  Si Mayi finally concluded a sentence, then paused, and looked at Deng Ai:

   "But what you just said in the account, in my opinion, does have some truth."

   "Since the traitor Feng has appeared, the Shu captives' intentions are self-evident. Our army has more soldiers than the Shu captives. It is inevitable that people say that Shu is as fearful as a tiger just for defense."

   "It's better to find a way to take the initiative to attack in order to find the enemy's omissions."

  Deng Ai was very excited when he heard that Da Sima agreed with him.

  Seeing this, Sima Yi smiled again:

   "In my opinion, it may be difficult to find Zhuge Liang's omissions. If you don't want to find another place, what does Shi Zai think?"

  (end of this chapter)