Chapter 978 Providence

   "Sun Tzu Marching Army Chapter" has a saying: When a guest comes without water, don't welcome him in the water. If you order him to attack you with half the money, it will benefit you.

  Welcoming it in the water will only make the enemy retreat, and cannot effectively annihilate the enemy.

  When half of the enemy is ashore and half is still wading through the water, it is in a dilemma, and when the head and the tail are not connected, they are most likely to be defeated.

  This truth is not only understood by Zhuge Liang, but also by Sima Yi.

  The martial arts water was not wide enough, nor deep enough. Sima Yi knew that it was impossible to block Zhuge Liang from the opposite bank with the martial arts water alone.

  So he kept attacking Meng Yan's camp on the east bank, trying to press Meng Yan on the narrow strip of the river bank, just to create the most favorable conditions for the half-crossing attack later.

   Zhuge Liang, on the other hand, has been unwilling to cross the water on a large scale when Meng Yan did not gain a firm foothold and did not expand enough frontier camps.

   Let Wei Yan lead the troops across the water this time, in fact, it does not mean that Wei Yan will expand the frontier and consolidate the camp on the east bank.

   Before half of the 10,000 elite soldiers had passed through, the camp on the east bank had become a bit crowded.

  Amidst the commotion, Meng Yan hurried over:

   "General Wei, the bandits are coming!"

  When Wei Yan heard this, he was not surprised but delighted:

   "If the thieves shrink behind the barrier, I have no good solution. Now they dare to come, which is exactly what I want."

   "General Meng goes to block for a while, wait for me to gather the soldiers, and then I will arrive."

   At the moment, they no longer wait for the remaining soldiers who have not crossed the water, but just ask people to gather more than 3,000 people who have already reached the shore and prepare to meet the enemy.

  Drums of war sounded ahead.

  The crossbow arrows of the Han army shot out like locusts, and the Wei army, who was holding a big pole, shouted and shouted loudly. The speed was very fast, and he had already reached two hundred steps in front of the Han army.

  The camp on the east bank was already a bit narrow, and the soldiers who had already crossed the water were about to form their formation in a hurry, and the soldiers who had not crossed the water had no choice but to postpone it.

  Seeing this, Wei Yan yelled at the soldiers to assemble, while cursing: "Old thief Sima!"

   Before all of them had assembled, there were already shouts of killing in front of them.

  The first wave of the Wei army has already met Meng Yan's former army hand in hand.

   Wei Yan was furious, straddling his horse and holding a knife:

   "Follow me and kill the thief!"

   Three thousand soldiers followed behind and rushed out of the camp gate like a whirlwind.

   "My lord, let the children go to the front, and the adults will organize the army in the rear, and they can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!"

  Wei Chang, Wei Yan's son, saw that his lord was going to fight in person, so scared that he quickly grabbed Wei Yan's horse's head and called for battle.

   Wei Yan swept the front and found that Meng Yan could still hold on, so he nodded.

   Looking around the battlefield again, pointing to the right and saying:

   "You bring hundreds of cavalry, attack from the flanks, and go to test it out. You must not go deep."

   "No."

  Wei Yan's timely reinforcements greatly boosted the morale of Meng Yan in front, and with all his strength, he repelled the first wave of Wei Jun's offensive.

   Then Wei Chang led more than a hundred cavalry to intercept and kill from the flank for a while. The Wei army left more than two hundred wounded soldiers and corpses and was defeated back to the main formation.

  Sima Yi, who saw this scene from a distance, was not angry but happy, and laughed:

   "I see that Ge Bandit's soldiers crossing the water are all rare elites. It seems that he is in a hurry to cross the water!"

  Niu Jin said impatiently:

   "Da Sima, the last general invites you to fight!"

  Sima Yi smiled while twisting his beard:

   "No hurry, no hurry!"

  At the moment, they continued to send soldiers to attack from all sides in turn. Although they were all repelled by Meng Yan and Wei Yan, the Han army also had no time to consolidate the camp.

  Zhuge Liang sat in a wheelchair, overlooking the battlefield on Wuzhang Plain, listening to the sound of war drums from the east bank, with a calm face.

  Yang Yi was a little dissatisfied:

   "Prime Minister, it has been almost half a day, and the 10,000 elite soldiers have only crossed halfway. Could it be that Wei Yan was frustrated in the front?"

  Zhuge said nothing, looked up at the sky, and asked back:

   "What time is it?"

   "Return to the prime minister and apply for the time."

   "Shenshi? Why is it getting dark?"

  Yang Yi was at a loss for words.

  Prime Minister, I was talking to you about Wei Yan, what does it have to do with whether the sky is dark or not?

   At this moment, only a guard shouted loudly:

   "Report to the Prime Minister, General Wei sent someone to report!"

   "Have someone come over."

  The orderly trotted over with a happy expression on his face:

   "Prime Minister, General Wei killed nearly a thousand enemies, including 300 armored bandits! General Wei said that only 5,000 elite soldiers are enough to defeat Wei's bandits, not 10,000!"

  The words of the messenger slapped Yang Yi's face, making Yang Yi feel his face burning.

   On the other hand, the prime minister, when he heard the good news, his face was calm and he just let out a "huh".

   As long as 5,000 does not need 10,000, it means that even if Wei Yan has achieved a small victory, he may not be able to achieve the goal of crossing the water.

   Obviously, Sima Yi planned it beforehand.

  Although Wei Jun seemed to have suffered a small defeat, he successfully dragged Wei Yan to the same place.

  Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed a haze.

   But when he saw the smile on the messenger's face and the longing in his eyes, he couldn't help but smile again, and said softly:

   "Very well, go back and tell your generals that you have done meritorious service this time. Duke Wei, prepare some wine and meat and send them to the other side to reward the soldiers."

  Hearing this, Yang Yi felt that her upper face was as hot as a fire.

   He responded in a low voice, and hurried away.

   There are rules for camping in the army. Since Wei Yan said that 10,000 people are not needed, it means that the camp on the other side has no way to accommodate the 5,000 people who have not yet crossed the water.

  However, today is Wei Yan's first day crossing the water, and it is a good sign to have a small victory. No matter how anxious you are, you have to wait a few days to see.

  So Zhuge Liang asked the remaining soldiers to stand guard along the coast, and when Wei Yan made progress, he immediately crossed the water to support.

  After arranging all this, the sky has already darkened.

   Zhuge Liang lost his appetite after only eating half a bowl of rice.

  Since the Northern Expedition, due to the numerous affairs in the army and the irregular work and rest, his old illness showed faint signs of recurrence.

  Fortunately, I brought the medicine powder with me, so it was fine for a while.

   After eating dinner, the Prime Minister did not stay up late, and lay down early to rest.

   What people didn't expect was that in the middle of the night, there was a red flash in the distance, like a piece of dark night cloth was lifted, revealing a large amount of light like blood.

   After a few breaths, a huge thunder rumbled.

  The thunder still persisted, and several lightning bolts spread out in all directions in the shape of strange branches, cutting the entire sky to pieces.

  Zhuge Liang was awakened by the thunder. He turned over, walked out of the handsome tent with his clothes on, and looked up.

   At this time, the lightning bolts were already one after another, shining brightly on the sky and the earth.

  The camp was suddenly bright as day in the lightning, and suddenly fell into the boundless night.

   After a while, the strong wind and heavy rain poured down like a waterfall.

  The prime minister returned to the handsome tent and lit the candles. At this time, his face was so gloomy that it was about to drip water.

   "Come on!"

   "Prime Minister!"

   "Go, call General Guan."

   After a while, Guan Xing in armor came in:

   "Prime Minister, do you have an order?"

   "Are you patrolling the camp tonight?"

   "Exactly."

   Zhuge Liang saw that Guan Xing was wearing a sword and wearing armor. He must have done his duty with all his heart. He nodded immediately and said:

   "I think the heavy rain will not stop for a while. Wuzhangyuan is a high ground, so nothing will happen."

   "But there are still nearly ten thousand soldiers by the Wugong River. You take my soldier amulet and go to check. If there are any camps in low-lying places, arrange to move the camp to prevent the soldiers from getting sick."

   "No!"

  As Guan Xing left the tent, a gust of cool water vapor came in. The sudden clamminess made the prime minister cover his mouth and cough a few times.

  After all this tossing, he couldn't fall asleep anymore.

  Fumbled out the reading glasses and began to look through the official documents in the army.

  Just after a while, Zhuge Liang raised his head again, listening to the sound of rain outside.

   Sometimes I stand up, go to the door, and look up at the sky where I can't see anything.

   This night seemed endlessly long.

  Because of the rain, even at dawn, the sky is still dark.

  Zhuge Liang finally couldn't bear his temper, and was about to send someone out to inquire, when Guan Xing came in wet all over: "Prime Minister!"

  The Prime Minister saw it, and quickly walked two steps forward and asked anxiously: "How is it in the army?"

   "Nothing happened in the army." Guan Xing was dripping with rain all over his body, with a look of anxiety on his face: "But this rain is really heavy. I think the water in martial arts has increased a lot compared to the past."

   "If the rain doesn't stop, I'm afraid the pontoon bridge won't be able to support it!"

  When the prime minister heard this, his heart sank.

  The thing he was most worried about happened.

   "No, I want to go and see for myself!"

   "Prime Minister, no!" Guan Xing hurriedly dissuaded, "It's raining too much, and your health is not good. If there is a real emergency, where will the whole army be placed?"

  Zhuge Liang was just impatient for a while, and he naturally knew his current physical condition clearly.

  Hearing what Guan Xing said, he let out a breath to calm himself down.

   Looking at Guan Xing with a worried face again, the prime minister smiled:

   "An Guo, you have been tired all night, go back early and have a good rest, remember to drink hot **** water to drive away the cold, so as not to catch a cold."

   "Also, let Xingwu (Zhang Bao) stay by the water today, and if there is any situation, you must notify me immediately."

   "No!"

  After Guan Xing left, Zhuge Liang put away the smile on his face, walked to the door of the handsome tent, looked at the pouring rain that had not weakened in the slightest, and murmured:

   Haotian, if this Northern Expedition is successful, allowing His Majesty to return to the old capital, I, Zhuge Kongming, would like to reduce my lifespan...

  A blinding startling flash broke through the rain, and then a thunderclap shook the ground.

  As if angry at a certain prime minister's scoundrel: How can your life expectancy be reduced?

  When Haotian got angry, the rain became heavier.

  The stagnant water flowing down from Taibai Mountain rushed into the Wugong Water, causing the Wugong Water to surge again.

  The bridge piles that were originally nailed to the shore had been submerged to the point where only a little point remained. A wave of water rushed over, and the crumbling pontoon bridge finally dispersed.

  The bamboo raft was washed by the torrent and began to fall apart, and then crashed into another pontoon downstream.

   "Wow!"

   I don’t know which bamboo raft is the upstream pontoon, which bamboo raft is the downstream pontoon, they all rolled together and continued to rush down...

   "Prime Minister, the pontoon can't hold up anymore!"

   Zhuge Liang visibly shook when he got the news.

   There was another lightning outside, and I found that the rain did not know when it started, and it had become smaller.

  Zhuge Liang looked at the sky sadly, with neither sadness nor joy on his face:

   "Immediately ask the army to cut bamboo and wood to build rafts, and then see how many unused rafts there are in the army, and find a way to build a boat bridge immediately."

   "No!"

  After arranging everything, Zhuge Liang looked at the gloomy sky, and suddenly laughed **** ho, and there seemed to be sadness in the laughter:

   "God, God!"

  Heaven has permanence, it does not exist for Yao, and does not perish for Jie.

   This season is originally the rainy season in Qinling.

  Thinking back then, it was at this time that Cao Zhen sent troops south to invade Hanzhong, and was trapped in the mountains by the rain for more than a month.

   Unexpectedly, I was also trapped by the rain.

  Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but sigh.

  Compared to Zhuge Liang's sigh, Sima Yi was extremely excited.

  Especially after learning from Tan Ma that the pontoon bridge over Wugong Water was destroyed, he ran out of the camp barefoot regardless of the drizzle outside, stepped into the muddy water, stretched his arms and looked up at the sky, laughing loudly:

   "God help me too, God help me too!"

  Yesterday, the Han army had no time to dig the camp at all, and now it has been raining for half a day and one night, and the ground is muddy, which makes camping even more difficult.

   Not to mention that the whole army is crowded on the shore, and I don't know if the camp is flooded?

   While thinking, Sima Yi immediately ordered:

   "Niu Jin!"

   "The end is here!"

   "You immediately take five thousand elite soldiers and prepare to attack the bandit camp. I will arrive soon with the fine cavalry."

   "No!"

  What he can think of, Zhuge Liang can think of even more.

   Now maybe Zhuge Liang has asked people to find a way to rebuild the pontoon bridge.

   And Dawei wanted to take advantage of this good opportunity given by heaven to annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop!

  The rain hadn't stopped completely, and Sima Yi couldn't wait to lead tens of thousands of horsemen and rush towards the Han army on the east bank.

  The drizzle blocked the sight, but fortunately the Han army had a secret artifact, and they saw the Wei army planning to attack from a distance.

   "General, thieves are coming!"

  The water surface surge caused by the heavy rain not only washed away the pontoon bridge, but also submerged part of the camp, which put the Han army at a disadvantage.

  Wei Yan was on fire, and when he heard that the Wei thieves were attacking, he was furious:

   "Beat the drums and meet the enemy!"

   "Wow!"

   "Wow!"

  The gate of the village was wide open, and the soldiers of the Han army stepped on the muddy water and began to line up.

   This made Wei Jun, who originally wanted to take advantage of the poor sight to launch a surprise attack, had to stop and face the enemy head-on.

   Zhuge Liang on the west bank could see clearly the movements of the Wei army.

  Strong crossbowmen are lined up on the shore, ready to support the friendly forces on the other side.

  Before the frontal attack started, the elite cavalry sent by Sima Yi to attack from the two wings were shot down by a wave.

   "Zhuge Liang was really prepared! Attack!"

   "Drink! Drink! Drink!"

   The first wave of Wei Jun's attack began.

   At the same time, the Han army also seized the time to build the pontoon bridge.

  It’s just that the usual bridge-building method is not very useful at this time, the current is too fast, and the connected raft bridge cannot be directly placed on the opposite bank by using the current.

   You must pull the thick rope to the opposite bank and fix it firmly before laying it.

   "Put a few more rafts, be sure to pull the bridge rope over!"

  Zhang Bao's face was full of anxiety, shouting loudly, wishing to do it himself.

  The bridge rope is already thick and heavy, and it becomes even heavier after being soaked in water. Coupled with the current, it takes a lot of strength to pull it over.

   At this critical moment, someone ran over:

   "General, there is still a bridge over there that has not been completely destroyed, and the bridge rope is still there!"

  Getting the good news, Zhang Bao was overjoyed:

   "Excellent! Show me!"

  With the help of the broken bridge, the soldiers quickly re-reinforced the pile heads.

   It was just laying the bridge, and soon encountered new difficulties:

  The current is too fast, the raft is not easy to fix, and if it is fixed like before, it may still be washed away by the flowing water.

   "Call Wen Shi from the engineering battalion!"

   Zhang Bao shouted.

  Wen Shi came trotting quickly.

   "Think of a way!" Zhang Bao pointed to the pontoon bridge being built, "How to fix it?"

   I don't know whether it's because of nervousness or too much rain on my head, Wen Shi wiped his face, but didn't speak for a while.

   "I'll let you find a way!"

   Zhang Bao said sharply.

   There was already a faint cry of killing from the opposite side, which made Zhang Bao's heart burn.

   "General, unless the bridge piles are in the water."

"how to spell?"

   "Weave bamboo, put stones in it, and then sink it into the water. It can be used as a temporary bridge pile. It is impossible for this little water to wash away."

  In the unique teaching materials of the engineering camp, this bridge-building method is recorded.

  This bridging method is specially used for rapids and heavy water.

  However, the engineering battalion has only tested this method, and has never used it in actual combat.

   It stands to reason that the martial arts water is not used at all.

  After all, this method is more troublesome than ordinary pontoon bridges, so Wen Shi didn't think about using it from the beginning.

  And who would have expected that Wu Gongshui would become like this overnight?

   "Okay! Take the engineering battalion to do it right away. If it is done, I will credit you!"

   "No!"

   "General, the prime minister sent someone over, saying that they are going to retreat back to the West Bank!"

   Wei Yan, who was commanding to meet the enemy, heard the words, and suddenly said angrily: "Retreat the troops, retreat the troops, you have finally come here, and you want to retreat again?"

   "Boom!"

  The thunder sounded again.

   But this time, it is not the thunder in the sky, but the thunder on the ground.

  Wei Jun is riding finely and is speeding up.

  (end of this chapter)