flstandardbreds Chapter 219 The decisive battle begins
Chapter 219 The decisive battle begins
Zhuge Liang explained, "Even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit, and we are facing the elite Wei army led by Zhang He and Sima Yi, so we must go all out."
"As for You Chu of Longxi Commandery, I think there is no need to worry too much. First of all, if You Chu joins the war, he has only two options: either attack Lucheng to cut off our retreat, or go north to join the battle. Lucheng is guarded by General Chen Shi, so there is no need to worry at all."
"Secondly, You Chu is in Didao, which is about 500 li away from Tianshui. If we start fighting at night, the battle will probably be over by the time You Chu arrives."
"Furthermore, You Chu cannot come at will. Has Your Majesty forgotten that Li Yue, the powerful warlord of Longxi, has already abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, and is currently restraining You Chu around Didao? With Li Yue restraining him, You Chu's marching speed will not be fast. By the time he gets rid of Li Yue and arrives at the battlefield, we will have already finished the battle."
"This is only the situation regarding You Chu's participation in the war. However, I think the possibility of You Chu's participation is very small. First of all, You Chu does not have many troops. If it wants to participate in the war, it can only borrow troops from the powerful families in the county. However, the powerful families in Longxi are not willing to be enemies with Your Majesty. Last time You Chu attacked Lucheng, the powerful families in the county all had objections."
"Secondly, there's no need for You Chu to take any risks. He can just stay in Didao City and wait for the war to end. If the Wei army wins the war, he will be rewarded for his merit in defending the territory. If we win, because he remained neutral during the war, the king will certainly not treat him unfairly but will instead treat him as an honored guest. However, if he participates in the war, it will be equivalent to standing on the opposite side of the king. If the king wins, how can he expect to have a good outcome?"
"Therefore, the best option for You Chu at present is to remain inactive. As long as he stays put, he will benefit from whoever wins. However, if he participates in the war, the cost of defeat will be very high. Therefore, I can conclude that although You Chu is a variable, his impact is not significant and is completely within a controllable range."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei was completely relieved and smiled, "Then let's do as the strategist says. I'll leave the rest to you. I'm going to sleep now."
Zhuge Liang: “…”
Why are you dumping this on me again? You should at least do some work!
The calm before the storm is always exceptional. Guan Ping tidied himself up and once again charged into the Wei army camp, hurling all sorts of foul language at the Wei soldiers, behaving no differently than usual.
On the Wei side, Cao Zhen, fearing that Guan Ping would notice something amiss, led two thousand cavalry out of the camp to pursue him, chasing him for an entire day.
As evening fell, Guan Ping returned to camp. After a brief report to Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, he immediately went back to his tent to sleep. After a long day, he had to fight the enemy again that night, so he needed to make the most of his time to recover his strength.
Cao Zhen, however, was not so lucky. He only managed to get some sleep for half an hour after returning to camp before being woken up at 9 PM to pack his things. He was busy for an hour, and at midnight, the army set off on time, quietly leaving the camp and retreating towards Jieting.
But the Wei army has nearly 40,000 men. How well can they hide?
If the Han army hadn't known that the Wei army was withdrawing, the Wei army might have been able to leave quietly without taking anything with them. The problem was that Zhuge Liang already knew they were leaving, so how could he not send someone to keep an eye on them?
The area around the Wei army camp was filled with disguised Han scouts. Some were lying on the ground around straw, while others were riding on tree branches. Although they were all quite far away and their details were not clear, the shadowy figures of tens of thousands of people moving around could still be seen.
Tens of thousands of Wei soldiers moved about in the night, and it was impossible for Han scouts not to spot them unless they were blind.
The news was quickly reported to Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei excitedly said, "Great! As long as the Wei army starts to move, we can find a weakness. Strategist, the Wei army has already moved, what should we do?"
Zhuge Liang said, "Have Wang Ping lead the army to set off immediately, take a detour to Baliwan to meet Zhao Yun. The rest of you continue to sleep. Let the Wei army march twenty li first."
The Wei army is currently in a flat valley. Cavalry is too powerful on flat ground, so we must hold our ground and wait for the Wei army to leave the plains and enter the mountains.
Zhuge Liang waved his fan and added, "When the Wei army withdrew, they must have left a lot of scouts to observe our movements. So, inform everyone that no cooking or smoking is allowed tonight. If you are hungry, just eat some dry rations. After the battle, there will be plenty of wine and meat."
The camp was filled with the sound of snoring late at night, but Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were too nervous to fall asleep.
This battle concerns the success or failure of our great cause. Victory would bring a bright future, while defeat would leave us trapped and dying in Shu. With such a huge gamble, how could Liu Bei dare to sleep?
Zhuge Liang was even more nervous than Liu Bei, as this was the first time he had commanded such a large-scale battle on his own. Although Liu Bei had returned, he adhered to the principle of trusting those he employed and did not take away Zhuge Liang's command authority, allowing him to continue commanding the battle.
This filled Zhuge Liang with gratitude, but also made him feel immense pressure; he certainly wouldn't be able to sleep until the decisive battle was over.
Fortunately, he is only thirty-nine years old this year, in the prime of his life and physically resilient.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang stayed in the tent for a full two and a half hours, until the fourth quarter of the Yin hour, which is four o'clock in the morning. Zhuge Liang finally got up, pressed his hands on the table, looked ahead with a sharp glint in his eyes, waved his fan and said, "We can move now, let's set off."
At Zhuge Liang's command, the entire camp of soldiers quickly got up and rushed to the drill ground in the dark. Then, Zhao Lei, who was in charge of logistics, was sent ahead to set up a pontoon bridge over the Wei River in preparation for crossing.
Jicheng was built with its back to the Wei River, which stretches from west to east all the way to Chang'an. This means that whether the Han army marched north or the Wei army marched south, they could not bypass the Wei River.
The Han and Wei armies have been locked in a stalemate on the south bank of the Wei River. Now that the Wei army is retreating and the Han army is pursuing, the first hurdle to overcome is the Wei River.
When the Wei army retreated, they also built pontoon bridges, but they could not leave them for the Han army to use. They were all dismantled after crossing the Wei River. If the Han army wanted to cross the Wei River, they would have to rebuild them.
The Han army had to cross the river and guard against Wei scouts, so their march was not very fast. By the time they crossed the Wei River, it was already dawn.
Zhuge Liang did not rest, but instead ordered Guan Ping to lead 10,000 troops as the vanguard to set off ahead of time, while he led the main force to follow. As for Zhao Lei, who was in charge of building the bridge, he was to return to Shehu Valley to guard the main camp after the task was completed, so that someone could at least be left to watch over the place.
The valley was too flat, and the Wei cavalry could attack at any time. Therefore, Guan Ping and Zhuge Liang did not dare to move too fast and advanced at a steady pace to ensure that they could stop and form a defensive formation at any time if they encountered the Wei cavalry.
Zhuge Liang was cautious throughout his life, and it was not easy for anyone to take advantage of him.
Let's go back to last night...
At 4:45 AM, Zhao Yun led 800 White Feather Soldiers, under the guidance of Jiang Wei, and successfully arrived at Baliwan.
Jiang Wei led Zhao Yun to their destination with practiced ease, pointing to a gorge between two mountains and saying, "This place is called Dawankou, also known as Dawanchuan. The gap between the two mountains is only about 300 meters wide, making it the narrowest point on this road. The Wei army has a sentry post here, where about a garrison of soldiers is stationed."
Zhao Yun said, "A mere hundred men are nothing to fear. I am confident that I can take them out quietly. But what about the terrain in other places? If the Wei army finds that this place is impassable and has to take another route, how far will they have to go?"
Jiang Wei was well-versed in military strategy and understood the importance of terrain. Having grown up in Ji County, he knew the surrounding terrain like the back of his hand. Upon hearing this, he blurted out without hesitation, "There are two more places: Lizigou and Xinjia Laocha. As long as we hold these three places, the Wei army will have to travel more than a hundred miles to avoid them. But I believe the strategist will not give the Wei army that chance."
Zhao Yun was completely relieved upon hearing this and said with a relaxed smile, "Let's go. First, let's take care of the sentries at Dawankou, then go to Lizigou and Xinjia Laocha to choose terrain and build camps. When General Wang Ping arrives, the three of us will each guard a camp and try to block the Wei army here."
Wang Ping's reinforcements are arriving soon. Zhao Yun's current task is to select the terrain and build a camp before Wang Ping arrives, so that he can immediately engage in battle upon his arrival.