After taking the military report, Cao Zhen read it for a moment and then handed it to Sima Yi.
After Sima Yi read it, it was circulated to Zhang He, Yang Fu, Chen Jiao and others in turn.
"Did you see it all?" Cao Rui looked at the ministers in the tent: "Lu Xun and Xiahou Xian should be credited for their achievements!"
Sima Yi said, "Your Majesty, Generals Lu and Xiahou have suddenly reached the enemy's side and are about to attack the Shu army from the rear. They are truly loyal and brave."
"But given the current situation, we should send the two of them to attack Baishui Pass as quickly as possible."
Cao Rui nodded calmly: "Baishui Pass, I know this place. I have heard this place name many times when I discussed with Huang Quan and Huang Gongheng about the battle of Liu Bei's entry into Shu."
"At that time, Minister Chen was beside him, but the general and the minister of work were not there."
Cao Rui pointed at Chen Jiao and said, "Mr. Chen, come and speak to the general and the minister of work!"
"As you wish." Although Chen Jiao knew that the emperor called him Shizhong again, he did not try to correct him. Instead, he stood up and walked to the map and began to tell the story.
"General, Prime Minister, General Zhang, and Governor Yang, please look here." Chen Jiao pointed to Baishui Pass on the map.
After everyone's eyes were focused on this, Chen Jiao slowly said: "Baishui Pass is also known as Guantou."
"According to Governor Huang, when Liu Zhang surrendered, Baishui Pass in the north of Yizhou and Yong'an in the east were both conquered by Liu Bei."
"Fa Zheng and Fa Xiao Zhi wrote a letter to persuade Liu Zhang to surrender, saying 'Yu Fu and Guan Tou are the door to fortune or disaster for Yizhou.'"
Chen Jiao continued to point at the location of Baishui Pass with his hand: "At that time, Liu Zhang asked Liu Bei to go to Jiameng to defend it, just to help Baishui Pass, the 'gate of fortune and disaster in Yizhou', to resist the invasion of Zhang Lu in Hanzhong in the north."
"If Zhuge Liang and the Shu army knew that the enemy was at Baishui Pass, they would have rushed to rescue at all costs."
Cao Zhen already knew the importance of Baishui Pass, so he asked, "How long did it take Liu Bei to capture Baishui Pass?"
Chen Jiao shook his head: "Liu Bei did not attack Baishui Pass, but sent people to trick the Baishui army generals Yang Huai and Gao Pei to Jiameng, killed them and seized their army, and took Baishui Pass without bloodshed."
Cao Zhen continued, "So there is no battle example to rely on?"
"Yes." Chen Jiao replied, "But please look, General, to the south of Baishui Pass is Jiameng Pass, and to the south of Jiameng Pass is Jiange."
"Liu Chan, the ruler of Shu, is still alive. These three passes are all dangerous and cannot be conquered in a short time. To the north of Baishui Pass is Yang'an Pass, and to the north of Yang'an Pass are Wuxing and Chiting."
"The Shu army will certainly come to the south to provide assistance."
“Hahahaha.” Cao Zhen laughed a few times. “Ji Bi, you and I have known each other for more than 20 years. I never thought that you would be the one to explain military strategies to me today!”
"It seems that since His Majesty has ordered you to join the army twice, your military strategy has improved year by year!"
Chen Jiao cupped his hands and said, "General, you are joking. I am not talking about military strategy, but just telling you a story from the past."
Cao Rui raised his hand slightly when he saw this: "This is the military strategy! How can you be the governor of Qinzhou without knowing military affairs?"
After slowly standing up, Cao Rui walked to the front of the map and took over Chen Jiao's position: "Baishui Pass is a strategic location. To the north is Yang'an Pass and to the south is Jiameng Pass."
“There are only two possibilities at the moment.”
"First, Lu Xun and Xiahou Xian failed to capture Baishui Pass and only deployed their troops outside Baishui Pass."
"Secondly, Generals Lu and Xiahou will be able to capture Baishui Pass. The next question is whether to go south or north."
"I think that Baishui Pass is a dangerous pass and cannot be captured in a few days. But even if Lu Xun cannot capture Baishui, Zhuge Liang cannot risk the risk of his retreat being taken away by sending reinforcements!"
"After all, Lu Xun has nearly 20,000 men. Zhuge Liang can't afford to take the risk!"
Sima Yi whispered, "It depends on the time!"
"Yes, it depends on the time." Cao Rui pointed at Sima Yi and said, "Sima Yi, please speak!"
Sima Yi stood up from the table, stood with his hands behind his back, and said solemnly: "Today is March 28th. It is about 350 miles from Wujie to Chiting Camp. It took Lu Xun four days to get here."
"According to Lu Xun's letter, the Di people in Dangchang rebelled twice, and the Qiang people in Dazhong were in chaos for a long time. It took some time to collect food and grass. And in Wujie, due to heavy rain, it was delayed for several days."
"Generals Lu and Xiahou marched south from Wujie on the 24th, and it is only 200 miles to Yinping Bridge. Given the speed of their cavalry, they should have reached Yinping Bridge by now, and perhaps have already headed towards Baishui Pass!"
"There are no Shu troops in Wujie, and the local Qiang people do not seem to report to the Shu army. Lu Xun has said in the letter that due to the long delay, he will not attack Yinping, but will march directly to Baishui."
"It's only a hundred miles from Qiaotou to Baishui. I'm afraid that Lu Xun will be able to reach Baishui Pass in the next two days!"
Cao Zhen added: "Your Majesty, I think Lu Xun is in Wujie and Qiaotou, hoping that no one will inform the Shu army, which seems to be a bit of a gamble."
"But if I were in Zhuge Liang's position, I would not order the army to return immediately just because of the reports from a few Qiang people. The identities of a few Qiang people are not enough to convince people."
Cao Rui nodded: "So, only when Lu Xun arrived at Baishui Pass in person, Zhuge Liang could make up his mind and confirm this matter?" "I think so." Cao Zhen said: "Commanding tens of thousands of troops is no child's play. How can we disrupt the deployment because of one or two rumors? Zhuge Liang would never do this."
Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "I second the motion."
Zhang He said, "I second your proposal."
"Well, let's assume that Lu Xun will arrive at Baishui Pass the day after tomorrow, which is the 30th." Cao Rui looked at everyone in the tent and asked, "How long will it take for Zhuge Liang to get the news?"
Everyone was familiar with the map of Shu, so Sima Yi answered without hesitation: "Baishui Pass to Yang'an Pass is 150 miles, Yang'an Pass to Wuxing is 100 miles, and Wuxing to Chiting is another 80 miles!"
"It's a distance of 330 miles. It should take two or three days for the Shu army to deliver the message!"
Cao Rui put his hands behind his back and said: "Zhuge Liang will definitely make a decision after receiving the military intelligence. I should also add fuel to the fire for him!"
……
On the afternoon of the 28th, the Wei army received military intelligence from Lu Xun at its camp west of Chiting.
On the 29th and 30th, the battle continued as before, with both sides testing each other's attack and defense, and neither side was using their full strength.
In fact, this is the norm in large-scale wars.
The battle and confrontation between the two armies is a long and dynamic process.
Politics, military affairs, food and logistics, and even the weather are all taken into consideration by the commander. After all, the lives of soldiers are precious, and who would throw them away on the battlefield at will?
You attack me and I attack you, and it's often like this.
The actual sending of large numbers of troops forward, regardless of casualties, was either because the generals believed victory was possible, or because of political or military pressure, or because they had obtained a critical opportunity to fight.
For example, when the Wei army was in Lueyang, Qian Zhao ordered his soldiers to attack the camp quickly regardless of casualties, and attacked the camp with a casualty ratio of almost five to one or ten to one. This was a rare event.
On the second day of April, the Wei army launched another massive and fierce attack.
Within a day, the Wei army, which had rested for a long time, advanced from west to east. General Zhang He and General Zhang Junyi, who were in charge of the Western Expedition, personally went to the front line to command the battle.
Zhang He organized the Wei army's infantry into teams of 500 men each and prepared a total of twenty teams of infantry for today's offensive.
The Qingni River Valley was narrow and winding, with a width of no more than 70 to 80 feet, and no more than 200 feet in the widest part. A team of 500 soldiers and an attack density were more than enough.
Such a narrow width is indeed easy for the Shu army to defend in daily life. But when Zhang He rushed forward regardless of everything, how could the troops in the front camp of the Shu army withstand such an impact?
From the early morning, at the first hour of the morning, Zhang He ordered the first group of soldiers to attack. At the same time, the thunder chariots behind him kept throwing stones at the front camp of the Shu army.
A camp is a field defensive position built in a river valley.
In front of the Shu army's wall, trenches and deer horns filled the entire cross-section of the river valley. But Zhang He ordered his soldiers to attack with force, gradually filling in the trenches and pushing the deer horns away or burning them with fire.
As the commander-in-chief of the Shu army at the front, Huang Xi was in charge of three camps, each of which was defended by about a thousand soldiers.
In the morning, before the sun reached its highest point, Zhang He only rotated four teams. Huang Xi was unable to withstand Zhang He's offensive and retreated to the second camp at the rear.
It was not until Huang Xi arrived at the second camp, fifty feet away, that he reported the matter to Zhuge Liang in the rear.
It's not that Huang Xi deliberately concealed the battle situation, but today's Wei army's offensive is really different from usual! Usually, the Wei army's attack can be a stalemate, if today's attack is fiercer, should we immediately ask for help?
That would be ridiculous! It was just one fortress, there were many more behind it! Huang Xi was in charge of six fortresses alone.
In the middle of the Qingnishui River Valley, the Shu army set up camps along the river valley to resist the enemy, one general after another.
Behind Huang Xi was Wei Yan, behind Wei Yan was Wu Ban, and behind Wu Ban was Zhuge Liang's headquarters at Qingni Shuikou.
Wei Yan was a man well versed in military strategy. He sent scouts to convey military intelligence to the rear, while he personally mobilized the troops and brought the 1,000 most elite soldiers in his army to provide assistance.
The river valley was narrow, and bringing more would be useless. In Wei Yan's opinion, a thousand men were enough.
But when Wei Yan arrived, Huang Xi had lost the second camp in less than half an hour. Huang Xi was leading the soldiers defending the first two camps to retreat to the third camp.
Wei Yan directly used his title of General Zhenbei to force his way out of the Sima who was in charge of guarding the third camp and took over the position with his elite troops.
After Huang Xi led his men past the camp, he came directly in front of Wei Yan.
"General Huang, why did we lose two camps in less than one morning?" Wei Yan asked, "Losing the first camp is easy to explain, but why did we lose the second camp in just half an hour?"
Huang Xi gasped and said, "Thank you, General Wei, for your help! It's not that I'm cowardly, but more than half of the soldiers in the first camp were killed. When the second camp encountered a slightly unstable situation, the soldiers who had retreated from the first camp loudly petitioned to retreat again behind the camp."
Wei Yan looked at Huang Xi coldly: "I will help you guard this place myself! Go and execute the Sima, Qu Chang and Bai Renjiang of the first camp on the spot! Otherwise, I will definitely impeach you!"
"I understand. Thank you, General Wei." Huang Xi bowed and turned away. (End of this chapter)
