My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 550: Let the Enemy Who Greed for Merit Be More Desirable

After listening to the strategic ideas of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, Liu Bei quickly made a decision.

Zhuge Liang proposed three alternative strategies: delaying and blocking the enemy, severely attacking the enemy's vanguard troops that were advancing around the city, and then taking advantage of Cao Cao's concern and confusion to divide part of the troops and change the original marching plan.

But in a nutshell, the most important point is to make Cao Cao misjudge the criticality of Xiahou Yuan's situation, use asymmetric bad news to make Cao Cao anxious, and thus induce his army to become disconnected and his deployment to be distorted.

Even if this bad news is false, it is good news as long as it can seduce Cao Cao.

After establishing this guiding idea, other details can be adjusted according to the situation on the front line.

In just two or three days, Liu Bei's army fine-tuned the deployment of the three lines of defense in the front.

Wei Yan and Wang Ping were placed in Hechi County, the first line of defense to delay Cao Cao's advance.

Zhang Fei was placed in the secondary camp position that Wu Yi had abandoned, more than 40 miles northwest of the Yangping Pass.

Then place Gan Ning in the camp at the entrance of Yangping Pass.

These three lines of defense can be abandoned. Resist, consume, seduce and delay them one by one. Once the mission is completed, you can retreat.

Finally, Liu Bei personally led the main force to stay in Yang'an Pass, which was the fourth and final line of defense into Bashu. It was impossible to abandon Yang'an Pass, which was the bottom line of flexible defense.

In addition, in order to ensure that Cao's vanguard would underestimate the enemy, Pang Tong also planned an extra detail for Liu Bei: when Zhang Fei went to the second line of defense, he should keep a low profile as much as possible and not fly his own flag, but only Wu Yi's flag.

Because Wu Yi was forced to stay there by Xiahou Yuan for nearly a month, and was finally rescued by Liu Bei's army before the food ran out. If Liu Bei still left Wu Yi there to block the enemy in order to avoid the trouble of dispatching, it would be completely reasonable, and Cao Cao would not doubt it.

Liu Bei was of course happy to accept this little trick. He knew very well that although his third brother had not been famous before and had not made many achievements in the past ten years, he had defeated Xiahou Yuan several times in a row since the battle of Dianjiang County at the beginning of the year, and regained all the reputation he had lost.

In comparison, Wu Yi was just an unknown figure in the eyes of Cao's generals, so they would definitely be extremely lax in their vigilance against Wu Yi.

It was not that Cao Cao lacked wisdom, but that he insisted on entering Hanzhong, an area with unfamiliar geography, to fight, and he had no professional mountain troops to provide reconnaissance.

In terms of real-time battlefield intelligence, Cao Cao was essentially being seen through by Liu Bei.

……

Three days after Liu Bei’s army adjusted its defensive deployment.

On June 15, Pang De, Liang Xing and Yang Qiu finally arrived in Hechi County with 30,000 pioneers.

Liu Bei's garrison generals Wei Yan and Wang Ping also led tens of thousands of troops to stand ready for battle.

The two generals were short of troops, not because Liu Bei deliberately wanted to fight a larger force with a smaller one and was unwilling to concentrate his forces, but because the first line of defense was difficult to defend for long. Wei Yan and Wang Ping were there to waste time and mess with Pang De's mentality.

If too many people are left behind, the difficulty of withdrawing will increase exponentially when the time comes when you have to give up.

Especially since Hechi County is located at a three-way intersection in the valley of Chencang Road and in a basin in the Qinling Mountains. Unlike the subsequent two lines of defense of Zhang Fei and Gan Ning which were "camped on the road", the defenders of Hechi County could not prevent Cao's army from going around and cutting off their retreat.

The northeast, west and north sides of Hechi County are relatively open, so the enemy can surround them. Only the south side is backed by the Qinling Mountains, and under normal circumstances there is no road, so Cao's army cannot surround that side.

When it came time to abandon the city, Liu Bei's army could enter the mountains through the south of the city and escape over the mountains with light equipment, without being able to carry any supplies or baggage.

It was precisely for such a combat environment that Liu Bei discussed with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong before the war and decided to assign Danyang soldiers from the Shanyue to Wei Yan. Wang Ping continued to lead the Bandunman troops as usual, which meant that the entire army of more than 10,000 people were professional mountain warfare troops, very suitable for this job.

Early that morning, Wang Ping's scouts learned that Pang De's army was approaching, so he discussed with Wei Yan how to deal with the enemy.

"Pang De is leading the 30,000-man vanguard of Cao's army, most of whom are surrendered soldiers from Xiliang. They have already approached 30 miles west of the city. How do you think the Wei captain should deal with them?"

Wei Yan was only 26 or 27 years old this year. After the Battle of Runan, his position was the Commandant of Runan. Later, he entered Sichuan to defend Diaoyucheng and repelled Xiahou Yuan's multiple attacks, delaying Xiahou Yuan for half a year, which was also a great achievement. Therefore, he was directly promoted to Colonel by Liu Bei, and the generals did not disobey.

After the Diaoyucheng defense battle, Wei Yan followed Zhang Fei and Gan Ning and made some achievements in the counterattack phase, but these contributions were auxiliary and not enough to be promoted again. However, if he could make meritorious contributions in the decisive battle of Hanzhong this time, he would have a good chance of becoming a General of the Central Army.

Considering Wei Yan's young age, this promotion was very fast.

In contrast, when Wang Ping surrendered a few months ago, he was only a military commander. Now, partly because Liu Bei needed to win over the Bantun barbarians, and partly because Wang Ping had indeed accumulated some military merits. Before this expedition, Liu Bei had just promoted Wang Ping to Wudu Duwei.

These two were both young and energetic and wanted to make achievements, so after Wei Yan pondered the enemy situation, he proposed a relatively bold strategy:

"Although our army is small, we are good at mountain warfare, so we don't have to be too afraid of Pang De. The military advisor made a plan for the lord, which was to prepare for the enemy to bypass Hechi County, and let General Zhang and General Gan's two lines of defense resolutely block the enemy. We are just a nail buried behind the enemy, making Pang De feel like a thorn in his side.

In this case, why don't we split our forces into two groups? I will lead 10,000 men to defend the city, and you, Captain Wang, will lead 4,000 men out of the city and temporarily camp on the mountain south of the city. This will also make it easier for us to harass the enemy's food supply route when Pang De relaxes his vigilance in the future."

Wang Ping had never been to school before. It was only after he joined Liu Bei that he took advantage of his youth (less than 20 years old) and potential to study in the last few months. Now he knows just over 200 characters, and has also learned some historical stories and lessons from listening to others' explanations (it is said that Wang Ping in history only knew a dozen characters).

After reading and broadening his horizons, Wang Ping's thinking became more open and he had a new understanding of military strategy. After a little thought, he felt that what Wei Yan said made sense and agreed immediately.

So Wang Ping took his 4,000 Bantunman mountain soldiers and went out of the city to camp on the southern mountain of Hechi before Pang De arrived. He kept quiet and did not publicize his existence.

……

Just as Wang Ping finished these operations, Pang De's army arrived in Hechi County.

The first to arrive was Yang Qiu, a surrendered general who had once served under Han Sui, who brought five thousand scouts with him. Pang De himself arrived only twenty or thirty miles later than him, which was half a day's journey.

Yang Qiu arrived at the city of Hechi County and looked at the flags on the city wall. He saw that the enemy had many flags but not many people, which made him feel a little strange.

"Is it just bluffing? There are too many flags but too few soldiers? This is a small county in Hechi. It looks like the city is not strong. The wall is less than 20 meters high. Liu Bei actually sent people to defend it? Isn't he afraid of being surrounded and annihilated by the Prime Minister's army?"

Yang Qiu couldn't help but think about it in his heart, and then he asked the military officer who was accompanying the army: "Who is this Wei flag most likely to belong to?"

Although the soldier was an unknown person, he had solid basic skills. Thinking about the battle reports and military intelligence he had seen this year, he immediately replied, "It must be Wei Yan, who was famous for defending Diaoyucheng."

Yang Qiu was not a brave general, but after hearing about the other party's deeds, he was in awe and was a little afraid to act rashly. So he set up camps on the east and north sides of Hechi County, repaired fortifications, and set up a siege outside the corresponding city gates, waiting for Pang De to arrive. Half a day later, Pang De also arrived in Hechi with 20,000 troops. Yang Qiu quickly reported the situation, but Pang De was not in awe when he heard it, but was overjoyed.

"Oh? This Wei Yan actually blocked General Xiahou for half a year in the battle to defend Diaoyucheng? He must be one of the best city defenders in Liu Ni's army. If I kill him here, wouldn't it mean that my ability to attack the city is even better than General Xiahou's... Wouldn't that be too ostentatious?"

Pang De had already begun to worry that if his fame overshadowed Xiahou Yuan, it would cause the prime minister to lose face.

Seeing him so confident, Yang Qiu was a little embarrassed and quickly reminded him: "General, don't underestimate the enemy. Since you know that Wei Yan is good at defense, why do you still want to fight him?"

Pang De immediately raised his hand to stop his dissuasion and said confidently: "Ma Chao was completely defeated by me, so what's the point of Wei Yan? I heard that Diaoyucheng is a place with great strategic advantages, which is rare in the world. The key to his defeat of General Xiahou there is that he relied on the geographical advantage.

But this Hechi County is located at the intersection of two valleys of the Qinling Mountains. It is just a basin in the mountains. The surrounding terrain is higher than the county town. What strategic location can it defend? Just rely on this earthen wall that is more than ten feet high? Or rely on the earthen trench in front of the wall that does not even have water?
Liu Bei thinks Wei Yan is good at defense, so he sent a famous general to defend this shabby county. I think Liu Bei is arrogant because of his repeated victories and doesn't know when to advance or retreat. Today is a good opportunity to defeat Liu Bei! Prepare to cut wood and build equipment to attack the city!"

In Pang Tong's opinion, it is certainly much easier and more cost-effective to kill a famous general defending a city in a ruined small county than to kill him in a steep and solid city.

Even if the besiegers will still pay a greater price and suffer more casualties, as long as the strategic goal is achieved, it will be a profit.

As a result, the vanguard of Cao's army, which was not originally prepared to fight hard battles step by step to capture the strongholds, temporarily changed its plan and began to plan a strong attack.

……

"Cao was attracted by my banner. The reputation of Diaoyucheng's lone army holding back Xiahou Yuan for half a year is indeed very attractive to a man as greedy as Pang De."

Wei Yan was on the top of the city wall. When he saw Pang De being attracted by him and preparing to storm the city, he felt a sense of pleasure that his plan had succeeded.

Although this tactic was decided upon temporarily by Wei Yan and Wang Ping, it also required the intelligence preparation work of the lord and military advisors in the rear.

Before Wei Yan came to defend the city, Zhuge Liang helped him analyze the personality traits of some of Cao's generals. At that time, he highlighted Pang De, who was likely to be used as a vanguard by Cao Cao.

Zhuge Liang commented on Pang De: "Looking at this man carrying the coffin and swearing an oath, willing to fight for Cao Cao until his death, and having no hesitation in betraying Ma Teng, he must be a man with a strong desire for fame and fortune.

This kind of general will be tempted to fight once he sees an opportunity to become famous by stepping on other famous generals. So if Wen Chang has the opportunity, he can use his reputation to lure him, and Pang De will definitely accept the challenge for the sake of fame. "

Now it seems that Zhuge Junshi's analysis is absolutely correct! There is no deviation at all!
Pound was such a man.

Originally in history, when Pang De saw the opportunity to become famous by stepping on Guan Yu, he was also very enthusiastic, thinking that fame can be gained through risk.

People like this cannot resist the temptation of comparing achievements.

Wei Yan was certainly not afraid of Pang De's offensive preparations. He was now experienced in defending the city, and the six months he had spent in Diaoyu City were not in vain. He was confident that as long as Pang De did not use Ge Gongche and a large number of heavy equipment such as trebuchets, he would have no problem holding off the enemy for half a month.

Even if the enemy wants to upgrade heavy equipment to launch a strong attack, the friendly forces in the rear will take action at the right time to create new tension, forcing Cao's army to give up without waiting.

Knowing the military advisor's backup plan in advance, Wei Yan was not panicked at all.

……

Just two days later, Pound's first round of siege preparations was complete.

Seeing that the walls of Hechi County were low and the facilities were not solid, Pang De decided to use flying ladders to hit the wood and launch a tentative attack to test the defenders' strength.

He was also worried that the defenders were just bluffing and that there were not many soldiers left. If he was frightened and delayed for too long in a small county that was almost an empty city, and waited ten days or half a month to launch the attack, the prime minister would think he was a coward if he heard about it.

Therefore, it is necessary to test it immediately after you have gained some offensive power.

Thousands of infantry, mostly from Xiliang and Guanzhong, led the front line with swords and shields, and were followed by bows and spearmen. Under Pang De's supervision, they arrived near the east and north gates of Hechi County one by one.

Today, those who attacked the east gate are Liang Xing's 5,000 men, and those who attacked the north gate are Yang Qiu's 5,000 men.

Even though they were all from the Xiliang Army, they were divided into different levels. Pang De or Ma Teng's direct troops were more valuable and more protected. For tasks that might be thankless, they would first send the surrendered generals from the periphery to test the enemy's strength.

The Cao army, from top to bottom, has implemented the principle of "using the newly joined troops as cannon fodder" to the extreme. Pang De is Cao Cao's cannon fodder, and Yang Qiuliang Xing is Pang De's cannon fodder.

"Kill! Kill!"

"The first person to reach the summit will be rewarded with fifty gold coins! Soldiers will be promoted directly to Quchang. A Quchang officer will be promoted one level higher!"

Under the simple and straightforward encouragement, the greedy Xiliang soldiers quickly rushed up in a black mass.

Countless auxiliary soldiers in light armor or even no armor, and even civilians who were brought from Chencang, were forced to carry ladders and baskets of earth to the edge of the city, pour baskets of earth into the trench, and fill in a simple road leading to the city wall.

Because there is no water in the trenches of mountain cities, there is no need to fill them up completely. It is enough to ensure that things like bitter bamboo sticks at the bottom of the trenches are buried and will not hurt people.

After suffering hundreds of casualties, Cao's army barely managed to fill the trench to a depth of three or four feet from the ground, but people could easily climb out after jumping in. They no longer wasted time and effort waiting, and rushed to the wall with ladders and put them on the top of the wall.

"Shoot! Shoot with all your might! Don't save arrows! We can't take away the extra arrows in the city, so we must shoot them all before retreating! By then, each person will only need to keep one pot with them!"

Wei Yan personally sat on the top of the city wall in high spirits, and ordered officers at all levels to urge the archers not to be frugal and to shoot arrows with all their strength.

Other rolling logs, stones, ash bottles, golden juice, and even ordinary boiling water were also poured down as if they were free.

Pang De did not expect Wei Yan to defend the city so resolutely and not hesitate to use all the supplies for defending the city. He could not help but take a breath.

"So this is Wei Yan's strategy for defending the city? He just relied on consuming all the supplies at the beginning? Then how did he hold out against General Xiahou for half a year? Did Liu Bei have a plan in advance and spent all his national strength to stockpile a huge amount of supplies for defending Diaoyucheng?"

But no matter whether Pang De understood it or not, Wei Yan fought so recklessly.

Seeing that Wei Yan's troops were in high spirits and not sparing any effort, Pang De of course quickly concluded that it was impossible to attack today. Their own siege equipment was so simple that even if they were crazy about killing people, they could not withstand such defensive firepower consumption.

After leaving behind several layers of corpses, Pang De could only grit his teeth and announce a temporary withdrawal until he had made full preparations before fighting again.

(End of this chapter)