My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 552: If the enemy has not appeared, he will appear in the most unexpected place

Pang De was completely enraged by Wu Yi's verbal battle. In addition, he originally thought that Wu Yi was just a nepotist with connections and had no real ability. How could he hold back his anger?
Of course, he immediately launched an all-out attack on Wu Yi's camp, holding back no effort.

"I may not be able to kill Zhang Fei, Gan Ning and Wei Yan in seconds, but can I not kill a mere Wu Yi like you? Who do you think you are?" - This is Pang De's true psychological portrayal.

Wu Yi, who was standing opposite, was not angry at all when he saw this. He just sneered a few times and ordered each unit to stay in their positions. The crossbowmen shot arrows with all their strength, and the iron halberd soldiers and spearmen lined up tightly to guard the rammed earth wall.

While organizing the defense, Wu Yi also chatted with Zhang Fei who was hiding beside him: "Mr. Kong Ming is really a genius. He can actually calculate that if I confront Pang De, it will be the best to anger him.

Pang De is so impatient. Let me defend him today and wear him down. When he loses all his fighting spirit, I will organize a counterattack tomorrow."

Zhang Fei did not object to this established plan, and at the same time he casually commented on Wu Yi's sigh: "Ziyuan, you are making a fuss about nothing. With Kong Ming's ability, what is this little trick to irritate the enemy?
I've figured it out now. Sometimes, if you want to irritate someone, you need to use two people who seem to have similar status and reputation to look down on him. This is the easiest way to completely irritate him.

Of course I'm not saying that you are as good as Pound, but in Pound's eyes, you are not as good as him. Hey, Ziyuan, you know, I say what I think, don't take it to heart."

As Zhang Fei spoke, he felt that he had understood the truth in his heart, but it was still a bit offensive to say it out loud.

I followed my elder brother to fight in Shu for a year, and was advised by Zhuge Liang several times on certain matters. I have made great progress in seeing through things, but it's a pity that my eloquence is still too poor and I speak too bluntly.

How can we use the tactic of provoking someone to anger them the most? We need to use two people who originally look down on each other to provoke each other, and the other party will be the most angry.

Otherwise, if you say to Pang De or even generals like Zhang Liao and Gan Ning: Your martial arts are rubbish! You can't even beat Guan Yu!

Will they be angry?

Most of the time they are not really angry, at most they pretend to be angry for the sake of face.

Because they knew that they really could not beat Guan Yu, and what the other party said was true, so why should they be so angry?

But Pang De and Wu Yi are typical of looking down on each other. They both think they are more loyal and have better vision than the other. The other party is simply stupid. They betrayed their master and joined another lord. They didn't know how to choose a new lord with a promising future, but actually joined a mediocre/traitorous person.

(Note: Pang De thought Liu Bei was mediocre. This was recorded in the original text of "Records of the Three Kingdoms". Pang De said this himself when he was faced with Guan Yu's attempt to persuade him to surrender.)
"Even a person like this has the right to look down on me, and he makes so much sense", how could Pang De not be extremely angry?

It is like an ordinary scoundrel in later generations, if his career achievements are surpassed by the top students in his class when he was a child, he will not be too angry. But if another bad friend at the same table who once copied his homework crushes him and even steps on his face in a show of power, he will definitely be furious.

Zhuge Liang's arrangement of "Wu Yi in the open and Zhang Fei in the dark" was designed to provoke Pang De from the very beginning.

……

After completely losing his composure, Pound inevitably lost some rhythm when executing the offensive tactics.

For example, if you invest too much at the beginning and send too many soldiers into the attack when the preparations are not sufficient.

This forced their own archers to pointlessly approach and fire at Wu Yi's defenders without sufficient cover, resulting in a lot of extra casualties.

At the same time, because there were insufficient rafts and door panels to cross the rammed earth walls and trenches, when some passages over the walls were finally built, they were blocked by Wu Yi's soldiers.

Rows of elite soldiers from Xiliang were crowded in these openings, and were severely killed by the crossfire of the defenders' bows and crossbows. After finally rushing up the rafts and climbing the wall, they were killed by long spears and iron halberds stabbing and piercing from three directions.

Finally, thanks to the fact that it was already afternoon when Pang De arrived that day, it was already the end of the 3:00 p.m. when he hastily chopped some wood, tied it into rafts, and started the attack.

So it didn't take long for night to fall. Even though it was the end of the sixth lunar month, the hottest time of the year with the longest daytime, the sky was still completely dark when the battle lasted until the hour of Xu.

Pang De relied on the makeshift torches to hold out for a while, but it was too difficult to break through, and finally he had to withdraw his troops miserably.

When people get carried away, they tend to over-invest and ignore the losses. It was also after the offensive failed that Pound stepped back and did a quick count, only to be shocked to find that:
In this evening's offensive, more than a thousand of his own troops were killed or seriously injured. As for the losses of Yang Qiu and Liang Xing's troops, he didn't even have time to count them.

Of course, this number also includes those wounded soldiers who fell on the battlefield and wailed when they were withdrawing, and who lost their ability to move and could not retreat on their own. Since Wu Yi on the defensive side could control the battlefield, those seriously injured soldiers who stayed in front of the camp would most likely be attacked by additional weapons or arrows.

"I miscalculated! I was too impulsive! I thought the enemy was just Wu Yi, and the defenders were mostly weak troops under Liu Zhang, so I underestimated the enemy and attacked aggressively. I didn't expect that Liu Zhang's soldiers would become so capable after being incorporated by Liu Bei.

What tactics did Liu Bei use? These soldiers surrendered to Liu Bei only a month ago, right? Moreover, the proportion of these soldiers wearing armor and equipped with steel halberds and horse-slashing swords is too high, which does not seem to be Liu Zhang's soldiers. Could it be that Liu Bei's arsenal is so abundant that he generously distributes excellent armor and weapons to the new troops who have just surrendered not long ago? "

After returning to the central army tent, Pang De looked at the statistical loss figures and began to think about these problems and draw lessons.

He also gained a new understanding of Liu Bei's ability to transform friendly forces and turn decay into magic.

Of course, this "turning decay into magic" may not be Liu Bei's credit. Liu Bei was probably just good at rallying people and boosting morale. But other military constructions may be the credit of Zhuge Liang and others. But no matter what, Pang De finally realized that he had indeed underestimated the enemy.

However, it was impossible to stop the attack at this point. The reason why Liu Bei's army was holding on here was that Yangping Pass behind them was under fierce attack from Liu Bei's army.

Only if Cao's army could quickly relieve Yangping Pass, or at least form a pincer attack with the defenders inside the pass, could they encourage Xiahou Yuan.

Pound had no power to choose to stop, he could only choose to play smarter tactically.

That night, he adjusted his deployment. On the one hand, he optimized the offensive tactics, and on the other hand, he wrote an urgent report to Xu Huang in the rear, asking Xu Huang to continue to send some people to reinforce him, and at the same time requesting a replenishment of military supplies such as arrows that were consumed quickly.

Pang De had been traveling through the valleys of Chencang Road, so the baggage he could carry was less than that of a plain march. He also dared not bring less food, so he had to ensure at least half a month's worth of food.

Therefore, the baggage that was compressed was mostly tents and other items, as well as some arrows. When the battle to attack the camp was fierce, a crossbowman could shoot several pots of arrows a day, and at this time, the transport team had to be resupplied as soon as possible.

It took Pang De two days to get here from Hechi County. It would take at least three to five days for Xu Huang's next transport team to reach the front line.

Pang De calculated the consumption and left some extra reserves. In the next few days, he slowed down the pace a little and continued to attack Wu Yi's camp step by step.

Wu Yi's defense doesn't seem so indestructible, and always gives Pound a glimmer of hope.

But no matter how hard Pound attacked or how he adjusted his rhythm, he always felt that he was just a few steps short, and ultimately he retreated with regret.

The morale and equipment of Liu Bei's army were superior to those of Cao's army.

Even though Wu Yi's soldiers were brought from Liu Zhang, and their skills and tactics were a little inferior, they could still ensure a casualty exchange ratio of more than four or five times by relying on their advantage of defending the camp.

If Zhang Fei had led Liu Bei's elite troops to fight directly, the casualty exchange ratio would have been much better. But Pang De would have been scared away and would not have taken the initiative to fight to his death, so he had to hold back. Moreover, the Yizhou army also needed training, and this kind of opportunity and intensity of confrontation was just right for training the troops.

Pang De's army continued to attack the camp for four days, trying various tactics, but in the end they failed to break through. Naturally, the morale of Pang De's men became increasingly low.

They had launched two consecutive attacks but failed to win. First, they gave up halfway at Wei Yan's place in Hechi County, and now they came to Wu Yi, but they failed again in their hope of bullying Wu Yi.

Liang Xing and Yang Qiu, the cannon fodder of the cannon fodder, were secretly resentful but dared not speak out.

Pang De’s only hope is that Xu Huang will come to reinforce him and that material supplies can be fully guaranteed.

However, on the fourth day of Pound's camp, another incident occurred that dealt a heavy blow to Pound's morale.

……

That day was already June 25th.

In the early morning, thirty miles behind Pound's camp, a transport team of several thousand people was moving along the valley towards Pound's camp.

This transport team was sent by Xu Huang. Two-thirds of the members were auxiliary soldiers. Each of them carried a heavy shoulder pole, so heavy that the thick bamboo shoulder pole was weighed down at both ends.

About 30% of the soldiers were wearing light armor, holding spears, and carrying heavy backpacks on their backs. After walking on the mountain road for a long time, the spears were used as crutches, and they would lean on the ground to support themselves after walking a few steps to save energy.

The Cao army had such a hard time transporting supplies, of course, not because they didn't like to use carts, oxen and donkeys, but because the mountain road from Hechi County to Yangping Pass had too many ups and downs and too many steep slopes.

The carts pulled by livestock often had difficulty going uphill and could not stop when going downhill. After several car crashes and deaths, Cao's army had no choice but to use the segmented transportation method.

In relatively flat areas, large trucks are used to transport goods for dozens of miles. In areas with frequent ups and downs, goods are unloaded and carried by people, and then large trucks are used to carry goods after the dangerous areas are passed.

Because they were not far from Pang De's camp, Cao's soldiers in the transport team were generally in a relaxed mood.

However, at this moment, on the steep slope on the south side of the valley, there was a sudden shout, and hundreds of flags were raised directly from the dense woods halfway up the slope.

"Kill! Kill Cao the thief! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

-

PS: There are two updates today, so this chapter only has 3,000 words.

(End of this chapter)