My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 557: Dividing the Army by Leading Cao Cao

Even Guo Jia nodded, so naturally no one would obstruct Xu Huang's "good news".

Moreover, strictly speaking, Xu Huang and Le Jin did capture Hechi County, which is a real military achievement.

Even though the county town had been evacuated in advance, no one could deny the strategic significance of capturing the city.

So just half a day later, at dawn the next day, the good news was delivered to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's main force was still 40 miles away from Hechi County. Hearing that Xu Huang had succeeded in attacking the city, Cao Cao's recent depressed mood finally improved a little, and even his headache was not so painful anymore.

"Gongming is so decisive? He is worthy of the ability to turn the tide! Reward! I will reward them heavily! Quick, the whole army speeds up, I will reach Hechi today!" Cao Cao excitedly urged the army to speed up.

Naturally, the subordinates did not dare to delay and immediately carried out his order. The troops accelerated their advance and arrived in Hechi County that afternoon.

Upon hearing that the Prime Minister was about to arrive, Xu Huang, Le Jin and Guo Jia naturally went out of the city to welcome him.

Cao Cao was originally riding proudly on his horse, intending only to wave to his generals and staff, but when he saw Guo Jia was also among those coming out to greet him, he dismounted very courteously, walked over quickly, and while the other party was bowing, he took hold of Guo Jia's arm:

"Fengxiao, you are not in good health, why bother with this customary etiquette. Gongming and Wenqian, since you are wearing armor, there is no need to bow."

Then Cao Cao took Guo Jia's arm and went into the city together.

Guo Jia stood in the afternoon sun for a while, and indeed he felt a little dazed, but he did not resist at the moment. As he walked along, it seemed as if Cao Cao was supporting him.

Xu Huang and Le Jin followed behind, also slightly surprised. They had not expected that Guo Jijiu's body was so weak. They had only been in contact with him for two days before, so they did not notice it.

Cao Cao walked into the city and saw that the city had become a military camp. All the remaining houses had been requisitioned to house soldiers.

Even so, the number of houses is still far less than normal.

All that was left were low earthen houses without pillars. The slightly more spacious ones had their beams pulled out, turning into a pile of collapsed earth.

As soon as Cao Cao saw this scene, he began to have some doubts: this didn't look like the enemy suddenly broke through the city after a strong attack, or broke out of the siege unexpectedly. Instead, it looked like an orderly abandonment of the city.

Cao Cao was a man of great character. He figured out what was going on after a brief calculation. But he didn't want to make it clear, so he just asked casually, "The houses in the city have been occupied by our army. What about the people in the city? Are they disturbing the people?"

Guo Jia knew that he could not hide this question, so he quickly chose to answer truthfully: "Prime Minister, Liu Bei seemed to have thought about the inevitable loss of Hechi before the battle, and had evacuated all the people in the city in advance. Our army's occupation of houses is not a nuisance to the people."

"I see..." Cao Cao nodded, but did not point it out. He said generously, "No matter what, you conquered Hechi, which is a great achievement. Gongming, Wenqian, tell me, who made the greatest contribution to the conquest of Hechi?"

Xu Huang realized that the Prime Minister seemed to have seen through the clues, so he did not dare to take credit for it. He said carefully: "General Le and I are just following orders and doing things according to procedures. We really don't dare to take credit for it.

The key to this victory was Guo Jijiu's advice, which told us to be on guard against Wei Yan abandoning the city and escaping from the south. We followed the plan and were able to intercept and kill most of Wei Yan when he could no longer defend the city and was forced to retreat.

Cao Cao saw that Xu Huang also admitted that Wei Yan finally abandoned the city and broke through, rather than actually storming the city. Moreover, Xu Huang gave the credit to Guo Jia, which was not a bad way to be greedy, so Cao Cao was too lazy to pursue it.

At this time, the most important thing is to stabilize people's hearts and boost morale.

After understanding the situation, Cao Cao turned a blind eye and announced: "Both planning and attacking are important. After all, you have saved the court from the decline caused by the defeat of the vanguard. Naturally, I will reward you handsomely!
"Order the three armies to have a feast today. Anyone who participated in the siege will be rewarded with an additional 1,000 coins and two pieces of silk!"

Cao Cao was determined to publicize this victory with great fanfare in order to boost the morale of the army which had been low due to the killing of Pang De.

The entire army must be made to firmly believe that the advantage is still on the side of the imperial army.

As long as this goal can be achieved, what's the big deal if we give more things to those who cheat for rewards?
Xu Huang and Le Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly thanked him. The generals and officers at all levels under them were naturally also deeply surprised.

Only Guo Jia showed no emotional fluctuations from beginning to end. Seeing that others were all surprised and happy, he had to force a fake smile to avoid being too out of tune with others and being discovered.

Cao Cao subconsciously glanced at Guo Jia and was very satisfied with Guo Jia's reaction.

That night, Cao's army held a grand celebration banquet.

The soldiers, who had not been able to eat enough for a while due to logistical difficulties, finally had a hearty meal.

The morale of the army was visibly boosted, and the ordinary soldiers who did not know the real situation on the front line actually thought that Cao's army had won a great victory.

Countless military officers even spread the word that "the number of troops lost by Wei Yan in the Battle of Hechi was several times greater than the number of troops lost by General Pang at the hands of Zhang Fei."

Although the soldier had some doubts, when he looked at the dried meat in his hand, most of his doubts were suppressed.

This meat jerky can't be fake, right? If there hadn't been a real victory, would the court have been so kind to give everyone meat jerky to eat?

……

However, unlike the celebration in the army, at the same time, the atmosphere in the Hechi County government office was quite depressing.

Cao Cao was rubbing his temple as he sat in front of a table covered with a map. His face was as gloomy as water. He was playing with a dagger in one hand, occasionally tapping on the map.

Guo Jia sat opposite him, looking cautious in his words and actions.

Those who can enter this room are all wise people. The celebration scenes are all performed for the soldiers.

Cao Cao played with the dagger for a while before slapping the scabbard on the table. "Wei Yan actually saw that he couldn't hold on, so he took the initiative to run away, right? Gong Ming didn't kill many of his men at all."

Guo Jia: "Prime Minister, it is true... But I think the morale of the army is the most important thing right now."

Cao Cao raised his hand decisively: "No need to explain, a gentleman never jokes, I have already announced the reward, how can I regret it? The situation has deteriorated to this point, and what is more important is how to ensure that the Chencang Road is completely opened up and connected with Miaocai's troops!
This little trick of hiding defeat and pretending to be a victory to boost morale can only fool our own soldiers, but it cannot fool Liu Bei! Don't deceive yourself and forget the basics."

Guo Jia was startled and quickly expressed that he was deeply grateful for the prime minister's teachings.

Fortunately, Guo Jia had long anticipated that the prime minister would be able to see the flaw, so long before Cao Cao arrived, he had been trying his best to help Cao Cao think of a strategy to redeem himself.

So when Cao Cao asked him about it, he immediately offered a plan: "Prime Minister, please understand that our army has been blocked and delayed by Liu Bei, and has lost 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers so far.

The place where Wu Yi and Zhang Fei were stationed was still seventy miles away from Yangping Pass. We still don't know whether there were other lines of defense behind Wu Yi, how many lines of defense there were, and how many layers of defense were set up along the valley.

Therefore, I am afraid that we will be confused if we are too concerned. The more we want to achieve success in a hurry, the more we will fall into the trap of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong and be exhausted in every way. To break this situation, the key is to let us not be so anxious and have the confidence to take it slowly. In this way, it will be Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang's turn to be anxious. "After hearing these overly principled words, Cao Cao did not comment for a while.

The principles Guo Jia talked about are certainly correct, but they are not practical.

He also knows that he should make his own side less anxious and let the enemy be anxious, but will the enemy listen to you? What should he do specifically to make the enemy anxious?

Cao Cao: "This argument is not bad, but it is too general and needs to be elaborated."

Guo Jia then presented his latest thoughts: "I think our army should prepare for both situations. On the one hand, we can continue to advance along the Chencang Valley Road and try to defeat Zhang Fei and Wu Yi to see if it is easy to do so.

If it is easy to do, then everything will remain the same and there is no need to worry. But if even Zhang Fei and Wu Yi cannot be defeated within a few days, we should make another preparation.

It would be better to let Gongda and Wenlie's garrison in Chencang move directly along the Wei River to Mei County, and then take the Baoxiadao Road to reinforce Hanzhong. In this way, as long as the strength of Hanzhong can be more than doubled in a short period of time, there is no need to worry about Liu Bei taking advantage of the time difference to break through Yangping Pass.

At that time, we won't be in a hurry to join forces with General Miaocai, and we won't have to attack Zhang Fei so hastily. We can take our time, and our army won't have to be anxious."

This suggestion made Cao Cao's expression become serious. He stroked his beard and thought for a long time.

Finally, Cao Cao still did not dare to be arrogant and questioned: "If this method is feasible, why didn't we choose it from the beginning? It is because the Baoxia Road is a plank road that can only be used for pedestrians, not for carriages and horses. It is not as good as the Chencang Road, which can be used for both soldiers and grain.

Once our army relies on the Baoxiadao Road to reinforce Miaocai, only the army can go in but the grain carts cannot, Hanzhong will only have more people and less food. Now it is not the autumn harvest yet. If Hanzhong is short of food, how should we deal with it? At that time, won’t our army be more anxious than Liu Bei? "

Guo Jia gritted his teeth and encouraged Cao Cao, saying, "Prime Minister! Now is not the time to save manpower. It is true that the Baoxiadao Road cannot accommodate carriages and horses, but if we really reach Hanzhong where there are too many people and too little food, the worst that can happen is that we can ask the people to carry the food on their backs! We can definitely transport the food to Hanzhong!"

Besides, how could Liu Bei know whether our food reserves in Hanzhong were enough? As long as Liu Bei didn't know how much surplus food General Miaocai had, and we could pretend that we had no shortage of food, it would be Liu Bei's turn to be anxious!

During the Battle of Changping, the reason why Qin State urged a hasty attack and decisive battle was because both Qin and Zhao were short of food! Zhao had no food in its treasury, and Qin had difficulty transporting it. However, the Qin people used sorcery to deceive the Zhao people into going to war.

I heard that when Zhuge Jin first joined Liu Bei ten years ago, Lu Bu attacked Xiapi, Liu Bei was homeless and out of food and grass. Zhuge Jin responded to the situation and helped Liu Bei come up with a strategy of "singing and measuring sand", deceiving Liu Bei's own soldiers and making them mistakenly believe that the army's food was sufficient, thus avoiding the collapse of Liu Bei's army.

Otherwise, how could Liu Bei exist in the world today? He might have died at the hands of Yuan Shu! Since Zhuge Jin can use the strategy of measuring sand with singing, we can also try to learn from it. In short, we can pretend that the military rations in Hanzhong are sufficient and deliberately let the enemy scouts get false information. As for how to do it specifically, we need to adapt to the situation and act according to the situation, but I think this idea is fine. "

Guo Jia used sweet words and flattery to use the same strategy that Zhuge Jin had used in the past to deal with his second brother Zhuge Liang, which sounded quite plausible.

There is no doubt that the idiom "singing and measuring sand" in this life must have been invented by Zhuge Jin. It has been ten years since that incident, and it is definitely impossible to keep it secret. The soldiers of Liu Bei's army who experienced it at that time told these stories more than once afterwards, all to show off Zhuge Jin's divine calculation and quick perception of opportunities. It is normal for the enemy to hear it.

Cao Cao was indeed slightly moved by what he said, and at the same time he criticized Guo Jia twice: "Feng Xiao, Feng Xiao, you still underestimate the heroes of the world. I will listen to the first half of your words. But I really cannot agree with the second half.

Who is Liu Bei? His perseverance is something I have never seen before, otherwise he would not have been my only lifelong rival! If you say that Liu Bei would have died in Guangling if Zhuge Jin had not calmed people's hearts by singing and measuring sand, I absolutely do not believe it!
He might lose some soldiers or even his entire army. But Liu Bei, as well as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were all powerful enemies, would surely persevere and break out, and seek to make a comeback in the future!"

Seeing that the Prime Minister praised Liu Bei so much, Guo Jia did not want to dwell on this issue for a moment, so he quickly admitted his mistake and said that his knowledge was indeed not as profound as the Prime Minister's.

"Perhaps this is also a case of heroes appreciating each other. If Liu Bei is belittled too much, wouldn't it seem that the Prime Minister is nothing special after being entangled with him for half his life... I really did speak out of turn just now." Guo Jia thought to himself.

After Guo Jia admitted his mistake, Cao Cao had a way out and was no longer so resistant to the rest of the plan.

He thought about it and decided that the 30,000 men left at the Chencang crossing were indeed a bit of a waste. It would be better to move eastward in advance and take the plank road into Hanzhong. As for the lack of garrison troops in Chencang, he could just withdraw some of the troops in the rear of the central army to defend it.

This will eventually reduce the number of troops in the central army by 20,000 to 30,000, but it will not affect the decisive battle. In any case, the total number of troops in the final decisive battle will still be the same, it's just that the distribution ratio has changed.

After understanding these principles, Cao Cao issued a transfer order that night and asked someone to send it back to Chencang by express horse. He then asked to leave only a small part of Yang Fu's troops to guard Chencang, and let Cao Xiu take the rest of the Chencang garrison to Mei County immediately and take the Baoxiang plank road to reinforce Xiahou Yuan.

At the same time, Cao Zhen was ordered to take a part of the troops that were originally stationed at the rear of the central army and retreat to reinforce the defense of Dasan Pass and Chencang City to ensure that the rear route was absolutely safe.

……

After making these deployments, the next morning, Cao Cao personally led the main force and turned southeast from Hechi County, preparing to attack the Wu Yi-Zhang Fei defense line of Liu Bei's army.

However, because there were too many troops and the canyon could not accommodate them all, Xu Huang and Le Jin had to go first, followed by Cao Cao's central army.

It was at this time that Guo Jia seemed to have some ideas for adapting to the situation and offered advice to Cao Cao:

"Prime Minister, although our army has suffered several defeats before, it is not necessarily due to the war. I have carefully reviewed and found that one of the important reasons is that Liu Bei made good use of mountain soldiers such as Bantun Man, who could cross mountains and ridges quickly. This allowed them to bypass the valley and take the mountains on both sides to go around our rear to spy on the military situation.

But we fought several battles with Liu Bei, and although we suffered a lot of losses, we also killed and captured some Bantun Man and Danyang soldiers. Perhaps we can torture those prisoners and try to find out the terrain of the mountain roads around Hanzhong, to see if there is a mountain road that can at least bypass Yangping Pass from the north and quickly connect with Nanzheng.

Then, we can organize the small number of Danyang soldiers in our own army, or the Bingzhou soldiers who are good at climbing, to be responsible for the communication of messages. At that time, if Liu Bei tries to use the trick of pretending that "Yangping Pass/Nanzheng is under attack" to lure us into being anxious, we will be as calm as a mountain and will not fall into his trap. "

When Cao Cao heard this, he was very interested in this idea.

Indeed, Yangping Pass is the only throat passage from west to east into the Hanzhong Basin. So far, no other way has been found for the army and grain convoys to bypass Yangping Pass.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so difficult when we first attacked Hanzhong and destroyed Zhang Lu.

However, no matter how steep the Qinling Mountains north of Yangping Pass are, it should be possible to find the way through a few small paths used by messengers and scouts.

I just didn't expect Pound to be defeated so quickly and so miserably, and I didn't realize the necessity of doing so.

Now that we have to compete with Liu Bei in mentality, it is very necessary to ensure the exchange of intelligence between the two parts of our troops.

Although it is also possible to synchronize intelligence by taking a long detour via Chencang Road, Weishui, and Baoxiade Road (that is, the route Cao Xiu took to reinforce Xiahou Yuan), it is too far and too slow after all.

Starting from the blockage point in front of Yangping Pass blocked by Zhang Fei, it might only take 60 to 70 miles to pass the message directly over the mountains into the Hanzhong Basin. Taking Cao Xiu's route, it might take a thousand miles. This timeliness gap is too fatal in wartime.

After sorting out the pros and cons, Cao Cao immediately made a decision: "Feng Xiao is right! I'll leave this matter to you. Make good use of all the enemy mountain soldiers captured by the army. If anyone is willing to reveal useful geographical information, don't be stingy with the reward."

Guo Jia hurriedly bowed and accepted the order and left.

-

PS: It’s later… but it’s still later.

The main reason is that I have been unable to come up with any strategies these past two days. I myself have not yet figured out what strategy I will use to defeat Cao in the decisive battle of Hanzhong...

(End of this chapter)