My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 564: Try your best, win or lose depends on fate
The unique terrain of the Hanzhong battlefield meant that it would be extremely difficult to completely wipe out Cao Cao's main force in a decisive battle.

Even with the plans of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, many things may not go exactly as planned. When the time comes, there will still be various variables, and you need to adapt to the changes in the enemy's reaction.

So after listening to these analyses and prospects, Liu Bei did not take them too seriously. Anyway, he just had to do his best and leave it to fate. He would definitely win against Cao Cao, the only difference was how much he would win.

"Okay, I have figured it out. We will just deal with it as it happens. Anyway, this is a great victory for our army. We should celebrate and have fun with the other generals. As for what will happen next, we will have our own way. There is no need to worry too much. They will definitely win, it is just a matter of how much they win."

After saying this, Liu Bei announced a grand banquet for all his generals to celebrate the event.

However, the war was not over after all. This kind of mid-game celebration would only involve some gold, silver, silk, and a few days of drinking. As for promotion, there was no need to consider it for the time being.

Opening champagne at halftime is always unlucky. Many things should be agreed upon slowly after a whole stage is over.

Fortunately, the generals who followed Liu Bei all knew each other well. They also knew that the trust of the lord and the actual military power granted were more important than a temporary empty position, so after receiving the reward, everyone could put aside their obsession with promotion.

……

After the war, the necessary rest and celebration will take a lot of time.

Especially since Zhang Fei had made great contributions in this battle, Liu Bei would definitely allow him to drink heavily for a few days and relax in moderation. Therefore, for five days after the battle, Liu Bei did not give Zhang Fei any tasks.

Time quickly came to July 15th, the Ghost Festival, which was also the fifth day after the war.

Early that morning, Liu Bei listened to the latest enemy situation reported by his scouts as usual. After learning that Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Xu Huang and others had been holding their ground and not making any moves after their defeat, Liu Bei decided to advance the next step of his strategy at his own pace.

He found two generals, Wei Yan and Wang Ping, as well as Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong.

Then he introduced the original plans of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong to Wei Yan and other generals, synchronized the information, and then expressed his own ideas:

"Kong Ming advised me to make use of the path over Micang Mountain. How to use it specifically is still under discussion. But I think this idea is right - Yangping Pass is steep and difficult to attack after all. If we expect to break through Yangping Pass by force, we will inevitably pay a huge price.

In this case, now that we have the wooden ox and flowing horse available, why not divide our troops and take a small road to cross Micang Mountain and bypass Yangping Pass, so that a small division of our army will appear in the southern part of Xiahou Yuan's hinterland. After this unit crosses in, whether it goes directly north to seize Dingjun Mountain, then attack Mianyang County or Nanzheng, or attack Yangping Pass from behind, it will definitely be effective.

The key is that after we go over the Mi Cang Mountain trail and go in, we can force Xiahou Yuan to switch from defense to offense. He will definitely take the initiative to attack us in order to block our exit from the valley. In this way, we can seize the opportunity to fight Xiahou Yuan in the field. No matter how we fight in the end, it will consume more of Xiahou Yuan's troops than attacking Yangping Pass by force."

After Liu Bei finished speaking, he glanced at Zhuge Liang and asked him to give his opinion. Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and commented: "My Lord, this method is more reliable than what I said that day, but the number of enemies that can be lured is also less than what I thought that day. This plan is not bad."

There is nothing right or wrong in exchanging a lower profit ceiling for less cost and lower risk; it is just a matter of "investment style".

It can be seen that after Liu Bei calmed down, he still had some concerns about "letting Cao Cao directly into Yangping Pass", and felt that Cao Cao and Xiahou Yuan should not be allowed to meet too easily.

In this case, while Cao Cao was being repelled and had lost 40,000 men, he should immediately turn around and concentrate his forces on attacking Xiahou Yuan, trying to weaken or even eliminate him. This would be the best option as a second best option.

Even if doing all this would scare Cao Cao away, or even scare him off, and there would be no chance to annihilate Cao Cao in Hanzhong, that was not a big deal. At least this would ensure that the Battle of Hanzhong was won first and foremost.

Moreover, Cao Cao may not be an absolutely "calm and rational person". If Xiahou Yuan really died, would Cao Cao be scared away directly? Maybe Cao Cao would be blinded by hatred and fight Liu Bei to the death. In that case, Liu Bei's army still has a chance to chase Cao's army and fight a big battle, severely weakening it.

Therefore, Liu Bei's cautious idea may have a low upper limit on how much he can earn, but there is still room for imagination.

No matter how things develop subsequently, the first step is to divide our forces, cross the Micang Mountain, and take a small path into the Hanzhong Basin. This step is always the same.

No matter which fork route you take later, the first step is to do this.

In this case, don’t think too much about it, just do this “common prerequisite step” first.

……

After explaining these principles to Wei Yan and Wang Ping, Liu Bei began to issue orders:
"Wen Chang, you are now quite good at leading thousands to tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to attack over mountains and across ridges. Yide still needs to rest for a few days, and Xingba is more suitable to lead the subsequent large-scale battle.

Therefore, I want to use you as the vanguard, lead 10,000 Danyang soldiers who are good at climbing, first cross the Mi Cang Mountain trail, and sneak into the Hanzhong Basin. If you move too slowly and are discovered by Xiahou Yuan, who blocks the way out of the valley, then you can stay on Mi Cang Mountain and wait for help.

If they could move fast enough and rush out of the valley and enter the open area, they would seize Dingjun Mountain, the commanding height west of the valley. As long as they could gain a foothold on Dingjun Mountain, it would be a great achievement. The subsequent army would slowly come to reinforce through the Mi Cang Mountain Road and fight a decisive battle with Xiahou Yuan.

"Wang Ping, you lead 3,000 shield barbarians as Wen Chang's deputy general. You should lead the way and scout ahead. But if you encounter Xiahou Yuan's main force, you must not underestimate the enemy and engage in battle. You must wait for the friendly forces to join you."

Wei Yan was naturally delighted when he received the order, and said that he would definitely carry out this mission well: "Don't worry, my lord, we will definitely bypass Mi Cang Mountain and sneak to Dingjun Mountain to catch Xiahou Yuan by surprise!
Xiahou Yuan now has less than 20,000 troops left. Even if he knew that our army had sneaked across the border, he might not dare to take the initiative to fight. His troops are not much more than ours, and he has to divide his troops to guard Yangping Pass, Nanzheng, and Nanxiang County. How many people can he spare to block the Mi Cangshan Pass? "

Liu Bei frowned slightly after hearing Wei Yan's proud words, but did not immediately criticize him. Zhuge Liang next to him was more cautious and quickly reminded:
"Wenchang, don't underestimate the enemy! Xiahou Yuan is indeed short of troops, and can only rely on the steep terrain to defend. But our army has repelled Cao Cao at Chencang Road for four or five days. Counting these wasted days, plus the time it will take for you to cross Micang Mountain later, Cao Cao previously asked Cao Xiu and Xun You to take a detour through Baoxiade to enter Hanzhong, and they will be almost there by then. The reason why the lord chose this time to let you cross Micang Mountain is also for other considerations, in order to wait for Cao Xiu's reinforcements to arrive but not arrive, so that our army can pretend not to know that Cao Xiu is coming. In this way, Xiahou Yuan will underestimate our army and overestimate his own combat power, and dare to take the initiative to attack and block your way."

After hearing this, Wei Yan suddenly realized that the lord and the military advisor deliberately delayed the next move for four or five days after the battle of Chencang Road. This was due to the fact that our army needed to rest and recuperate, and also because they deliberately gave the enemy some courage and made them dare to act impulsively.

"I will be careful and won't underestimate the enemy!" Wei Yan said sincerely, then took the order and left.

After Wei Yan received the order, Liu Bei summoned Gan Ning and gave him another order:
Since the plan is to let Wei Yan and Wang Ping go to Micang Mountain first to seduce Xiahou Yuan, the defense of the Yangping Pass entrance must continue.

Only by ensuring that Cao Cao could not enter the Hanzhong Basin via the Yangping Pass Road could Liu Bei's army seize the opportunity to take the Migang Mountain to attack Xiahou Yuan alone.

(Note: This is different from the plan Zhuge Liang made yesterday. I have adjusted it according to your advice, but the previous discussion cannot be modified. Just treat it as a discussion process, and it won’t be a waste of words. If the battle plan does not match, the latest actual implementation plan shall prevail.)

Gan Ning was in the camp outside the Yangping Pass, and he would defend it as long as he could, and consume Cao Cao as long as he could. Even if he could only kill a few thousand enemies every day, it would be beneficial to block the enemy for a while. It was not necessary to seek opportunities for large-scale annihilation wars.

As for Zhang Fei, Liu Bei had not assigned any tasks for the time being. Liu Bei did not intend to let Zhang Fei block the enemy, but hoped that Zhang Fei would have a good rest first.

After Wei Yan and Wang Ping have seduced Xiahou Yuan, they will send Zhang Fei as the follow-up reinforcement along the way to Micang Mountain.

……

A few days later, Wei Yan and Wang Ping carried out the new plan and advanced across Micang Mountain.

Wei Yan was really surprised by the danger of Micang Mountain. There was no road on the map of that place, and the route was just along the steep slope.

Fortunately, Wang Ping's three thousand shield-armed soldiers are the best in the world in climbing ability.

In addition, Zhuge Liang had invented some climbing tools many years ago when he helped his elder brother Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu fight the Shanyue tribe in the Huangshan Mountain area in the south of Danyang County. After Liu Bei's army equipped the Bantun Man with new climbing equipment, the efficiency of clearing the road was greatly improved.

Wang Ping climbed all the way and used an axe and saw to cut wood along the way. He built guardrails and widened supports at the most dangerous corners to make it safer for the following Danyang soldiers to walk.

After actual testing, it was found that only the one-wheeled "Liuma" version of the mountain grain transport vehicle invented by Zhuge Liang could be used on this battlefield, while the two-wheeled wide-body "Mu Niu" could not pass through some sections.

Fortunately, Zhuge Liang was also very pragmatic. After actual testing on the battlefield, he did not insist, but immediately abandoned the wooden ox and concentrated on making more "flowing horses" to ensure Wei Yan's food supply.

In this way, which was half exploring and half opening the way, after five or six days, Wang Ping actually quietly crossed the Micang Mountain, pushed the vanguard troops out of the valley mouth, and entered the Hanzhong Plain.

Because Cao's army had never thought that they could take a detour from Micang Mountain to enter the Hanzhong Basin, they did not set up any defenses at all.

Seeing an opportunity, Wei Yan and Wang Ping quickly discussed what to do first after leaving the mountain.

"Captain Wei, should we head northwest immediately, go around Yangping Pass and attack it from behind? Or should we head northeast and seize Dingjun Mountain, the last commanding point at the open valley entrance?"

After an urgent investigation, Wang Ping's Bandunman sentinels gave Wei Yan two options.

Wei Yan stroked his beard, his expression grim: "The troops at Yangping Pass should never be empty. If Dingjun Mountain is empty, we can consider taking Dingjun Mountain first."

Wang Ping: "Our scouts have already checked. There are nearly 10,000 Cao troops at Yangping Pass. At Dingjun Mountain, it seems that there are at least 1,000, but no more than 2,000 or 3,000 at most."

Wei Yan: "What are you waiting for? Let's seize Dingjun Mountain first!"

-

PS: Sorry, the actual implementation of the plan decided yesterday may need to be adjusted. The main reason is that there are indeed many controversies and people have different understandings of the geography of Miangang Mountain.

I thought about it and although I could explain my own understanding of the geography of Mt. Migang, it would be pointless to engage in too much debate when writing a novel.

Therefore, I decided to adjust the outline myself and use some safer and less controversial tactics to complete the Battle of Hanzhong.

The new strategy will have much less ambiguity, but it will not allow Cao Cao to enter the basin for a decisive battle. It is a blunt knife-cutting method that consumes Cao Cao one cut at a time. In general, it is "lower risk, more stable and cautious, and smaller returns."

So be it.

(End of this chapter)