My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 661: If you want to trick the enemy three times, you must first be prepared to trick him ten times

After Zhuge Jin's second revision, the water attack plan can be summed up in three sentences:

First, they threatened Cao Ren a little, taking advantage of his concern that he would not leave his retreat behind, and forced him to station troops in the low-lying areas on both sides of the Yuliangzhou waterway.

Then give Cao Ren a little sweetness and let him see that Guan Yu’s navy will continue to fight and try various methods.

Little did he know that while he was proud of earning interest from Guan Yu, Zhuge Jin was also thinking about his principal.

How things will develop in the end depends on how greedy Cao Ren is and whether he can control his desires and impulses.

Guan Yu reviewed the plan and couldn't find any fault with it.

Although this strategy cannot be guaranteed to be 100% successful, Liu Bei's army currently has no better choice.

This was the best solution they could think of, and the initial investment was not that large. In that case, what was there to hesitate about?
Once you have made up your mind about something and the opportunity comes, seize it decisively.

Did it with Tzuyu!
Guan Yu made a decisive decision.

Afterwards, he immediately began to dispatch troops, adjust tactics, and once again slowed down the pace of reinforcing Gao Shun and Guan Ping.

Of course, since Gao Shun sent a messenger back to report and ask for help, Guan Yu must have formally replied to Gao Shun. No matter when and how the reinforcements went, there must be an explanation.

At the same time, such a confidential strategic arrangement, coupled with the fact that it had not yet been finalized, Guan Yu certainly could not tell Gao Shun everything.

Otherwise, if something unexpected happens while sending a letter on the battlefield, such as the messenger being hit and killed by the enemy's naval warship on the way, the whole plan would be completely ruined.

It is even possible that Cao's army could make preparations in advance and attack Liu Bei's army in return.

He could not tell Gao Shun the whole truth, but at the same time he had to encourage Gao Shun to continue to hold on and prevent Gao Shun's military morale from being shaken. This really tested the art of command and the art of language.

Therefore, when Guan Yu was thinking about how to reply to Gao Shun, he thought over and over again, and finally he could only "not bother two masters with one matter" and let Zhuge Jin help him to the end.

"Time is running out. Please teach me how to write the letter and military order this time." Guan Yu asked for advice very sincerely.

Zhuge Jin was a bystander, and seeing Guan Yu's anxiety, he couldn't help but laugh: "Why worry so much, Yunchang? Just write 'Cao Ren has gathered the forces of Yu, Xu and others, and is desperately trying to get to Yuliangzhou. He is very strong in land warfare.' Because our army has divided its forces with General Huang and marched north, we are short of troops on the eastern route, and we cannot face Cao Ren head-on for the time being.

Then tell Zhongda to defend the camp, delay the enemy and tire out the enemy. Our rear army will not sit idly by and watch the outcome. We will make full use of the navy and attack the Yuliangzhou waterway desperately in the next few days, so that Cao Ren will not be able to get enough support and cannot send in new troops. In this way, the front line can be held for a long time. "

While explaining, Zhuge Jin asked someone to bring a map of the area around Xiangyang and showed it to Guan Yu - Yuliangzhou was too close to Xiangyang, and the waterway on the west side of Yuliangzhou was only five miles away from the east gate of Xiangyang City.

Therefore, after the war broke out, it was impossible for Cao's army to gather all its main forces on Yuliangzhou Island. Otherwise, with more than 100,000 people gathered together, it would be impossible for the troops to deploy their forces.

If Cao's army wanted to attack Gao Shun's water camp, they would definitely use a rotation battle, which would involve the problem of troop rotation. Only the troops currently attacking would remain stationed in the camp outside the city.

Troops with wounded soldiers or those who have been rotated out due to excessive depletion of physical strength and combat power will definitely return to Xiangyang City to rest - mainly because it is too close. They can just cross a small river and walk another five miles back to the city. Why not go back?
This distance is not much farther than the commuting distance that many people in later generations have to walk to work. Put yourself in their shoes, how many people in later generations would choose to sleep in the office at night because the company is too far from home and it is inconvenient to go home?

Therefore, if Guan Yu continued to use his navy to attack the waterway of Yuliangzhou, he might repeatedly harass Cao's army coming and going. This was indeed a move to rescue the enemy when attacking them, and it was also a great support for Gao Shun.

Gao Shun didn't need to know the whole truth, and the soldiers under his command didn't need to know the whole truth either. Just knowing this was enough to strengthen their determination to hold on.

Finally, seeing that Guan Yu was still worried about the outcome, Zhuge Jin added a warning from a bystander:
"Yun Chang, I think you are really worried and confused. I thought that before the battle, you asked Tan Zhi to follow Zhong Da into the deep siege because you thought about today's situation. I didn't expect that you just wanted to set an example."

Guan Yu was stunned by what he said and was unable to react for a moment, so he quickly asked the reason.

Zhuge Jin said as a matter of course: "The reason you let your eldest son follow Zhongda into the encirclement is to make all the soldiers in the army believe that you will not abandon them, right?"

Guan Yu suddenly realized, then felt a little disdainful, so he sighed and said in defense: "Actually... I never thought of using Ping'er to gain people's trust from the beginning. I just wanted Ping'er to experience more hardships."

It can only be said that Guan Yu's sympathy for his soldiers and his ability to win the hearts of the army were instinctive reactions. He did not need to act out his example and discipline his relatives and friends, nor did he need to think about why he did so.

If he follows his heart and makes his choice directly, he will be able to choose the right option.

In the end, it was Zhuge Jin, a bystander, who helped him sort out and analyze the motives behind it.

But fortunately, none of this matters, because he already knows what to do.

Discuss the deeds but not the heart.

Following Zhuge Jin's advice, Guan Yu quickly wrote an order and a reply to Gao Shun, encouraging Gao Shun to hold his ground firmly and wait for friendly forces to harass the exhausted Cao Ren. When the time is slightly more ripe, Guan Yu will naturally bring his main force to reinforce him.

In the letter, Guan Yu also told a white lie: Guan Yu said that when he found that Cao Ren concentrated his forces on the eastern front, he asked his lord to recall General Huang Lao's troops in the west as soon as possible, and let Huang Zhong's troops detour to the front battlefield on the eastern front to participate in the decisive battle.

In this way, Guan Yu had a more sufficient reason to be "slow in sending reinforcements".

In addition, when Guan Yu sent the messenger back to contact, he also specially sent a team of light warships to escort him.

He also gave the naval commander an additional task, which was to find out Cao Ren's movements near the Yuliang River waterway, especially to find out whether Cao Ren had stationed heavy troops in the camp that he had exchanged for.

This information is crucial to whether the subsequent water attack plan can be carried out. So once there is intelligence in this regard, it must be reported immediately.

After the messenger left, it took only half a day for Guan Yu's reply to be delivered to Gao Shun.

After another night, the patrol boat fleet escorting the messenger returned and brought an extra good news to Guan Yu and Zhuge Jin.

The general in charge of the patrol fleet said: "Reporting to the general, after we escorted the messenger to safety, we approached the southern entrance of the Yuliang River on our way back to investigate, and even engaged in a battle with the Cao army that stayed behind, and found that the Cao army's garrison there was not weak.

Fortunately, the two sides only fired crossbows at each other, and there was no hand-to-hand combat. However, some soldiers from both sides were injured and fell into the water during the shooting. Some of the wounded soldiers of Cao's army were rescued by our army, and some information was obtained from them, but I don't know if it is useful. "

Guan Yu was very concerned about this, so he told the general in charge of scouts to stop talking nonsense and get to the important points.

The general reported, "I heard that when General Gao Shun's old camp was attacked by Cao Ren, he threw away his armor and helmets in order to allow the rear guard to escape quickly and lightly.

But General Gao did not want to aid the enemy, so before leaving, he took advantage of the fact that his own troops were resisting along the river and trying to attack the enemy halfway across the river. He took off his steel armor and threw it into the river, making it more difficult for Cao's army to seize it.

Therefore, starting from yesterday morning, Cao Ren stationed a lot of troops in the old camp along the river in Yuliangzhou, and asked the soldiers to work hard to salvage the high-quality steel armor thrown away by our army.

When Guan Yu heard the news, he initially thought it was too much of a coincidence and was a little bit hard to believe.

After repeated confirmation, I couldn't help but feel ecstatic.

Isn't this like giving away a pillow when you're sleepy?
If it were in the past, Guan Yu would definitely feel heartbroken if his side had to retreat due to defeat, and then throw away their armor and run away with their heavy loads:

It's really like a son selling his father's land without feeling sorry! These high-quality steel armors made in Yuzhang were painstakingly made by skilled craftsmen in the rear using the secret methods of the Zhuge brothers. How could they be thrown away just to run faster when escaping?
But today, Guan Yu is extremely grateful that Gao Shun did this when he had no other choice.

Just so Cao Ren couldn't bear to part with it! He didn't know how many excellent steel armors were thrown at the bottom of the river!
Brother Zixiao, please take your time to salvage for a few more days. We are not in a hurry! If you think the salvaging is too slow, you can send more people!
There might be thousands or even more steel-filled breastplates in the river. It would be such a waste if we don’t fish them all out!

Thinking of these unexpected factors that helped him deceive and delay the enemy, Guan Yu was so pleased that his beard was about to flutter.

May God bless the Han Dynasty!
However, just when Guan Yu felt that all these favorable factors had been fully realized and could not get any better.

Zhuge Jin, who was standing aside, was still terrifyingly calm.

After waiting for Guan Yu to stop stroking his beard, he suddenly reminded him, "Yun Chang, the gains from escorting the messenger and scouting the enemy last night are not limited to this."

Guan Yu, who was feeling proud, was slightly stunned when he heard this: "This is already an unexpected surprise that I dared not imagine. What greater gain can there be?"

Zhuge Jin pointed at the general who reported back and confirmed, "You just said that when we clashed with Cao's army, both sides shot at each other and some soldiers were shot and fell into the water, right?"

The general quickly replied: "That's right."

Zhuge Jin: "You are the fleeing party, and Cao's army is the chasing party. How could you capture Cao's soldiers who fell into the water? It shouldn't be easier for Cao's army to capture our soldiers who fell into the water."

The general didn't think much about it at first, but when Zhuge Jin reminded him, he realized that this was not normal. He thought about it carefully and finally said in a speculative tone:
"But our army did capture several injured Cao army prisoners who fell into the water. It should be that our army was downstream and Cao army was upstream. When we retreated, we ran into the wounded soldiers who were washed downstream." Zhuge Jin nodded. This made sense. Compared with Cao Ren, Guan Yu was indeed downstream.

But Zhuge Jin pointed out one thing keenly: "It is normal for the party downstream to rescue the enemy soldiers who fell into the water. But according to common sense, the speed of a boat sailing downstream is definitely faster than the speed of a person who fell into the water drifting downstream.

What you have fished out should be the comrades who were not discovered by Cao's army in the darkness and thus slipped away.

In this battle, you are the fleeing party, and Cao's army is the chasing party. If you can capture two or three Cao's prisoners, then Cao's army will have a greater chance of capturing our wounded soldiers who fell into the water..."

The general in charge of scouting became nervous after hearing this, and thought that Zhuge Jin was going to hold them accountable for their carelessness in handling the matter, which led to the capture of the soldiers who knew the situation by the enemy.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin could see what the other party was thinking, so he immediately comforted him:
"Don't worry, I don't mean to blame you. You are all meritorious people, so go down and receive your rewards, enjoy some wine and meat, and rest in peace. Those who died in battle or fell into the river will also be compensated. Those who fall into the water will be compensated as if they died in battle."

As Zhuge Jin spoke, he waved his folding fan without further ado, and the general withdrew with tears of gratitude.

Not only did Situ not blame them, he also gave them generous rewards and pensions. He was truly kind.

You have to know that since ancient times, the compensation for "missing" and "killed in battle" in military warfare is very different. If there is no body, how can we give money to the dead in the same way as the dead in battle? Otherwise, wouldn't the "missing persons" like deserters also be able to take advantage of the loophole?
So today Zhuge Jin was definitely showing mercy outside the law, and there was a reason for it.

However, this reason was not something the people below should know, nor could they ask too many questions, so the person who received the reward left without saying a word and made a fortune in silence.

Guan Yu finally came to his senses after watching his generals retreat. He asked with a hint of anticipation, "So... what Ziyu meant just now is that our army might have used the scouts captured by Cao Ren to reveal some false information to Cao Ren?"

Zhuge Jin nodded silently, and after a while he analyzed in a gentle tone:
"That's true. This was not my intention. After all, I didn't want to deliberately let my soldiers who knew the situation be captured by Cao Ren and serve as spies. But since it was a normal battle, there would be casualties and prisoners, so it doesn't matter.

When we sent people to escort Zhongda's messenger back this time, the soldiers we sent did not know the real strategic intentions of our army. The order they received was to "continue to look for opportunities to harass the Yuliangzhou waterway controlled by Cao Ren, tire Cao Ren, and share the pressure on Gao Shun in the front."

Therefore, after they were captured by Cao Ren, no matter how Cao Ren tortured them or how vicious his methods were, he would only get this kind of information.

There is a vicious person like Jia Xu around Cao Ren. If we use other spy methods to mislead Jia Xu, it is possible that we will be discovered.

But only in today's situation, the wounded soldiers they captured all told the truth, and even with Jia Xu, he couldn't trick them into telling anything else."

When Guan Yu heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath inwardly - of course, his lungs didn't actually make this movement, he just thought about it in his mind.

Tzuyu's strategy is so far-reaching and her planning is so detailed.

Zhuge Jin didn't expect many details at the beginning, but he laid them out first. After a long time, there were always two or three details that were triggered, discovered by the enemy, and then misled.

Sometimes, in order to formulate a strategy, Zhuge Jin might deploy five, six, or even seven or eight details, waiting for the enemy to discover them.

As long as the enemy finds two or three of them, it is possible to induce them to be deceived. Because Zhuge Jin laid out many plans and played a long game, he did not need to be too deliberate.

In the end, he seemed to be fooling people with his leisurely walk, but little did he know how much hard work he had put in before the battle. The enemy may have only seen a small part of the deception he planned, and the rest was just like a wink to a blind man.

Guan Yu witnessed the whole process of this deception with his own eyes, and only then did he realize how difficult it was for Zhuge Jin. To achieve 30% of the final result, the preparations before the battle may have to be laid out 100%.

With such thorough preparation, it was not unfair for Jia Xu to be deceived.

……

The words are divided into two parts.

The next morning, Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu were arranging new tricks and planning new offensives.

In Cao's camp across the Yuliangzhou waterway, Cao Ren and Yu Jin were also planning how to counter Guan Yu's harassment and further swallow up Gao Shun in the water fort at the eastern end of the peninsula.

As for Cao's army, they suffered a lot of harassment from Guan Yu's navy last night.

Dozens of brisk boats came to harass the southern section of the Yuliangzhou waterway, quietly sneaked into the river for hundreds of feet, and then threw torches at some facilities on the shore.

In order to allow the torches to reach farther, they were equipped with counterweights, but the contents of the counterweights were also flammable, further increasing the power of the fire.

In the end, it was only through the crossbow shooting of Cao's troops from the simple watchtowers on both sides of the river, as well as the counterattack of a small number of navy troops, that the enemy was repelled.

Not many things were burned in Cao's camp, but it was enough to alert Cao Ren.

So after daybreak, he discussed the situation with Yu Jin and Jia Xu again, trying to determine the enemy's true intentions.

Cao Ren asked the question directly: "Why didn't Guan Yu send a large army to Gao Shun's water stronghold to land and reinforce us, but instead harassed us in this area? Is there a trick? Wenhe, you speak first."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and recounted the torture he had done to the captives last night. Everything turned out just as Zhuge Jin had expected. The captives could not stand the torture and told him everything they knew.

In fact, there were some stubborn ones among these captives who tried to lie and mislead Jia Xu at the beginning.

But who was Jia Xu? He isolated the captives and tortured them to prevent them from colluding, and used various threats and inducements. In the end, Jia Xu successfully got what he wanted.

After stating the information obtained through torture, Jia Xu concluded: "... Therefore, Guan Yu must be temporarily short of troops and is afraid that a land battle with us would be difficult to resist, so he wants to delay for a few more days until Huang Zhong's troops withdraw from Zhuyang and join forces, and then fight us in a decisive battle.

During this period of time, he felt that he had the advantage of the navy, so it would be more advantageous to use the same number of troops to fight a naval battle with us and consume and harass our army than to directly deploy them to the Yuliangzhou water fort and fight a land battle to defend the camp.

This should be a temporary decision made by Guan Yu after he learned that Cai Mao was seriously injured by Gao Shun. Zhuge Jin should also support it. If Cai Mao had not been seriously injured, Guan Yu would not have thought that his navy could completely crush our army. But after Cai Mao lost his combat effectiveness, his thoughts changed. "

Cao Ren paced back and forth in the tent, thinking about how likely this possibility was. In the end, he had to admit that Jia Xu's analysis made a lot of sense.

Cao Ren thought about it and finally had only one worry left: "Then it shouldn't be possible for Guan Yu to exclude Gao Shun. Let him fight to the death, so as to consume Gao Shun and let Guan Yu's own direct troops suffer less losses in the subsequent decisive battle, right?"

The situation that Cao Ren described had occurred before in Cao's army, so it was not a groundless worry.

When it came to employing people, Cao Cao treated his trusted followers who had followed him for decades very well, but he would mostly use those surrendered generals who had joined him halfway as waste.

For example, Zhang Xiu surrendered before the Battle of Guandu, Zhang He surrendered after the Battle of Guandu, and Pang Tong surrendered during the Guanxi Ma Chao Incident. Weren't their direct troops used as cannon fodder by Cao Cao and consumed first in the decisive battle?

Among them, Zhang Xiu and Pang De even lost their lives at the hands of Cao Cao.

Zhang Liao and Gao Shun were old generals under Lu Bu after all, and they had surrendered to Liu Bei's camp for eight years, so they were not the oldest direct descendants of Yuan. However, Gao Shun's soldiers were recruited later, which was different from those surrendered generals in Cao's army who "brought soldiers into the group".

But there is definitely a difference between closeness and distance, at least that's what Cao Ren would think based on his own judgment.

However, this reasonable worry of Cao Ren, this reasonable worry that could have saved him, was ultimately shattered by a word from Jia Xu and Yu Jin.

"General, don't worry too much. Even if Guan Yu could sell Gao Shun, he wouldn't do it in this battle. Guan Yu's own son is with Gao Shun. How could Guan Yu sell his own son?
Therefore, he did not directly reinforce Gao Shun for the time being, only because of insufficient troops, because he felt that the limited troops could be used in a different way to achieve better results. "

This is an invincible reason.

Cao Ren, who originally supported his son Cao Tai's career in his later years, and even lost his integrity in the Second Battle of Ruxukou, can really understand this "tiger father and dog son" plot.

Guan Yu wanted to gild his son this time! Therefore, he would never sell Gao Shun this time!

Not coming to reinforce Gao Shun was definitely not a trick! It was because he really didn't have enough strength at the moment! He wanted to use a more efficient way to exert his strength.

After thinking it through thoroughly, Cao Ren knew what to do.

He gave the order decisively: "In this case, within the next two or three days, attack Gao Shun's water stronghold at all costs! Guan Yu feels that his troops are insufficient and does not want to fight now. He wants to wait for Huang Zhong to come back for help. Then we must not let him do what he wants!
We have to do the opposite and make Guan Yu uncomfortable. We have to beat Gao Shun and Guan Ping to the point where they are in danger and are on the verge of collapse, forcing Guan Yu to fight us head-on before Huang Zhong arrives!

Also, Wen Ze, you divide your troops to guard this waterway. If Guan Yu comes to harass us with his navy again, you must fight back with all your might. You must hurt Guan Yu's navy! Let him know that this tactic of harassing the waterway by boat is ineffective! It will only lead to losses in vain!
Our army does not have many warships now, and Cai Mao's sailors have suffered heavy losses, so we cannot organize a fleet to pursue too far. But you can set up more catapults, more crossbow towers and turrets along this waterway, and strengthen the camp facilities. Anyway, this waterway is very shallow and narrow, and if Guan Yu dares to come and die, we can completely control the water by land. "

Yu Jin quickly agreed and took on the task of protecting his own retreat.

(End of this chapter)