Chapter 81: The Strange Soldier (Part 1)

The Wei State's more than 300,000 troops entered Shu, which was a major event that attracted worldwide attention. The Shu Han regime and the Cao Wei regime, both went all out, while the Sun Wu regime in Jiangdong were also eyeing him. As the saying goes, watching the tiger fight, it is very comfortable for the Sun Wu regime to be in the position of bystanders.

Although Cao Wei on the north bank of the Yangtze River was struggling westward, Huaijian and Wanluo still hoarded heavy troops. Sima Zhao personally took charge of Xuchang, Wang Ji guarded the two Huaihuai, and Wang Chang was responsible for guarding Xiangyang. In addition, the troops from Xinye, Xuzhou, Qingzhou and other places could support at any time. It was still quite difficult to cross the river and go north while the Wei Kingdom was empty.

After the incident of the removal of Sun Liang from the Wu Lord, Sun Liang matured quite quickly. Every move was made to see the shadow of Sun Quan. The Jiangdong gentry's evaluation of Sun Liang continued to rise, and at the same time began to bargain with the royal family. The gentry wanted rights, and the emperor also wanted rights, and it was very difficult to balance the distribution of rights.

Rights are not a cake, you eat one piece and one piece and end it. Rights and desires are both quagmire, and most people are deeply trapped in it and cannot extricate themselves. Sun Jun and Sun Jing brothers are living examples. After gaining absolute power, you can be a powerful minister who has been remembered forever or choose to be a flatterer. Some people may say that they are in control, but who is the responsibility of not having enough ideological precautions?

The ministers in Jiangdong and the Wu Lord Sun Liang had the same views on this war. Wei Sheng went from Baidi to Shu and divided the middle of Sichuan; Shu won the boat northward and plundered Qingxu in the two Huai Rivers. A large number of soldiers and supplies were constantly gathered in various strategic locations, and then they watched the development and changes of the situation.

The road to Sichuan is difficult, but it is harder than climbing to the blue sky. Before entering Sichuan, Zhonghui had no real impression. It was nearly a month since he entered Sichuan. Only then did he have a personal experience.

After Xun Kai's rear army successively broke through many strongholds of the Shu army, he was defeated in the Golden Mountain Village. Liu Yin, the Golden Supervisor of the Shu army, defended the perfect match, and Liu Yin's soldiers were obviously stronger than the other Shu soldiers. Based on the dangers of the mountain, he held the camp for more than ten days. It was small for the Wei army to make progress, and the heavy losses were large. Seeing that two or three thousand people were unknowingly lost, Xun Kai decided not to attack.

There were only about 3,000 Shu soldiers in this camp. Although the other party suffered losses, they had already killed and injured the Wei army exponentially. If this continues, Zhong Hui will have to eat himself. Some day ago, the prefect of Wei Xing, Liu Qin, was ordered to die and he would obtain Yangping Pass within three days. What was the result? After passing three days, more than 10,000 people were lost. Yangping Pass was not captured, and Liu Qin's head was cut off by Zhong Hui and ordered the three armies. This move alone shocked the entire Wei army. The generals who looked down on Zhong Hui in the past changed their attitude.

It established the prestige in the army, but the war did not make any progress. Yangping Pass had no idea how many crossbow arrows and stones were reserved, and it was still majestic and unmoved by the Wei people's life. The Wei army lost no less than 30,000 lives before and after the pass, and Zhong Hui ordered the attack to stop. If he continued to suffer such casualties, it would have been too great to cause morale.

So more than 100,000 Wei troops were blocked outside Yangping Pass, and no longer attacked the pass, everyone relaxed. However, the daily food, drinking, defecation and slaughter of these tens of thousands of people needed logistical support to solve the problem. People needed food, horses, etc. needed for forage. The Shu army did not leave any available items for the Wei people in the mountains, rivers and wild areas, and everything needed to be transported continuously by the supply troops.

The mountain roads were dangerous and difficult to move. When the Shu army was inconvenient to transport food during the northern expedition, the military rations would retreat every time. The same was true for the Wei army to enter Sichuan. The Shu army also had wooden oxes and horses to transport supplies according to local conditions. The Wei army could only rely on ordinary vehicles and livestock to carry them. Even when it was difficult to move, it needed manpower to transport them. The 300,000 army supplies nearly 400,000 people to transport them, and even used the people in Chang'an to replenish manpower.

This depletion of manpower and material resources puts the western part of Wei in a turbulent situation. It was said that when people were recruiting people in Sichuan, the people were evading and hiding from the government. Even on the way to transport materials, several incidents of people fleeing.

People's hearts are like this, and the roads are even more rugged and difficult to walk. Many large cars that travel unimpeded in the Central Plains have no use on the small roads in Sichuan. They are too heavy and too large to pass through the small roads. They are struggling along the way, but they are more than ten days late.

At this speed of grain transport, Zhong Hui's army could only hold on for sixty days. After sixty days, a grain of rice would not be left. Including the journey back to the army, I'm afraid that it would have to retreat in forty days. This is due to the blessing of the Shu army, which has lost tens of thousands of mouths to eat.

If he couldn't pass Yangping Pass, he could only rely on two groups of Deng Ai and Zhuge Xu. Jiang Wei and Shu Han's main force retreated from Dazhong to Jiange. Liao Hua and Hu Ji in the country all led their troops to gather in Jiange. Deng Ai's troops may not be much more than Shu army, and Jiange is also a dangerous place. Jiang Wei and Shu army could not stand there, and Deng Ai had no choice, just like him. Zhong Hui thought about it, even though he had a brilliant plan, he had no choice but to Yangping Pass in front of him.

The Wei army was in a dilemma, which was all Jiang Wei's plan. Over the years, both Wei Yan and Wang Ping, the Hanzhong defenders, have been guarding Chuankou, so that the enemy could not advance in a hurry. The army of Fucheng immediately rushed to Hanzhong to reinforce, which was enough to shock the opponent in terms of military force and sufficient to defend Chuankou. The enemy could not enter Chuanzhong, and had to retreat after a long time.

Jiang Wei believed that although this was to keep the enemy from the outside, it was just defense and it was difficult to gain benefits from the war. So Jiang Wei re-formed the defensive strategy of Hanzhong, and clearing the wilderness and strengthening the walls was the main thing, leaving no supplies for the enemy to use in the wild. Then he gathered all the troops in the Han Le City and the outer strongholds, leaving a way for the Wei army to drive straight in. Through the defense of dangerous places such as Yangping Pass and Jiange, the enemy would stagnate because they could not break the gate. After a long time, the enemy would lack supplies and would start to retreat. At this time, all the troops would go out together and win.

Now Deng Ai and Zhong Hui's army are in trouble according to Jiang Wei's design, and Jiang Wei in Jiang Pavilion is very satisfied. The only thing that has concerns is the troops of Yangping Pass. Hu Ji, who is responsible for supporting Yangping Pass, also set off from Chengdu like Liao Hua. As a result, when he arrived at Jiang Pavilion, Yinping Bridge was occupied by Zhuge Xu. Although he used a trick to retreat Zhuge Xu, Zhuge Xu was still stationed on the north side of Yinping Bridge, blocking Hu Ji's road to support Yangping Pass.

Yangping Pass has only 5,000 Shu troops. Although it is equipped with a new Zhuge crossbow and catapult cart, it is facing nearly 200,000 Wei troops. Before Deng Ai and Zhuge Xu's army were stationed in Jiange, the military strength was nearly 20,000 more than the Shu army. If a team was divided into two groups to attack the pass on the back of Yangping Pass, the situation at Yangping Pass would be much more dangerous.

Hu Ji dragged Jiang Wei down and did not advance to support him as agreed, which led to Jiang Wei's defeat. Now he is meeting again, but Hu Ji is ready to go and takes the initiative to get close to Jiang Wei. In the past, everyone belonged to different factions, and it was common for each other to restrain each other. Now Liu Chan is in power alone, and the factions need to be much more harmonious.

The atmosphere in Deng Ai's army was similar to that in Zhong Hui. Jiange had many Shu soldiers and could not stand. He could not get past Jiange, let alone pacifying Sichuan. He was a dissatisfied with the expedition to Deng Ai of Shu Han. After more than half a year of rest and recuperation, Cao Wei's national strength was restored, but it was not a good opportunity to attack Shu.

The confrontation between the two sides was a chronic poison for the Wei army. Zhuge Xu thought about it for a few days in his camp and then went to discuss it with Deng Ai.

"The army's food and grass are still sufficient, but the subsequent supply roads are difficult to pass... There must be a way to do it." Zhuge Xu said.

"Is there any good idea in Zhuge Yongzhou?" Deng Ai laid a map on the table and asked while looking around.

"According to my opinion, it is better to divide the army to attack Yangping Pass and join the army in one place." Zhuge Xu had a long time ago and said without thinking.

"Look here in Zhuge Yongzhou!" Deng Ai seemed to have not heard Zhuge Xu's words.

Zhuge Xu walked forward and saw Deng Ai’s fingers in the vast mountains and rivers.

"What does the general mean?" Zhuge Xu knew that Deng Aifei was a targetless person, so he asked.

"The natural danger of Jiange is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If this continues for only more than a month, I'm afraid it will be a retreat." Deng Ai said with a smile.

"That's true, what do the general have?" Zhuge Xu continued to ask.

"From the small road to Deyang Pavilion, then capture Fucheng, which is the heart of the river. If the army of Jiange returns to help, our army will break into Jiange. This is a tactic that unexpectedly conceals its unpredictable situation." Deng Ai talked happily.

"No one has ever walked through this path, and there may be something wrong with marching in the dangerous mountains and ridges." Zhuge Xu frowned.

"I have always known geography. The Shu army gathered in this internal emptiness. The success or failure of the attack on Shu was here. Otherwise, even if the army came here to join, what help would it be for the situation?" Deng Ai said confidently.

The two of them discussed for a long time, but finally made a plan. They selected 30,000 elite soldiers, prepared food, grass, tools and other items, and secretly went out to the camp and attacked the hinterland of the central Sichuan. Zhuge Xu continued to confront Jiang Wei of Jiang Ge under the banner of Deng Ai. In order to prevent the Shu army from seeing the flaws, the plan to attack Yangping Pass was cancelled.

Deng Ai's men flipped over the ridge and made all their efforts in identifying the direction among the mountains in the Sichuan. The vanguard was responsible for opening the road and building bridges for the general Tian Xu. Deng Ai led his army and ordered more than 10,000 people to ensure the supply of military supplies along the way. Although it was a huge momentum, this road was a dead end and it was difficult to walk, but there was no need to worry about being discovered by the people of Sichuan.

Everything in the Shu army in Jiange was as usual, and they were calmly confronting the Wei army under the banner of Deng Ai every day. They did not find any changes or abnormalities in the Wei army. Zhuge Xu was worried every day in the camp, fearing that Jiang Wei would see the flaw and harm Deng Ai's life.

This plan to attack Fucheng is very bold. Once successful, it can be said that Shu Kingdom will collapse without attacking it. But it also puts itself in a desperate situation. If the Shu army notices something, Deng Ai's army, who is in the heart of the Shu army and has no food and grass support, cannot escape the fate of being killed.
Chapter completed!