Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 449
In history, Zhuge Liang was a cautious man, because he did not adopt Wei Yanzi Wugu's conspiracies, he earned the reputation of being the only cautious person in Zhuge's life.

Including when Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", he also commented on Zhuge Liang's "government of the army is good, tricks are short, and people's work is better than general strategy."

But in fact, this is not to say that Zhuge Liang cannot lead troops to fight, but that compared to his ability to govern the country, his ability to fight and strategize is just slightly inferior.

For example, if a student gets 96 points in six subjects, and only 98 or [-] points in two subjects, it does not mean that these two subjects are far behind others.

To some extent, Zhuge Liang's military ability is indeed poor, but only relative to his own other abilities.

If you compare it with others, at least you can score more than 95 points, which belongs to the first-class military ability.

He has few tricks in history, but it's not that he can't do tricks. There are many examples of false attacks and surprise attacks by dividing troops in several Northern Expeditions.

It's just that Ji Han's national strength was weak at that time, and he couldn't stand the toss, so he focused on being cautious.

How is the national strength of the Han Dynasty now?

It can be said that the fire is cooking oil, and it is booming.

With such a strong national strength, why can't we set up an ambush?
Immediately Zhuge Liang began to make arrangements to retreat.

However, retreating is not something that can be done in a day or two, so internally, the main thing is to pack up the luggage and salute, and then start to retreat after the rectification is over.

More than ten days later, at the beginning of September, behind Cao's army, in the county government of Yanling County, Yingchuan, Sima Yi sat in the first seat at the bottom.

Xia Houyuan sat on the main seat above.

Cao Pi had already returned to Luoyang at this time, but he still sent Sima Yi to carry out the order.

The specific order is also simple. If there is a flaw in the Han army, then Sima Yi can see the opportunity to suggest to Xia Houyuan whether to send troops to attack or sit and watch the situation.

If the retreat of the Han army is more orderly and impeccable, then Sima Yi will assist Xia Houyuan to withdraw the main force back to Luoyang.

Now Cao Jun has too many people on the front line, and the daily consumption is also very exaggerated. Therefore, after the Han army retreats, they must also send less than [-] soldiers and horses as before, and the rest will go back.

In this way, they can carry out the instructions of going west or going east.

At the moment Xia Houyuan is also very old, more than sixty years old, sitting on the main seat with an old face and looking around at the people below, he said: "Recently, the soldiers and horses are being evacuated from the south. Escorting the luggage to Kunyang, leaving the main force behind, what is the meaning of this?"

"Could it be that you want the main force to stay behind?"

Zhang He said.

"Ah."

Xia Houyuan sneered and said, "That fellow Zhang Fei dares to fight to the death with me? I just can't kill him. I will repay the hatred of this thief for stealing my niece, Zhong Quan!"

"The end is here!"

Xia Houba stood up and bowed his hands in salute.

"You take it."

Before Xia Houyuan could speak, he was interrupted by Sima Yi.

"General Hussars."

Sima Yi said, "Wait a minute."

Xia Houyuan looked at him, Cao Pi actually trusted the Cao family and the second generation of Xiahou's family more than the veterans left behind from the Cao Cao era.

In addition to the second generation, they are his four friends and confidants.

So although it was impolite for Sima Yi to interrupt him, he represented Cao Pi, so Xia Houyuan could only ask patiently, "What does Zhongda have to say?"

Sima Yi said: "General, I heard that Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the South, has come to the front line."

"Ha ha."

Xia Houyuan smiled contemptuously and said, "It's just a Confucian scholar. Does he still dare to fight me on the battlefield?"

Sima Yi said: "Although Zhuge Liang has been governing the country from the rear, he has also pacified Nanzhong, so it should not be underestimated. I thought this must be his scheme. He wanted to cut off the rear himself and lure us to pursue it."

"He cut off the queen himself?"

Xia Houyuan wondered: "Does this guy really dare to cut off the heir himself?"

"Report!"

At this time, the messenger came to report: "The front scouts reported that the enemy's right wing retreated with Zhang Fei's flag, and the main camp of the Chinese army is now flying Zhuge's flag."

Now the distance between the front lines of the two sides is actually only twenty miles. The main force of the Cao army is on the north bank of Yingshui, and the main force of the Han army is on the south bank of Yingshui.

The scouts and scouts of both sides were running around each other. The situation of the enemy camp, the change of the flag above, and the appearance of the opponent's soldiers and horses coming in and out, could be seen by the scouts on both sides at a distance of several miles.

In particular, Cao Jun also occupied a small hillside on the north bank of Yingshui, and has been observing the movements of the Han army.

The Han army camp that stretched for more than ten miles changed the flag of the chief general, so naturally they couldn't hide it from the scouts.

Hearing that the opponent actually changed the main general before the battle, Xia Houyuan was quite shocked. He looked around and said, "I don't know whether this Zhuge Liang is stupid or courageous. The withdrawal of troops by others should be the left and right flanks covering the retreat of the main force. He actually personally After leading the main force to break?"

Sima Yi said: "That's why I feel that there is a fraud in it. Maybe this is Zhuge Liang's plan."

"But even if it is a strategy, it should be in line with common sense."

Zhang Xi couldn't help but said: "After he leads the main force of the lone army, if he is surrounded by our main force, wouldn't he be looking for a dead end?"

On the southern battlefield, Cao's army was dominated by Xiahouyuan and Xiahoushang.

However, because Cao Pi was close to Xia Houshang, the main force of the Wei army currently in the south of Yingyin is Xiahoushang, and Xiahouyuan is in charge of the central army.

However, Xia Houyuan still has the power to command the army, he nodded thoughtfully and said: "Yes, there is no reason for the main force to cover the retreat of the two wings, I guess that Zhuge Liang is just a kid who doesn't know how to fight, it's okay to beat the barbarians in Nanzhong, How can I fight against the elite soldiers of Wei Dynasty?"

"General Hussars, it's better to be cautious first."

Sima Yi advised.

"It's okay."

Xia Houyuan looked around and said, "Jun Yi, Zhong Quan!"

"The end is here."

Zhang He and Xia Houba came out.

Xia Houyuan said: "You each lead 2 men, outflank the enemy's main camp from the left and right flanks, and then order Boren to pursue Zhuge Liang head-on."

"only!"

The two immediately took orders and left.

Now the Han army has 13 people on the front line, and the Cao army has 15.

There were about [-] to [-] people facing each other on the front lines of the two sides, and then tens of thousands were spread out on the two wings.

Before, the two sides basically confronted each other across the Yingshui, and even the Han army gained an advantage in the early small-scale battles, occupying the Yingyang City Pool to the north of the Yingshui.

Now that the two wings of the Han army have withdrawn, a huge defensive gap is exposed, and their two wings can pounce on it and launch a pincer offensive against the Han army.

As a seasoned veteran, how could Xia Houyuan not take advantage of this gap?

It's just that Sima Yi felt that no matter how stupid Zhuge Liang was, with Fazheng and Pang Tong around, it was unlikely that he would reveal such an obvious flaw, so the suspicion was a trick.

However, Xia Houyuan believed in his own judgment and was unwilling to listen to his, so he had no choice but to follow Xia Houyuan's will.

At the moment, Cao Jun's two wings quickly launched an offensive in the rear.

What Cao Jun didn't know was that Zhuge Liang had actually come to the front line secretly more than ten days ago, and had been flying Zhang Fei's banner before, but today he suddenly changed it to his own "Zhuge" banner.

After changing the flag, the work that had been prepared for more than ten days was quickly completed. The Han army dropped some baggage in the camp and left in a panic all the way south.

Only at this time did Zhang He and Xia Houba receive the order, and they led the team to set off on the front foot, and Zhuge Liang withdrew his troops on the back foot.

There is a time difference between the two sides.

Because Zhuge Liang knew that his two wings were withdrawing suddenly, the opponent would be a little confused, and during the investigation process, he would also feel puzzled because he kept seeing Zhang Fei's flag.

When he suddenly changed to his own flag, Cao Jun would think that it was a man who didn't understand military affairs, and he might immediately pursue it.

He ran away at this time, did not fight Cao Jun, and pretended to retreat in a hurry, which would naturally confuse the enemy.

Xia Houshang on the front line over there was also confused.

Faced with the strange move of the enemy suddenly abandoning the two wings, Xia Houshang discussed with Guo Huai, Jia Kui and others, but they couldn't come up with a reason.

He hesitated for a moment and did not pursue immediately.

Zhang He and Xiahouba arrived from the rear in the afternoon and urged Xiahoushang to attack with Xiahouyuan's warrant.

At present, the main force of Cao's army is about 4, plus the [-] brought by Zhang Ying and Xiahouba, a total of [-], spread across the river from Yingshui, and quickly arrived at the Han army camp.

At this time, the camps were already empty, and there were more than a dozen consecutive camps left with luggage and a lot of siege equipment that were too late to take away.

Everyone was puzzled when they saw this scene. Since the enemy retreated in a hurry, why didn't they burn the camp?
Burning the camp can not only stop the pursuers, but also prevent the supplies from being obtained by the enemy.

The situation here is too weird.

According to various signs, Zhuge Liang's march seemed to be an inexperienced novice who withdrew his troops hastily and was not prepared at all.

But if you think about Pang Tong and Fazheng carefully, even Zhang Fei is a veteran player and shouldn't make such a low-level mistake.

All the soldiers of Cao Jun hesitated for a moment.

Xia Houshang was riding on horseback, looking at the entire southern camp of the Han army, with Guo Huai, Jia Kui and others beside him.

It was the evening when the sun was setting and night was coming.

In the distance, the Han army camp several miles away from the south bank of Yingshui was extremely quiet, and the autumn wind was blowing the flags of the Han army, making a sound of hunting.

The densely packed Cao army climbed into the Han army camp with ladders, opened the camp gate, and broke in.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Yun hurried over and reported to Xia Houshang: "General, the camp of the Han army is empty, and there are a lot of luggage in the camp, which is very puzzling."

"What the hell is this Zhuge Liang doing?"

Xia Houshang was puzzled when he heard about the situation, "How can anyone retreat to the two wings first, and then retreat to the headquarters of the main force? Moreover, there are still so many luggage left in the camp. If I were him, no matter how bad it was, I would set it on fire."

Guo Huai frowned and said, "Is there any fraud in this?"

"No matter how deceitful it is, it won't stop here."

Jia Kui thought about it: "I feel that Zhuge Liang doesn't know how to march and fight, or we should wait for the scouts to report back."

Zhuge Liang and the others withdrew their troops this morning, but Xia Houshang did not dare to pursue them directly.

The main reason is that Xia Houshang saw that Zhang Fei's banner in the opposite camp had not been withdrawn. He knew that Zhang Fei was brave and good at fighting, and he was leading the elite cavalry of the Han army.

Those cavalry were well equipped, and they were much stronger than Cao Wei cavalry in field battles, so he didn't dare to pursue them.

As a result, Zhang Fei's banner suddenly changed to Zhuge's banner yesterday, and Xiahouyuan's people were in the rear again, and they didn't give him the command to attack immediately, so Xiahoushang could only wait and see for stability.

When we re-investigated this morning, the Zhuge camp over there was already withdrawing troops.

Xia Houshang assembled a team temporarily, but he didn't dare to cross the river by force, so he could only watch them leave from the north bank of Yingshui.

The fear was that tens of thousands of troops would not be able to command properly when crossing the river. If the Han army suddenly turned their guns and launched an attack when crossing the river, they might suffer a disastrous defeat, so the military opportunity was lost for a while.

At this moment, when Zhang He and Xia Houba's troops arrived from the two wings, it was actually a bit late, because Zhuge Liang had already been gone for a long time at that time, and they just crossed the river to check the situation in the Han army camp.

"Report!"

At this time, the messenger came to report: "Our scouts were ambushed by enemy scouts after chasing them, and the entire army was almost wiped out. Only two people came back and were seriously injured."

"Bring it up."

Xia Houshang frowned.

A moment later, the two seriously injured scouts were brought up.

One of them was seriously injured and died while still on the road, and the other was slightly injured and was dying.

Xia Houshang was too lazy to care about the life and death of the scouts, and immediately asked: "How is the enemy's situation?"

The Cao Jun scouts could still be cured if they gave first aid immediately, but now the wounds are still bleeding, and they escaped in a bloody battle, and said with difficulty: "He and the others retreated in disorder and I...we"

Before the words fell, the scout was already dead. His body was full of crossbow arrows, and he was obviously shot into a hedgehog by the hand crossbow unique to the cavalry of the Han army.

Although Cao Pi has been secretly learning stirrups and saddles, he has not learned horseshoes.

And neither stirrups nor saddles were equipped with the whole battalion.

Therefore, the speed and endurance of the scout cavalry of the Cao army are far inferior to those of the scout cavalry of the Han army. When the two sides are fighting, the scout cavalry of the Cao army will easily suffer this kind of loss.

Xia Hou still didn't care how the scouts were hunted down by the Han army's scouts, he heard a key message, and immediately looked around and said: "Then Zhuge Liang really doesn't know how to fight, and the retreat is so chaotic, it seems that we were overwhelmed before. "

"General, what are we now?"

Guo Huai asked.

Xia Houshang immediately said: "Give me an order. The cavalry will pursue at full speed. They must hold back their main force. If you encounter the main force of the enemy's cavalry, don't pester them. Wait until our troops arrive."

"only!"

All the soldiers suddenly responded.

Facing all kinds of doubts of the Han army, Cao Jun finally felt that Zhuge Liang could not lead the troops to fight and lacked experience, so he decided to attack with the whole army.

Now that the Han army is already heading south, the infantry will definitely not be able to catch up immediately, so the cavalry is dispatched on a large scale.

The galloping iron cavalry galloped towards the south like billowing black clouds.

The night gradually began to darken.

Cao Jun cavalry followed the roaring sound, divided into several troops, and pursued the Han army fleeing south from several directions.

At this time, the Han army had already crossed Rushui, and retreated south from Xiangcheng towards Kunyang.

However, I don't know if it's a coincidence or the location is really good.

When Zhuge Liang's main force retreated southward, it happened to retreat to the Ziyun Mountain range south of Xiangcheng.

This used to be the place where Cao Cao personally pursued Shen Chen and was finally repelled by Shen Chen!
(End of this chapter)