Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3283 Looking for opportunities

Some people are only willing to suffer a loss once.

Some people will keep falling into the same type of pits.

Sima Yi was undoubtedly a person who was unwilling to suffer losses, and even more unwilling to make the same mistake and fall in the same place.

After handing over the troops to Huo Nu, Sima Yi led his 300 cavalrymen, each man riding two horses, and marched down, bypassing Puban County and heading towards Zhongshan of Cao's army.

Although Huo Nu was injured and could not fight directly on the battlefield, he had no problem deploying soldiers, especially on Emei Mountain where he pretended to be an enemy. This naturally frightened Cao Ping and others so that they dared not act rashly.

People are like this. When they have nothing, they can often give it a try, but when they hold something in their hands, they are most likely unable to let go. After Cao Ping got the empty shell of Puban County, he was like a snail with a shell on its back. He immediately slowed down and no longer had the same vigor as before. He even began to dismantle houses and transport supplies to Puban County, and organized the repair of fortifications on the spot...

Perhaps in Cao Ping's eyes, since he had obtained such a piece of land, Sima Yi would definitely bring reinforcements to fight for it and recover it. However, he did not expect that Sima Yi had bypassed Puban early and did not care about the gains and losses of such an empty shell at all.

"My dear," Sima Yi's guards were still somewhat worried and followed half of Sima Yi's horse's length behind him, "With just our small number of people, are we really going to attack Cao's army at Zhongtiao Mountain?"

This time, Sima Yi brought even fewer people than the last time he attacked Cao’s transit camp.

On the one hand, after the last loss, both men and horses suffered considerable losses. On the other hand, Sima Yi discovered the true purpose of the cavalry archers...

"Of course, we can't attack Cao's camp with just a few people like me," Sima Yi said with a smile, "but some things don't require too many people. Besides, we still have Captain Hao, right?"

In wartime, positions such as general, lieutenant general, colonel, commander, military commander, etc. are often granted temporarily. They are not considered official titles and are not considered mainstream. They will be naturally lifted after the war without the need for additional notification. This has become a common practice in the Han army.

Sima Yi's guards were still a little worried. "Even if we find Captain Hao, I'm afraid we won't be able to do much damage to Cao's camp! What if he comes again... I mean..."

The last time Qian Zhao attacked Cao's transit camp, he almost killed Sima Yi with his spear, which really made the Sima guards a little worried.

The Sima family has already lost a young man. If another one dies, old Sima will probably faint from crying in the locker room.

  bah bah bah!

The guards secretly spat a few times, worried about their own ominous thoughts, but more importantly, they felt that Sima Yi was a little reckless and were afraid that Sima Yi had lost his mind in his eagerness for revenge.

"Do you think I've gone crazy?" Sima Yi said with a smile, "A temporary success or failure is not enough to make me feel helpless and at a loss. Well, let me ask you, the Cao army is on high alert for the transit camp, and even transferred cavalry from the front line to defend it. What does this mean?"

"What does that mean?" the guard asked subconsciously, and then he was stuck. Something seemed to flash through his mind, but he couldn't grasp the key point.

"My third brother..." Sima Yi said, and then seemed to choke and pause, "When he was a child, he had a habit of hiding fun and delicious things... After all, I have many brothers..."

The guard fell silent.

"He always thinks that we don't know where he hides things..." Sima Yi laughed, but his laughter was a little dry and bitter. "In fact, we all know... He can't help but look and guard that place... The more he doesn't want others to find out, the more he will expose something..."

There was silence.

After a moment, the guard whispered, "But, Sir, even if it's us... we don't have enough food now, and Captain Hao's dry food is probably... what should we do?"

"Easy!" Sima Yi opened his mouth, revealing a few big teeth, and blurted out one word, "Rob!"

"Rob?" The guard didn't understand. "Cao's army has concentrated the food and grass in those camps... Sir, are you saying that you want to rob the food transport team? If they transport food once every ten days or half a month, won't we all have to... do that?"

Sima Yi shook his head, "If we encounter a grain team, we will certainly rob them. But there are still some places in Hedong that have grain and grass..."

"Ah?" The guard responded, "Sir, are you talking about those gentry? That's right! These guys have joined the rebel army, so they are no longer ours. We should rob or kill them!"

Sima Yi laughed and said, "You are wrong about one thing! It was not us who robbed it, it was Cao's army who robbed it!"

"Cao... huh?" The guard was stunned.

Sima Yi looked back at the flags behind him, "Didn't you notice that the armor and flags used by Cao's army are very similar to ours?"

  Is Hedong rich?

Compared with Jizhou and Yuzhou, Hedong is not rich. After all, Jizhou and Yuzhou are naturally suitable for the development of agriculture, with fertile and flat land, rivers and lakes. In the dynasty dominated by farming, Jizhou and Yuzhou are the "feng shui treasure land" given by God.

However, Hedong has accumulated considerable wealth through trade in recent years.

There is no comparison between the consumption conditions, market varieties, etc. in the Han Dynasty and later generations, so the Hedong gentry would habitually hoard the money they earned as money and grain.

Sima Yi, who was half a Hedong noble, knew this best.

  Even a fool knows that in troubled times, money is of little use, and only food in hand can make one feel at ease, so it is not surprising that the gentry in Hedong have three burrows. Even if Cao's army plundered again and again, and the gentry in Hedong cried louder and louder, but was it really plundered?

Sima Yi smiled and said nothing.

  If Cao's army had really emptied the granaries of the gentry in Hedong, would these gentry families in Hedong still stay here? Food is not something that can be produced by just rummaging around in your pocket, so Sima Yi concluded that these guys must have hidden food!

In the Yuncheng Basin in Hedong, the villages and towns may already be filled with starving people, but these aristocratic families and gentry must still have food and supplies that can be used as supplies along the way.

Sima Yi watched the guards, who had understood something, retreat again. He glanced at them sideways and then turned his gaze back to the front.

He knew that although his guard did not seem to say anything against it, in fact, this guard also represented the thoughts of some of Sima Yi's soldiers.

After all, it was Sima Yi who failed last time...

People are so strange.

If you can always succeed, then there is nothing to say, but if you fail once halfway, the previous success will be completely overturned and then turn to another extreme.

Although Sima Yi was very determined in this action, his soldiers had some concerns. This was understandable. They could have returned to Emei Mountain safely and rested for a while, but now they had to follow Sima Yi and make a big detour into the area controlled by Cao's army. It was inevitable that they had some concerns.

If Sima Yi had always won before, they would have just listened to whatever Sima Yi said. Now that Sima Yi had lost once, they would have thought that Sima Yi's previous victories were all just luck. Sima Yi took the time to explain to the guards, in order to dispel the soldiers' concerns through the guards' mouths.

This is a defeat.

If Sima Yi failed again this time, even if he could escape and save his life, if he wanted to raise his prestige in the army again and make any decisions "against all odds", he would probably be regarded as Sima Yi making a blind move, being "stubborn" and "dictatorial".

  Thinking of this, Sima Yi couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He was only in charge of such a small number of troops, but it was already like this. As a General of Cavalry, he needed to be even more cautious when commanding so many generals and soldiers!

"As the Art of War says, those who have more plans will win, and those who have fewer plans will not win."

  Many people know this sentence, but how many of them will actually do it like the General of Cavalry?

I got excited and started fighting! Kill, kill, kill!

You must know that the higher your position, the more you will have to bear the consequences of victory or defeat.

This is not only true for Sima Yi, but also for Fei Qian and Cao Cao.

It is certainly safe to defend Emei Mountain, but this will not save Sima Yi from his failure. Therefore, Sima Yi must break the common sense of military tactics to find opportunities. He must also have the courage to live in the face of death and dare to do things that ordinary people dare not do. Only then can he break the situation again and establish his prestige...

……

……

The one who stayed behind in the Zhongtiao Mountain camp was Guo Jia.

Guo Jia has not been in good health recently, perhaps due to the influence of the dry climate in Hedong.

He felt very thirsty, but he was still thirsty after drinking a lot of water. Before, he could not drink a water bag a day, but now it has been two or three days, Guo Jia needs to drink at least three water bags a day... In fact, Guo Jia's thirst is because his mouth and nose are not adapted to the dry climate of the loess land in Hedong, so it is only his "mouth and nose" that are thirsty, not his real body. However, the large amount of water Guo Jia drank actually increased the burden on his body, especially his kidneys.

But Guo Jia still couldn't get a good rest.

Because some soldiers came to report that some Hedong gentry in the Zhangyangchi area of ​​Puban came to cry and complain that they had been robbed by Cao's army.

The looting of Cao's army was not big news. After all, there were many guys in Cao's army who would even attack their "comrades-in-arms", so looting was simply the most normal thing. But the problem was that sometimes three or four Hedong gentry were robbed in succession within one day.

Something is wrong with this.

Guo Jia couldn't help but frown.

"Are you sure it's Cao's army? Who's leading them?"

"Reporting to the military advisor, it was General Xie and Commandant Cao... and it is said that General Xie said that he has already captured Puban, and now he is collecting military supplies, recruiting people, and preparing to attack Emei Ridge..."

"What a bastard!" Guo Jia suddenly felt a headache, "How can you advance without a military order?!"

The soldier who came to report the news lowered his head and said nothing.

The world is in chaos now, and among the princes in Shandong, Cao's army is considered to have a very good military and political system, otherwise it would not have defeated the two Yuans. But even so, Cao Cao is still known for his strict military law and places the greatest emphasis on military discipline.

It seems to be so on the surface, but in fact, anyone who understands a little bit knows that, generally speaking, the more something is lacking, the more it will be emphasized.

Just like people without conscience often emphasize that others should check their conscience, the most unreasonable people often shout whether they can still be reasonable.

Cao Cao emphasized military discipline, but when it came to generals like the Xiahou clan and the Cao clan who were unfortunately defeated, he would always angrily scold and curse them in public, and then let the executioners take them out with a righteous look, and then Xun Yu, Guo Jia or some other civil and military officials would immediately come forward to say, "Spare their lives..."

  The speed of the executioner's movements requires a lot of skill. Who among my family members understands this?

Therefore, in such a situation, military discipline only applies to subordinates, not superiors; to outsiders, not insiders. Therefore, it is a normal reaction for Jie Xun to look for an opportunity to turn the tables and improve his record after his previous defeat. It is not that surprising.

But this kind of thing... is very troublesome.

Cao Cao led the army forward in order to draw out the cavalry for a decisive battle, but Jie Xin's actions might have triggered something in advance, or made Cao Cao's rear unstable...

Cao Cao left Guo Jia in the rear, on the one hand to take care of Guo Jia's health, and on the other hand because he needed someone to sit at the rear line. Now that there was trouble at the rear line, Guo Jia naturally could not ignore it.

However, Guo Jia could not tell the Hedong gentry that Jie Yan had shown mercy. After all, he had only robbed money and food, and had not killed people, burned houses, or silenced them. This was already considered quite polite.

You should know that it is not uncommon for Cao's army to cause thousands of miles of barren land in other places.

The most crucial point is the food reserves hidden by these gentry, which Guo Jia also knows...

Because Guo Jia also has to consider Lao Cao’s retreat!

If the situation on the front line was unfavorable, then Lao Cao would have to take some food and grass with him when he retreated, otherwise how could the army maintain its morale? So these "pig dogs" were not blind to Guo Jia, but were left behind intentionally in case of emergency.

  Now, a few of them have been killed by "Jie Xun". If this causes panic among the "pig dogs", and the whole plan is ruined, what should we do?

Guo Jia thought about it and could only say that he would deal with it, and then painted a big cake, letting those crying gentry take the big cake and go back first. After all, what is there to say to "pig dog"?

  Guo Jia immediately dispatched troops and ordered Jie Xin and Cao Ping to garrison in Puyang and not to act rashly!

As for the issue of looting, Guo Jia did not mention it, and there was no need to talk about it at this point in time. After all, the most important thing now was to ensure the needs of Lao Cao on the front line.

However, Guo Jia seemed to feel that this matter was somewhat strange, but the messy affairs in the rear camp quickly turned his attention in other directions.

……

……

To the northeast of Zhangyang Lake is the Sushui River.

There is a valley in the Sushui River.

The weather has been dry for some time now and the water level has dropped, so Sima Yi hid here with three hundred pairs of horse archers.

This is a relatively hidden place.

The presence of water and grass can alleviate some of the pressure on food and fodder. The key is that after walking along the river bank for a while, the river water will cover up some traces for Sima Yi and his party. Even if Cao's army wants to follow the horses' hooves to track them down, they may not be able to find Sima Yi and his party's hiding place.

Sima Yi was not familiar with this kind of place. Only the Qiang people who were running around and were very familiar with the water and grass in Hedong knew about this kind of place...

That’s right, among Sima Yi’s three hundred men, some were Baishi Qiang people.

Except for their poor combat skills, these Qiang people are good in other aspects, especially in identifying terrain and directions, and they don't even need a map.

Of course, even if you give the Qiang people a map, they won’t be able to understand it.

Originally, the Qiang people did not have much interest in the conflicts among the Han people. However, Cao's subordinates were not strong enough. When they saw the Qiang people, they were like a bear seeing honey. They caused trouble to many scattered tribal families of the Qiang people. As a result, the Baishi Qiang now hate Cao's army with gnashing teeth whenever they mention it.

After all, Cao's army is short of horses...

Sima Yi is now gradually approaching Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain camp, but if he really wants to threaten Cao's Zhongtiao Mountain camp, he still needs an opportunity, an opportunity that can allow him to get close enough to the Zhongtiao Mountain camp.

At the beginning, Sima Yi wanted to keep an eye on Cao Cao's grain transport team to do something, but Sima Yi found that Cao Cao was very cunning. Cao Cao divided the grain transport routes into three routes. One was Yuxiang, which was close to the Sushui River. The middle one was Yixian County, and the other one was on the other side of the salt lake...

Unless Sima Yi has deployed men on all three routes, he can only rely on luck to cut off Cao's food supply.

"This old thief..."

Sima Yi muttered to himself, very dissatisfied.

Therefore, if you really want to attack the transit camp, you have to knock out the three camps on the three routes in one go. Otherwise, it will only be painful for Cao Cao, but not fatal.

Sima Yi had only so many troops, and even if Hao Zhao was included, his number would only be doubled. Moreover, the dry food that Hao Zhao brought with him was almost used up. If he had not pretended to be Cao's army with Sima Yi and looted some food and grass, they would probably have difficulty in supply and would have to retreat.

It was late at night, and Hao Zhao came back after exploring the surroundings.

"The Zhongtiaoshan camp is heavily guarded." Hao Zhao whispered, "I led some people to try it out. Even if they pretended to be Cao's soldiers, they couldn't get away with it. They have a special way of identifying... I don't know what it is, but there must be one."

Sima Yi nodded, he believed what Hao Zhao said.

Hao Zhaoneng has been hanging around the Zhongtiao Mountain camp for so many days without making any major mistakes, which shows that he is really capable.

In history, Sima Yi was undoubtedly many times more brilliant than Hao Zhao. After all, Hao Zhao only had a moment of glory at Chencang before he left the battlefield and died without any chance to display his abilities. Hao Zhao had only a few soldiers under his command at that time, and although he had the advantage of terrain, his opponent was Zhuge Liang. As a result, Hao Zhao resisted Zhuge Liang, resisting the attack of tens of thousands with only one thousand soldiers, and dragged on for more than 20 days until the arrival of reinforcements...

At this moment, Hao Zhao gradually proved his abilities in this battle. After he joined forces with Sima Yi, Sima Yi was willing to listen to Hao Zhao's advice.

At the beginning, Sima Yi just wanted to unify the two's thoughts and facilitate the next step of the battle, but Sima Yi did not expect that Hao Zhao had come up with a brilliant plan in the past few days, which made Sima Yi admire him...

(End of this chapter)