My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 549: Let Cao's bandits be defeated before they reach Hanzhong

Ma Chao took off his sword and bowed deeply to Liu Bei, who then comforted him with kind words.

Knowing that Ma Chao was still "faking his death", Liu Bei did him a favor and said on the spot:

"Nephew, don't worry too much. Since you are faking your death, I will certainly not let you show up. I can understand your difficulties. In order to coerce your father, Cao Cao pretended to swear by pointing to the Yellow River in Hongnong, asking Brother Shoucheng to kill you before he could pardon the entire Ma family. This matter has been spread all over the world.

If Brother Shoucheng knew that you were still alive, and he didn't fight hard, he would inevitably be threatened by Cao Cao. This kind of father-son fratricide should be avoided if possible, and delayed if possible. Even if this kind of thing is beneficial to me, I will not use it!
My dear nephew, please stay patient for a few months until the situation between our army and Cao is reversed. Then, whether you want to fight again or show your face again, I will not stop you. I just hope that you will not resent your father, who was also at the mercy of others and trapped by Cao, so he had no choice but to do so. "

When Liu Bei said this, his tone was still very calm.

Now, more than two months have passed since Cao Cao and Ma Teng made the Hongnong oath. This kind of public oath in front of hundreds of thousands of soldiers could not be kept secret, and there would always be people gossiping, so two months was enough for the news to reach Liu Bei's ears.

Liu Bei also knew that if the news that Ma Chao was still alive was spread, it would force the relationship between Cao Cao and Ma Teng to become tense again. Even if Cao Cao did not want to deal with Ma Teng immediately, it would embarrass them.

But Liu Bei didn't want the conflict between Cao Cao and Ma Teng to explode at this moment. He had already discussed this matter with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, and there was a better time to detonate it.

He can buy time for a few months and wait for a time when Cao Cao is weaker and more vulnerable.

This can not only maximize the effect, but also do a favor. The key is that it can further strengthen Liu Bei's reputation of not taking advantage of others in times of crisis, and reassure the wavering princes in the world.

(Note: The “not taking advantage of others’ danger” here does not mean not taking advantage of Cao Cao’s danger, but not taking advantage of Ma Teng’s danger.)
Why couldn't Cao Cao recruit Ma Chao? It was because he liked to take advantage of others' misfortunes and used the princes who later surrendered to him as cannon fodder.

Liu Bei was determined to go against Cao Cao on this point, so that the sons of other princes would have a greater chance of recognizing him as their uncle in the future and he would be able to unite more people.

This was the conspiracy that Zhuge Liang designed for Liu Bei.

Saying these words to Ma Chao was just another concrete implementation of this idea. In fact, Liu Bei was such a person from beginning to end and had not changed.

When Ma Chao heard Liu Bei's statement in person, he naturally became more grateful. Even though he was originally a rather rebellious and selfish person, he was now truly and completely convinced.

"My uncle's generosity is rare in the world! After being reborn as a human being for thirty years, I have witnessed such a noble and upright person for the first time.

Chao begs my uncle to send another general to temporarily take over the troops brought by my nephew to assist my brother in defending Dazhong. My nephew is willing to remain anonymous for the time being and follow the army until my uncle needs me to participate in the counterattack! "

Ma Chao had completely pledged his allegiance. Since he came here with a sincere heart and knew that he had a bad reputation in the past, he had to try his best to appear to be completely unreserved.

Anyway, he only had 4,000 elite cavalrymen from Xiliang left, and he couldn't make any waves with just these few men. It would be better for him to act openly and let Liu Bei's generals supervise the army.

Moreover, as long as Liu Bei sent someone to supervise the army, another benefit would be brought: if Cao Cao suddenly took the route from Tianshui in the following months, went south across Qishan to attack Dazhong, and Ma Dai's 4,000 men could not defend it, then Liu Bei would definitely send another mountain warfare force to assist in the defense.

In a battle in the mountainous basin between Qishan and Minshan, it would be difficult for cavalry to exert their combat effectiveness. It would be much easier if there were mountain soldiers to help. It would be better to send Qingqiang soldiers from the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western Sichuan, which would be more suitable.

(Note: Qing Qiang soldiers are also a local barbarian mountain warfare unit in Yizhou. They are very elite and are on par with Qiang people (Bandun barbarians). Liu Zhang had Qing Qiang soldiers under his command. Zhuge Liang also used them in history. They are mentioned in "The Later Expedition". Qing Qiang people are a mountain ethnic group on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.)
Ma Chao was using his last chips to pledge his loyalty to his country before losing everything in exchange for a better future. He was only in his early thirties, so he had to consider this issue.

Liu Bei naturally accepted all these good intentions and comforted Ma Chao: "My dear nephew, just sit back and watch our army defeat the enemy first. When we counterattack, you will naturally be of use to us."

Then, Liu Bei ordered a banquet to welcome Ma Chao. Zhang Fei, Gan Ning and other powerful generals also had some verbal discussions with Ma Chao to deepen their understanding of each other.

……

After completely winning over and appeasing Ma Chao, Liu Bei turned all his attention to the impending decisive battle between Cao and Liu.

In fact, to be precise, Liu Bei had already devoted most of his energy to this matter more than ten days before he won over Ma Chao. Appeasing Ma Chao was just a small episode that did not take up much time and energy.

Liu Bei’s military intelligence system was always keeping track of Cao’s army’s advancing speed and troop size.

After Cao Cao completely stabilized the situation in Guanzhong, his army began to enter the Qinling Valley from Chencang along Sanguan one by one, trying to cross the Qinling Mountains to support Xiahou Yuan in Hanzhong.

Because in the Qinling Mountains, Liu Bei's troops had absolute advantages in mobility and flexibility, the reconnaissance work was naturally very smooth, and the movements of Cao's army could not be concealed.

Cao Cao's vanguard had just passed Dasan Pass and was less than a hundred miles away when they had already found out the number of Cao's troops, how they were divided into several parts, and who the main generals of each part were.

One day in early June, Liu Bei received a report: the total number of Cao's troops was approximately between 210,000 and 220,000, which was 10,000 or 20,000 less than originally expected. This was probably due to the additional losses caused by the battle with Ma Chao.

According to Cao Cao's original intention, he wanted to mobilize 200,000 troops from Guanxi and Heluo, and 30,000 elite troops from Xiliang, totaling 230,000 troops, to march south.

A civil war that lasted for a month and a half reduced the number of Xiliang troops by nearly 10,000, and Cao Cao's direct troops also lost several thousand men, leaving only 210,000 men.

This was even after Ma Teng was squeezed out of his entourage and exhausted all resources to help Cao Cao to fulfill his promise. If Ma Teng had not recruited additional troops, even this amount would not have been enough.

The vanguard of the 210,000-strong Cao army was none other than Pang De, a former Xiliang general, who led 20,000 troops. There was also Liang Xing, who once again betrayed Ma Teng and surrendered to Cao Cao in Chang'an, and another Xiliang surrendered general Yang Qiu. Each of them led 5,000 surrendered soldiers to follow Pang De. The three generals led a total of 30,000 troops to explore the way.

There were another 150,000 troops following, which were Cao Cao's direct troops. They were led by generals such as Le Jin, Xu Huang, and Xu Chu, and accompanied by military advisor Guo Jia, who was responsible for assisting in military affairs.

Then he left behind 30,000 men to guard Chencang City and Sanguan, responsible for the rear of Cao's army.

Yang Fu was the official in charge of Chencang, and he had some young talents defending the city under his command, including Hao Zhao, who was not yet 30 years old. Cao Cao also left a nephew, Cao Zhen, to study with Yang Fu and serve as a military supervisor.

The commander of Sanguan Pass was Cao Cao's other nephew Cao Xiu. Cao Xiu also had some young and capable people under his command who were not well-known now but would emerge in the future, such as Guo Huai, who was just in his early twenties. Finally, the above troops only counted the troops Cao Cao had brought from the north, and did not include the nearly 20,000 remnants of Xiahou Yuan who had been stationed in the Hanzhong Basin. If all were counted, the total strength of Cao's army would still reach more than 230,000.

In contrast, on Liu Bei's side, Liu Bei's own direct troops numbered as many as 100,000.

There were also 20,000 Yizhou troops who surrendered from Wu Yi.

There are also the Bandunman troops who have surrendered to Liu Bei, and the troops recently sent by Yan Yan of Jiangzhou to assist in the battle. These two parts together have nearly 10,000 people.

Finally, there were Ma Chao's 4,000 men, the newly recruited Qing Qiang soldiers, and some of the enemy soldiers who surrendered after Liu Bei arrived at Jiameng Pass. These three parts together numbered 10,000 people.

Therefore, the total number of soldiers in Liu Bei's army reached 140,000.

With 140,000 troops against 230,000, Liu Bei's troops were about 60% of Cao's troops. However, Liu Bei's troops were more suitable for mountain warfare, and had advantages in logistics support and the quality of weapons and equipment.

According to past experience, as long as Liu Bei's army has the advantage in these aspects, there is still hope of defeating the enemy with 60% of the troops.

Therefore, after finding out the enemy's situation, the morale of the entire army was high and they were not afraid of the large numbers of Cao's army.

In addition, in order to welcome Cao Cao's invasion, Liu Bei's side took advantage of the previous preparation period to evacuate the two county towns of Hechi County and Ju County on the Chencang Road.

Of course, only the civilians were evacuated, and some food was left behind to supply the remaining blocking troops. It was enough for the blocking troops to eat for more than half a month, and even if they could not finish it, they could take it with them when they withdrew.

As for the people, nearly 4,000 households were evacuated from Hechi County, and more than 2,000 households were evacuated from Ju County, totaling 7,000 households.

As a result, Cao's army had to travel from Chencang through Sanguan to Yangpingguan, a total distance of more than 350 miles. There was not a single county town for supplies, and even the towns and villages were evacuated.

There was not a single ordinary citizen who could be captured by Cao Cao as a laborer. At most, he could capture some hunters living in seclusion in the mountains and forests to perform hard labor. However, going into the mountains would also consume manpower and time of Cao's army, which would be a loss.

Liu Bei's army even went a step further.

For example, when Chencang Road reaches Hechi County, there is a road that branches off to the west, leading to Xiabian and Wudu, and then to the north out of Qishan to reach Tianshui County. In history, Zhuge Liang took this road when he first went out of Qishan to attack Tianshui.

But this time, Liu Bei's army took advantage of Cao Cao's late arrival and completely emptied Xiabian County, making it impossible for Cao's army to maintain logistics and capture people even if they wanted to take a detour.

Moreover, this operation also cut off the possibility of Ma Teng's troops going south to Qishan and supporting Hanzhong through Wudu and Xiabian. In this way, Liu Bei did not have to worry about Ma Teng interfering at a critical moment.

Although Ma Teng could not provide any troops now, the veteran soldiers of Xiliang were basically assigned by Cao Cao to Pang De's direct command. Even if Ma Teng obeyed the order to come to help, he had no family resources to use. However, being able to prevent Ma Teng and Ma Chao from killing each other again showed Liu Bei's kindness, which would always win people's hearts in the future.

……

"We have finally found out the enemy's situation. Cao's 180,000 troops have finally begun to cross the Qinling Mountains. Pang De, Liang Xing, and Yang Qiu's 30,000 pioneers will be able to reach Hechi in about two days.

Cao Cao's main force of 150,000 soldiers moved even slower, and only started to leave Sanguan yesterday - how do you think we should repel the enemy?"

After sorting out all the intelligence, Liu Bei held the last pre-war military meeting at the Yang'an Pass front line.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others were called together to work together. Even Li Yan, who had no military talent at the time, got the opportunity to attend the meeting.

However, that group of military generals did not attend the meeting much, because Liu Bei also needed to send out generals in advance to take charge of the forward-deployed blocking troops.

Once the decision-makers in the rear have clarified the final strategic arrangements, they only need to send them to the front line by express messenger, and the front-line blocking troops can complete the adjustments within a day or two.

In response to their lord's question, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong thought carefully for a long time and even discussed it in whispers.

Finally, Zhuge Liang summarized and analyzed: "Cao's army was divided into three parts, with Pang De throwing stones to test the water, Cao Cao personally leading the main force, and Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen temporarily responsible for the rear.

At present, Cao Cao's main force is too large, which is not a good thing for our army. In such a big battle, our army's first consideration is to divide the enemy's forces so that it is easier to defeat them one by one.

Therefore, if we can force Cao Cao to divide his forces, strengthen the front or rear army and weaken the center army, it will be of great benefit to the subsequent decisive battle. "

Liu Bei nodded and asked humbly: "Then how can we induce Cao Cao to weaken the central army?"

Zhuge Liang pointed to the map and said to Liu Bei: "Although Hechi County along the way is not strong, we can rely on the Danyang and Qiang soldiers to hold on for a while to delay the advance of the enemy's vanguard Pang De.

The old camp of Wu Yi, including the camp at the entrance to Yangping Pass, was demolished two months ago. Only the bricks, stones and wood were demolished, and the rammed earth walls and trenches were not damaged. Although these camps could not be defended for a long time, they could resist step by step and delay the enemy for a while.

If we can delay the attack at each place for seven or eight days to more than ten days, it will take Cao Jun at least another month to reach Yangping Pass. We can use this time to pretend to rush to attack Yangping Pass, and take advantage of the fact that Cao Jun's army is not well-informed when taking the Chencang Road, so that Cao Jun's generals will misjudge that Xiahou Yuan will not be able to hold out for long.

Cao Cao is anxious to rescue Xiahou Yuan, so he will definitely divide his troops to bypass the city and make a risky advance. For example, he will let Pang De bypass Hechi County and break through to Yangping Pass to see if Xiahou Yuan is really in danger. In this way, we can seize the opportunity and counterattack the enemy troops who are advancing recklessly.

In addition, if Cao's army wanted to enter Hanzhong, they could not only take the Chencang Road, but also the Baoxie Road and the Tangluo Road. These two roads directly pass through the mountains north of Hanzhong, and can directly enter the Hanzhong Basin without even passing through Yangping Pass. It was only because these two roads were plank roads, which were narrower and more difficult to travel than the Chencang Road, and could not be passed by carts, so it was impossible to transport food by cart. Cao Cao insisted on letting the main force take the Chencang Road.

Once we create the illusion that "Hanzhong is in danger, Yangping Pass is in danger", Pang De will find it difficult to quickly break through the layers of resistance of our army and join Xiahou Yuan. By then, Cao Cao will be worried and confused, and may adjust the deployment, let part of the central and rear troops change the route, first go from Guanzhong along Weinan to the north entrance of Baoxiade, and then take the plank road into Hanzhong.

Cao's army changed its marching route before the battle, and had to go around in a circle, which would inevitably result in the separated troops being unable to participate in the frontal battle for a while. If our army can seize the opportunity of Cao's army's adjustment and division and seek an opportunity to fight Cao's army in the field, we may be able to defeat them one by one and weaken part of Cao's army. "

(End of this chapter)