Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 110 The art of war is nothing more than misleading the enemy in many ways.

Weibei.

The Wei army marched in with great force.

They stopped eleven or twelve li from the Han army camp.

There happened to be a small grove of trees there, suitable for logging and setting up camp. The soldiers and laborers were ordered to go in and begin logging and gathering firewood.

There are still two hours until dark, so we'll camp here tonight.

A distance of over thirty miles is certainly not enough to just decide to send troops and start fighting immediately.

More than two thousand tiger and leopard cavalry, mixed with barbarian cavalry, approached to about eight or nine li away, then dispersed in all directions, each finding a place to water and feed their horses.

It was already late afternoon, which is the time for the second meal of the day.

The cavalrymen took out their rations from their bags and began to eat them with the river water.

Many cavalrymen who cherished their warhorses ate very little themselves but fed their horses a great deal.

Warhorses that are allowed to roam freely spend most of their day grazing, barely managing to maintain their body condition.

In wartime, when the time for grazing is short and the time for exercise is long, it is necessary to eat refined grains such as rice, flour, and soybeans. If they are only allowed to graze freely, they will quickly lose weight, and their strength and speed will decrease.

Sima Yi brought more than 3,000 horses, which would require the food of 16,000 to 17,000 people.

Due to the prolonged stalemate and the difficulty in transporting grain, both the Han and Wei sides faced a severe shortage of food.

Therefore, even Sima Yi could not let all several thousand cavalrymen roam freely every day. Instead, most of them were allowed to graze in the wild, which allowed Wei Yan to seize the opportunity to wipe out an elite scout cavalry force.

After Zhou Tai finished watering his horse, he took out a millet cake from his pocket, took a couple of bites himself, and then threw it all to his warhorse before going to the Wei River to scoop up a handful of water to drink.

"It's so hot today," said Wang Guan, a junior officer in the General's Office, wiping away sweat.

Zhou Tai stood up, wiped his mouth, and looked at the Han army resting in formation in the distance: "The Shu bandits have been in formation for more than half a day. Under such sun, their physical strength and energy will be depleted quickly. If we send elite cavalry to harass them, we may be able to win a small victory."

Wang Guan also looked at the Han army: "When the Shu bandits saw our army coming to challenge them, they did not flee without a fight as General Piaoji had predicted. That means they want to fight."

"They might have their two thousand or so cavalrymen right now in the camp, waiting for us to arrive."

Zhou Tai pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.

The Shu bandits also had more than two thousand cavalry. Although they were not elite, they were well-rested and ready to fight. In a battle, the Wei would still suffer losses.

Moreover... the Shu bandits had many crossbows.

Wang Guan stared intently in the direction of the Shu army: "I still think we shouldn't go out of the camp to ambush them. Holding our ground will ensure our survival. Why risk coming out?"

Zhou Tai thought for a moment, then looked towards the Wei River, and after a long while spoke:
"I have heard that there is a severe drought in Guandong, and all the rivers are showing signs of drying up. As a result, it will be difficult for the prefectures and counties to transport the grain to Aocang."

“There is not much grain left to transport to Guanzhong from Aocang and Hanjiacang. If the Shu bandits hold their ground and do not fight, my tens of thousands of troops may not be able to hold out against them for long.”

"Sima Gong's intention should be to take the initiative to attack and drive back the Shu bandits. In this way, the Shu bandits near Chang'an will also retreat, the pressure on Chang'an will be reduced, and troops and food can be reduced."

The Great Wei still has 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers and auxiliary troops in Guanzhong, and 30,000 to 40,000 laborers, which means more than 100,000 mouths to feed.

If the Shu bandits can be driven back, the tens of thousands of defeated soldiers under Guanqiu Jian, Xiahou Mao, Linghu Yu, and Niu Jin will no longer need to remain in Chang'an.

Even if we retreat to Guandong, or simply retreat to Hedong and Hongnong for food, we can save a lot of grain.

They don't have much fighting power and can only play a defensive role, but now that the Shu bandits are putting pressure on Chang'an, they really can't do without them.

Upon hearing this, Wang Guan also glanced at the Wei River.

While the rivers in the Kanto region are showing signs of drying up, the water levels in the Kansai region have not dropped much.

If the drought spreads to Guanzhong, although it will be difficult for the Great Wei to transport grain to Chang'an, the pseudo-Han will also have difficulty transporting grain to the front lines in Chang'an. This war in Guanzhong will most likely end because of this weather.

But the timing was not right.

Is Heaven also helping the false Han?

He had recently heard of the absurd prophecy that "when the Luo River dries up, a sage will appear."

Thinking of this, Wang Guan sighed:
"This year, there is a severe drought in the Guandong region. Based on past experience, a locust plague is expected next year."

"As the saying goes, 'If you suffer from disaster for a year, it will be hard to recover in three years.' The Shu bandits came to invade from the north, and Sun Quan also took the opportunity to raid Xiangyang."

"Our Great Wei is fighting on multiple fronts and is also suffering from a severe drought. It is truly in a precarious situation. Even if we win some battles, we don't know how we will survive the next few years."

Zhou Tai frowned: "Wang Congshi's words are too discouraging. No matter how difficult the times are, can they be as difficult as the Battle of Guandu between Emperor Taizu and Yuan Shao?"

"Now that our army has marched out of the camp to ambush them, Zhuge Liang thinks he has succeeded in his plan and has already fallen into Sima Yi's trap. The turning point is coming soon."

After speaking, Zhou Tai mounted his horse and led three hundred elite cavalry to inspect the battlefield and seize the high ground.

Not far to the north is Mawei Slope, where a small-scale scouting battle took place in the morning, resulting in the complete annihilation of the Wei scouts.

More than a hundred Wei scouts went to seize the high ground and control the line of sight. Not long after, the Shu bandits sent more than two hundred cavalry to fight to the death and recapture the high ground.

That location offers a commanding view of the entire battlefield; whoever controls it will have a significant advantage in terms of visibility.

Once the two armies clash, the cavalry on the plateau can easily find the best opportunity to enter the fray and can even use the plateau to flank the enemy from behind, making it a strategically vital location.

This was also the first time that the Shu bandits had used cavalry at such a cost to seize strategic location.

This shows that the Shu bandits did indeed intend to engage in a decisive battle with the Wei Dynasty north of the Wei River.

After all, the Great Wei had already fallen for his strategy of luring the enemy deep into their territory and had taken the initiative to come out of their camp to ambush them. If they did not seize this opportunity to fight with a proper battle formation, were they going to wait until the Great Wei retreated before attacking their stronghold?

Upon arriving at Mawei Slope, they were not stopped.

Upon reaching the plateau, they discovered that over two hundred Shu cavalrymen were already entangled with over one hundred Tiger and Leopard Cavalry led by Wen Qin.

Wen Qin was in pursuit, while the Shu cavalry were fleeing.

Clearly, Wen Qin's flank maneuver to lure the enemy from behind was successful.

The location wasn't ideal, and further away, Shu cavalry had already arrived to meet them, and their numbers were greater than theirs.

Zhou Tai frowned. The Shu bandits were really willing to pay any price to fight for this plateau. He should have brought more men with him.

Without thinking too much, he hurriedly rode forward to meet Wen Qin. Wen Qin seemed to be out of sight of the approaching cavalry. It was hard to say whether the Shu bandits had fallen for a trap or the Wei had fallen for one.

Several hundred cavalrymen from Shu and Wei immediately clashed. The Shu cavalry were slightly inferior to the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in archery and horsemanship, but they seemed to know that they were in ambush and had reinforcements from behind, so their fighting spirit was much higher than that of the Wei cavalry.

Wen Qin and Zhou Tai had no choice but to give up the entanglement and led the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to fight and retreat. They were chased by the Shu cavalry for five or six miles before the more than a thousand cavalry left behind by the Great Wei received the news and came to their aid. Only then did the Shu cavalry finally retreat.

Only then did the Great Wei finally gain a foothold on this plateau.

However, the Shu cavalry did not leave the plateau. This plateau was very large, dozens of miles wide. The Shu bandits only retreated to a dozen miles away, which was directly north of the Shu bandit camp. Obviously, it was impossible for the Wei cavalry to have the opportunity to approach and monitor them from a high vantage point.

If we were to actually go there, it would probably be a brutal battle. It's not that we couldn't win, but that's not how cavalry is used.

Upon tallying the battle losses, the Great Wei suffered seventy casualties, while the Shu invaders left behind more than sixty corpses.

In terms of numbers, they were evenly matched, but the fact that the elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were being sacrificed for the worthless lives of the Qiang cavalry was heartbreaking for Wen Qinzhou and his men.

However, it must be said that following the preliminary battle, another cavalry battle is about to begin, and the Wei army can already feel the tense atmosphere on the eve of a major battle. (Late night)

The Chinese military tent.

Zhou Taihe and his clothes were on the mat when they went to sleep.

Suddenly, a guard entered the tent: "Reporting to the military advisor, the scouts have reported that a large number of Shu bandits have been seen moving continuously from Weinan to Weibei!"

After a moment's thought, Zhou Tai immediately ordered his men to summon Wang Guan, Chen Gui, Sun Li, and other officials, and informed them of the news.

"The Shu bandits are mobilizing troops at night; are they trying to catch us off guard?" Wang Guan asked. "Could they attack the camp before dawn?"

Both sides' camps are currently unstable, and the Shu bandits are highly motivated to fight, so they may indeed launch an attack on the camp.

Zhou Tai thought for a moment and said, "I don't think so. It's probably because the Weibei forces are insufficient, but they don't want us to find out their strength, so they mobilized troops at night and informed the General of the Cavalry first."

In fact, since the Shu bandits did not abandon their camp and flee as General Piaoji had predicted, their mission had become to hold their ground.

If the Shu bandits were to come with a large army and form a formidable battle formation to engage in open warfare, the safest course of action would be for them to either retreat directly to their fortified camp twenty miles away and hold their ground, which would be the most prudent course of action.

Otherwise, they could stall the Shu bandits, buying time for the General of the Flying Cavalry to raid their southern camp—a high-risk, high-reward strategy.

East of the reed marshes.

Wei army's main camp.

The Chinese military tent.

Zhou Tai's personal guards reported to Sima Yi that the Shu army had mobilized troops at night.

"General of the Flying Cavalry, it's almost dawn. Should we immediately mobilize our troops? The Shu bandits' southern camp is undefended; it's the perfect opportunity to seize it!" Zhou Dang exclaimed excitedly upon hearing the news.

All signs indicate that the Shu bandits have fallen for their feint attack and have moved their main force to the north bank of the Wei River.

Wei Ping hesitated for a moment before finally speaking: "General of the Cavalry, now that the main force of the Shu bandits has reached the north of the Wei River, can we stop my four thousand soldiers who are lying in ambush in the reeds?"

His four thousand soldiers had already entered the reed marshes in the first half of the night and found several sandbars to settle down.

It's stuffy, humid, and hot, with mosquitoes, flies, leeches, and all sorts of things. It's really not a place for humans to stay, but I have to admit, it's definitely suitable for ambushes.

After all, the reed marshes were quite large, and even if Zhuge Liang knew there was an ambush there, he wouldn't be able to find them in a short time.

If you dare to rush in without knowing the strength of the ambush force or the terrain, you'll only be wasting your energy and it's just suicide.

Sima Yi smiled and said, "Continue the ambush. I expect the main force of the Shu bandits will come to seize my main camp here."

Generals Wei Ping, Zhou Dang, and Jia Xu, as well as the brothers Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, were all momentarily stunned, not understanding why.

"General of the Cavalry, didn't Zhou Tai and his men just discover that the Shu bandits in the southern camp are crossing the pontoon bridge to reinforce Weibei?"

"That's right, General of the Cavalry. All two thousand cavalrymen from Shu have been sent to the Weibei Plateau to compete with Wen Qin and his men for strategic advantage. Doesn't this mean they want to fight us in a decisive battle in Weibei?"

The generals started discussing among themselves.

Zhou Tai and his men made a great show of force, dispersed their ranks, and brought many auxiliary soldiers and laborers with them. Their cavalry was also all stationed north of the Wei River. There was no reason for the Shu army not to believe that Zhou Tai and his men were the main force of the Great Wei.

The military actions of the Shu army indeed showed that they wanted to fight a decisive battle in the north of the Wei River.

How did this General of the Cavalry determine that Zhuge Liang would attack from Weinan?
Once everyone had quieted down, Sima Yi smiled confidently and said, "If Zhuge Liang were to mobilize troops to the north of the Wei River during the day, then I would believe that he intends to fight me in the north of the Wei River."

"But he deliberately mobilized troops at night, which is enough to show that his actions and the determination he showed were nothing more than a feint; his real target was our camp."

The crowd still didn't understand.

"But... didn't General Flying Cavalry and Zhou Tai's men see the Shu bandits crossing the wooden bridge and mobilizing troops from south to north?"

Sima Yi stroked his beard and smiled:

"The art of war is to employ deception and realism."

"Such as making the real appear real and the illusory appear real, or making a show of force and feinting to the east while attacking in the west, there are countless ways to describe this."

"But in short, it is nothing more than trying to mislead the enemy and make them misjudge. This is what the art of war calls 'to control the enemy without being controlled by them.'"

"There is only one objective: to use our own sharp edge to defeat the enemy's weak force."

"To put it bluntly, the best military strategy is to use the strong to bully the weak. All the tricks and schemes are just means to create the situation of the strong bullying the weak."

"Therefore, I was able to make a great show of force and raise a lot of dust, so that the Shu bandits would think that my main force was all north of the Wei River."

"Zhuge Liang could also use deception to make us see that his army had moved from Weinan to Weibei."

Everyone paused for a moment.

What other illusions can be used on a bridge?

Sima Yi continued:

"Wei Ping, continue the ambush."

"Our main force only needs to wait in comfort behind these high walls and deep trenches, and wait for Zhuge Liang to find his own way to his death."

Jia Xu asked, "General of the Flying Cavalry, if the Shu bandits really come, wouldn't it be too passive to just wait in the camp?"

"Should we reinforce the Mangshui River and strike Zhuge Liang halfway across it?"

Mangshui is to the Wei army camp what Xieshui is to Wuzhangyuan. If the Shu army wants to come over, they must wade through the water. The Wei can use a strategy of layered blocking to wear down the Shu army first.

Sima Yi shook his head: "No need. Zhuge Liang is already on his way. If we send troops there now, wouldn't that be like stirring up trouble?"
"Furthermore, what if we win a small victory by defeating the enemy halfway across the river, which would scare Zhuge Liang away? Wouldn't that be a loss outweighing the gain?"
"Let the soldiers stationed along the Mangshui River sleep when they should, be on guard when they should, gather firewood when they should, and eat when they should. If the Shu bandits come, fight them; if they can't win, run away. Just keep everything as usual."

"The rest of you should go back and rest, be ready for battle, and wait for Zhuge Liang to arrive."

"Yes!" the generals responded, and then went to prepare for various matters before taking a nap.

After all the generals had left, Sima Shi asked:
"Father, will the Shu bandits really come to seize our camp?"

"Could it be that the camp north of the Wei River is the target of the Shu bandits?"

"Our army's two camps, north and south, are only connected by a few wooden bridges, and no fire prevention measures have been taken."

"Will the Shu bandits, like Zhang He, use fire ships to burn down our wooden bridge, cutting off communication between our northern and southern camps, and then launch a full-scale attack on the northern camp?"

The Wei's grain transport ships were already in short supply due to repeated plundering by the Shu bandits; they were not even enough to transport enough grain. Unlike the Shu Kingdom, they could not use dozens of grain ships for fire prevention.

Of course, another reason is that fire prevention is generally unnecessary. Both camps are very sturdy and cannot be taken down in three to five days. If they are burned down, they can be rebuilt in a day, which is much cheaper.

Sima Yi shook his head:

"Zhuge Liang made many moves in one day, all of which were to tell the generals of Wei that his main force was indeed in the north, and that he really wanted to fight us in open field battles."

"This is the act of a righteous and brave general. Zhuge Liang, who considers himself a man of strategy, would not do this. He must have other intentions."

"Since all the generals believe that Zhuge Liang is in the north, then he must be in the south."

"As for that wooden bridge, let him burn it if he wants to. If he doesn't burn it, how can he be determined to launch a strong attack on my fortified village?"

(End of this chapter)