Chapter 78: Battle of Weinan (10)

"Your Majesty, the Wei River is now shallow. I will go to Weibei in person to destroy Feng Xi's navy, Ma Chao and Wang Ping, and ask Your Majesty to stand firm in the camp and wait for good news." Sima Yi said in the tent.

"Your dear, just go. If you win this battle, your dear will be the first of your achievements." Cao Pi nodded and said.

Sima Yi led his army north that day, crossed the river from Weikou, and joined Guo Huai in Linjin, preparing to attack Ma Chao and others. It turned out that when Cao Zhang was commanding the troops, the cavalry camps were directly under Zhang. After Cao Zhang left his post, this position belonged to Cao Tai, the son of Cao Ren. Sima Yi summoned Guo Huai and Cao Tai to arrange the affairs of Weibei.

Sima Yi ordered Cao Tai to pretend to cross the Luo River and attack Xia Zhi. He led 3,000 elite troops to attack Feng Xi's navy camp.

Cao Tai said: "The elite cavalry soldiers, facing the real battle, are like hammers that break a city or axes that open a mountain. They will make contributions to the critical survival and death, and will not attack."

Sima Yi said: "If you have the ability, you will attack the river directly."

Cao Tai shook his head and said, "There is no boat or bridge in the Xiaoqi camp. How can you cross the river? Can you dare to go down and get into trouble? The Xiaoqi camp is your personal army, how can you be controlled at will?"

Sima Yi was furious and knew that he was a direct subordinate of the Cao family and looked down on him, a person with a foreign surname. He thought to himself that Cao Yu, the commander of the central camp who was named the king, followed the orders when he saw him, let alone you, a child? But he smiled and said, "Since you want to attack head-on, I will build five floating bridges for you to cross the river, and you may defeat Ma Chao's army head-on?"

Cao Tai said: "The Cavalry Camp is invincible and has never failed. However, Ma Chao has been guarding the pontoon bridge. Every time our army's pontoon bridge is about to be built, it will be burned by him. If you build a pontoon bridge, I will defeat Ma Chao."

Sima Yi said: "What's the difficulty?"

At that moment, Sima Yi ordered Sima Shi to lead three thousand troops overnight, each of whom raised a torch and headed north to push Pucheng. He also sent him to cross the river and set up five floating bridges.

When Ma Chao heard the news, he smiled and said, "The Wei army is very deceitful. People who are advancing north will be suspicious. The man will build a bridge overnight and wait for me to burn him." As a result, there was a secret report, and the enemy troops built a bridge on the Luo River. All the generals were convinced.

Ma Chao led his army straight to the floating bridge, scattered the enemy's troops, and a fire burned away, and the floating bridge was scattered. Sima Yi was defeated and returned. At this time, the fire broke out in the north, but Sima Shi attacked Pucheng at night. Ma Chao retreated from his troops and ordered Wang Ping to advance north to defend.

Sima Yi returned to the army, Cao Tai smiled and said, "What's the trick of me?" Sima Yi sneered, "Look at it again at dawn."

At dawn, I saw that the floating bridge by the river had been built. It turned out that Sima Yi built bridges at the same time at the two bends of the river, with boats and wooden boats downstream, and cable bridges upstream with iron cables on the river upstream. Therefore, he deceived Ma Chao.

So Cao Tai crossed the river at dawn and attacked Ma Chao head-on. From morning to dusk, he did not decide the victory or defeat, and they each quit. Cao Tai failed to achieve success and was furious. He went to Sima Yi's camp in person and asked Sima why he did not move together and only allowed his own team to attack, which made it difficult to achieve success. However, he heard the generals in the camp say, "Pushe is no longer in the army. Pushe said, the bridge has been set up. If the young general can achieve success, he will make achievements. If he cannot achieve success, he will retreat to Hexi."

Cao Tai said angrily: "I can defeat Ma Chao without your help. Prepare for a night battle!" Although Cao Tai is not very capable, the cavalry soldier is extremely powerful. He attacked Ma Chao overnight and Ma Chao could hardly resist the battle. The front line was in danger.

At this time, Sima Yi took advantage of Ma Chao and Cao Tai's attack, and led his army southward to attack Feng Xi. The Wei River was originally shallow, but it was even cut off at this time. Feng Xi's naval army could no longer move on the river and had to retreat to the camp. Sima Yi ordered his troops to set fire overnight, almost breaking through the water camp, burning countless Han army warships, and the fire illuminated the world, which could be seen from far and near.

Ma Chao was unable to save the Han army's water camp, but was deceived by Sima Yi's suspicion of military strategy. The cavalry camp was swept like a cloud and rushed across the river. The combat power was fierce, and he could not defeat him with more and less. In a rage, he personally took the horse and rushed straight to Cao Tai. The cavalry of the tiger camp could not stop him. Cao Tai was so scared that his face looked like earth, and turned around and fled. Ma Chao was about to chase him, but Guo Huai took Chongquan, Lianshao, Sima Shi took Pucheng, and defeated Wang Ping. The Han army was trapped in a heavy siege. Ma Chao had to retreat to Xiaqiu, lead one army northward to rescue Wang Ping. Sima Yi broke the Han army's water camp, led the army back quickly, and wanted to kill Cao Tai. All the generals were dismissed. Sima Yi shouted, "A general only knows how to fight and not use tricks. What's the difference with a common man? Are you obeying now?" Cao Tai bowed.

At this time, the army gathered together, and Sima Yi ordered Ma Chao to capture Ma Chao. Ma Chao protected Wang Ping's remnants and returned to the camp and cut off the rear personally. He was brave and brave, rushing left and right, killing more than 20 famous generals of the Wei army, as if he was entering a no-man's land. Even in frontal attacks, he almost broke through Sima Yi's central army, which made Sima Yi admire his fierceness. But no matter how brave he was, he could not stop the defeat of the Han army. At the moment, the Wei army surrounded Xiaji and attacked the city day and night, and Ma Chao and Wang Ping had their best efforts to deal with it.

One day, fireworks and cannons on the south bank of the river soared into the sky, and then troops from Henan crossed the river to pick them up. Seeing this, Ma Chao led one army to open the south gate and rushed towards the Wei River. Sima Yi was prepared for a long time, and divided the army into two groups. One army repelled Henan reinforcements, and the other army lined up along the river to block Ma Chao's way. Ma Chao could not capture several times, so he had to stop. At this time, Sima Yi in the east, Sima Wang in the west, Ma Chao, and Wang Ping could no longer escape.

At this moment, Sima Yi heard the news and Shangshu Chen Qun sent an envoy to come.

It turned out that after Sima Yi left, Cao Pi fought with the Han army day by day, with few victory and more losses, so he was very angry and pointed at the Han camp and scolded: "Today, Ma Chao and Feng Xi were both defeated. Soon Xiahou Shangjun arrived and met Sima Yi. Sima Wang's four armies surrounded him. See when will you Zhuge Liang be proud?"

Suddenly someone reported that the Han army minister ordered Liu Ba's servant to come. Cao Pi met and asked, "What's the matter? Did you surrender?" The servant said, "No. Although my lord was not in harmony with Liu Bei and his son, he never thought of surrendering." Liu Ba and Liu Bei were not in harmony with Zhang Fei. When Jingzhou was defeated, everyone went south from Liu Bei. He went north alone to Cao Cao. Cao Cao ordered him to go south to defend the city. He said he wanted to avoid Liu Bei and refused to go. Cao Cao said it was okay, I will protect you with the army. As a result, Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi, and this sentence became empty talk. Liu Ba fled to Jiaozhou under his name and then went to Yizhou. Finally, he did not escape Liu Bei's palm.

Everyone knows these things. Cao Pi asked, "What do you do if your lord doesn't surrender?" The servant said, "My lord belongs to Emperor Wu, and he is loyal. After all, Liu Bei is the fate. Today, Your Majesty comes to the west and I come with my back. I have only one word to ask Your Majesty." Cao Pi asked, "What do you mean?" The servant said, "The day the city was destroyed, the jade and stone were burned. I don't know if Emperor Wu used his army to protect each other on that day, and he still made a count?" Cao Pi stood up and said, "You are a servant of righteousness. The words of the father's emperor are naturally effective. On the day the city is destroyed, whether the Shangshu ordered the surrender or not, I will protect his house with my army and will not disturb him." As he spoke, someone suddenly reported that Meng Da's son Meng Ping asked for surrender on behalf of his father.

Cao Pi was surprised and asked someone to take Liu Ba's servant to Meng Ping to see him. This man was over 20 years old, with a white face, a beautiful face, and a gentle and gentle appearance. Cao Pi had a seven-point favor. He asked now: "Is it a false surrender?" Meng Ping replied: "I am here to be bullied in the Han Dynasty, so I have to surrender." Cao Pi said: "When you come, why don't your father come? After you surrender, you can lead your army to attack Kongming." Meng Ping said: "How is attacking Kongming like destroying Kongming? How is it like obtaining Chang'an? I am here to bring a picture of Kongming's eight formations and offer you the title of yourselves.

Next, if you get this picture, it is easy to defeat the Han army. If you break Kong Ming, your father can present Chang'an to long live." At that time, Cao Pi made Chen Qun and Dong Zhao look at it, and they all admired it. Meng Ping said: "Now Sima Pushe has broken Ma Chao, Feng Xi, and General Xiahou lead the army north to the north, and it will be just around the corner. Kong Ming did not dare to stay for a long time and was ready to retreat. Kong Ming was at this moment." Cao Pi was unstable, only suspected Meng Ping's identity, and asked someone to take Liu Ba's servant to watch quietly outside the tent. The servant said: "Why did Meng Ping come to the Wei camp?" Cao Pi felt calm.

Chen Qun felt uneasy, so he drew a picture of the Eight Formation, sent an envoy across the river, and asked Sima Yi to watch it. The envoy said, "Sir, this is the picture of my lord. The lord defeated the bandit army on the north line, and Your Majesty won the southern line. Zhuge Liang also heard that General Xiahou came from Jingzhou and did not dare to fight and was ready to withdraw his troops. Meng Ping, the son of Dahongbin Mengda of the bandit army, threw a picture of the Eight Formation, and voluntarily led the army to attack the bandits. His Majesty used him as a military adviser to lead the entire army to attack the bandits, and wanted to kill Zhuge Liang in Weinan. My lord was afraid that there was a fraud in this, so he hurriedly made a statement to Your Majesty to stop him, and recorded this picture and handed it to Pushe to watch."

Sima Yi showed the picture and sighed long, "Zhuge Liang has an unexpected strategy of ghosts and gods. This formation swallows and spits the opportunity of heaven and earth, marries the qi of yin and yang, and entices the great way in the middle, and contains wind and thunder. I thought that what I learned in my heart and explores the heaven and earth, but today I know that it is far different from Kong Ming."

The man said, "Sir, do you mean this picture is true?"

"It's true. Without this picture, our army would have attacked Weinan together, and would not be able to break this formation, and would not be able to reach Chang'an. With this picture, it would be easy to break this formation. Moreover, Meng Da was very talented and had a high opinion of himself. During the Shangyong period, he was repeatedly bullied by Liu Feng and was later promoted to Dahongbin. Although he was ranked nine ministers, he was promoted to secretly and lost his military power. He had been dissatisfied for a long time, but this surrender was expected. Your Majesty should treat Meng Ping well. After passing the Eight Formation Pictures, he would capture Kong Ming like a deer."

The man was overjoyed and turned to say goodbye. Sima Yi personally sent him outside the tent. He was about to say goodbye. Suddenly a cold wind blew, and his heart was cleared. He said, "Stop me! Now Guo Huai and I are in Weibei, and Xiahou is still on the way. Your Majesty only has Cao Zhen and Zhang He. The safety of the central army is the life of the entire army, so how can we move lightly. I was just confused by the formation map and missed a big deal. I heard that Kongming had the eight Yin and Yang formations, each with mysteries, and there was no reason for the change. How could one picture cover it? Kongming has the method of heaven, earth, water, fire, and five thunder, and the gods and ghosts are unpredictable. If I hold the map to lead the army, it is okay, but if it is someone else, the entire army is in danger! When you come, did Your Majesty send troops?"

"Before I heard from my lord that, the first time, Your Majesty discussed the attack on Kong Ming with others very frequently, and his heart was broken. When I came, Your Majesty said, "The discussions of all the ministers also make sense. I will not raise troops for the time being, so I will wait for Zhongda." I think it was persuaded by the ministers."

Sima Yi said, "How is that right! Your Majesty is attacking and shows him not to attack. He said this to doubt the military plan, but he was afraid that his front army would have rushed into the Eight Formation Map at this time! I urgently wrote a letter and the messenger brought it back, so that your lord would hand it over to Your Majesty quickly. I am just in the Wei River and cannot chase Kong Ming!"

Sima Yi wrote a letter urgently, and ordered the drum to rise to the tent. He handed the letter to the envoy, and ordered Sima Zhao to personally escort the envoy south. Then he ordered the generals to say, "The war is urgent today. We must take down Xia Ji tonight, destroy Ma Chao and Wang Ping. The entire army attacks and dies!"

The generals suddenly saw Sima Yi appearing in fear and were shocked. Since Sima led the army, they have seized the initiative everywhere and made Ma Chao in their hands. I wonder why they are so anxious today. They are now agreeing.

At this moment, I suddenly heard the west like a dragon roar, and even the war horses of the tiger and leopard cavalry were trembling. Immediately afterwards, a water line of Bai Liangliang rushed down from the upper reaches, like a giant dragon flying in the sky, like a long rainbow. In the blink of an eye, it flowed to the front of me, the waves were nearly a foot high, and the white waves rolled like thousands of horses galloping, rumbling like giant thunder in the sky.

The Wei River was shallow, and the Wei army lined up along the river and was at a low place, and most of them were swept away by water. For a moment, the screams were heard. In winter, the water was cold, and the people wearing armor fell into the water and could not move their arms. Those who were good at water could not escape. Sima Yi saw the torrent, his eyes were bloodshot, and he cursed in a low voice: "Sima Wang, you have done a good job!"

However, no matter how much anyone is, he is useless at this time. Although he does not understand why the dam built by Sima Wang was destroyed, the Wei army is in chaos and has suffered heavy casualties. Ma Chao and others took advantage of the situation to fight back, and their momentum is like a tiger, and they are unstoppable. They know that Ma Chao's battle just now was to lure the enemy. At this time, the Wei River flowed heavily, and the north-south traffic was blocked. It was already difficult to cross the Wei River to support His Majesty.
Chapter completed!