Chapter 171 Chapter 26 Tu Shu Divides Han Sui (7)

The next day, six soldiers and horses successfully crossed the river, but all of them were forced to retreat to the north bank after crossing the river.It is not uncommon for soldiers and horses to disappear.Cao Cao urgently ordered the suspension of the offensive, and summoned all the generals to ask why. It turned out that the south bank of the Wei River was almost entirely sandy. After the vanguard troops crossed the river by force, they could not effectively build temporary fortifications and could not stand on their feet.In this way, not only could it not cover the main force crossing the river afterwards, but it was easy to let Ma Chao's troops beat them hard without any barriers.As a last resort, I had to return to the north bank.

Le Jin said: "Today I crossed the river three times in a row, but I was forced to retreat. Such a 'head-to-head' style of play obviously won't work. If we cross the river again tonight, it will definitely be more disadvantageous to our army. Therefore, I request that the attack crossing tonight be abandoned." Cao Cao ordered the generals to think hard about good strategies, but no one answered.The meeting had to break up in dismay. 163 is night, the weather is very cold and the clouds are dense.The next day, the third day, it was still the same.On the fourth day, there was a little snow in the air.Cao Cao's army had nothing to do, so they cut trees for warmth.Cao Cao read military books in the tent for several days, but got nothing, so he couldn't help feeling anxious.

Suddenly, a person entered the tent. Cao Cao saw that it was Lou Gui, a counselor recommended by Xun You years ago. This Lou Gui, styled Zibo, is a surname from Jingzhaoren. He was born in the shape of a crane bone, and his appearance is ancient.She lived in seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain for many years, and called herself Mengmei Jushi.One day, I met Xun You, an old friend, and got drunk.After drinking, Xun You asked Zibo to assist Cao Cao, but Lou Gui refused.After repeated pleas from Xun You, Fang agreed to a one-year term.So Xun You took him to see Cao Cao, who immediately accepted him with courtesy.It's just that Lou Gui has never spoken much, and only loves to be alone. Cao Cao knew that many people were like this, so he didn't care, and gradually forgot about him.Seeing him suddenly entering the account today, I knew something was wrong, so I hurriedly invited him to sit down.

Lou Gui didn't exchange pleasantries, and said directly: "The Prime Minister wants to cross the Wei River to camp, why don't you take the time to cross the river today?" Cao Cao sighed softly, and said, "Because the soil on the other side of the Wei River is almost full of sand, after our army crosses the river, we can't build fortifications and barriers, and they will be slaughtered by Ma Chao, so we can't succeed. You must teach me when you come here. Meng De. I have always slighted you, and I hope you will forgive me." Seeing Cao Cao's humility, Lou Gui said, "How dare you! Zibo has been serving as the prime minister for many days, and one day he won't be rewarded for nothing? This year has come, and Zibo is about to return to Zhongnan. How can he escape like this?

"I observe the prime minister, and I use soldiers like gods. How can I not know the time of the day? Recently, the clouds have been cloudy, and the wind is coming together. The Wei River is near the shore, and there must be a severe freeze. After the strong wind at night, the soldiers were quietly crossed the river, built sand and splashed water, and it was dawn on the second day. The Tucheng has already been built, and then the army will cross the river again and set up camp in Weinan, what is Ma Chaonai Prime Minister!" Before Lou Gui had finished speaking, Cao Cao realized it.Wanting to reward Lou Zibo generously, Lou Zibo resigned and refused. He took off his official uniform, changed into a Taoist robe, and left in the south.Cao Cao was very impressed.

Afterwards, the generals were ordered to use Lou Gui's method to cross the river overnight after the wind picked up.Each of the soldiers carried a few water bags with them. After crossing the river, they immediately built a high sand wall and splashed water on it.Once you're done, head back to the North Shore immediately. In the dark, Ma Chao's defenders retreated when they saw Cao's army in a hurry, so they did not try their best to chase and kill them.And the sand wall built by Cao Jun's soldiers was not discovered. The next day, before dawn, Cao Cao ordered the soldiers who crossed the river last night to cross the river again.The defenders on the other side are still in a dream.When it was discovered that Cao Jun had crossed the river, he rushed to stop the battle, but he didn't know that the ice sand and earth city had already been built, and Cao Jun relied on it to counterattack. The defenders attacked many times, but all failed.Here, Cao Jun's large troops built pontoon bridges one after another, crossed the Wei River from more than a dozen river banks, and reached the south bank.

After Ma Chao's defenders contacted Cao Jun, they were defeated.Seeing that the general situation was not good, Ma Chao, Han Sui and others beheaded a few fleeing young generals, and issued death orders, ordering the soldiers to stick to the few remaining dangerous places. Cao Cao advanced more than 30 li and set up camp.So far, the first phase of the Western Expedition to Guanzhong has been completed. Another few days passed on 164.In the past few days, the Kansai soldiers had only had contact with Cao Cao's soldiers by a small force.For Ma Chao, he wanted to plan a decisive battle with Cao Cao, and the time was not ripe, and he was unwilling to go out with all his strength; but for Cao Cao, the soldiers who had gone through two battles in succession also needed to take a necessary rest.At the same time, they had to go to Tongguan to fetch the necessary grain and winter clothes to keep out the cold.

One day, Ma Chao was sitting in the tent wondering, thinking of the successive defeats in the past few months, he was very angry.He found himself at the limit of his patience.If he didn't want to come up with a good plan, Guanzhong would be destroyed in his hands.Anxiously, he hurriedly summoned all the generals to come forward, and must try to gather all the troops to fight Cao Cao for the last time. In a short while, Han Sui, Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Yang Qiu, Cheng Yin, Feng Yuan, Hou Qian, Zhang Heng, Liang Xing, Li Kan, Cheng Yi and other generals, as well as generals of several clans of the local army, all arrived.

Ma Chao said with a worried look on his face, "For months on end, my generals in Guanzhong have led troops to defend against the enemy. It was only because Cao's bandits were powerful and had many soldiers and generals that I retreated steadily. The commander-in-chief counted the troops a few days ago, and the generals were lost. The third younger brother, Ma Tie, was the general of Ma Ji. Among the tens of thousands of soldiers, 40% of them were lost. Now Cao's army has crossed the Weishui River and marched south. Our army is relying on the dangerous place, and there is not much left. If we continue to retreat, Xiliang will all belong to Cao Cao. Therefore, we must stick to Weinan.

"In the past few days, I have been observing the movements of Cao's army, and according to secret reports from spies, I know that Cao Cao is recuperating his soldiers while supplementing supplies. Once he has enough energy, he will attack our army again. Then, how does Cao Jun evaluate our army's movements? "Cao Cao knew that our army had no way out, only a desperate battle. But our army has not launched for a long time. He must think that our army is timid or not ready enough. In their view, our army has completed the case Serve the fish, and wait for them to build up enough strength before they come to cut the knife. Therefore, it is very likely that they are in a state of slack now.

"I have been thinking hard for a few days, and I thought that there is no good strategy except to choose a day to attack Cao Cao with all my strength. If you have a good plan, Meng Qi knows it, and you will definitely adopt it. If there is no good plan, I only want to sneak attack on his camp. Take back the advantage lost in Weinan." For a long time, the generals were speechless. After a long time, veteran Han Sui said slowly: "In the past few days, I have often thought hard: Since Cao's invasion, our army has been defeated repeatedly. Could it be that my generals in Guanzhong are not brave and unarmed, and Xiliang soldiers are disloyal and dishonest? Obviously not. I thought about it , I found that the reason why our army is in such a predicament today is because of insufficient strategy. Just imagine that every time our army attacks, it falls into Cao Cao's calculations, but Cao Cao's use of troops is not what we expected. Nephew Ma Chaoxian has a violent temper , I don’t want to think about it every time I use troops. If I had listened to our persuasion, I wouldn’t have ended up like what I am today..." Before he could finish speaking, Ma Chao had already raised the case and said angrily, "Now the situation is not in my favor, how could uncle use the excuse of responsibility to shake the morale of the army!" Han Sui also slapped the table, fearlessly, and said: "Your nephew's words are wrong! Finding out the reason for the previous defeat is precisely for the sake of the future victory. Now you propose to attack Cao Cao. In my opinion, it is another way to die. "Let's look at Cao Cao's layout: he embraced the Chinese army, set up camps, and confronted me, and the other generals were stationed in Weinan from west to east, which actually formed a siege around me. Cao Cao's main camp is heavily fortified. How can he not prevent me from being the last fight of a trapped beast? This truth is so clear, my nephew is smart, how can I not understand it?" Ma Chao sneered: "According to uncle, what should we do? Are we just waiting to die?"