Chapter 33 1. Enemy on both wings

"The Wu-Shu alliance has been formed, Zhuge Liang's army has arrived in Hanzhong County, and the situation on our border in the west of Kansas is really precarious!" Sima Yi pointed to the silk map of Guanzhong's military topography on the front wall of the General's Office's conference hall, straight to the point and said solemnly, "My lords, generals, where do you think Zhuge Liang's way of attacking the north should be?" Meng Jian, governor of Liangzhou, frowned, looking very worried: "The last few times Zhuge Liang sent troops to attack, they all attacked from the direction of Qishan—this time he came directly to Qishan's camp?" Qishan was under his jurisdiction. In the territory of Liangzhou, if Zhuge Liang really captured Qishan again, one can imagine the pressure on his shoulders!How can this not make him frown?Back then when he was studying in "Qingyun Villa", he already knew that his talents and knowledge were far inferior to Zhuge Liang, now that he was facing the enemy head-on in Kansai, how could he have the strength to resist?

Deng Ai, the general who broke the captives, didn't take his deep worries seriously, and said from another angle: "According to Deng's humble opinion, Zhuge Liang probably won't repeat the route of the previous few times when he marched to the north this time— —Because he knows that we will definitely fortify the Liangzhou area layer by layer, constantly consuming his vigor. A Qishan, a Jieting, and a Chencang, any of these three vital points are enough for him to "gnaw" for a year and a half It's done! Maybe, he will take a slanted sword, go east from the Qinling Mountains, then go north from Ziwu Valley, cross Wugong Mountain, take the shortest shortcut at the fastest speed, and reach Chang'an in just over ten days Under the city..."

Sima Yi listened carefully to their opinions, without saying a word, turned his attention to Zhao Yan again, and asked politely, "Mr. Zhao, what's your opinion?" Zhao Yan is the most experienced military minister of the Wei State today, and he has been assisting Cao Zhen to deal with the Shu army since Zhuge Liang first left Qishan, so his understanding of the tactics and tactics of the Shu army has always been far beyond ordinary people above.When he heard Sima Yi ask by name, he straightened his upper body on the seat, held his breath, stroked his white beard, and said in a slow voice: "This... According to this military adviser, Zhuge Liang's actions are the most rigorous and thorough in his life. , never take risks easily! Moreover, his family in Shu is only so thin, and he is not willing to waste it—plus my Great Wei has set up numerous sentries along the mountain plank roads in the area of ​​Wugong Mountain and Ziwu Valley. The change, and our army immediately noticed it in Chang'an! In this way, the Shu army will no longer be "surprised" to attack Chang'an with "surprising soldiers"! Then we just need to stay at the exit of the Ziwu Valley plank road and give him a surprise It’s enough to outflank everything!”

As soon as he said this, the other generals in the tent burst into laughter.Deng Ai blushed suddenly and wanted to argue.Zhao Yan ignored him, and turned his attention to an address on the military topographical map of Guanzhong: "This military division has been thinking about it for the past few days, and my humble opinion is as follows - this Xiegu Road may be the site of Zhuge Liang's attack this time." An important source of the Northern criminals!" "Xiegu Road?" Guo Huai, governor of Yongzhou, was startled. "Mr. Zhao, have you made a mistake? Xiegu Road is the entrance and exit from the Weihe Plain to Hanzhong, and it is also the pass that our Guanzhong army usually pays attention to...Zhuge Liang, he will not be so stupid. Is it coming to attack under our noses? Isn’t this sending yourself to your door to die?”

"Hmm... this commander thinks what Zhao Jun said is true." Sima Yi spoke at this moment, praised Zhao Yan deeply, and at the same time turned to look at Guo Huai, "Guo Mujun! You don't know, this Sometimes the most dangerous place in the world may just happen to be the safest place!" "Mr. Zhao and General, aren't you overly concerned?" Guo Huai shook his head slightly, and directly put forward his own opposing opinion. established under the initiative.He rebutted with solid grounds: "First of all, we put 8,000 elite soldiers guarding the North Pass of Xiegu Road, and Zhuge Liang's intention to sneak attack is almost as difficult as heaven; secondly, even if Zhuge Liang transported troops to surprise the North Pass of Xiegu Road... ...The mountain roads are rugged and the slopes are narrow, how can his rear supply of food and grass keep up? As long as we wave our troops, they will no longer be able to stand, and they will obediently retreat along the original road?"

Sima Yi listened, but he groaned and didn't answer—according to the "eyeliner" he sent to lurk in the interior of Shu to send a message: Zhuge Liang had invented a transportation device called "Wooden Cow and Horse" before this Northern Expedition. The food and grass are plentiful, fast, compact and convenient. I am afraid that Zhuge Liang's supply of food and grass to the rear when he invaded this time can be described as smooth and free, without any delay! But at present, Sima Yi has not seen the prototype of "Wooden Cow and Liuma".Therefore, it was not easy for him to say anything to the generals under his tent, so he said casually: "Guo Mujun, as a soldier, you must not have the idea of ​​'relying on your own danger'. The North Pass of Xiegu Road is dangerous, but it is also decisive. It must be an insurmountable moat. Sima Zhao, you write a warrant for the commander-in-chief to He Chi, the gatekeeper at the north of Xiegu Road, reminding him to be careful. As for the Qishan camp, the governor Meng Jian will still go back and garrison himself On the side of Ziwu Valley, Liang Ji, go and inspect it yourself immediately, and let those guards step up their vigilance day and night..."

While he was talking, suddenly there was a deafening bang of "crash" outside the hall door, and even his own voice was covered up, and he couldn't hear anything... Sima Yi was silent for a moment, and after the loud noise died down and the hall became silent again, he turned his eyes to Liang Ji and motioned him to go out and see why. At this time, there was another burst of long laughter from outside the hall door. Tai Shiling, Zanshan Xuanhua doctor and Guanzhong Army Army Sacrificial Wine Zhou Xuan stepped in, shaking his head and said: "Oh! The wind in the west is so strong! Even the handsome flag pole as thick as a bowl on the training ground was blown off!"

It turned out that the handsome flag flagpole was broken by the strong wind!Only then did the generals in the hall come to their senses—General Hu Zun of Pingshu shouted on the spot: "What a terrible weather! It seems that from now on, this flagpole will have to be replaced with one as thick as a sea bowl!" Zhou Xuan still walked up to Sima Yi's writing case as if no one else was there, stretched out his right hand, handed him a note, and said in his mouth: "General, this is what Zhou came up with today by watching the situation." Hearing his words, many of the generals in the hall couldn't help but secretly chuckled.But Zhou Xuan still looked at Sima Yi directly, and he didn't appear to lose his composure at all because of being ridiculed by others.

"Well... I really need Doctor Zhou." Sima Yi reached out to take the note, glanced at it quickly, and put it away in his sleeve.Then, he looked around at the generals in the hall, and said emphatically: "Did you hear clearly what I ordered just now?" "I can hear you clearly." Sima Zhao, Meng Jian, and Liang Ji answered. Sima Yi lowered his head and pondered for a moment, still felt that the situation on Xiegu Road could not be completely reassuring, and said coldly: "No way! Xiegu Road is the throat of our Great Wei to enter and leave the land of Hanzhong, and it must not be neglected—— Hu Zun and Niu Jin, you two will lead 30,000 troops to station at the North Pass of Xiegu Road. On the one hand, you must guard it strictly, and on the other hand, you must wait for the opportunity to move. When necessary, we must hold our fists tightly. Take the initiative to attack and keep the Shu bandits out of the country!"

"The last general obeys the order!" Hu Zun and Niu Jin came out, clasped their fists together and bowed to answer. After Sima Yi gave these important orders to the military aircraft, he asked the generals to step down and follow orders.He lightly beat his waist with his fist, sat back on the bed, and was about to talk to Zhou Xuan. At this moment, another soldier came in from outside the hall and reported: "General, He Chi, the guard at the north gate of Xiegu Road, sent a special envoy to ride eight hundred miles to report the urgent military situation... " "Beiguan on Xiegu Road?" Sima Yi's heart skipped a beat and he was taken aback, "Let him in quickly!"

"General, Xiegu Road Beiguan is urgent! Three days ago, a group of no less than 4,000 daredevils from the Shu army attacked Beiguan city at night... They sneaked in from the cliff— — Master He led the brothers to resist desperately there, but failed to drive them out. During the past three days, the reinforcements from the Shu bandits have been continuously increased, and the Nanman "Tengjia soldiers" are the most powerful , strong, skillful, thick-skinned and thick-skinned, ten of us sergeants combined can only defeat one of him..." The special envoy sent by He Chi knelt on the ground and reported urgently as soon as he entered the hall, his tone was crackling like a dry bamboo tube burned by flames.His clothes were blood-stained and torn, and he was covered with a piece of clothes and hung with a strand of clothes. One could tell that he had fought desperately from the hail of guns and arrows. "Hmm... Who are you under He Chi? What is the current situation of the battle in He Chi's place? Can you hold on?" Sima Yi frowned secretly, but his face was as calm as autumn water, and he asked deeply. "General, it is Liu Gong, the captain of He Chi's personal army who is going down. The night before yesterday, he gave an emergency blood letter from Master He. He desperately broke out from the encirclement. He came here to ask you for help." The special envoy said loudly. As he spoke, he took out a roll of bright red dotted silk script from his bosom, raised his hands above his head, and presented it up. Seeing this, Sima Yi gave a dark look, and Sima Zhao, who was standing by his side, understood, walked over quickly and took the "emergency blood letter" presented by Liu Gong. Sima Yi recognized He Chi's handwriting, and at a glance he could tell that the blood book was actually He Chi's authentic handwriting.After he read it carefully, he asked with some surprise: "He Chi mentioned in this 'emergency blood book' that he still has an urgent matter and entrusted you to report it verbally... What kind of urgent matter is that? You just Come quickly." "This..." Liu Gong opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly remembered something, and glanced around the meeting hall. When Sima Yi saw it, he raised his hand, and the guards and servants in the hall understood and retreated one after another. For a while, only Zhou Xuan and Sima Zhao were left in the hall by Sima Yi's side. Looking at Zhou Xuan and Sima Zhao, Liu Gong still had hesitation on his face.Sima Yi said coldly: "Doctor Zhou and Officer Sima Lang are both my most trusted confidantes - Liu Gong, you can speak frankly about anything in front of them, and it doesn't matter!" Liu Gong let out a "huh", bowed down and respectfully said: "General, when Xia Zou came here for an emergency, Mr. He whispered a top-secret news to Xia Zou - he noticed that the Shu bandits were attacking this time. There are Zhuge Liang's traitors in the Guanzhong Commander's Mansion and the foreign enemies should cooperate with each other from a distance, otherwise the vital points of Beiguan City would not be exposed so easily to the cannons, stones and crossbows of the bandits..." "What? There is Zhuge Liang's traitor in the commander's mansion?" Sima Yi's face tightened, "What did He Chi realize? Who is the traitor?" In fact, he had been thinking to himself before: the North Pass of Xiegu Road was originally a strong wall Hou, in such a short period of time, he rushed to the emergency, without the insider leaking the military situation in the city, it is absolutely impossible for such a situation to happen. Liu Gong was still lying on the cypress wood floor, without raising his head, he said: "General, if you want to know who the real traitor is... for this, I'm afraid you have to come closer..." "Come closer?" Sima Zhao's face changed suddenly, and he squeezed the scabbard around his waist with his right hand, "What do you mean by that?" "Officer Sima Lang, don't worry - he came in after being searched by the guards outside the door, and he didn't have anything on him." Liu Gong still buried his head on the ground, and said respectfully, "General, please be patient and report. Before Xia Zuo took the order and left, Mr. He had already carved the name of the traitor he had noticed on the skin of Xia Zuo's back with a blade in order to prevent leaks, so that Xia Zuo himself couldn't see the handwriting...... That’s why I rashly invite you, General, to move closer to watch..." As he spoke, he struggled desperately to wear the clothes on his back, and it cracked open with a "chuck", revealing a broad, blood-stained back—there were bloodstains of different shades and lengths strewn all over it. Describing it, it is a line of shocking "blood characters"! "Righteous man! Liu Jun is truly a unparalleled righteous man in the whole country!" When Sima Yi saw him, his personality was as deep as an abyss and his body was motionless, so he couldn't help but change his face in horror. He jumped up from the bed and went straight to him. Pan rushed towards him, and stretched out his arms to help him, "Okay! Okay! Okay! Let me carefully identify the names of these internal thieves—how can you, Mr. Liu, endure this dissection?" The pain of skin cracking..." Just when he was about a foot away from Liu Gong, Liu Gong, who had been bowed and kneeling on the ground, suddenly moved. His movement was not an ups and downs, but like a crouching tiger leaping, The eagle spreads its wings and the leopard preys, coming as swiftly as lightning and erratically as the wind! Sima Yi felt a blur in front of his eyes, and then heard a muffled "bang", his chest felt as if he had been hit hard by a heavy hammer, his whole body was thrown upside down like a ball, and he fell out Two feet away, he fell to the floor with a "click", and couldn't get up for a while! It turned out that Liu Gong endured the pain and forbearance, and worked so hard to deliver this thunderous blow to Sima Yi at this moment! "Father Commander..." Sima Zhao was the first to wake up, and with a sudden roar, he drew the sword in his hand and stabbed out like a rainbow. Gong's waist! Liu Gong stood there motionless like a stone man, letting Sima Zhao's Qingfeng long sword penetrate his waist, as if he couldn't feel any pain.He stared straight at Sima Yi's body lying flat on the ground, and laughed at the same time: "Sima Yi! Liu finally lived up to the mission of the Prime Minister and killed you with one punch! Your Excellency! You are on the way to the Northern Expedition The great enemy has been eliminated, and there is hope for the revival of our great man!" Just as he was laughing loudly, the guards and warriors guarding the door of the meeting hall heard the strange noise inside, and rushed in one after another, surrounding Liu Gong.Only Zhou Xuan, who was sitting on the side seat, seemed to change slightly when he saw Sima Yi being attacked at first, but soon returned to looking at everything in the field with a smile on his face. "Father...Father Commander..." Sima Zhao threw away the hilt of his sword, his voice was clearly crying, and he almost scrambled towards Sima Yi, "Quick... hurry up and rescue the great... General !" "Why are you crying? My father's body isn't that fragile yet! How could he be broken up with a punch?" A solemn and familiar voice sounded slowly, but Sima Yi, who had been lying on the ground all this time, unexpectedly Slowly got up with his elbows propped on the floor. "You...you..." The smile on Liu Gong's face froze, he stared blankly at Sima Yi, as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight, his eyes were as big as copper bells, "no... this... is that possible ? Liu’s punch is usually enough to kill three cows..." "Father Commander!" Sima Zhao had already rolled to Sima Yi's side, supporting him in a hurry while looking at him with tears streaming down his face. "It's okay...it's okay...don't get distracted—isn't it good to be a father?" Sima Yi gently waved his hand to Sima Zhao, stopped his crying, and at the same time looked down at his chest—— — That piece of skirt was smashed to pieces by Liu Gong's punch, revealing a piece of green jade scale soft armor! It turned out that it was this body-fitting jade piece of soft armor that blocked Liu Gong's punch that was enough to crack a stone! "Three years ago, when I first went to Guanzhong to take charge of the army, His Majesty sincerely felt sorry for my safety, and gave me this set of 'Golden Silk Nephrite Armor'..." Sima Yi looked up to the sky and sighed deeply, "I have entrusted His Majesty with great blessings, and today I was able to escape the danger and escape unscathed. It is really a blessing, a blessing!" At this time, Zhou Xuan also stood up slowly, clasped his palms together, and said with a smile: "Say, 'The sage walks all day long and never leaves his luggage." There is really no need for Zhou to talk too much!" Liu Gong felt as if he had been hit hard by a heavy stick, his expression froze suddenly - the pain from the sword wound on his waist suddenly and violently broke out, and the pain made cold sweat break out on his forehead: "You...you This old thief is so cunning!" "Do you think that your 'bitter plan' to attack the dark assassin this time is really 'seamless'?" Sima Yi smiled slightly, and pointed at Zhou Xuan, "You will never know: this commander-in-chief There is a master of calculation here, he has already figured out that you are going to assassinate me today... So, I have been waiting for you for a long time!" "Impossible! I, Liu Gong, have been lurking by He Chi's side as a refugee from Longxi since more than eight years ago when the prime minister had just left Qishan. The top-secret order of 'cooperating from the inside out' earned He Chi's blood letter to come to see you...how could you detect it?" Liu Gong said coldly, while pointing at Zhou Xuan, "He is an old man with How can you figure it out? Hmph...you're lying!" "You don't believe it? This note is the judgmental statement written by this expert just now. You can see for yourself!" Sima Yi sneered, and took the note that Zhou Xuan handed over from his sleeve just now. came out, and flung it lightly at Liu Gong's feet. Liu Gong glanced at the note, and saw a line written clearly on it: "The wind blows the banner and breaks the pole, and there must be assassins to attack!" Upon seeing it, his voice trembled immediately: "This...how is this possible?!" The soldiers of the Wei Army who surrounded him also saw the note clearly, and turned their surprised and convinced eyes to Zhou Xuan—this seemingly inconspicuous old man is really amazing! "Liu Jun, you are also a loyal national scholar! Zhuge Liang is really amazing to have a talent like you under his command... It's a pity that he shouldn't let a loyal national scholar like you do so personally. Death—he wanted to make the Northern Expedition a success in one fell swoop, so he was eager for quick success!" Sima Yi stroked his beard with his hand, and said with emotion, "If I change my commander and become your master, I will definitely be able to protect you in the future and have a bright future. ! Liu Jun, if you can change your mind and submit to Wei, this commander will definitely let the past go, and I will worship you as a general and knight you, and I will not hesitate to reward you!" But Liu Gong laughed loudly: "Sima Yi, even if you talk so eloquently and gaudyly, Liu will never betray the Lord and ask for glory——Liu has already been deeply determined to die since he came here, so why bother you to lure him to surrender?" ?!" A look of pity flashed across Sima Yi's brows: "This commander really cherishes you, a talent with both loyalty and integrity..." Seeing Sima Yi's half-true and half-fake expression, Liu Gong's heart couldn't help but tremble slightly.But he suddenly thought of Zhuge Liang's kindness and kindness to him when he was in Yizhou, and he hardened his heart and let those distracting thoughts disappear.He stared at Sima Yi sternly: "Old thief Sima—do you want to know what He Chi asked me to report to you verbally before he died? Let me tell you—his original words are to remind you that this time my Han During the Northern Expedition, the 'Serial Crossbow', 'Xuanyuan Chariot' and 'Thunderbolt Cannon' carried by the army are invincible and invincible! You Wei thief is doomed this time! I will wait and see how you come down to accompany me in the underworld !" After all, he gave Sima Yi a hard look, as if he wanted to absorb all his impressions into his eyes, then he stretched out his right palm and pressed in desperately the hilt of the sword that Sima Zhao had inserted into his waist before— ——With a sound of "cha", the sword traversed his waist and reached the hilt! Under the eyes of all the people in the hall with mixed meanings, Liu Gong stood still for a long time, like a tall poplar tree crashing to the ground, with a majestic and upright posture, which was forever etched in their memory... Finally, Sima Yi's trembling voice broke the silence: "National, national scholar! We must have a decent burial..." In the mid-spring and April of the second year of Cao Wei Qinglong, Zhuge Liang succeeded in attacking Xiegu Road Beiguan. The 130,000 troops rushed into the Weihe River Basin in Guanzhong like a river breaking a dike, and approached the first pass outside Chang'an City——Mei County came! Echoing him from afar, Sun Quan of Eastern Wu also raised 180,000 troops at the same time, and attacked Wei State in three ways: on the west side, Lu Xun and Zhuge Jin led a total of 40,000 boat divisions from Changsha to attack Jiangling; Zhang Cheng, the son of Zhang Zhao, and Sun Shaoqi, a general of the clan, led 40,000 horses from Dongguan to the Chaohu and Jinkou of Wei State; Hefei New Town is here! All of a sudden, the east and west wings of the state of Wei suddenly rose. In this extremely critical situation, Emperor Ming Cao Rui followed the advice of Zhongshuling Sun Zi and Zhongshu Supervisor Liu Fang, and ordered Man Chong, the governor of the east of the town, to be the governor of the east. The commander-in-chief of the three armies on the front line commanded Zhennan General Wang Chang, Jingzhou Muzhoutai, Xuzhou Inspector Tian Yu, and Hefei Prefect Wang Guan to fight against the Wu army separately from Jiangling, Hefei, and Huaiyin. Facing the offensive of the Shu Kingdom on the west wing, Sun Zi and Liu Fang comforted Cao Rui and said, "General Sima is in charge of Yongliang and Liangzhou in Guanxi. Even if the sky falls and the earth collapses, Your Majesty can rest easy." After Sima Yi learned of the fall of Xiegu Road Beiguan in Guanzhong, he did not lose his position as Sun Zi and Liu Fang said. He immediately took Hu Zun and Niu Jin as the vanguard generals and led 30,000 cavalry to lead the way. , I personally led Guo Huai, Deng Ai, and Wei Ping to come back with 100,000 paces, intending to start the first tough battle in the south of the Weihe River and suppress the expansion momentum of the Shu army advancing into Guanzhong at the fastest speed. At Shilipo, south of the Weihe River, smoke and dust rose into the sky like a curtain. The sound of "huh-la-la" battle flags, the sound of "tick-tick-tick" horseshoes, the sound of "clinking" armor, and the sound of "squeaky" wooden cows moving were mixed together, making it noisy. Wake up the hilly river in Guanzhong that has been silent for three years! A four-wheeled vehicle was slowly moving forward under the guard of two rows of Shu army cavalry. Zhuge Liang, who was sitting aloof on it, was shaking his goose feather fan calmly, with a deep smile on his slightly thin cheeks. : This time, the North Pass of Xiegu Road was captured with lightning speed, and the 130,000 Han King Division finally drove into the hinterland of Guanzhong—Chang'an City, 800 miles away, is no longer such an unreachable "prey" up!And his old enemy Sima Yi, I'm afraid he will be forced to show up to fight this time, right?As long as he dares to come to the challenge, the truth will definitely make him come and go! He was in the midst of contemplation, when he suddenly raised his head and saw a black cloud rolling up from the northeast corner, he couldn't help smiling and nodding secretly.The Northern Expedition Army Jijiu Qiao Zhou who was driving with him also saw the black cloud clearly, turned around from his horse and was about to report - Zhuge Liang stopped him with a wave of his hand, and said to Liu Nuo: "Pass down the order: there will be a large group of Wei soldiers coming ahead, so all the ministries should prepare for the battle in time!" Sure enough, only two or three quarters of an hour later, there was a sound of horseshoes coming from the front like a strong wind and rain - but seeing the dust flying, a row of Wei army cavalry was rolling in like layers of huge waves! "Prime Minister, the Wei thief is here!" Jiang Wei rode over from the front and reported. "Put down the gossip array and give Wei thief a head-on blow!" Zhuge Liang said slowly, shaking his goose feather fan, without changing his face. Hu Zun, the vanguard general of the cavalry of the Wei army, took the lead. He was born with a wide face, big eyes, thick eyebrows and thick beard, and his face was full of evil spirits.He galloped his horse forward, and danced the long lance in his hand until the wind roared: "Masters! Come forward with me, and beat Zhuge Liang back to Xiegu Road!" Niu Jin galloped in the center to supervise the battle, and the horse followed closely behind him eight feet away - he watched from afar the rows of Shu infantry pressing forward like a wall of soldiers, without any retreat Xiang, secretly startled: Are these tens of thousands of Shu army infantry really willing to be a living target for my great Wei Tie to ride horses and trample on others? Before he had time to think about it, he suddenly saw that the opponent's pawns had all stopped—then, the phalanx of the Shu army slowly spread to the left and right like a peacock spreading its tail, and each one was like a hut Iron-clad chariots as big as they sped out from behind them, laying out a long line of defense in front of the tens of thousands of infantry. Then, just in front of the car formation, groups of infantry rushed up, took out their waist bags, and threw something on the ground with a "squeak".They spent about a quarter of an hour or two, and then quickly retreated. Niu Jin clearly saw in the center forward that all the places where the Shu soldiers scattered on the ground were shining with silver stars!With a flash of thought in his mind, he pulled the rein hastily, and was about to rein in his horse and stop suddenly: "No! General Hu——There is a hidden weapon ahead!" However, it was too late—the group of cavalry rushing to the front suddenly fell to the ground whining as if they had hit an invisible wall!And those teams of cavalry who rushed up one after another could no longer break into within fifteen feet of the Shu army's chariot formation! "Swish, whoosh, whoosh" a burst of violent sound across the sky, as soon as the roofs of the iron-clad chariots were opened, crossbow arrows shot out from the carriages like a shower, and the Wei army's cavalry suddenly turned their backs on their backs! With the sound of "哧啦", Niu Jin felt it was as piercing as a piece of bamboo and silk. He saw with his own eyes: a crossbow arrow as thick as a child's arm penetrated straight through the neck of the horse on which the soldier beside him was riding. The soldiers pierced through his chest and nailed him to the ground in one fell swoop! What a fast and sharp crossbow bolt!Niu Jin's face turned pale immediately!What made him even more astonished was that the opponent's crossbow arrows didn't come in waves one after another, but shot straight in continuously like torrents!Not even a hair-thin gap!The cavalry on my side couldn't even catch the slightest chance to evade and retreat!Niu Jin's heart tightened suddenly: Could it be that the Shu army's crossbow arrows could be fired endlessly in a row? "Quick! Quick! Retreat!" He pulled the rein of the horse and retreated desperately, "No... we can't charge forward anymore!" ... In the battle of Shilipo, in just one hour, the Wei army suffered four to five thousand cavalry casualties, while the Shu army only lost more than 820 cavalry. After Sima Yi's follow-up main force arrived, they immediately set up camp in the Weihe River Plain, and stopped going forward to challenge. "Is this the thing that the Shu bandits used to stab our horse's hooves?" Sima Yi picked up the things that the soldiers picked up from the battlefield that were thrown on the ground by the Shu soldiers and hurt their own horse's feet, looking over and over in front of their eyes. . It was a sharp weapon made of pig iron, shaped like thorns, with an iron ball in the middle, and four sharp spikes emerged from the ball, each three or four inches long.He threw it on the table, and the sharp weapon had three prongs supporting the ground and one prong pointing upwards.He pushed it with his hand, the top point of the iron ball overturned and the bottom point rose again, the point was always facing the sky, so that those who touched it could not avoid the front and would be stabbed. "Oh - so our war horse was stabbed by it like this!" Sima Yi suddenly realized, nodded deeply, and asked Niu Jin again, "Thanks to Zhuge Liang for inventing such a powerful unique weapon! Niu Jin, can you help me?" Do you know what it's called?" "General, according to the Shu soldiers' captives, this object is called 'Tribulus terrestris', and it is specially used to pierce the cavalry's horse's feet." Niu Jin replied with his fists clasped. "Well... with this thing, our great Wei cavalry may not be able to use it!" Sima Yi frowned, and asked again, "I heard that they also invented the 'serial crossbow' and the 'hundred crossbow'." Crossbows'? Show me those bolts..." Hu Zun handed over a Shu Army crossbow arrow as thick as a baby's hands and feet. "What a thick crossbow arrow! This is a long spear!" Sima Yi held the crossbow arrow in his hand and danced a few times, with a look of horror on his face, "I'm afraid even a calf would be able to shoot this arrow!" Have you been pierced by it?" While he was talking, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a line of inscriptions engraved on the shaft of the crossbow bolt: In April of the 11th year of Jianxing, Zuo Dianye, Liu Chunye, official Chen Fengdu, and Gong Yang went to further studies in the Ministry of Central Works. Sima Yi immediately understood the meaning of this line of inscriptions: "Jianxing" is the current year name of the Shu Han; "Chen Feng" is the on-site supervisor of this or this batch of crossbows; and "Yang Shen" is the craftsman who made this or this batch of crossbows.No wonder Zhuge Liang's crossbows are of such excellent quality. It turns out that he has established a strict and meticulous management system in every link of the ordnance manufacturing business!Sima Yi couldn't help admiring secretly: I have to learn from Zhuge Liang on this point! He changed his mind slightly, and handed the crossbow to Sima Zhao casually: "Take this crossbow and weigh it, and see if it weighs eight catties or two..." Then, with a gloomy face on his face, he turned to the generals and sighed deeply: "Zhuge Liang is skilled in ingenuity, good at weapons, and able to 'extend things to the extreme and make the best use of them', which I can't match! Ah! In the past three years, he has developed such a powerful weapon—even if we have a hundred thousand cavalry, we can't face him head-on!" Hearing that General Sima, who has always looked down upon the world and looked down on himself, said the same thing, all the generals under the tent looked somber and bowed their heads in silence. "General, if we talk about the ingenuity of making tools, my Great Wei also has a genius..." Zhou Xuanruo recalled, and said slowly, "He may be able to compete with Zhuge Liang..." "Who?" Sima Yi's eyes lit up, and he asked hastily. "Ma Jun, the official of the Shaofu Temple." Zhou Xuan replied, "The general may not know something: he made the hundred-wheeled waterwheel in the imperial palace and the 'water-moving armillary sphere' of our Taishi Department." ..." "Where is he now?" "His Majesty is asking him to build an 'eight-wheeled windmill' that can travel six hundred miles a day and a unparalleled 'green-covered agarwood chariot'..." "Sigh! Such a skillful craftsman, how could he be allowed to sit idle in the palace courtyard doing such flashy and useless things?" Sima Yi shook his head and sighed, "This commander will write an inscription later, please Your Majesty He was sent to serve in front of my Guanzhong army..." At this moment, Sima Zhao came in, presented the arrow of the "Hundred Stone Crossbow" of the Shu army, and said: "General, my subordinates have weighed it in person. The weight is exactly the same as the weight in the engraved inscription..." Sima Yi nodded slowly and said, "From this small crossbow arrow, it can be seen that Zhuge Liang is extremely rigorous and meticulous in running the army! You should all learn from him!" Under the faint candlelight, the night was already deep, and Sima Yi and Zhao Yan were still sitting across from each other in the sleeping tent, discussing the situation of the Kansai military seriously and nervously.Sima Zhao recorded their conversation as a shogunate reporter at the side table. Zhao Yan frowned, and sighed deeply: "General, this time Zhuge Liang came out from the North Pass of Xiegu Road, and defeated the spirit of our Guanzhong army with a mighty battle at Shilipo, and came straight to the south bank of the Wei River— —He is coming in a menacing manner, and he has the strength of fine machinery and extraordinary skills, he has the intention of putting all his eggs in one basket, and the style of attack he uses is purely all-in-one, so we really have to think carefully about precautions!" Sima Yi lowered his head slightly and pondered for a moment, then raised his head abruptly: "Since this is the case, according to what this commander sees, the only way to deal with it is to 'take defense as the basis and wait for opportunities to attack'!" "Based on defense, waiting for an opportunity to attack?" Zhao Yan stretched out his palm and stroked his beard, and gave him a complicated look, "General Sima, your plan seems ordinary, but it is actually at this time. This is the most appropriate one-size-fits-all strategy at this moment. However, the last time Zhuge Liang sent troops to attack in the fifth year of Taihe, you had already used the countermeasure of "defense first, wait for opportunities to attack"... At that time, Dai Ling, Fei Yao and others I don't know your good intentions, so I keep attacking you as 'fearing Shu like a tiger'. It's not like you haven't seen the situation of internal and external coercion... If you use this strategy again this time, I'm afraid it will provoke the generals to rebound again Get up, the crowd is full of excitement. How can you suppress it then?" Sima Yi's face suddenly froze, and his tone suddenly became cold and hard: "As the saying goes, 'Break out teeth and swallow blood'. This commander has recognized that this is a correct and feasible strategy, and he will definitely stick to it to the end Yes! Even though thousands of people criticize and everyone scolds, this commander-in-chief will not frown!" "This... General Sima's tenacity and tenacity certainly makes Zhao very admired," Zhao Yan listened with a look of respect, "But... those rough and warlike soldiers may not be able to do it. Like Zhao, I understand the deep meaning of you, General..." "Father... In my opinion, you don't have to be so stubborn this time." At this time, Sima Zhao put down his pen on the side case, plucked up the courage to interject, and said, "You might as well write an eighth letter immediately." Bailijia hurriedly sent a secret letter to Sun Zi and Liu Fang of Zhongshu Province, asking them to persuade His Majesty to send an imperial decree, saying: We are required to stick to the Guanzhong Pass and not give Zhuge Liang any opportunity to take advantage of it. 'Braking still, gaining momentum', just like last time, dragged the Shu bandits back without food..." “二公子好聪明！这一招'借力卸力'之策当真巧妙！大将军您就可以用这道圣旨作为自己在关中大军面前的'挡箭牌'，把帐下诸将急于应战而不得的怨气消泄出去……”赵俨深深赞着，不由得向司马昭竖起了大拇指，“高！高！二公子你这一计实在是高！” “微末小计，何足称道？赵军师可别将他夸坏了。”司马懿带着半嗔半喜之情斜了司马昭一眼，抚须而言，“子上（司马昭的字为“子上”），赵军师乃我大魏军中硕果仅存的宿臣元老，阅历丰富、经验充足，你日后还须得向他老人家多多讨教才是！你那点儿粗浅之见，只会贻笑大方的！” 司马昭听到这里，急忙垂手而起：“父帅训示得是。孩儿愿拜赵军师为师，认真研习治军御敌之道。” 赵俨慌得连连摆手：“赵某之才，岂堪为子上之师？不敢当，不敢当的。”他话还没讲完，司马昭已是伏在地板上向他一气磕了九个响头。赵俨推辞不过，也只得受了。 大家复又言归正题。司马懿敛容正色而道：“也罢，本帅就依子上所言，稍后下来就写一封那样的密函给孙大人和刘大人吧！现在，本帅也只能是'以守为本，以静制动，蓄势而发，伺机而动'——再来个'遵旨照办'，相信那些好战之将纵有满腹怨气，也不致坏了本帅的章法！” 赵俨缓缓点头，沉吟而道：“大将军，既然您已经决定'以守为本，以静制动'，那么我关中大军究竟是屯守渭河北岸还是渭河南岸？依赵某看来，若是真要守得稳当，咱们撤到渭河北岸隔水而守，应该还要更为安全一些……” “撤到渭河北岸屯守，固然不失为一条稳妥之策，但却未免太过消极了些。守，也有守的技巧。”司马懿捋着颌下乌亮的长须，深深而道，“渭水南岸的东面一带，正是我关中民屯之腹地，实乃一大无形'粮仓'，怎可轻易拱手让给诸葛亮？诸葛亮得到了这一大片良田沃野之后，倘若继续东进武功山，那还得了？咱们只有扼守渭河南岸，方能阻断诸葛亮的东进之路……” 赵俨眉目之间仍是垂着一缕忧色：“可是在渭河南岸背水筑营而守，几乎就是'半守半攻'之态势，到时候咱们大军还是不得不与蜀军正面交锋啊……” 司马懿双目凛凛有神地看着赵俨：“本帅施行的就是'守中有攻、屈中有伸'的计策，而不是单纯的退御防守之方略。蜀军的器械再精良、人马再强悍，亦是终有士气懈怠之时——到了那时，我关中大军便可就近发起袭击，免得贻误战机！” 赵俨认认真真地听完之后，思忖许久，才颔首而道：“大将军胸中所怀原来仍是'后发制人'之方略，当真是不屈不挠、韧劲无穷啊！” “赵军师谬赞了！”司马懿谦逊了一句，又沉吟着讲道，“咱们扼守渭河南岸之后，那么诸葛亮进犯关西的来路就只剩下了两处：一是向西挺进、夺取凉州；二是向北渡河、抢占郿县。向西，他必须要经过陈仓要塞；向北，他必须要占据渭河北津口。这两个咽喉要地，我大魏都须得派出智能双全的大将前去驻守……” 赵俨听到这里，点头而道：“大将军所言甚是。首先来谈陈仓要塞吧——赵某以为邓艾将军能谋善战、沉勇有略，可以派他率领二万人马衔枚潜去陈仓，在那里为我关中大军牢牢守好'西大门'！” “可。”司马懿颔首而答。 “只有那渭河北津口……”赵俨迟疑了起来，欲言又止，“这个守将人选还不好确定呢……” “郭淮牧君可以胜任。”司马懿直截了当地说道，“本师可以拨给他三万人马撤到渭河北津口处，阻断蜀寇渡水北进之途！” 赵俨目光一闪：“那么，大将军您……” “本帅亲率八万大军驻扎渭河南岸，随时就近监控诸葛亮！”司马懿很干脆利落地答道。 这时，赵俨的表情显得有些复杂起来，嗫嗫着说道：“大将军，请听赵某之心声，为了保护您的万全之躯，您不如与郭牧君易地而守——您去坐镇渭河北岸，而郭牧君则扼守渭河南岸，岂不更佳？” 司马昭也从旁劝道：“父帅，赵师傅所言甚是。您一身关系关中三军之安危存亡，实是不必亲临险境啊！” “本帅多谢赵军师的关心了。”司马懿双目炯亮如炬地看着赵俨和司马昭，将手一摆道，“罢了！罢了！诸葛亮足智多谋、兵精械良，实乃我大魏第一劲敌！郭牧君固然智能兼备，却决非其匹也！本帅派别人来对付他，始终显得有些不放心啊！唉……似诸葛亮这等的盖世劲敌，还是交由本帅亲自在前为诸君拼死挡下了吧……”