Zhao Yun arched his hand and explained: "Da Sima, that Sima Yi is resourceful, and he actually came up with a way to cut off with water.

Now that winter is approaching, yesterday it has been frosty, the water sprinkled on the road, extremely slippery, our cavalry passed, it was a mud, the pursuit was not more than a few miles, dozens of horses fell off their horses, three cavalry were seriously injured, and even one unfortunately fell to the head and died.

Although the last general could catch up with Sima Yi regardless of casualties, the cavalry passed by, and the trampling of the war horses made the road more muddy, and the big Sima infantry army was behind, so I was afraid that it would be more difficult to march.

Even if the last general catches up with Sima Yi, the big Sima will not be able to lead the troops to meet and respond in a short time, and the Sima Yi is scheming, and the last general is afraid of an ambush, so he does not dare to rush into the army, so he comes back and asks the big Sima to decide. ”

"Cut off the circuit with water? Take me to see it! ”

"Da Sima, please!"

Zhao Yun brought Zhuge Liang to the official road that had become a muddy place.

Zhuge Liang looked at the muddy official road in front of him, his face couldn't help but become solemn, he squatted on the ground and observed for a while, and said: "There are six wheel prints on the ground, it seems that Sima Yi is walking side by side with three waterwheels, and the waterwheels are releasing water while walking." This Sima Yi is really a genius, and he actually came up with this method. ”

Zhao Yun asked on the side, "Is there any way that Da Sima can speed up the march?" For example, do you think it's okay to tie a cloth on the horse's hooves?

Sima Yi is a man of outstanding resourcefulness, now that the Wei State has retreated to Hebei, the defense line has shrunk, and the defense forces will be sufficient or even redundant, if Sima Yi is allowed to go back and destroy the Wei State, I am afraid that it will be far away again......"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "No, the muddy ground is different from the snow, and it is frosty, more slippery, and it is even more slippery. ”

Zhang Ren groaned: "What about the detour? You can send cavalry to outflank him from other places, and Da Sima will always be able to catch up with him with his foot soldiers behind. ”

Chen Zhi, a native from Runan, Yuzhou, said: "There are no shortcuts in the vicinity, and if you take other roads, you will inevitably have to cross rivers and find ferries, and it will take time." Moreover, when the cavalry crosses the river, small boats are not enough, large boats must be used, so it is even more wasteful of time. ”

Chen Zhi is a native of Pingyu, Runan, Yuzhou, grew up in Pingyu since he was a child, became a ranger when he was young, and was also a chivalrous man in this area, and he knew very well about the road around Pingyu, he said that if the detour is not good, it will definitely not work.

The first general proposed: "Then why don't you let Sima Yi go, let's settle down first?" ”

Huo Jun groaned: "I'm afraid that it won't work, according to the report from the scout, Zhao Yan has given up Yangzhou and arrived in the north of Yanzhou, and is forcibly relocating the people in Yanbei." To the north of Xuzhou, a part of the soldiers and horses were also dispatched to move the people. In addition, in terms of divisions, Wei also forcibly moved the people to the north of Huguan in Bingzhou.

Yanzhou can now be said to be the state with the most people in Wei, and Xuzhou, when Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou, killed Xuzhou ten rooms and nine emptiness, and most of the people of Xuzhou were concentrated in the north of Xuzhou.

If we settle down here, then the people in the north will be evacuated by the Wei State, and even if we seize the land south of the Yellow River, it will take more than ten or twenty years to start a big war.

When will we be able to destroy the pseudo-Wei and dominate the world? ”

Zhao Yun said indignantly: "So don't we have to follow Sima Yi's ass and march in the mud all the time?" ”

Zhuge Liang sighed and said: "This is also a matter of no way, since Sima Yi dares to stop us in Pingyu, he must have planned his retreat."

Zhuge Liang got up, looked at the muddy road ahead, and muttered: "Continue to march forward slowly, and send someone to send a message to Deng Ai, so that he can leave 20,000 soldiers and horses to watch Xuchang's side, and lead the rest of the soldiers and horses to rush over, on the one hand, to pacify the local chaos, and on the other hand, to prevent Sun Quan from raiding the rear of our army after he gets Yangzhou Jiangbei." ”

The pursuit of Sima Yi is a small matter, while the people of Yanbei, Xu Bei, and Sili are a big matter.

These places are all large-scale gathering places for the common people, and if the Wei State is allowed to relocate these people, then even if the Han Dynasty takes the land south of the Yellow River in the future, it will not have much effect.

Without people, it is impossible to engage in production, it is impossible to provide grain and grass, it is impossible to recruit people, and it is difficult to use troops against Wei on a large scale in the short term.

If Wei consolidates the land of Hebei, then the domination of the world will be far away.

So Zhuge Liang had to march on this muddy road, pursuing Sima Yi, not seeking to defeat Sima Yi, but to deter the Wei State, so that they could retreat early and leave the people behind.

However, the counties and cities of Yuzhou cannot be left alone, and Yangzhou Jiangbei Wei has been ceded to Jiangdong, if these soldiers and horses are taken away, it is explained that Jiangdong took advantage of the chaos to attack, and Zhuge Liang's rear is not stable.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang transferred Deng Ai to lead his troops to Yuzhou, one to calm the people, and the other to prevent Jiangdong from attacking.

There are many soldiers and horses in Nanyang, the last time Liu Chan went north to Nanyang, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were left there, and there were 70,000 soldiers and horses and 5,000 cavalry, in addition to the 20,000 people staring at Xuchang, there were also more than 50,000 soldiers and horses available.

"Let's hit the road!" Zhao Yun waved his hand and led the cavalry to the muddy official road again.

The cavalry is in front, the foot soldiers are in the middle, and the grain and grass are in the rear.

Although the official road is muddy, but fortunately it is made by artificial watering, although it is muddy, but it is not deep, and the carriages that escort grain and grass will not sink into it.

Unlike the roads after heavy rains, which are full of potholes, it is easy for horse-drawn carriages to get stuck in potholes and not get out.

However, although the mud was not deep, the road was not easy to walk, not only was it easy to slip, but after a few steps, the soldiers' feet were covered with a thick layer of mud.

The soldiers of the Han army had no choice but to march with a small wooden stick in their hands and use their weapons as crutches, and after walking a few steps, they used the small wooden stick to scratch off the mud on the soles of their shoes.

In this case, it naturally leads to the feeling that the marching speed is very slow, less than half of what is normal under normal circumstances, and it can walk a maximum of thirty miles in a day.

And Sima Yi led the soldiers and horses in front, the water of the waterwheel ran out, so he sent people to the nearby rivers to get water, Yuzhou has a lot of water, and most of the general official roads are built along the river, and there is no shortage of water at all.

The Wei army was tired after walking for a long time, so Sima Yi ordered the army to take a short rest, and summoned scouts to inquire about the movements of the Han army.

"Where is the Shu army now? Did you catch up? ”

The scout replied with a smile: "Although Da Sima can rest assured, Zhao Yun originally led the cavalry to chase for a few miles, but the road was muddy, and there were many cavalry of the Shu army who fell off their horses, so Zhao Yun led his troops back."

Now Zhao Yun has joined Zhuge Liang, walking on the muddy ground, one by one, covered in mud and embarrassed. ”