Chapter 463: The world is like chess, storming Yangping
On the third day after Fei Yao led his army to Yangping Pass, Cao Zhen, who had been traveling day and night, finally led his army to the outside of Yangping Pass.
Cao Zhen was not bragging.
The Wei army was worthy of being called an elite soldier, and Cao Zhen himself was worthy of the reputation of a famous general. In just a few days, Cao Zhen was able to lead 5,000 Wei troops to the Yangping Pass. This marching speed was no worse than that of Wei Yan.
When Cao Zhen led his army to join Fei Yao, Cao Zhen immediately asked Fei Yao if there had been any movement by the Han army in the past few days.
Cao Zhen asked, and Fei Yao naturally did not dare to hide it.
He reported truthfully: "The defenders of Yangping Pass have only been patrolling daily in the past few days, and there has been nothing unusual."
"Has the number of thieves on the city wall increased?"
Cao Zhen continued to ask.
Fei Yao immediately answered truthfully: "Not really."
After hearing Fei Yao's report, Cao Zhen felt surprised.
He had already deduced that Mi Yang wanted to repeat his old trick and use false surrender to defeat Cao Hong's army.
Since Mi Yang has this purpose, when he knows that he has led a large army to help, he will definitely not be without countermeasures.
At least you have to take it seriously and strengthen some defenses on the city wall!
What does business as usual mean?
Do you look down on him, Cao Zhen?
Cao Zhen suddenly became unhappy.
Mi Yang's reaction was unusual. This unusualness was beyond Cao Zhen's expectation, and it also made Cao Zhen feel uneasy.
The current situation, business as usual, is the situation that Cao Zhen least wants to see.
Soldiers are unpredictable and ever-changing.
Many people in the world like to make plans before taking action, thinking that before the war begins, everything will be clearly planned, and that things will develop as they expected, step by step without making mistakes.
People in the world think that only those who can do this can be regarded as famous generals.
But in fact, no one in the world can do this.
Because the essence of war is to compete with the treacherous and ever-changing hearts of people. On this basis, who in the world dares to say that they can have everything in their hands before the war?
Just as Wu Yi used Xianguan as bait to lure Cao Hong, if he had followed his previous plan, Mi Yang should have ambushed Cao Hong's army with all his strength.
But even though Mi Yang had taken many things into consideration, the sudden arrival of Cao Zhen with his army caused great changes in the matter.
However, although the arrival of Cao Zhen's army made it difficult for Mi Yang to ambush Cao Hong's army, the real star of a general is that he knows how to adapt to changes and take advantage of the situation.
So Mi Yang immediately made corresponding tactical adjustments based on the changes in the current situation.
After Mi Yang made corresponding tactical adjustments, it was now Cao Zhen's turn to take advantage of him.
Cao Zhen led the army without bringing Liu Ye with him.
But before he led the army to set off, Liu Ye once said: Liu Ye believed that when Cao Zhen led the army to Yangping Pass, Mi Yang could only choose two paths.
One is to ambush Cao Hong's army at all costs, and the other is to give up the plan to ambush Cao Hong's army and instead strengthen the defense behind the Yangping Pass.
According to the two paths chosen by General Mi Yang, Liu Ye also presented corresponding strategies.
However, when Cao Zhen led his army to Yangping Pass, Cao Zhen discovered that Mi Yang did not act according to Liu Ye's inference at all, and he directly chose the third path-ignoring.
Cao Zhen did not think that Mi Yang would not receive the news of the arrival of his army in advance, so the current situation of the Han army was business as usual, which was Mi Yang's deliberately indifferent attitude - I don't care if you come or not, I will continue to do my thing.
Mi Yang's strategy was completely outside of Cao Zhen's plan. When the original plan could no longer be implemented, Cao Zhen could only make corresponding moves based on changes in the current situation.
This is a challenge Mi Yang unknowingly launched to Cao Zhen, a challenge exclusive to famous generals.
Looking at the Yangpingguan city wall whose strength was not increasing or decreasing, Cao Zhen seemed to have Mi Yang's whispered inquiry in his mind - Cao Zidan, what will you do next?
Although Cao Zhen had been leading the army in Guanzhong before, he had met Mi Yang.
That year was the 24th year of Jian'an.
On the Han River in the 24th year of Jian'an, the aging King of Wei and the old King of Hanzhong each brought two of their nephews to meet.
At that time, Mi Yang was just starting out, but he had already passed the public security battle and became a powerful figure in the world.
I still remember that day, Cao Zhen and Mi Yang were only a few steps away. When Emperor Wu was talking to Liu Bei, Cao Zhen had been secretly observing Mi Yang.
Cao Zhen knew why Emperor Wu took him with him that day, so that he could take a good look at Mi Yang, the future enemy of Cao Wei.
Several years passed in a daze, and Cao Zhen had become the general of Cao Wei and the first person in Cao Wei except Cao Pi. However, he never forgot the meeting on the Han River that day.
Thinking of this, Cao Zhen's lips revealed a smile inadvertently.
His initially flustered heart instantly calmed down.
He was the one left by Emperor Wu who was qualified to be Mi Yang's opponent, so how could he be so flustered because of a sudden surprise?
After he calmed down, Cao Zhen's thoughts became extremely clear.
Mi Yang could not be indifferent to his arrival. The reason why Mi Yang wanted to act as if everything was normal was to confuse his judgment.
After your thoughts are clear, many things will naturally fall into place.
After understanding Mi Yang's intention, Cao Zhen was no longer anxious.
Maybe he doesn't know what the situation is like on the other side of Yangping Pass, but he can judge it through the actions of the Han army on his side.
No matter how much Mi Yang deployed the ecstasy array, the lack of troops was far from his biggest weakness. It was impossible for Mi Yang to both send heavy troops to guard the back of the pass and also send heavy troops to ambush Cao Hong's troops.
As long as this fact does not change, then he has nothing to worry about.
After calming down his emotions, Cao Zhen gave Fei Yao an order:
"Send someone to the pass to ask for a meeting with Mi Yang, and say that I want to see him."
"Like the story back then, he and I each brought one person to meet each other."
After hearing Cao Zhen's order, Fei Yao reminded: "Now that my army is arrayed outside, the thieves and thieves may not see each other."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Fei Yao's hesitation made Cao Zhen laugh.
"He is Mi Yang! Is he afraid?"
Cao Zhen's words unabashedly revealed his deep appreciation for Mi Yang.
"Just send someone there, he will definitely meet you."
Because I wanted to test him, and presumably he also really wanted to test me.
Who makes the two of them equal opponents?
After finishing speaking, Cao Zhen returned to the tent with a confident look on his face.
Perhaps Fei Yao was not at the height of Cao Zhen and could not understand Cao Zhen's confidence, but he still followed Cao Zhen's instructions and sent a messenger towards Yangping Pass.
When Mi Yang in the pass learned that Cao Zhen had sent a messenger to see him, he was not surprised.
With Cao Zhen's ability, it might be difficult to guess that he was at Yangping Pass at first due to the limitation of intelligence, but with the collection and summary of a lot of intelligence, Cao Zhen will guess this sooner or later.
And Mi Yang never thought of hiding this from Cao Zhen.
Mi Yang received Cao Zhen's envoy, and then heard Cao Zhen's request from the envoy.
After hearing Cao Zhen's request, Mi Yang felt that things became interesting.
Cao Zhen suddenly wanted to meet, presumably not just to reminisce about old times.
Cao really wanted to see him and find out more information.
This is enough to prove that Cao Zhen was not affected by his plan to suspect soldiers, at least at the moment his mind was very calm.
This made Mi Yang feel admiration for Cao Zhen in his heart.
But Mi Yang also felt that it was natural for Cao Zhen to behave like this.
Many people in later generations thought that Sima Yi was Zhuge Liang's biggest opponent. In fact, this was wrong. Before Cao Zhen's death, it was Cao Zhen who thwarted Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition several times.
In history, when Cao Zhen was marching south, Zhuge Liang also worked hard to deal with it.
This is enough to prove that Cao Zhen must be quite outstanding in military strategy alone, and he is worthy of Cao Cao's expectations for him during his lifetime.
Cao Zhen is definitely qualified to be Mi Yang's opponent.
Mi Yang ignored the expressions in the eyes of Fa Miao and others and agreed to Cao Zhen's envoy's request with a smile.
Cao Zhen wanted to test him, so why didn't he?
After Cao Zhen's envoy left with satisfaction, Fa Miao immediately advised Mi Yang: "Uncle Mu has the hope of a big man on his shoulders, how can he leave lightly?"
While talking, Fa Miao tried to cite scriptures to dissuade Mi Yang, but Mi Yang insisted on going his own way.
Mi Yang turned to look at Wei Yan and said, "Tomorrow, you will come out with me to meet Cao Zhen."
Facing Mi Yang's roll call, Wei Yan answered Wei in a deep voice.
After naming Wei Yan, Mi Yang waved away the others.
After everyone else left, Mi Yang looked at a heavy crossbow placed on the table, his eyes filled with brilliance.
Cao Zhen had the confidence of tens of thousands of Wei troops, and since he dared to lure Cao Zhen's army to come, why didn't he have no confidence?
...
One night passed in a blink of an eye.
When the early morning sunlight of the next day shone on the mottled black walls of Yangping Pass, the gate of Yangping Pass quietly opened.
Mi Yang, escorted by Wei Yan, walked step by step towards Cao Zhen, who had been waiting outside the pass early.
Cao Zhen did not break his promise, he only took Wang Shuang with him.
Cao Zhen was not a villain. He took the initiative to ask the Wei army outside the pass to retreat a hundred steps, so that Mi Yang would not have to worry about being attacked and killed by cold arrows.
Of course, Cao Zhen also placed the meeting place in an open space a hundred steps away from Yangping Pass.
Both of them were looking forward to this meeting, but at the same time they were always on guard against each other.
A hundred steps away, Mi Yang drove his horse and arrived in front of Cao Zhen in a short while.
Neither of them were wearing armor today, and both were wearing plain clothes.
When Cao Zhen saw Mi Yang arriving, he stretched out his hand to support Mi Yang and motioned for Mi Yang to sit down.
Mi Yang didn't doubt his presence, so he sat directly opposite Cao Zhen.
As for the two fierce generals Wei Yan and Wang Shuang, as the guards of their respective generals, they each held the hilts of their swords and stared at each other attentively.
When Mi Yang sat down, he discovered that Cao Zhen was not meeting friends with wine today, but with chess.
Go is an entertainment activity loved by scholars in the world, and it is also an entertainment activity that many famous generals are good at.
Cao Zhen's arrangement can be said to be very consistent with his and Mi Yang's identities.
Mi Yang has been taught by Fazheng since he was a child. He is certainly not a novice when it comes to Go.
Mi Yang was not restrained in front of Cao Zhen, as if he and Cao Zhen had not seen each other for many years. Mi Yang reached out and took the chess tube with the white chess on the chessboard in front of him.
Seeing Mi Yang's silence, Cao Zhen couldn't help but laugh.
It was considered rude for others to act like this in front of him, but when Mi Yang acted like this in front of him, it made him feel that Mi Yang was informal.
Mi Yang's move of deliberately choosing the white chess piece and leaving the black chess piece to himself also allowed Cao Zhen to see Mi Yang's deep meaning.
But Cao Zhen didn't care at all about this deep meaning.
Black means black, but he is happy.
Because according to the rules of the chessboard, the black player goes first, which seems to indicate that the southern expedition that attracted the attention of the world was initiated by Cao Zhen.
With a "click" sound, without any words of nostalgia, Cao Zhen instantly dropped a black flag on the chessboard that symbolized the world.
Cao Zhen placed the first black flag in the middle of the chessboard. This was not a very good start, but it was a domineering one.
With the great national power of the Wei Dynasty, it is natural for the Wei Dynasty to be the most respected one in the world.
Facing Cao Zhen's provocative first move, Mi Yang didn't seem to care at all. He was not in a hurry to place the stone next to the black flag. Instead, he chose to sprinkle the first white stone in the corner of the chessboard.
Mi Yang's move made Cao Zhen see the deep meaning Mi Yang wanted to express.
It is good that Cao Wei currently occupies the center of the world, but the Han Dynasty can also reestablish the state in the border areas, and then grow step by step, and finally surround the Wei Dynasty in the middle of the world.
This is Mi Yang's counterattack against Cao Zhen's provocation, and also Mi Yang's challenge to Cao Zhen's confidence.
Meeting an opponent in chess is not only about comparing the level of chess skills, but also a fierce collision of personal ideals.
Just as black and white have been distinct since ancient times, Mi Yang and Cao Zhen, due to their different stances, have decided that they can only be unceasing enemies in their lives.
At first, neither of them spoke, not even a greeting. There was only the sound of chess falling between them.
This scene made Wei Yan and Wang Shuang very puzzled. How could they meet without talking?
As the number of black and white stones on the chessboard continues to increase, it seems like there are two naturally hostile black and white dragons on the chessboard, catching each other and fighting each other.
People who don't understand chess cannot understand the dangerous situation on the chessboard. Only the chess players Mi Yang and Cao Zhen have a deep understanding of the situation on the chessboard.
The black dragon is fierce and attacks all the way, while the white dragon is flexible and defends everywhere.
After an unknown amount of time passed, the battlefield between the black dragon and the white dragon shifted to the northwest position on the chessboard.
Just now, both of them subconsciously did not decide which side to move, because the northwest position was exactly where Cao Hong's army was currently.
Here, offense and defense can be transformed in an instant!
The white dragon no longer pays attention to defense everywhere, and even gives up defense completely, as if it wants to completely occupy this position.
However, the Black Dragon changed its aggressive attitude and began to defend in this corner, trying to protect this place that represented a different meaning.
Facing Black Dragon's tenacious defense, White Dragon's offensive became more and more fierce. It can be seen from Mi Yang's moves that he has an attitude of never giving up until he achieves his goal.
As a result, the situation on the chessboard became anxious for a while.
When it was Cao Zhen's turn to make a move again, he still failed to place the chess piece that represented hope.
Because if he insists on guarding that corner land, the hidden pieces he originally placed on other chessboards will be destroyed in an instant.
Cao Zhen had to hesitate because of such serious consequences.
While hesitating, Mi Yang took the initiative to say his first words after meeting Cao Zhen:
"He's arrived."
These words made Cao Zhen's hand holding the black chess tremble.
Cao Zhen knew that the person Mi Yang was referring to was Cao Hong.
And the three words "he arrived" indicate that Cao Hong's army has been successfully lured by Mi Yang.
What will Mi Yang do next?
Didn't Mi Yang make his intentions very obvious on the chessboard?
After saying these three words, Mi Yang raised his head and looked at the sky.
The time spent playing chess always passes quickly, and the sky gets dark before I know it.
It's time to go back to eat.
Mi Yang stood up first.
After noticing Mi Yang's movements, Cao Zhen raised his head and looked at Mi Yang.
He already knew Mi Yang's attitude very clearly.
When Mi Yang turned around, Cao Zhen suddenly said to Mi Yang:
"On the Han River, Emperor Wu once said with emotion that if Duke Mi had listened to his call, maybe you would have become his favorite nephew."
Although Mi Yang is not named Cao, neither was Cao Zhen at first.
As long as Cao Cao really likes someone, he likes to recognize his son the most, so Cao Cao would say this back then.
After saying this, Cao Zhen paused and then continued: "And maybe you and I will become the best friends. With the help of you and me, the Wei Dynasty will be invincible."
Cao Zhen expressed his deepest thoughts to Mi Yang.
Cao Zhen hated and feared Mi Yang, but he also admired him.
Heroes cherish each other. After realizing Mi Yang's excellence, Cao Zhen was just like Cao Cao back then, often regretting Mi Zhu's refusal to be called.
Mi Yang listened to Cao Zhen's words with his back turned. After listening, Mi Yang was silent for a while, and then he turned around and bowed to Cao Zhen.
Although they are rivals, Cao Zhen's appreciation for him is not mixed with any evil thoughts.
In this case, Mi Yang doesn't mind showing some kindness to Cao Zhen because of Cao Zhen's appreciation for him.
But after bowing, Mi Yang resolutely turned around and walked towards Yangping Pass.
He heard the attraction in Cao Zhen's words, but unfortunately, it was impossible to walk together in different ways.
Looking at Mi Yang's decisive back, the smile on Cao Zhen's face gradually disappeared, and his eyes became cold again.
Private appreciation must not override the interests of the country. This is a common insistence between Cao Zhen and Mi Yang.
When Mi Yang entered the pass, Cao Zhen asked Wang Shuang to put away the unfinished chessboard, and asked not to let their pieces be misplaced.
Then Cao Zhen also turned around and walked towards the Wei army camp behind him.
When Cao Zhen entered the Wei army's camp, a military order soon reached the ears of every Wei army:
"Practice harder and be ready for war."
...
On the third day after Cao Zhen met with Mi Yang, Cao Zhen, who was reviewing military affairs in the camp, suddenly received news that shocked him.
The Han troops on the Yangpingguan city wall withdrew!
After hearing the news, Cao Zhen stood up in shock.
Is Mi Yang finally going to take action?
Cao Zhen quickly followed Fei Yao to the outside of the camp to investigate.
When he arrived outside the camp, he saw that on the wall of Yangpingguan where Han troops were originally on duty, many Han troops had disappeared.
The Yangpingguan city wall, which was originally relatively well-defended, looked to Cao Zhen at this moment, but it was full of loopholes, like an empty city.
When Cao Zhen saw this scene, Liu Ye's judgment instantly emerged in Cao Zhen's mind: If the Han army wanted to attack the hussar general, a large number of Han troops would have to be mobilized to ambush him.
Doesn't the scene happening in his eyes now support Liu Ye's judgment?
But at this moment, Cao Zhen hesitated.
In the chessboard duel a few days ago, he had already told Mi Yang with his actions that he would definitely save Cao Hong.
Under such circumstances, would Mi Yang still insist on sending troops to ambush Cao Hong?
Wouldn't it?
Thinking of the confrontation on the chessboard that day, Mi Yang's all-or-nothing attitude on the chessboard, Cao Zhen became nervous.
Looking at all the battles Mi Yang fought, in terms of adventurous spirit, he has never lost to any famous general in the world.
Perhaps this may be Mi Yang's tactic to lure the enemy, but with Mi Yang's usual style, this is more like Mi Yang's tactic to deceive the enemy!
He deliberately withdrew the Han troops on the city wall, making himself think that this was a ploy to lure the enemy, but in fact Mi Yang really led all the elite Han troops to ambush Cao Hong's army.
Mi Yang did this to make himself suspicious and not dare to attack Yangping Pass rashly.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There is no need to delay for too long, as long as it can be delayed for a while, then Mi Yang's goal will be achieved!
When Mi Yang took the initiative to evacuate the guards at Yangping Pass, for a while, two extremely contradictory thoughts kept colliding in Cao Zhen's mind.
Is this empty city a tactic to lure the enemy, or is it a tactic to mislead the enemy?
For a time, various possibilities emerged in Cao Zhen's mind.
At this time, Cao Zhen remembered a past incident during the Battle of Hanzhong.
During the Battle of Hanzhong, Zhao Yun's camp was besieged by a large number of Wei troops. At that time, Zhao Yun made an unexpected move.
Zhao Yun ordered the camp gates to be opened wide, and then ordered the Han army to cease their activities.
At that time, the commander-in-chief of Cao's army saw this situation and suspected that Zhao Yun had set up an ambush, so he retreated. Zhao Yun took the opportunity to lead his army to pursue and defeat Cao's army.
Before historians wrote down the deeds for the contemporary people, not much was known about this past incident.
But Cao Zhen knew about it because he was the person involved.
And Mi Yang must also know that, everyone knows that Zhao Yun has a close relationship with him.
So on the premise that he has succeeded once, will Mi Yang learn from Zhao Yun's old tricks and repeat the trick of empty city?
The empty city plan, which was difficult to distinguish between reality and reality, gave Cao Zhen an increasingly headache.
However, because he knew Zhao Yun's case, in Cao Zhen's heart, his judgment gradually tended to be Mi Yang's suspicion plan.
When this idea gained the upper hand in his mind, Cao Zhen realized something again, did he have any choice?
Cao Hong's army may be in danger. If he misses the opportunity to rescue Cao Hong because of hesitation, then once the middle route army is defeated by Mi Yang's army, let alone what kind of blow the morale of the Wei army will suffer.
If the Central Route Army did not block Yizhou's reinforcements and Mi Yang received the reinforcements, he would be even more powerful and difficult to deal with.
As time went by, Cao Zhen made a decision in his heart.
Cao Zhen came to the chessboard where the game had not been played that day, raised high the black stone that he had been carrying with him since that day, and then without hesitation, he hit the black stone heavily on the chessboard surrounded by white dragons.