After the withdrawal of troops from Hanzhong, Cao Cao returned all the way to Yecheng, which had long since become the center of Cao Wei's new rule, and in the last year or so, Liu Cong in the south stopped provoking, and the whole Wei state began to focus on internal affairs. Especially a few princes, seeing that Cao Cao was getting old, and his body was not as good as day by day, they began to fight openly and secretly in private.

The civil and military officials of the Cao Wei group also had their own supporters, and the border generals tended to favor the brave Cao Zhang, while the civil officials tended to the talented Cao Zhi. And now Cao Pi is the real prince of Wei. Cao Pi himself was actually very anxious in his heart, his reputation was far inferior to that of his two younger brothers, but because he was good at political calculations and had Sima Yi to assist, he gradually won Cao Cao's trust.

Cao Pi's advantage is that on the surface, he seems to be loyal and honest, and he is more obedient. On marching and fighting, he can't compare with Cao Zhang, and he also loses a lot to Cao Zhi in terms of poetry. The best feeling among the three is Cao Zhi, whose talent in poetry and singing can be unparalleled in the world. Cao Cao valued Cao Zhi even more after the death of his smartest youngest son, Cao Chong.

Since ancient times, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. When there are more people, there will naturally be factions. This is the case in today's Wei State. In fact, in addition to the court dispute in the Wei State, Cao Cao's internal rule was also worried about Cao Cao, and after he knew that he was a eunuch, he was the representative of the Han Dynasty. If there is only Wei in the world now, the problem is not very big. The problem is that Liu Cong is a relative of the Han family, and Chan Rang ascended the throne and took the route of Kuangfu Han family.

Morally, Cao Cao's Wei lost to Liu Cong's Han. And the ending of Yingchuan Xun's uncle and nephew also made Wei Shizi feel guilty about Cao Cao. Xun Yu's uncle and nephew As for Cao Wei's army, he used to be a humerus and a pillar, but he died of illness and died inexplicably. And Xun Yu's final choice to run away with the Son of Heaven also made some people sigh.

After Liu Cong ascended the throne, he merged Jinyiwei and the Espionage Department again and upgraded it to the Supervision Yuan, ranking in the same Inspectorate and Dali Temple, and did not stop the propaganda offensive against the Cao Wei Group for a moment. At the same time, under the persuasion of Zhuge Liang, Liu Cong gradually strengthened the formation drills while strengthening the upgrading of the army's equipment, and Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Fa Zheng and others naturally became the researchers and practitioners of the formation, and they were the think tanks of the entire imperial court, and they were often ordered to shuttle through the three main camps.

Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. Cao Cao I still resisted the ruthlessness of the years after all, and in the spring of the third year of Han Yongping (220 years), a generation of heroes, Cao Cao, the founding emperor of Wei, died of illness in Yecheng. Prince Wei was preparing to ascend the throne under the support of Cao Pi and Sima Yi and others. The prince Cao Zhi was unconvinced, thinking that his father, Cao Cao, had another will to pass on the throne to himself. In order to stabilize the situation, Cao Pi immediately detained Cao Zhi and his party. Cao Zhang, who was far away in Chang'an, learned that his father had died of illness and was in pain, but he also had illusions, and despite the dissuasion of Cao Zhen, Guo Huai and others, he rushed to Yecheng with 30,000 elite soldiers under his command.

As soon as Cao Zhang left, the defense of the Guanzhong area was unprecedentedly weak, and the heaven-sent opportunity, Wei Yan, the governor of Hanzhong, made a decision immediately, and on the one hand, Pegasus reported to the imperial court, and on the other hand, he set off immediately. According to the original plan, Zhang Ren and Han Dang led 5,000 troops to the Meridian Valley by copying the path, preparing to take a detour to seize Tongguan, and he and Ma Chao, Huang Zhong and others led an army of 50,000 out of Yangping Pass to kill Chang'an, preparing to take Guanzhong in one fell swoop.

At this time, there were only 20,000 defenders in Chang'an City, and the general Cao Zhen and the deputy general Guo Huai were surprised to learn that Wei Yan was coming, and sent a herald to ask for help from Fei Yao of Anding overnight, and at the same time quickly reported to Yecheng. It is said that Zhang Ren led 5,000 lightly armed infantry all the way to a hurry, and when he encountered the county seat and fortress, it was a detour, and he appeared in Tongguan seven days later.

Ten days later, Wei Yan's army also arrived in the southern suburbs of Chang'an. At this time, the guards of Chang'an included Cao Zhen, Guo Huai, Xiahou Mao and others, and there were originally Cao Zhang, Xu Huang and others, and their experience was also strong, but because of Cao Pi's insistence, Sima Yi, the Taishou of Nanyang, was transferred to Yecheng, and Xu Huang replaced Sima Yi to garrison Wancheng. And after Cao Cao died, Cao Zhang wanted to go to Yecheng to compete for the throne, not only did he leave, but also took away the 30,000 defenders who originally belonged to Chang'an!

Although there were only 20,000 people in Chang'an City, Cao Zhen still did not want to sit still, and while asking for help from other places, he asked Guo Huai to lead 15,000 men to set up a position in the southern suburbs of Chang'an to prepare to entangle with Wei Yan, and he himself stayed in the city to recruit new soldiers and strengthen the fortifications.

Huai was the leader of the young generals of the Wei army, Guo Huai's grandfather Guo Quan was the great Si Nong of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and his father Guo Yi was also the Yanmen Taishou of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the middle of Jian'an, Guo Huai was promoted to filial piety and honesty, and he was appointed as the governor of Pingyuan Mansion. When Cao Pi was a general, he summoned Guo Huai to be the thief Cao, and later turned into the prime minister Cao Yilingshi.

Two years ago, Wei Yan led the main force to cross the water, followed the mountain to hide and fast, and returned to the Dingjun Mountain (now south of Mianxian County, Shaanxi) behind the side of Yangping Pass, and waited to destroy the enemy according to the dangerous terrain. In order to get rid of the passivity of Hanzhong, Xiahou Yuan led his troops to fight for Dingjun Mountain. The captured general Huang Zhong was condescending, launched a rapid attack, beheaded Xiahou Yuan and Yizhou assassin Zhao Hao, Cao's army was defeated, and retreated to Yangping Guandong.

When Xiahou Yuan fought against Liu Bei, Guo Huai was ill and could not go to battle with him. After the death of Xiahou Yuan, the Wei army lost its new commander, and was afraid that it would be taken by the Shu army, and the three armies were disgraced. Sima Guohuai and the overseer Du raided to collect the scattered soldiers and ordered the armies. It was also this battle that determined Guo Huai's position in the Wei army. Cao Zhen also had high hopes for Guo Huai, hoping that he would be able to block Wei Yan's march to the greatest extent and wait for reinforcements to arrive.

Guo Huai led the army out of Chang'an and ran into the front of Wei Yan's army, led by Huang Zhong, Han Dang and others. Although Guo Huai knew that Huang Zhong had killed Xiahou Yuan in Dingjun Mountain, it was the first time he had seen Huang Zhong. Seeing that the opponent's main general was an old man with a beard and gray hair, he started to think about fighting generals.

It's just that what Guo Huai didn't expect was that not only Huang Zhong, but even Han Dang beside him was also brave and abnormal, and the two generals who fought were killed and injured, and their morale plummeted!

Seeing this, Guo Huai gritted his teeth and said, "According to the plan in advance, start to form a formation." ”

The deputy general Du Zheng nodded heavily, and entered the army with several generals, and in a moment, he only heard the sound of drums in the Wei army, and the army began to move left and right, and the army formation began to be deployed in an orderly manner.

After seeing that Guo Huai and his gang did not join the army, Huang Zhong looked serious, but Pang Tong laughed out loud and said to Huang Zhong: "Old general, they want to fight with us!" ”

"First the fighting generals and then the fighting formation, what are they thinking?" Huang Zhong watched the other party change formation seriously, and then as if he had guessed something, he blurted out: "I always feel that they are delaying time." ”

"The old general is right, they just want to shake every day, and then collect the troops without harm, the loss is not big, but they can really delay the time and wait for reinforcements." Pang Tong squinted, poured a sip of wine gourd, and said, "But we can't give them a chance, General Zhang only has five thousand men, and there is a lot of pressure to garrison Tongguan." Therefore, this battle must be resolved quickly, and they must not be given a room to breathe. ”

As a result of the banner, there were many people and horses, and with the cheers of the Wei soldiers, a preliminary formation prototype unfolded in front of everyone's eyes. The dust was filled, the military columns were turned around, and the command flags everywhere in the formation showed their might in the hands of the heralds, giving people a faint and dazzling feeling. Guo Huai stood on the wooden building erected high, his eyes swept in all directions, holding red and white flags, and constantly giving orders to every point in the field. I have to say that compared with the older generation of Xiahoudun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren, although his bravery is slightly insufficient, he has won a lot in terms of arranging troops.

Outside the formation, Huang Zhong said to the generals next to him with a solemn expression: "What kind of formation is this, it seems that there are still some doorways?" ”

Pang Tong frowned, and replied with a little hesitation: "Old general, this is the Glaive Formation, the whole army is in an arc-shaped configuration, shaped like a crescent, it is an asymmetrical formation, and the general's formation is usually located at the bottom of the crescent concave moon. When fighting, pay attention to attacking the flank, resist the enemy with a thick moon wheel, the recess of the crescent moon seems to be weak, but it contains danger, the general should have a strong combat power in this formation, and the brave will be suitable for the strong. It seems that Guo Huai is still very confident in his martial arts! ”

"The military advisor is resourceful, but there is a way to crack it?" Seeing that someone in his army knew about this formation, Huang Zhong was not worried.

Pang Tong smiled weirdly: "Although this array is exquisitely arranged, it is firmly fixed, and it cannot be changed on the original basis, otherwise this array will collapse." If you want to crack it, you only need a fine cavalry to attack the hinterland of this formation and defeat the generals. ”

"I see." Everyone nodded, Huang Zhong was also excited, and Han Dang on the side also nodded to Huang Zhong, it seemed that the two veterans planned to personally lead the team to break the formation, but Pang Tong still looked at it carefully, closing his lips and saying nothing.

Boom Boom Boom ......

As the final hammer and drum sounded, the Wei army's formation was finally formed, and the fifteen thousand Wei soldiers performed their duties, holding the corresponding blades in their hands, and their meticulous expressions added a touch of gloom to the formation.

"Will the enemy general dare to break the formation?" Guo Huai, who was in the heights, was full of confidence, and his tone was full of sarcasm. His purpose is not to avenge the dead and wounded generals, but to find all means to delay the enemy for the longest time at the least cost. And the Glaive Formation is relatively strong in defense in various formations, although there are generals Huang Zhong and Han Dang to defeat him, but Guo Huai is confident that these two old guys should not be able to beat him.

"Please ask the military advisor to sweep the formation for me, and the old man will personally break the formation!" Huang Zhongyi shouted at Pang Tong and the others behind him.

"Old general, Han will help you!" Huang Zhong responded, most of his subordinates are cavalry, which is suitable for rushing and running, and he is also handy in dealing with formations.

Nearly two thousand cavalry plus thousands of infantry, under the leadership of Huang Zhong and Han Dang, rushed into the Glaive Array under the opponent's Fu Bu like a black whirlwind.

Entering the formation, Huang Zhong did not delay much, and directly rushed to the forefront to attack the hinterland of this formation, looking for Guo Huai's location. Rushing all the way, Huang Zhong's troops were like a torrent of steel, bleeding and drifting everywhere they passed, and people turned on their backs.

The steel spear in Huang Zhong's hand flew up and down, and the heads of the Wei army on both sides of the ruthless reaper, blood splattered, scattered in the direction of his advance, staining the war horses under him.