After the news of Xiahou Nan's defeat reached the Luoyang court, it was like a huge cloud enveloping the entire Luoyang City, and Cao Rui, the lord of Wei, and all the court officials were frightened and panicked, and they were at a loss for a while.

After staying for a few days, he heard that the Shu soldiers were standing still on the front line, and Cao Rui didn't know what the Shu soldiers were thinking, so he convened his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

After the civil and military officials came, Cao Rui said to everyone uncertainly: "Zhong Aiqing, everyone knows the news from the front line. The 300,000 horses of the Grand Governor Xiahou Nan were defeated by the Shu soldiers, and the Grand Governor Xiahou Nan was also captured alive······ I won't repeat these messages.

There is one piece of news that has always made me uneasy. Well, on the side of the Shu soldiers, one Zhuge Liang is enough for us to deal with, I heard that another fierce general has appeared, he is not very old, what is Zhang Meng.

It is said that this Zhang Meng is very good, he is simply a god King Kong, both civil and military, leading troops to fight, and making every calculation, and our 300,000 horses were defeated by him with his troops; The Metropolitan Governor Xiahou Nan was also captured alive by him. ”

Cao Rui said this, stopped, looked at everyone, and then said: "From now on, Zhuge Liang has a general like Zhang Meng, what can we do?" When Cao Rui said this, he was anxious and afraid, and almost cried.

At this time, someone gave him an idea, saying that when Taizu was alive, there was something on the border, and the general Cao Zhen would usually be appointed to lead the troops to the battle.

Now although we have failed, but our national strength still exceeds that of Shu, the emperor does not have to think too much, immediately appoint the general Cao Zhen to lead the troops to meet the enemy, and it will definitely succeed.

When Cao Rui heard this, he hurriedly appointed Cao Zhen as the second governor, and ordered Guo Huai and Sun Li, the assassins of Yongzhou, to be deputy generals, mobilize 300,000 Wei soldiers, and set off to the front line of Qishan to resist the attack of Shu soldiers.

Cao Zhen led 300,000 Wei soldiers to Qishan and set up camp in preparation for a battle with the Shu soldiers.

When Zhuge Liang saw the news, he immediately summoned the generals to discuss the strategy of breaking the enemy.

After a military meeting, Zhuge Liang decided to write a challenge letter tonight and send someone to Cao Zhen to make a date to fight.

On this night, after the meeting, all the generals went back to prepare for the future battle, and when Zhuge Liang was writing the war book, Zhang Meng asked to see him outside the tent.

Zhuge Liang stopped the brush and ordered to meet him, so Zhang Meng entered the tent and began the conversation below.

Zhuge Liang asked: "It's late at night, Zhang Meng doesn't go back to the tent to rest, what do you want to see?" ”

"There will be one thing that I can't think about and can't sleep, so I ask to see him late at night and tell the prime minister. I implore the prime minister to dispel the doubts of the general. ”

"Oh, what doubts does Zhang Meng have, a major military matter? Despite that. ”

"No! Prime Minister, you are going to write a challenge to fight with Cao Zhen? ”

"Yes. Is there anything unsafe? ”

"Nope. The last general felt that in this battle, Cao Zhen would definitely lose at the hands of the prime minister. ”

Zhuge Liang listened, his face was happy, and he asked gently: "How can you see it?" ”

"The last general feels that Cao Zhen is not the prime minister's opponent, so at this time, the Wei soldiers will be defeated."

"Hehehe."

"But, Prime Minister······ Have you ever thought that after the victory of our army, well, that is, after Cao Zhen's defeat, well, Cao Zhen led his troops to flee or be killed by us······ How did Wei deal with this defeat? ”

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "I will still send troops out again to fight against our army." ”

"How will our army respond?"

"Continue to camp here, slowly consume the strength of the Wei army, wait for the Wei power to be exhausted, and then wave the army to advance, first capture Chang'an, and then recover Luoyang. This is the ultimate strategic goal of our army. ”

"Hmm. Prime Minister, the last general has doubts here - what should we do if the Wei soldiers set up camp in Qishan and have been avoiding fighting with our army, preserving their strength, and in turn consuming the strength of our Shu State? ”

When Zhang Meng said this, he calculated an account for Zhuge Liang: "The Wei soldiers are claimed to be 300,000, but excluding the diligent personnel and people, there are at least 200,000 who can fight. Our army claims to be 120,000, and excluding the logistics personnel, there are about 80,000 who can go into battle and fight. There is a huge disparity between the strength of the enemy and us, and this is the situation of the strength of the troops.

The prime minister knows that when the two countries fight, they consume the resources of the two countries. Now, in the face-to-face confrontation of troops, Cao's soldiers are about three times as many as ours. But what about national resources? We have no way to compare with Wei, so we can't consume Wei when it comes to consuming resources.

If the Wei soldiers set up camp here and do not fight with us, but consume the country's resources with us, will we be able to hold on? ”

Zhuge Liang listened, twisted his beard and nodded frequently, and praised: "It's rare that you are so old and so thoughtful." I'm worried about that. Our army is conducive to quick combat, and Wei soldiers are conducive to delay. If the tactics adopted by the Wei soldiers are as you feared, our army will be in danger.

However, God help me, such a talent, in the country of Cao Wei, has not yet been born. Hehehe, one was born, and it can't be reused. Therefore, I boldly used troops to recover Chang'an in a short time. ”

When Zhang Meng heard this, he lowered his head and pondered, and asked in a low voice: "When the prime minister said 'a person was born in the Wei State, but it was not reused', did he mean Sima Yi?" ”

Zhuge Liang listened, stared at Zhang Meng for a long time, and then asked, "How do you know?" ”

"Prime Minister, after Sima Yi was appointed to assist Cao Rui in the Wei State, he took the initiative to apply for himself to go to Chang'an to train the soldiers and horses of Xiliang, the purpose of which was to lead the troops to fight against our army.

When you saw this, Prime Minister, you were worried that Sima Yi's training would be successful, so you raised your troops in advance, intending to defeat Sima Yi's army.

However, the prime minister understood Sima Yi's strategy of Wen Taowu, so he adopted Ma Tan's strategy - he sent people to sneak into Luoyang and posted false notices claiming that Sima Yi had rebelled, prompting the Wei court to remove Sima Yi from power.

In this way, the prime minister led his troops out of Qishan and led us to defeat Xiahou Nan's 300,000 Wei soldiers. ——The prime minister adopted Ma Tan's strategy and achieved the success of the first battle, which everyone knows well. Right, Prime Minister? ”

Zhuge Liang listened, nodded slightly, and said, "That's the case, everyone knows it." ”

"It's a pity, Prime Minister, it's a pity."

"What's the pity? Didn't we succeed in our first battle? ”

"Prime Minister, the last general said that Ma Tan came up with a good plan, but unfortunately this plan is shallow, only half of it was used. Therefore, it is very likely that just because we only used half of Ma Tan's strategy, we have wasted our previous achievements - leading the troops back to Hanzhong, and the lost territory we have recovered is lost again. ”

Zhuge Liang was very surprised when he heard this, and asked Zhang Meng: "Do you doubt my ability to use soldiers?" I have been cautious all my life, and I have never dared to take risks in major national affairs, so how can you jump to conclusions? You young kid. ”