The news that the Han and Jin teamed up to basically annihilate the Huns' army was soon sent to Sima Yichang, who was on the battlefield of Tongguan. At the same time, there was another important news in front of Sima Yichang - Zhang Zhi had ordered Yang Ji to lead his army of 20,000 to stay in Pubanjin, lead the main force south, and is about to rush to Tongguan to fight against the main force of the Jin army.

Upon receiving this news, Sima Yi did not dare to be negligent and quickly summoned the generals to discuss countermeasures as soon as possible. As a result, Liu Hong, Guo Ren and Zhang Qiao, who had been transferred from the Central Plains battlefield, were not aware of the danger, and even shouted: "Good! The Han thief's army was only about 60,000 even with the Tongguan defenders, we had a 100,000 army on the Tongguan battlefield, which was just enough to capture Zhang Zhi, a traitor, alive!"

Unlike Liu Hong and Guo Ren who had not fought with the Jin army, Wang Hu, Yang Hu and Wei Guan and other old opponents of the Han army were generally taciturn and did not dare to express their opinions casually. However, Sima Yiqiang attached great importance to their opinions and asked: "Uncle, Xuan Chong, and the King of Weifu, why don't you speak? Zhang Zhi's thief led his army back to Tongguan, which clearly wanted to fight us in a decisive battle in Tongguan. What suggestions do you have for this?"

Yang Hu, Wang Hun and others hesitated and said nothing. On the contrary, Sima Lun said: "Three brother, be cautious, it is best not to fight this decisive battle. The pseudo-Han thief army is really powerful. If we fight head-on, we will be in danger."

"King Langya, it's okay for others to forget about it. Why do you have the ambition of the thief army and destroy our prestige?" Liu Hong asked in surprise.

"When you fight with the thief army head-on, you will know it's amazing." Sima Lun smiled and said, "The soldiers of the thief army are all wearing paper armor, and they cannot shoot the bows and arrows at all. It is difficult to pierce the spears and iron knives. The weapons they hold can easily pierce and cut off our iron armor, and there are thunder and artillery guns in the palm of their main force. If we fight with their 600,000 main force, we will have 200,000 troops and it is difficult to be sure of victory."

Liu Hong and Guo Ren and other newcomers of the Jin army looked at each other. Sima Yichang, who had already carefully learned about the situation of the Han army, remained silent. He just asked Wang Hun: "Xuanchong, we have the most battles with the pseudo-Han thief army. Do you think that the pseudo-Han thief army is really so impeccable?"

"The pseudo-Han thief army has only one weakness, that is, the cavalry is not as good as us." Wang Hun finally spoke and said with a depressed expression: "It's a pity that this is the sacred Han Dao. The north and south are too narrow, and our cavalry cannot exert their power at all, so..., facing the pseudo-Han thief army head-on, we are only 20% sure at most."

"Governor, the lower lord said something that the superiors should not rush to fight this war!"

Wei Guan also spoke: "The army of Dajin lost consecutive battles, was depressed and his morale was depressed. He should have seized the opportunity of the bandit army urgently needed to integrate the counties in Guanzhong to rest and recuperate, continue to expand and train strictly, and then send troops to advance west when there is any change in the bandit army. However, in order to rush back to Guanzhong, His Majesty immediately asked the governor to lead the army westward. It was simply driving the ducks on the shelves and had no chance of winning at all."

Although he had some psychological preparations, Sima Yichang never expected that Wang Hun and Wei Guan and other old men of Jin army would be so pessimistic about the current situation. He was inevitably surprised and asked again: "According to what you said, our best choice should be to withdraw the troops and withdraw Hongnong immediately?"

"It is best to withdraw the main force directly to Hangu Pass." Yang Hu suddenly spoke and said, "Otherwise, once the thief army bypassed Hongnong and advanced eastward and cut off our food route, our 100,000 army would be in danger of being wiped out."

Wang Hun, Wei Guan and other old men of Jin army nodded one after another, all thinking that Zhang Zhi must have done such an immoral thing. Sima Yichong laughed and said, "I didn't believe it before, the seventh brother and the ninth brother told me how powerful the thief army was. Now it seems that my two virtuous brothers should be telling the truth, and we shouldn't be in a hurry to fight this battle."

"Although the King of Dongguan is very frustrated, for the sake of the country, we should avoid the enemy's edge."

Yang Hu persuaded with great thought: "Our greatest reliance before was to have the help of the Hun cavalry. There was a chance to gain the upper hand in the direction of Pubanjin and Tongguan. However, the Hun cavalry had such a thing again. It would be difficult to make a breakthrough in Puban with the strength of Ruyin King alone. We had no confidence in the head-on battle, so the best way is to retreat as soon as possible. Otherwise, once our army makes any mistakes, let alone any hope of regaining Guanzhong, it is difficult to defend Hangu Pass."

Sima Yiqiang smiled and thought, but at this moment, a personal soldier outside the tent suddenly brought a letter into the newspaper, saying that it was Zhang Zhi's handwritten letter sent by the Han army. Sima Yiqiang quickly took the letter and looked carefully, but saw Zhang Zhi writing in vernacular on the letter:

"Sima You, this general is coming back soon. If you are smart, hurry up and go back to Hangu Pass, otherwise you will wash your neck and be ready to die! Zhang Zhi, the rear general of the Han Dynasty."

Sima Yi smiled and read the letter of Zhang Zhi deliberately wrote a typo. As a result, Liu Hong, Guo Ren and other generals were naturally furious when they heard this, and they all cursed Zhang Zhi's proud and arrogant attitude. Yang Hu and other old men of the Jin army immediately said: "Governor, don't be fooled. This is clearly Zhang Zhi's aggressive plan, the purpose is to incite you to fight to the decisive battle. If our army falls into the trap, it will definitely hit the thief's thoughts."

Sima Yichang still smiled confidently, and then tapped the desk with his fingers and continued to think about it. After a moment, Sima Yichang suddenly asked: "Xuanchong, uncle, if I remember correctly, every decisive battle between the thieves, they will use cone formations to fight, right?"

"Every time it is a cone formation, using the central breakthrough tactic to directly hit the flag formation." Yang Hu immediately replied: "In addition to the decisive battle with Wang Chen, because the disparity of troops was too far, the bandit army first adopted the circular formation defense to consume our physical strength. However, when the bandit army counterattacked, it still changed into a cone formation."

"We have carefully found out the news." Wei Guan added: "Every time the thief army is invaded by the thief general Wu Ma. The thief army not only treats the best, but also has the best equipment. It is the number one elite under Zhang Zhi's thief."

"So, as long as we kill the front team of the thief army, it is equivalent to breaking the tip of the thief army's knife and cutting off one of the thief army's arm."

Sima Yi smiled more calmly and confidently, and continued to hit the case with his fingers for a few moments. Sima Yi made up his mind and said, "If you don't retreat, you will have a decisive battle. I have a way to defeat the enemy!"

"What is the governor's plan?" Yang Hu and others asked curiously.

"You will know then." Sima Yichang refused to answer, and said with a smile: "Snap time to boost the morale of the army, and tell our soldiers clearly that they had defeated the thief army, and the instant noodles seized were divided equally with the lunch meat. In addition, I sent a command to Sima Jun, asking him to go south to help Tongguan immediately, and when his army arrived, we would fight the thief army again."

…………

Zhang Zhi deliberately sent a letter to Sima Yi to carry out a aggressive plan, of course, the purpose was to worry that Sima Yi would retreat first when he found that the situation was wrong, so that the Han army would miss the opportunity to continue to weaken the Jin court's vitality. The result was also very satisfying to Zhang Zhi. Two days later, when Zhang Zhi led the main force of the Han army back to the Tongguan battlefield, the main force of the Jin army not only did not run away, but also transported a batch of food and grass supply from the rear, and put on the stance of a long confrontation with the Han army. Zhang Zhi was very happy when he heard the news and quickly met with Zhao Quan's troops to expand the camp, preparing to fight another decisive battle with the main force of the Jin army.

Sima Yichang immediately played tricks. Taking advantage of the opportunity that the main force of the Han army had just arrived at Tongguan to establish a camp, Sima Yichang sent an army to sneak attack the Han army's camp that night. Unfortunately, the Han army sentries supported by Nestle Coffee and Coke were extremely vigilant. The Jin army's robbery camp had just touched the Han army's camp and was immediately noticed by the Han army's ambush. The Han army's night-time army also rushed to the camp and shot the Jin army's night-attack army directly with arrows.

Seeing that a plan failed, Sima Yi had another plan and arranged an army to ambush in the mountains and forests south of the Luhan Road at night, and then sent another army to the Han barracks to fight. After Zhang Zhi sent Dong Yuan to lead his army to fight, the Jin army was defeated and left. Dong Yuan, who was eager to make contributions, led his army to pursue him and was lured into the ambush circle by the Jin army. The Jin army's ambush suddenly rushed out and attacked Dong Yuan's flank. The Jin army lured the army to turn around and fight back. Dong Yuan's troops quickly headed to fight.

When the situation was reported to Zhang Zhi, Zhang Zhi did not dare to neglect it. He quickly sent the old man Wu Lian who had been trained in actual combat to lead the army to reinforce Dong Yuan. However, what surprised Zhang Zhi was that the reinforcements led by Du Li had just left the camp, and the scout sent an urgent report, saying that Dong Yuan had already killed two troops of the Jin army on his own and pursued the defeated Jin army again. Zhang Zhi was both surprised and happy when he heard this, and said, "Yes, it is worthy of being a powerful general with a large number of fingers in our Han army. Even the ambush of the Jin bandits can be killed together."

Having said that, for the sake of caution, Zhang Zhi still sent someone to send an order to Dong Yuan, asking him to pursue him not to be too far away. Fortunately, Dong Yuan was calm and had already called out the gold and retreated his troops before he chased the Jin army camp. However, when he returned to the Han army camp, Dong Yuan was still a little proud. He was full of lust when he reported the results of the battle loudly. When his friend Mao Jing saw it, he volunteered to Zhang Zhi: "It is impolite for the latter general to come but not go. Tomorrow, please let the last general lead the army to fight in front of the thief camp, and try to lure the main force of the thief army out to fight a decisive battle with us."

In order to find out Sima Yichang's intentions and whether he had the courage to go out to fight, Zhang Zhi nodded and agreed to Mao Jiong's initiative to ask for battle. As a result, on the second day, Mao Jiong led 3,000 troops to the outside of the Jin army camp to fight, Sima Yichang also decisively sent 5,000 troops to go out to fight. Mao Jiong led his troops to advance rapidly, but the Jin army was still defeated, and he was forced to flee back to the camp to protect himself. Mao Jiong proudly led the army to insult outside the Jin army camp, but the Jin army did not move any more. Mao Jiong proudly led the Han army soldiers back triumphantly.

On the third day, Sima Jun led his army back to the north bank of the Yellow River, and joined forces with the Jin army on the south bank to build a floating bridge to prepare for crossing the river. Zhao Quan asked the order to lead his army to raid the ferry and block the Jin army from crossing the bridge. He took the opportunity to lure the Jin army out of the camp to fight. Zhang Zhi agreed and immediately made various arrangements.

The war to raid the ferry was very successful. Zhao Quan had just led 10,000 troops to rush to the vicinity of the ferry. The Jin army, which was covering Sima Jun's troops crossing the river, scattered, allowing the Han army soldiers to easily destroy the Jin army's floating bridge and block Sima Jun's troops on the north bank of the Yellow River. It also forced the Jin army to give up using floating bridges to cross the river, and instead use ships with efficiency to transport Sima Jun's troops to slowly cross the river. It took two days to transfer more than 20,000 Jin soldiers to the south bank of the Yellow River.

After repeated repetition, the Jin army had already suffered four defeats in front of the Han army. Although the losses were not large, the impact on the morale of the army was quite large. The generals of the Jin army who did not know that Sima Yi's real plan were also so anxious that they stamped their feet and asked Sima Yi one after another: "King of Dongguan, what are you planning to fight this battle? It is said that it is preparing for a decisive battle, but only a small number of troops were sent to fight each other. They repeatedly emphasized that we should not fight hard with the bandit army to the end. If this continues, our morale will be completely dragged down."

"If you were generals of the thief army, what would you think when you saw us losing battles in a row?" Sima Yi asked quietly.

"Of course, he is proud and arrogant." Liu Hong replied immediately: "Arrogant."

"Isn't this the end?" Sima Yichang spread his hands and smiled: "Pride must be arrogant, arrogance must be underestimating the enemy. If the thief army does not take us seriously, will it be much easier when we really fight our lives?"

"The King of Dongguan is using a splendid military strategy?" Yang Hu suddenly understood Sima Yiqiang's intention and said, "I deliberately defeated the enemy in a row, and then took the opportunity to protrude the surprise troops and caught the bandit army off guard?"

"I am worthy of being my uncle, I can understand it at a glance." Sima Yi praised with a smile.

"But I don't know how the King of Dongguan plans to highlight the surprise soldiers?" Yang Hu asked tentatively.

"In the decisive battle." Sima Yichang replied lightly and said, "A very old way."

…………

Sima Yi slightly underestimated Zhang Zhi. Although the Han army suffered four consecutive defeats, the soldiers of the Han army did feel a little underestimated. In addition, the Han army had never been defeated in the head-on decisive battle between the Han army and the Jin army, and the Han army did not take the main force of the Jin army with twice its strength seriously. Even the Han army generals such as Zhao Quan and Wu Ma have already decided that the self-armed army will win, and have never considered that the self-armed army might suffer a defeat, and their mentality is very relaxed.

However, Zhang Zhi himself was different. This is not because Zhang Zhi had a God-like perspective and could see through what Sima Yiqiang thought. Instead, Zhang Zhi was used to doing small business. Since the rebellion, he has fought every battle with fear and fearlessness, as if walking on the ice. He did not dare to be careless in the slightest of carelessness. He has long developed the habit of believing in defeat before winning, and has never dared to be careless in underestimating the enemy-the capital is too small, and he really can't afford to lose.

It is also because of this that after confirming that Sima Jun's troops had all gone south, Zhang Zhi not only mobilized 10,000 Puban defenders to go south to reinforce the main force, but also discussed with the experienced Yan Yu in private: "Elder General, do you think that the Jin thief army lost in a row, would it be Sima Yichang who deliberately lost?"

After all, he was the second person in the Shu Han military. As soon as Zhang Zhi asked this, Yan Yu immediately understood what Zhang Zhi meant and asked back: "Hou General, do you suspect this is Sima Yiqiang's arrogant military plan?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Zhang Zhi said cautiously: "Although Sima Yichang may be testing our strength, once or twice is enough, how can he lose four consecutive formations? Also, since Sima Yichang knows that our army is not afraid of field battles, he may send troops to attack his floating bridge at any time, why didn't he use ships to transport troops across the river, but he just wanted to build a floating bridge to give us a chance to attack?"

"I have to be careful of this. At that time, Emperor Gaozu was captured by the Huns' arrogance, and then the Bai Deng siege was found." Yan Yu, who was very good at learning from history, nodded and asked again: "Hou General, from your opinion, what would Sima Yiqiang's real purpose be?"

"Of course, I am the surprise attacker, and I am going to catch us off guard." Zhang Zhi answered immediately, and frowned and said, "As for what he plans to do, I can't guess at the moment."

"The outstanding surprise is nothing more than ambushing and robbing the camp." Yan Yu said: "The best way is to let our soldiers strengthen their night defense, and before launching, many scouts will explore the mountains and forests in the south to find the ambush that the bandits may have arranged."

After thinking about it carefully, Zhang Zhi called the Han generals to the front and scolded them, reminding them not to be careless and underestimate the enemy, pointing out the reason why arrogant soldiers will be defeated, and strengthening night defense. He set up secret sentries around the camp every day to strengthen night patrols. However, this did nothing. In the next few days, the Jin army always kept their troops in motion, and no soldiers came to attack, which made Zhang Zhi and Yan Yu quite strange.

However, no matter what should come, he couldn't escape. Just when Zhang Zhi couldn't understand Sima Yichang's tactics, Sima Yichang suddenly sent an envoy to the camp to make a battle. Zhang Zhi did not hesitate and immediately approved the four words of decisive battle in the letter of the appointment. The envoy of the Jin army was very happy and quickly left. The generals of the Han army were all happy and ready to do a big fight. Only Yan Yu carefully reminded: "The latter general, beware of fraud."

Zhang Zhi nodded. In addition to preparing for the decisive battle that day, he arranged for double the night army to prevent the Jin army's sneak attack. However, what surprised Zhang Zhi again was that he was still calm that night and did not see any soldiers coming to rob the camp. At the same time, the next morning, the scout of the Han army even came to report that Sima Yichang had personally led the army to move and was coming to the Han army camp.

"Great! Sure enough, General, please order the troops to send, our soldiers can't wait!"

The Han generals cheered and Zhang Zhi, who had repeatedly miscalculated, was hesitant and difficult to make a decision. In the end, Yan Yu came up with an idea and said: "The latter general, since he didn't say when the decisive battle will be held today, it would be better to hold his troops temporarily, send more scouts to the southern high ground, condescendingly to check the movements of the bandits' troops, see if there are any abnormalities, and then decide whether to send troops to fight."

Yan Yu's cautious suggestion played a key role. After Zhang Zhi followed the plan, he went to the southern high ground to check the situation and reported the situation of the Han army, saying that the Jin army dispatched about 100,000 troops, 80,000 infantry in the middle, and 20,000 cavalry were arranged on the left and right wings, without any abnormality. Zhang Zhi was still a little worried, so he asked again: "Is there nothing different from usual?"

After carefully recalling, the scout of the Han army replied: "Reporting to the post, General, if you insist on saying that there is anything different, the vehicle that the thief army transports armor and weapons this time is not a carriage, but a mixed bag of donkey carriages and ox carriages, and all of them are ox carriages."

"Bully cart?!"
Chapter completed!