Chapter 661 Wang Ben fell into the trap, Ying Bu prepared to take action!

Chapter 661 Wang Ben fell into the trap, Ying Bu prepared to take action!

To carry out such a comprehensive monitoring and investigation in such a vast southern border, it would undoubtedly require a lot of manpower and material resources. After all, the southern border is vast and the terrain is complex, so it is not easy to achieve a complete monitoring.

If there were so many people available, Gao Yao could have used them directly to expand his own troops to enhance his own strength. However, he chose to use these precious resources to investigate other people's situations, which was really puzzling.

In fact, the four major armies of the Southern Border Army were no secret, and the Third Army had a huge force of up to 300,000. But surprisingly, the scouts sent by Wang Ben did not seem to fully grasp this situation.

Except for the opportunity when the scouts had a chance to catch a glimpse of the entire picture of the Third Corps led by Ying Bu just arrived near Wuding Pass, under Zhang Liang's clever arrangement, the Third Corps cleverly hid itself through various means, making it difficult for the scouts to witness its entire picture again.

This situation undoubtedly brought great psychological pressure to Wang Ben. Due to his limited understanding of the true situation of the Third Army, he inevitably had many concerns and doubts in his heart. After all, in war, the degree of understanding of the enemy often directly affects the formulation and implementation of strategic decisions.

In addition, Ying Bu's abnormal offensive performance at this time made Wang Ben feel a little suspicious. According to common sense, Ying Bu should have 60,000 troops under his command. The combat effectiveness of such a large army should not be underestimated. However, so far, the number of people who actually attacked is only more than 10,000.

Wang Ben began to worry, and he couldn't help but doubt Ying Bu's military strength. Perhaps Ying Bu did this on purpose, and in fact he had already secretly transferred troops to other places for support, and then took this opportunity to launch a counterattack. After all, strategies and tactics in war are ever-changing, and Ying Bu, as an experienced general, is entirely likely to use such means.

Wang Ben knew very well that the total number of troops under his command in Hanzhong was no more than 30,000. Although he had some confidence in his military ability and believed that Ying Bu was no match for him, this amount of troops was obviously far from enough to counterattack the two counties of Bashu. The two counties of Bashu were strategically located and easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the enemy troops were so numerous that it would be almost impossible to win without sufficient troops to support them.

Wang Ben was completely unaware that at the moment he was thinking, he had already walked step by step into the trap carefully set by Zhang Liang, just as Zhang Liang had expected.

Zhang Liang knew very well that Wang Ben was a veteran who had experienced hundreds of battles and had been through more wars than himself and Ying Bu combined. This rich experience was by no means a gap that could be easily made up by talent alone.

Zhang Liang knew that it was not easy to successfully deceive an old hand like Wang Ben, so after careful consideration, he decided to adopt a more clever and more sophisticated strategy - pretending to be real.

Only in this way would Wang Ben be more easily deceived and fall into this carefully designed trap.

At this time, Wang Ben, as Zhang Liang expected, had a deep suspicion of Ying Bu's true intentions. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Ying Bu's attack was a bit strange and there seemed to be something wrong.

Coupled with the other Southern Border troops who had never shown up, Wang Ben became more and more certain that Ying Bu attacked Wuding Pass just to deliberately delay him so that the other Southern Border troops would have enough time to complete their real plan.

The importance of Wuding Pass is self-evident. It is like a natural barrier between Hanzhong and Shu, guarding the throat of the two places. This geographical location is exactly the same as the situation faced by Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period. If you don't pass Wuding Pass, you can only choose to cross mountains and ridges, and the so-called "Shu Road is difficult" is by no means an exaggeration.

The Shu Road was the only way from Xianyang to Shu in ancient times. It passed through the towering Qinling Mountains and the majestic and steep Daba Mountains. The Qinling Mountains are 3771 meters above sea level, while the Daba Mountains are 2797 meters above sea level. In comparison, the famous Songshan Mountain is only 1491 meters above sea level. It can be seen that the Qinling Mountains and Daba Mountains are definitely insurmountable natural barriers.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the Sichuan-Shu region was famous for its rugged terrain and its difficulty in attacking and defending. Due to the poor transportation conditions and rugged roads, this area had relatively little communication with the Central Plains and was relatively closed. Even the territories of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period did not include Sichuan-Shu. This also made Sichuan-Shu a place where most of the land had not been fully developed.

The Sichuan region was really valued after Li Bing built the Dujiangyan Irrigation System. The completion of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System made the already fertile land in the Sichuan region even more fertile, so it was called the "Land of Abundance".

During the Chu-Han contention, Liu Bang followed Xiao He's advice and did not fight with Xiang Yu for the Central Plains, but chose to manage Bashu. He regarded himself as the King of Hanzhong and accumulated strength to conquer the world there. This fully demonstrated the great influence of the Sichuan-Shu region.

Liu Bang did not have such an opportunity this time. Gao Yao would never give up the land of Sichuan easily. If not, Zhuge Liang would not have launched several northern expeditions, and each time he would have been constrained by the problem of food and grass. After all, although it is a prominent feature of the Sichuan region that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack, it is also much more difficult to attack from here than an ordinary army.

This also indirectly illustrates the benefits of occupying the pass. Even the well-trained Southern Border Army led by Gao Yao are only good at running in the mountains and forests. The Shu Road is difficult, almost all of it is cliffs, and if you are not careful, you may end up in pieces. If you encounter some strong winds or heavy rains, it will be like a cemetery, and the difficulty of advancing will soar.

Or they could take a route similar to Ziwu Valley. Although this place may not be called Ziwu Valley now, Gao Yao, who has the full map plug-in, will definitely be able to find it. However, there are many obvious disadvantages in choosing such a route. First, too many people will easily be discovered by the enemy, while too few people will lead to insufficient deterrence. Secondly, this route is a rugged and winding mountain road, which is no less difficult than the Shu Road.

In addition, since it was a valley, its entrance and exit were very easy to be ambushed. Even if only 5,000 people were sent to attack, as long as the enemy had 1,000 people guarding the valley entrance, the army in the valley would be in a desperate situation and become a dead end. Moreover, due to the rugged road, food and grass could not be transported in time. For Gao Yao, this risky method was really not worth the loss, so he did not even consider using this method.