If you want to know Zhuge Liang's strategist, you must look for clues from the few biographies of Shu and Jingxiang.
The first thing to doubt is Si Mahui's Jingxiang Counselor Group. Although Si Mahui and others are called hermits, they are very utilitarian. To put it mildly, they call it the world. At that time, the best place for literati all over the world was to assist a democratic leader, because the democratic leader at that time was busy fighting and killing people, and he couldn't live without learning some art of war. Some advisers even learned some tricks (for example, Lu Su was Xu Shu and Mi Zhu). Therefore, it may be true that Si Mahui is good at the art of war, but fighting in the army is not drinking at home. The generals who really lead troops must be experienced, and in any case, Si Mahui won't teach Zhuge Liang. Judging from Zhuge Liang's early service to Liu Bei (from the mountain to Chibi), Zhuge Liang was not Liu Bei's military staff, but Liu Bei's chief of staff should be Xu Shu, and Zhuge Liang was in charge of logistics and government affairs, including diplomacy. This shows that Zhuge Liang's major is not military. So Si Mahui is not Zhuge Liang's instructor.
The second suspect may be Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and other Jingxiang families. This may be a little smaller. Although Zhuge Liang is a relative of the Cai family, this relative doesn't like anyone because he took the wrong team and went to the group of celebrities such as Huang. This is the betrayal of Liu Biao Group and even the Jingxiang Armed Landlord Group on which Liu Biao depends. Zhuge Liang is 27 years old and has no job. He lives by farming. How pathetic. Think about it, a well-educated, confident scholar who has no appreciation and can only stay at home. How depressing! What does he think of his relatives? He still wants to learn military from them at this time? Think of it as revenge. Later, Zhuge Liang encouraged Liu Bei to win Xiangyang, perhaps with a revenge mentality. So Cai Mao and others are not Zhuge Liang's military instructors.
After Chibi, Liu Bei Group ushered in a new era of rapid development. Zhuge Liang was made a corps commander in the military division for his diplomatic contribution to the alliance between Sun and Liu. Note that this is Zhuge Liang's first military post, and the rank of corps commander is not small, although he is mainly responsible for collecting taxes and grain. There is only one famous soldier in Lingling, Guiyang, Changsha under his jurisdiction, not Wei Yan, but Zhao Yun! Is Zhuge Liang's master Zhao Yun? Hehe, you guessed wrong. Although Zhao Yun's fighting is also very stable, Zhuge Liang's use of Zhao Yun from behind, including Zhao Yun's attitude towards Zhuge Liang, shows that Zhao Yun is not Zhuge Liang's faction, especially Liu Chan's handling of the problem after Zhao Yun's death, which shows that Zhuge Liang has no special feelings for Zhao Yun, so I don't think Zhao Yun is Zhuge Liang's instructor. Even there are contradictions between them!
Soon, Liu Bei entered Shu and took away Pang Tong (Pang Tong is also a military commander, ranking second only to Zhuge Liang). He was with Zhou Yu as early as Wu Dong. This deeply influenced Zhuge Liang, because Xun You's experience was not far away, and Zhuge Liang deeply felt the necessity of military study. Zhuge Liang can begin to study military consciously, so who is the object of his study? At this time, only Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were still in Jingzhou. Although there is another Zhao Yun, he is not as good as the first two. Yes, you guessed it. Zhuge Liang's master is one of these two people. Guan Yu is arguably more likely, but according to today's statement, Guan Yu is a man who pretends to be B and despises the literati. Such a man is daunting. What else do you want from him? Zhang Fei attaches great importance to cultural people. It is said that he also painted a good picture, which is said to be a calligrapher. Therefore, it can be boldly speculated that Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei are in the honeymoon period at this time, and in the army, Zhuge Liang also needs to cooperate with Zhang Fei to muzzle Guan Yu, otherwise no one will listen to anything he says. It is not surprising that Zhuge Liang asked Zhang Fei for advice on military issues.
Soon, Zhuge Liang's experience came, and Liu Bei counterattacked Meng Jia and sent troops to Chengdu. Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and others also led the crowd into Sichuan, which can be said to have given Zhuge Liang the opportunity to lead the army for the first time (although it was only the chief of staff), and also gave him the opportunity to practice what he learned from Zhang Fei as early as Jingzhou. At this time, Zhang Fei, after the early failure of Liu Bei Group, finally reached the peak of his military career, and was no longer a general like Chu Xu and Dian Wei. His experience of military courage made Zhuge Liang understand what a real commander-in-chief is like. After witnessing the invincible encounter between Zhang Fei and Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang became a fan of Zhang Fei completely, and Zhang Fei's performance in the face of five heroes such as Zhang He also made Zhuge Liang pay more attention to Zhang Fei's experience. At this point, Zhuge Liang's early learning is over! Unfortunately, although Liu Bei appointed Zhuge Liang as the chief strategist, he was still in charge of logistics. It was not until Liu Bei's death that Zhuge Liang mastered the military power and practiced martial arts. However, he has no confidence in himself. At the same time, in order to relieve the worries of Shu, he conquered the south of China and won a great victory. At this time, Zhuge Liang was truly recognized within Shu, and eventually became a generation of famous soldiers, embarked on the road of the Northern Expedition, and was known by the world, not only an excellent politician, but also a qualified strategist!