Chapter 577 Storms in all directions
"Bo Yue, this is not the way to go." Liang Xu came up with an anxious face, "Ji Han's army will arrive soon. We will not be able to advance or retreat by then. What should we do?"
Jiang Wei nodded, agreeing with Liang Xu's statement, and asked, "Where is Luomen? If it doesn't work, let's go back to Luomen first."
"I sent someone to try it the day before yesterday, and the gate of Luomen was also closed."
Liang Qian interjected.
Although Jiang Wei had expected it, when he heard this, he could only look up to the sky and sigh, "Is the sky going to destroy us?"
Liang Xu’s eyes flickered and hesitantly said, “Bo Yue, this is not a big deal…”
Jiang Wei heard the words and knew what they meant, and sneered immediately, "What Lehe said was that he was going to surrender to the Shu captives?"
Liang Xu, Liang Qian and Yi Shang did not dare to look at Jiang Wei, they all lowered their heads and remained silent.
“The clans in the city are really thinking hard!”
Jiang Wei smiled miserably.
He finally understood what the family meant.
The Shu captives are coming with fierce force. If Jicheng cannot be defended, then these few of them who surrender the enemy in advance are the hope of the family on the Shu captive side.
If the city of Hebei is not destroyed, then the clans in the city will be regarded as having merit in defending the city. And in order to defend the city, even the members of the clan will refuse to leave the city. Isn't this not loyal enough?
What's more, being forced to surrender by one's own people in such a desperate situation will only gain the trust of the Shu captives.
Jiang Wei thought that maybe the tribe would also like to use the relationship between himself and others to make the Yi market with Hanzhong bigger in the future.
“We were pushed out from home, what should we do?”
Liang Xu smiled bitterly.
If you can quickly design this situation based on the situation in the past few days, which of the elderly in the family is not a good person? It is estimated that when Ma Zun said those words in Luomen, the family had already started planning after getting the news.
Jiang Wei snorted and turned around, "Let's go."
“Where to go?”
“Where else can we go? Of course we must go to the big man!”
Jiang Wei gritted his teeth and said.
“Bojo, have you decided so quickly?”
Liang Xu was a little surprised.
“The whole clan has decided for me, what else can I do?”
Although he is worried about his mother at home, the Jiang family belongs to the Tianshui family. Even if he is away, his mother will be taken care of by her own clan, so there is no need to worry too much.
Just saying this will put you in an unfilial position.
However, under such circumstances, what else can he do?
Jiang Wei got on his horse, looked back at the city behind him, and then in the direction of Shanggui, with a gloomy look in his eyes: If you don't tolerate me, I swear to make you regret what you did today!
The group of people cast long shadows on the ground and walked south, leaving Jicheng behind.
The chaos in Longyou reflects the various aspects of life.
Some people go south and some go west.
When Longxi County, the farthest west of Longyou, received the news, it was already time for the Han army to enter the pass in large numbers and divide the troops into various counties.
Because Nan'an County's governor abandoned the city and fled, other counties responded one after another. In addition, Guan Xing and Zhang Bao led light cavalry, and they were quickly defeated.
Then the two men immediately led their troops northward and set up a guard at the junction of Longyou and Liangzhou to prevent Liangzhou soldiers and horses from coming for reinforcements.
And Wei Yan continued to go west, preparing to pass through Nan'an County and conquer Xiangwu County, the county seat of Longxi County.
All the counties in Longyou surrendered, especially Nan'an, which was captured without any effort. This gave Wei Yan the illusion that if he led his army to Xiangwu City, he could naturally conquer it in one fell swoop.
After all, among the four counties in Longyou, even Tianshui County, the most important place, has surrendered. Longxi County is the most remote place, so is there any reason not to surrender?
Hence, he urged his troops to march lightly and quickly, only wanting to reach Xiangwu County as quickly as possible.
When the officials in Xiangwu City heard that Shu soldiers were coming, they were all frightened.
You Chu, the prefect of Longxi, stood at the city wall, looking east, with sorrow on his face and sighing.
"The Shu captives are approaching, and the Ming government does not understand the laws and regulations. It does not order the officials or repair the soldiers and armor to defend the city. Instead, it laments here. Is this the way to defend the country for the imperial court?"
You Chu heard the sound and looked around, only to see two men standing not far away looking at him. One of them was Shi Mayong, the governor of Longxi County, and the other was Gongsun Zheng, a military officer of Longxi County who had personally visited Nanxiang.
What he just said came from Gongsun Zheng's mouth.
“Why don’t I want to defend the city?”
These two people were both his friends. You Chu smiled bitterly, but he did not hide his helplessness, "It's just that the two counties of Tianshui and Nan'an have surrendered. Now only Longxi County is left, and it is isolated from the outside world. What can I do? "
"The Ming Dynasty also knows that Longxi is isolated from the outside world?" Gongsun Zheng smiled when he heard this, "The Shu people not only came from afar and spared no effort in manpower, but what can they do even if they get here? They have no siege equipment and have been exhausted for a long time. Master, can we still capture this fortified city?"
You Chu heard something in Gongsun Zheng's words, and immediately asked, "Why did Boyan teach me?"
Gongsun Zheng pointed to the outside of the city and said, "The defenders of the city must cut down the surrounding trees, fill up the water sources, destroy the walled houses, drive the people into the city, and prevent it from being used by the enemy. In this way, the Shu people want to attack the city. We also need to go far away to cut down trees and make equipment, so the Ming government should have people do this as soon as possible."
"I saw that the general of Shu was advancing with light armor. When he got here, he was unable to penetrate the armor with his strong crossbows. We used the well-charged troops in the city to go out to meet the tired troops. If he dared to fight, he would be defeated. If he didn't dare to fight, he would be defeated. If you have to retreat a few miles to camp, you can also dampen its energy first."
“Now that the people in the city are unstable, the Ming government must calm them down early. Otherwise, how can they defend the city?”
You Chu's eyes widened when he heard the previous words of Gongsun Zheng, and when he heard the last sentence, he frowned again, "When a person's heart is depressed, how should he care for it?"
"This is an easy matter." Gongsun Zheng looked at You Chu with burning eyes, "But I have to borrow something from the Ming Dynasty."
"What?"
Gongsun Zheng pointed at his head.
The next day, You Chu summoned the officials and people in Xiangwu City who were highly virtuous and respected, and said, "Since I became the governor of Longxi, I have never been kind to you and others. Now the Shu people are aggressively attacking Longyou, and all the officials and people in other counties have gone to Shu people." "
"If you want to do it, I will not stop you. After all, this is your opportunity to seek wealth and honor. But I am different. Others can surrender, but I cannot surrender."
"The prefect's duty is to guard the county, so my duty is to die. If you are willing, please use my head to seek wealth."
As he spoke, he pulled out his sword and threw it on the ground.
With a "clang" sound, everyone took a step back, then looked at each other, not daring to speak.
Although You Chu claimed that he was not kind to Longxi County, in fact he was generous and charitable since he became the governor of Longxi County. He usually focused on kindness and did not like to use criminal law and killing. Most of the officials and common people benefited from him.
With that said, he stood up, picked up the long sword, and stood in front of You Chu, "Everyone wants to leave, but please do as you please. Please don't harm Mingfu."
At this time, the integrity of the Han people still existed, and Liangzhou was very chivalrous. Someone took the lead, and the kindness and righteousness arose, and everyone said, "We have absolutely no different intentions."
You Chu let out a long sigh, "It seems like I'm just persecuting the city officials!"
Then he said, "If you don't want to take action now, then I will give you an idea. If the Shu people come to attack Longxi, we can't hold on. We will wait until the court reinforcements arrive, and the Shu captives will retreat, and everyone will be able to do so." Received a reward from the imperial court."
"But if things go wrong and the Shu people attack the city in a hurry and find it difficult to defend the city, please tie me up and send me to the camp in the middle of Shu. Then I will bear the responsibility of the crime. How about that?"
When everyone heard this, many people secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, You Chu knew that his goal of winning people's hearts had been achieved, so he sent an order to close the city gate tightly and prepare to defend the city.
Two days later, Wei Yanguo's light army arrived in a hurry, including the surrendered troops from Nan'an County.
When the army marched to the city, they saw that a military formation had been set up in front of the city gate. At the same time, someone on the city wall shouted to him, "General, you have come a long way, do you have the strength to defeat the athletes of Longxi?"
This situation was beyond Wei Yan's expectation. He really didn't expect that Xiangwu County not only refused to surrender, but also dared to go out of the city to form a formation and wanted to fight with him.
It's just that he marched too fast along the way, and the soldiers have not much strength here. Now they are in urgent need of rest, how can they dare to agree to You Chu?
Wei Yan drove his horse forward and shouted to the city, "The Han army has entered Longyou, and all the lands have descended upon hearing the wind. Do you want to resist the heavenly troops with just one county and one remote area?"
You Chu laughed and said, "If the Shu people can block Longshan and prevent the Wei soldiers from going up to Longshan, the Longxi officials will surrender without a fight in a month. If not, your efforts to raise the army will be nothing more than a futile effort."
After finishing speaking, he beat the drum himself, and saw Shi Ma Yong, the commander of the city gate, shouting loudly and leading his soldiers to advance slowly.
Wei Yan did not expect that the other party would march as soon as he said he would march. He immediately pulled up the reins and returned to the army. He led his troops to cut off the rear in person and ordered the army to retreat slowly.
The first day of the tour to Chu dampened the spirit of the Shu people. The soldiers and people in the city were greatly encouraged, so they became more determined to defend the city.
Wei Yan was anxious when he saw that Xiangwu City would not surrender, but he had to rest for a day before asking his soldiers to cut wood and make siege equipment.
There were beacon fires in Longyou, and Zhang He led Cao Wei's Luoyang Central Army to arrive day and night.
In Xiping County, Liangzhou, which borders Longxi County, a fast horse is galloping on the official road. The command flag on his back indicates that this is a post envoy delivering important news.
The officers and soldiers of Xiping County and the Western Capital City saw the post envoy coming at full speed and quickly dispersed the people around the city gate.
After a while, at the door of the Xidu Prefecture, the postman rolled off his horse and fell to the ground. However, he took out an official document from his arms and shouted, "Urgent report from the army!"
The soldiers at the gate of the prefect's mansion rushed over and helped him up. One of them took the official document and hurriedly delivered it to the mansion.
“General, urgent report from Wuwei!”
Hao Zhao, who was dealing with government affairs, was shocked when he heard this. He quickly stood up and took it to take a look. His expression changed greatly: "Sichuan captives actually invaded my great Wei Longyou?"
The official document was sent by Xu Miao, who had just been appointed governor of Liangzhou, ordering him to quickly organize his troops and go to Yuzhong in Jincheng County to join the Jincheng prefect, preparing to go south and recover Longyou.
Hao Zhao did not dare to neglect, ordered his troops and horses, and was about to set off, but someone under his command persuaded him, "General, in the land of Xihai to the west of Xiping, there is a Bald Tribe who has just surrendered, and there are wealthy families in Xiping County who are often thinking of rebellion. "
“What if the general takes all the troops and horses, and the barbarians rebel without justice, and the powerful families take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos?”
When Hao Zhao heard this, he thought it made sense.
After pondering for a while, he said, "The Bald Hair Tribe has treated me with great respect. I am now ordering the best members of the tribe to follow me southward. This will not only drive them to fight against the Shu captives, but also make them unable to rebel."
“As for the wealthy people in Xiping County, they were killed last year. Now their vitality is severely damaged and they will not dare to rebel easily again.”
After planning, send an order to the bald-haired minister, Bald-haired Pigu.
The bald department was instructed by the high person and moved to the West Sea. He finally had a place to settle and ended the days without the ranch.
In addition, he helped Hao Zhao quell the rebellion, obtained the privilege of trading with the Han people in Xiping County, and continued to annex the Qiang Rong and other tribes near the West Sea, which gradually became a grand event.
Now there are nearly 10,000 tents and more than 7,000 people who control the strings. It is a large tribe rarely seen in the Western Sea.
Bald-faced Pigu received Hao Zhao's order, so he asked his son Bald-faced Kheli to lead five thousand elite cavalry from his clan to accompany him.
When Hao Zhao went south with his preparations, Prime Minister Xiangqin of the Han Dynasty finally led an army to conquer Xi County. At the same time, Jiang Wei led the officials from Tianshui to surrender.
Zhuge Liang was overjoyed. After taking a brief rest in Xi County, he continued to march northward and invaded Ji County.
At the same time, Zhang He had just passed Chang'an and ran westward along the Weishui River, preparing to meet Cao Zhen at Yicheng.
“Hurry, hurry, don’t drop it.”
Feng Yong stood at the gate of Xi County and gave instructions loudly.
I saw one small Yunnan horse after another, led by the groom, making a "treading" sound under its feet, carrying bags after bags of grain into Xi County.
This is grain transported from Qishan City.
Zhao Guang has stored a large amount of grain in Ju County in the past two years. In addition, Zhuge Lao Yao also plundered the grain of aristocratic families in central Shu before the Northern Expedition, so there is no shortage of grain and grass.
What is lacking is transportation capacity.
Feng Yong spent a lot of money this time and transferred most of the transportation capacity of Dongfeng Express.
Before heading north, I also put horseshoes on the horses. Not only was it much faster to walk on the mountain road, but I didn't have to worry about damaging the horses' hooves.
Today's grain and grass are first transported from Hanzhong to Juxian by carts along artificial stone roads, and then transported from Juxian to Qishan City by Dongfeng Express.
Some of the Qishan city garrison and others had to keep up with the army, so as soon as Xi County arrived, they immediately shipped a batch over.
It is precisely because of Dongfeng Express's powerful transportation capabilities that the army at the front does not have to worry about food shortages.
This made the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty very satisfied, and it was also the main reason why the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty asked Feng Yong to guard the grain road at the back, so that he could make the best use of his talents.
Seeing the listless Zhao Guang standing next to him, Feng Yong said angrily, "Just the food in Juxian County has already given you a lot of credit in the Northern Expedition. Who can you show to yourself with this dejection?"
Zhao Guang muttered, "What do I want the credit for? What I want is the credit for going into battle and killing the enemy..."
Speaking, he squatted down and drew circles by himself.
“Don’t worry, there are plenty of opportunities for you.” Feng Yong glanced at the north and sighed, “These comfortable days won’t last long.”
I thought about it in my mind. If history is correct, Zhang He should have arrived in about ten days from the time the attack on Jicheng began.
Zhuge Laoyao's response should be that he misestimated the speed of Cao's reinforcements.
If we divide our troops immediately to attack Longdi, there may be a chance to block Zhang He to the east of Longshan.
But who knows? What if he sees that Longdi has been lost and runs directly to the north and comes up the Long Road from the north?
Of course, it is also possible that Zhuge Laoyao originally planned to fight Zhang He in the street pavilion.
So after thinking about it, I might as well forget it and let Zhang He come over from the street pavilion according to his original trajectory.
It seems that the big man can't get around this street pavilion after all.
(End of this chapter)