Chapter 593 Everyone has his own gain
Feng Yong finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Cao's army in Qian County began to send out sentries to clean up the surrounding area for ten miles, and that at the same time there were former troops coming out of the city towards Longguan.
From this point of view, Zhang He should be planning to attack Longguan forcefully.
“Pass the order and tell the Dark Night Camp to be careful. Just keep an eye on it from a distance and know the whereabouts of Cao’s army. Don’t get too close.”
Zhang He is indeed very good at managing the army. Over this period of time, the people in the Dark Night Camp lost a lot of manpower in order to spy on the news, which made Feng Yong quite distressed.
Now that we know that the army is coming to Longguan, it means that the situation has become clear. We only need to seize the time to prepare the defensive equipment and wait for the opponent to attack the city.
It is two hundred miles from Qian County to Longguan. Although it is a road that can be driven, it is also a mountain road with dense forests around it.
Cao Jun walked very carefully, for fear of any ambush. Sentries were sent out in all directions, and he would only continue to advance when there was no ambush ahead.
Although this made it impossible for the people in the dark night camp to detect the situation, it also slowed down their marching speed. For two consecutive days, they only walked thirty or forty miles each day before they had to stop and set up camp.
When Feng Yong heard the news, he became more and more certain that Zhang He planned to concentrate his forces to attack Longguan.
Because he came a long way, first resting in Qianxian, and then coming up at this speed, he was trying to preserve the strength of the soldiers as much as possible, and at the same time, the baggage could keep up.
Otherwise, even if he can lead the cavalry to the gate of Guancheng in one day, how can he attack the city?
Unlike Zhang He who fought steadily, Wudu's Wei Zhen led 20,000 people and rushed towards Xia Bian as fast as the wind.
Wudu is located in the remnants of the Qinling Mountains, with many mountains and ridges, but among these mountains, there is an ancient plank road called Jialing Road.
There is water coming from the north, passing through Jialing Road, and pouring into the Western Han River.
The remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains surround this water, forming a basin, which is a rare fertile plain land in Wudu County. Hechi and Xiabian are both in this basin, and they are only more than a hundred miles apart.
Wei Zhen went down the waterway, and within a day and a half, he had already led his army to Xiabian City. He believed that the army he led was several times larger than that of the Shu captives, so he actually camped not far from the city, and then personally led the people there Take a look at Benjo Pond and its surroundings.
When he saw the small and dilapidated city of Xiaben, and then saw the defenders on the city with disheveled flags and running around in a panic, he laughed loudly and said to his left and right, "We will definitely be able to attack this city tomorrow."
"General, don't you wait for the strong end?"
I asked around.
"If it is difficult to get out of this city, then naturally we have to wait for the barbarians to come and test it first. But now it seems that the morale of the defenders in this city is low and their military discipline is not good. Waiting for the strong force to come, it will have to wait for another day."
“Time is running out now, Zhuge Liang is afraid that he is leading Longyou’s army back in a hurry. If we break this city one day earlier, we can be prepared to deal with the counterattack of Ge Liang’s army one day earlier.”
So he ordered that the siege equipment should be prepared before dark, and rice would be cooked at five o'clock the next day. At dawn, the whole army would put on their armor and march in formation, preparing to capture Xiaben City within one day.
At this time, the sun had just come out. Wei Zhen led his troops to the city. He was about to send people to persuade him to surrender. He saw drums beating loudly on the city. The city gate opened wide, and the Han troops in bright armor filed out. A formation was formed in front of the city gate.
Wei Zhen was shocked. He raised his eyes and noticed that the banner with the word "Liao" on the city head yesterday had been replaced by the word "Zhuge".
Under the banner, a man wearing a kudzu scarf and holding a feather fan sat on a small cart and said a few words to the soldiers beside him. Several loud-voiced soldiers at the top of the city who were responsible for shouting shouted in unison, "Thief Cao! The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty has been waiting for a long time!"
The Han army dared to go out of the city to fight, which was unexpected by Wei Zhen. When he saw the flag changing at the top of the city, he suddenly felt something bad in his heart. Now when he heard these words again, he was shocked and said: "It's been a trap. !”
Wei Zhen first served as a planner. When he came into contact with the military, he was appointed by Cao Cao to participate in the military affairs of the prime minister, which was referred to as joining the army.
Later he was transferred to Hu Cao, and after Cao Pi ascended the throne, he was appointed as a regular servant of Sanqi and Shizhong. When Cao Rui ascended the throne, he was promoted to the right servant of Shangshu.
When Cao Pi visited Guangling, he accompanied him as the leader of the central army. At that time, Cao Xiu sent a seal saying that the surrendered general of the Wu army had confessed that "Sun Quan has arrived at Ruxukou", which was seen through by Wei Zhen.
So Wei Zhen has some knowledge, but one of his most fatal flaws is that he has never personally led an army in a battle and lacks practical experience. Fortunately, if we gain the upper hand, this hidden danger will not be exposed.
But now that he saw Zhuge Liang, who was originally far away in Longyou, appearing at the top of the city, he was at a loss and confused for a moment.
At this time, there were faint shouts of killing from the mountains to the east, and the ambush troops had begun to attack his side and rear. The drums on the city head in front started beating again, and the Han army began to shout and march forward.
Wei Zhen's face became increasingly pale, his legs were trembling, and he actually forgot to give the order. Fortunately, he was surrounded by an old man who had been in the army for a long time, and he quickly dragged him back to the army.
“General, please issue military orders quickly!”
Someone shook him awake and said something anxiously.
"Yes, yes! Give me a military order!" Wei Zhen came back to his senses and looked to the left and right, "What should we do now?"
It’s over!
When I heard it, my heart felt cold!
His Majesty the Emperor actually appointed this man as the general to conquer Shu, fearing that it would drag down the entire army.
They didn't know that the young emperor defeated Sun Quan himself in the first year of his accession to the throne, which was a time of great ambition.
Wei Zhen's strategy of cutting off the Shu people's food routes, defeating Zhuge Liang's army, and then annexing Hanzhong and waiting for an opportunity to attack Shu was really to the liking of the young emperor who was about to make a career, so he was given the post. General of the Conquest of Shu.
“The Shu captives are pressing forward step by step, so naturally they have to fight first and then find a way to retreat.”
“Okay, let’s fight!”
Wei Zhen reluctantly stood up tremblingly. He also knew that if he retreated at this time, he was afraid that not many people would be able to escape. He could only hold on to the camp first and wait for the news to return to Hechi to see if the general could come to rescue him. .
Coincidentally, there were people in Lueyang, seven hundred miles away, who were as helpless as Wei Zhen.
Zhuge Liang apparently led the army to attack Longxi County to the west, but in fact he turned south and returned to Xi County, and then sent men to operate the new catapults to Shanggui.
As for him, he stayed in Xi County and responded to all parties at any time.
Xi County has Shanggui in the east, Longxi in the west, Ji County in the north, and Qishan in the south. It is the key hub of the Northern Expedition.
With Longguan sealed, there are only two main threats now, one is Chencang Road, and the other is the Liangzhou people.
As long as the Han army holds Pi Dao in Nan'an County to the west and Ji County in Tianshui County to the north, the Liangzhou troops will either linger outside Tianshui or go to support Longxi County to ensure that Longxi is not lost.
But as long as the Long Road is blocked, Longxi County will fall into the hands of the Han sooner or later, so Zhuge Liang is not in a hurry.
Zhang He of Cao Wei never showed up, and the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty also did the same thing, lurking in Xixian County, waiting quietly.
When he learned that Zhao Yun had retreated to Hanzhong, Zhuge Liang knew that Cao Wei would most likely cut off his food route from Chencang Road, so Wei Zhen led his army to appear in Gudao County in Wudu, as the Han Prime Minister had expected.
The Han Dynasty did not have as much capital as the Cao thieves. Zhuge Liang no longer had any generals at hand, and at the same time, in order to defend key locations, he did not have too many troops.
In order to swallow up the Cao Wei army that entered Wudu, he could only make careful calculations.
It was claimed that 3,000 people were left in Jicheng, but in fact, 8,000 were left in case of Liangzhou troops.
Then he asked Gao Xiang to draw three thousand men from Lueyang to secretly follow him southward, and finally asked Ma Di to send three thousand men from Jieting to join the remaining two thousand men from Lueyang.
Because Feng Yong was blocked at Long Pass, the threat from the street pavilion was only from one direction, and that was Cao Jun in Guangwei in the south.
Wu Yi has obtained a new type of catapult, and he believes that he will be able to capture Shanggui soon, and then continue to attack Linwei County, the county seat of Guangwei County. By then, Guangwei County will not be able to protect itself, so how can it threaten Jieting?
Therefore, in Zhuge Liang's opinion, ten thousand men are currently guarding the street pavilion. Lueyang has five thousand, and street pavilion has seven thousand, which is enough to deal with Cao's army from Fanxudao and Guangwei County.
Fanxu Road is a small road. Without the cooperation of other people and horses, as long as the Lueyang defenders don't be careless, Cao's army coming up from Fanxu Road will not pose any threat at all.
All the arrangements looked very good and perfect, and things did develop in the direction envisioned by the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty from the beginning.
It’s a pity that Zhuge Liang is not a god.
Feng Yong only knew that Ma Su would set up camp on the mountain and be taken advantage of. He could fill this loophole, but there was no way he could forcefully change Ma Su's character and thoughts.
Ma Di was first reprimanded. In order to prevent him from losing his prestige in the army, although he only did it privately in the tent, he was arrogant and eager to wash away the reputation of "unworthy of great use" designated by the late emperor. To me, this is almost a shame.
As for the source of this matter, Ma Su believed that Liu secretly told the prime minister secretly.
At first you objected to my going to the mountain to set up camp, and repeatedly said that I could only let the partial troops stay behind. When you saw that I didn't listen to you, you became angry and reported it to the Prime Minister. As a result, I was first reprimanded, and then deprived of my three-year salary. One-third of the military power.
You are just a villain!
So when Zhuge Liang's military order came to divide his troops to guard Lueyang, logically the first choice should be to let Liu Yin, the deputy general, go. However, Ma Su was unwilling to let him lead the army alone and perform meritorious service, so he sent Li Sheng instead.
When Gao Xiang was guarding Lueyang, he not only sent people to patrol Fanxu Road day and night, but also went to the intersection every day to check.
But after Li Sheng arrived in Lueyang, he felt that if the Cao thieves wanted to come to him, they had to pass through Longguan first and then pass through the street pavilion. Now that Longyou was surrounded by officials who responded to the Han Dynasty, he was already in the rear area.
The Fanxu Road is just a small road, and most likely the thief would not dare to take this road, so he relaxed his vigilance.
It can be seen from Li Sheng's protection of his subordinates who disturbed the people that Li Sheng was not strict in his military management.
Now that he had the opportunity to lead the army alone, he not only indulged the soldiers, but even took the lead in having fun himself.
Until one day at dawn, Li Sheng, who had been playing all night, was still sleeping with his arms around the young woman who had been snatched by his subordinates. Someone rushed into his room and shouted loudly, "General, it's not good, Cao thief, Cao thief" Coming to kill!"
The young lady on the couch screamed, waking up Li Sheng who was having a sweet dream. Before he could react, he muttered, "What kind of thief? Where did this thief come from?"
“Fanxu Road, the Cao thieves are coming up from Fanxu Road!”
The general looked pale and said in panic.
“Fan Xudao?” Li Sheng finally woke up in fright when he heard this. He didn’t even wear any clothes and sat up naked. “How many people are there?”
“I don’t know, there are so many people, it’s all dark and crowded...”
The general said somewhat incoherently.
Li Sheng ran to the bed and put on his clothes haphazardly, "Quick, come with me to the top of the city to take a look."
The general couldn't help but glance at the white snow passing by on the couch, swallowed, and then hurriedly ran out with Li Sheng.
The Luoyang Central Army was originally the most elite unit of Cao Wei. Those who could be singled out by Zhang He to defeat Fanxudao were even more elite among the elite.
And the original elite of the Han Dynasty had been lost in the loss of Jingzhou and the battle of Yiling. The remaining remnants were all handed over to Li Yan by Liu Bei.
The current Northern Expedition army has been cultivated by Zhuge Liang with great pains over the past few years. It has never experienced a major war and is inferior to Cao Wei's elite central army.
In addition, with Li Sheng's connivance, the soldiers' military discipline was not only lax, but also the necessary city defense was not fully prepared.
Cao Jun has arrived at the gate of Lueyang City. The defenders just woke up from a dream. Their armors were in disorder and they were running around like frightened rats.
Li Sheng climbed up to the top of the city and saw Cao Jun standing there in darkness below the city. The men and horses were motionless, as if frozen, and the murderous aura rising from the sky was approaching the city. He was so frightened that his legs became weak.
“Quick, send someone to tell General Ma and ask him to come quickly to support!”
Li Sheng's first reaction was not to organize his soldiers to defend the city, but to ask for help.
Originally Lueyang City was a fortified city, but Liangzhou was plagued by Qiang and Hu troubles all year round. In addition, when the main army of Cao Wei withdrew from Liangzhou and Longyou, some pass cities were deliberately destroyed to avoid the emergence of figures like Han Sui and Ma Chao.
Lueyang City happened to be within the scope of destruction.
So the city at this time was in dire condition. Although Gao Xiang made some repairs, he could only make it suitable for defense.
At this time, Li Sheng stood on the top of the city. He first looked at the city wall under his feet, then at the panicked soldiers. Then he remembered that he had come here and didn't care about the preparation of the city defense equipment. Finally, he looked at Cao Jun's orderly military appearance below. , his face suddenly lost all color.
How could Zhang He, who had been fighting all his life, not notice the panic in the city?
He finally breathed a sigh of relief, with a smile on his face, "Longyou is in danger, and I came here out of danger. It was really a last resort."
"I thought that the Shu people would seize the pass quickly and fiercely. I just tried my best to come up this time. There will be a hard battle. I didn't expect that God would bless me, the Wei Dynasty!"
He said, turning to look at the ragged people beside him, "This time, Master Wang can return to Longyou. You have done a great job, and you will be rewarded when the time comes!"
“Thank you so much, general. I only hope that the general can expel the thieves as soon as possible and restore peace to the villain.”
"Don't worry, I won't disappoint you!" Zhang He laughed loudly, drew his sword and shouted, "The people's support is with me, and the Wei Dynasty will be victorious!"
“Ten thousand victories! Ten thousand victories!”
The soldiers behind them shouted loudly, and the sound was like a stormy wave crashing on the shore, roaring past the head of Lueyang City.
Li Sheng swallowed hard and almost lost his balance and fell onto the city wall.
Wei Zhen was designed under Xiabian City, with Zhuge Liang's army advancing in front, Gao Xiang cutting his flanks in the east, and Liao Hua on the northwest rear. The entire army of 20,000 men was wiped out. Zhuge Liang drove his army north again, preparing to cut off Cao Zhen's retreat.
At the same time, Li Sheng, who was guarding Lueyang City, faced Zhang He's thousands of elite soldiers. His liver and gallbladder were broken. He gritted his teeth and defended the city for half a day, barely repelling Zhang He's first temptation.
The news reached Jieting. Ma Di heard that Zhang He personally led the army from Fanxudao, so he wanted to lead his army to Lueyang for rescue.
When Liu Yin learned about it, he hurriedly came to persuade him, "General, the situation in Lueyang City is unknown now. The messenger sent by General Li only said that Cao Cao's bandits had a large army coming from Fanxudao, but did not explain how many people there were. The general then If you lead the army away easily, I'm afraid there will be danger."
"That road can only pass through three to five thousand people, so how can it be said that there is a large army? General Li's troops are not inferior to his opponent's, and he has the city to rely on. He only needs to hold on for a few days. By then, the Cao thieves will have neither food nor food. If an army goes deep into dangerous territory alone, it will definitely retreat on its own.”
"The street pavilion is a safe place for the back road of Longguan, and it is also a key place to prevent the Cao thieves from Guangwei County in the south. The general must guard this place tightly and not leave it lightly."
(End of this chapter)