Chapter 635: Time
After resting in Jicheng for a few days, the scabs on Feng Yong’s **** began to peel off, and he could finally try to sit down.
Zhang Bao's illness is somewhat troublesome.
Although the situation has not continued to worsen, there are signs of improvement very slowly.
This made Feng Yong very worried, and Guan Xing even more anxious.
Guan Xing felt that the conditions in Jicheng were not very good and wanted to send Zhang Bao back to Jincheng, but Feng Yong refused.
Tetanus cannot be stimulated. Whether it is sound, light or other factors, it will cause the disease to attack. It was a bumpy journey back, and Zhang Bao was afraid that Zhang Bao would die before returning to Jincheng because his body could not bear the attack.
In this case, Feng Yong had to ask Duanmuzhe to go to Nanxiang in person with his letter, so that Nanxiang could send enough cinnabar and toad venom as soon as possible, and also get some honey from Siniang. Fan A should come to Longyou as soon as possible.
After he finished arranging these things, the Han Prime Minister who was far away in Xiangwu sent another military order, asking Feng Yong and Guan Xing to lead the army to the west.
Although the two of them were worried about Zhang Bao, they could only tell Fan Qi to take care of Zhang Bao, and then led the people towards Xiangwu.
According to Feng Yong’s knowledge, Longxi Governor You Chu behaved in the same way as history at the beginning, threatening to surrender the entire county as long as the Han Dynasty could cut off the connection between Guanzhong and Longxi for one month.
It’s already May now. Zhuge Laoyao personally led the main force but failed to capture it - You Chu, why is your month so different from other people’s?
As the president of Dongfeng Express, Feng Yong has reason to ask this question.
Because Longxi is the most remote place in Longyou.
The remote location means an increase in the cost of transporting grain.
The grain road from Hanzhong to Longyou basically overlaps with the Western Han River.
Because this can transport grain by water, greatly reducing costs.
The upper reaches of the Western Han River is called Yangshui, and Yangshui is close to Qishan Mountain, so Qishanbao was the largest grain storage base for the Northern Expedition.
The largest transportation organization that transports grain from Qishanbao to various places in Longyou is Dongfeng Express.
Now that the Northern Expedition has been delayed for four months, the pressure of transporting grain has gradually become apparent, and the consumption of grain and grass is not generally large.
If it weren’t for the old demon Zhuge who used his workshop quota to harvest a large amount of leeks before the Northern Expedition, and if it weren’t for the Yunnan horses of Dongfeng Express being really useful, by this time the Northern Expedition army would have started to run out of food and grass, just like in the original history.
But Old Demon Zhuge didn’t seem worried at all, and was even in the mood to take Feng Yong and Jiang Wei around.
Seeing the Han Prime Minister walking in front bending down by the Wei River and observing the water carefully, Feng Yong was really confused as he didn't know what he was doing.
That doesn’t make sense! What Zhuge Lao Yao did was not in line with his style at all.
The longer Xiangwu City is delayed, the greater the logistical pressure will be. Based on Zhuge Laoyao's historical style, he should try to minimize the impact of the war on the Han people. There is no reason to delay like this!
“Prime Minister, do you want to eat fish?” Feng Yong made an excuse to follow him. The water level was very low at this time, and you could already see the river bed in some places, and you could even see some fish swimming around inside.
“How about I go down and pick up two of them? Although these fish are not big, they can still be eaten..."
The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty glanced at Feng Tubao and said, "Did you bring a cook here specially?"
Feng Yong rolled his eyes twice and laughed dryly, "How can there be no cooks in the army?"
"You know what kind of cook I'm talking about." Zhuge Liang felt a little helpless when he saw his appearance, "I don't forget to satisfy your appetite even when marching or fighting. No wonder there are so many knowledgeable students in your school, but you just choose one. Let’s learn the art of Yi Ya.”
Feng Yong shrank his neck and stopped talking.
Zhuge Liang did not want to let him go like this. He pointed to Xiangwu City in the west and asked, "Let me ask you, if it were you, how would you capture this city?"
“That’s not easy, just stone it to death!”
Feng Yongyong said without thinking, "Prime Minister, this is something I don't understand. I have brought the riprap battalion here, why doesn't the Prime Minister attack the city directly?"
"As for this small town, I asked my engineer, and he said that as long as we keep pounding it for five days, we can definitely break the city."
Being in a remote location also has its advantages, that is, the general city is not too tall, and it is built with rammed earth. If you take out the cannon and smash it for four or five days, the city wall alone will definitely not be able to stop it.
"Engineer?" Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and then realized who he was talking about. "You mean the man in the riprap camp who is good at calculations?"
"right."
“Then what? The city is broken, and most of Cao’s thieves are horse soldiers. How can we annihilate them all?”
“Total annihilation?”
Feng Yong was stunned.
"Of course we have to annihilate them all," Zhuge Liang looked to the west and said slowly, "the 20,000 horse army is the elite of Liangzhou. If we can annihilate this army here, it will be much smoother for us to pacify Liangzhou later."
"More importantly, Hao Zhao has been guarding Hexi for many years and has gained prestige for a long time. The people in Hexi trust him. If he is allowed to return to Liangzhou, it will be a big trouble."
When Feng Yong heard this, his heart suddenly shook. Sure enough!
The old demon Zhuge is so abnormal, it turns out that he really has an ulterior motive. He actually wants to kill everyone in Xiangwu City.
"But Prime Minister, the Cao thieves are guarding the river. There is still a way to retreat to the west..."
When Feng Yong said this, he suddenly paused. His eyes couldn't help but look towards the Weishui River. It was like a bright light flashed in front of his eyes. Damn it, I am a pig!
"Understood?"
Zhuge Liang looked at him meaningfully and asked.
Feng Yong nodded numbly.
Zhuge Liang looked at Jiang Wei, who had been standing behind silently, "Do you understand, Bo Yue?"
"Is the Prime Minister waiting for the Wei River to be no longer a danger for Cao's thieves to hold on to, and then take the opportunity to cross the river to cut off the retreat route of Xiangwucheng's thieves?"
Jiang Wei also looked like he was suddenly enlightened.
Zhuge Liang smiled and pointed at the two of them, "It's not too stupid after all."
Then he shook his head and said, "Of course, this is just the last step. The Wei River is gradually drying up, and Cao's thieves will definitely know that if they cross the river in advance, they may alert the thieves in the city and let them escape from the city."
"So, our first step should be to find a way to drive the Cao thieves who are coordinating outside the city into the city, and then surround them."
In the past, it was naturally impossible for the Han army to realize this idea with pure infantry, but with the arrival of Guan Xing and the cavalry and the Qiang and Hu coalition forces, and in conjunction with the original three-sided encirclement, there was no problem.
Feng Yong scratched his head, this is still wrong!
The statement of "ten sieges", even if it is a bit exaggerated, is at least reasonable.
More than 50,000 people went to surround the city defended by more than 20,000 people, and the opponent also had a large number of horses, so it didn't look reliable.
“But Prime Minister, isn’t this easy to surround?”
Feng Yong asked again.
Zhuge Liang smiled meaningfully again, "Normally, it is difficult to encircle. But now I took advantage of them not paying attention to the situation of the Wei River, so I asked people to dig deep trenches and build barriers on three sides of Xiangwu."
“Hao Zhao believed that he had a way to retreat to the west, and the cavalry in his hands was elite, so he did not stop him. This was a big mistake.”
"As long as the trench barrier is completed, how easy will it be for him to break through? Then we can wait patiently for the Wei River to bottom out, and then we can directly cross the river and block the west side with heavy troops."
Having said this, Zhuge Liang smiled confidently again, "Whenever a city is built near water, the wells inside the city must be closely connected with the water flow outside the city. If there is no water outside the city, the wells inside the city will have less water or even dry up. "
"More than 20,000 people are crowded into this small town. There are also horses for use. In addition to the needs of the people, the water in this city will definitely not be enough. It seems that Longyou will not be able to live well this year. There may be a severe drought. .”
“So the Prime Minister already knew that there would be a severe drought in Longyou this year?”
Jiang Wei suddenly woke up.
Zhuge Liang chuckled and looked at the sky, "Isn't it necessary for a commander to know the so-called harmony between heaven and earth? At this time in Longyou, it has already reached the rainy season."
"Transporting grain from Hanzhong to Longyou depends on the Western Han River. This is the lifeblood of the Northern Expedition. How could I not pay attention to it? According to previous years, as early as April and as late as May, the water level of the Western Han River would skyrocket, making it difficult to transport ships. grain."
“But this year is very abnormal. From April to now, it hasn’t rained even once, and the drought in Longyou is a foregone conclusion. Xiangwu is also located on the upper reaches of the Wei River, so it will inevitably be the first to dry up.”
The more Feng Yong listened, the more he broke into a cold sweat. He suddenly thought of something in his mind: Old Man Wei failed to attack the city a few days ago and suffered heavy losses. Wasn't it also part of Old Demon Zhuge's plan?
Hao Zhao was proud for a moment, thinking that the tens of thousands of Han people could not capture Xiangwu.
Then the three sides were encircled and it looked like a long-term siege. In fact, it was Zhuge Lao Yao's paralyzing move. Behind the seemingly helpless move, he had quietly completed the action of blocking the three sides.
Guan Xing came with his cavalry at this time, which just made up for the Han army's lack of mobility.
Finally, with the help of this year’s abnormal weather, Hao Zhao’s retreat became undefeable.
Feng Yong wiped the sweat from his forehead: I said that the Prime Minister was so slow and not anxious at all. He even asked professional teams like the engineering team to dig ditches and build barriers every day. It turned out that he was already dead.
(End of this chapter)