So that's it... Yang Yi nodded with a clear look on his face. Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he shook the letter with a look of surprise on his face:
"Prime Minister, this letter, this word..."
Before, he had focused all his attention on the content of the battle report, but now he realized that the words on the battle report were as ugly as a dog crawling, crooked and ugly.
Moreover, it doesn't look like Ma Su's handwriting. To be more precise, it doesn't look like something that can be written by a human being.
Yang Yi was puzzled.
It stands to reason that Ma Su was born into a wealthy family in Jingxiang. He had been familiar with poetry and books since he was a child, and had extremely profound writing skills. He was also a good calligrapher. How could he let a person who was not very good at writing write such a rigorous battle report?
Could it be said that the hands of Ma Su and the military commander were injured?
But the battle report clearly stated that the Wei army suffered more than 20,000 casualties in the Jieting attack and defense battle, and our army had no casualties.
So what's going on with the dog-like script on this battle report?
Zhuge Liang was even more puzzled because he was not as blind as Yang Yi. He could tell at a glance that the battle report was written by Ma Su himself.
It's just that this word... is a bit too ugly.
Thanks to his extraordinary eyesight, he could barely recognize what was written above.
Well, when I see Ma Su, I will definitely ask why!
With this in mind, Zhuge Liang turned his eyes to the desk, looked at the map of the five counties in Longxi, and pondered.
At present, the city of Shanggui can be defeated at a snap, but the Shu Han army besieged it instead of attacking, and was forced to retreat. They only used the city as a bait to implement a plan to siege the city and mobilize reinforcements.
Judging from the several unresolute breakouts in the city, the guard Guo Huai not only wanted to hold on and wait for help, but also wanted to withdraw from Guanzhong through the Chencang Weishui Channel, not to be used as bait.
At this time, we were in a dilemma and hesitant situation.
What a God-given opportunity... Zhuge Liang narrowed his eyes slightly, shook his goose feather fan slightly, and thoughts in his mind were spinning rapidly.
If we can seize this opportunity, we can lure out the 5,000 troops led by Xu Miao, the governor of Liangzhou, who is stationed in Jincheng, and capture them all in one fell swoop.
Then, the remaining two counties in Longxi will be defeated without attack!
Even Liangzhou is within reach.
However, after besieging the city and recruiting reinforcements during the previous attack on the three counties, and using tricks to win over Jiang Wei, the Wei army was already prepared and no longer sent troops to rescue elsewhere, and only allowed the original troops of the trapped city to defend.
Their plan was: if they could hold it, they would hold it; if they couldn't hold it, they would leave; if they couldn't leave, they would surrender.
Anyway, the Shu army is powerful, so the sin of losing the city is not big.
In short, this is what the governor of Liangzhou and the prefect of Jincheng thought at this time, not to send out troops rashly and then expose the flaws and be defeated one by one by the Shu army.
Therefore, although Jiang Wei's plan was very clever, Xu Miao would most likely not be fooled.
As a result, the situation has reached a deadlock.
Zhuge Liang was extremely worried.
As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, he knew that the Shu Han army could not stay in Longxi for a long time. Even if they won the battle of Jieting, they could not stay in Longxi for a long time.
Because the Han army also had an extremely fatal weakness.
Hanzhong!
An extremely empty Hanzhong.
In this Northern Expedition, he took away almost 90% of Shu Han's troops, leaving only 3,000 soldiers in Hanzhong, and also allocated 2,000 to Zhao Yun as suspicious soldiers to go out to Qi Valley to confuse Cao Zhen's strength.
At this moment, if nothing unexpected happens, Zhao Yun must have retreated to Hanzhong in defeat.
Because the moment he personally led the army in Longxi, the suspected soldiers were exposed.
Because the Shu Han did not have two simultaneous armies, and both armies had an advantage in the number of soldiers and horses.
We can only practice one virtual method and one real method.
At this moment, Cao Zhen must have known that the main force of the Shu army was in Longxi and not in Hanzhong.
If the Lord of Wei orders Cao Zhen to mobilize all his troops and attack Hanzhong...
Zhuge Liang didn't dare to think about it any more.
At this time, Wu Yi, Jiang Wei, Guan Xing, and Zhang Bao opened the curtain and entered. Guan Xing reported: "All the generals, commanders, and uncles have been prepared. I don't know when to set off?"
After much hesitation, Zhuge Liang finally gave the order: "Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, each of you lead ten thousand troops and set up an ambush eighty miles west of Shanggui City. When you see Wei soldiers coming for reinforcements, you cover them from both fronts and attack from both ends.
"
The two of them accepted the order and were about to leave, but Zhuge Liang raised his hand to stop him and told him: "Three days, if no troops come within three days, you two must withdraw quickly."
Yang Yi watched the two people leave the tent and was puzzled: "Prime Minister, the situation in Longxi is very good today. Seeing that five counties are about to fall into my hands, why did I only give them three days?"
Zhuge Liang said nothing, but looked at Jiang Wei with eyes full of testing.
Jiang Weili frowned and said, "Is the Prime Minister worried that Cao Zhen will attack Hanzhong?"
Zhuge Liang's eyes were filled with relief and he slightly nodded his head.
Wu Yi and Yang Yi looked at each other and their expressions changed. The latter asked in shock: "Prime Minister..."
Zhuge Liang waved his hand: "It doesn't matter, there are small groups of soldiers and horses guarding all the important roads, and all the plank roads have been burned down. Cao Zhen will not be able to reach Hanzhong within ten months."
Hearing this, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.
In other words, if within a month, if the Longxi counties and Zhang He's 70,000 troops (including 50,000 rear troops) cannot be defeated, they will have no choice but to retreat.
Otherwise, Hanzhong will be lost.
If Hanzhong is lost, Shuzhong will be in danger!
Which one is more important or less important is self-evident.
…
On the other side, Cao Rui, the leader of Wei, learned that Zhang He was defeated in Jieting and lost more than 20,000 troops in the front army. He was immediately shocked and summoned the governor Cao Zhen to discuss countermeasures.
At that time, Cao Zhen had figured out the strength of the Shu army in Qi Valley and had driven back Zhao Yun. Deng Zhi led his troops and was about to lead his army to pursue Qi Valley and kill them.
Suddenly hearing the call from the Lord of Wei, he quickly withdrew his troops and returned north. He flew to Chang'an on flying horses and entered the palace to see him.
Cao Rui didn't wait for Cao Zhen to take a breath, and said in a hurry: "Now Zhang He has lost his troops and defeated the generals, and the Shu soldiers are blocked in the street pavilion, making it difficult for our army to reinforce Longxi. Do you have a good strategy to retreat from the enemy?"
Cao Zhen pondered for a long time, and after he had regained his breath, he replied: "Your Majesty, don't panic, I have a plan to retreat from Zhuge Liang. There is no need for the army to rush to the aid of Longxi. The Shu army will retreat in less than a month!"
Cao Rui was overjoyed when he heard this: "What's the plan?"
Cao Zhenxing came closer and whispered like this.
Cao Rui suddenly stood up, clasped his hands and said: "Okay! What a good plan! Ai Qing will advance quickly. If you can break the siege of Longxi, I will be credited with both contributions!"
Cao Zhen stepped back and saluted, turned around and strode away, leading an army of 100,000 to attack Hanzhong.
Because the three roads to Hanzhong were not smooth and all the plank roads were destroyed, it brought great difficulties to the Wei army's march.
In order to ensure that the horses and vehicles loaded with baggage could move smoothly, Cao Zhen had to detach a vanguard army of ten thousand people and march south along Chencang Road, building bridges and paving the road in front.
And deliberately made a gesture of marching with great momentum.
He was afraid that the world would not know that he was going to attack Hanzhong.
Five days later, we arrived at Shanggui City.
Because the Liangzhou governor sent no troops to rescue him, Yongzhou governor Guo Huai led his remaining troops to break through. The Shu army successfully captured Shanggui City and blocked the exit of the Chencang Wei River.
Zhuge Liang was about to personally lead his army to Jieting for a decisive battle with Zhang He. Suddenly a commoner from the mountains came to report: "Cao Zhen led an army of 100,000 troops and marched from Chencang Road to attack Hanzhong."
After hearing the news, Zhuge Liang immediately called Jiang Wei, Wu Yi, Yang Yi and others to discuss.
Jiang Wei said: "The road to Chencang is wide. Although there are many planks, it can lead to a large army. Now Cao Zhen has led an army of 100,000 to attack. It cannot be defended by one general. The prime minister will personally lead the army to meet it."
Yang Yi cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, Cao Zhen deliberately made the news of the attack on Hanzhong known to everyone. I'm afraid there is some fraud involved."
Wu Yi waved his hand and said: "Hey, what Mr. Wei said is wrong. Even if there is fraud in it, how can I not return to the army to rescue him? You must know that if Hanzhong is lost, all major events will be at stake!"
To put it bluntly, this is a conspiracy, and the Wei army's move is necessary to save the Shu Han army.
Yang Yi choked and was speechless, unable to refute.
Jiang Wei further said: "Prime Minister, now that the army has retreated, the counties in Longxi can no longer be defended. It is better to move all the people in the three counties into Hanzhong, and wait for the army to kill and retreat Cao Zhen, so there is no better strategy."
That's all it can do, the winner is forced to retreat, and the loser loses nothing.
This battle ended in an anticlimactic manner, and it was so frustrating.
Everyone looked at each other and thought this.
Zhuge Liang then followed Jiang Wei's advice and ordered Ma Di to lead the three generals Wang Ping, Wei Yan and Gao Xiang to still guard the street pavilion, and then slowly retreat after half a month; he also ordered Li Hui, Wu Yi and Yang Yi each to lead an army and horse to go there.
The three counties moved their people.
Zhuge Liang personally led Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, Jiang Wei and other generals to lead an army of 50,000 and marched from the small road to Hanzhong Beidao.
