The clear blue sky is as clear as water, and the blue is so refreshing; the white clouds are like white clouds, dotted in the sky.
In Longyou after autumn, people can always find a peaceful time to soothe their minds.
Hebei County, Luomenju, Lu Family Courtyard.
Next to the gurgling creek in the green mountains, Zheng Pu leaned against the pillars of the small pavilion, half-squinting his eyes and listening to the soft whispers of the beggar sitting opposite.
He, who is usually very silent, became very talkative today.
He just came back from Chengdu.
Even the dust and tiredness on his face could not hide the joy emerging from his eyes.
His only child, Zheng Chou, was the son of a rough and rugged man from the south. He was first given the status of a good family son by Zheng Pu, and was entrusted to the military leader Xiang Chong to adopt him as a palace guard. Now he is getting married to Zheng Yan. This
He, who could not change his expression even when faced with the sword, felt that there was nothing more he could ask for in this life.
After a while, he finished sharing the joy and bowed out.
In three days, Zheng Pu's rest period will end. He must seize the time to recover from the fatigue of traveling to and from Chengdu, and continue to fulfill his duty of loyalty and gratitude.
This time, Zheng Pu took a long rest.
After leading the army back from Hanpingchuan in mid-June, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang allowed him to rest at home until August.
There are two reasons for this.
First, it is related to the time when Cao Zhen's army attacked against Wei Dynasty.
The troops and horses have not moved, but the food and grass go first.
If Cao Zhen wants to attack Longyou with all his strength, he has to wait for Cao Rui of Luoyang to transport all the grain and supplies from other prefectures and counties, which are enough for an army of more than 100,000 troops, to Gaoping City for hoarding. Based on the road conditions in Anding County, he must collect the Li Shu corvee and transport them.
Coordinating the gathering of troops from various departments will take at least three months.
Even if Cao Zhen sent his front troops to harass him, he would have to wait until August at the earliest before sending out troops.
Moreover, this attack by the Wei Dynasty can be regarded as a battle to decide the fate of Liangzhou, and it is also an upright battle.
There is no room for surprise.
It just so happened that what Zheng Pu learned was in scheming.
In this kind of military formation of "invincible with oneself, but waiting for the enemy to be victorious", Zheng Pu was able to refer to very few detailed military strategies.
In other words, when it comes to the battle of "serious soldiers", Zheng Pu has no say in front of the prime minister.
After all, he is not a general, and he has not had that kind of influence since he was a child. In this kind of war, the role he can play cannot compare to Guan Xing, Zhang Bao and others.
Therefore, the Prime Minister was very considerate and allowed him to enjoy the rare leisure.
Another reason is to record meritorious deeds.
The capture of Jianyin Fortress was a milestone turning point in the Han Dynasty's Northern Expedition in a strategic sense. However, according to the court regulations that relied on victory in battles to judge merit and rewards, it was just a pass.
Recording the performance alone is a bit too thin.
And at the time when the generals against the Wei Dynasty are launching a large-scale attack, capturing the Gu Yin Sui can be regarded as the prelude to the future war.
Therefore, when the prime minister was arranging the troops and horses to prepare for war, he also slightly adjusted the official positions of the outstanding young men of the Han Dynasty, and the power was to reward them based on their merit.
During the tactical planning, the prime minister concluded that Cao Zhen's offensive would not be sustainable on the grounds that the Wei army had recruited too many troops, the daily consumption of grain and fodder was too large, and the logistical supply line to attack Longyou through the Wushui River Basin was too long.
He also chose to be on the defensive.
He planned to build a deep trench and high fortress without fighting, and waited until Cao Zhen's attack failed and he had no choice but to retreat.
Just like the Battle of Hanzhong in the past, after the late Emperor Liu Bei attacked and killed Xiahou Yuan, he faced Wei Wu and Cao Cao's tactics when he personally led the army to fight.
Hu Ji, who joined the Chinese army, led his headquarters to guard Xiaoguan, while Jiang Bin's troops stationed at Longguan Road.
Although it is unlikely that Wei will attack the Longshan-Liupanshan pass, it is still better to be prepared. The Han Dynasty has been surprised several times in the past few years, and no one can guarantee whether Wei Wei will try to "retaliate in his own way."
Treat the person's body."
Gao Xiang's troops were stationed in Pingxiang City to prevent the Wei army from Jincheng County from coming out of Sangyuan Gorge.
Zhang Yi's tribe, which was originally stationed in Xiaopingdi outside Yuzhong County, moved to the local Li Shu and returned to Longyou, and then went to Longxi County to station in Didao, guarding it together with Wang Ping's tribe in Daxia County to resist the possibility of the counter-Wei Guo-Huai Hui advancing into Longxi County along the Tao River.
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As for Xiping County, there is no need to increase troops.
The prefect Liao Hua has been guarding the front line all year round and is very familiar with defense. Moreover, the Qiang and Hu tribes in the Huangshui River Valley are full of resentment against Wei. If Guo Huai sends troops to Xiping County, they will take the initiative to bring their tribesmen to help in the battle without Liao Hua's call.
After making these arrangements, the prime minister left General Wu Ban on the right to guard Ayang City. He led an army of 50,000 troops a hundred miles north of Ayang City and settled at the western foot of Liupan Mountain. While protecting the rear of Xiaoguan, it also prevented Cao Zhen from driving for a long time.
Enter Longyou.
Because this location is not far from Gaoping City.
Cao Zhen wanted all his troops to enter Longyou, so he had to pull out the prime minister's camp first, otherwise he would face the risk of cutting off the food route.
Naturally, he could also divide his troops into two groups, leave some troops and horses here to trap the prime minister, and then personally lead the army to besiege Ayang City or Pingxiang City.
But this kind of scheduling is more difficult to accomplish.
A strong city is much more difficult to capture than a fortress.
Even if Cao Zhen wanted to use the mobility of the cavalry to penetrate the garrison loopholes between Ayang City and Pingxiang City, and enter Longyou to burn, kill and loot, it would not be realistic.
The prime minister arranged for two cavalrymen, Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, to guard the Changli River (Hulu River) valley.
If Cao Zhen dares to send his cavalry to go deep alone, it will happen again in the past when the Xianbei Bald Troop's rangers were ambushed.
Well, Zhao Guang has just been officially worshiped as General Qiaoqi.
Although he still held the position of general with miscellaneous numbers, this position showed that he was no longer controlled by Wei Yan and began to have the same authority to arbitrate military affairs as Ma Dai.
Furthermore, Cao Zhen would not enter Longyou in a large scale before capturing Zuli County.
In other words, these arrangements made by the prime minister were all for Zuli County and Jiyin Fortress to contain the forces of the Ni Wei Dynasty.
For Ni Wei, the strategic goal of sending troops this time can be divided into three steps.
First, retake Zuli County and Jianyin Fortress, restore the connection between Guanzhong Sanfu and the Hexi Corridor, and let Liangzhou maintain the status quo and avoid internal chaos.
The second is to attack Longyou regardless of casualties.
In a way that would harm both sides, it weakened Bashu's war background and made it impossible for Bashu to start another war in a short period of time.
The third is to capture an outpost in Longyou.
It doesn't matter whether it's a city or a valley where troops can be stationed and guarded.
No matter what it is, as long as it is in the middle area of Gaopingcheng, Anding County, Zuli County, Wuwei County, and Yuzhong County, Jincheng.
Because there are outposts, these three points can be protected behind; these three points can support each other and become an integrated offensive and defensive front; in other words, the biggest disadvantage of Wei's attack on Longyou is solved - from
The hardships of transporting heavy supplies of food and supplies in Guanzhong.
After all, if the front line is pushed forward, food and other supplies can be stored in advance.
Instead of having the support of Luoyang Cao Rui to send troops like now, Cao Zhen still had to spend several months waiting for the transfer of supplies to arrive so that the Han Dynasty could prepare for the battle.
His strategic purpose was to bring down the national power of the Han Dynasty, which could not be achieved through one or two wars.
But if every expedition requires time to be spent on transporting supplies, then this goal will be difficult to see.
No matter how strong the Wei state's national power is and how solid its war heritage is, it can't withstand the Han's idleness and waiting for work.
And when it was impossible to attack, it gave the big man time to breathe.
Haste makes waste.
Cao Zhen, who has been in the military for decades, knows this well, so he will not be eager for quick success and will not send troops to attack Longyou before he captures Zuli County.
This obvious three-step goal is also clear to the Prime Minister.
That's why he personally led the army out of the city and set up camp to threaten the food routes of the Wei army.
Naturally, in order to preserve the strength to attack Liangzhou in the future, the prime minister will try to avoid a field battle with Ni Wei.
Moreover, in order not to be surrounded by Ni Wei, there will be no reinforcements in Zuli County and Jianyin Fortress!
If they don't want to be defeated and the whole army is annihilated, they have to hold on until Wei Wei runs out of supplies or the division's veterans are exhausted and retreat.
As for how long we have to hold on to the death
Maybe it's a few months, maybe it's more than a year.
No one can say for sure how much supplies Cao Rui of Luoyang prepared for Cao Zhen.
But everyone knows that one year is the limit.
No matter how powerful the Wei Dynasty was, it was impossible to provide food, fodder, and supplies for an army of hundreds of thousands for more than a year; it was impossible for these soldiers who participated in the war and the Li Shu who served as corvees in Guanzhong for a year.
However, a soldier who can stand alone for a year without support is not something that ordinary people can do.
Among them, Zuli County, which was the most difficult to defend, was garrisoned by former general Wei Yan.
As the leading general of the Han Dynasty, he was the only one to choose him, and it happened to be that he was ordered to build the city. The prime minister also asked Guan Xing to lead his headquarters to assist in the garrison, with a total of fifteen thousand troops.
This is a test, and it is also important.
As a meritorious deed, he was directly transferred to General Anbei after Chen Shi died of illness, and he would also be obliged to do so in critical moments.
Moreover, Wei Yan also led the governor of Liangzhou.
As long as he survives this attack against Wei, he will definitely lead the army to attack Liangzhou.
At that time, Guan Xing will take over the defense of Zuli County.
Based on the strategic significance of Zuli County, his authority is the same as that of Gao Xiang who guards Pingxiang City.
Coincidentally, Zhang Bao was also entrusted with an important task.
The prime minister asked him to supervise Liu Yin and Yan Yu's troops, with a combined force of 5,000 to guard the Fortress of Yin.
The official position also coincided with the important title of General - the Prime Minister listed his merits over the years and appointed him to replace Zheng Pu's resignation as General of Pingbei.
Jiang Wei, who captured the Jiyin Pass, did not change his official position. He was still the general of the bandits and the captain of the Qiang guard.
The promotion to the rank of general is a big leap, and it is already very difficult.
After all, there are not many official positions for generals with heavy titles.
Especially in recent years, there have been frequent wars in the Han Dynasty, and there are too many people who have accumulated meritorious service.
But no one felt wronged by him.
On the contrary, many army lieutenant generals are envious.
The prime minister not only converted his title into a real title, but also asked him to expand the number of troops to protect the Qiang camp, with a quota of two thousand cavalry and three thousand infantry.
There are two thousand cavalry and soldiers alone!
Ma Dai and Zhao Guang, who led the cavalry, each had only more than 3,000 cavalry under their command.
