Pingxiang City, military camp in the north of the city.
The fires lit at random intervals left scars on the dark night, and they spread their teeth and claws in response to the whining cold wind.
Under a fire far away from the military tent, the servant Qi Yacuo was roasting mutton.
Sometimes I add firewood or turn the mutton over, and sometimes I scratch it on the back of my hand.
As a native of Nanzhong County, ever since he came to Longyou, he would always get a few frostbite on his hands at the turn of winter and spring.
The itching is unbearable and irritating.
Frostbite is the most annoying thing for many warriors from various counties in the south.
However, Begging Yacuo rarely complains.
The longer he stayed in Longyou, the less he complained.
After all, he is considered lucky. It is now the twelfth year of Jianxing (AD 234), and the Han Dynasty has been conducting the Northern Expedition for six years. Many soldiers have no chance of developing frostbite.
Especially the soldiers under Zheng Pu of the Central Guard Army.
No one doubted Zheng Pu's dispatching ability. For example, Zhang Ni, Zhou Tai, Liu Lin and others were able to accumulate meritorious service and become marquises and generals.
But no one denies that every time the army goes out, the soldiers under Zheng Pu's command will suffer heavy casualties.
Magnificent military exploits will always be paved with piles of bones.
Not only the enemy's, but also our own army's.
Therefore, Zheng Pu also developed a habit of playing the flute alone in the dead of night on the eve of leading the army.
Qi Yacuo doesn't understand the music.
I just feel that the tune is a bit sad.
I also heard by chance that when the mistress asked about the name of the song, the husband replied "Hongyan".
Birds like swan geese are very familiar to Qi Yacuo.
Whenever autumn comes, he begins to migrate south, and he has also taken the opportunity to hide by the lake and shoot many of them.
I also remember that when he brought the swan goose back for roasting, Lang Jun said that it was fragrant, the meat was delicate and chewy, and the feathers could be used to make arrow tails with military craftsmen, etc.
I was full of praise when I ate it, but why did I feel so sad when I played the music?
How strange!
Qi Yacuo tilted his head and listened carefully for a while, but still felt puzzled.
He simply didn't think about it anymore and continued to scratch his chilblains in boredom, focusing on the mutton that was roasted and turned golden.
The mutton was a gift from General Jiang.
The general recently made a trip to Longxi County to deliver the ashes of Qiang soldiers who died in the war, and also mentioned the Qiang defection in battle. [Note 1]
Therefore, the tribal leaders who defected from the Qiang people all unanimously sent many cattle and sheep to General Jiang to bring with him a labor force.
What is meant by "It's freezing cold and the soldiers are working hard, so I use cattle and sheep to express my humble heart."
He was obviously worried about General Jiang's guilt, so he offered the cattle and sheep, but he actually said it was because of his loyalty to the Han Dynasty.
How hypocritical!
However, this mutton is so delicious~~~~
With a drop of grease falling on the charcoal fire, the aroma filled the air with the sound of "Pala". Qi Yacuo, who had not tasted mutton for several months, couldn't help but close his eyes and take a deep breath. While his mouth was full of saliva, all the contempt in his heart was turned into
Praise.
However, he was not intoxicated for long before he suddenly opened his eyes, stood up quickly, and put his hand on the handle of the knife at his waist. Although he knew that no one in the military camp would do anything bad to Zheng Pu, he also glowed when he heard the footsteps.
instinct.
"Buqudu doesn't need to be careful, it's me."
The visitor made a sound and slowly approached the fire from the darkness, and the light and shadow illuminated his face.
It turned out to be Xu Zhi.
Zheng Pu, who was sitting quietly on the flute on the other side, also woke up with a start.
First, he signaled Qi Yacuo to disarm, then waved to Xu Zhi with a smile, inviting him to sit down, "It's late at night, and Zi Zhong has no sleep. Could it be that he knew I was roasting meat here?"
"Haha~~~"
Smiling lightly and bowing his hands, Xu Zhicai gathered his robe and sat down, and said loudly, "It was the melodious sound of the general's flute that made me miss my hometown and my family when I heard it, so I couldn't help but come closer to listen. I didn't want to disturb the general's elegant mood, and I feel ashamed!"
Ashamed!”
"Um"
With a slight nasal sound, Zheng Pu smiled and handed over the kumiss bag on the ground.
He knew that what Xu Zhi said was not the truth, and he vaguely guessed his purpose, but he didn't want to tell the truth.
After the battle at Xiao Guandao, Xu Zhi showed great respect to him.
That's because before Zhang Yi led the Xuanwu Army into another camp, whenever the Wei army attacked the camp, Zheng Pu would ask Qi Yacuo to tie Xu Zhi in the military tent, and he received gratitude and respect.
By tying him up, I was protecting his life and the safety of his family members who were far away in Zhangye County.
For example, once the other camp was captured by the Wei army and Wei Ping saw Xu Zhi who was tightly bound in the military tent, he would not think that he had surrendered to the Han Dynasty.
One might even think that he refused to die after being captured by the Han army, so he was tied up in the camp by Zheng Pu and interrogated about the military situation.
Therefore, Xu Zhizhi was impressed by Zheng Pu's enyi, and his attitude changed from his previous resignation to his willingness to serve the Han Dynasty with all his strength. If nothing unexpected happened, he came here to invite him to join the war as a general of the Han Dynasty.
Yes, the Han army is about to attack.
It was already the second month of spring, and Prime Minister Zhuge Liang decided to use troops against the Wei army again.
However, in terms of strategy, Zheng Pu's suggestions were not adopted.
When the prime minister was brainstorming several times, Jiang Wei, who was discussing with the prime minister, proposed to gather troops from Longyou and march to Zuli County with an army of 50,000 to fight against Wei Da Sima Cao Zhen.
This is the consensus of most people.
It is understandable that all soldiers have absolute confidence in the war.
Fighting requires courage.
Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.
In the late autumn of last year, the Wei army came fiercely with hundreds of thousands of troops, but they failed to build an inch and failed to capture an inch of territory. This was a loss of courage. Being confronted head-on by the prime minister in the wild and defeated was a loss of courage. Now the city of Zuli is under siege.
If there is more than two months but no attack on the city, then the courage will fail.
At this time, the prime minister had returned with his army and had rested for two months. His morale was strong, and it was difficult for him to rebel against Wei.
Moreover, during the war, Wei Yan and Guan Xing tribes who were trapped in Zuli City could also wait for opportunities to sneak attack from behind; even Zhang Bao tribe who was far away in the Yin fortress could send Liu Yin to lead Xiao without Wei troops trapped in the city fort.
The Jie army came to help in the battle.
In terms of morale and strength, the Han army had almost no chance of defeat in this battle.
And if they win, the Wei army will be completely pushed back to Guanzhong, and the Han army can take advantage of the victory to march to Hexi and regain the entire Liangzhou in one fell swoop.
Even after defeating the two Wei Liangzhou defenders, Wei Ping and Guo Huai, in this battle, the Haoyou and Qianghu tribes in the four counties of Hexi and Jincheng County all lost confidence in the Wei State, and the Han Dynasty could fight without blood.
Who wouldn’t be tempted by such a desirable result?
But Zheng Pu came up with another idea.
He is not optimistic.
I feel that if I send a large army to Zuli County to fight Cao Zhen, and if I win, the soldiers will suffer heavy losses.
The reason is that Cao Zhen has already been defeated once and will not let the Han army get a second chance to fight in the field. If nothing else happens, he will not be able to hold out, so the Han army will have to demolish the camps one by one.
Using the clumsiest but most effective method, the Han army fell into a war of attrition.
Therefore, Zheng Pu's suggestion was to ask Prime Minister Zhuge to return his main force to Hanzhong, join the troops of General Wu Yi on the left, and go through Baoxie Valley and out of Fufeng on the right.
Camp step by step, advancing while cultivating the fields.
If Cao Zhen leads his army back to Guanzhong, then the prime minister will camp to fight with him and let Wei Yan lead Wu Ban, Gao Xiang, Jiang Wei, Zhang Bao and other troops to advance to Hexi and capture Liangzhou.
If the Wei army does not return to Guanzhong, then the prime minister can knock down You Fufeng and make Cao Zhen's army a rootless tree.
Naturally, if you want to implement such a strategy, the prerequisite is to defend Xiaoguandao.
Because once the prime minister leads the army into Guanzhong, Cao Zhen's most likely choice is to lead the army again to attack Xiaoguandao and break through Xiaoguan to connect with Anding County.
It also connects Longyou and Guanzhong together again, making it possible to advance and retreat freely strategically.
Therefore, after weighing it several times, the prime minister still rejected Zheng Pu's proposal.
In any case, in the previous battle, if Zhang Yi had not led the army to provide timely support, the other camp guarding Xiaoguandao would have been breached!
The prime minister, who has always been cautious, would not take any chances.
The strategy was established, and the dispatch and distribution of troops and horses among various ministries were gradually implemented.
The central army was still led by the Prime Minister, and the right wing was supervised by the right general Wu Ban. Zheng Pu and Jiang Wei, who had been crippled, were transferred to Pingxiang City and temporarily joined Gao Xiang's tribe to serve as the left wing of the army.
March in five days.
Xu Zhi was like this, and came to ask for orders to join the expedition as a Han general.
He wanted to be incorporated into Liu Lin's heavy infantry squad.
Because those heavy infantrymen were wearing ferocious visors when they went into battle, there was no need to worry about being recognized by the Wei army.
Zheng Pu is absolutely fine with this.
Although I feel that Xu Zhi's role as a first-level infantry is a bit unfair.
But after thinking about it, and letting him cultivate a good relationship with the soldiers, it would be of great benefit to leading the army in the future, so he agreed.
However, just one day before the army was about to set off, the scouts reported puzzling military information.
For some unknown reason, Cao Zhen actually led his troops back to Anding County!——
[Note 1: "When the Qiang people die, they burn and spread their ashes" - "Zhuangzi"; "The people of the Di and Qiang are captives, not worried about their ties, but worried about their death but not burned" - "Lu Shi"
