In the twelfth lunar month, Chengdu Prefecture was still covered with beautiful greenery, but hundreds of miles to the north, hundreds of miles away from the lofty mountains, Fengzhou, where the main force of the Shu army was stationed, had already experienced a heavy snowfall.
Gao Yanchou, the commander of the Zuowei Holy Army of the Forbidden Army of Shu, came to the camp department with a solemn expression. He took a slight breath before raising his feet and stepping in.
There was a sergeant who had been waiting for a long time inside the door to guide him and take him to meet An Siqian who summoned him and the angel (emperor's messenger) who came from Chengdu to deliver the message.
The sergeant and Gao Yanchou walked in tandem. When they turned a corridor, the sergeant suddenly took a step slower, then lowered his head and said in a very low voice: "The Holy One is still preparing to use troops. The commander-in-chief is already inside to receive the order."
Gao Yanchang nodded his head inconspicuously, and then fell into deep worry.
Two months ago, he advocated sending troops when the customs were dispersed, but today is different from the past, the situation is completely different! Not to mention that the Han army had already established a foothold in Fengxiang, but that his own army had been deployed for several months in vain. In addition, as the New Year was approaching, many of his generals had secretly or explicitly revealed to him that they were looking forward to returning to the capital for the New Year.
In such a situation, can the military morale really be used? Gao Yanchang couldn't help but have an idea: the saint lived in the palace for a long time. Although he could sing poems and lyrics, he didn't understand military affairs at all!
Before entering the meeting hall, Gao Yanchang suppressed this thought: after all, the Holy Emperor had given him a favor, and he should do his best to repay it no matter what. What's more, fundamentally speaking, if the opportunity of the three towns' rebellion is missed now, it will only be more difficult for Shu to make progress in Guanzhong in the future.
The edict to send troops cannot be disobeyed, and the only way to make the situation better is to think of ways to win. Wanting to understand this, Gao Yanchang strode into the door.
There were two people sitting in the hall. Apart from An Siqian, there was also a lanky man without a beard. He was obviously an angel from Chengdu.
Seeing Gao Yanchen come in, both of them stood up to greet him. An Siqian smiled and said, "It's a coincidence that Commander Gao has come. Eunuch Wu and I just mentioned that we should go out to fight in this battle, and we must rely on Commander Gao."
Gao Yanchang simply cupped his hands towards the two of them, with a serious expression: "I heard that angels came from afar, but I wonder what the Holy Spirit's will is?"
"The edict has just been read to me by Eunuch Wu. The Holy Father's intention is to order me and Han Baozhen, the Xiongwu (Longzhou) Jiedu envoy, to divide their troops into two groups, one way out of Sanguan and the other way out of Mianyang, so as to regain Guanzhong as soon as possible. Call Gao Jun envoy I came here to discuss how our army should use its troops in the next step."
After An Siqian said this, he passed the imperial edict to Gao Yancun. The imperial edict was very different from what An Siqian said. Because Gao Yanchang had anticipated it beforehand, he calmly handed the imperial edict back to An Siqian.
At this time, the eunuch who was called Eunuch Wu said: "Look at the appearance of Commander Gao, he seems to have a plan in mind. If you two have any good strategies, you can come up with them now, so that we can go back to your majesty as soon as possible."
An Siqian looked at Gao Yancuo: "Commissioner Gao has been practicing the art of war for a long time, and he was also active in talking about war before. Why not listen to Commander Gao's opinions first?"
Gao Yanchang nodded immediately after hearing this, thinking that he might as well take advantage of this moment to decide on a military strategy in front of the angel, so as not to let An Siqian retreat easily in the future and waste the opportunity of fighting. So he happily clasped his fists and said: "The general thinks that to attack Guanzhong, the first step is to attack Fengxiang, and now there are three strategies to attack Fengxiang: upper, middle and lower."
Eunuch Wu immediately showed his interest: "Oh? I wonder what three clever suggestions Gao Junshi has?"
"The best policy is to wait. When the snow melts and the Han army is blocked under the city, our army will split into two groups and gather under Fengxiang City. By then our army will be several times more powerful than Zhao Hui and we can force Zhao Hui to surrender. Xianyang, and our army continues to advance towards Chang'an, Zhao Siwan's siege will be solved again. At that time, our army can advance to fight, and retreat to defend. The Han army will not be able to occupy Chang'an for a long time. It is best to capture a town in the middle of the river, and the land in Guanzhong It’s all in my hands.”
"Can't wait!" As soon as he finished speaking, An Siqian retorted impatiently, "Fengxiang and Chang'an have been besieging the city for more than several months. Who knows when it will be broken if we wait any longer? What's more, even if Wang Jingchong and Zhao Siwan wait Come on, our army can't wait any longer. Now the army is short of food, even in Fengzhou, we can't supply it. If we wait any longer, we can only retreat to Xingzhou!"
Eunuch Wu's expression was not very good either: "Although His Majesty is far away in the palace, he has been fighting here day and night for four years. He has been so concerned and concerned that he even has gray hair on his temples. Our family can't bear to see it... Ruorugao The military envoy said that it might not be appropriate to wait any longer."
Gao Yanchou did not offer much explanation, but continued: "The next step is to make the best strategy. After our army leaves Sanguan, attack the Han army's Baoji Village first. If it fails, we will surround it with partial troops. The army will go north to find Zhao Hui for a decisive battle and win. Then we can break the siege of Fengxiang and continue to plot Chang'an. If we are defeated, we will have to return to the court with our troops."
"It's true that Shen Gui and Yin are the first to make a decision. We must be cautious in using our troops and cannot make the same mistakes again." An Siqian said.
Eunuch Wu also shook his head: "Your Majesty cherishes the Forbidden Army. He is deeply distressed when his elite soldiers are destroyed. Now it is better to be more cautious when using troops."
His Majesty takes the lead in the battle, while An Siqian is afraid of it. Gao Yanchou has never had any hope in the so-called best or middle strategy. He just proposed two methods that are obviously not acceptable, making it easier for the two of them to accept their true nature. The strategy being considered.
"Since both the commander-in-chief and the father-in-law think that two strategies are not possible, there is only one strategy left: our army will go out and bypass Baoji, join forces with Han Baozhen on the North Road, and not invite a fight with Zhao Hui, but quickly attack the prefectures and counties in Fengxiang On the one hand, they collected food on the spot, and on the other hand, they built strongholds on the mountains in Qishan, Lingshan and other places, waiting for opportunities to attack the Han army's food routes, so that the Han army did not dare to attack the city with all its strength. Zhao Hui had few soldiers, so he would not dare to stay in Fengxiang, so our army temporarily captured Fengxiang. After one town, we can plan to advance eastward. This is the middle strategy!"
An Siqian and Eunuch Wu exchanged glances. An Siqian said first: "This method is feasible. It does not require a hard fight with the Han army, and it can alleviate the problem of food and grass. It can be said to be a way to win without fighting. The only difficulty is that , the army has endless food here, and if it wants to go on an expedition, the army will need to transport at least 100,000 hu of dendrobium from Shu."
Eunuch Wu stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Since both of you think this strategy is feasible, we have something to say in front of His Majesty. If there is nothing else, we will go back and resume our lives now."
Gao Yanchang breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. As long as His Majesty and An Siqian can support the implementation of this strategy, it is still unclear who will win in Guanzhong!
"Eunuch, wait a minute." At this moment, An Siqian suddenly stood up, pulled Eunuch Wu's sleeve, took out a gold ingot and put it into Eunuch Wu's hand. There are eight good horses, and it is not easy for my father-in-law to go on this trip, so why not go to my stable and choose them to save yourself the trouble of legwork."
"How can An Shuai cut off his love and ask our family to do it?" Eunuch Wu retracted his sleeves, but there was no sign of refusal on his face, "Just like that, our family will not refuse An Shuai's kindness.
"This is the best, but our difficulty is that we still have to work in front of His Majesty..."
"Hi, hi," Eunuch Wu waved his hand with a smile on his face, "If Anshuai is here, we are all on errands for His Majesty. We will report the difficulties that Anshuai mentioned in detail to His Majesty when we get back."
