Under the soft moonlight, Liu Yin looked at the familiar streets around him, with mixed feelings in his heart.
Somehow, he was selected as the messenger to send a message back to Chengdu.
This word is very spiritual.
Could it be that his behavior in the last summons satisfied those noble people?
But Liu Yin joined the army back then because he wanted to make a big name in the world by relying on his own force.
For this reason, he did not hesitate to use many family connections to have the opportunity to become a member of the Liangzhou Army.
But who could have expected that in the past two years since he joined the army, he had not fought many tough battles and spent most of his time between the front line and Chengdu.
Thinking of this, Liu Yin couldn't help but feel like looking at the moon and hurting himself.
If I had known this, I would not have joined the army back then. Taking up the post under the arrangement of the family might have been a better choice.
Injured all the way, Liu Yin unknowingly drove his horse to the outside of Zhuge Liang's mansion.
Along the way, Liu Yin was stopped by soldiers patrolling at night.
But after the soldiers learned that Liu Yin was carrying the emperor's orders, they no longer dared to stop him.
After arriving at Zhuge Liang's residence, Liu Yin temporarily put away his sad thoughts, jumped off his horse, and then went straight to the door of Zhuge Liang's residence and reached out to take pictures.
In the silence of the night, Liu Yin's knock on the door seemed particularly loud.
This voice quickly attracted the attention of the concierge in Zhuge Liang's mansion.
The concierge looked through the crack in the door and saw an armored soldier tapping on the door. For some reason, he did not dare to open the door rashly.
The concierge just stretched out a basket through a doorway.
After seeing the basket that suddenly stretched out, Liu Yin understood instantly.
He put the tokens on his body that could prove his identity into the basket, and then shouted to the concierge inside through a door: "I am His Majesty's messenger. I have something to ask to see the Prime Minister!"
Liu Yin's self-reported identity did not make the concierge lower his guard.
After retrieving the basket that stuck out of the doorway, the porter took the token in the basket and hurried toward the side hall.
Zhuge Liang's mansion was not big. Soon after, the concierge came to the side hall and reported to Zhuge Liang the arrival of Liu Yin.
When he suddenly learned that Liu Bei had sent a messenger Baili to look for him, Zhuge Liang had a look of surprise on his face.
What is it that makes His Majesty so anxious?
Could it be that there are drastic changes on the front line?
Because of this speculation in his mind, Zhuge Liang quickly reviewed Liu Yin's tokens and confirmed that Liu Yin's identity was true, and then asked the concierge to bring Liu Yin to him.
After receiving Zhuge Liang's instructions, the porter left immediately.
Zhuge Liang didn't wait too long, and it didn't take long for Liu Yin to be brought to Zhuge Liang by the concierge.
Zhuge Liang may not know Liu Yin, but Liu Yin, as a child of a noble family, was lucky enough to meet Zhuge Liang from a distance.
After seeing Zhuge Liang, Liu Yin immediately knelt down on one knee towards Zhuge Liang, then took out Liu Bei's edict from his arms and handed it to Zhuge Liang and said:
"Prime Minister, your Majesty's edict is here!"
Zhuge Liang had already made some assumptions in his mind, but now he learned that what Liu Bei sent him was actually an edict, which made Zhuge Liang even more anxious.
Zhuge Liang quickly took the edict from Liu Yin's hand, opened it and read it quickly.
At this time, Jiang Wan also had a solemn look on his face.
Liu Bei's sudden and abnormal behavior made Jiang Wan realize that something was wrong.
Jiang Wan had been watching Zhuge Liang's face, hoping to get some useful information from Zhuge Liang's face after reading the contents of the edict.
But looking at it, Jiang Wan became even more puzzled.
Originally there was worry on Zhuge Liang's face, but after Zhuge Liang read the contents of the edict, Jiang Wan found that Zhuge Liang's face actually showed a bit of joy?
Zhuge Liang's concern and Jiang Wan's were understandable, but where did this joy come from?
After reading the contents of the edict, Zhuge Liang suppressed his inner joy and calmly asked Liu Yin to go down and rest.
After Liu Yin left the side hall, Zhuge Liang walked quickly to the Kansai map again and stared at the seemingly unbreakable Chencang City with wise eyes.
Compared to his regret just now, Zhuge Liang's eyes were full of joy at this time.
"It works! It works!"
Zhuge Liang, who was in an excited mood, repeated this sentence continuously.
After Jiang Wan saw Zhuge Liang's reaction, his confusion became even more intense.
In order to clear up the confusion, Jiang Wan stood up, knelt down behind Zhuge Liang and asked, "What makes Duke Ming so happy?"
After hearing Jiang Wan's inquiry, Zhuge Liang smiled and said to Jiang Wan: "Your Majesty wants to call me to the front line to assist the general in defeating the enemy."
After saying this, Zhuge Liang was worried that Jiang Wan, who had never been good at military strategy, could not understand the purpose of Liu Bei's arrangement, so he continued to explain:
"The general advised Your Majesty that our army does not need to attack Chencang, but can directly bypass Chencang and attack Chang'an.
If the general's plan is to be successful, your majesty must arrange for someone to guard Chen Cang's retreat.
The person chosen by Your Majesty and the General is me. "
At this point, Zhuge Liang's smile became a little bit brighter.
But unlike Zhuge Liang who was overjoyed, Jiang Wan was so shocked that he was speechless after listening to Liu Bei and Mi Yang's strategies.
He didn't know much about military strategy, but he also knew how risky it was for Mi Yang to do this.
General, you are so brave!
After a long time, Jiang Wan asked Zhuge Liang in an erratic tone: "Didn't Ming Gong dissuade your majesty and the general?"
The Northern Expedition was a national war, and since it was a national war, it was mostly about seeking stability.
In Jiang Wan's view, Mi Yang's strategy was still too risky after all.
Because of the worries in his heart, Jiang Wan couldn't help but say something even though he knew why Zhuge Liang was happy.
Jiang Wan's advice did not make Zhuge Liang change his mind.
In fact, in Liu Bei's edict, what he issued was not an edict directly asking Zhuge Liang to go to the front line.
In the edict, Liu Bei gave Zhuge Liang two choices.
If Mi Yang's strategy is feasible, Zhuge Liang will arrange government affairs as soon as possible and go to the front line.
If Zhuge Liang felt that Mi Yang's proposal was a little unconsidered, he would quickly write a letter explaining the pros and cons.
This is Liu Bei's last line of insurance.
No one in the world can predict the outcome of a war with 100% accuracy.
But a strategy approved by both Mi Yang and Zhuge Liang was worth Liu Bei's efforts.
As for what Zhuge Liang's choice is, we can see it from the word "feasible" he just said.
"There are three aspects of the movement of troops: one is heaven, two is earth, and the third is man.
According to the heavenly power, the sun and moon are clear and bright, the five stars are in conjunction, the comets are not harmful, and the atmosphere is harmonious;
As for the terrain, the city is steep with heavy cliffs, the waves are thousands of miles away, the stone gates are secluded, and the intestines are winding and fertile;
The leader of the people is the sages and the wise generals, the three armies are polite, the soldiers are responsible for their orders, and the food and armor are well prepared.
Due to the timing of heaven, the power of the place, and the benefit of people, those who are attacked will be invincible, and those who attack will be invincible.
I know these three trends, so why can't I go to Chencang? "
When he said these words, Zhuge Liang, who was magnificent in stature, had a powerful demeanor flowing around him.
That kind of magnanimity is called confidence.
Everyone in the world knows that Zhuge Liang is polite, virtuous and humble, but they don't know that Zhuge Liang is also an extremely confident person.
Without this strong self-confidence, how could Zhuge Liang come out to support Liu Bei, who was no longer as powerful as he was?
How could he dare to lead a state's army on several northern expeditions and face the most powerful Cao Wei in the world?
Even Zhuge Liang of Cao Wei in his heyday was not afraid, let alone Chencang City.
If Liu Bei and Mi Yang planned to let others guard their retreat, Zhuge Liang would, as Jiang Wan said, write a letter to persuade Liu Bei to give up his idea.
But now he is the one who has to defend Mi Yang's retreat, so Zhuge Liang will have no other choice.
After Jiang Wan listened to what Zhuge Liang said and felt the confidence released from Zhuge Liang, he immediately gave up the idea of continuing to dissuade him.
Such a beautiful person can be called Wolong!
Estimating the time, Mi Yang felt that the edict written by Liu Bei himself should have been sent to Chengdu.
After making this judgment in her heart, Mi Yang looked forward to Zhuge Liang's arrival soon.
On the other hand, he was constantly sending out scouts to spy on Wei Jun's every move.
On the second day after Mi Yang arrived at Shanggui, the Wei army was actually making arrangements to withdraw its troops.
When Cao Zhang was defeated in the street pavilion and the news of Mi Yang's arrival in Shanggui was learned by Cao Zhen, Cao Zhen suddenly made a more decisive decision.
Cao Zhen ordered Guo Huai to lead his army directly to withdraw from Shanggui City, and then join forces with him to retreat towards Chencang.
After Guo Huai led his army to withdraw from Shanggui City, Mi Yang immediately led his army to Shanggui City and sent Ma Chao as general to lead the troops to pursue the retreating Wei army.
It's just that although Ma Chao is extremely brave, Cao Zhen is not incompetent after all.
Under the command of Cao Zhen, the Wei army retreated in an orderly manner in batches and in alternating batches all the way towards Chencang City.
In addition, there were many dangerous mountain and forest terrains on the way of the Wei army's withdrawal, which made Ma Chao worried about an ambush and did not dare to pursue it quickly. Therefore, the pursuers sent by Mi Yang did not achieve any big results.
This was within Mi Yang's expectation.
Unless you are chasing broken troops, if you are chasing organized enemy troops, it will generally be difficult to achieve any major results.
Even if you are not careful, the chasing troops sent out will be ambushed by the enemy and severely damaged - such as the battle at the strange wooden doorway.
After learning that the pursuers could no longer achieve any big results, Mi Yang ordered to recall Ma Chao.
Although Mi Yang wanted to capture Chang'an City as soon as possible, Mi Yang was still waiting for the arrival of someone.
That person is Zhao Yun.
After receiving the good news from Zhao Yun a few days ago, Mi Yang ordered Xie Qian, who had shown his merit, to be the prefect of Anding, and asked Zhang Yi to lead thousands of troops to stay in Anding County.
Mi Yang's order to Zhang Yi and Xie Qian was to give them priority to stabilize the situation in Anding County.
On the premise of completing this point, they then sent people to contact the governors of the Hexi counties and tried their best to integrate the Hexi counties back into the territory of the Han Dynasty in a bloodless way.
Mi Yang found this request not difficult.
As early as the Hexi War hosted by Cao Zhen the year before last, the local separatist forces in Hexi suffered a devastating blow. This means that the counties in Hexi currently do not have strong local armed forces.
Under such circumstances, Zhang Yi and Xie Qian relied on the remaining power of Jieting's victory to regain the Hexi counties without any bloodshed. It should be a matter of course.
Even if there are people in Hexi counties who are still evil-minded, as long as Anding County is in the hands of the Han army, the situation in Hexi counties will not be in danger of corruption.
The reason why Mi Yang wanted to adopt a pacifying approach to stabilize the situation in the north of Liangzhou was that he wanted to summon Zhao Yun and tens of thousands of Han troops to return.
A tough battle is imminent, and it would be a complete waste to leave Zhao Yun and tens of thousands of Han troops in Hexi.
Under Mi Yang's urgent message, a few days after the Wei army withdrew from Shanggui, Han Zuo General Zhao Yun returned to the military camp outside Shanggui City with tens of thousands of Han troops and a large number of Wei army prisoners.
Many prisoners of the Wei army filed into the camp, causing quite a commotion in the Han army camp.
Even though some time had passed, the faces of tens of thousands of Wei soldiers still had a heavy look of defeat.
During the fighting, the homes in the rear were burned down. I am afraid that tens of thousands of Wei soldiers were captured, and they never wanted to experience this again.
The look of defeat on the faces of tens of thousands of Wei army prisoners invisibly boosted the morale of the Han army.
The frustration in the hearts of many Han soldiers because they could not capture the Wei army's camp for a long time was also wiped away.
The return of Zhao Yun's troops not only boosted the morale of the Han army, but also allowed Mi Yang to issue a military order for the entire army to withdraw camp and march eastward.
When Mi Yang gave the order to break camp and go to Chencang, the total number of Han troops outside Shanggui City had reached 100,000.
Originally, at the beginning of the Northern Expedition, the total strength of the Han army in the Northern Expedition was around 70,000.
Later, within about half a year, Zhuge Liang continued to send soldiers to the front line.
In addition, after the pacification of Liangzhou, many local wealthy and foreign tribes were afraid of the might of the Han army and chose to surrender to the Han army, which greatly increased the number of the Han army.
Mi Yang did not choose to lead his army to Chencang immediately some time ago. He mainly waited for the Han troops scattered across Liangzhou to gather one after another and reach Shanggui.
After several accumulations, it is a matter of course that the total strength of the Han army reached 100,000.
But a hundred thousand troops are all the troops that the big man can use his best to put on the Guanzhong battlefield.
As for how many troops the Wei army currently has in Guanzhong?
Excluding Chencang's defenders, the number of troops Cao Zhen can currently use is only about 50,000 at most.
So when he learned from the scouts that Mi Yang was heading towards Chencang with a hundred thousand troops, Cao Zhen, who had just retreated to Chencang, felt a little dizzy.
Since Zhang Wu, under Mi Yang's constant attack, limelight syndrome has almost become a hereditary disease in the Cao family.
After finally stopping his dizzy feeling, Cao Zhen sent people to Luoyang quickly to ask for reinforcements - regardless of whether Cao Rui could still mobilize reinforcements at the moment, he might send a little or a little.
On the other hand, when leaving Chencang City, Cao Zhen held the hand of his confidant General Hao Zhao with a sincere face and said:
"The safety of Chang'an rests entirely on Bo Dao's shoulders!"
Cao Zhen did not intend to defend Chencang personally. He had more important things to do - that is, to build a defense line behind Chencang City as soon as possible.
And Cao Zhen knew very well that how complete the defense he built depended on how much time Hao Zhao could buy him.
Facing Cao Zhen’s entrustment, Hao Zhao solemnly promised:
"As long as Zhao is around, Mi Yang will not be allowed to take a step beyond Chencang."
After listening to the promise that Hao Zhao made with his life and looking at the majestic defenses of Chencang City, Cao Zhen finally led his army to leave Chencang City with peace of mind.
Chencang Jiancheng is here. Even if Mi Yang is capable, can he fly over directly?
Cao Zhen never believed in this absurd judgment.
Who in the world would believe it?
