After all, Zhuge Qian had some sense of moral integrity, and finally held back and did not write a reply to Zhuge Liang.
It is understandable that Zhuge Liang wrote to himself to express his feelings for the same clan. After all, family was the most important thing in this era, and there was only one family with the surname Zhuge. There was no other semicolon, so a letter was not out of the ordinary.
But after all, the two of them were in enemy countries, so the matter could only end here.
If we have a chance to meet in the future, we can bring up this matter to reminisce. If we don't have a chance to meet, this matter will be dropped.
But once Zhuge Qian took the initiative to write a reply to Zhuge Liang, the nature of the letter was different. Zhuge Qian was somewhat suspected of having connections with foreign countries.
Out of the requirements for his own integrity, Zhuge Qian finally gave up this year. However, Zhuge Qian still solemnly kept the letter.
If there really comes a day in the future when we can't defeat someone, then if we take out this letter and don't complain about being treated favorably, at least there will be no problem in saving our lives.
Zhuge Qian is not stubborn. When faced with such an unknown boss, he has to think about his retreat.
As for the defense of Chencang Road, Zhuge Qian was not derelict in his duties. He was still doing his best. At least he would send scouts out every day to inspect the enemy forces in the direction of Chencang Road.
There is a saying that Zhuge Qian has been very conscientious in his duties, but who made Xia Houmao the leader of Chen Cangdao? ! !
No matter how conscientious Zhuge Qian is, he is only a deputy general and there is no problem in arranging daily defense inspections. However, whether his soldiers will follow them and to what extent they can implement them is not something Zhuge Qian can decide.
Some low-level scouts Zhuge Qian still have the right to reward and punish, but for some middle-level generals, Zhuge Qian does not have this right and needs to report it to the chief general Xiahou Mao.
Xiahou Mao, on the other hand, did not believe that the Shu army would take the Chencang Road.
In Xia Houmao's opinion, it had been almost a month since the Shu army sent troops for the Northern Expedition. They took the Baoxie Road, and now they have left Wuzhangyuan to confront Guo Huai.
The fighting in Wuzhangyuan was so lively, so Xiahou Mao naturally learned some information through military reports, such as Liu Bei's personal expedition, and Zhang Fei and other famous generals and advisers were all in Wuzhangyuan. How could the Shu army still have the energy to send troops to attack Chencang Road? !
Therefore, Xia Houmao felt that as long as Sanguan behind him was not lost, Chencang Road would be safe.
And if Sanguan is lost, there is no point in continuing to hold on to Chencang Road. It would be better to withdraw the troops and retreat directly into Guanzhong.
Therefore, Xia Houmao had no intention of sticking to Chencang.
And the generals all look lazy, thinking of retreating to Guanzhong if it doesn't work out. Can you expect the soldiers below to pick up their spirits and carry out daily patrol requirements seriously? !
In addition, for nearly a year, Liu Ba has been consciously wooing the defenders who corrupted Chencang Road.
Although Liu Ba's original intention was to facilitate official smuggling, he did not expect that it would now become a favorable condition for attacking Chencang Road.
Although Zhuge Qian sent out scouts to investigate Chencang Road on a daily basis, due to the cross-influence of various circumstances, Chencang Road's scouts could only investigate an area of twenty miles outside Chencang City, and the closest one was only five miles away. Wander around for a while, then find a place to hide and make money.
This resulted in Wei Yan clearly leading the army thirty miles outside Chencang City, but still found no trace of any Wei army sentry.
This made Wei Yan feel very unreasonable.
Now the Han and Wei families have set up their battle formations and are fighting. Every one of these places on Qishan Road is a war zone. Why is the security of Chencang City so loose? There are no Wei army scouts thirty miles away from the city? !
Wei Yan really didn't understand, but Wei Yan had Wei Yan's own combat rhythm and would not be easily disturbed by external factors.
Wei Yan is not Zhang Xi. When encountering such an abnormal situation, he will stop and think. What does Wei Yan want to do if he is timid? With me as the main priority, he can just rush through it.
Of course, Wei Yan's actions do not mean that Wei Yan is just a reckless man.
In fact, before sending troops to Chencang Road this time, Wei Yan had already done a lot of thinking and preparation work. Wei Yan had his own ideas on how to attack Chencang Road.
Wei Yan's combat mission this time was to quickly capture Chencang Road and then sneak attack Mei County. Therefore, the speed of the advance was very critical.
The Chencang Road itself is a mountain road in the endless Qishan Mountains, and it is very rugged and difficult to navigate.
If a 20,000-strong army wants to pass through such a mountain road, it will inevitably take a long snake formation, so it will inevitably drag the marching team very long.
This kind of march cannot be hidden from the eyes of Cao Weijun's scouts. For Wei Yan, it doesn't matter whether there are Wei Jun scouts patrolling or not. He will not stop and be on guard just because there are scouts patrolling, nor will he become suspicious just because there are no scouts patrolling. .
Regardless of whether there are scouts or not, Wei Yan will not disrupt his marching rhythm. His purpose is to march quickly and reach Chencang City as soon as possible without giving Chencang City guard Xiahou Mao too much preparation time.
It was even said that Wei Yan was eager for Wei Jun scouts to discover his whereabouts.
In order to march quickly and attract the Wei army to take the initiative, Wei Yan divided the 20,000-strong army into two sections during the raid on Chencang.
The leading troops were 7,000 infantry led by Wei Yan himself, and the following troops were more than 13,000 infantry led by Wu Ban.
On the one hand, Wei Yan's purpose was to seize time to march into Chencang City and put pressure on Xia Houmao, the defender of Chencang City. On the other hand, he also deliberately alerted the Wei army and lured the Wei army out of the city to set up an ambush.
According to intelligence, there are about 5,000 Wei troops in Chencang City. It is not impossible to leave the city for field battles and leave 2,000 troops to defend the city. With 3,000 troops setting up an ambush outside the city, it is not impossible to ambush the front troops led by Wei Yan.
Once the Wei army leaves the city and sets up an ambush, the 7,000-man vanguard force led by Wei Yan is at risk of falling into the encirclement, but these troops are enough to sustain Wei Yan for a period of time. As long as they can support Wu Ban and his rear troops, Wei Yan can cooperate with Wu Ban. , attack from the front and back, and eat the Wei army that set up an ambush out of the city, making it easier to attack the city next.
This is Wei Yan's little tactic.
But the problem is that Old Man Wei didn't find any trace of Wei Jun's scouts at all while marching. Even when they were less than twenty miles away from Chencang City, Wei Jun didn't seem to notice anything.
Now Wei Yan could no longer march.
Twenty miles is only half a day's march, which means that if you have a good rest tonight, if you set off early the next day, you can arrive at Chencang City in the afternoon.
What Wei Yan now has to consider is not how to march and deal with the enemy's scouts, but how to attack the city.
Wei Yan stopped his army to rest and allow his soldiers to regain their strength. At the same time, he sent his own scouts to investigate the situation in Chencang City, collect specific intelligence, and prepare to attack the city.
The main point of marching to Chencang Road this time, Fazheng repeatedly told Wei Yan, is to be quick. For Chencang Road, it would be best if it can be conquered in one go. You must not stagnate under Chencang City for too long. It is best. No more than fifteen days.
This is Fazheng's estimate that it took the longest time for Cao Zhen to adjust and react after receiving the news from Chen Cangdao to Chang'an.
Although Wei Yan also knew that Xia Houmao, the guard of Chencangdao, was a guy who relied on nepotism to get to the position, at this time, Wei Yan was not as arrogant as he would be in the future, and no one except Zhuge Liang took him seriously.
Although Wei Yan still felt that Xiahou Mao didn't have much ability, it was still somewhat stressful to capture a key city that was easy to defend and difficult to attack in fifteen days.
Although Chencang is a small city, the city walls are not high, only ordinary walls five feet high. However, it is said that Cao Zhen spent great efforts to reinforce and build these walls, so they are very strong.
This is just one point. The most important point is that Chencang City is located on Chencang Road. There is no large open space in front of the city for the army to gather. Only 3,000 to 5,000 troops can be invested in an attack. If there are more troops, it will not be able to move away. .
This is also the reason why Cao Zhen dared to arrange only five thousand defenders on Chencang Road - the numerical advantage has no meaning in front of Chencang City.
Fazheng also required Wei Yan to win quickly, so Wei Yan did not have that much time to cut down wood and make large siege equipment step by step, and could only rely on simple and easy-to-make hooks and ladders to siege the city.
Faced with such a strong small city and so many unfavorable factors for an attack, if he wanted to capture the city within fifteen days and open up the passage from Chencang Road into Guanzhong, Wei Yan felt that there was really no other alternative but to use human lives to pile up. Good idea.
This is not because Wei Yan is cruel, but because the world is like this, kindness does not lead the army. Wei Yan, a civilian general who rose from the bottom step by step, actually understands better than anyone else.
If there is a choice, Wei Yan still sacrifices his life, then Wei Yan is cruel and unkind. But now he has no choice.
Such a narrow terrain, such an unfavorable offensive situation, and such a tight attack time requirement. That Fa Zheng actually said "wait for the enemy to change and wait for the opportunity to take action"? !
Even if Xia Houmao was really a fool, how could he not defend himself or "change" when faced with such a favorable situation? !
This is the reason why Wei Yan doesn't want to see Fa Zheng. These counselors always talk in a nonchalant way, and what they say is not clear or realistic at all.
In this regard, although Wei Yan was also very dissatisfied with the cowardly Zhang Xi, one thing is that the main reason why Wei Yan looked down on Zhang Xi was that in Wei Yan's view, Zhang Xi was too timid and cautious, and lacked the style of a general. At least Wei Yan When partnering with Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi will clearly tell Wei Yan why I don't do this, or what you can't do.
On the contrary, both Fazheng and Zhuge Liang like to speak only half of their words. It seems that only in this way can they show their intelligence. Wei Yan is not the kind of fool who only knows how to execute military orders, so Wei Yan hates this very much. Way of speaking.
Take Wei Yan himself as an example. Wei Yan had his own judgment on the enemy's situation. When he was on the front line, he would make adjustments to his attack based on his own thoughts. But if there was always a trap on his head, and this trap was still artificial, it wouldn't matter. It's clear and confusing. When Wei Yan starts doing things, he will feel constrained and unable to fully utilize his abilities.
Just like now, Wei Yan was thinking hard about how to attack the city, what preparations he had to make to attack the city, and how to attack Chencang City with great difficulty and catch the enemy by surprise. However, Fazheng asked Wei Yan to lead his troops to Chencang City and wait first. Wait, but did not tell Wei Yan the specific reason, only saying "there has been a change".
"There has been a change." You big-headed devil, with this fortified city in hand and so many favorable factors, is it possible that Xia Houmao can escape without a fight? !
(End of chapter)
