Regarding the matter of releasing Wen Qin, Zhang Xi only considered it on the basis of saving trouble, and really didn't think too much about it.
But Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong obviously don't think so simply - these two are thieves and evil people.
Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong agreed to release Wen Qin, and the time was not chosen after the entire Northern Expedition was over, but immediately, which also had their own intentions.
The two wanted to release Wen Qin and let Wen Qin report to Guo Huai that Wuzhangyuan had been lost and that the Han army would soon arrive, so as to weaken the morale of the Wei army.
Wen Qin was left behind by Guo Huai, and he was executing the military order of a narrow escape. In this case, Guo Huai had expected Wen Qin to be captured or died in battle, but Guo Huai would not have expected Wen Qin to return safely. How much to expect.
Therefore, Guo Huai will definitely cross-examine Wen Qin, and in order to ensure openness and clear Wen Qin's suspicion, Guo Huai will definitely not choose to interrogate privately, but will definitely interrogate in public.
After all, Guo Huai felt guilty for letting Wen Qin perform such a near-death mission. Now that Wen Qin has returned, Guo Huai must protect Wen Qin and not let Wen Qin suffer unjust injustice and be misunderstood as a traitor. The fine work of the army.
In terms of the conduct of civil servants and generals in this era, it is obviously impossible for Wen Qin to say such shameless words as "Liu Bei wants to marry his daughter to me" after returning to the Wei army camp. He must be telling the truth. As long as Wen Qin tells the truth, Then the thing is done.
Guo Huai wants to interrogate Wen Qin publicly, and the qualified generals must attend. Once these generals know that the Han army can reach Mei County in only two days, even if Guo Huai orders silence on the spot, the news will still spread. To the soldiers.
Which general does not have personal bodyguards, and which personal bodyguards do not have relatives, friends, and fellow countrymen? !
Two days were enough for the news to spread throughout the Wei army.
At that time, with enemy troops blocking the way in front and pursuing troops approaching behind, who would still want to fight? !
This was the intention of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong. They used scheming to undermine the morale of the Wei army and force the Wei army to lose morale. When the Han army really caught up, the Wei army would probably disperse in a hurry.
As for Guo Huai. Guo Huai is really not a brainless general. He is also famous for his wisdom and courage.
But no matter what, this was set up by Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, two geniuses of the world. Guo Huai really didn't have the ability to see through it at a glance.
After all, Guo Huai, while happy about Wen Qin's sudden return, would inevitably have doubts. After learning that Wen Qin was voluntarily released by the Shu army, he would definitely have to question him in detail, and he would definitely ask all the generals in the army. Listening together.
Unless Guo Huai is really shameless and accuses Wen Qin of "collaborating with the enemy and treason", and directly kills Wen Qin without listening to any explanation from Wen Qin.
But obviously, Guo Huai's character really cannot do this.
Therefore, when Guo Huai inquired and learned that after the Shu army broke through Wuzhangyuan, Zhang Fei immediately led an army of 10,000 as the vanguard, and Liu Bei personally came with an army of 20,000 as the rear, and rushed towards Mei County with all his strength. Guo Huai knew that he had fallen into a trap. , but by the time he reacted, it was already too late.
Just as Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong expected, Guo Huai had no other option except to silence the generals who participated in the investigation of Wen Qin.
Similarly, Guo Huai is also a general who is experienced in battles. He knows that his order will only slow down the spread of the news in the army. Sooner or later, the soldiers will know about it.
Under the current circumstances, if you urge the soldiers to attack Mei County, no one will have the desire to attack.
Therefore, on the seventh day of the siege of Mei County, Wei Yan finally had a chance to breathe.
To be honest, Wei Yan really didn't expect that he had more than 11,000 people guarding a city and faced a siege by 50,000 local people. He actually suffered a large number of battle losses in less than ten days.
Of the 11,000 soldiers, only more than 7,000 are left to hold on. Wang Ping's thousand Wudang Feijun now only has more than 600 left. This number is basically equivalent to the loss of the Wudang Feijun. increased combat effectiveness.
The most terrible thing is that the defensive equipment in the city is seriously in short supply. If the fight continues like this, Wei Yan will really have to demolish houses to use as defensive equipment. At that time, Wei Yan really can't guarantee that those in the city will What kind of thoughts does the aristocratic family have?
After all, in this day and age, the houses that can be demolished to be used as city defense equipment all belong to aristocratic families. Even if you demolish all the houses of ordinary people, you won't be able to find a few pieces of wood.
And when the defenders need to demolish private houses to defend the city, it means that the defenders have reached the end of their efforts and the city may fall at any time.
At that time, with the virtuous behavior of the aristocratic family, someone might want to privately join forces with the Wei army, open the city gates, and perform the act of "eating a pot of slurry to welcome the king's army."
In other words, Wei Yan is indeed a little anxious now. If he continues to fight like this, within three days, he may really risk offending the Mei County family and demolish the houses to defend the city.
But on the seventh day, the Wei army did not launch an attack? !
This is a bit unreasonable.
Although Wei Jun may not necessarily know what is going on in Mei County, he can still see the basic situation clearly.
The current Wei Yan has learned from Guo Huai's prowess. It is impossible for such a general to not see clearly the current predicament of Mei County, nor to understand the principle of working hard in one go.
So, what is this Guo Huai doing? !
Wei Yan was not an easy man. Once he discovered something strange about Guo Huai, he began to analyze the current situation. There were only two reasons that could make Guo Huai give up the siege.
One, Guo Huai wanted to use a trick. He wanted to create an illusion that the main force of the Han army was approaching and he had no intention of attacking the city. He wanted to deceive himself into taking the initiative to go out of the city to attack, so as to kill his own effective forces in the field and achieve the purpose of weakening the defenders of Mei County.
Second, the main force of the Han army is really about to arrive in Mei County.
Wei Yan suddenly became excited when he thought of the latter possibility.
This is very possible.
Guo Huai's army has been in Mei County for seven days. Even if His Majesty's army encounters some obstacles at Wuzhangyuan, it will not stay for long after all. Calculating the time, it should be here.
As soon as the main force of the Han Dynasty arrives, the Wei army will face a situation of flanking attacks from both front and rear.
Under such circumstances, the morale of the Wei army will inevitably be in chaos, and the army will have no fighting spirit. No matter how strong the quality of the Wei army's soldiers is and how high their combat effectiveness is, their defeat is certain.
Changing places, Wei Yan felt that from Guo Huai's perspective, he would basically consider retreating the army.
Wei Yan has never been a peaceful leader. When he judged that the Wei army was likely to withdraw its troops, he had already begun to wonder whether he should take advantage of the Wei army's withdrawal to launch some harassing attacks against the Wei army to delay the Wei army's withdrawal. The speed gave the main force of the Han army an opportunity to defeat them in one fell swoop.
To be honest, Wei Yan really wanted to do this. After all, his temper was like this. If there was such a good opportunity, then Wei Yan would really dare to gamble.
But Wei Yan dared to bet, but Wang Ping and Wu Ban didn't dare to bet.
Now that we have not received any intelligence, and there are no military scouts or secret envoys coming from His Majesty's side, how can we be sure that the strange behavior of the Wei army outside the city is really because His Majesty led the troops here? !
What if this is Guo Huai's plan? !
Maybe Guo Huai wants to take advantage of our wrong judgment to lure us out of the city, and then set up an ambush to ambush us? !
Therefore, Wang Ping and Wu Ban really urged Wei Yan not to act recklessly.
It is a great achievement that we can hold Mei County.
On the contrary, if Mei County is lost due to a rash attack, then we have destroyed the entire strategic plan and are guilty of a serious crime.
In a word - let's not fuss.
If we put this aside, Wei Yan's temper means that even if he knows something is wrong, he will stick to it. Even the more people object, the more he will stick to it.
But now, Wei Yan has changed somewhat.
Not that there have been many changes in his personality. Today, Wei Yan still lacks emotional intelligence, is not very good at life, and his relationship with his colleagues is not very good.
But when Wei Yan gets along with the people he likes, he has somewhat changed.
For example, Wang Ping and Wu Ban are rare people who Wei Yan feels he can communicate with.
But when these two people opposed his plan, Wei Yan had a rare moment of reflection.
Does what these two people say make sense? !
It makes sense.
In fact, Wei Yan had already thought of the possibility that Guo Huai designed to seduce him. However, compared with the possibility of His Majesty leading the army to approach Mei County, in Wei Yan's opinion, this possibility was not big.
So, is it possible that it is a fact that His Majesty led troops to approach Mei County, and that Guo Huai designed to lure him out of the city to fight? !
This is a little hard to say.
In the past, Wei Yan would not have considered this. After all, in Wei Yan's view, Guo Huai should be anxious to think about withdrawing his troops in this way. It is unlikely that he could think so calmly and come up with such a strategy in such an urgent situation.
But in Wei Yan's knowledge, there is a person who might really do this. After all, this person can think of all kinds of harmful and strange tricks in order to achieve his goal.
When Guo Huai was at the gate of Hebei County, he was stunned by that guy who gave him women's clothes and built a city with ice.
What if this kid Guo Huai learned bad things from following that guy? !
In fact, if Guo Huai really took advantage of the correct information and his eagerness to defeat the enemy and make meritorious deeds, it would not be impossible to create a time lag to lure him out of the city to fight, and then seize Mei County in one battle.
Even Wei Yan had even thought out the details for Guo Huai. He could find someone to suddenly appear from the southwest under the banner of General Zhang Fei, making him mistakenly think that the army had arrived, and then go out of the city to fight.
As long as Guo Huai can retake Mei County and have enough food and grass supplies, he will have the initiative whether he withdraws his troops calmly or sticks to his original position.
At that time, the entire war situation completely collapsed, and all the achievements made in the early stages of the Northern Expedition were lost.
This possibility is still very dangerous and must be guarded against.
(End of chapter)
