Guanzhong, Chang'an, Yongzhou Governor's Office.
Zhuge Liang frowned as he faced the battle report in front of him.
To be honest, from the time of preparation for this Northern Expedition, there were too many things that were beyond Zhuge Liang's control. This feeling made Zhuge Liang feel very uncomfortable.
Although Zhuge Liang himself does not think so, in fact, Zhuge Liang is a perfectionist. The reason why he has to do many things himself is because he does not trust his subordinates to do things as he requires.
But now, Zhuge Liang discovered that even if he does it himself, there are always times when some things are out of his control.
Zhuge Liang certainly hopes that Cao Wei will remain on the defensive until he has made all preparations for the Northern Expedition. If he sends troops for the Northern Expedition, everything will go according to his plan.
However, Cao Wei actually launched the battle to regain Guanzhong in advance, and at the beginning of the battle, Guanzhong was caught off guard.
Both the timing and the strength of sending troops were beyond Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi's expectations. As a result, Zhuge Liang did not have time to transfer the Northern Army, Liangzhou Corps, and Yizhou Corps into Guanzhong. Guanzhong could only rely on Yongzhou County. Soldiers conduct on-site defense.
The development of the war gradually deviated from Zhuge Liang's expectations.
Zhuge Liang originally thought that Cao Wei's invasion should be based on the idea of breaking in on two fronts. Therefore, the conventional response was to block the two fronts to weaken the opponent's energy, and then use the sudden appearance of the Northern Army and the Liangzhou Corps to establish victory in one fell swoop.
But the battle reports sent back from the front showed that things seemed to be developing differently than he thought.
First, in the Youfufeng area, Guo Huai's attack was obviously weak, and Liu Yin was blocked from the fortress defense line by relying on only 15,000 old and new county soldiers.
Then came Zuo Fengyi. Cao Zhen's main army attacked slowly and procrastinated, and had no intention of regaining Guanzhong in one fell swoop.
Obviously, this is abnormal. Not only Zhang Xi thinks it is abnormal, but Zhuge Liang also thinks it is abnormal.
Out of caution and worry, Zhuge Liang had already ordered to Hanzhong at this time, asking Zhang Fei and Wang Ping, who had just led the troops to Hanzhong, to stop resting in Hanzhong and go directly north to enter Guanzhong from Baoxie Road. Quick help.
After doing this, Zhuge Liang still felt uneasy, and ordered the Northern Army led by Wu Yi to march eastward to Fufeng on the right as soon as possible. At the same time, he ordered Zhao Yun to immediately lead the Liangzhou Army into Xiaoguan to support Zhang Xi who was fighting at Fengyi on the left.
When Zhuge Liang had just finished making these arrangements, he received the battle report from You Fufeng.
The Wei army's 20,000 cavalry suddenly appeared on the Youfufeng battlefield, broke through the Youfufeng fortress group from the front, and quickly advanced in depth.
Liu Yin, the prefect of Youfufeng, was defeated and led the remaining troops to defend Huaili, leaving Jufu behind. Jufu's whereabouts were also unknown during the process of breaking off the rear, but he finally bought Liu Yin three days to deploy his defenses.
Subsequently, Guo Huai led nearly 20,000 Wuguan troops to besiege Huaili, but the 20,000 cavalry troops disappeared again.
With Zhuge Liang's intelligence and grasp of the battle situation, he knew almost without thinking that this cavalry regiment must have relied on its speed advantage to cross the right Fufeng and go to the left Fengyi to attack Zhang Xi's flank.
Zhuge Liang has not yet received the latest battle report from Zhang Xi on the situation, so he is naturally worried about this. If Zhang Xi is lured out of the city by Cao Zhen and takes the initiative to attack, then he is likely to encounter a flank attack of 20,000 cavalry in the field.
And in Zhang Xi's hands, even if all the available troops are included, there are only 30,000 men. How can he withstand the flank attack of 20,000 cavalry? !
As for You Fufeng, it is still unknown whether Liu Yin, who has just experienced a defeat, can hold Huaili and hold off Guo Huai's nearly 20,000 soldiers from attacking.
The most terrible thing is that there are only 5,000 defenders in Chang'an now. These 5,000 defenders are the last reserve force that Zhuge Liang can use, and they cannot be moved lightly.
The feeling that the situation was out of his control made Zhuge Liang very uncomfortable, but he had nothing to do.
At least, he really had no choice until the Northern Army led by Wu Yi arrived near Chang'an.
Zhang Xi cannot be defeated. If he is defeated, even if Zhao Yun leads the army into the pass, he may not be a match for the main force of Cao Zhen's army who has freed up his hands.
And Huaili cannot be lost. Once Huaili is lost, You Fufeng will completely lose hope of counterattack. There is no other option except to trap Chang'an.
Zhuge Liang was so anxious that he wandered around the room, racking his brains to think of ways to deal with the current situation.
After much deliberation, Zhuge Liang had no other option but to send out fast horses again to urge Wu Yi to speed up his march and support Huaili as soon as possible.
At this time, Jiang Wan thought about it again and again, and finally stood up and suggested, "Why don't the Prime Minister recruit the grain transport teams from those aristocratic families for the national use?!"
Jiang Wan's idea is actually nothing new. Everyone in this room knows the situation.
There are not only five thousand soldiers in Chang'an City, but also a hidden armed force - the food transport team smuggled by the aristocratic families.
You can say that this army is a mob, but in the current situation, the big man has no choice. At least in terms of combat power, these grain transport teams are more reliable than the civilians temporarily recruited to defend the city.
Those people are also people who lick blood from the edge of a knife, and they can still be of great help when fighting against the wind.
As for whether it is possible to fight against the wind, how will you know if it is not possible without trying? !
As the chief steward of Chang'an City, Jiang Wan certainly knew that such a team existed, and had recommended it to Zhuge Liang more than once, but Zhuge Liang was still unwilling to use this ragtag team.
This grain transport team has a lot of people, nearly 10,000 people in total, but the problem is that this grain transport team is controlled by various aristocratic families. Dealing with this group of aristocratic families, especially those who are now in a weak position At that time, do you dare to agree to the conditions proposed by those aristocratic families? !
Another thing is that Zhuge Liang doesn't trust those aristocratic families at all.
Although the total number of people in this grain transport team is 10,000, they are scattered among the hands of four or five different aristocratic families.
Not all aristocratic families work together, and there are indispensable intrigues among them.
Today's Chang'an is far from being exhausted and the enemy troops are approaching the city. Therefore, there is no need to worry about them uniting to rebel. Five thousand county soldiers are enough to deter them from rash action.
But if they are gathered together and handed over to someone's command, this will give them the opportunity to connect in series.
Those aristocratic families will not agree to hand over their private armies to the command of the court. They will definitely elect someone from their own family to lead this army. By that time, who knows whether they will do it. What kind of crazy thing happened? !
Although Zhuge Liang felt that he had 5,000 county soldiers in his hands, which was enough to suppress the mob of 10,000 people, but if a fight really broke out, his own losses would definitely not be small, and once there was civil strife, it would definitely affect the morale of the entire Chang'an garrison.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang really did not dare to use such an army as a last resort, and he did not dare to risk it.
And now, Zhuge Liang is not sure whether it has reached the time of "last resort".
Therefore, facing Jiang Wan's remonstrance this time, Zhuge Liang thought for a long time and really seriously considered whether to compromise with these Guanzhong aristocratic families.
In the end, Zhuge Liang shook his head and rejected Jiang Wan's advice, saying, "Let's wait for two more days and see if a letter from Yuan Chang arrives. If not, we will discuss it again."
It is said that it is a further discussion, but in fact, it means waiting for another two days. If there is still no good news, then Zhuge Liang will have to come forward in person to have a good talk with those Guanzhong aristocratic families.
Jiang Wan had no objection to this. If it weren't for the fact that he had no other choice and no one in his hands, Jiang Wan would not want to bow to those Guanzhong aristocratic families.
As the leader who assists Zhang Xi in handling Yongzhou's daily official affairs, Jiang Wan knows the virtues of these Guanzhong aristocratic families very well.
Let's put it this way, the originally submissive Guanzhong families have not only made a lot of money during the three years of grain smuggling, but their demands for the right to speak in Yongzhou are becoming more and more urgent day by day.
Now if the blame comes to them, it would be strange if these bastards don't speak loudly.
Jiang Wan actually knew all this, but now there was really no other way. At least he and Chen Zhi had discussed it privately for a long time. Apart from this method, it was really hard to think of any other way to find usable soldiers in a short period of time.
Therefore, both Jiang Wan and Chen Zhi felt that although there would be many consequences if they did so, if Guanzhong Chang'an could not be defended, the consequences would be even more serious than the consequences of these aristocratic families.
Compared with these aristocratic families, the land of Guanzhong is more important.
Fortunately, two days later, Zhuge Liang finally received the letter sent by Zhang Xi under Dali City. After reading the letter, Zhuge Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Since Zhang Xi had predicted Wei Jun's strategic intentions, based on Zhuge Liang's understanding of him, Zhang Xi would definitely not continue to confront Cao Zhen, and would at least withdraw to Chongquan.
At this time, Zhuge Liang notified Zhao Yun in advance, which came in handy.
As long as Zhang Xi stays put, defends Chongquan, and waits for Zhao Yun's support, then Zuo Fengyi's defense line is basically stable.
As for You Fufeng, the letter from Liu Yin, the governor of You Fufeng, has also been placed on Zhuge Liang's desk.
Liu Yin said that he would lead five thousand county soldiers and coexist with Huaili County.
Zhuge Liang felt the will to persevere, but the problem is that although defending the city relies on will, will is not enough to help you complete the task of defending the city.
A desperate defense without reinforcements is meaningless.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang must let Liu Yin and the soldiers see hope of holding on.
At this time, the Northern Army led by Wu Yi had just passed through Mei County and was still seven or eight days away from Huaili.
Zhuge Liang was not sure whether Liu Yin could hold out until the day when Wu Yi led his troops to help.
After much thought, Zhuge Liang finally decided to make an appointment with the Guanzhong aristocratic families in Chang'an City.
(End of chapter)
