The winter of the seventh year of Jianxing was really a warm winter, and as time came to January of the eighth year of Jianxing, it started to rain not only in Jingxiang, but also in the Central Plains.
This is a good thing for Sima Yi. He can finally breathe a little easier.
But this is not good news for the Northern Expeditionary Army.
Seeing that Luoyang City was close at hand, the Wei army did not have many troops to defend it. It was raining at this time, which was not good for the attackers.
Zhang Xi was somewhat anxious. According to the intelligence from the north, the counter-rebellion army led by Cao Zhen had begun to withdraw from Xiangping and returned to Yecheng. Calculated according to the regular marching route, it would take about two months. Cao Wei's Reinforcements are due to arrive.
Can Luoyang be captured in two months? !
Zhang Xi was a little anxious and walked around in the Chinese army tent.
But Zhuge Liang still had a calm expression on his face, sitting in the tent and playing the piano to amuse himself. Zhang Xi really couldn't stand it anymore.
"The Prime Minister is really not worried. It's difficult to leave Luoyang for a while?!" Zhang Xi couldn't help but asked.
Zhang Xi believed that he was an educated person and couldn't steal the piano, but he could still interrupt Zhuge Liang's thoughts and ask questions.
Zhuge Liang was not angry after Zhang Xi interrupted his interest in playing the piano. He just looked up at Zhang Xi, smiled like a fox, and then said, "Yuan Zhang, you know what a general is and what a handsome man is?" ?!”
These words sound familiar to you when you were showing off to Lu Zijing during the Battle of Red Cliff, right? !
What is "knowing the weather, understanding the geographical advantages, understanding yin and yang, and knowing the Eight Diagrams". Wait, the weather? !
Didn't this damn fish head guess a long time ago that it would rain in the Heluo area at this time? !
Seeing the understanding look on Zhang Xi's face, Zhuge Liang stopped talking and stood up directly and said, "In the land of Heluo, it is normal for it to rain in January. However, according to Liang's investigation, there are even rains in the Heluo area in January. It has never rained for more than ten days in twenty years. Could it be that Yuan Chang couldn’t even wait for these ten days?!"
Sure enough, this damn fish head likes to play such mysterious things. If you had known it, you would have said it earlier, otherwise it would have made others worry in vain.
As soon as Zhang Xi heard that Zhuge Liang had checked the weather data over the years, he was no longer anxious. He sat down in front of his desk and said angrily, "Even if I can wait for these ten days, I'm afraid that Sima Zhongda will Don’t give the Prime Minister a chance.”
Anyway, Zhang Xi thinks that if he were Sima Yi, he would be strengthening the defense of Luoyang while thinking of ways to mobilize troops from other places.
Even if it's cannon fodder, it's okay.
At this time, Zhuge Liang still looked calm and said, "This is what Liang is doing now!!!"
Then, Zhuge Liang began to tell Zhang Xi what he should do during this period.
In fact, it is very simple. Zhuge Liang plans to use this time to get in touch with the wealthy families in Luoyang City.
It does not require them to immediately start a rebellion and "welcome the king's army", but at least convince them that they cannot respond to Sima Yi's call and provide Sima Yi with cannon fodder to defend the city.
At first, the aristocratic families in Luoyang City were waiting for Zhang Xi to come to negotiate terms, but Zhang Xi made a fool of themselves, thinking that the Shu Han did not care about the attitude of these Heluo aristocratic families. They were somewhat frightened and changed their attitude. Now Zhuge Liang Now that I'm here, of course I have to find a way to win over these aristocratic families again.
At least it must be a neutral attitude. It is okay not to help the big man, but you cannot help Cao Wei.
Zhang Xi is very dissatisfied with this. Co-author What I wrote to you before were all in vain? !
If you don't seize the initiative now and seek support and help from those aristocratic families, are you really afraid that they will be in trouble if you turn around? !
Zhuge Liang was helpless about this.
"The shortcomings of an aristocratic family cannot be eliminated in a short time!" Zhuge Liang sighed first, and then gave his own explanation.
Zhuge Liang is also very aware of Zhang Xi's concerns, but Zhuge Liang does not agree with Zhang Xi's methods.
Nowadays, the world is undecided, and the two undecided areas are both places where there are many aristocratic families. If the aristocratic families in the world cannot be allowed to accept the Han Dynasty again, then the Han Dynasty will not have the so-called fifty years of Zhang Xi.
This attack on Luoyang, how to treat the large aristocratic families in the Central Plains, is a model for the world to set by the Han Dynasty. Forcing the aristocratic families too much will only make them fall more towards Cao Wei or Sun Wu, and bring unnecessary resistance to the peace of the world.
Zhuge Liang agrees with suppressing the aristocratic family, but suppressing the aristocratic family too much will cause the aristocratic family to become alienated from the Han Dynasty. This is not what Zhuge Liang wants to see.
A good balance must be mastered. This is Zhuge Liang's strategy for dealing with wealthy families.
As for the rest of the matter, once Luoyang is captured, it can be settled slowly through political means. There is no need to rush all these aristocratic families when the two armies go to war.
To be honest, Zhang Xi thinks that he is not as good as Zhuge Liang in terms of political talent.
Therefore, although Zhang Xi still disagreed with Zhuge Liang's words, Zhang Xi chose to acquiesce in Zhuge Liang's approach. When it comes to the way of governing the country, if you search in Chinese history, you will not be able to find more than one figure who is parallel to Zhuge Liang. hand.
Therefore, in the Heluo area where it was pouring rain, Zhang Xi could only wait patiently for the rain to stop, while Zhuge Liang was busy communicating with the wealthy families in Luoyang City to get them to change their attitude towards the big man.
In fact, Zhuge Liang's approach is what Sima Yi has the most trouble with now.
Insufficient troops, this is the biggest problem Sima Yi faces now.
To solve this problem, the first thing Sima Yi had to do was to win over the hearts of the aristocratic families in Luoyang City so that they could support the Wei Dynasty with peace of mind. Of course, it would be great if they could provide some private support.
Yes, these soldiers may not have strong combat effectiveness and don't know much about military formation coordination, but they are good if they can be used as cannon fodder to defend the city.
If we can get 10,000 more cannon fodders, we will be more certain that we can survive at least January, not to mention March.
It had been raining these past few days, so Sima Yi was not idle. He and Xin Pi went separate ways and visited almost all the prominent families in Luoyang City.
But, it didn't go well.
This group of aristocratic families in Luoyang City basically have the same attitude - if they want money and food, you can ask for it, but they want people.
We are all kind-hearted people who have inherited poems and books. There are only a dozen people in our family. If you, General Zhengxi, like anyone, just take him away. If the general is still not satisfied, even though the old man is sixty years old this year, he still has the heart to serve the Wei Dynasty.
But it made Sima Yi disgusted! ! !
All the acting skills are really superb. It seems that Sima Yi is a villain who comes to attract young men. He even doesn't let the 60-year-old man go. If Sima Yi hadn't come from a wealthy family, he might have believed it! ! !
Several big aristocratic families in Luoyang City expressed their views in this way. Some of the small and medium-sized aristocratic families were willing to provide private soldiers to help, but these troops were too few and Sima Yi did not dare to use them.
Why are the big aristocratic families just sitting on the sidelines, are you, the small and medium-sized aristocratic families, really so kind-hearted and only serving Da Wei? !
Don't think you've colluded with Zhuge Liang to control an area of the city wall and then let the Shu thieves enter the city! ! !
If you give it a try, you might be rich and prosperous. It's not like Sima Yi doesn't see this kind of thing very often.
In this way, Sima Yi's progress is really not smooth, and he is even under increasing pressure now.
And as the light rain continued for seven days, and then the rain stopped and the sun rose, Sima Yi's pressure became even greater.
The Shu thieves began to attack Luoyang again.
This time, it was not a symbolic use of arrows to suppress the city head, but a serious attack on the city with ladders, rams, hooks and ladders.
Of course, the walls of Luoyang City are high and thick, and Sima Yi only needs to focus on defending the south gate for the time being. His troops are not so strong that they can't cope with the attack, but they can still support it.
But the terrible thing is that during this attack by the Shu thieves, two counterweight catapults also appeared.
This kind of siege equipment has long been famous throughout the world with Zhang Xi's series of achievements.
It has a long range, great power, and accurate stone throwing. Even the bed crossbow cannot compete with it. It is a great weapon on the battlefield.
The shortcomings of this kind of weapon are also obvious. It is too bulky, difficult to manufacture, and difficult to move. It can only be made from local materials and cannot be carried with the army.
But now, the Shu thieves took advantage of the ten-day gap to build two catapults, posing an even greater threat to the city's defenders.
God knows how many such weapons the Shu thieves will be able to create if they continue to guard like this.
To defeat this catapult, there is no other way but to divide the troops and rush out of the city to burn the siege equipment. But what Sima Yi is most afraid of now is to divide his troops and attack.
He really doesn't have enough troops! ! !
(End of chapter)
