"Prime Minister, in fact, this is not to blame for Wei Zhonglang and the others. Guo Huai Shanglong must have made a last-minute decision and it was difficult to investigate in time." Yang Qing excused Wei Min.
In fact, Yang Qing didn't know that it was precisely because Guo Huai appeared in Longyou against common sense that he was originally forced to stick to Shanggui and became Cao Wei's nail in Longxi, paving the way for the failure of the first Northern Expedition. Hidden danger.
It's just that Yang Qing only remembered the original history and had no idea that Guo Huai would accidentally go to Longxi. Otherwise, he would definitely find a way to prevent this.
Zhuge Liang also knew that You Weifu had tried his best and it was impossible to know everything clearly, so he did not blame Wei Min and continued: "Well, Guo Huai's trip to Long was an accident and cannot be detected. Although he will treat me in Longxi The army caused trouble, but also took Ma Zun and other Tianshui officials away from Jicheng. Therefore, now is a good opportunity for our army to take Tianshui."
"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true." Yang Qing praised, then looked at Su Jing and asked: "County Magistrate Su, I heard that there is a man named Jiang Wei in Tianshui, who is versatile in both civil and military affairs and is good at military affairs. Is this true?"
Su Jing replied: "What the Lord said is that Jiang Wei is from Ji County and is only twenty-five or six years old this year.
His father, Jiang Juan, was once a meritorious officer in Tianshui County. When the Qiang and Rong rebelled, Jiang Juan stood up to defend the county guard, but unfortunately died. Therefore, Jiang Wei was awarded the title of Zhonglang, and later he was appointed to join the army in Tianshui County.
He studied Zheng's studies since he was a child, and he also knew Tao strategy. He was a young hero in this county and even in Longyou. "
Yang Qingdao: "I heard that this man has always cherished the Han Dynasty and is a loyal man."
"Ah, this...this is what I didn't know before."
Su Jing was secretly surprised. He didn't expect that Yang Qingyuan could know the talents of Longxi so clearly in Shu. It seemed that Shu Han was really well prepared for coming here, and it was wise to surrender to the Han.
Zhuge Liang wondered: "There is such a person? How did you know about it?"
"Qing also learned about it by accident." Yang Qing naturally would not reveal the real reason.
Zhuge Liang did not ask further questions and said: "Since these people are all devoted to the Han Dynasty, it seems that the officials and people in Longxi have been suffering from Wei for a long time. This time when the king comes, all places will definitely respond."
"Master Wen, listen to the order." Zhuge Liang sighed for a moment, waved Su Jing to retreat, stood up and gave the order.
Wei Yan stood up and responded: "The general will be here at the end."
"I order you to lead the front army of 20,000 men and march directly to Ji County and Shanggui. As long as these two cities are captured, the sky and the water will be level."
Wei Yan cupped his fists and said, "Take orders."
"Where is Guan Xing?"
"Where is the end?" Guan Xing stood up and responded.
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Anguo, I ordered you to lead five thousand troops to capture Guangwei County. This county only has four counties: Linwei, Qingshui, Lueyang, and Pingxiang. The army is small and there are few generals, so it will not be difficult to capture it."
"Prime Minister, don't worry, Xingding will fulfill its mission." Guan Xing replied excitedly. How could he not be happy that he finally had a battle to fight?
Zhuge Liang nodded again: "Where is Gao Xiang?"
"The end will be here."
"I order you to lead five thousand left troops to capture Nan'an County. There are only three counties in this county: Pidao, Xinxing, and Zhongtao. It is very easy to attack. Do not try to recover it quickly."
Gao Xiang nodded and responded, "Yes."
"Mingzhi."
Yang Qing replied: "The end will be here."
"I ordered you to lead an army of 5,000 to capture Longxi County. The governor of this county, You Chu, is generous, charitable, and virtuous. He has won the hearts of the people of Longxi County. He is a great talent. I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with him guarding Longxi. , you should be careful."
Yang Qing cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, don't worry. Qing will use both kindness and power to take over his territory."
"Okay." Zhuge Liang nodded: "The rest of the soldiers will follow me and sit in Lucheng and wait and see what happens next."
"promise."
Zhuge Liang's arrangements were made, and the generals led their troops to divide the counties and counties. Wei Min also ordered the roaming guards to be active in response to the army's movements.
Since the Han-Qiang War, the people in Longyou and Liangzhou have been repeatedly ravaged by wars for nearly decades. After the death of Emperor Ling, the world was in chaos. The heroes of Guan and Long rose up to separate the city and attack continuously, such as Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, Guo Si, Han Sui, Ma Teng, Song Jian, Yang Qiu and others.
On the one hand, these careerists create problems
Long's life was in ruins. On the one hand, local governance was actually in the hands of powerful people. The Central Plains court did not have strong control over Longyou Liangzhou.
What's more, due to the serious Qiang rebellion in Liangzhou, voices in the court of abandoning Liangzhou have appeared from time to time since the Later Han Dynasty. Therefore, the relationship between the Liangzhou scholars and the Guandong court has not been close.
However, Cao Wei usurped the Han Dynasty for only a few years, which was far less than the prestige of the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years. Many officials and people in Longxi had little loyalty to the Wei court.
Moreover, the military strength of the four counties in Longxi was now declining, and they were caught off guard by tens of thousands of Han troops. Seeing the Han soldiers with bright helmets, neatly arranged troops, flying flags, and solemn military discipline, all counties and counties either surrendered or raised troops. response.
Suddenly the army and people in Longxi were in chaos and everyone was in danger. However, the Han army was making good progress and was likely to sweep the entire Longxi.
Luomen is to the west of Ji County and is the last stop for Guo Huai's case in Tianshui. At this time, he had received an urgent report that Zhuge Liang was leading his army out of Qishan and into Longxi, so he immediately summoned his subordinates for discussion.
Guo Huai said: "Both I and General Xiahou were deceived by Zhuge Liang. The main force of the Shu army came to Longxi. This was a long-planned and evil person!"
He sighed and said to himself: "I'm really afraid of what will happen. I was vaguely worried that the real target of the Shu army was Longxi. I didn't expect that Zhuge Liang would actually come to Longxi. I saw the main force of the Shu army in Xicheng before, and I thought that I I worried too much, I didn’t expect... Alas, Longxi is in danger now."
"Your Majesty, now Zhuge Liang has taken control of the West County and is attacking from multiple directions. Many officials and people in each county have raised troops to respond. The situation is extremely critical. Please tell me how to deal with it." Ma Zun, the prefect of Tianshui, said. This time Guo Huai's case went to Tianshui, and he, the prefect of Tianshui, had to accompany him.
Guo Huai pondered for a moment and said, "I will immediately drive my horse to Shanggui and hold on. As long as we can keep Shanggui intact, we will still have hope. When the imperial reinforcements arrive, Zhuge Liang will be defeated under internal and external attacks."
Shanggui is not only an important town in Tianshui, but also an important town in Longxi. This place is rich in wheat, and Wei's Longyou defenders rely heavily on this place for their food supply. Therefore, Guo Huai will never allow this place to fall, and he will defend it himself.
If Cao Wei's reinforcements want to go to Long, there are two main roads, one is the Longshan Road in the north, and the other is the Chencang Wei Waterway in the south. The exit of the Chencang Wei Waterway in Longxi is Shanggui, so Guo Huai must ensure that this place is in the In one's own hands.
Ma Zun also knew how important Shang Gui was to the entire war situation, so he nodded and said, "The commander is really well versed in military affairs, and he suddenly found a way to break the situation. I just don't know how I should respond?"
"As the prefect of Tianshui, you should return to Ji County to defend the city." Guo Huai glanced at him and replied.
Ma Zun was stunned when he heard this, then he raised his hands and said, "What you said is absolutely correct."
In fact, he didn't want to go back to Jicheng in his heart, but Guo Huai reminded him in his words that he had the responsibility to protect the land, so he had to reluctantly agree.
When Ma Zun returned to his residence, he was still in a state of confusion. He summoned his confidants and whispered: "Now Shu general Wei Yan is about to lead his troops to kill Jicheng. It is found that he has no less than 10,000 troops, and there are only 10,000 soldiers under his command. How can we fight against two thousand soldiers and horses?
In addition, several counties have raised troops to respond to the Shu army in the past two days. Most of the rebels were natives of Longxi. This shows that there are many officials in Longxi who intend to rebel. If someone returns to Jicheng and holds on, how can he know that he will not be betrayed by these local county officials? "
The people on the left and right asked, "What do you mean, Mr. Fu?"
Ma Zundao said: "I don't want to go to Jicheng, but go to Shanggui with Guo Shijun. Only in this way can I be saved."
"But as the prefect of Tianshui, how can you abandon the rule of the county? If the court blames you in the future, I'm afraid the blame will be quite big."
Ma Zundao said: "I can't care anymore at this time. Besides, Shanggui is also a county under Tianshui. If someone goes to Shanggui and refuses to defend it, he is fulfilling the responsibility of guarding the territory. Who said that guarding the territory must be in the county?"
After hearing what he said, I stopped trying to persuade him and said, "Wherever you go, I'll go there."
Now that he had an idea, Ma Zun didn't waste any time and hurriedly found Guo Huai and said that he would go to Shanggui with him. Guo Huai did not object after hearing the reason. He rushed down to Shanggui, leaving only the five or six Tianshui County officials accompanying him in silence.
