Chang'an, Yongliang Governor's Mansion.
Cao Zhen was shocked and angry after receiving Sun Yun's urgent letter. He thought that his carefully arranged defense line was enough to deal with the Han army's invasion from the north and south of Guanzhong and to keep the enemy outside the border. Unexpectedly, it was still opened by the Han army. The breach penetrated into the hinterland.
Moreover, the problem did not lie with the main force of the Han army led by Zhuge Liang on the Chencang front line. Instead, it was the partial army led by Yang Qing from the north that deceived Dai Lingdong into the north, and Feng Yi aggressively attacked the city.
The Han army led by Yang Qing only had a few thousand men. Although they were all cavalry, they were too arrogant. They marched straight into an uninhabited country and did not take the Wei army in Guanzhong seriously. This was a great shame in Cao Zhen's eyes. , he made up his mind to annihilate Yang Qing and the others in order to relieve the hatred in his heart.
"General, thousands of Shu cavalry are raging against Feng Yi. Linjin City is in danger. General, please send troops to rescue quickly. Otherwise, if Feng Yi is defeated, I, Jingzhao, will suffer the next moment." In the conference hall, sitting at the bottom left Yan Fei, the prefect of Cao Wei Jingzhao, was the first to suggest.
Cao Zhen nodded and said: "Of course we have to send troops to rescue. If we don't wipe out Yang Qing and his gang of thieves, I will have no face to face the people in Guanzhong, let alone go back to the court to meet the emperor." After pondering for a moment, he looked around at everyone in the hall. , the general said: "Yan He, Bian Bao."
"exist."
Two middle-aged men stood up at the same time and agreed. One was the Wei general Yan He who was exchanged by Fei Yao from Xicheng, and the other was Cao Zhen's cavalry general Bian Bao.
"Order Yan He as the chief general and Bian Bao as the deputy general. You two will immediately lead 5,000 fine cavalry and 5,000 infantry to Feng Yi to reinforce Linjin and face Yang Qing." Cao Zhen ordered.
Yan and Bian quickly clasped their fists and accepted the order: "I will obey the general's military orders."
"General, as the lieutenant general of Feng Yi County, I have the responsibility to protect the territory and the people. I am also willing to lead my troops back to fight against the Shu thieves and ensure the safety of this county." At this time, the lieutenant general of Feng Yi County, who was sitting at the bottom, General Wu Gui stood up and asked for orders.
After hearing this, Cao Zhen thought for a moment and then said: "Well, you are the most familiar with Feng Yi's geography and customs among everyone here, so you can be a counselor to Yan He and the others."
"Thank you, General. I will definitely do my best," Wu Gui said gratefully when Cao Zhen agreed so readily.
Yan Fei said with some worry: "General, would it be too much to send out tens of thousands of people at once?"
"It doesn't matter, there are still thousands of elite soldiers in Chang'an to guard it. The top priority right now is to defeat Yang Qing and the Shu army, otherwise we will face even greater trouble when Feng Yi breaks through. After all, Feng Yi goes east to Sizhou. ah.
Furthermore, Yang Qing is good at using troops and has always been cunning and cunning. He is an extremely difficult figure to deal with in the Shu army. Now he has thousands of cavalry in his hands. If he doesn't send tens of thousands of troops, he may not be his opponent. .
If I had not been able to leave Chang'an, I would have wanted to lead the troops to meet him in person this time. If I could capture and kill this man, Zhuge Liang would have lost a powerful arm, which would be extremely helpful for me, the Wei Dynasty, to wipe out the Shu thieves in the future. advantageous. "Cao Zhen explained solemnly.
Yan Fei seemed to understand after hearing this, nodded and said: "I understand."
"General, your majesty has a message. Angels are waiting outside the gate of the mansion." Just as Cao Zhen was explaining a few words to Yan He and others, a middle-aged scribe trotted in and reported.
Cao Zhen did not answer immediately, but looked at Yan Fei first. After seeing the same guess in the other person's eyes, he said to the scribe: "Invite the angel in quickly."
"promise."
Outside the north gate of Chang'an, Cao Zhen watched the rescue army move towards Feng Yi, feeling quite uneasy in his heart.
Cao Rui was immediately furious when he learned that the Han army had penetrated into Feng Yi, and got very angry in front of Chen Qun and others. After all, Yang Qing's name had often been heard in his ears recently.
First, five thousand Bingzhou cavalry were lost to Yang Qing, causing Cao Wei's plan to rescue Liangzhou to fail before it even got underway. Now he led the cavalry deep into the hinterland of Guanzhong with a false shot. How could Cao Rui not be angry if Yang Qing was so rampant? ?
He immediately sent an envoy to order Cao Zhen to destroy Yang Qing and others and never allow the Han army to advance eastward to Hongnong and other places.
Cao Zhen certainly understood the considerations of his emperor. Although the Han army was raging in Guanzhong, it had not reached the core area of Wei State. Once the Han army entered Sizhou, Luoyang would be shaken. At that time, the people of the Central Plains would surely be aroused. The memory of the Han Dynasty, as a result, Wei's dominance over the Central Plains will be greatly reduced.
Therefore, Cao Rui would never allow this to happen, and strictly ordered Cao Zhen to quickly attack and eliminate Yang Qing.
Although the emperor's judgment coincided with his own, Cao Zhen was not very excited or happy, because since the emperor issued the imperial edict, it meant that he must complete the task. The pressure suddenly increased, and Cao Zhen began to murmur in his heart. .
"What are I worried about? There are more than 10,000 people in Yan He's group. Even if they can't wipe out all the Shu army, there is still no problem in driving the Shu army out of Feng Yi County. By then, it will be enough to report to the emperor."
Cao Zhen thought about it, his heart suddenly relaxed, a confident smile appeared on his face again, he greeted a few times cheerfully, and led everyone back to the city.
Under Chencang City, 30,000 Han troops were slowly preparing siege equipment, planning to launch today's attack soon.
After more than 20 days of attack, Chencang City still stood firm. During this period, although Zhuge Liang also used a variety of siege methods, Guo Huai was able to resolve them one by one with the help of geographical advantages.
In this case, Zhuge Liang simply slowed down the attack pace in the past few days, allowing the soldiers to launch a symbolic attack every day, and return to the camp to rest the rest of the time.
Although he made this arrangement with the purpose of showing the enemy weakness, it was ultimately a helpless move. Now there was not much food and grass in the army. If the Wei army could no longer find any loopholes, the Northern Expedition would only be based on attacking the city. It ended with the withdrawal to Hanzhong.
Fortunately, not long ago, Yang Qing and Wei Yan received good news one after another. One defeated Cao Wei's 5,000 cavalry, and the other successfully defeated Guzang. In this way, the recovery of Liangzhou is just around the corner. This Northern Expedition finally gained something, and did not waste food, grass and military supplies.
"Report to the Prime Minister, Yongzhou Governor Yang Shijun has sent an envoy with a letter." When Zhuge Liang was about to leave the camp to watch the battle, the chief secretary Hu Ji quickly came over to report.
Zhuge Liang said: "Oh? Bring people here quickly."
After reading Yang Qing's autographed letter, Zhuge Liang said happily: "Okay, Ming's plan is very clever. In this way, we can stay here for a little longer and see if there will be something beneficial to our army in the near future." fighter plane."
"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely true. Yang Shijun's plan is quite bold, but after thinking about it, I feel that it is indeed feasible." Hu Ji also read the letter and nodded.
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "This is Mingzhi's style. He has always liked to use clever tricks to defeat the enemy."
"Only a wise and courageous person like Yang Shijun can do such a dangerous thing. It is really a blessing for me to have this young hero in the court." Hu Ji praised.
Zhuge Liang said: "Well, Mingzhi is indeed a rare genius in our Han Dynasty, but you are also the pillars of the country. Restoring the Han Dynasty cannot be achieved by just one or two people. It requires the joint efforts of every citizen of the Han Dynasty."
"Yes, you should remember the Prime Minister's instructions." Hu Ji bowed down.
Zhuge Liang added: "By the way, when the siege is over, call the generals over to discuss matters. Mingzhi has opened up the situation in the north. We here also have to think about how to respond and cooperate with him."
"yes."
