"General, Zhuge Liang has been in Chencang for more than a month. It stands to reason that the Shu army has been unable to sustain food and grass. Why are there no signs of retreat from the Shu army?" Taking advantage of today's opportunity, Yan Fei asked what he had been doing for many days. doubts. .
Cao Zhen shook his head slightly and said: "I don't know Zhuge Liang's true purpose. I guess he was unwilling to send troops this time in vain, so he held on and wanted to wait and see if there would be any change."
"Is that just that?" Yan Fei still said uneasily: "Then Zhuge Liang has always been full of cleverness. The reason why he has been leading his troops to stay under Chencang City is that he is brewing some big conspiracy? If that is the case, General , we need to be on guard early."
Cao Zhen smiled and said: "I have thought about this, but Zhuge Liang only brought 30,000 troops this time, and our army deployed nearly 20,000 troops in Chencang, Xicheng, and Wugong. It is more than enough to resist the 30,000 Shu army." of.
In addition, the three fortified cities are not far from each other and can communicate and support each other from east to west. Moreover, we have us as backup in Chang'an. The defense on the southern front is so complete that even if Zhuge Liang has any tricks, we can deal with them calmly. "
"The general's words are reasonable. It seems that the subordinates are worrying too much." Yan Fei smiled easily.
Cao Zhen nodded, but suddenly frowned and said, "Unless..."
"General, unless what?" Seeing his serious expression, Yan Fei's heart grew stronger after finally letting go.
Cao Zhen said slowly: "Unless Zhuge Liang increases his troops, the defense on the southern front will inevitably be overwhelmed, and we may fall into Zhuge Liang's trap."
Yan Fei became nervous again after hearing this, but before he could speak, Cao Zhen relaxed again and said with a chuckle: "But this is impossible, not to mention that the increase in Shu army's troops will cause problems to the transportation of grain and grass." What a huge pressure, even the mobilization of troops and horses cannot hide it from us, so Mr. Yanfu does not need to worry about it."
Yan Fei thought that this was also the case. If Zhuge Liang wanted to increase his troops, he could only mobilize troops from Hanzhong. However, since the beginning of the war, he had sent a large number of spies to Hanzhong and Baoxie Road and other northward routes. A large number of Shu troops were bound to go north. It can't be hidden from the eyes of his own sentry.
After thinking about this, Yan Fei finally relaxed and said with a smile: "The general is indeed a famous general of our Wei Dynasty. He has a clear grasp of Zhuge Liang's thoughts and situation. This time the Shu army will invade." It’s all in vain.”
"Mr. Yanfu is so complimentary. It will be much easier for our army to deal with it if we are on the defensive."
Cao Zhen waved his hand humbly, and then sighed: "Oh, I thought that my master, the King of Wei, was the elite of the upper country, but he was forced by the small country of Western Shu to shrink and defend. It is really shameful for those of us who went into battle to fight!"
"General, don't blame yourself. This year's decline is just caused by the two thieves of Shu and Wu. Wang Shi has to endure it for the time being. After repelling the invasion of the Shu army, we, the Wei Dynasty, can rest for a while. One day, after you calm down, you will definitely let the two thieves of Shu and Wu know what the wrath of thunder is."
Cao Zhen slapped the case and shouted: "Well said, Mr. Yan's words have spoken to someone's heart. When the country can take a breath, someone will definitely tell the emperor to send his army south and wipe out the Shu thieves in one fell swoop. This year, Zhuge Liang will let Zhuge Liang do it. , Sun Quan and the others may be proud for a while."
"The fact that the general has such patience and ambition is really a blessing to us, the Wei Dynasty." Yan Fei raised his thumb and praised.
"Haha, Mr. Yan Fu is overly praised." Cao Zhen touched the mustache on his lips and said modestly.
But before Cao Zhen and Yan Fei could feel at ease for two days, a sudden news came like a bolt from the blue, shocking them so much that they stayed in their seats in a daze and didn't say a word for a long time.
After a while, Cao Zhen was the first to come to his senses. He stared at the sergeant kneeling on one knee in the hall and asked, "What is the situation? How come there are tens of thousands of Shu troops in Anling?"
"Returning to the general, there are many situations that even the little ones don't know. As soon as the Shu army arrived at Anling City and took up their posture, my county magistrate Zhang immediately sent a few men to rush to Chang'an to report the news. The little man only saw outside the city. There is a large area of Shu army, and there are thousands of cavalry alone." The sergeant replied hurriedly.
When Cao Zhen heard this answer, he immediately became angry and cursed loudly: "Trash, they are all trash. Where did the thieves come from? Who is the leader? How many troops are there? Zhang Pei didn't know any of these things, so he dared to send them People come to retaliate, they are really incompetent!"
When the sergeant saw General Cao Zhen getting angry and swearing, he was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and trembled all over. He wanted to bury his lowered head in his neck.
"General, please temporarily calm down the thunderous anger. Although Zhang Pei handled the situation carelessly and failed to find out the enemy's situation, I still ask the general to remember his sincere heart in rushing to report, and just bypass him this time." Waiting for Cao Zhen. After the attack, Yan Fei cupped his hands to persuade him.
As the prefect of Jingzhao, Zhang Pei was his direct subordinate, and his political performance in the past three years was pretty good, so he had to speak out to save his life.
Cao Zhen sighed and said, "That's all, for the sake of Lord Yan, I won't argue with him this time." Then he asked the sergeant, "Did your county magistrate ask you to bring anything else?"
"Back to the general, my... my county magistrate asked the general to send troops to rescue quickly. He also said... he also asked the general and Mr. Yan to rest assured. He has repaid the thought of dying for his country and will definitely hold on until the last soldier."
Hearing that Zhang Pei was so determined to die, Cao Zhen's slightly ferocious expression finally softened a lot, and he waved his hand and said: "I know, you go back and tell Zhang Pei to hold on to the city. Reinforcements will be there soon."
"promise."
After the sergeant left, Yan Fei said to Cao Zhen: "General, do you want to beat the drum to gather the generals and call everyone to discuss who will lead the troops to rescue Anling?"
"Rescue An Ling? No, there is no need to save An Ling."
Yan Fei was surprised: "Why is this?"
"Although the strength of the Shu army has not yet been determined, there are at least several thousand men. The Anling army has few major generals. It is too late to save them at this time.
Besides, this Shu army came very strangely. Although I don’t know where it came from, the Shu army has taken such pains to hide it from us. It must be coming towards Chang’an. Therefore, it is better to stay still than to move at this time. First, guard Chang’an. Wait until the enemy's situation is known before making any calculations. "Cao Zhen explained.
Yan Fei nodded: "Great general, I understand, I understand." After a pause, he sighed: "Just like this, Anling..."
"Zhang Pei has no choice but to resign himself to fate." Cao Zhen also sighed: "Actually, it's not just Anling. Judging from the current situation, Maoling, Pingling, Changling and other mausoleums around Chang'an may not be able to be saved."
"Hey, where did this Shu army come from? Why didn't you hear any movement? Zhuge Liang's scouts were keeping an eye on him, and there were so many soldiers and horses deployed along the Weishui River. How could the Shu army suddenly appear? Around Chang'an?"
Yan Fei secretly said to Zhang Pei how lucky he was to save himself, and then focused on the origin of the Han army.
Cao Zhen didn't reply. At this moment, he was constantly checking the entire Guanzhong defense in his mind, trying to find out in which direction there was a loophole that allowed the Han army to quietly reach the vicinity of Chang'an.
However, even if he checked the defense deployment in the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest, he could not figure out the loopholes.
"Have the generals not arrived yet? Send someone to urge them and tell them that if there is any delay, military law will be engaged."
Cao Zhen racked his brains and couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. He decided to wait until the generals arrived before thinking about the matter together. Seeing that no one had come over yet, he immediately shouted to the officer in charge of notifying the generals.
The lieutenant in charge quickly stood up, said yes, walked out of the hall, and went to arrange the manpower.
A moment later, there was a rush of footsteps outside. Everyone thought it was a general arriving, but they didn't expect it to be a scout running in.
"Report to the general, the details of the Shu army have been found out clearly. The leader of this Shu army is Yang Qing, the governor of Yongzhou, a pseudo-Sichuan province."
Cao Zhen was shocked when he heard this. He stood up suddenly, his eyes widened, and murmured to himself: "It turned out to be Yang Qing!"
