Chapter 594 Each has his own income

  Feng Yong finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the Cao army in Sixian County had begun to send out sentries to clean up the surrounding ten miles.

   Judging from this, Zhang He should be planning to attack Longguan.

   "Send down the order to tell the Dark Night Camp to be more careful. Just watch from a distance and know the whereabouts of Cao's army. Don't get too close."

   Zhang He is indeed very good at running the army. During this period of time, the people in the Dark Night Camp lost a lot of manpower in order to spy on the news, which made Feng Yong feel distressed.

   Now that the army is coming to Longguan, it means that the matter has become clear, as long as you hurry up and prepare the defense equipment, and wait for the opponent to attack the city.

   From Si County to Longguan, there are two hundred miles. Although it is a road that can be driven, it is also a mountain road, surrounded by dense forests.

  Cao Jun walked very carefully, for fear of any ambush, sentries sent out everywhere, and he would continue to advance only if there was no ambush ahead.

  Although this made it impossible for the people in the Dark Night Camp to detect the situation, it also slowed down their marching speed. For two consecutive days, they only walked thirty or forty miles a day before they had to stop and set up camp.

  When Feng Yong heard the news, he became more and more sure that Zhang Yun planned to concentrate his forces to attack Longguan.

  Because he came from a long distance, he first rested in Qian County, and then came up at this speed, in order to preserve the soldiers' physical strength as much as possible, and at the same time, the luggage can keep up.

  Otherwise, even if he can lead the cavalry to pass the city in one day, what can he use to attack the city?

  Different from Zhang Yun's steady and steady fight, Wei Zhen of Wudu led 20,000 people, and rushed straight to Xiabian, as fast as the wind.

  Wudu is located in the remnants of the Qinling Mountains, and there are many mountains and ridges, but among these mountains, there is an ancient plank road called Jialing Road.

  There is water coming from the north, passing through Jialing Road, and pouring into the water of the Western Han Dynasty.

  The remaining veins of the Qinling Mountains surround this water, forming a basin, which is a rare fertile plain in Wudu County. Hechi and Xiabian are both in this basin, and the distance between them is less than a hundred miles.

Wei Zhen went down the waterway, and within a day and a half, he had already led the army to Xiabian City. He believed that the army he led was several times that of the Shu captives, but he camped not far from the city, and then personally led the people to Check the Xiabiancheng Pool and its surroundings.

  When he saw that Xiabian City was small and dilapidated, and then saw that the defenders on the city had their flags disorganized and running in a panic, he laughed and said to the left and right, "Tomorrow this city will definitely be taken down."

   "The general won't wait for the strong end?"

   asked left and right.

   "If the city is difficult to take down, it is natural to wait for the barbarian to come and test it first, but now it seems that the morale of the city's defenders is low and the military discipline is not uniform. Waiting for the strong one to come will have to wait another day."

   "Now that time is running out, Zhuge Liang is probably leading the Longyou army back in a hurry. The sooner we break through this city, the sooner we can prepare for the counterattack of Zhuge Liang's army."

  So they ordered that the siege equipment should be prepared before dark, and that meals would be made at five o'clock on the second day. At dawn, the whole army put on armor and marched in formation, preparing to capture Xiabian City within a day.

The sun had just come out at this time, Wei Zhen led the army to the city, and was about to send people to persuade him to surrender, only to see the sound of drums on the city, and the city gate was opened, and the Han army in bright armor filed out. A formation was formed in front of the city gate.

  Wei Zhen was taken aback. He raised his eyes to look, only to notice that the banner with the word Liao on the top of the city yesterday had been replaced with the word Zhuge.

Under the big flag, one of them was wearing a Ge scarf, holding a feather fan, sitting on a small car, and said a few words to the soldiers around him, only to see a few soldiers in charge of shouting at the top of the city shouting in unison, "Cao thief, The prime minister has been waiting for a long time!"

It was already beyond Wei Zhen's expectation that the Han army dared to go out of the city to fight. When he saw the changing banner on the top of the city, he suddenly felt something was wrong in his heart. !"

   Wei Zhen's first official position was as a planner. When he came into contact with the military, he was appointed by Cao Cao to join the prime minister's military, referred to as joining the army.

  Later, he was transferred to Hu Caoyu, and after Cao Pi ascended the throne, he was appointed as a Sanqi regular servant and servant, and when Cao Rui ascended the throne, he was promoted to Shangshu Youpushe.

  When Cao Pi inspected Guangling, he accompanied him as the leader of the Central Committee. At that time, Cao Xiu sent a watch, saying that Wu Jun's surrendered general confessed that "Sun Quan has arrived at Ruxukou", which was seen through by Wei Zhen.

  So Wei Zhen has knowledge, but one of the most fatal flaws is that he has never personally led troops in battle, and lacks practical experience. If it had the upper hand, it would be fine, and this hidden danger would not be exposed.

  But now seeing Zhuge Liang, who was originally far away in Longyou, appearing at the top of the city, he was at a loss for a while, and his mind was in a state of confusion.

  At this time, there was a faint cry of killing on the mountain to the east, and the ambushes had already begun to attack his side and rear.

   Wei Zhen's face became paler and his legs trembled. He actually forgot to give an order. Fortunately, there were old men who had been in the army for a long time, and they immediately dragged him back to the army.

   "General, please issue the military order immediately!"

   Someone shook him awake and said anxiously.

   "Yes, yes! Give the military order!" Wei Zhen came back to his senses, looked to the left and right, "What should we do now?"

   It's over!

  Hearing it from left to right, my heart feels cold!

  His Majesty the Emperor actually appointed this person as the general who conquered Shu, fearing that he would drag down the entire army.

  They didn't know that the young emperor defeated Sun Quan himself in the first year of his ascension to the throne, which was the time when he was full of ambitions.

Wei Zhen's strategy of cutting off the people's food in Shu, destroying Zhuge Liang's army, swallowing Hanzhong, and waiting for an opportunity to attack Shuzhong really fit the appetite of the young emperor who was about to make a career, so he was appointed as the General Shu.

   "The Shu captives are pressing every step of the way. Naturally, they have to fight first and then try to retreat."

   "Okay, let's fight!"

Wei Zhen barely stood up tremblingly, and he also knew that if he retreated at this time, few people would be able to escape, so he could only stick to the camp first, wait for the news to come back to Hechi, and see if the general can come to rescue him .

   Coincidentally, in Lueyang, which is seven hundred miles away, there are also people who are at a loss like Wei Zhen.

  Zhuge Liang apparently led the army westward to attack Longxi County, but in fact he turned south and returned to Xixian County, and then sent people operating new-style catapults to Shangyu.

   And he himself is lingering in Xixian County, always responding to all parties.

  Xixian County has Shangyu in the east, Longxi in the west, Jixian County in the north, and Qishan Mountain in the south. It is the key hub of the Northern Expedition Army.

  With Longguan sealed off, there are only two main threats now, one is Chencang Road, and the other is Liangzhou troops.

  As long as the Han army guards Bindao in Nan'an County in the west and Ji County in Tianshui County in the north, Liangzhou troops will either wander around Tianshui, or go to support Longxi County, trying to keep Longxi intact.

  But as long as the Long Road is blocked, Longxi County will fall into the hands of the big man sooner or later, so Zhuge Liang is not in a hurry.

  Cao Wei's Zhang Yun never showed up, and the prime minister of the Han Dynasty also did the same operation, lurking in Xixian County, waiting quietly.

  When he learned that Zhao Yun had returned to Hanzhong, Zhuge Liang knew that Cao Wei was very likely to cut off his food road from Chencang Road, so Wei Zhen led the army to appear in the old Dao County of Wudu, as early as the prime minister of the Han Dynasty expected.

  The big man doesn't have as much capital as Cao thief, Zhuge Liang has no generals on hand, and at the same time, in order to defend the important places, he doesn't have too many troops.

  In order to be able to swallow the army of Cao Wei who entered Wudu, he can only plan carefully.

  First send an order to Zhang Bao, let him rush all the way back to defend Jicheng, and then let Guan Xing lead the only 2,000 cavalry to interfere with Liangzhou soldiers and horses, and slowly retreat behind Zhang Bao.

   It was claimed that 3,000 people were left in Jicheng, but in fact 8,000 were left to prevent soldiers from Liangzhou.

   Then he asked Gao Xiang to take 3,000 people from Lueyang to secretly follow him southward, and finally asked Ma Di to send 3,000 people from Jieting to join the remaining 2,000 soldiers in Lueyang.

  Because Feng Yong blocked Longguan, Jieting actually threatened only one direction, and that was Cao Jun of Guangwei in the south.

  Wu Yi got a new type of catapult, and believed that he would be able to capture Shangyu soon, and then continue to advance to Linwei County, the prefecture of Guangwei County. At that time, Guangwei County will not be able to protect itself. How can it threaten Jieting?

  So in Zhuge Liang's view, 10,000 people guarding Jieting is too much, Lueyang has 5,000, and Jieting has 7,000, which is enough to deal with Cao's army in the two directions of Fanxudao and Guangwei County.

  Fanxudao is a small road, without the cooperation of other forces, as long as the defenders of Lueyang are not careless, the Cao army coming up from Fanxudao is no threat at all.

   All these arrangements looked very good and perfect, and things were indeed developing in the direction of the prime minister's vision from the beginning.

   It's a pity that Zhuge Liang is not a god.

  Feng Yong only knew that Ma Di would go to the village and be taken advantage of by others. He could make up for this loophole, but he couldn't forcibly change Ma Di's character and thinking.

Ma Di was reprimanded for a while, in order not to let him lose his prestige in the army, although it was only done in private in the tent, but for himself who was arrogant and eager to wash away the reputation of "unusable" set by the late emperor It's almost a disgrace.

   And the source of this matter, Ma Di believes that Liu secretly told the prime minister the secret.

At the beginning, you objected to my going up to the mountain village, and you repeatedly said that you could only let some teachers stay behind. Seeing that I didn't listen to you, you felt annoyed and reported to the prime minister. As a result, I was first reprimanded, and then deprived of three One-third of the military power.

  You are a villain!

  So when Zhuge Liang sent the military order to divide the troops to guard Lueyang, logically the first choice should be to let Liu Yin, the deputy general, go, but Ma Di was unwilling to let him lead the army alone to make meritorious service, so he sent Li Sheng to go.

  When Gao Xiang was guarding Lueyang, he not only sent people to patrol Fanxu Road day and night, but also went to the intersection every day to check.

  But when Li Sheng arrived in Lueyang, he felt that if Cao thief wanted to come to him, he had to pass Longguan first, and then Jieting.

  Fan Xu Dao is just a small road, Cao thief will most likely not dare to take this road, so he relaxes his vigilance.

   From Li Sheng's subordinates who shielded and disturbed the people, it can be seen that Li Sheng's rule of the army is not strict at all.

  Now he has the opportunity to lead the army alone, not only indulges the soldiers, but even takes the lead in playing around with himself.

Until one day at dawn, Li Sheng, who had been playing all night, was still sleeping with his arms around the young lady who was snatched by his subordinates, when someone rushed into his room and shouted, "General, it's not good, thief Cao, thief Cao!" Kill it!"

  The little lady on the couch screamed, waking up Li Sheng who was dreaming sweetly. Before he could react, he muttered, "What Cao thief? Where did Cao thief come from?"

   "Fanxudao, Cao thief is coming up from Fanxudao!"

  The general’s face was pale, and he said in panic.

   "Fan Xudao?" Hearing this, Li Sheng finally woke up in shock, sat up naked without even wearing his clothes, "How many people?"

   "I don't know, there are a lot of people, all of them are people..."

  Minister will speak incoherently.

  Li Sheng came to the bed, put on his clothes indiscriminately, "Quick, follow me to the top of the city to have a look."

  The general couldn't help but glanced at the snow-white passing by on the couch, swallowed, and then quickly ran out with Li Sheng.

  The Luoyang Central Army was originally Cao Wei's most elite army, and the one who could be singled out by Zhang Yun to make a difference was even more elite among the elite.

  And the original elite of the Han Dynasty, in the loss of Jingzhou and the battle of Yiling, seven or eighty-eight have disappeared, and Liu Bei handed over all the remaining remnants to Li Yan.

   Today's Northern Expedition army was cultivated by Zhuge Liang in the past few years. It has never been through a war. Compared with Cao Wei's elite Chinese army, it is not as good as it is.

   In addition, under Li Sheng's connivance, the soldiers' military discipline was lax, and they were not even prepared enough for the necessary city defense.

   Cao Jun had already arrived at the city of Lueyang, and the defenders just woke up like a dream, their armor was in disarray, and they ran around like frightened rats.

  Li Sheng climbed up to the top of the city, and saw Cao Jun standing there densely below the city, his men and horses motionless, as if they were frozen, and the murderous aura soaring towards the top of the city, he was so frightened that his legs went limp.

   "Hurry up, send someone to tell General Ma, let him quickly come to support!"

  Li Sheng's first reaction was not to rectify the soldiers and defend the city, but to call for help.

  Originally Lueyang City was originally a strong city, but Liangzhou has been plagued by Qiang and Hu all year round. In addition, when the main army of Cao Wei withdrew from Liangzhou and Longyou, they deliberately destroyed some pass cities to avoid people like Han Sui and Ma Chao appearing again.

   Lueyang City happened to be within the scope of being destroyed.

  So at this time, the city was already in ruins. Although Gao Xiang made some repairs, it could only make it suitable for defense.

At this moment, Li Sheng was standing on the top of the city. He first looked at the city wall under his feet, then at the panicked soldiers, and then remembered that he had come here. He didn't care about the preparations for the defense equipment at all, and finally looked at Cao Jun, who had a strict military appearance underneath. , There was no trace of blood on his face.

  How could Zhang Yun, who has fought all his life, not notice the panic in the city?

  He finally breathed a sigh of relief, with a smile on his face, "Longyou is in danger, and I came here out of danger, so I really had to do it."

   "I thought that the people of Shu seized the pass quickly, and I was just doing my best to come up this time. There will be a hard fight. I didn't expect God to bless me, Wei!"

   As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at the ragged civilians beside him, "This time Master Wang was able to return to Longyou, you have made great contributions, and you will be rewarded when the time comes!"

   "Thank you, General. I only hope that the general can expel the thieves as soon as possible, and return the villain to a peaceful life."

   "Don't worry, you won't be disappointed!" Zhang He laughed loudly, drew his sword and shouted, "The hearts of the people are with me, and Great Wei Wansheng!"

   "Victory! Victory!"

  The soldiers in the back shouted loudly, and the sound was like a stormy wave crashing on the shore, roaring over the head of Lueyang city.

  Li Sheng swallowed hard, and almost lost his balance and fell on the city wall.

  Weizhen was designed under Xiabian City. Zhuge Liang's army was advancing in front, Gao Xiang was cutting the flanks in the east, and Liao Hua was in the back road in the northwest.

  At the same time, Li Sheng, who was guarding Lueyang City, faced Zhang He's thousands of elite soldiers, his liver and gallbladder were broken, and he gritted his teeth and guarded the city for half a day, barely repelling Zhang He's first temptation.

  The news spread to Jieting, and Ma Di heard that Zhang He personally led the army from Fanxudao, so he wanted to lead the army to Lueyang for rescue.

When Liu Yin heard about it, he hurried over to persuade him, "General, the situation in Lueyang City is not clear now. The messenger sent by General Li only said that there was a large army of Cao thieves coming from Fanxudao, but did not say how many people there were. Lead the army away easily, I'm afraid it will be dangerous."

"Those things need to be said, but only three to five thousand people can be connected. How can there be a big army? General Li's troops are not inferior to the opponent's, and he has a city to rely on. He only needs to hold on for a few days. At that time, the Cao thief will have no food and no food. A lone army going deep into a dangerous place will definitely retreat by itself."

   "Jieting is where the safety of the back road of Longguan lies. It is also a key place to guard against the Cao bandits in Guangwei County in the south. The general must guard this place closely and not leave it lightly."

  (end of this chapter)