Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 18: Unparalleled Achievements Are No Less Than Others
West County.

This place is only forty miles away from Qishan Fort. If we march lightly and quickly, we can arrive there in less than two hours.

After Zhang He allocated 10,000 troops to Guo Huai, he only had 40,000 troops left.

However, after Wu Yi, who was besieging the city, withdrew his troops, You Chu, the prefect of Longxi, brought 5,000 county soldiers and 3,000 Qiang warriors to join Zhang He here.

As a result, there were 48,000 Wei troops in Xi County.

Just as the sun rose over Longshan Mountain, Zhang He's army broke camp.

However, after walking less than two miles, a scout came from the south, looking extremely panicked.

"Right General, the siege of Qishan Fort has been lifted, and Zhuge Liang has withdrawn his troops!"

Zhang He was shocked and dismounted.

"Why would they retreat? Have you found out who controls Qishan Fort now?!"

"General, I saw from afar from a high place that the siege of Qishan Fort was lifted and then I rode back. I was not aware of this!"

"Explore again!"

After the scouts left, Zhang He calmed down and ordered his men:

"Order Fei Yao, Dai Ling, You Chu, and Niu Gai to lead 5,000 men each, carry five days' worth of dry food, abandon their baggage, and march quickly!
"Make sure to chase Zhuge Liang!

"I will lead three hundred cavalrymen to advance first!"

"Yes!" Several personal soldiers took the order and left.

A quarter of an hour later, the army started moving.

After Zhang He gave his orders for the rear-line military arrangements, he reined in his horse, called out all the 300 cavalrymen he had brought with him to Longshan, and galloped south.

Ever since Guo Huai led more than 20,000 people on a light journey eastward along the Wei River the day before yesterday, the Right General of Wei has been continuously sending people familiar with Longyou on horseback southward, hoping that they would secretly deliver messages to the fort, ordering the commander in the fort to hold on for a few more days to delay Zhuge Liang.

Unexpectedly, all those who were sent out previously never returned, and their fate was unknown.

When they sent the next one, Qishan Fort had been surrounded by Zhuge Liang's tens of thousands of troops, and not a single piece of news could get in.

Even though he wanted to raise a flag on the distant mountain to inform Gao Gang, the commander of the fort, he was chased away by the Shu cavalry who had been waiting in the hills around Qishan Fort.

Originally, what Zhang He was most worried about was that the fort's defender Gao Gang would see Zhuge Liang's army heading south and, not knowing the situation in Longyou, would simply surrender the fort.

However, Qishan Fort held out for two days without surrendering, so Zhang He felt relieved.

If you can hold out for two days, you can hold out for three or four days.

In fact, when the troops were divided in Meiwu, the right general saw the Shu army's camp at the entrance of Xiegu.

There seemed to be 40,000 to 50,000 troops there, but after going up to Long, they discovered that Zhuge Liang had another 40,000 to 50,000 troops under his command.

But it is impossible for Shu Kingdom to support so many soldiers.

So he concluded that Xiegu must be a decoy and Lieliu must be an empty city.

And if they can just delay for three days, Guo Huai's 20,000 troops will be able to separate a small number to resist Lieliu City on the Chencang Road, and then the majority will continue to advance south, and will surely be able to surpass Zhuge Liang!

By then, under the pincer attack, the morale of the Shu invaders will be broken, and Zhuge Liang will be captured in one fell swoop!
This is also the main reason why Zhang He kept his troops moving slowly.

He just wanted to delay Zhuge Liang at Qishan Fort for one more day so that Guo Huai could make his move behind enemy lines foolproof.

After walking for another ten miles with a heavy heart, another rider came from the direction of Qishan towards Zhang He's three hundred riders.

"Right General, disaster has struck! Qishan Fort has been captured by the Shu invaders!"

"What?!" Zhang He was struck by lightning.

Just now, when he was riding his horse south, he had been holding on to his luck, thinking that Zhuge Liang was most likely afraid that if he didn't leave, he would be chasing him, so he hurriedly broke camp before dawn.

Who would have thought?!

"Gao Gang misled me!" Zhang He was furious, his hair and beard standing on end.

Qishan Fort can be said to be the most easily defended and difficult to attack place in the entire Longxi, without a doubt. How could it be captured in just one or two days?

Gao Gang can only surrender the fort!
How could he surrender the fort?
Doesn't he want his wife and children anymore? !

If this happens, won't my great achievements be wasted?!
Even though Zhang He was cautious and loyal to his duties throughout his life, he finally led the army to a great victory at the last moment and proved himself. But then Guo Huai offered him a brilliant strategy, and thus he began to have the obsession of making an extraordinary contribution before his death.

He has never been a person who is afraid of losing his integrity in his later years.

After all, before defeating Ma Su, he had always been ordered around and had no discipline at all.

Even Zhang Liao, who was also a surrendered general, once led him out to fight!

He only felt indignant and ashamed.

He really wanted to prove himself with his unparalleled achievements. We are both surrendered generals, and I am no worse than Zhang Wenyuan!
However, now that Qishan Fort has been captured, his unparalleled achievements seem to be fading away from him.

The feeling of having this intense sense of anticipation dashed is incredibly maddening.

When he was still five or six miles away from Qishan Fort, he rode his horse up a low hill and looked at Qishan in the distance.

He had never been to Qishan, but he had heard Guo Huai talk about it in detail.

This fort was carved out of the mountain and is hollow inside, accommodating three to four thousand people.

Watchtowers and city walls were built on the mountain, which were almost the same as a city and could accommodate thousands of people.

There is also a tunnel inside the fortress that leads directly to an underground river, so there is no need to worry about water supply.

The only problem is that there may not be much firewood in the fort. Once the fort is stationed for too long and there is no firewood left, people will have to eat raw food, which will greatly deplete morale.

But then again, if there are really five or six thousand soldiers or more in the fort, if you don't send twenty or thirty thousand people to surround the entire fort, build camps, and dig trenches,
They could send thousands of people to launch a concentrated attack, harass you from time to time, or thousands of people could risk their lives to come out together to chop firewood and rob wood, and you wouldn't be able to stop them.

Although Zhang He felt aggrieved after Qishan was captured, he was a little calmer at this time.

He had no way of knowing how many troops were left in the fort. If he advanced lightly on horseback, the fort's garrison would come out and intercept him.
Or perhaps the commander of the fort anticipated that there were lightly armed infantry advancing rapidly behind him, and took advantage of the fact that there was no one in the army to lead the attack, which would inevitably result in some casualties.

That's when we'll be in a dilemma.

Thinking of this, he immediately called his personal soldiers and sent more than 30 riders to continue south to find out the news of Zhuge Liang's army.

At noon, Fei Yao, Dai Ling, You Chu and Niu Gai, leading more than 20,000 troops, finally arrived at Qishan Fort.

The fortifications built by Zhuge Liang when he besieged the fort were not completely destroyed. Therefore, with the joint efforts of more than 20,000 people, when the remaining 28,000 troops all arrived at the valley outside Qishan Fort, Qishan Fort was surrounded again.

The defenders in the fort just watched them build the siege but did not fight, which made Zhang He even more confused about the number of troops in the fort and their strength.

He was a little undecided for a moment.

Should we continue chasing or besiege the fort?
There was a lot of discussion in the general's tent.

The vast majority of people suggested continuing the pursuit.

Qishan Fort has been lost. If they don't achieve an unprecedented feat, their contribution to entering Long will be discounted.

However, You Chu, the prefect of Longxi who was not a direct subordinate of Zhang He, seemed somewhat displeased.

He had always opposed the strategy of encircling and annihilating Zhuge Liang in one fell swoop to achieve unprecedented merit.

It’s not that there is no possibility of success, but behind the huge gains, there are also huge risks.

Neither Guo Huai nor Zhang He had ever experienced the covetous gazes of the entire city, and they had no idea of ​​Gao Gang's situation. Or even if they knew, they were still blinded by the huge temptation.

If I had listened to him and pursued him closely, although I could not have wiped out Zhuge Liang in one fell swoop, I could still have caused some damage to him, and at least Qishan would have been in my hands.

Now that Qishan Fort has been captured, it will be very difficult to take it back from the Shu army.

"Lord You, what do you think we should do next?" Zhang He asked when he saw You Chu had a sullen face and didn't say anything.

It is important to have a unified opinion.

The Longxi prefect performed extremely well in this battle. He had been unknown for decades, but he held on until the last moment under extreme circumstances when all three counties rebelled and people were in chaos.

After the war, he will definitely be summoned to the capital by the court, highly commended, and become a role model for people all over the world to emulate.

You Chu, who was already over sixty years old, bowed and said, "I am not familiar with military affairs, but I will leave it to the right general to make the decision."

Obviously, it's a bad game.

I advised him before, but he didn't listen.

He also understood that seizing someone's property and rights was like killing their parents.

Even if he said it, the right general would not listen to him. Even if the right general listened to him, those generals who were eager to achieve unprecedented achievements would not let Zhang He listen to him.

Seeing that no one objected to the military meeting, Zhang He made the final decision:
"Fei Lingming (Fei Yao), you will lead 10,000 men tomorrow and guard the east of the fort together with Lord You's 5,000 county soldiers.

"Make sure to build high fortifications, dig deep trenches, and plant plenty of deer horns to protect the food supply routes!
"The rest of the troops, follow my light troops and give chase!

"Zhuge Liang has a large supply of supplies, and they are only about eighty miles away from us. If we march lightly and simply, we will surely catch up with his rear guard at Shanglu the next day!"

Shanglu is still one hundred and twenty miles away from Chencang Road.

If they could not catch up with Zhuge Liang in Shanglu and slow down his retreat, thus allowing Zhuge Liang's army to enter Chencang Road, the entire plan would fail.

At that time, we can only return to attack Qishan.

"Yes!"

The generals led the troops.

(End of this chapter)