Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 48: Our Han Dynasty will definitely control all of Longyou!
The sixth year of Jianxing.

March 10th, early morning.

Five days have passed since the defeat at Xieshui.

Four days have passed since Cao Zhen was beheaded in Xiegu.

Wu Gong had been chasing Cao Rui for three days.

Two and a half days had passed since Zhao Tong led a hundred cavalrymen to Yuezhi.

Wudu, Shanglu.

A Han envoy wearing Wei army armor, holding a Wei army flag and banner, and carrying a wooden box, appeared at the foot of the city faster than Cao Rui's envoy.

There was no other way. Since the Han army had cut off the traffic on the southern route of the Wei River, Cao Rui had to send people to cross the Long Mountains and travel a thousand miles to deliver the letter to Zhang He, and he even had to take a small road.

The Han envoy, who was greatly appreciated by the emperor at the Xieshui Bridge, entered from Chencang Road, which was only more than 400 miles away. Even if he was accidentally captured by the Wei people, he did not need to worry about the failure of his mission.

It's simple. The emperor said that if there is a way to send the wooden box to the prime minister, then do so. If not, just give it directly to Zhang He.

In other words, the mission that the Han envoy accepted from the emperor three days ago was a mission that was impossible to fail.

At this moment, the man seized the opportunity to walk out from a corner of the Wei army camp, and then walked towards the Han camp with his head held high.

As the saying goes, when two armies are fighting, they do not kill the envoys.

When the Wei army soldiers saw this man holding the Wei imperial flag and banner swaggering across their positions, they thought he was another important figure sent to persuade the Shu people to surrender, and ignored him completely.

The Han army soldiers who were in charge of guarding the large camp outside the city were not too surprised to see another Wei envoy coming, as quite a few Wei people had come to persuade them to surrender in the past few days.

However, something unexpected happened soon to the Han soldiers guarding the camp.

When the Wei envoy was being interrogated, he suddenly threw away the Wei Kingdom's talisman and flag in a casual manner, then calmly opened the wooden box, took out the talisman and seal granted by the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and handed it forward.

Afterwards, he was immediately led into the camp by a young general who was so shocked that he could no longer control himself.

Crossing the Han Village.

Then go through the city gate.

Finally we arrived at the Shanglu City Tower.

"Prime Minister!" Jiang Wei had already taken the wooden box from the messenger. At this moment, he strode quickly towards the big man Prime Minister who was looking at the place from the top of the tower, overjoyed.

The slightly tired Han Prime Minister was a little surprised to see Jiang Wei so happy.

"Prime Minister! Guess who is in this box?!"

The Prime Minister was stunned for a moment, and before he could guess anything, he saw Jiang Wei had already smashed the wooden box to the ground with all his strength.

Squat down.

Open.

Lift.

A strange head dried with lime appeared before him.

"This is?"

The Prime Minister asked in surprise, and then was shocked.

"This is... Your Majesty won?!" Fei Yi, who was standing beside the Prime Minister, was stunned at first, and then he was shocked to the point of tears.

"Prime Minister, General, this is Cao Zhen!"

Jiang Wei responded with a loud voice, but he snatched away all the glory that should have belonged to the Han envoy, which made the Han envoy very upset.

Soon, Wu Yi, Chen Shi, Wang Ping, Zhang Yi, Liao Hua, Meng Yan, Yang Xi, Hu Ji and other important officials of the Northern Expedition gathered in the official temple in the city.

The Prime Minister sat at the top and made a slight gesture.

The angel named Wei Xing immediately brought out the wooden box and placed it in the middle of the hall.

Wu Yi and the others all came forward and looked at the head in the box with confusion.

"Prime Minister, who is this person?" The king's uncle Wu Yi asked the first question, and was immediately shocked.

"This head looks like it's been dried in lime for several days. Was it sent by His Majesty?!"

"This Cao is really him!" The bearded angel puffed out his chest and answered loudly, fearing that his spotlight would be snatched away by that hateful young general.

Everyone was horrified and didn't care where the envoy got the courage to behave like that. They just stared in amazement and disbelief at the head that must have been noble in life.

"This...is this really Cao Zhen?" The king's uncle Wu Yi couldn't believe it. The great general Cao Zhen of the pseudo-Wei Dynasty really died like this?

"Can His Majesty still deceive you?!" Wei Xing knew that he would most likely die before he set out. Now that he was alive, he felt that his life was saved in vain, and he no longer had any awe for these so-called high-ranking officials.

When I return to His Majesty, I might become an even higher-ranking official than you!
All the ministers came forward to ask questions.

Wei Xing then recounted how the emperor had rallied the army after the great defeat at Xieshui, how the soldiers on the battlefield had shouted "the lord is humiliated and the ministers must die", and how the emperor had finally drowned tens of thousands of Wei invaders in a flood that no one had noticed.

Finally, he did not forget to describe in detail his experience of overcoming all obstacles along the way.

Everyone was shocked again.

Seeing that these high-ranking officials were frightened and yet still wanted more after hearing his words, he suddenly felt a sense of heroism and grandeur, and thought that he was worthy of being the man recognized by His Majesty for the second time.

"Didn't His Majesty ask you to say anything else?" Wu Yi asked tentatively, "Anything useful?"

"How is what I said useless?!" Wei Xing responded proudly.

In fact, His Majesty did not tell him to take anything except to send Cao Zhen's head to the Prime Minister or Wei bandit Zhang He.

"The angel's courage is rare in the world and truly commendable. Liang will surely do the angel a great service!

"Boyo, take the angels down, let them rest and eat, and treat them well."

"Thank you, Prime Minister!" Wei Xing was overwhelmed with excitement. How many people in the world could have such an honor, to first receive the repeated recognition of His Majesty, and then receive praise from the Prime Minister?!
Soon, Wei Xing left with Jiang Wei.

The ministers in the hall finally gathered around the head and started to make a fuss again.

"Your Majesty is able to plan strategies from thousands of miles away and annihilate thousands of troops in a moment. His talent is truly extraordinary!" The king's uncle Wu Yi sighed deeply.

Wang Ping didn't know what he was thinking about. First his whole body was shaking, and finally he clapped his hands and stamped his feet: "God bless this man!"

Fei Yi also sighed to the Prime Minister:

"I previously thought that Your Majesty, by attacking Cao Wei's unpreparedness while being well-prepared, might have a chance of defeating the enemy.

"But I never expected that Your Majesty would use the strategy of attacking the enemy halfway across the river as bait to lure Cao Zhen deeper into the territory, and then finally build a dam to flood him!

"I never imagined that I could actually behead Cao Zhen in this battle!

"I, the Han Dynasty, should be prosperous!"

Everyone sighed immediately, just like Wu Yi and Fei Yi.

After everyone's sighs subsided, the Prime Minister said:

"Your Majesty sent Cao Zhen's head without any words, and your intention is self-evident.

"The angel of trouble must have been captured by the thieves, and their plan was discovered by them, so they let us act according to our circumstances." "What do you think we should do to cooperate with Your Majesty?"

Hu Ji, the chief clerk of the Prime Minister, said frankly:

"Zhang He and Guo Huai had a large force and blocked the road to Chencang.

“If this angel had not been so brave and careful, he probably wouldn’t have been able to deliver Cao Zhen’s head here.

"If this angel is captured by Zhang He, and Cao Zhen's head is obtained by Zhang He..."

Speaking of this, Hu Ji pondered for a moment.

Fei Yi continued Hu Ji's words:

“There are two possibilities.

"First, Zhang He, Guo Huai and others were horrified after receiving Cao Zhen's head. Not knowing the strength of Your Majesty's army, they thought Chang'an was in danger, so they led their troops down Longshan to rescue Cao Rui.

"Secondly, they received news that the false emperor was holding on to Longyou, so they withdrew to Tianshui and waited for reinforcements from the Guandong army."

Wu Yimeng waved his hand and said excitedly:
"What do you want to do so much!

"Let's send Cao Zhen's head to Zhang He first, and then see what Zhang He does, and then we can make plans!

"Humph!

"It's nothing more than quickly descending Longshan from Chencang Road!

"Or return to Tianshui along the same route!
"If Cao Zhen hadn't died before, we could have held the city and launched a counterattack, and we could have made them cry out in pain.

"Now that Cao Zhen is dead, they can only abandon the siege and flee. Can we still be afraid of them?!"

The Prime Minister was pleased, stroked his beard and nodded:
"Ziyuan is right. Your Majesty deliberately gave Cao Zhen's head to Zhang He.

"Cao Zhen has been defeated and Cao Rui has retreated. Your Majesty now controls the entire area west of Chang'an. If Zhang He does not quickly come down to Guanzhong from Chencang to rescue you, he will undoubtedly return to Tianshui and Nan'an to gather food and fodder, otherwise he will be unable to continue.

"Although we do not know your majesty's plan, if Zhang He goes straight down the Longshan Mountains along the Chencang Road to rescue Chang'an, we will directly take Longyou!
"If Zhang He retreats to Tianshui and Nan'an, I believe Your Majesty will find a way to return to Jieting and cut off the enemy's forces!
"After that, we only need to spread the news of Cao Zhen's defeat and the false emperor's retreat to the counties and prefectures in Longyou. Then the people of Longyou will surely submit to the Han!
"By then, Zhang He's fifty or sixty thousand men will be trapped in Longyou, with no food or fodder, and no way back home. Then the Han will have all of Longyou!"

The Prime Minister looked excited.

Everyone was happy to hear this.

It has been a long time since I saw the Prime Minister so excited.

And just as the Prime Minister said.

Zhang He marched thousands of miles and was already short of food and supplies.

The total population of Longyou is only 200,000 to 300,000 people, and it is not on the same side with the State of Wei. How can Zhang He support these 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers?!

Before, Guo Huai was trapped in Shanggui with less than 10,000 people, and the food and grass were already difficult to sustain!

If Your Majesty succeeds in capturing Jieting and completing the severance plan once again, what other tactics does Zhang He have left?

Stand firm and don't fight?

——No food.

Quick battle?

——Considering our magnificent battle formation, why should the Han Dynasty fear you, the Wei rebels?!

escape?
——Our Han Dynasty already has Longyou!
...

...

Outside Shanglu City.

A bearded envoy holding the Wei Kingdom's imperial flag and carrying a wooden box came to the position between the Han and Wei camps.

He put down the imperial seals, flags and wooden box that the Tiger Guards had snatched from the Wei messenger, and walked back to the Han camp in a swagger.

Soon, a rider rushed out from the Wei army camp and took the wooden box away.

Inside the Wei army commander's tent.

Generals Zhang He, Guo Huai and others, who still knew nothing about the wooden box and the Han envoy, were discussing strategies to deal with the enemy.

After the two men successfully met here a few days ago, they had been troubled by the heavy casualties caused by the Han army's attacks on the camp every day.

There was no other way. The prime minister who was guarding Shanglu not only did not retreat into the city, but instead ordered most of his troops to set up camp outside the city.

Relying on the visual advantage from the city wall and the advantage of hiding soldiers inside the city wall, they would organize elite scouts in the city from time to time to attack the weak points of the camp where the two men had not yet established a firm foothold.

After a few days, the tens of thousands of troops led by the two men were kept in armor and saddled. It is no exaggeration to say that they were suffering terribly.

But there is no way. Now the Prime Minister has switched from offense to defense, and the offensive and defensive situations are different.

It goes without saying how great the advantages were for the defenders in the era of cold weapons. As long as there was no food or people in the city, or the defenders were incompetent, it was basically impossible for the attackers to avoid suffering losses.

However, Zhang and Guo felt that as long as the Han army dared to continue to defend the city, then when General Cao Zhen defeated the Han army in Xiegu and deployed his troops in Hanzhong, they would be sure to win the battle.

Why?

Without it.

The news of the general's great victory at Xieshui, and the emperor's order for them to join Sima Yi and the general in encircling Hanzhong with a total of more than 100,000 troops, all came from Chencang Road!
The two of them had received it two days ago!

The only question the two of them had in mind at this moment was why Prime Minister Zhuge would lead his army to stay in Shanglu?

There are two explanations.

The most likely possibility is that the Han army will come out from Hanzhong to provide support.

Another possibility is that Prime Minister Zhuge was waiting for Wei Yan from Qishan Fort to come out and cut off their food supply, thereby forcing them to withdraw or even catching them off guard.

So the generals were discussing and preparing to coordinate with Xu Miao, the governor of Liangzhou, to request him to dispatch an additional 7,000 to 8,000 troops to strengthen the blockade of Qishan Fort.

He also planned to send another 10,000 people to set up pass and guard the dangerous places on the road from Hanzhong to Shanglu to prevent the Han army from coming to the rescue.

Such a response is not only beyond reproach, but should also be praised as extremely appropriate.

As long as the General's Central Army and the General's Eastern Army reach Hanzhong, the current Prime Minister Zhuge will undoubtedly be defeated.

After everyone finished discussing, they were about to leave the tent.

A military commander who had never seen the world rushed in holding a wooden box.

"Right General, the Shu invaders left a wooden box outside with a head inside. I wonder who it belongs to!"

Guo Huai frowned and looked at Zhang He.

Zhang He walked forward silently and opened the wooden box.

When the man saw the head in the wooden box as clearly as possible, he was finally shocked and his gray beard trembled slightly.

Guo Huai also came forward. After a moment of daze, his eyes were already bloodshot out of instinct:

"Grand...General?!"

　My friends, it's six in the morning now. I finally finished revising this chapter. I hope it doesn't look so watery. In fact, it's not that my attitude is wrong. I don't really want to make it watery. It's just that my typing speed is really too slow, and the plot deduction is also really slow. I have work to do during the day, and often I don't even have time to eat. Yesterday I wrote until eleven thirty and was so hungry that I felt dizzy and dizzy. I really couldn't tell how watery it was at first glance... After reading the comments, I read it carefully and it is indeed watery... I feel very cold... I kowtow and apologize!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)