Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 50 Pine Soup
Xu Shi.

Shanglu.

In the dilapidated official temple, lights flickered.

Several braziers crackled from time to time, and the air was filled with the unique smell of charcoal fire.

Some important officials in the Northern Expedition who had no defense and the staff of the Prime Minister's Office each handled military affairs and miscellaneous matters.

Suddenly, a young general ran excitedly into the main hall of the official temple.

When several impatient officials saw that it was Jiang Wei who came to report, they immediately stood up.

"How is it?" Liao Hua, who once served as Guan Yu's chief clerk and was captured by Sun Wu and faked his death to return to Han because he missed Zhaolie, was the first to ask.

Jiang Wei is full of energy:

"Just as the Prime Minister expected!
"The Wei rebels sent thousands of troops east of their camp to flee to Xiabian, returning north along the mountain road!"

"Oh?!" Fei Yi was also immediately delighted.

"So, the Wei rebels are indeed out of food and supplies, and are preparing to descend from Longshan along the Chencang Road?!"

Liao Hua and others were all happy for a moment.

The Prime Minister had this contingency plan this afternoon, saying that Zhang He might be running out of food and fodder, so he might send a small group of troops to escape to Tianshui at night to hold the fort, and then lead the rest of the army back to Guanzhong along the Chencang Road to find food.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to send troops out during the day, and there were many mountain roads available for traveling north, so it was impossible to send people to ambush in advance. Instead, Jiang Wei could only send dozens of scouts to the lower Bianbei Mountain to lie in ambush and watch.

Otherwise, if they could successfully ambush this group of people, Longyou would be within their grasp.

But no matter what, the retreat of Zhang He's army to Longyou was a foregone conclusion. Once tens of thousands of troops withdrew, the hope of the Han Dynasty to regain Longyou was right in sight.

The Prime Minister walked up to Jiang Wei and asked with a smile:

"Boyue, can you find out how many troops they sent back north?"

"The accompanying scouts said there were five to six thousand!" Jiang Wei looked at the Prime Minister with some surprise and continued:

"Prime Minister, the Wei rebels who fled north didn't even light torches tonight, and only traveled by the faint moonlight.

"Wei Zhen saw nothing from a distance of three to five miles, but it was the scouts who discovered the traces of the Wei invaders.

"Why is this?
“How can they see?

"Could it be the Qimen Dunjia or Fushui techniques of the Hanzhong Five Pecks of Rice Sect?"

According to Jiang Wei's common sense from his twenty years of life, at night, let alone several miles away, even when the moonlight was bright, he might not be able to see clearly what was happening three or five miles away.

When the moonlight is weak, the visibility is only a few dozen or even a dozen steps, and further away is chaos and darkness.

But the fact is that a group of inconspicuous scouts were able to observe a group of people without lit torches three or five miles away on a night with dim moonlight.

Jiang Wei could only think of the legendary Five Pecks of Rice Sect's Qimen Dunjia and Fushui techniques.

Otherwise, how could it have such miraculous effects?

Fei Yi laughed uncontrollably upon hearing what Jiang Wei said, then turned around and brought a bowl of oily soup to the table and handed it to Jiang Wei.

"This is the magic water that Bo Yue mentioned."

Looking at the green soup in Fei Yi's bowl, Jiang Wei was stunned.

Liao Hua, Yang Xi and others looked at the look of surprise on the slightly immature Jiang Wei's face, and laughed like Fei Yi for a moment.

"Everyone, isn't this Songtang?" Jiang Wei was still puzzled.

The elite troops and middle-level officers of the Han army would have a small bowl of green water with their daily meals.

It is boiled with pine needles, which is bitter and astringent, and sometimes mixed with pine oil.

He was originally devoted to his career and had no desires or demands for material things such as food, clothing, and money. As he had only a short time left in his return, he thought that this was how the Han Dynasty had always been and did not care about it at all.

The Prime Minister smiled and said, "Bo Yue, you don't know this, but this is an ancient method from the pre-Qin period. Boiling pine needles and pine oil in water can improve night vision."

Jiang Wei was stunned again.

Longyou is the land of ancient Qin, and pine trees can be seen everywhere, but he has never heard of this ancient pre-Qin method. How did the prime minister know about it?
"Bo Yue, it is mid-spring now, and you can eat hundreds of frogs raw. In this way, the night blindness can be cured in just a few days." Fei Yi seemed to be teasing Jiang Wei deliberately.

Jiang Wei was stunned.

Eat tadpoles alive?

How did the Han officials know these things?
Everyone took their seats.

Generals Wu Yi and Wang Ping were quickly invited to the official temple by the prime minister's personal entourage from the stronghold outside the city.

Arriving later than them was an angel named Wei Xing.

"Ziyuan, Zijun, according to our scouts, Cao Wei has indeed dispatched five to six thousand men, returning north along the mountain road under cover of darkness."

When Generals Wu Yi and Wang Ping heard this, they immediately became excited.

"Prime Minister, what should we do next?!" Wang Ping asked in a serious tone.

The Prime Minister pondered for a moment and said:

"The earthen hills and tunnels outside Shanggui City cannot be destroyed or filled in in a short period of time.

"Given the abilities of Zhang He and Guo Huai, they should have been able to tell from the tunnels we dug in the next few days that we intended to destroy the city by burning the beams supporting the tunnels, so we would definitely not return to Shanggui.

"The soil in Ji County, the seat of Tianshui Prefecture, is soft and moist, and the Wei River flows beneath the city, creating an abundant underground water system. Therefore, digging underground to attack the city was impossible.

“Since Ji County has more people and more food reserves than other counties, I believe that the Wei army returning north is most likely to return to Ji County and defend it.

"Shanggui City is small and can be defended by a few thousand men.

“Ji County is a large city, and it would take at least 10,000 or 20,000 men

"Zhang He only sent 5,000 men back north, presumably intending to withdraw from the siege of Qishan and order the over 10,000 Wei troops guarding his food supply route to jointly defend Ji County."

When Wang Ping heard this, and saw the Prime Minister calling him and Wu Guojiu together, how could he not understand what the Prime Minister meant?
Immediately came out to fight:

"Prime Minister, Qishan is over 200 miles away from here!

"The Wei invaders over there will receive news from Zhang He at least by tomorrow afternoon!

“Not to mention that it would be difficult to move troops in the afternoon, even if we moved troops immediately after receiving the news, we would not reach Xi County until at least the afternoon of the next day!
"However, the mountain road to Xi County is only a hundred miles away. I would like to lead an army to march lightly along the mountain road at night. We can reach Xi County tomorrow night, rest for half the night, and then we will be able to follow them in the morning!
"Prime Minister, please send another messenger to inform the Wei envoy at Qishan, asking him to join us in attacking from both sides. The Wei invaders there will undoubtedly be defeated!"

Since Wei Yan, the governor of Liangzhou, was away, Wu Guojiu was the prime minister's top general, so naturally he had to follow the prime minister and lead the troops.

But the Prime Minister only asked him to send two generals here.

The meaning is self-explanatory.

He, Wang Ping, is that special force!
If the Wei invaders defended their camp, he would be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth if he led 5,000 men as a surprise attack from behind.

But if the Wei invaders withdrew their troops, his 5,000 elite troops would follow behind them, and the Wei invaders would be terrified!
Not to mention, since the Wei invaders retreated, they must have known that Cao Zhen was defeated!
If an army suddenly appeared behind them, wouldn't they think that the Han army had descended from the sky?
"Good!" The smile on the prime minister's face grew wider, and he became more and more satisfied with this Wei surrenderer who had performed the most brilliantly when Ma Su was defeated and fled.

Although he is illiterate, he can still understand his intentions so quickly. Isn't he a good general?

The Prime Minister looked at Uncle Wu again:

"Ziyuan, Zijun, we are traveling at night on mountain roads, and we have to go behind enemy lines. Only elite troops can undertake this important task.

"Could you please allocate two thousand pieces of music for Zijun to use temporarily?"

After Ma Su's defeat, Wang Ping's army was reduced to only a thousand men. Although the Prime Minister assigned two thousand elite soldiers directly under his command to Wang Ping for deployment, the three thousand men were not necessarily enough to guarantee his success.

Wu Yi seemed hesitant.

He was not hesitating whether to divide the troops, but whether to take the initiative to ask for orders and take Wang Ping down.

Anyone can see that this strategy is almost certain to succeed.

No matter who takes on this task, as long as he can successfully lead the army out from behind the enemy and attack from the front and back with Wei Yan, the enemy will be defeated and his achievement will be great.

Although Wang Ping had performed brilliantly before and was well regarded by the Han army generals, this seemingly dangerous but actually easily attainable great achievement was right before his eyes, and anyone would hesitate.

"If the Prime Minister has given the order, there is nothing I can do!" After a moment, Uncle Wu finally bowed resolutely.

When Wei Yan was not around, he was the only pillar of support under the Prime Minister.

There are more important tasks and greater achievements waiting for him ahead.

"Okay!" The Prime Minister gave the order happily.

"Zijun, gather your men and horses immediately, take five days' worth of rations, and march towards Xixian County! Rest during the day and travel at night, and do your best to avoid the enemy's sight!"

Wang Ping took the order and left.

Wu Yi ordered his personal soldiers to follow.

Fei Yi watched Wang Ping walk away and began to get a little excited:
“If Zijun and Wenchang can defeat the more than 10,000 Wei invaders on the Qishan Road, Ji County will only have less than 10,000 soldiers and horses!
"Ji County is a large city, and the bandits are short on manpower and struggling. If the Prime Minister leads the army north again, Ji County might be taken in half a month!"

Once Ji County is successfully captured, and Your Majesty can successfully cut off Long, then the remaining counties to the right of Long will basically be conquered with a single order. "Prime Minister..." the angel named Wei Xing suddenly spoke.

He had been a little confused tonight, not knowing why he was here, but now he had some understanding.

"The Prime Minister summoned me here to tell the Wei envoy to join forces with that General Zijun to encircle the Wei invaders, right?"

The Prime Minister's smile faded, and he walked up to the man and said solemnly:

"The angel was able to cross numerous obstacles from the Wei invaders and reach this place. Not only is his courage rare in the world, but his quick wit is also something I have never seen before.

"The Governor of Liang Province is currently stationed in Qishan. The Wei invaders in Qishan are few in number and cannot surround the mountain, so delivering the mission shouldn't be that difficult.

"But now the news is truly important. Liang has chosen from many envoys, but he couldn't think of anyone more loyal, wise, and brave than the angel. Therefore, this mission must be carried out by the angel!"

The angel's scalp went numb after hearing what the Prime Minister said. He suddenly felt as if he had finally met a wise master after wandering for half a lifetime. "Your Excellency, you are too kind. I, Wei Xing, will definitely fulfill my mission!"

In fact, the Prime Minister was not exaggerating.

Wei Xing came here from Chencang Road, and he really took advantage of every opportunity and defeated all the enemies along the way.

After all, although he wore Wei army armor and held Wei's imperial flags, the Wei army was not so easy to fool and would often capture him for questioning.

However, when he was interrogated, he did not panic. Instead, he took out a whip from his waist and beat the Wei people who were interrogating him, cursing them and demanding that they all be beheaded for delaying the mission.

Not only that, after succeeding several times, the person seems to have developed some strange path dependence on this kind of whipping.

After arriving at Cao's camp in Shanglu yesterday, he first hid the wooden box and the flags and tokens, then eavesdropped on the commands of the Wei army's patrol cavalry officer, and finally rode a horse to patrol Cao's camp.

If they saw anyone violating military orders or laws, they would seize the opportunity to rush forward, whip the person, and scold him for neglecting his duties.

It was not until he observed where the defense was the most lax that he retrieved the wooden box and the talisman and flag, disguised himself as an envoy, and swaggered towards the Han camp.

All in all, to some extent, this is indeed a rare talent.

After that person and another envoy who was familiar with the terrain of Longyou received the order and left, the prime minister called a few more envoys and asked them to go to Qishan in the form of a secret letter.

It was only then that the uncle Wu Yi asked:

"Prime Minister, Zhang He's troops are now divided into two groups.

"Should we also split into two groups?"

The Prime Minister stroked his beard and pondered for a moment:

"Zhang He led his troops down to Long only because Cao Zhen was defeated and surrendered, and he was unaware of Your Majesty's true strength.

"However, Your Majesty has only 20,000 soldiers available in Guanzhong. If we do not send reinforcements, Your Majesty will have to retreat to Xiegu, and Zhang He will open up the Wei army's grain route to Longyou.

"If so, the troops Your Majesty sent to attack Jieting will be doomed."

Now that the Longyou army and the Guanzhong army have no communication, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty is actually not sure whether the Han emperor has sent people to attack Jieting.

But since Zhang He planned to retreat, it means that he either thought of this possibility or had received the news that Jieting had fallen.

Wu Yi looked hesitant:

“But Prime Minister, if we send troops to reinforce His Majesty, how many troops should we send?

"If we get less, we won't be able to defeat Zhang He.

"If we divide too much, we won't be able to conquer Longyou."

After hesitating for another two breaths, Wu Yi finally said in a deep voice:

"Prime Minister, in my humble opinion, since Zhang He is about to take Long, it would be better to lead a large army to pursue him, and finally join Your Majesty in defeating Zhang He at Guanzhong.

"After Zhang He is defeated and flees, we will re-enter Longyou. Longyou will be conquered without a doubt!"

The Northern Expedition was halted at Shanggui, which made generals Wu Yi, Wei Yan and others believe that dividing the troops was not a good strategy for the Han Dynasty with its small number of soldiers and generals.

It would be better to gather our forces together and defeat them one by one.

The Prime Minister still shook his head and said:
"Our army cannot go down to Long."

Wu Yi was stunned: "Why?"

The Prime Minister pondered for a moment and said:

"We must first descend Long and then ascend Long, a journey of nearly a thousand miles. If we continue to engage in a stalemate with Zhang He, it will take at least a month and a half for our army of tens of thousands to reach Ji County.

"Ji County is a large city. Wenchang and Zijun, with a combined force of 10,000 men, will not be able to carry out a siege.

“If our army cannot quickly reach the city of Jixian and encircle it, the defeated soldiers of the pseudo-Wei army and the reinforcements and food supplies from the pseudo-Liangzhou Governor Xu Miao will surely enter Jixian at all costs.

"By then, our army of 40,000 to 50,000 will be trapped in Ji County and unable to move out, while the pseudo-Wei troops and food supplies from Guandong will arrive.

"Therefore, our army cannot go down to Long."

"What should we do then?" Wu Yi was confused.

"If Zhang He's army of 40,000 to 50,000 men were to march unscathed into Guanzhong, how could Your Majesty, with only 20,000 men and horses, stop them?"

"If it is Zhang He's troops, how many of them should be sent before we go to Guanzhong?" The Prime Minister seemed confident.

"What if Zhang He's already limited supplies of food and fodder become completely unattainable after reaching Guanzhong?"

Wu Yi, Fei Yi and others were all shocked when they heard this.

"The Prime Minister means that we can take advantage of the opportunity when Zhang He withdraws his camp from Longshan to fight a tough battle with him?" Wu Yi's doubts grew even stronger.

“But as the Art of War says, do not stop a retreating army, and do not press a desperate enemy.

"Now that they have run out of food, they are already thinking of returning home.

"The 200-li Chencang Road is entirely narrow. If we force our way through, the bandits will be driven to their death, which would be detrimental to our army."

Morale is really a kind of metaphysics.

The morale of most of Cao Wei's troops is indeed very low now, but Zhang He must still have several thousand elite soldiers available.

If they were really forced into a dead end like Chencang Road where they could not form a battle formation, with these elite troops at the forefront, it is hard to say whether they would cause more casualties to the Han army because of their determination to die.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to let them go to the Guanzhong Plain, and then attack them from both sides with Your Majesty's 20,000 troops, and defeat them with a grand battle array.

Wherever there is a way to survive on the plains, people will flee.

The chaos caused by the fleeing soldiers is the biggest headache for all generals on the battlefield.

The Prime Minister still shook his head and said:
"It was inevitable that Zhang He would lead his army down to Long.

"However, the number of soldiers he led was forty to fifty thousand, plus auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers, totaling more than seventy to eighty thousand.

"The Shanglushan Road is as narrow as the Chencang Road, and our army is pressing in with its might.

"Under such circumstances, how could it be so easy for Zhang He to withdraw his camp?
“It will take three to five days.

“We must divide the army into several parts.

"In my opinion, the most likely arrangement is to have an elite force in the front, a force carrying food and supplies, and civilians and auxiliary soldiers in the middle, with Zhang He personally leading an elite force to retreat at the rear."

"Prime Minister, what you mean is that after their front and middle troops leave, we will take the opportunity to attack their rear?" Wu Yi finally understood.

"No." The Prime Minister denied it again.

Everyone in the hall was stunned.

Wu Yi was stunned for a moment, and finally couldn't figure out what the prime minister was thinking.

The Prime Minister smiled once again, a rare moment:
"Why should we use our elite troops to attack Zhang He's elite troops?
"Nearly ten thousand of our great Han warriors have been drinking pine soup for over three months, and their nighttime blindness is far less severe than that of the elite Wei invaders, let alone the auxiliary soldiers and civilians."

Fei Yi finally reacted at this time:

“The Prime Minister means to send our elite Han troops to travel the mountain roads at night.

"Take advantage of the Wei army's blindness during the morning and evening hours and attack the civilians, auxiliary soldiers, and food and supplies along the way?"

Since most ordinary soldiers were malnourished, blind at night, and difficult to command at night, such a risky strategy as a night attack was rarely considered by generals.

Generally, it is considered good if a troop of 10,000 soldiers can select 500 to 600 young and strong men with excellent night vision. In wartime, the elite soldiers responsible for night guard need to eat cattle and sheep livers to treat night blindness. Even many mediocre generals don't know this.

Those who can see at night are often well-nourished and physically strong before joining the army. They are easily selected as elite troops and are responsible for night reconnaissance and guarding the camp. They are rarely sent out to take risks.

The Prime Minister has always been cautious in employing troops. How could he be willing to use such elite troops to attack the camp and take risks?

This has been the habit for many years, and Songtang is slow to take effect in treating night blindness. For officers like Wu Yi who have been eating meat all year round, they can hardly feel the magic.

So for a moment, he subconsciously overlooked the fact that they might already have thousands of special elite soldiers who could carry out risky night attacks!
If it is true as the Prime Minister expected, that Zhang He's troops retreated in three parts, then taking advantage of the dim light in the early morning when people are most sleepy to attack the civilians, auxiliary soldiers, food and supplies of Zhang He's central part, it may not be impossible to achieve remarkable results!

"I didn't expect the Prime Minister to resort to such risky and unusual tactics." Wu Yi was stunned.

(End of this chapter)