Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 63 Brilliant Heavenly Power
evening.

Wudu North.

Jiangluo Valley.

The governor of Guanzhong Wu Yi, the general in charge of the army Wu Ban, the general who assisted the Han Dynasty Meng Yan, the lieutenant general Cuan Xi, the guards Chen Shi, Ma Dai, Ma Zhong, and the prime minister's warehouse officer Jiang Wei and other loyal generals of the Han Dynasty gathered in one tent.

It can be said that except for Gao Xiang who followed the prime minister to pursue Zhang He, all the capable generals around the prime minister participated in this ambush.

"It's a pity that there are no baggage carts, and many armors, swords and guns cannot be taken away. I wonder if the Wei invaders have sent people to clean up the battlefield." Wu Yi felt a little regretful.

Today we captured more than 3,000 elite soldiers of the Wei State and beheaded more than 2,000 of them.

He received 200 pieces of heavy armor, more than 3,000 pieces of medium-length armor with tube sleeves, and more than 2,000 pieces of light armor with two crotches.

As for the countless leather armors and broadswords scattered on the battlefield, it was because the soldiers were exhausted and worried about the counterattack of the Wei invaders, so they left them on the battlefield and had no time to take them away.

However, even if the Wei people did not clean up the battlefield and ignored it for a period of time, these armored soldiers would soon be looted by the local powerful and wealthy people in Wudu.

This is also the norm for battlefield clearing.

Wu Yi's younger brother, General Wu Ban, who was in charge of counting the results of the battle, spoke excitedly:
“Commander-in-chief, human suffering is not enough!

"The pieces of armor my army seized today, plus the pieces Wei Wenchang seized from Qishan, total about seven or eight thousand pieces!
"The Han Dynasty only forges two thousand armor pieces a year. After these two battles, the harvest is equivalent to the Han Dynasty's four to five years of savings! It can be said that the harvest is not great!"

Although Ma Dai, Chen Shi, Meng Yan, and Cuan Xi knew that they had gained a lot today, they were all excited and happy when they heard the specific numbers.

As a result, after two battles in recent days, the military strength of the Han Dynasty and the pseudo-Wei has been increasing and decreasing, and the change is not just about seven or eight thousand pieces of iron armor!
With the captured iron armor, the Han people can equip eight thousand elite soldiers in a short period of time!

In addition to nearly 10,000 iron armors, the Wei State also lost nearly 10,000 elite soldiers!
The so-called elite of the elite are often compared based on the armor rate!
A high armor coverage rate will significantly increase the survival rate.

Just fight a few battles and survive, and your confidence on the battlefield will increase greatly, and even if you are not elite, you will soon become elite!
However, not everyone was so excited, such as Jiang Wei who was sitting near the tent door.

I don’t know if it was because of the arrow wound or because his mind was still on Zhang He, but he seemed a little absent-minded.

"Bo Yue, there is no need to lose heart. Regardless of whether the rebel leader Zhang He was shot by an arrow or not, his tens of thousands of troops suffered such a great defeat. They are short of food and armor, and their morale is greatly reduced. They will not have the strength to fight Your Majesty when they return to Guanzhong." Wu Yi comforted him.

Everyone knew that Jiang Wei risked his life today to win the honor of beheading the general.

But according to reports from several scouts who had just returned to Jiangluo Valley, when the Wei army attacked the camp at noon, the bandit leader with white hair and beard under the banner with the word "Zhang" on it seemed to be fine.

There are different opinions.

Some say that Zhang He might not have been hit, some say that he probably was hit but Zhang He managed to resist, and some speculate that he might have been hit but couldn't resist, so he just found someone to disguise himself to stabilize the morale of the army.

What exactly happened is unknown, and it has nothing to do with the overall situation in Longyou.

Even if he really died of the poison, the soldiers here only brought five days of dry food, and they were already physically and mentally exhausted. They needed to rest for a few days to regenerate their fighting strength, so they could not catch up.

The Prime Minister is also preparing to send troops to Tianshui.

The front and central parts of the Wei State all entered the narrow road of Chencang today.

The rear troops led by Zhang He were also approaching the Chencang crossing based on their speed.

There is no other terrain like Wudu where one can both ambush and intercept, and deploy troops to fight.

Jiang Wei looked at Wu Yi, his expression slightly firm:
"Commander-in-Chief, I wasn't thinking about Zhang He just now.

"I was just thinking that if the Wei rebels' vanguard marched from Chencang Road to Dasan Pass at a faster pace, they would arrive in five or six days.

“But it would take two days for the news of our victory to reach Qishan from Jiangluo Valley.

"If the envoy continues down the Mumen Road and the narrow road along the Wei River to Guanzhong, it will take five or six days at best. I'm afraid they will run into the Wei rebel army at the Chencang Road."

The generals suddenly realized.

"According to this calculation, Your Majesty should have no chance to know about our great victory this time." Wu Yi frowned.

Everyone knows that the Xiegu plank road was destroyed and the military forces in Guanzhong were stretched thin.

If the news could reach Guanzhong, the emperor might not be able to defeat Zhang He again, but at least he would be able to deal with it more calmly and avoid making mistakes in a panic.

What the big man fears most now is making mistakes.

...

...

March 22nd.

Wuzhangyuan, the main camp of the Han army.

Liu Chan, escorted by Zhao Tong and two hundred Longxiang guards, arrived at the northern end of Wuzhangyuan.

Liu Chan had his sight of half of the Guanzhong Plain, and Mount Qi was in sight to the north.

On the same day that Zhao Yun's eldest son Zhao Tong was appointed as the Lieutenant of the Guards against the Qiang, Zhao Yun's second son Zhao Guang was appointed as the Lieutenant of the Guards against the Qiang by Liu Chan.

In order to distinguish them from the Huben Zhonglang who were originally responsible for the guards, they were not under the command of Huben Zhonglang Jiang Dong Yun, but directly took orders from Liu Chan, the emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Some time ago, the two hundred personal soldiers led by this Longxiang Zhonglang who guarded Liu Chan day and night were all promoted to Longxiang Guards, who were responsible for the personal safety of the emperor and took turns to guard him day and night.

The Hubenlang, who arrived late from Chengdu and was originally responsible for guarding the emperor, is now responsible for the security outside the emperor's tent.

In the future, the Longxiang Guard will select and promote those who have made meritorious contributions from the Huben Lang.

The Hu Ben Lang did not express any objection to this. If they had to blame someone, they could only blame the two battles of Xieshui and Xiegu. They were unable to guard the emperor and make great contributions to his service.

Furthermore, because they arrived later, these Huben Lang gained a lot in the Battle of Xiegu. After their merits are calculated in the future, many of them will have the opportunity to directly become Longxiang Guards.

In short, the function of the Huben Army will be transformed from the imperial palace guards to the elite field troops of the Han Dynasty, and the best of the meritorious will be selected to become the Dragon Guards.

As for the two hundred Longxiang Guards, in addition to the financial rewards, Liu Chan has also put a lot of thought into them these days.

First, I summoned them in batches and tried hard to remember their names, appearances and personal strengths.

In addition, he asked about their family situation and the number of family members. He even carefully wrote down the names and birthdays of their parents and children so that he could be more targeted when showing kindness in the future.

Many of the Longxiang Guards had women of marriageable age in their families. Liu Chan planned to take them in as low-ranking concubines in the palace after returning to Chengdu, in order to increase the double ties between him and these Longxiang Guards in terms of both interests and emotions.

As for the future, perhaps it will be possible to design and award some ribbons or tokens with special patterns, or award plaques such as "Longxiangdi" and allow them to be hung in front of the mansion.

Or they could give them some bricks engraved with the words "Guards by Imperial Order" to build houses. In short, they would do whatever honors them.

When it comes to one's personal safety, no matter how hard one tries, it's never too much, but Liu Chan can only think of these small tricks at the moment.

He had an average memory and had only spent a short time with the Longxiong Guards, so just remembering their names and appearances was a bit of a struggle for him. As for their families, he could only rely on the notes he made privately to slowly match them up later.

Regardless of whether it was a waste of energy or not, after all, I had read quite a few novels before traveling through time. Many of the awesome protagonists could even remember thousands or even tens of thousands of people, which was truly terrifying.

Liu Chan, the younger generation, could only imitate others and made himself a laughing stock in front of the rich family.

"Your Majesty, they are here." Zhonglang Longxiong looked towards the east, his tone a little suppressed.

Liu Chan had also seen it long ago. At the end of his sight, about sixty or seventy miles away, near the reed marsh where he had encountered Cao Rui on the day he pursued him, there was a long, thin black line, wriggling westward like an earthworm.

Three days ago, Liu Chan received news from scouts that a grain transport fleet from the east appeared at Bakou, where the Ba River flows into the Wei River, northeast of Chang'an.

The entire team stretched for more than ten miles, and including civilians and auxiliary soldiers, the size seemed to be 30,000 to 40,000 people.

At the moment, the team that may have come to support from Taiyuan and Hedong is still too far away from Liu Chan, and Liu Chan lacks experience, so it is difficult to estimate how many people there are.

"I wonder where my brother and the Qiang chief are now." Zhao Guang, the Dragon Army Lieutenant, looked towards the Qishan Mountains, fifty or sixty miles to the north.

According to legend, King Wen of Zhou dreamed that the sun and the moon were attached to his body, and a phoenix sang on Mount Qishan, and thus the Zhou Dynasty was established.

I wonder if his brother, who was awarded the title of wielding a sword and holding a staff to protect the Qiang at a young age, saw the phoenix in Mount Qishan.

After watching the team for a while, Liu Chan shifted his gaze slightly to the west, looking at Meiwu on the north bank of the Wei River, whose outer wall was seven zhang high and thick, and had the same specifications as the outer wall of Chang'an.

When Dong Zhuo built this fort, he said, "If it succeeds, I will rule the world. If it fails, I can live out my life guarding this place."

Dong Zhuo did not live out his life in Meiwu, but Meiwu did not collapse either.

It was not until Adou surrendered to Deng Ai that Deng Ai wrote to Sima Zhao, suggesting that Adou could be made the King of Fufeng and allowed to live in Meiwu to show his favor and lure the Eastern Wu to surrender.

According to Zhao Yun and Deng Zhi, although Meiwu was a little dilapidated, it was still a strong pass after Cao Zhen repaired it for a period of time.

Liu Chan came here every day to investigate these days. Ever since Dong Yun and Deng Zhi withdrew their 4,000 troops who were monitoring Meiwu to Zhongzhou in the Wei River and set up camp, cavalry from Meiwu would occasionally be sent eastwards, and some would also go north to Mount Qishan.

The two hundred Tiger Riders who patrolled and grazed horses in the north of Wei often drove away one or two of them, sometimes catching them, but occasionally allowing them to escape successfully.

But after waking up today, after discussing with Deng Zhi, Dong Yun and Zong Yu, Liu Chan has ordered these tiger cavalry to withdraw to Weinan, and at the same time ordered them to demolish the wooden bridge over the Wei River.

Dong Yun has been very busy these days.

In addition to being responsible for the construction of the Wuzhangyuan stronghold, he also used fire and water to carve out thousand-pound stones from the mountain wall, and carried them on grain ships to the Zhongzhou Island in the Wei River.

Afterwards, they sank the boats and successfully blocked half of the narrow waterway north of Zhongzhou, completing Zhao Yun's plan.

Each grain ship could carry 200 to 300 dan of grain, or six to nine tons. However, due to the irregular shapes of the stones, each ship could only carry five or six large dan and could not load any further.

At the beginning, they had no experience and the rocks they chiseled out were too big, and the location for burning the rocks was too high, so they actually sank the ship.

Later, Dong Yun ordered his men to prop up two layers of cowhide as a buffer, and use large ropes to tie the four corners of the boat and fix it with stakes, so that no further accidents occurred.

This kind of thing was not something Dong Yun did personally, but was handled by his subordinates, so there were always times when he was negligent.

"Since the Wei invaders are coming, let's move the camp here." Liu Chan finally spoke.

"I want to keep an eye on Chencang and Meiwu. Although it's safe to stay in the middle of the plateau, I still feel uneasy."

At this moment, at the northernmost end of Wuzhangyuan where Liu Chan was located, there were already camps and fortifications that could accommodate 6,000 soldiers.

When the sky is clear, you can just see Chencang, seventy miles away, from here, although it is just a small dot.

But if the Wei army attacked the city, with so many people, they would definitely be able to see what was happening.

Yesterday evening, Liu Chan saw Zhao Yun leading three thousand young and strong new soldiers from Sanguan and two to three thousand civilians into Chencang City.

The more than 10,000 laborers who came down the mountain from Jieting a few days ago to help Zhao Yun build the Chencang fortifications are now 20 miles west of Wuzhangyuan and are expected to return to the plateau tonight.

After watching for two quarters of an hour, Liu Chan began to inspect the camp and the training ground under the protection of the Longxiang Guards.

Now all the officers and soldiers in the army knew that their Majesty did not seem to like flying hawks and running dogs, nor did he like music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Instead, he came to see them set up camp and practice formations every day, and even paid attention to and improved their food expenses.

Although there was little physical contact with the soldiers, as long as His Majesty was watching, the soldiers seemed less tired when setting up camp, and practicing formations and flags seemed less boring.

This kind of spiritual and ideological self-motivation was the reason why the emperor devised a brilliant plan and led them to a great victory in Xiegu.

There is also the factor of the two major wars some time ago, in which everyone's contributions and sacrifices were recorded.

The compensation promised by the emperor was calculated based on the reported merits and sacrifices and informed to all the soldiers in all ten groups.

Although it has not been paid yet, most of the soldiers feel that there is real hope.

His Majesty, who can lead them to victory, has great power and majesty, and he will certainly keep his word!
Although the records of the fallen soldiers' achievements may not be 100% accurate, they have been confirmed by their comrades in the squadron to which they belonged.

Even if there are some deviations, there will basically be no complaints.

What's more, the Longxiang Guard and Huben Guard sent by the emperor to audit and verify hardly questioned the merits and sacrifices of the soldiers killed in battle as reported by the grassroots officers. It seemed that they were deliberately distributing pensions leniently to the soldiers killed in battle, and would rather give compensation to the wrong people than let them go.

Therefore, the emperor's attitude and behavior of valuing his promises and not wanting to betray them quickly aroused a surge of excitement in the army.

For a time, the timid were happy and willing to fight, while the brave were furious and wanted to die.

Some of the more carefree officers and soldiers even began to say bold words like "I will never repay your Majesty's kindness even if I die."

When Liu Chan heard this, he was stunned and lost in thought. He found it incredible and even began to reflect on himself. Was he too outstanding? Or was it really so easy for men in the Middle Ages to be loyal and die for their benefactors?
In short, Liu Chan was difficult to understand, but this phenomenon actually happened around him.

This phenomenon thus became a kind of feedback, educating Liu Chan, who came from later generations and did not understand the hearts of people in the modern world.

If it were not for me, the Son of Heaven, leading the soldiers to achieve great feats, then the one for whom the soldiers would be willing to serve and die would not be me, the Son of Heaven.

Fortunately, there were many loyal ministers in the Han Dynasty, so Liu Chan had no worries about important ministers taking power.

Even these important officials seemed happy to return the power. For example, Dong Yun, the General of the Tiger Guards, did not raise any objection when he saw that he proposed to set up the Dragon Guards.

This made Liu Chan dazed for a moment. Was this still the Minister Dong in Adou's memory who was not afraid to speak out against the emperor?

But although he had many loyal ministers, Liu Chan still had some of his own little thoughts.

What if these loyal ministers unfortunately pass away one day?
Therefore, while the loyal ministers are still here, even if he is exhausted from traveling and cannot sleep well, he must join these loyal ministers and brave generals in their campaigns to the east and the north, and share in the great achievements they have made.

As long as he sits in the center of the army, his greatest contribution will be to himself, the emperor. After that, he only needs to distinguish rewards and punishments clearly, show favors and win over the soldiers, and it will not be difficult to gain their support.

Didn't Sima Yi gain the support of the Guanxi Military Region, Jingzhou Military Region and Youyan Military Region by relying on his continuous victories in the western expeditions, southern expeditions and northern expeditions?

His father-in-law and fourth uncle were still alive. Once Longyou was in his hands, Liu Chan had no worries at all that these two close relatives could not lead him to success.

After supervising two thousand soldiers' military drills with flags and drums for an hour in the training ground north of Wuzhangyuan, Ma Bing, who was appointed by Liu Chan as the head of the military works department, came to report that his "temporary palace" was completed.

The so-called "temporary palace" is actually just a few large wooden houses.

But Liu Chan was actually excited for a moment.

Because I was extremely nervous and didn't know how to win people's hearts, I thought about eating and living with the soldiers. They never agreed to build a wooden house, so I lived in a tent for nearly a month.

Now that he saw that he didn't need to resort to such low-level and not necessarily effective methods as eating and living together to win people's hearts, Liu Chan finally decided to move into the mansion!
Smelling the special fragrance of pine wood and walking around several wooden houses, a Dragon Guard appeared at the door of Liu Chan's palace.

"Your Majesty, the Wei invaders from Longyou have left Sanguan Pass! Nearly two thousand Wei invaders are still on the east side, heading towards Meiwu!"

Liu Chan was stunned when he heard this.

Longxiong Zhonglang was also stunned:
"Two thousand light cavalry? Are the Xiongnu from Bingzhou coming?!"

(End of this chapter)