Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 82 Invasion Like Fire
"An Guo led a thousand cavalry to capture Gaoling?!" Liu Chan was surprised for a moment.

It's not that he hadn't thought about this possibility, but it was too outrageous, even more outrageous than going to Xinfeng Warehouse to burn the Wei invaders' food supplies, so he finally rejected it.

"Even if a thousand cavalrymen can capture the city, how can they defend it?" Liu Chan continued to ask.

Yang Tiao said a little reservedly:
"Your Majesty, you may not know that when the angel Wei Xing brought your Majesty's imperial edict that day, I quickly ordered people to rush among the Han and Qiang nobles in each county.

"He was given the office of a county official and a lord, and was connected with them. In the end, he obtained 4,000 foot soldiers, 1,000 cavalry soldiers, and 20,000 grain and fodder.

"Since Jieting had been conquered, there was no need to worry about Anding anymore. Zhao Huqiang left 500 Tiger Guards and 2,000 Qiang warriors from my army to defend Anding.

"Afterwards, he led five hundred Tiger Guards and newly recruited Han and Qiang warriors, totaling five thousand five hundred infantry and cavalry, southward."

"Five hundred infantry and cavalry?" Liu Chan's thoughts were still on the news that Yang Tiao had recruited five thousand Han and Qiang infantry and cavalry.

I thought there weren't many people in Anding, but they could actually gather 5,000 infantry and cavalry?
This big guy's snowball is getting bigger and bigger!

When he first came out of Xiegu, including the two thousand Hanzhong County soldiers he brought with him, there were only 23,000 troops in Guanzhong.

Later, four thousand Tiger Guards arrived first, Li Feng brought three thousand Jiangzhou troops, Wang Ping brought five thousand Longyou troops, and Guan Xing gathered another four thousand Qiang warriors.

A rough calculation, excluding the dead and wounded, shows that there are now 34,000 to 35,000 soldiers in Guanzhong!
The plank road was repaired soon, and there was no shortage of people to transport the food and fodder.

The captured Wei army included more than 50,000 civilian laborers, who could be used directly. After the prisoners were dispersed, at least half of them could be used depending on the situation.

The Qiang King continued:
"Yes, Your Majesty, there are five thousand Han and Qiang warriors.

"The original intention was to set an ambush to lure the Xiongnu into an attack, but the Xiongnu did not fall for it, so An Guo changed his strategy and decided to take the risk and capture the king.

"Afterwards, Zhao Huqiang was ordered to continue leading his troops south along the Jing River to provide support and prevent the surprise attack from failing and leaving them with nowhere to retreat.

"But we didn't expect it to be successful. So An Guo led 100 Tiger Cavalry, 500 Xiongnu Cavalry, and 500 Qiang Cavalry of our own army to flee eastward.

"If we can unite with the Zhao Hu Qiang to attack Gaoling City, which is on the Wei River grain route, then once the Prime Minister's Longyou army arrives, we will have the possibility of taking Chang'an.

"At the very least, we can force the Wei invaders in Meiwu to retreat."

"Is that so?" Liu Chan finally understood. No wonder the Wei army in Meiwu retreated!
This was because Guan Xing anticipated that Zhao Yun's siege of Chencang would be lifted, and Zhang He's troops on the south bank of the Wei River would inevitably collapse. The Wei army in Meiwu would inevitably panic upon seeing this, so he finally took advantage of the high mobility of the cavalry to create an information gap. His reaction was quite quick!

Or perhaps this was a plan that Guan Xing and Zhao Tong had already made!

Otherwise, how could they have made such a decision in such a short time? And how could they have forced the Wei army in Meiwu to burn down the fort and retreat?

"General Zilong, what should we do now? Should we go to support An Guo and besiege Chang'an, or should we send someone to ask An Guo to withdraw his troops?"

The Prime Minister had not conquered Longyou, and Sima Yi was a man of swiftness and invincibility, which was the reason why Liu Chan put aside his greed and radicalism.

But now Guan Xing and Zhao Tong seemed to have some ideas about Chang'an, which made Liu Chan hesitate again.

However, Zhao Yun also hesitated:

"Your Majesty, if Anguo and Hunyi can indeed capture Gaoling, my Wuzhangyuan army will quickly advance to Xiuliu and form a pincer attack with Gaoling. Perhaps we can truly capture Chang'an in one battle.

Gaoling is located on the left side of the Jing River and on the south side of the Wei River. If we station 30,000 troops at Gaoling, we can cut off the food supply route to Chang'an and force Sima Yi's army to seek food in Xinfeng, east of Gaoling.

"He came here in a hurry, having traveled a thousand miles. He certainly didn't bring any siege equipment. If he had to make some on the spur of the moment, it would take a month. It shouldn't be difficult for An Guo and Hun Yi to hold Gao Ling for a month, but..."

"But what?" Liu Chan paused.

Zhao Yun was silent for a few breaths, then shook his head:

"But... this is a bit risky. If our Wuzhangyuan army were to camp in Xiliu, Sima Yi's army would not attack Gaoling City upon its arrival, but would attack our Xiliu camp instead.

"I must leave behind ten thousand men at Wuzhangyuan to guard the rear, eight thousand men to protect the grain routes along the Jing and Wei rivers, and only ten thousand men at Xiliu are available at most.

"By then, Sima Yi will surely launch a relentless attack on our Xiuli camp. If we can't hold out until the Prime Minister's Longyou army arrives to support us, we'll be defeated piecemeal, and our previously accumulated victories and morale will be shattered."

Liu Chan nodded hesitantly.

He understood that there was a chance to capture Chang'an, but risks and opportunities coexisted.

The risks are great, but the opportunities are also great.

It’s not that Liu Chan is greedy, he has already changed his mind after hearing what Dong Yun said before!

But no one expected that Guan Xing and Zhao Tong would actually block the grain road to Chang'an!
In addition, the morale of Cao's army is now greatly reduced, and Sun Quan may be about to launch an attack. This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight for Chang'an!

Anyone would hesitate again and again.

After all, when Cao Wei recovers in the future, the attack and defense of Chang'an will surely be prolonged, and it may take several years or even more than ten years to conquer it.

Just like Hefei to Sun Quan, he was unable to capture it for a long time, and finally completely dragged down the Eastern Wu.

However, the risks were there, and even Zhao Yun was so hesitant. How could Liu Chan, who didn't understand military affairs, dare to make a decision easily?
"How about I quickly write to the Prime Minister and let him make the decision?
"If the Prime Minister can reply before Sima Yi enters Guanzhong, we will do as the Prime Minister wishes.

"If the Prime Minister's reply hasn't arrived yet, and Sima Yi's army has already left Yaoguan and entered Lantian, would it be feasible to order Anguo and Hunyi to lead their troops back to Anding?"

Zhao Yun thought about it again and again, and was about to nod, but then he thought of something:
"Your Majesty, if this is the case, then our Wuzhangyuan army should immediately pursue them.

"First, we will force the Wei invaders who have retreated from Meiwu back to Chang'an and not give them time to react.

"Secondly, we should immediately occupy Xiliu and set up camp there, forming a pincer attack with Gaoling, so that the Wei invaders in Chang'an would not dare to leave the city to harass Gaoling in Anguo.

"Once we discover that Sima Yi is marching towards Lantian, we will first cover An Guo's retreat and secure Anding, while our Xiuli camp then calmly withdraws to Wuzhangyuan.

"That way, we can be absolutely sure."

Liu Chan nodded without hesitation and said, "Let's do as General Zilong says.

"But now there are so many captives in Wuzhangyuan, and there are so many complicated matters, that Minister Dong and Deng Yangwu are quite overwhelmed in dealing with them.

"I think it would be best to leave General Zilong here for a few days to coordinate the work.

"How about having Zijun lead his own 5,000 troops first, and then have Fu Gongquan, Cuan Xiong, Yang Ji, and the other captains Zongqian lead 10,000 troops in pursuit?"

Dong Yun and Deng Zhi did not have much experience in taking in surrendered prisoners, so it would be better to let Zhao Yun take charge of the overall situation, otherwise it would be bad if the prisoners caused any trouble.

In this way, there are still 12,000 soldiers on the plateau, which is enough to deal with it.

Zhao Yun had this in mind and smiled slightly:
"Your Majesty has made every possible arrangement!"

...

...

evening.

martial arts.

Cao's army retreated for a day and set up camp.

In the general's tent, all the generals gathered together, each of them had a sad face and looked depressed.

"None of the scouts we sent out have returned yet?" Guanqiu Jian began to get anxious.

Two days have passed, and no one knows what the more than 1,000 Han cavalrymen who rushed eastward did.

According to the deserters who escaped from Chencang the day before, when the defenders at the city of Chencang saw the Xiongnu cavalry coming, they thought they were sent by Lu Zhao to provide support.

After all, even the patrolling on the road were Hun cavalry. They had flags and even knew the password to enter the camp that day, so they were not on guard at all and were easily let into the camp.

This is very scary.

Because it is roughly the same east of Meiwu!
The hundreds of riders patrolling the road were all Hun cavalry!

The last two hundred Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in Chang'an were arranged to patrol between Chang'an and Xinfeng Granary, and between Chang'an and Yaoguan day and night to prevent the granaries from being burned and to prevent the Han army from sending a small group of elite troops to attack Yaoguan.

Du Xi sighed and said:
"As expected, the Shu invaders should be going to seize Gaoling City at the junction of Jing and Wei." "The Xiongnu are here to protect the grain. They know the strengths and weaknesses of our grain routes and the strict defenses of Xinfeng Warehouse, so they will not go there to take risks."

"In this case, Gaoling will be the easiest place to capture, but also the most crucial."

"Doesn't Gaoling have two thousand defenders?" Xiahou Ru's face turned pale.

"Perhaps we can hold out for a while and wait for the Chang'an defenders to come out of the city to provide support?"

Anding rebelled against Wei and surrendered to Han, so Gaoling, which was blocked on Anding's grain route, naturally had to send people to garrison.

But not much.

There are only 12,000 defenders left in Chang'an now. The 2,000 sent by Gao Ling is already an overstretch. In addition, more than 100 Xiongnu light cavalry were sent to patrol the upper reaches of the Jing River before, so it was originally foolproof.

It is totally unexpected that those Huns with thick eyebrows and big eyes would surrender to the Han Dynasty!

Just as everyone was silent, a Yamen Sima who was under Niu Jin rushed into the tent and said in fear:
"Generals, come quickly! There's a man outside the east gate claiming to be Jiang Tong, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry commander. He's dying!"

Everyone in the tent was suddenly startled and immediately rushed towards the east gate.

When they arrived at the east gate, they saw a dead warhorse, and on the horse's belly lay a dying man.

When they got closer, they found that both the man and the horse had been hit by several arrows.

"Jiang Tong? What's going on?" Yin Damu, the commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, rushed forward and squatted down. He recognized this Du Bo.

"Yin Qi Du..." The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry commander was already breathing heavily.

"This morning, over two thousand cavalry and three to four thousand infantry suddenly appeared at Baling and seized over sixty ships of grain bound for Chang'an."

"More than 2,000 cavalry?!" Yin Damu was extremely shocked. "Didn't the Shu invaders only have over 1,000 cavalry? How come they have more than 1,000 cavalry now?!"

Behind Yin Damu, Guanqiu Jian, Du Xi, Linghu Yu and others also had complicated expressions and were speechless for a long time.

Gaoling is on the north bank of Weishui River!
Ba Ling is on the south bank of the Wei River!
Only thirty miles away from Chang'an!

Thousands of infantry and cavalry appeared at Baling, east of Chang'an and south of the Wei River, and the Chang'an defenders were completely unaware!

"Where is Gaoling? Was Gaoling attacked and captured by the Shu bandits?!" Lu Zhao asked hurriedly.

"I...I don't know." Uncle Du coughed several times.

"I was originally in Chang'an City. It was not until the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry who were patrolling near Chang'an that morning reported that the city learned that thousands of Shu bandits had come to rob grain.

"The city was in great panic. General Yang Lie ordered me and twenty cavalrymen to take a small road and report the news separately...

"In the end, we still encountered a few Xiongnu... General Yang Lie ordered you to return quickly..."

Before he could finish his words, Du Bo died instantly due to lack of breath.

Yin Damu stood up in astonishment. "What the hell is going on? How did four or five thousand Shu invaders suddenly appear at Ba Ling, at the foot of Chang'an? And how did they take away over sixty ships of grain?"

Guanqiu Jian, Du Xi and others looked at each other in silence, with their heads hung in dejection.

How could Yin Damu not know this?
The facts were clear. Apparently, the rebel Qiang people in Anding, who were still on the sidelines, saw that the Shu invaders were powerful, so they emptied out their assets to help the Shu invaders capture Chang'an.

It's just that the person can't accept it at the moment.

Xiahou Bao asked dryly, "Tell me, can Chang'an still be defended? Can we wait until Sima Gong arrives in Chang'an?"

Xia Houru immediately glared at his cousin:
"What depressing words!

"You want to capture Chang'an with just a few thousand cavalry?
"Do you really think General Anxi (Xiahou Mao) and General Yanglie (Wang Chang) are vegetarians?!"

After hearing this, Xiahou Bao was at a loss. After a moment of silence, he looked at Cao Zhen's military advisor Du Xi:
"Military Advisor Du, what should we do now?"

Du Xi glanced at the man, then sighed and finally fell into silence and thought.

Seeing this, the others, such as Guanqiu Jian and Linghu Yu, all looked confused and had no intention of disturbing him.

After a long time, Du Xi coughed twice to clear his hoarse throat and was the first to break the silence:

"Since the Shu invaders appeared at Baling to seize grain, Gaoling must have been taken by them.

"If the Shu invaders from Wuzhangyuan come with a large army and seize Xiliu, forming a pincer attack with Gaoling, and then station a large army at Gaoling, then Chang'an will be in danger.

"However, the Shu bandits chasing after our army number only three to four thousand men. They are probably just monitoring our movements and have no intention of competing with us for this advantageous position.

"This is clear evidence of the Shu invaders' shortsightedness.

"I still have 24,000 soldiers. Tomorrow, I will leave 4,000 elite soldiers to guard the rear and march slowly. The other 20,000 will break camp at dawn and quickly go to Xiliu to set up camp and build fortifications.

"It can not only support Chang'an, but also prevent the Shu invaders west of Chang'an from communicating with the Shu invaders in Gaoling.

"In this way, once Sima Gong's army arrives, the Shu invaders in Gaoling will retreat on their own. Otherwise, they will be courting their own destruction."

When Guanqiu Jian heard Du Xi's words, his eyes, which had been drooping, suddenly widened, and he nodded heavily:

"Military Advisor Du is right. The Shu invaders seized Gaoling, clearly intending to take Chang'an in one battle, but they didn't pursue their victory and quickly capture Xiliu!

"Such behavior is enough to show that he has run out of wisdom and strength, and is almost at the end of his strength!"

After saying this, the man and Du Xi looked at each other, then quickly looked away.

Both of them knew that it was not that the Shu invaders were out of ideas and strength, but most likely they were not clear about the terrain near Chang'an, so they failed to make the correct deployment.

The reason for belittling the Shu army was simply to boost the morale of the generals which had reached rock bottom.

Du Xiqiang remained calm and said:

"Earlier, Your Majesty sent a letter to Sima Gong asking how it was possible to behead Meng Da in just twenty days.

Sima Gong replied:

"Meng Da's army is small, but their food reserves can last a year. My army of the Great Wei is four times larger than Meng Da's, but we have less than a month's worth of food."

"The Great Wei, with only one month's supply of food, is fighting against Meng Da, who only has a year's supply. How can we not fight quickly and decisively?"

"With four against one, even if most of them were killed or wounded, as long as they could win, it was still viable. So, regardless of casualties, they slaughtered Meng Da's troops, shocking them and forcing them to open the city and surrender."

"From this perspective, Sima Gong's military strategy is to be aggressive like fire, to achieve his goals at any cost, and to be relentless in attacking the enemy's vital points.

"If the Shu invaders hold Wuzhangyuan, consolidate their victory, and wait for changes in the east before marching to Chang'an, then our Great Wei will have to be wary of them.

"But if they really dare to march on Chang'an at this time, it will clearly show their arrogance.

"With Sima Gong's ingenious tactics and the bravery of his men, we will surely be able to make the Shu invaders' accumulated victories fall at the last moment, and their accumulated achievements fail before they are even completed!"

After listening to the analysis of Du Xi, the think tank, everyone's low morale finally lifted a little.

But it was only slightly.

General Cao Zhen is dead, and Right General Zhang He is probably dead too. Who knows whether this cavalry general was really as aggressive as ever?

After all, the one he just defeated was just the treacherous villain Meng Da, while in Guanzhong was the pseudo-emperor of Shu Han who had won many victories since he personally led the army, and the courageous Zhao Zilong of Changshan. How could the difficulty be the same?
Everyone returned to their camps to guard against a night attack by the Shu invaders, and to prepare to quickly capture Xiliu tomorrow to fight for the last piece of land north of Chang'an.

Wake up the next day.

Each of them broke camp.

However, before they had gone ten miles, the scouts brought back two pieces of news, which shocked all the generals who had retreated from Meiwu.

One is that the Han army has already set up camp in Xiliu!
But no one from the Chang'an defenders came out of the city to stop them!

Another thing is that the number of Shu bandits chasing after him has increased from three or four thousand to ten or twenty thousand, which is impossible to count!
(End of this chapter)