If we do not count the two insignificant rebellions in Xiping County during the Huangchu period and the rebellion of the Hu people in the four Hexi counties, the area of Longyou has not experienced any large-scale war since Cao Cao and Liu Bei fought in Hanzhong. It can be said that there has been a long period of peace. From the beginning of the 24th year of Jian'an to the end of the first year of Taihe, nearly eight full years had passed. Although the officials and people of the five counties in Longxi had long known that the Shu Kingdom in the south was an enemy country, the five counties in Longyou had already relaxed their vigilance because of the Wudu County, which had actually become a no-man's land. Even though the court urged many times and repeatedly ordered the counties in Longyou to prepare war plans, when the time came, it could only be said that it was better than being unprepared, but not much better. If there is no extremely certain crisis in front of them, the invisible whip in the hands of the court will not be enough to scare people awake. When the war broke out, Longyou was shaken, and all the counties from top to bottom suddenly became serious. After all, the enemy really attacked. On the evening of November 27, Lu Pan, the general stationed in Ji County of the Wei Dynasty, reported the news to Guo Huai in Linjing of Anding County and Zhang He in Chencang of Fufeng County. On the evening of November 30th, Left General Zhang He and Right General Guo Huai had just learned the news of the Shu army's invasion.
In the early morning of December 1st, Zhang He led two thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry and marched towards Longyou along the Longshan Road. At this time, Qian Zhao in Chang'an and Cao Rui in Luoyang were still unaware of the predicament that Longyou had encountered. The entire Longyou, or the entire Yongliang, under the urging of the prefect, the governor, and the governor, instinctively responded and prepared for the enemy attack. All the actions seemed to have little to do with Luoyang. But in fact, everyone in Longyou and Guan was waiting for orders from the North Palace of Luoyang City. And do your part before receiving instructions. Every sip and every bite has a cause and effect. As early as the turn of spring and summer, Zhang He and Zhang Junyi, the commanders-in-chief of the military forces in Yongliang, blocked all four roads leading to Guanzhong in accordance with the ideas of the Luoyang court and the emperor himself. Sanguan was repaired in the northern section of Chencang Road, and Baoxiade Road, Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road were blocked or destroyed as much as possible. All of the above factors did prevent Zhuge Liang from heading north to Guanzhong. The so-called military affairs are nothing more than attack, defense and peace. Since the military deployment of Wei in Guanzhong was clearly intended to be a coward, why did Zhuge Liang still want to touch this hard shell? Just lead the entire army to attack Longyou! Even if we don't touch Guanzhong, Longyou, Liangzhou...if we can obtain such a vast area, one and a half states of territory, it will be enough to restore the prestige of the Han Dynasty! This is what Zhuge Liang thought and did. This time, Zhuge Liang led his troops to the north, with an army of as many as 80,000 people, accounting for two-thirds of the total military force of Shu Han. December is the coldest time of year in Longyou. In the past 10 to 20 years, the winter has become increasingly cold. The cold weather not only slows down military operations in winter, but also causes countless problems in terms of logistics, health, and a series of other issues. "My dispatch of troops this time is also against the will of heaven!" At the Shu army camp outside Xi County, Zhuge Liang stood outside the central army tent, looking at the snowflakes falling from the sky and the soldiers busy building fortifications inside and outside the camp, and sighed with emotion. The Chief Clerk Xiang Lang advised, "Prime Minister, don't worry too much about the weather. It's cold in winter, and it's not just our Han army that's suffering from the cold, the Wei army is also suffering from the cold." "It's almost the end of the year. The Wei army in the five counties of Longyou is definitely not prepared. Fighting against our Han army in such cold weather will only make their morale and morale even more depressed."
Snowflakes kept falling on Zhuge Liang's shoulders and hat, and the white air he exhaled from his mouth was clearly visible to the naked eye. It was getting darker and darker, and the soldiers patrolling the camp were about to change shifts. This time, after the army was fully gathered in Wudu County, it marched north without stopping for almost a day. At this time, the army had already assembled and rested in Xi County for two or three days. Zhuge Liang asked softly, "According to the time, Gao Xiang should be almost in Ji County, right?" Xiang Lang replied, "Prime Minister, General Gao Xiang led two thousand cavalrymen and separated from the main force of our army at Beilang five days ago. According to the military order, after he went north to Luomen, one thousand cavalrymen went east to Ji County in Tianshui County, and one thousand cavalrymen went west to Nan'an County." "According to the estimated distance, General Gao Xiang will be able to reach Ji County tonight." Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "Call all the generals to the central army tent. I want to select the generals who will go out to fight tomorrow!" "Yes, sir." Xiang Lang bowed and replied. About half an hour later, all the generals stationed near Xi County and officials from the prime minister's office arrived at the central military tent. Although they had been marching continuously from Hanzhong for nearly twenty days, the generals in the army and the officials in the prime minister's office were still in high spirits and did not show the slightest sign of fatigue. The Han Dynasty was restored and the Wei rebels were defeated. This slogan, passed down since Liu Bei was crowned King of Hanzhong, has been firmly engraved in the hearts of every Shu Han general. At this time, they are marching in the army, their hearts are filled with passion, ambition and excitement of the upcoming war. Zhuge Liang looked around and asked with satisfaction: "The army has arrived here from Wudu, and the troops advancing in front and behind are even two or three days behind. This afternoon, the army finally assembled in Xi County." "Xi County is a strategic location. To the north, it can reach Ji County, to the northeast, it can reach Shanggui and Linwei, and to the northwest, it can reach Nan'an County and Longxi County." "The troops are divided into three groups. I will command them from the main camp in West County." Zhuge Liang glanced at Ma Su and said, "You Chang, explain the strategic purpose of this march to the other generals." "As you command." Ma Su bowed, then stood in front of Zhuge Liang with his chest held high, and said in a loud voice: "Now that the royal army has arrived in Tianshui County, from the overall perspective, the first priority is to cut off the passage between Longyou and Guanzhong, and the second is to capture the counties in Longyou." "This time, the Western Army will be responsible for forcing Longxi County and Nan'an County to surrender and conquer them." "The Central Army is responsible for conquering Ji County and Shanggui, and then conquering Linwei in Guangwei County, cutting off the Weishui River and preventing the Wei army from coming to support from here." "The Eastern Army will be responsible for bypassing Shanggui, then heading north, blocking the Longshan Road, preventing most of the Wei army from coming to the rescue, and conquering Anding County." After saying this, Ma Su turned around and saluted Zhuge Liang: "Prime Minister, I have finished my discussion." Zhuge Liang stroked his beard and nodded, then asked, "Is there anyone who still doesn't understand?" All the generals in the tent expressed that they had no doubts. And there really is nothing to doubt about it. This time, Shu Han raised an army of 80,000 to attack Longyou. Its strategic purpose was to cede Longyou and Liangzhou to enrich the Han. In order to achieve this strategic goal, there are two most critical objectives to be achieved: First of all, we must try our best to prevent the Wei army in Guanzhong from coming to our aid, and defeat the Wei army that comes to our aid. This is the top priority of this military operation and must be accomplished quickly. Secondly, it is necessary to conquer all the counties and prefectures in Longyou as soon as possible so that we can concentrate our forces to fight against the reinforcements from Wei. Zhuge Liang's recent deployment of troops is also fully implementing this strategy. Qishan Fort is easy to defend but difficult to attack? Then leave 3,000 soldiers to camp outside Qishan Fort. Twice the number of troops will be enough to prevent the troops in Qishan Fort from disrupting the food supply route and making them ineffective. Is it difficult to capture Xi County at the moment? Then build a large camp outside to surround it, and Zhuge Liang himself will use Xi County as his command post. It is only to be expected that Xi County will be conquered or surrendered.
Seeing that all the generals had no doubts, Zhuge Liang stood up from his seat, looked at the generals with a serious expression, his eyes full of conviction and determination, and immediately began to call on their generals. "Where are General Zhenwei Yuan Chen, General Zhaowu Hu Ji, and Governor of Guanghan Zhang Yi?" Zhuge Liang asked loudly. "I am here!" The three generals bowed and stepped out. "General Zhenwei Yuan Chen will lead the western troops with 12,000 men to attack Longxi and Nangan counties," Zhuge Liang announced in public. "We will follow the Prime Minister's orders!" the three generals answered in unison. Zhuge Liang's expression remained serious as he continued to call out his generals: "Where are General Wu Yi, the Governor of Yinping, Liao Hua, General Huang Xi, the General of Ningyuan, and General Zong Yu, the Right General?" "I'm here!" Four generals stepped forward. Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "You four will be the central army, each leading your own troops, totaling 30,000 people, responsible for capturing Ji County and Shanggui in Tianshui County." "The Central Army is closest to Xi County and will be commanded by me personally. If we capture either Ji County or Shanggui, I will go to the front line to command." "We will follow the Prime Minister's orders!" Wu Yi and other four generals also responded. As early as half a year ago, when Zhuge Liang just arrived in Hanzhong, he had gradually distributed the troops gathered from all counties in Yizhou according to the generals. Therefore, before the battle, the generals would have worked with their subordinates, lieutenants, and captains for a long time. When the real battle came, they would just distribute the military orders to the generals. Of the 80,000 troops of Shu Han, 3,000 were left garrisoning in Qishan Fort. Gao Xiang led 2,000 cavalrymen to the north first. Zhuge Liang himself had to leave about 3,000 troops here to guard Xi County. After the arrival of more than 40,000 troops from the Western Army and the Central Army, the strength of the Eastern Army was already apparent, which was a full 30,000 troops. At this time, there were still many generals in the tent who had not been named by Zhuge Liang. General Zhao Yun, General Wei Yan, General Wu Ban, General Chen Shi, General Deng Zhi, General Wang Ping, General Wang Ping, General Zhao Yun, General Wei Yan, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Wu, General Zhao Yun, General Wei Yan, General Wei Yan, General Wu, General Wei Yan ... It can be described as an abundance of talents. At this time, Prime Minister Zhuge was still worried about which general to send, not that there was no one available. Although a name was already on the tip of his tongue, Zhuge Liang looked at the generals in the tent and the ministers in the prime minister's office, who were looking at him with expectant eyes, and he hesitated for a moment. It was the time to select the generals, and Zhuge Liang's hesitation in the tent made many people standing below notice something was wrong. Seeing Zhuge Liang silent, Wei Yan glanced around, then walked out with his head held high, stood in the tent, bowed to Zhuge Liang and said: "Prime Minister! I am willing to supervise the Eastern Route Army for you!" (End of this chapter)
