Sima Yi was quite calm at this time, and responded with a folded hand: "Your Majesty, I believe Zhang He can definitely hold on." Seeing the emperor's gaze turned towards him, Sima Yi added: "Not only Zhang He can hold on, I think Guo Huai must have not lost Shanggui yet." The gains and losses of a city or a place depended on frontline generals such as Guo Huai and Zhang He. Cao Rui, who was far away in Chang'an, could not intervene at all, so he was a little indifferent. "Why does Sikong think that the two of them will be able to hold on?" Cao Rui asked. Sima Yi actually laughed: "Your Majesty, attacking a city is not as easy as fighting in the field." "When Emperor Wu of Han conquered Hebei, he attacked Yecheng from February to August. He built earthen hills, dug tunnels, built trenches, and opened the Zhang River. He used all kinds of means. In the end, he was able to enter Yecheng only because Shen Pei's nephew opened the city gate." "Ma Chao once led tens of thousands of people to besiege Ji County, but Ji County alone was able to hold out from the first month to the eighth month. In the end, it was only because Wei Kang, the governor of Liang Province, was afraid of Ma Chao that he opened the city and surrendered." Xin Pi also added, "Your Majesty, what the Minister of Works said is correct. During the Huangchu period, I was the military advisor of the General and besieged Jiangling with the Western Army. Zhu Ran led less than 5,000 soldiers in Jiangling City and resisted the General, Xiahou Zhengnan, the Left General and Xu Zhengnan for half a year (Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, Zhang He, Xu Huang)." "In my opinion, Generals Guo Boji and Zhang Junyi will have no problem defending the city." But Cao Rui frowned and asked: "Sikong and Xin Shizhong said that they are all big cities. Shanggui and Chencang are not as strong as Yecheng and Jiangling."
Xin Pi explained: "Your Majesty, big cities have their own laws, and small cities have their own laws." "If the city is large but the defenders are few, then there will be loopholes everywhere and the enemy will take advantage of it. If the city is small but the defenders are many, then the primary problem is the food and grass in the city." Cao Rui suddenly realized: "There is a lot of farmland near Shanggui, and the city is not very large. Guo Huai has nearly 5,000 soldiers in the city, so there is no danger in the short term. Lueyang is remote and Zhang He has a large number of troops. If we delay for too long, we will run out of food." "Your Majesty is absolutely right." Sima Yi stood beside him and added: "Even if Shanggui is not as good as Jiangling, it is still a city where the veteran general Guo Huai is stationed. Guo Huai has only been guarding it for less than ten days, so it must be safe now." "According to the laws of the Wei Dynasty, the defenders in the city can only pardon their families if they surrender after being besieged for 100 days. Shanggui was defended for ten days, which was just the beginning." Cao Rui nodded, looked around at everyone and said, "I understand what Minister Xin and Minister of Works mean. Guo Huai has been trapped behind the enemy lines, and Wei can do nothing about it for the time being. We can only let him hold on by himself." "Zhang He is in Lueyang. The city is small but the soldiers are numerous, while the enemy troops outside the city are even more numerous. He is in danger of running out of food, so he needs to be rescued quickly in order to win the battle quickly." Sima Yi cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is gifted with wisdom and judgment, and your wisdom is as bright as a candle." Cao Rui ignored Sima Yi's flattery, turned around and walked back to his seat, and asked, "Any news from Liangzhou?" "Not yet." Xin Pi replied: "If we estimate based on distance and time, the 2,000 infantrymen of Hao Zhao's army stationed in Yuzhong should be able to reach Xiangwu in Longxi County. However, Xiangwu is closer to Tianshui, and I don't know if it is occupied by the Shu army now." "Lu Xun and Xiahou Ba probably only learned the news not long ago, and they probably haven't left their counties yet. After all, the territories of the counties in Liangzhou are a bit too vast." Cao Rui sighed and said, "It seems that Zhang He is in Lueyang. We can only count on Qian Zhao and the central army to help him!" "It will take another three or four days for Qian Zhao to reach Lueyang. Where is the general?" "The general is one day ahead of us, and should have reached Wugong by now." Xin Pi responded, "It will take at least seven days!" Seven days...that means it will be around December 20th before we can reach Lueyang. We cannot be hasty in rescuing Shanggui, and we cannot be slow in rushing to help Lueyang. The pros and cons involved have been clearly stated by two wise men, Xin Pi and Sima Yi. The Shu army had about 30,000 soldiers surrounding Lueyang. With the help of Zhang He's 10,000 soldiers guarding the city, and the troops of Qian Zhao and Cao Zhen who had traveled a long way and were exhausted, the number just reached 30,000. What if the Shu army sends more troops to Lueyang? What should we do? Cao Rui had already made up his mind. He stood up and looked at the ministers in the hall: "My mind is made up. Tomorrow I will personally lead 16,000 cavalry to Lueyang for rescue!"
"As for the matter in Guanzhong..." Cao Rui paused, and finally set his sights on Xin Pi: "Xin Qing! Guanzhong currently still has 8,500 foreign troops, as well as 9,000 county soldiers from Jingzhao, Fengling, and Fufeng counties, a total of more than 17,000 people." "I plan to let Zhu Gai lead these 8,500 foreign troops. At the same time, I will appoint Xin Qing as the Guardian of Guanzhong, commanding these 9,000 county troops and protecting Zhu Gai's troops." Xin Pi was a little surprised, but then he became serious. Zhang He and Guo Huai were both in Guanxi, and Sima Yi and others who were beside the emperor were bound to go to Longyou together. After all the calculations, it seemed that only he was suitable to be the candidate for the Guanzhong Guard. Just as Xin Pi was about to reply, Cao Rui continued, "Xin Qing has the heaviest responsibility! First, to supervise the grain supply, and second, to protect my retreat!" "Are you willing to take on this task, Xin Qing?" Xin Pi did not hesitate any longer and bowed: "Your Majesty, I will do my best to take good care of Guanzhong! I also hope that Your Majesty will be successful in suppressing the rebellion in Longyou!" "It will be successful." Cao Rui nodded: "The whole army will set out tomorrow morning! Tell Xu Chu and Cao Hong behind us that they cannot stop for even a day and the whole army will follow me." "Isn't Zhuge Liang planning to attack Lueyang? I will bring all the central troops with me and fight him for this small Lueyang city!" …… Not to mention how Cao Rui encouraged himself in Chang'an and prepared to personally lead troops to reinforce Lueyang. It was already December 13th, and five days had passed since Zhao Yun arrived in Lueyang City. At this time, the situation in Lueyang City was not optimistic. It's not that Zhang He couldn't defend the city. Although Lueyang City was small, it would be difficult for the Shu army to capture it in a short time. Lueyang City was surrounded by rivers on both sides. The Shu army wanted to build a camp near the river a few days ago, but was repelled by Zhang He's army. So the Shu army gave up the idea of setting up camp by the river near Lueyang City, and instead sent more than 10,000 soldiers from Wei Yan and Wu Ban's troops to set up camp eight miles northeast of Lueyang City, next to the main road leading to Lueyang from Longshan Road, thus blocking the Wei army's way to rescue Lueyang. The Wei army had only 10,000 men, and when they attacked Deng Zhi's troops, more than 300 of them were killed or injured, leaving them unable to fight. At this time, Zhao Yun and Wang Ping had a total of 15,000 troops outside Lueyang City. Zhao Yun was also a veteran who had been fighting for a lifetime, and when he faced Zhang He, he was evenly matched. What really affected the defenders of Lueyang was the physical condition of Zhang He, the governor of Yongliang and the left general. Zhang He was sick, and he was sick with a cold. Although Zhang He had been a soldier all his life and was much stronger than ordinary people, he was over 60 years old after all. It was nothing for him to lead the cavalry to march 120 miles a day to Lueyang. What really caused Zhang He to fall ill was not only the extremely cold weather and frequent supervision of battles, but also his highly nervous mental state. Everything comes from information asymmetry. In this era when communication depended entirely on horses, in such a vast area from Longyou to Guanzhong and then to Luoyang, what everyone was trying to solve and analyze was actually the information gap. From Zhang He's perspective, he knew that Guo Huai's troops had only 5,000 soldiers, and he also knew that Hao Zhao and Xiahou Ba in Liangzhou would rush to Longxi County to provide assistance in accordance with his orders. As for the reinforcements, Zhang He only learned on the morning of the 8th, when the Shu army had not yet blocked the Longshan Road, that Qian Zhao would lead 15,000 infantrymen to set out from Chang'an on the 2nd to provide support. But the Longshan Road was blocked by the Shu army! And with Zhang He's current strength, he was completely unable to break through this Shu army. In addition, Zhang He was not clear about the movements of the central army, and did not know how the emperor and the general in Luoyang would act, whether they would send the central army to help, or whether they would blindly trust him... In short, the cold weather, Zhang He's age, and his constant anxiety caused this tough general of the Wei Dynasty to catch a cold. According to the doctor, Zhang He's illness was caused by an external pathogen. Two days ago, after Zhang He led his troops to repel the Shu army, he returned to the city and started to have a fever in the evening. Lueyang is a county after all, and there are clinics and medicinal materials in the city. After a few hours of fever, the fever came back again, and it happened several times. It was only this afternoon that I felt a little better. Chen Ping knelt beside Zhang He's couch, dipped a towel in water and wiped Zhang He's forehead and face.
"What's the situation outside the city?" Zhang He asked, lying on the couch with his eyes closed, "Are there any new movements by the Shu army?" "To reply to the governor, the Shu army has no intention of attacking in the past two days. Scouts have learned that they have been cutting down trees and building siege equipment in the past two days." Zhang He coughed violently a few times after hearing this. He took the warm water handed over by Chen Ping, swallowed some in small sips, and then said with all his strength: "On the 8th, we received a message from Qian Zhao. Calculating the time, he will arrive in four days." "But now the Shu army has blocked the road. I wonder if Qian Zhao can get through!" Chen Ping paused, then said, "When the governor fell asleep due to a cold the day before yesterday, I sent scouts to the northwest in the direction of Chengji, through the Shuiluo River and towards Longshan Road to find Qianzhenxi." "It's possible that in two days, we will run into Qian Zhenxi's troops." Zhang He raised his eyes and looked at the soldier who he thought was a little slow in thinking: "What did you do? Not bad, not bad." Chen Ping grinned, but when he saw Zhang He's still haggard face, he stopped smiling: "The commander-in-chief should get better soon. If we bring Zhenxi here, I'm afraid he can only contain the enemy a little, and it will be difficult to truly rescue Lueyang." Zhang He sighed and said, "That's right! Bring the medicine over here. I want to drink twice the amount today." "It's just a cold, what can it do to me?" (End of this chapter)