After the meeting, everyone in the prime minister's residence dispersed, and only Yang Yi remained in the hall. "What else does Lord Wei want to say?" Zhuge Liang looked at Yang Yi with burning eyes. "Prime Minister, regarding the war in Shanggui, I have a rough guess in my mind, but I don't know if it is appropriate, so I want to report it to the Prime Minister in private." Zhuge Liang replied: "If it is an idea related to the war, whether it is feasible or not, I am willing to listen to it. Lord Wei, please speak up." Yang Yi asked, "I was sorting out the information this morning and discovered that the commander of the Tianshui County troops, Gao Gang, was from a prominent family in Nan'an County." Gao Gang... Nan'an County... Zhuge Liang keenly sensed the key and asked, "Can you find Gao Gang's family?" Yang Yi replied, "Of course it is possible. However, the Wei army has been staying in Shanggui City for the past few days. Even if there is a slight possibility, I don't know how to contact Gao Gang and persuade him to rebel." After a moment of silence, Zhuge Liang said, "You do this first. I will give Wu Yi an order to have him withdraw the garrison troops from the city." Seeing Yang Yi's slightly confused look, Zhuge Liang explained, "Before, Guo Huai stayed indoors because Wu Yi did not launch a large-scale attack on the city. He just kept sending messengers to persuade them to surrender and spread information to the city to make them panic."
"Wu Yi has been building siege equipment such as well fences, ladders, and battering rams for the past two days. I will have him build them near Shanggui." "If Guo Huai still has some wisdom, he will definitely send people out of the city to destroy the place where the siege equipment is built. In this way, it is possible to kill his troops or contact Gao Gang." Zhuge Liang smiled calmly and said, "If Guo Huai still doesn't dare to leave the city, then we can just wait until the siege equipment is ready and then launch a strong attack." Yang Yi sighed, "This is a brilliant plan, Prime Minister. I'm sure Guo Huai will have to leave the city and won't be able to stay in Shanggui anymore." "No matter what, the attack on Shanggui must be accelerated! Give Wu Yi another five days. If there is still no progress, I will go to the outside of Shanggui City to supervise the battle!" "As you command, I will send a letter to Wu Yi right away." Yang Yi bowed and took his leave. Except for the guards standing in the corner and at the door, Zhuge Liang was the only one in the hall. He walked slowly into the courtyard, took a deep breath of the cold winter air, and looked up at the eternal stars hanging in the night sky. Since he had sent out his troops, Zhuge Liang had observed the sky every night, but he had never seen any good or bad signs. The stars in the sky seemed to have nothing to do with the human world, and they did not react at all to his sending out his troops. This time, all the manpower and material resources accumulated in Shu over the past few years were mobilized. If Yizhou alone was used to fight against most of Wei, if the army was not mobilized at this moment when the gap between the two sides was the smallest, how could it be possible to wait for the right time as the corrupt scholars in the court said? If destiny is not fulfilled, I will be destiny myself! …… Zhuge Liang used the prestige of the Han Dynasty and the official positions and rewards promised to him to recruit many Qiang and Di people to serve him. On the other side, the Wei Dynasty also recruited many Qiang people. After several Qiang rebellions in the Later Han Dynasty, the Qiang people who originally lived outside the national borders came to submit to the central government and filled the valleys and remote areas in Yongliang where the Han people were unwilling to live. Among the Qiang people in the three counties of Nangan, Longxi and Tianshui, except for a part who responded to Zhuge Liang's recruitment, there were still many who ignored it. The reason is very simple. A Qiang tribe in Xinxing County made it clear when facing the recruitment of Shu Han. What Han, what Wei, it's just you Han people fighting against Han people, our tribe doesn't want to get involved in this matter. This is clear neutrality. Even though Zhuge Liang had a large army at his side, he was unwilling to force these Qiang people to take sides. The governor of Liang Province, Guo Huai, was besieged in Shanggui and had lost contact with the outside world. In addition, Nan'an had been lost and Xiangwu in Longxi was besieged, so the local Qiang people had no reason to come to help Wei. However, Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang in Xiping County, played his role to the fullest extent.
On December 6, after receiving the alarm from Longyou, Lu Xun, the Protector of the Qiang, immediately led 2,000 Qiang volunteers from his own army and set out from Linqiang, marching towards Yuzhong and Longxi counties. As early as when Qu Ying rebelled and was captured by Lu Xun and sent to the court, Lu Xun knew that many Qiang people in Wudu County and Longxi County had connections with Shu Han. This time when Shu Han mobilizes a large army in Longyou, it will certainly summon the Qiang people from the three counties of Wudu, Yinping and Longxi to join the expedition, and even the local Qiang people in Longyou will obey its orders. With such a judgment, it is time to write a blank check. The so-called Qiang people were just a general term given to them by the Han people. There were huge differences between the different tribes, some were poor and some were rich, with tens of thousands of households and the smallest having only a thousand households, almost like tribes fighting for grassland on the grassland. They also constantly attacked each other, competing for arable land and grassland. To use an analogy, can we still expect the Xiongnu in the Hetao region and the Xianbei people to the north of Daijun to have such a simple feeling of "we are all Hu people"? What's more, the Qiang people in Longyou, Wudu, Yinping and other places were not beaten much by the Wei Dynasty. Among the Qiang people in Xiping and Jincheng counties, almost everyone knew the advantages of the Wei Dynasty's military forces. Apart from anything else, in the first half of this year, Qu Ying’s head has spread to every tribe! Therefore, when Lu Xun announced that he would distribute the land of the local Qiang people in Wudu and Yinping counties to the Qiang people in Liangzhou, the Qiang people who were oppressed by survival, from the West Sea to the entire Xiping and Jincheng counties, burst into great enthusiasm. Captain Lu had such a good reputation, fought for the Wei Dynasty, and promised so much land. The Wei army was so strong, where could such a pie in the sky be found? Linqiang, Xidu, Anyi, Poqiang, every time Lu Xun passed a county, there would be three or four thousand Qiang cavalry accompanying him. After arriving in Jincheng County, Qiang people from Lingju, Haodan and other places came one after another and joined Lu Xun's army, and they all brought a lot of dry food with them. It can only be said that the Qiang people are now also oppressed by the crisis of survival. Once the policy is slightly relaxed, these Qiang people will participate one after another. As early as a hundred years ago, when the Qiang Rebellion was at its peak, the Qiang people from Liangzhou followed the Baoxiadao Road and fought their way to Hanzhong! Among these Qiang tribes, there were still some people who knew the geographical advantages. When Lu Xun led his Qiang people to Yuzhong, Xiahou Ba, who arrived in Yuzhong at the same time with only 2,500 soldiers from Wuwei County, was shocked. It was December 14th. At this moment, the number of Qiang people around Lu Xun has reached 30,000, and they are all young and strong Qiang cavalry. I dare not predict how strong their combat power is, but just from the momentum, it is absolutely intimidating. Xiahou Ba smiled bitterly and bowed to Lu Xun, saying, "Brother Boyan is a man of great talent. I admire him very much." Lu Xun shook his head quickly: "What is Zhong Quan talking about? I just made more promises to the Qiang people to lure them. If it weren't for the prestige of Wei's previous military achievements, how could I have deceived so many Qiang people?" Xiahou Ba said: "In any case, Brother Boyan has given Longyou a surprise!" Lu Xun responded calmly: "It doesn't matter. These Qiang soldiers are just extra. The expedition is far away, and the number of soldiers I selected from each tribe is about the same. It is difficult for them to have second thoughts or conspire to rebel." "Your Majesty persuaded me to surrender in Shouchun that day, and pointed out that I should be responsible for the border affairs of the Qiang people and the subsequent handling of the Shu Kingdom." Hearing this, Xiahou Ba also laughed: "Speaking of fighting against the Shu army, among all the generals in Yongliang, or even the entire Wei, Brother Boyan has the most outstanding record." Lu Xun's style was still quite low-key: "The Qiang people's fighting power is unstable, they just have more people. We still have to wait until we reach Longxi County to know how to fight specifically." "Zhong Quan, Lu Pan should have arrived in Xiangwu by now, right?" Xiahou Ba thought for a few moments, then replied, "According to calculations, it should arrive today." "But since the Shu army is going to attack Longyou, they will certainly not leave too many troops in Longxi County. If you and I join forces, we will have more than 30,000 people, which is enough to fight on our own. There is no need to be afraid of the Shu army." Lu Xun nodded: "It's afternoon now. Let's rest in Yuzhong for half a day and set off again tomorrow morning." Xiahou Ba cupped his hands and said, "I will go to the county officials to coordinate food and grass. This time, Brother Boyan will need to appease the Qiang people."
"Zhong Quan, take care. I will handle this matter." Lu Xun also responded. …… The 15,000 infantrymen under Qian Zhao arrived to the north of Lueyang on December 18 and began to confront Wei Yan's troops of the Shu army. As expected, Wu Yi failed to capture Shanggui within five days. On the 18th, Zhuge Liang personally traveled east from Ji County to the outside of Shanggui City to supervise the battle. The personal arrival of Prime Minister Zhuge was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the central army outside Shanggui City, from top to bottom. On the afternoon of the 18th, Wu Yi and Liao Hua divided into two groups, the east and the west, and used the prepared ladders, well fences and other materials to attack the city. Guo Huai, who was guarding the city, was facing a dilemma. Lu Pan stood on the top of the city wall and asked anxiously, "Sir, what should we do? The Shu army is so large, and it looks like they are going to attack the city again today!" In the previous few days, Guo Huai led his troops out of the city almost every day to defeat the Shu army that was building siege equipment not far from Shanggui City. Even if Guo Huai used his troops carefully, the 4,500 soldiers in the city suffered about 1,000 casualties. It was not that Guo Huai used his troops poorly, but that the Shu army was too large. At this moment, outside Shanggui City, Wu Yi's 15,000 men, Liao Hua's 4,000 men, Zong Yu's 6,000 men, as well as Zhuge Liang's 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, all gathered at the foot of Shanggui City. Guo Huai gritted his teeth and said, "We can't leave the city! Every soldier's life is precious now, and we can't lose it in a field battle!" "Pass my order and let Hu Zun be fully responsible for guarding the southern city wall. There are the most enemies on the west and east sides. Which side are you going to?" Guo Huai asked Lu Pan. Lu Pan smiled bitterly and said, "It doesn't matter where you are. The governor should stay in the west. I will go to the east of the city!" Guo Huai nodded resolutely, then quickly turned around and started to arrange defense without stopping for a moment. (End of this chapter)