Lueyang? Didn’t we just receive news from Ma Su in Lueyang yesterday? Could something else have happened today? Fei Yi stood up and walked to the door, took the military report from the messenger, and quickly delivered it to Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang sat upright in the hall, took a quick look at the military report, and then stuffed it back into Fei Yi's hand. Looking at the people in the hall, he smiled and said, "Last night, the Wei army attacked the camp, but was repelled by General Wei Yan, the General of Zhenbei. Ma Youchang therefore reported this to the Prime Minister." Zhao Ling, who was sitting closest to Zhuge Liang's right, also quickly responded: "The Han Dynasty's Prime Minister's Office is really full of talented people! General Wei is the Prime Minister's Sima, which shows that the Prime Minister is good at using troops!" This is considered a hard lick. Compared to Zhao Ling's unauthorized interruption, Xiang Lang, Yang Yi, Fei Yi and others were more familiar with Zhuge Liang and knew that something was wrong at this time. "It's not that I'm good at commanding troops, it's that the soldiers are obeying my orders." Zhuge Liang slowly stood up from the table and walked out calmly: "Wenwei, Lord Wei, the two of you follow me." Zhuge Liang glanced at his chief secretary Xiang Lang and said, "Let's continue the banquet. I'm in a good mood today!" Xiang Lang stood up and received the order. Zhuge Liang also strode out. Fei Yi and Yang Yi followed quickly behind him. Fei Yi still held the military report tightly in his hand. Arriving in the side hall, Zhuge Liang turned around and looked at the two people behind him: "Wenwei, please take a look at the military report. Lord Wei, where are the specific movements of each unit now? Tell us in detail."
Before he sat down, Zhuge Liang stood in the hall and asked questions. Yang Yi also bowed with a serious expression and said: "Reporting to the Prime Minister, except for the 4,000 soldiers of Deng Zhi's army, all the soldiers of the Eastern Route Army were killed. The remaining 11,000 soldiers of Zhao Yun's army and 4,000 soldiers of Wang Ping's army set up an ambush on the edge of Lueyang. The 8,000 soldiers of Wei Yan's army and the 3,000 soldiers of Wu Ban's army set up camp east of Lueyang. A total of 26,000 soldiers." "The central army has 30,000 soldiers, Wu Yi's troops and Liao Hua's troops have a total of 19,000 soldiers, and they are still besieging Shanggui. Huang Xi's troops of 5,000 are stationed in Ji County, and Zong Yu's troops of 6,000 soldiers are now stationed in Linwei with the Prime Minister." "The Western Route Army consists of 12,000 soldiers. Yuan Chen's 5,000 soldiers are besieging Xiangwu, the capital of Longxi County. Zhang Yi's 5,000 soldiers are on their way to Xianqin. Hu Ji's 2,000 soldiers are stationed in the three cities of Zhudao, Xinxing, and Zhongtao." Zhuge Liang already had the military strength of each division and the distribution of each city firmly in mind, so why would Yang Yi introduce it? However, from ancient times to the present, superiors always like their subordinates to report everything in detail, which often helps to assist thinking and find out the gaps. After Yang Yi finished speaking, Fei Yi, who was standing beside him with a gloomy face, reached out and stuffed the military report into Yang Yi's hand: "Brother Wei Gong, please take a look." "Prime Minister, Lueyang is in danger!" Yang Yi exclaimed after just a quick glance. Fei Yi looked at Yang Yi with some disdain. The Prime Minister must be even more anxious. Are you still causing trouble for him? Zhuge Liang said slowly: "Cao Zhen's 8,000 cavalry arrived east of Lueyang yesterday, that is, on the evening of the 19th." "First, there are Zhang He's 10,000, Qian Zhao's 15,000, and Cao Zhen's 8,000. The Wei army near Lueyang already has 33,000 people, 7,000 more than the 26,000 people of the Eastern Army!" "What's more... Cao Zhen has arrived with 8,000 cavalrymen. Where are the remaining 22,000 cavalrymen out of the 30,000 cavalrymen in Luoyang?" Fei Yi said hesitantly, "Luoyang is a full 1,600 miles away from Lueyang. How can all the cavalry reach there?" Yang Yi snorted at the side: "Eight thousand cavalry have come, can we still bet that the remaining twenty thousand cavalry will not come?" After saying this, Yang Yi bowed to Zhuge Liang and said, "Yesterday, I suggested that the Prime Minister go east to Linwei in order to allow the royal army to take Guangwei County. Now that Guangwei has surrendered, please send troops to Lueyang as soon as possible to help the Eastern Army stop the enemy!" Zhuge Liang sighed. It's not like no one raised an opinion yesterday. Wei Yan said yesterday that more troops should be sent to Lueyang. Although this was a lucky coincidence, Wei Yan probably didn't expect that Wei would send more troops again. "Duke Wei, Wen Wei, pass on my orders." Yang Yi and Fei Yi responded with solemn expressions. Zhuge Liang frowned, raised his head and said, "Urgently order Wu Yi's 15,000 troops to assemble tonight and set out for Lueyang at dawn tomorrow. They must arrive within two days and nights!" "Order Zhang Yi immediately. Regardless of whether he has conquered Xianqin when he receives the letter, order him to head north immediately after receiving the letter, and take the Xingguo route and head west to Lueyang!"
"Urgently order Huang Xi to lead 4,000 troops to rush to the outskirts of Shanggui City and assist Liao Hua in continuing the siege of Shanggui!" After saying this, Zhuge Liang stood there in silence for a moment. Seeing that Yang Yi and Fei Yi were both staring at him silently, he spoke: "Tomorrow morning, leave one thousand soldiers to guard Linwei, and the remaining seven thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry here will follow me to Lueyang!" Yang Yi asked, "Then how should we deal with Zhao Ling, the governor of Guangwei?" Zhuge Liang said coldly: "Didn't he express his ambition at the banquet? Give him a title of nobility and send someone to send him back to Hanzhong tomorrow morning, and then back to Yuzhang!" …… At this moment, ten miles northeast of Lueyang City, in the Wei army camp. "Brother Zijing, you fought very well today!" Cao Zhen walked into the tent, sat down by the stove to warm himself like a familiar figure, then turned around and looked at Qian Zhao with a smile. "Greetings, General." Qian Zhao bowed and said, "I arrived here on the 18th. I was attacked several times by the Shu army yesterday. I felt a little rushed." "Fortunately, the general led his troops to Lueyang last night. I have the confidence to fight and dare to fight." Cao Zhen said calmly: "You are the one who fought the battle. I don't need to compete with you for the credit. Why should I be modest?" "My army is only two days behind your majesty, and it is estimated that your majesty's 16,000 cavalry will arrive in Lueyang tomorrow night. I just received a military report. Your majesty, citing the logistics of food and fodder, ordered you and me to plan a strategy to defeat the Shu army as soon as possible." Qian Zhao nodded: "It takes nearly 500 miles to transport grain from Guanzhong to here via Longdao, which is very costly and difficult. Your Majesty is right to order a quick attack." "Does the General have any plan?" Cao Zhen clapped his hands lightly and said firmly: "It is better to hurry than to delay! Let's not talk about food and logistics. Just to say that your Majesty and I have traveled thousands of miles from Luoyang to here, not to confront the Shu army in the tiny city of Lueyang, but to rescue Shanggui and the four counties of Longyou as soon as possible." "Brother Zijing," Cao Zhen turned his head and stared at Qian Zhao: "Although His Majesty has not stated it explicitly, it seems that he hopes that we can defeat the Shu army as soon as possible." "Your Majesty will be here tomorrow night. Why not start the general attack the day after tomorrow?" Qian Zhao sighed, sat down next to Cao Zhen, and stared at the flickering flames in the furnace in a trance: "General, you and I are in the northeast of Lueyang. We have to penetrate the Shu army camp in the south before we can go southwest to rescue Lueyang." "This morning, I also took the general to look at the terrain here. There are two mountains to the south of our camp, east and west. There is a small camp on each mountain. The gap between the two mountains is only three miles. And within these three miles, there are trenches, deer horns, and fences." "From the Shu army's deployment today, the Shu army to the south of our army has at least 10,000 soldiers." Qian Zhao said with difficulty: "We only have 14,000 infantrymen now. How can we break through in such a short time?" Cao Zhen asked, "Didn't Your Majesty and I come here together? How come you don't have enough troops?" Qian Zhao said: "The general and your majesty's 20,000-plus troops are all cavalry. And Longyou is a place with many hills, and it is difficult for cavalry to climb the mountains for the time being. I'm afraid they will be useless!" "If it's hard to ride a horse, why not just dismount?" Cao Zhen raised his eyebrows and looked at Qian Zhao: "The 30,000 cavalry in the central army have always been the best of the best, and they are also a first-class strong army when they dismount and fight on foot." "Is the general willing to do so?" Qian Zhao asked in surprise. Cao Zhen asked in return: "How can I not be reluctant? I, a great general, have personally galloped for half a month, and your majesty is still on the Long Road." "With Your Majesty in front of us, as long as it can benefit the war and defeat the Shu bandits as soon as possible, no matter in the army or the court, who dares to say anything?" Cao Zhen's words not only failed to clear up Qian Zhao's confusion, but made him even more confused. Qian Zhao asked tentatively, "Then Your Majesty, are you willing?" Cao Zhen laughed for a moment, took a breath and said to Qian Zhao: "It is normal for Brother Zijing to have such doubts. Your Majesty's military strategy is completely different from that of the previous emperor, and is more similar to that of Emperor Wu." As soon as the words came out, Cao Zhen seemed to feel that something was not right, and added an explanation: "Brother Zijing, you can rest assured that His Majesty is more wise and brave than you think."
Qian Zhao nodded and said, "To make a rough calculation, my army has 15,000 men, the general has 8,000 men, and your majesty has 16,000 men. At most, there are 39,000 infantrymen, which is enough to fight the more than 10,000 Shu bandits in the south." “It seems like there’s still a bit too much.” Cao Zhen had warmed up by now. He stood up from the cushion, his armor making a clanging metallic sound. He paced in the tent and said: "39,000 men against more than 10,000. The force is definitely enough, and indeed too much." "But, Brother Zijing," Cao Zhen asked, "You arrived the day before yesterday, on the afternoon of the 18th, right?" "The general is right." Qian Zhao responded. "My army is one day behind Brother Zijing." Cao Zhen said slowly, "What will the Shu army do? Didn't Guo Huai say before that there were 20,000 Shu soldiers outside Shanggui City?" Qian Zhao had already deduced the possible arrival time of the Shu army countless times in his mind, and immediately blurted out: "I arrived the afternoon before yesterday. If the Shu army received the news on the 19th and the 20,000 troops near Shanggui started to march towards Lueyang this morning, it would take at least two to three days." Cao Zhen thought for a few moments and said, "The earliest possible time is tomorrow night. If it's slower, I can't say for sure." Qian Zhao nodded: "That's right." Cao Zhen made a prompt decision and said, "Your Majesty will have 16,000 men here tomorrow, and Brother Zijing's troops are sufficient." "It would be better for me to take a detour to Zhang Junyi with my eight thousand cavalry!" Qian Zhao frowned: "First head north from here, then west to Xingguo, and then to Lueyang? The distance is probably more than a hundred miles!" "We have already walked 1,600 miles. Is there only one hundred miles left?" Cao Zhen's eyes were full of determination: "I will leave at dawn tomorrow and should be able to reach Lueyang tomorrow night!" (End of this chapter)