Mi Yang arrived at Jieting in April of the fifth year of Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty.

After learning that Mi Yang had arrived at Jieting, Cao Zhang on the one hand ordered the craftsmen in the camp to make more catapults, and on the other hand secretly strengthened the defense of the camp.

Perhaps before Mi Yang arrived, the Wei army was the attacking party.

However, after Mi Yang arrived, even though Cao Zhang received information that Mi Yang did not come with an army, Cao Zhang still showed sufficient caution towards Mi Yang's arrival.

No one can be sure whether Mi Yang will turn from defense to offense and launch a sudden attack on the Wei army camp.

However, after some time passed, Cao Zhang discovered that the Han army had not made any move.

It's not that Cao Zhang doesn't like a stable life, but Cao Zhang's intuition told him that there must be something fishy about the Han army's inaction in recent times.

Liu Feng and others had witnessed the power of their own catapult that day.

Faced with such a powerful catapult, it was impossible for Liu Feng and others not to report this matter to Mi Yang.

I can see at a glance that the catapult is the key weapon to break the Han army's camp.

Cao Zhang didn't think Mi Yang would be able to see this after being reported by Liu Feng and others.

Even Mi Yang can guess that when he arrives at the street pavilion, he will definitely speed up the progress of building a catapult.

Therefore, why did Mi Yang not respond?

Knowing that the enemy has a secret weapon in preparation, but not taking early action to destroy the enemy's secret weapon.

This is not something a famous general can do, and Mi Yang is definitely not someone who will sit still and wait for death.

When something goes wrong, there must be a monster. A natural guess appeared in Cao Zhang's mind.

Mi Yang must have something to rely on and is not afraid of his own catapult.

Only this conjecture can explain the anomalies of the Han army.

After realizing this, Cao Zhang's heart was full of worries.

The Wei army had a powerful weapon, but due to the battle that day, this weapon had been exposed to the Han army.

On the contrary, Cao Zhang had no idea what kind of preparation Mi Yang had in hand.

The feeling of being in the open against the enemy in the dark made Cao Zhang feel very uncomfortable.

However, Cao Zhang only confided his worries to Zhang He. Usually in front of other Wei generals, Cao Zhang always showed a calm look.

Cao Zhang's behavior in this way calmed the Wei army's morale, which had been in turmoil due to Mi Yang's arrival, to a large extent.

Although he could not guess what Mi Yang was planning at the moment, Cao Zhang quickly informed Cao Zhen in Chang'an City of the important military information about Mi Yang's arrival at Jieting.

When Cao Zhen learned about Mi Yang's appearance in the street pavilion, he immediately asked the Wei army to launch a fierce attack on the Han army camp outside Xiegukou.

Under the fierce attack of tens of thousands of Wei troops, the Han army did not hold out for long before they abandoned their camp at the entrance of the Xie Valley and withdrew towards Baoxie Road.

Cao Zhen didn't want to take the opportunity to invade Baoxie Road and encircle Wei to rescue Zhao. He just wanted to verify the authenticity of Cao Zhang's news.

The Han army's retreat undoubtedly allowed Cao Zhen to achieve his goal.

Because in the process of attacking the Han army's camp, Cao Zhen, a veteran general, quickly discovered that the Han army's strength had decreased.

If the strength of the Han army had not been drastically reduced, how could the Wei army have captured the Han army's camp so easily.

According to Cao Zhen's inference, the reduced part of the Han army probably followed Mi Yang to Jieting.

As for whether this might be Mi Yang's trick to lure the enemy, Cao Zhen wasn't too worried.

Cao Zhen never planned to lead his army into Baoxie Road. Even if Mi Yang set up a trick to lure the enemy, what would be the use?

Moreover, regardless of whether the Han army was luring the enemy or not, it is an indisputable fact that the Han army abandoned the camp outside Xiegukou.

The terrain at the entrance of the Xiegu is dangerous. As long as the Han army does not deploy heavy troops at the entrance, the Wei army can use the terrain to block the entrance of the Xiegu by building forts.

Under this situation, the Han army in Baoxie Road had lost the possibility of threatening Chang'an.

This means that the worries of Cao Zhen and tens of thousands of Wei troops no longer exist.

Cao Zhen was overjoyed when he successfully captured the Han army's camp. On the same day, he held a military council in the Han army's camp that he captured.

Cao Zhen's face was glowing red in the parliament.

Although the Wei army was able to capture the Han army's camp because of the Han army's strategic intention to shrink, this could still be regarded as a "small victory" against the Han army, right?

For the Wei army, which had suffered repeated defeats, a small victory was enough to soothe their wounded hearts.

After Cao Zhen drank the contents of the cup, he said to the generals present: "The rebel army was successfully repulsed by our army. Chang'an is no longer in trouble. The time has come for our army to serve the country!"

Cao Zhen's tone could not be described as heroic, and his heroic words also resonated with the Wei generals present.

The Wei generals who knew that Mi Yang was far away in the street pavilion returned to their true colors one by one.

Cao Zhen's confidant General Wang Shuang raised his glass and asked Cao Zhen with a smile: "General, when will we send troops to Guangwei County?"

Wang Shuang's voice was extremely loud. When his words were heard by everyone, everyone's faces showed a look of anticipation.

Wang Shuang told Cao Zhen's plan in one sentence, which was to march into Guangwei County.

For Cao Wei at the moment, the most critical thing was the gains and losses in the Longyou area.

The best way to resolve the crisis in Longyou is to send reinforcements into Longyou County.

It is precisely because the street pavilion is the place where the Wei army must pass on Longshan Avenue that it becomes a must-do battle between the Han and Wei armies.

But Longshan Avenue was not the only way for the Wei army to enter Longyou.

If the Wei army wants to enter Longyou, they can also pass through the Weishui River.

When Cao Cao pacified Liangzhou and Xiahou Yuan conquered Longxi, the army followed this road.

Like the Longshan Avenue, there is also a place on the Weishui River, which is a place where the Wei army must pass through like a street pavilion, and that is Shanggui in Guangwei County!

With Cao Zhang already heading to Jieting, if Cao Zhen, who was in Chang'an, wanted to lead his army to support Longyou, the best route would be to enter Longyou from Shanggui.

Cao Zhen wanted to lead his army to support Longyou through Shanggui. In addition to geographical factors, his move could also disperse the strength of the Han army.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Once it is known that the Wei army is heading towards Shanggui, Liu Bei will definitely send people to guard Shanggui, the eastern gateway to Longxi.

But there were tens of thousands of Wei troops gathered outside Chang'an City, and Shanggui did not have as steep a terrain as Jieting. If he wanted to stop tens of thousands of Wei troops from entering Longyou from Shanggui, Liu Bei had to send a large army to defend the Shanggui area.

Liu Bei would even transfer the main force of the Han army to Shanggui for defense.

The difference between Shanggui and Jieting is that once the Wei army can break through the Han army's defense line at Shanggui, the Han army's long grain road will be directly exposed to the Wei army's front.

If the street pavilion is lost, as long as the Han army guarding the street pavilion is not wiped out, then the main force of the Han army can shrink the defense line in time with a slow retreat.

But once Shanggui is lost, the Han army's retreat will be directly cut off by the Wei army. At that time, all Han armies entering Longyou will face a desperate situation.

Under such worries, as long as the Wei army's offensive is fierce, there is no guarantee that Liu Bei will not abandon Longxi County and come to compete with the Wei army for Guangwei County.

And once Liu Bei did this, wouldn't the military crisis in Longxi County be indirectly lifted?

As for whether the Han army can be completely driven out of the country, it depends on the outcome of the two battlefields of Jieting and Shanggui.

This strategy had taken shape in Cao Zhen's mind early on.

Recently, he had planned to implement this tactic as soon as possible.

After all, even if Mi Yang did not withdraw from Baoxie Road, as time went by, more and more Wei troops gathered outside Chang'an City.

At present, Cao Zhen already had enough troops. On the premise of ensuring the safety of Chang'an, he divided his troops to support Guangwei County.

Of course, Mi Yang's departure gave Cao Zhen a little more confidence in the tactic he had in mind.

Facing Wang Shuang's loud inquiry, Cao Zhen responded loudly in order to boost his morale:

"Just tomorrow!"

After saying this, Cao Zhen stood up and raised the wine glass in his hand to the generals.

Either wishing or cheering, Cao Zhenlang said loudly: "This battle is related to the fate of our country. I hope that you all can work together with me to defend the country!"

Cao Zhen's words made all the Wei generals present stand up from their seats.

They also raised their wine glasses to greet Cao Zhen, and then replied in unison:

"only!"

After hearing the neat responses from the generals, Cao Zhen's face showed a happy look.

He took a deep breath of air and thought to himself:

"Without Mi Yang Chang'an, the air would be really sweet!"

...

After Cao Zhen in Chang'an City learned that Mi Yang was in Jieting, Cao Rui in Luoyang also learned about it not long after.

But for the first time, Cao Rui was not anxious because of this incident. It wasn't that he didn't pay attention to Mi Yang's existence, but there was something that made him even more anxious at the moment, which attracted all his attention.

According to an urgent report from Cao Xiu, who was guarding Huainan, Jiangdong's army was gathering in large numbers at the ports along Shishui. Judging from the movements of Jiangdong's army, it seemed that they intended to seize Hefei.

After learning the news, Cao Rui almost became sick from anger.

Cao Rui knew about the news that Jiangdong's army was heading north.

He also asked Cao Xiu specifically about this matter, but Cao Xiu's reply to him was: Lu Xun is just a scholar, so there is nothing to worry about. The soldiers and horses in Jiangdong are in Lujiang, not in Hefei.
To be continued...