Chapter 38 Wei Yan's Surprise Attack on Meridian Valley
"Guan Suo, write an open letter to insult me! I swear to kill him... Oh, he is so good, we should be friends with him..."
Cao Pi feels very sad now.
He hates Guan Suo to the core, but after answering the question correctly, the system will force him to have a huge favorable impression of Guan Suo.
So he felt very uncomfortable.
"This damn Guan Suo...ah no...he is the number one good guy in the world!"
He always says this kind of thing, and his subordinates are really confused.
Since His Majesty the Emperor said he hated Guan Suo, he also said that Guan Suo would be much better.
Is he sick?
Or did he get kicked in the head by a donkey?
The feeling of a cat clawing at the heart is like a poor man who wants to buy something. There are two models of this thing, one is expensive and the other is cheap. He repeatedly struggles with it and feels uncomfortable. He disdains the cheap one and cannot afford the expensive one. He repeatedly denies and overturns himself.
My own opinion.
He secretly told himself not to think about Guan Suo and not to mention him again... Gradually, the irritability in his heart became less intense.
"Pass my decree! Reinforce Xiangyang with the entire army and defeat Guan Yu!"
Emperor Wei solemnly gave the order.
"I'm waiting for the order!"
The Wei army rushed to Jingzhou with great force.
In addition to guarding against the Qiang, Wuhuan, and Xianbei troops, Cao Pi used almost all the troops he could mobilize.
One hundred thousand troops were mobilized on the Soochow front line, but they still could not defeat Lu Xun.
Jingzhou sent 90,000 troops, but because the follow-up food and grass had not arrived, it had to consume an astronomical amount of food and grass, and still could not move forward one step.
Guan Yu only had 60,000 troops at his disposal. After Cao Ren's death, Wei Marshal Zhao Yan led the entire army to resist Guan Yu, but could not make any achievements.
The soldiers from Hebei were transferred to Longyou and Liu Bei via Hangu Pass. Zhuge Liang fought fiercely. There were 120,000 troops there, while the Shu soldiers only had more than 60,000 at most.
Now Cao Pi has no more troops to deploy, and all types of troops are at their limit.
If we mobilize more troops, Xuchang will be empty.
Chang'an is actually empty now.
Cao Pi stood under the imperial tent, clasped his hands and prayed secretly: Our army in Wei is strong, we must hold on!
He is gambling on the fate of the country.
It was not difficult for him to guess that the three families of Wei, Shu and Wu were now trying their best to fight this war.
Those who win will be stronger.
If you lose, your vitality will be severely damaged. You will not be able to recover without at least ten years of experience.
In fact, his guess was correct.
The other two countries are also betting on their national fortunes.
Sun Quan had to keep enough troops to guard against Shan Yue, the capital also had to keep enough troops to protect itself, and the border had to guard against sneak attacks by the Shu Han!
At the junction of Jingzhou and Soochow in the Kingdom of Shu, Luo Xiao and Ma Liang were waiting in strict formation, guarding day and night, never giving Soochow any opportunity to take advantage of!
Even though the successive melees between the three kingdoms were temporarily unfavorable to Wei, Cao Pi was still not afraid.
Wei's strength is much greater than that of the two countries. It has more soldiers and fewer soldiers. Although it has not won for the time being, didn't Wu and Shu also win?
Spend it!
As for the casualties of soldiers, Cao Pi would not care.
On this point, he and Dong Zhuo had the same idea. I just want to live a comfortable life by eating well and enjoying the hot food. How can I care about the common people?
There are many battlefields in China, with flowers blooming everywhere, and smoke everywhere.
Cao Pi is waiting quietly. When the two kingdoms of Wu and Shu retreat, I will pursue them to death. You just wait to die.
And no one expected that without him in the oil, without him in the salt, Shangyong Sancheng, whose status was like air, had already switched defenses.
Shu generals Jiang Wan, Fei Yi, and Mi Zhu have replaced the original guard generals.
Hanzhong General Wei Yan personally led the team, with Liu Feng, Meng Da, Shen Yi, and Shen Dan as deputy generals, and Ma Chao and Ma Dai escorted them to transport grain and grass. They set off towards a mysterious place.
It was the imperial edict of the Han Emperor that sent them there.
On many maps, it's not marked at all.
Many local herders don't know that place.
That place is called Ziwu Valley.
The road is rugged and overgrown with weeds.
It is surrounded by foothills.
The Shu Han's sharp arrows were inserted in positions that no one could have imagined.
They marched at high speed, did not speak during the journey, and followed Wei Yan's sign language.
They crossed the river quietly and climbed the mountain quietly.
Like a parade of ghosts.
Not allowed to talk is to save saliva and thirst.
They need to drink less water and pee less often.
It's just a race against time.
Wei Yan's heart kept beating.
But he likes this thrilling feeling.
He is an adventurous person.
He once said to Ma Chao: "Even if Prime Minister Zhuge doesn't let me go this time, I still want to take the initiative to take this road to attack Chang'an! I bet that the Wei thieves will be unprepared!"
Ma Chao said: "I will march for the general. When the time comes, I will join forces with the general to kill the Wei thieves and avenge the country and the family! If you have achieved great success, it will all belong to General Wei!"
Wei Yan didn't dare to look down on Ma Chao, so he quickly said: "General Ma's words are serious. Everyone who has made meritorious deeds is working for the Han family!"
Neither of them said anything more and wished each other success.
They know that this trip involves great risks. If they are unable to defend themselves, then of course it is good and they can pick up what is ready.
If the enemy discovers that he has made dumplings, he will have no way to go to heaven and no way to enter the earth!
You can only be slaughtered like a tied pig!
Wei Yan knew that every second of delay would increase the risk.
But even though he had to eat dry food on horseback, when he arrived near Wuguan, he still ordered that the horses should be marched in the middle of the night, and that all the horses should be muzzled and their hooves wrapped in cotton cloth.
This was not safe, so he ordered them to disperse and kill anyone who dared to make a sound.
They passed Wuguan without any danger and were not discovered.
Ma Chao from behind also walked like this and was not discovered.
After walking for more than ten miles from Wuguan, they made sure that no sound could be heard, but they still let the horses run with their hooves wrapped.
The goal is getting closer.
Wei Yan wanted to make a contribution, and Ma Chao wanted to take revenge. The two of them cooperated very well.
After joining the troops, they had a hearty meal during the break. Even when they buried pots to make rice, they asked the soldiers to dig up the soil to prevent smoke from rising.
It can be said that you are extremely careful.
After eating, Wei Yan gave an order to his men: "If Chang'an is captured, no looting is allowed. Anyone who disobeys the order will be killed! I will reward you with money and food from the city's treasury."
No regime has endless money to reward merit, so the unspoken rules, or the dark side of war, is that after the city is breached, it is tacitly understood that you can kill and rob as you please.
Countless people have done this.
If you don't do this, no one will work for you.
But at this time, Wei Yan was thinking about the resettlement matters after taking Chang'an by luck, and Chang'an fell. Cao Jun would definitely attack with all his strength. If the people did not turn to Shu Han, it would be very fatal.
So he decided to reward his merits with money and food from the treasury, which obviously meant that he didn't need a penny.
It can be seen that Wei Yan, with such understanding, can be regarded as a first-rate general.
It's just that his personality is too intolerant, he looks down on others, and he always offends people. In the past, Yang Yi worked with him, a dignified man, and was often scolded by Wei Yan.
"General Ma, let's attack the city together. If reinforcements come from Tongguan, you must withstand it, otherwise we will both stop!" In the dark night, Wei Yan's eyes were fixed on the city of Chang'an not far away.
Ma Chao said: "Take the order!"
They both have almost the same high status, but this time Prime Minister Zhuge issued orders and orders, Wei Yan is the commander-in-chief, Ma Chao and Ma Dai must cooperate, otherwise they will be killed!
Ma Chao is not a person who likes to grab credit. With his family background, he does not lack that little credit. He just wants to kill more enemies and avenge bloodshed.
"Kill!" Wei Yan jumped on his horse, waved his whip and gave the general attack order.
Ten thousand Shu soldiers loaded Zhuge's crossbows with sharp arrows like locusts, and took advantage of the darkness to kill them at the gate of Chang'an City.
The defenders were indeed defenseless.
After the first dense rain of arrows, more than a thousand defenders were shot down the city.
"Kaicheng won't kill!" Wei Yan shouted.
The defender did not dare to attack the city and fought to the death.
The Shu soldiers took a surprise attack route, which was inconvenient to carry baggage, and it was impossible to carry ladders. They could only use a lasso to hook on the city to attack the city.
If they are cut off and thrown to death, the remaining people will attack again.
When Xia Houmao, the general who defended the city, saw the brutality of the war, the playboy wanted to escape!
When another general, Le Wei, saw him running away, his army was demoralized. In anger, he beheaded him with a sword and ordered other soldiers to defend.
In this way, no one dared to escape, and they could only fight to the death with the Shu soldiers.
Although this good-for-nothing Xiahou is incompetent, he is a prince-in-law. His father is Generalissimo Xiahou Yuan and he has a great background.
But Le Wei still killed him.
Le Wei looked at the raging smoke and just hoped that the reinforcements would arrive soon.
His cronies asked him secretly: "General, can the reinforcements save Chang'an?"
There was endless sadness in his eyes, and he said slowly: "It should be possible, but I don't think I can see the Wei warriors defeating the Shu thieves."
The trusted soldier cried in grief: "General..."
Le Wei suddenly knelt down in front of all the soldiers in the army.
When the soldiers who defended the city saw the general like this, they were all sad and desperate.
"Sirs, if the city is destroyed, I, Le Wei, will never let you die alone! I will accompany you all to die for the country!" Tears flowed from the corners of Le Wei's eyes.
"Soldiers, this general orders you! Fight to the last moment and live or die with the Wei Dynasty!"
"Long live Wei!"
"Combat supervisors obey orders! If anyone dares to retreat, the rear team will kill the front team! Now this general is also a member of the front team! Kill him!"
"Kill!" The Shu soldiers also made a killing sound that shook the sky.
The throats of the soldiers on both sides were almost hoarse. One was determined to win, and the other would rather die than lose the city.
Because the latter knew that if Chang'an was lost, the entire Longyou area would be lost, and all his troops would be surrounded and become wandering ghosts.
The two sides fought fiercely until the fish belly turned white in the east, and reinforcements from Tongguan finally arrived.
Ma Chao said to his soldiers: "Brothers, avenge us big men! Avenge me, Ma Chao! Kill!"
There were only more than 3,000 reinforcements at Tongguan. Reinforcement was like putting out a fire. There was no time to wait for follow-up reinforcements. Moreover, it was difficult to form an army in a hurry and was defeated by Ma Chao in a battle.
The rest of the crowd fled.
When it was daylight, Shu general Ma Dai took the lead in ascending the city with his troops, killed all the defenders on the city, and cut down Le Wei's flag.
The morale of the army collapsed.
Countless people laid down their weapons and gave up resistance.
More and more soldiers climbed into the city. Ma Dai led his troops down to the city and opened the city gate. A flood of Shu soldiers shouted and charged into the city.
Except for those who knelt down and surrendered, all of Le Wei's guards had been killed.
Le Wei was hit by more than a hundred crossbow arrows, but he was lucky enough to survive.
He was surrounded by Wei Yan and Ma Chao.
Wei Yan admired him and asked: "The destiny of the Han Dynasty! The general has such talent. If you are willing to surrender, I will immediately send a military doctor to treat your injuries!"
Le Wei sneered, as if he didn't hear Wei Yan's words.
He bowed in the direction of Luoyang.
"Lord Sima, I'm sorry for you!" He shouted heartbreakingly: "I have failed in your cultivation!"