wZhuge Liang was shocked and a little embarrassed.
Just a moment ago, he had calmly stated to his brother that Yan Liangjuan would not defeat Yuan Tan in a calm tone of "strategize and win the battle thousands of miles away."
But in the blink of an eye, Liu Qi's envoy told him that Yan Liang not only defeated Yuan Tan, but also returned to Xiangyang with the remaining power of the victory.
At this moment, Zhuge Liang had a vague feeling of being humiliated. He felt that his judgment, which he had always been proud of, was being humiliated mercilessly.
And the person who humiliated him was Yan Liang.
again.
Next to him, Zhuge Jun also shrunk his mouth into an exaggerated round shape, as if he thought he had an illusion.
What he said just now was just to interfere with Zhuge Liang's judgment and to save the losing chess game. In fact, in his heart, he had always believed in his second brother's judgment.
Zhuge Jun never expected that his few jokes would turn into cruel facts in the blink of an eye, and his mouth would become a veritable crow's mouth.
There was silence in the bamboo hall.
Time seemed to have frozen, and the two brothers of the Zhuge family were frozen there with different shocks.
After a while, Zhuge Liang's expression returned to calm. He coughed a few times, picked up the fallen chess pieces slowly, and slowly rearranged the disrupted chess game.
"Since Yan Liang has returned to the army, the eldest son must have led his army back. As for how to deal with it, I will discuss it with him in person after the eldest son returns to Jiangling."
Zhuge Liang said in a calm tone. He thought Liu Qi sent the envoy just to ask him what to do.
Who would have thought that the envoy said: "Zhou Mu is still holding back his troops at the moment. I came here just to ask you whether we should withdraw our troops or continue to besiege Xiangyang."
"What. The eldest master hasn't withdrawn his troops yet!"
Zhuge Liang's expression changed immediately, the clouds were swept away by the light breeze, and he couldn't help but asked in surprise.
The messenger was startled and nodded quickly.
Zhuge Liang couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up and paced back and forth. His anxiety was clearly visible in his face.
Zhuge Jun next to him said: "The battle at Yan Liang is over. After the troops return to Xiangyang, they must rest for a while before taking action again. It is not too late for the eldest son to withdraw his troops now. Why is the second brother so anxious?"
"What do you know? Yan Liang took all the trouble to rush back to Xiangyang from Wancheng at night. It must be to catch the eldest son off guard. The eldest son will withdraw his troops immediately. If there is a little delay, disaster will surely happen."
Zhuge Liang's words only made Zhuge Jun tremble with fear.
The messenger also looked frightened when he heard this, and asked anxiously: "If this is the case, what should we do?"
Zhuge Liang stopped and said in a deep voice: "You will set off for Xiangyang immediately. Don't delay for a moment on the way. You must tell the eldest son as soon as possible and ask him to return to Jiangling immediately. Go quickly!"
He shouted loudly at the end of his words, which made the messenger tremble with fright, and he hurriedly said goodbye.
Watching the envoy leave, Zhuge Liang moved outside the door. Looking to the north, for the first time in his life, his eyes wavered.
######
Chang'an City, Prime Minister's Mansion.
In the bright lobby, Cao Cao and his subordinate Wen Wu were happily enjoying the beauty singing and dancing in front of the hall.
In recent days, Cao Cao's mood has been getting better and better.
Not long ago, Yuan Shao became king, which really annoyed him for a while, but the recent news about Yuan Shao's worsening condition came back from Yecheng, which made Cao Cao relieved.
To the west of Guanzhong, fleeing back to Longxi, the Xiliang princes such as Ma Teng and Han Sui of Liangzhou are still attacking each other endlessly. In a short period of time, the Xiliang army will still fall into internal fighting and have no time to endanger Guanzhong.
In Hanzhong in the south, Zhang Lu, the leader of the Five Dou Rice Cult, expressed his loyalty to the imperial court. Not long ago, he sent an envoy to present a large number of square objects.
Zhang Lu's oath of allegiance undoubtedly added a bit of prestige to the small Chang'an court under Cao Cao's control.
Cao Cao also reciprocated the favor and formally appointed Zhang Lu as the prefect of Hanzhong in the name of the imperial court and promoted him to the title of Marquis of Nanzheng in recognition of his loyalty to the imperial court.
This recent incident made Cao Cao really happy.
Yuan Tan and Yan Liang started fighting again, and the fight was still inextricable.
As the eldest son of the Yuan family, Yuan Tan is stationed in the Central Plains for his father. If Cao Cao raises his troops to leave the border and regain the lost territory in the future, Yuan Tan will be his biggest enemy.
And Yan Liang occupies the important territory of Nanyang. If Cao Cao sends troops to march into the Central Plains, Yan Liang will always threaten his flanks and rear.
Now, these two thorns in the side are fighting first, which is naturally what Cao Cao likes to see.
Yuan Tan paid a heavy price and defeated Yan Liang. Then Yuan's army split and he went out to the Guandong Campaign again. He drove the severely injured Yuan Tan out of the Central Plains, reorganized the mountains and rivers, and restored the lost territory.
This is the blueprint designed for Cao Cao by his first counselor, Xun Yu.
For this reason, when Yan Liang sent Yi Jie here, Cao Cao knew that Yi Jie was probably here to ask for help, but on the pretext that he was on official duty, he left Yi Jie in the tavern and refused to see him.
The intelligence just came back a few days ago. Yuan Tan's tens of thousands of troops suppressed Yan Liang in Wancheng, unable to move. The Soochow Army in Xiakou and Liu Qi's Army in Xiangyang were also aggressive.
"Yan Liang, Yan Liang, it's really amazing that you have caused such a big stir on your own, but this time, you still won't be able to survive it..."
Cao Cao thought this in his heart, but he also lamented the fate that his son-in-law would face. He secretly thought about how wonderful it would be if such a good general with both civil and military skills could be used by him.
While thinking, there was a sound of hurried footsteps, and someone hurried in, it was Liu Ye.
The solemn expression of this counselor, who, together with Guo Jia, was in charge of Cao Cao's detailed network, seemed quite incompatible with the singing and dancing in the hall.
Liu Ye stepped forward, cupped his hands and said, "I would like to inform you, Prime Minister, of the information that has just arrived from Nanyang. The battle of Wancheng has been concluded."
"So fast?"
Cao Cao was a little surprised and waved away the dancers.
The lobby quickly became quiet. Everyone pricked up their ears.
"I originally thought that Yan Liang could hold out for a few more days and wear down Yuan Tan's troops a little more, but I didn't expect that the outcome would come out so soon. Yuan Tan seems to be quite capable."
Cao Cao's words clearly did not expect Yan Liang to reverse the situation.
Everyone also nodded slightly. Everyone was in the mood of watching a show, but they didn't notice Liu Ye's serious expression.
Liu Ye coughed a few times and said slowly: "Prime Minister, Yan Liang was not defeated, it was Yuan Tan who was defeated."
With one word, the whole hall fell into silence.
Cao Cao's expression changed slightly and he tilted his ears, as if he thought he heard wrongly.
"Prime Minister, the battle of Wancheng has ended. Yan Liang defeated Yuan Tan, captured eight thousand enemies, and surrendered Yuan general Zhang He. Yan Liang won this battle."
Liu Ye raised his voice and reported the situation word for word.
After a moment of silence, there was an uproar in the lobby. Everyone's faces were filled with surprise, and everyone was talking among themselves. Everyone was shocked by the incredible outcome of the battle.
Cao Cao's face was also shrouded in shock, and he couldn't help but look at Xun Yu aside.
At this moment, the face of the Cao family's first counselor was also filled with surprise and embarrassment, as if he could not understand his own error in judgment.
After a long time, the hall gradually became quiet. Cao Cao and his ministers had to accept this incredible fact.
His Cao family's son-in-law, a warrior from a humble background, once again miraculously reversed his disadvantage and made the impossible possible.
"I didn't expect Yan Liang to be so strong. The current battle situation in Wancheng is like this. What can you say?"
Cao Cao's tone was a bit helpless and a bit complaining, as if he was secretly blaming the resourceful people under his command, but no one could predict that Yan Liang would win.
Everyone was ashamed and remained silent.
At this time, Liu Ye in front of the steps said: "Yan Liang's victory is a foregone conclusion. Ye thinks that what the prime minister needs to do now is to appease Yan Liang as soon as possible and make a gesture of sending troops to support him. After all, Yan Liang has already matured. In order to
Considering the overall situation, it is not appropriate to give him an excuse to rebel."
Cao Cao looked around, and all the officials were silent.
After secretly gritting his teeth, Cao Cao sighed and asked, "Is Yan Liang's envoy Yi Jiao still in Chang'an?"
Liu Ye hurriedly said: "I have sent someone to inquire. Na Yiji is currently packing his bags and plans to leave Chang'an tomorrow morning. It is obvious that he has also learned about the outcome of the Battle of Wancheng."
"That's all, let's go and tell him to come and meet him." Cao Cao waved his hand, his words showing helplessness.
######
Thousands of miles away, Xiangyang.
Early that morning, the army, which had not been resting for a long time, marched out of Xiangyang City again, with the big flag with the word "Yan" flying proudly in the wind.
At this time, five full days had passed since Liu Qi's army was defeated.
According to Yan Liang's original plan, after returning to defeat Liu Qi's army, he would march non-stop and move his army southward. With the residual power of his two great victories, he would advance by land and water straight towards Xiakou, catching the Wu army by surprise and completely driving the Wu people away.
Out of Jiangxia.
But after that big victory that day, Yan Liang realized that this was not realistic.
Although his army is brave and good at fighting, it is still flesh and blood. After two bloody battles, coupled with the fatigue of marching back to the army, the physical exhaustion of the soldiers has reached the extreme. Under such circumstances, they will go on a long-distance attack on Xia Dynasty.
Mouth is obviously not a wise choice.
Therefore, at Xu Shu's suggestion, Yan Liang chose to take a temporary rest and at the same time spread the word to the people of Wu that Yan Liang would go to Jiangxia in person soon to fight Zhou Yu to the death.
According to Xu Shu, the Wu army failed to defeat Xiakou repeatedly, and its morale was at the end of its strength. On the contrary, Yan Liang defeated the enemies on both sides, and the morale of the army was at its peak.
If Sun Quan was rational, he should immediately withdraw his troops back to Chaisang to avoid Yan Liang's attack and give up his attempt to capture Xiakou.
In this way, Yan Liang can resolve the crisis in Xiakou without spending a single soldier. This is the best strategy.
Yan Liang adopted Xu Shu's strategy, but soon after, he unexpectedly discovered that the effect of this strategy was completely opposite to what he expected.
Instead of withdrawing from the siege of Xiakou, Zhou Yu increased the strength of the Wu army at Hanjin upstream, assuming a posture to block Yan Liang's southward march and vowed to break through Xiakou.
Zhou Yu's paranoia left Yan Liang no choice. He resolutely decided to lead his army south to personally relieve the siege of Xiakou.
The army left the city in a mighty manner. Yan Liang stood on the shore of the horse and watched the soldiers boarding the boats one after another. Looking at the rolling Han River, cold murderous intent was gradually gathering in his blade-like eyes.
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