Xiang Lang and Hu Ji looked at each other and shook their heads in unison, with helpless smiles on their faces.
Zhuge Liang's 80,000 main force fought for a long time without success. Facing Zhang He's 10,000 elite cavalry, they were in danger of collapse. They then asked Wei Ba for help. As a result, Wei Ba had already arrived at Longguan and grain had been transported to Linwei.
I'm ready.
Could it be that he was a clairvoyant who knew that Zhuge Liang would lose to Zhang He, so he made preparations in advance?
If it had been a few days earlier, even Xiang Lang, who had never been very optimistic about Zhuge Liang, would have felt that Wei Ba was self-righteous, let alone Hu Ji, who had always admired Zhuge Liang. But now Mumen's military supplies have been robbed, and Zhuge Liang is chasing the cavalry with infantry.
He has lost the initiative. Unless he can kill Zhang He and the 10,000 fine cavalry at the wooden gate, his defeat is certain. In this case, asking for help from Wei Ba has become the only option, otherwise the army will face
The danger of running out of food, Wei Ba's foresight, although surprising, is also irrefutable. You can question him as just luck, but he guessed it right.
Next, will Zhuge Liang be defeated by Zhang He as he expected? Or, can Zhang He escape Zhuge Liang's outflanking as he expected?
Judging from Wei Ba's plan to lure Guo Huai out of the city, Wei Ba has already made preparations. He is considering the next issue of fighting for Longyou. The purpose of capturing Shanggui is to gain a foothold in Longyou and prepare for future counterattacks.
Be prepared.
In other words, he believed that the First Northern Expedition in Longyou had failed without any suspense.
Although Xiang Lang was pessimistic, he was not pessimistic to this extent. As for Hu Ji, he did not agree with Wei Ba's view. He believed that the situation was far from being so embarrassing. Zhuge Liang and Ma Su had 50,000 troops to surround and annihilate Zhang He, and there was still a chance of turning around.
The possibility of defeat turning into victory.
"This plan..." Xiang Lang clicked on the reply sent by Wei Ba, shook his head, and hesitated. "Weidu, Yiyang has another talent."
Hu Ji gave a bitter smile and shook his head: "Xiang Gong, why are you doing this? You should know that Wei Wenchang is not an easy person to get along with."
Xiang Lang smiled slightly and said nothing more. He knew Hu Ji's worries. Although Hu Ji was a new barbarian from Yiyang like Wei Yan, they had little contact. In other words, Wei Ba was a lone wolf in the Jingxiang clan.
The relationship between everyone is not very good - this is of course related to his character. This time Zhuge Liang asked the Wei family and his son to send troops to Guanzhong, and he personally led the main force to Longyou. The meaning is self-evident. However, things are unpredictable, and Zhuge Liang himself is in a dilemma.
However, Wei Ba suddenly emerged with the help of Tianshi Dao and the powerful Hanzhong. Not only did he defend Guanzhong, he also had the opportunity to save the war situation in Longyou. From a military point of view, this was an unexpected gain, but from a political point of view, it was an unexpected gain.
This is a huge hidden danger - the power that Zhuge Liang wanted to weaken has now become stronger.
Neither Xiang Lang, who has reservations about Zhuge Liang, nor Hu Ji, who wholeheartedly supports Zhuge Liang, do not want to see this result. There are forces within the Jingxiang Clan that can confront Zhuge Liang, which is not a good thing for the Jingxiang Clan itself.
What's more, there are shadows of the Yuancong and Yizhou factions behind Wei Ba.
Therefore, Xiang Lang and Hu Ji tacitly rejected Wei Ba's battle plan, at least temporarily shelving it. They replied to Wei Ba with a letter, only mentioning Linwei's military rations and expressing their gratitude for his preparations. As for the temptation,
They did not mention the enemy's plan. They pretended not to know about it and only said four words: stand by and act.
Then Hu Ji sent an urgent military report to Zhuge Liang. Wei Ba transported some military rations from Guanzhong. Although the quantity was small and could only sustain the army for half a month, it meant that the prime minister did not have to be forced to do so because of the military ration crisis.
You still have time to fight Zhang He. There is another meaning that cannot be explained literally: Wei Ba is willing to deliver food to Longyou, which shows that he still understands the general situation, and there is no possibility of internal conflicts breaking out for the time being. The Prime Minister can
Don't worry, focus on dealing with foreign enemies.
…
Zhuge Liang's face was pale, his hands under his big sleeves were trembling, and his temples were covered with layers of cold sweat.
He had just received an urgent military report from Wang Ping: Not only had Ma Di been defeated by Zhang He outside the west county city, but he himself had also disappeared.
This news was so shocking that Zhuge Liang didn't react for a long time. He read the general's report over and over again, but still couldn't believe his eyes. Was Ma Su defeated? Zhang He jumped out of his encirclement with plenty of food and grass.
, started his elusive raid tactics again. His plan to surround and annihilate Zhang He at the wooden gate had just begun, but was broken by Zhang He.
What he couldn't accept even more was that Ma Di was missing. This was really bad news, worse than his defeat, even worse than his death in battle. Losing the battle, or even dying in battle, were all acceptable things -
- Everyone knows that the battlefield is dangerous - but Ma Su disappeared, with no one alive or dead, which is an unacceptable result.
Not dead, but never showing up, there is only one possibility: he became a deserter.
The forward general who led the 30,000 main force actually deserted? What a scandal, what a slap in the face? What an appalling hiring mistake this was for Zhuge Liang, who promoted him against the crowd? How did he do it?
To explain to those who were against him doing this in the first place?
Zhuge Liang couldn't think of any explanation that could convince everyone. Ma Di not only failed to live up to his hopes and failed to stop Zhang He, but also completely negated all his previous decisions. The person he trusted the most not only failed to give him any help, but
Let him be unable to justify himself in front of everyone.
This result is obviously more unacceptable than Ma Su's death in battle.
Zhuge Liang was very disappointed and angry. He was completely unprepared for this result. In his eagerness, he could not find a reason to reassure himself.
How should I face people's accusations? How should I explain Ma Di's whereabouts to them? How should I face this dilemma?
Zhang He ran away with his cavalry. He took away enough rations. Even if the remaining ones were still at the wooden gate, he probably wouldn't be able to fall into his hands. He was going to run out of food now, and the initiative was all in Zhang He's hands. Zhang He
Even if he doesn't attack, as long as he waits ten days and a half, he will have no choice but to retreat.
He could retreat quickly, as Mumen was not far ahead. He could return to Hanzhong from here, as long as he announced that this massive Northern Expedition had ended in an almost humiliating way.
This was an ending that Zhuge Liang had never imagined. He also thought about the possibility of failure, but never thought it would be such a failure.
Everything was because of Ma Su, not only because of his defeat, but also because of his shameless escape.
Zhuge Liang's hands and feet were cold, and he was confused for a moment. He paced back and forth in the tent, and suddenly felt so lonely. His son Zhuge Qiao died in Hanzhong, and the considerate Fei Yi was ordered to go to Jiangling. He was surrounded by people who really understood him.
The only one he cared about was Jiang Wei, who had just surrendered, but he was an outsider and could not understand the complicated relationships within Shu Han and could not provide him with effective help.
Ma Su, his confidant who once could help him, has now become his biggest worry.
This blow came so suddenly that Zhuge Liang could not accept the reality for a while. Even though he was calm, he was also a little panicked.
Huo Yi stood aside, watching Zhuge Liang pacing back and forth in the tent, and felt Zhuge Liang's loss and nervousness at this moment. He had been with Zhuge Liang for so long, and he had never seen Zhuge Liang be so glum. Even when Zhang He successfully raided Mumen's rations,
He has never been so nervous.
He even doubted whether Zhuge Liang could think calmly at this moment.
Of course he knew that all of this was because of Wang Ping's military report and Ma Su's unexpected performance.
To be honest, Huo Yi was also a little shocked. When he saw Wang Ping's military report for the first time, he couldn't believe his eyes. He once thought it was Wang Ping's slander - Wang Ping was a surrendered general and an unworthy general.
The literate Ba people had never had a good relationship with Ma Di, who came from a wealthy family in Jingxiang.
Will Ma Su be defeated, and will there be no news after the defeat? Although it has not been confirmed yet, but he did not die on the battlefield, but he did not show up for a long time, and it is most likely that he deserted.
Would Ma Su be a deserter? Didn't he know that this result was more unacceptable than death in battle?
Huo Yi felt a little sorry for Zhuge Liang. As the person in charge of documents around Zhuge Liang, he knew very well what kind of criticism Zhuge Liang would face.
That would be a catastrophe, a catastrophe in which the anger that has been building up for a long time explodes.
Anyone would be at a loss when facing this disaster. At least Huo Yi didn't know how he could solve the problem if he faced this situation. Compared with this political disaster, the battle situation in front of him seemed less important.
Yang Yi hurriedly walked in, the account book in his hand shaking: "Prime Minister, our military rations..."
Huo Yi looked at Yang Yi's face and knew that he had no good news. It was just that there were still a few days of military rations left, and even if he retreated to Hanzhong now, he would not be able to support it. So he immediately stepped forward and stopped Yang Yi: "
Yang Changshi, the Prime Minister is thinking about important matters, you should wait a moment."
Yang Yi didn't know what was going on, and was very dissatisfied with Huo Yi for stopping him. He glared: "Big thing, what is a big thing? Food and grass are the most important thing in the army."
Just when Huo Yi was about to say more, Zhuge Liang came over, waved his hand, motioning for Huo Yi to step back, and said to Yang Yi angrily: "What happened to the food and grass?"
When Yang Yi saw Zhuge Liang's bloodshot eyes, he was startled. The arrogance he had just spoken to Huo Yi suddenly disappeared without a trace. He bowed slightly: "Prime Minister, there are only seven days of food left in the army. If
No more contacting Hanzhong and asking them to rush to transport food. If we retreat halfway, we will run out of food."
Zhuge Liang said calmly: "Withdraw, when did I say I was going to withdraw?"
Yang Yi raised her head in surprise: "Prime Minister, if you don't withdraw, are you going to fight on an empty stomach?"
Zhuge Liang was speechless and was stunned for a moment. He had been thinking about Ma Di, but when Yang Yi's words brought him back to the war at hand, he realized that there were more important things than Ma Di.
I was confused. This was not the mentality a general should have. Zhuge Liang suddenly woke up and secretly cried out in shame.
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I've been busy these past two days, but it's almost done, and I'll be back to normal soon. I'll definitely pay off all the debt I owe in the past two days. Please bear with me. (To be continued. Please search for Piao Tian Literature and novel updates.