Zhang He slowly withdrew and stationed in Ji County, leaving Fei Yao to guard Xinyang and monitor every move in Shanggui.
The next day, Zhuge Liang led more than 20,000 cavalry back to the city of Shanggui. At the same time, he brought back the news that Wei general Tian Fu, forced by Chen Shi and Gao Xiang, burned the grain garrisoned at the wooden gate and fled in a hurry. Isn't this true?
The good news is that the army's rations for two or three months were burned down, which is undoubtedly a very frustrating thing, but compared to falling into the hands of Zhang He, it is somewhat comforting.
Without this batch of military rations, Zhuge Liang and Wei Ba brought food and fodder from Guanzhong to rescue the emergency, but Zhang He was really powerless. Before launching another attack, he had to solve the army's food and fodder problem. He had no better way.
, they could only collect it from the people. The Shu Han army retreated to Shanggui and Longguan, and the counties in Longyou also returned to
Under the rule of Cao Wei, they must support Zhang He's army. It is estimated that many people will feel very depressed, because Zhuge Liang entered Longyou for nearly half a year. The military rations were once very tight, and he did not levy excessive taxes on them. Now the first thing he did when he returned to Cao Wei was
You have to pay a lot of taxes, which is really not something worth celebrating.
Facing these proud and powerful generals who have just won a battle, some people may miss the benefits of the Shu Han army.
Unfortunately, these ideological tendencies are of no help to Zhuge Liang at present, and Zhuge Liang is also in dire straits now.
The war in Longyou has basically been settled. The first Northern Expedition mobilized a large number of troops. The main force fought in Longyou for half a year. The only results were in Shanggui City, where Guo Huai, the governor of Yongzhou, and Ma Zun, the prefect of Tianshui, were captured alive by Ma Su.
Longxi Prefect You Chu and others paid the price: nearly 10,000 people died in battle, more than 20,000 people were injured, two batches of grain and grass were consumed, and a large amount of materials were consumed.
This result is not satisfactory in any case. From the day Zhuge Liang returned to the city of Shanggui, all kinds of criticisms have been loud and clear. At the first meeting convened by Zhuge Liang, Lai Min ignored Zhuge Liang's words.
When Hu Ji scolded him, he said seriously, "I am now thinking about how to report the results of the Northern Expedition to the late emperor during the New Year's temple ceremony, and I am not in the mood to listen to those details."
As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the big tent. Even Zhuge Liang, who was as calm as he was, changed his expression and was speechless for a long time.
As a soldier in the Prime Minister's Office, Wei Ba participated in the meeting, but he did not speak from beginning to end, just quietly watching the scene in the big tent. Of course he would not jump out to accuse Zhuge Liang like Lai Min.
It’s not because he is also from the Jingxiang family,
He wanted to protect the face of the Jing-Xiang clan in front of others, but because he knew that Lai Min's actions would not actually help. To put it nicely, it was nerdishness, to put it worse, it was from two to infinity, except for a moment of happiness.
Other than that, it has no practical meaning.
Between fame and actual benefits, he values actual benefits more. He is also waiting for the actual benefits that belong to him.
The meeting broke up unhappily. As soon as Wei Ba walked out of the tent, Jiang Wei rushed out and bowed his hands politely: "Wei Junjun, please stay. The Prime Minister wants to see you."
Wei Ba shrugged and exchanged a look with Zhao Guang. Zhao Guang nodded knowingly and left first. Wei Ba turned around and followed Jiang Wei to the back tent. Zhuge Liang had just taken off his outer robe and put on a set of household clothes. Seeing Wei Ba
When Ba entered the tent, he just glanced at it and said lightly: "Ziyu, sit down!"
"Here." Wei Ba bowed respectfully, but did not sit down immediately. Instead, he looked at Zhuge Liang's face and said sincerely: "Prime Minister, you have lost weight."
Zhuge Liang was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously raised his hand and touched his thin face. He was silent for a moment and sighed softly: "Working to no avail, what's the use of being thin?"
Wei Ba shook his head: "Prime Minister, why should you listen to the nonsense of those pedantic scholars? They don't understand anything. They only know how to sit and discuss. They don't know that marching and fighting is not an easy task. When the books are used, they will regret it. They don't know the difficulties until they have been done.
These scholars who study to death, study to death, study to death, are not worthy of the Prime Minister's attention."
Zhuge Liang's eyes tightened and he looked straight at Wei Ba, who looked at him without changing his expression. The two people's eyes met, and sparks flew in their minds. Jiang Wei, who was standing aside, was so nervous that he held his breath.
Wei Ba's words seemed to comfort Zhuge Liang and accuse him of
Why can't Lai Min, who doesn't understand the affairs, be interpreted as blaming Zhuge Liang himself? Jiang Wei has no contact with Wei Ba. He only knows that he usually looks very gentle. He didn't expect that when he met Zhuge Liang in private, he would say such a lethal sentence.
.
After a moment, Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed first, and he stepped away from Wei Ba's gaze. He waved his hand and motioned Jiang Wei to go out first. Jiang Wei was stunned for a moment, and when he understood, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. These days, he has been accompanying Zhuge Liang.
They were always together, and Zhuge Liang treated him with all his heart. He hid nothing from him, but he didn't expect that even though he had a conversation with Wei Ba, he actually asked him to avoid him for a while.
Jiang Wei bowed and saluted, turned around and went out. Zhuge Liang then stretched out his hand to signal Wei Ba to take a seat. Wei Ba lowered his head, sat down, and waited quietly. Zhuge Liang got dressed, took his seat, and raised the corner of his mouth slightly:
"How is Guanzhong? How long can we hold it?"
Wei Ba smiled calmly: "Before I came to Longyou, Shangluo suffered the most losses, with nearly 8,000 casualties. Although there were constantly new recruits to supplement the soldiers, they still could not make up for the losses caused by the casualties of the main force. If Cao Wei had been
If we continue to attack like this, I estimate we can defend it for three months at most."
"Three months?" Zhuge Liang raised his hand to stroke his beard and pondered for a moment: "Three months is not enough."
"Three months is enough." Wei Ba's voice was not loud, but he was very determined.
"Is that enough?" Zhuge Liang squinted at him.
"That's enough." Wei Ba replied firmly again.
Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed and he stared at Wei Ba again: "Then tell me why you said three months is enough."
"Whether it's Shangluo or Tongguan, I have made a lot of preparations. The casualty ratio for both the offensive and defensive sides is four to one. Even if the newly recruited soldiers are not strong enough in the future, I think there will still be two to one. The original main force was 20,000.
The newly recruited soldiers must be between 40,000 and 50,000. Each pass must be defended by less than 5,000 troops before it is likely to be lost. In other words, our army's casualties must be around 40,000 to 50,000 before the Wei army can break through the pass."
He grinned: "If Cao Wei wants to forcefully attack Tongguan and Shangluo, he will need at least 100,000 casualties. Prime Minister, do you think Cao Rui is so ruthless?"
Zhuge Liang's eyes flashed, and he looked away from Wei Ba again. He slowly rubbed his fingers, thinking about Wei Ba's words. Wei Ba did not say anything, and waited quietly. From the day he set off from Chang'an,
He was thinking about how to bargain with Zhuge Liang. He had been preparing for this moment for too long, and now he made another decision
In order to take the credit for capturing Shanggui, Zhuge Liang faced criticism from his ministers and rushed back to Chengdu to preside over the possible invasion of Soochow. The choices he could make were really limited, and the bargaining chips he could use to negotiate were only so much.
After all, the balance of victory is always in his hand, Wei Ba, so why should he worry about Zhuge Liang's clever tricks?
All strategies are based on strength. Now that the Northern Expedition has achieved success with partial divisions, the main force has failed, and Zhuge Liang is beleaguered internally and externally, he really has no capital to negotiate. If you help me defend Guanzhong, I can also defend it. If you don't help me, I can still defend it, as long as
But the loss is just bigger. Use this to balance
It's really pointless for me to bargain. Prime Minister, you still have more troubles waiting for you, so don't scheming with me here. I admit that you are a master, but you have no trump card. Besides, if you lose Guanzhong,
Although my loss is not small, are you willing to bear it?
Seeing that Wei Ba was confident and unmoved, Zhuge Liang sighed secretly and had to take a step back: "Three months is too long."
Wei Ba raised his eyebrows, expressing that he didn't quite understand.
"There is news from Chengdu that Sun Quan has entered Jiangling, and Lu Xun's vanguard has arrived in Zigui, and there is a possibility of a large-scale invasion." Once Zhuge Liang spoke, the look on his face dimmed a bit. Telling Wei Ba the news was actually the first step.
He showed his difficulties and bowed to Wei Ba. "I will rush back to Chengdu soon. We are about to fight on two fronts."
Wei Ba's face was calm, and he did not show any sign of sudden realization. Although Zhuge Liang did not transfer this information to him, he had already guessed it. There was no need to hide it in front of Zhuge Liang, otherwise it would easily arouse Zhuge Liang's disgust and contempt.
"Ziyu, can you repel Cao Wei as soon as possible?" Zhuge Liang saw that Wei Ba was indifferent and had no intention of asking him for help, so he had to take the initiative to speak again. "Fighting on two fronts is very detrimental to our army."
Wei Ba then relaxed and said calmly: "It is impossible to repel. After all, the strength gap between the two sides is too big. We have more than enough in defense but not enough in attack. However, we can make Cao Wei retreat in spite of difficulties."
"How to make them quit when faced with difficulties?"
"The Prime Minister will give me another 20,000 people. With these 20,000 people, I think Cao Rui will retreat."
Zhuge Liang did not speak, and his eyes became extremely ferocious. Wei Ba asked for 20,000 people as soon as he opened his mouth. This is not the point. The point is that he said "give it to me" instead of reinforcing Guanzhong. In other words, his meaning is obvious: Guanzhong
It's mine, you can't steal it.
The silence in the big tent was terrifying. Wei Ba could almost hear Zhuge Liang's breathing, but he was not nervous. He believed that Zhuge Liang would agree to his request because he had no better choice. And with Zhuge Liang's character, he probably also played
He would rather lose Guanzhong than give him a chance.
So Wei Ba looked at Zhuge Liang calmly, picked up the water glass on the table, and took a calm sip.
I don’t want you to praise me. Anyway, you don’t mean it sincerely when you praise me. Since we can’t cooperate with one heart and one mind, I can only settle for the next best thing and strive for the right to bargain with you.
Zhuge Liang's voice was very cold, with almost no emotion at all: "Ziyu, you are just a soldier. I'm afraid you won't be able to command an army of 20,000 people."
Wei Ba smiled slightly. Sure enough, just as he had guessed, Zhuge Liang had given in. His counterattack now was just some unwillingness. He had actually accepted the deal. With the actual benefits in hand, Wei Ba was in a good mood, and he didn't mind leaving Zhuge Liang.
Save some face.
"Prime Minister, I'm not qualified, but my father, General Zhenbei, and my family's teacher, General Zhendong, are both battle-hardened veterans. They are more than capable of commanding an army of 20,000 people." He paused and added: "Not to mention that there are still
The rising star who just captured Guo Huai alive is my senior brother Zhao Guang."
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Well, I haven’t asked for monthly tickets in a few days, and it has been declining all the way, and it has dropped below 60. Starting from today, I will ask for more monthly tickets! It’s the middle of the month, and there should be a subscription for monthly tickets. Please vote for it. (To be continued. Please search Gone with the Wind. Astronomy, novels are better and updated faster!)