Yinfan left Linyuan City, like a bird escaping from a cage, hurried all the way.
He was really anxious, wishing he could have the legendary magical power of flying to the sky and escaping from the earth, and he could reach the foot of Xiangyang City in one step.
He didn't want to explain anything to Wei Ba, but because he saw a sentence from Li Yan's letter: Xiangyang City was destroyed.
It was these words that made Yinfan happily agree to Wei Ba, just to return to Xiangyang as soon as possible. Because this was really an unexpected surprise.
It is not easy to attack a city, and it is even more difficult to attack Xiangyang. Since Cao Cao was defeated in Chibi in the 13th year of Jian'an, and Cao Ren abandoned Jiangling and retreated to Xiangyang the following year, Xiangyang City has been the place where the three kingdoms of Wu, Shu and Wei fought. After more than 20 years of war,
There is no record of Xiangyang City being captured. Even Guan Yu's massive Northern Expedition failed to capture Xiangyang, and even failed to capture Fancheng, the auxiliary city of Xiangyang.
According to pre-war estimates, even if Shu Han's navy had an absolute advantage and could cut off the Han River, divide Fancheng and Xiangyang into two, and turn Xiangyang into an isolated city, the siege would still take two to three months, plus one or two
After months of siege, Li Yan could not conquer Xiangyang in less than half a year.
In half a year, the Wei State would have enough time to mobilize its troops and launch a counterattack when Li Yan was dragged down and became upset. If most of the 50,000 to 60,000 people led by Li Yan could be annihilated under Xiangyang City, then the Shu State would
Most of the remaining forces will be wiped out, and Wei can calmly counterattack, regain Guanzhong, and even invade Yizhou, then condescendingly attack Soochow and complete the great cause of unifying the world.
This is what Sima Yi originally estimated, and Yinfan thought the same way, and also conveyed the news to Sima Yi in the same way. As long as he reported the composition and quantity of Li Yan's troops to Sima Yi, he could roughly determine the progress of Li Yan's attack on the city, and Sima Yi
We can make corresponding arrangements. But now things are completely unexpected. Li Yan actually captured Xiangyang City in just over a month. This is beyond everyone's expectation and will definitely disrupt Sima Yi's plan.
Moreover, the rapid fall of Xiangyang would cause great danger to the entire Wei state. When Guan Yu was just about to capture Fancheng, he already asked Cao Cao to consider moving the capital. If Xiangyang fell, the consequences would be even more serious.
And all of this is inseparable from his report. Yinfan was shocked and wanted to rush back to Xiangyang immediately to find out. He hoped that Li Yan just wanted to scare Wei Ba and show his strength. Let Wei Ba
He lowered his head. No matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't understand how Li Yan could conquer Xiangyang City in one month.
It was more than 600 miles from Linyuan to Xiangyang, with a big river in between. It only took Yinfan two days to arrive. When he stood under the Xiangyang City with unkempt hair and exhaustion, he looked at the big flag at the top of the Xiangyang City.
Look at the earthen walls that were being demolished outside the city, with some remaining remains. He had roughly understood Li Yan's tactics, but he was unable to save his life.
He didn't know this beforehand, and of course he couldn't report it to Sima Yi. If he had known earlier that Li Yan would use such tactics, his estimate might not be so outrageous.
"Yuan Feng came so quickly." Li Yan was in a good mood, his face was glowing, and he was as kind as a spring breeze. Even when the topic of Wei Ba was brought up, his attitude was very relaxed. "It seems that he has not forgotten who he is. Yuan Feng."
Feng, thank you for your hard work, when will Wei Ba leave?"
Yinfan put away his frustrated mood, took out the Ming Cuiyu that Wei Ba gave him from his luggage, and placed it in front of Li Yan. Li Yan glanced at it and smiled slightly: "Wei Ba is so generous, these are rare
treasure."
"Of course I'm willing to ask for it from others." Yinfan said calmly: "He gave me these because he wanted me to say a nice word for him in front of the general."
"Oh?" Li Yan said with interest: "What does he want you to say?"
"He wanted me to tell the general that there is still some food in the south of the Yangtze River. Just as I promised the general at the beginning, a 50,000-strong army will have enough food for half a year. If necessary, we can squeeze in a little more to provide an extra month or two. But the soldiers
, he now only has more than 20,000 men, and he still needs to be on guard against Sun Quan, so he can only send out at most 10,000 men to support the general. He said that the general already has 60,000 men, so if he is more than 10,000, it is not too much, and if he is less than 10,000, it will not be more.
He doesn't want to share the work with the general."
The smile on Li Yan's face became wider, but the meaning was more sarcastic, and his eyes became sharp.
"What about what you saw?"
"He is just taking the opportunity to threaten." Yinfan said bluntly: "If I were under house arrest in Linyuan, I wouldn't be able to see much at all. However, from what I saw, Wei Ba's so-called two
Ten Thousand Soldiers refers to the standing army that is on guard all year round, and does not include the reserve army that cultivates when busy and practices martial arts in leisure time. If he recruits all these reserves, there can be at least 20,000 more, or even 40,000 more. He
If I don't come to Xiangyang, I'm just taking advantage of the situation."
Li Yan crossed his hands in front of his abdomen, and his fingers made a snapping sound. Just like his twinkling eyes, he didn't know what he was thinking. After a long time, he sneered: "If he doesn't want to share the credit with me, then I
Just let him lead the army alone. It is inevitable for young people to want to be more comfortable, not to mention he is a famous general who became famous at a young age."
Li Yan specifically stated the word "famous general" very clearly, and the feeling of disdain was self-evident.
Yinfan was surprised and happy. What was surprising was that Li Yan wanted Wei Ba to lead the army alone. This was obviously an unexpected situation. Wei Ba used troops to surprise and win, and it was already known to the world. If Li Yan led the main force, Wei Ba would lead the army.
With the troops being strange and the good and the right relying on each other, the pressure on Wei will inevitably increase. This is more dangerous than Wei Ba and Li Yan joining forces. Fortunately, he can hear that Li Yan is very dissatisfied with Wei Ba's attitude.
Conflicts between them are rapidly escalating.
"The general asked him to lead an army alone, where did he point his banner?" Yinfan carefully concealed his feelings and asked with concern.
Li Yan glanced at him, with a hint of anger in his eyes. "Yuanfeng, as you said, it's not that Wei Ba doesn't want to come, he just wants to take advantage of the opportunity. I just remembered that he had proposed a plan to me before, but it was too
I rejected the idea of taking risks. He didn't insist on it. I just thought he was just talking casually. But now it seems that he has not changed his thief nature and still wants to take risks. In this case, let him take risks.
, if he doesn’t suffer a little, he won’t have a long memory.”
After hearing these words, Yinfan couldn't help but feel anxious. Most of Li Yan's correspondence, including the correspondence with Wei Ba, was in charge of him. Why didn't he have any impression of this? Wei Ba had already
There is a plan to launch a surprise attack, how and where will he go?
"Don't think about it." Li Yan said gloomily, "He asked Zhao Tong to tell me this."
Zhao Tong? What did Yinfan catch at once? Zhao Tong is a general with no rank. According to his level, he is not allowed to bring his family members with him. What's more, in order to strengthen morale this time, Li Yan himself did not bring his family members. But Zhao Tong is not allowed to bring his family members with him.
But he had a concubine, and she was a princess from the Kingdom of Wu. Probably to take care of Wei Ba's face, Li Yan didn't say anything. Now that he thought about it, this princess from the Kingdom of Wu was not taken care of casually. She probably had another purpose.
Yinfan suddenly thought of Zhuge Ke.
"General, Wei Ba...want to pass through Wu Kingdom?"
"Smart!" Li Yan laughed, but did not continue. Instead, he looked around and said, "Have you seen Zhao Yun?"
Although Yinfan wanted to find out what was going on, he did not dare to reveal too much, so as not to arouse Li Yan's suspicion. He knew very well that although Li Yan valued him, he still had some reservations in his heart. After all, he was a descendant. With Li Yan
With his character, it is extremely rare that he can gain such trust in such a short period of time.
"General Zhao is in Xiangguan now. I have no chance to see him."
"Zhao Yun is a person in the Prime Minister's shadow. Although he and his son are very close to Wei Ba now, as long as the Prime Minister gives the order, Zhao Yun will immediately abandon Wei Ba. When he comes to Jingzhou, it seems that the Prime Minister is helping Wei Ba.
"In fact, it's just a hand extended by the Prime Minister." Li Yan smiled and said: "In that case, I will also give Wei Ba a hand to help the Prime Minister."
Yinfan frowned slightly, seeming puzzled.
Li Yan laughed proudly: "You don't know, my big man also has a famous general who is as famous as Zhao Yun. Now he guards Yong'an. Doesn't Wei Ba want soldiers? Well, if the prime minister gives him Zhao Yun, I will give him
A Chen has arrived."
Yinfan suddenly understood, and then he smiled and cupped his hands: "The general is really smart, he can push the boat along with the current without leaving any trace, it is... it is really amazing."
Li Yan laughed.
Chen went to the official residence to protect the army. He once commanded Liu Bei's personal bodyguards, the Bai Qian Army, and was Liu Bei's loyal minister. Between Li Yan and Zhuge Liang, he also stood on the side of Zhuge Liang, who had a great reputation. He was sent to Yong'an to work with him.
To say that it strengthened Li Yan's strength, it is better to say that it was a wedge arranged by Zhuge Liang to divide Li Yan's military power.
Now Li Yan transferred him to Wei Ba's side, just like Zhuge Liang transferred Zhao Yun from Guanzhong to Jingzhou, it was a gentle move. It seemed to strengthen Wei Ba's power, but in fact it was to contain Wei Ba. In addition, Li Yan
Yan also took advantage of the situation to push away a restraint arranged by Zhuge Liang around him, and took back control of Yong'an, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. Yinfan's compliment to Li Yan was not entirely superficial. Li Yan's move was indeed beautiful.
.
You know, like Zhao Yun's leading general, Chen Dao is a guard. They are all members of the forbidden army system, and they are more noble than Wei Ba, the Zhennan general. When he comes to Wei Ba, if Wei Ba treats him as a subordinate
It would be rude to treat him badly. But if he doesn't treat his subordinates properly, he will not be able to fully control the direction of the war.
Li Yan was giving Wei Ba a heavy gift, one that he had to accept but couldn't swallow.
"Yuanfeng, I have to go back to Linyuan to tell Wei Ba my decision and see what else he can say this time." Li Yan sneered: "Also, tell him my patience.
It’s limited, the Northern Expedition is a national event, and no one can stand in the way for a little selfish gain. The Prime Minister is watching us in the middle of the crisis, he’d better not be confused.”
Yinfan understood the threat hidden in Li Yan's words and bowed down to accept the order.