Xi An came to Shuanghuling again and reported to Wei Ba the good news of Fei's capture of Nanxiang City, and at the same time conveyed Wei Feng's apology. Half of the casualties of Wu's soldiers were Wei Ba's personal guards, including Dun Wu.
The six men who stood at the top of the city to the end were all Wei Ba's men. Wei Feng was very embarrassed and wanted to allocate fifty soldiers to Wei Ba as compensation.
Wei Baqu flicked Wei Feng's autographed letter with his fingers and smiled: "Brother, what are your plans for the next war? Although Nanxiang has it, Shunyang may not be able to get it easily."
Xi An quickly replied: "The young master has chased Shunyang City. His initial plan is to join forces with General Fu Zhongjian to first clear the pontoon bridge built by the Wei army on Danshui River, and then besiege Shunyang City. Although Guanqiu Jian took the city
It is well defended, but once Nanxiang is defeated, it will become an isolated city. If we can pool our wisdom, it is not impossible to break through Shunyang."
Wei Ba grinned: "I'm very happy that he thinks so. Just let them fight hard. With me in Shuanghu Ridge, Wei's reinforcements can't get through, so they don't have to worry."
"Here." Xi An responded, turned and left.
Wei Ba rubbed his hands and felt a little sorry for the soldiers who died in the battle. They were all elites he had accumulated through many years of fighting. Any one of them had the ability to be a captain. However, he could capture the South in this way.
Xiangcheng is considered to be worth the money. Wei Feng's pre-war deployment, post-war rewards, and rapid pursuit to Shunyang did not get carried away with the siege. Instead, he made steady progress and made remarkable progress. No matter how high the price was,
Worth it.
Wei Ba settled in Shuanghu Ridge and continued to fight offensive and defensive battles with Guo Li.
Guo Li is going crazy.
Almost at the same time as Wei Ba, Guo Li also received the news of the fall of Nanxiang. Now Guanqiu Jian and Cao Yu were trapped in Shunyang, facing the possibility of being surrounded by the Shuhan army, but he was blocked in Shuanghu Ridge and could not move forward.
He was extremely anxious. He also knew that the real Wei Feng had just captured Nanxiang City, and the Wei Feng in front of him was most likely the Wei Ba that His Majesty had been worried about, and the elite soldiers he faced also confirmed his suspicion.
.
Guo Li did not dare to neglect and immediately informed Cao Rui of the news.
…
Cao Rui's mood was not much better than Guo Li's, or worse.
The situation in Fancheng was also unsatisfactory. Li Yan formed an array across the water and took advantage of the navy to firmly control the two pontoon bridges on the Han River. Once the Wei army's offensive was too fierce, Li Yan would push the army back
, forming an array with their backs to the water, with the navy firing arrows and stone bombs from the Han River for cover, and the infantry on the shore waiting for opportunities to counterattack. Xiangyang City can also serve as a granary, firmly guarding Li Yan's rear.
Li Yan was confident. Although he could not defeat Cao Rui and capture Fancheng for a while, Cao Rui did not have enough strength to defeat him. Being able to hold off Cao Rui was a good situation for him, not to mention his
I believe that as the war progresses, it is impossible for Cao Rui, the king of a country, to stay in Fancheng to confront him. Repelling the main force of the Wei army led by Cao Rui head-on may not have a smaller impact than capturing Fancheng.
Of course, Li Yan did not dare to take it lightly. He knew very well that although Cao Rui himself was in Fancheng, the Wei army had gathered 40,000 to 50,000 people inside and outside Fancheng, but this was far from the full strength of the Wei army. Before planning this strategy,
Wei Ba had reminded him that Sun Quan would not linger on the Jianghuai battlefield for too long. Once he got the benefits he wanted, he would withdraw quickly and not worry about the life and death of the Shu Han army. At that time, the main force of the Wei army would leave from the Jianghuai battlefield.
Moving to the Nanyang battlefield, his situation was very bad.
If you want to persevere, you must first continue to stimulate Sun Quan's ambition and let him attack with all his strength, and secondly, ask Wei Ba to defeat the Wei army in Shunyang as soon as possible and then attack Cao Rui's rear, forcing Cao Rui to retreat early. This is the only way
, his persistence is meaningful and he can have a chance to fight back.
Sun Quan could only attack but could not command, so Li Yan could not place his real hope on him. The only one he could count on was Wei Ba, but he also knew that Wei Ba himself did not have many thoughts about this war.
, he has realized that he was promoted too quickly, which aroused the jealousy and vigilance of many people, so this time he consciously kept a low profile and remained hidden behind the scenes. Not only did he hand over his main force to Zhao Tong and Chen Dao, let them
As a separate force entering Yuzhou, he only brought 3,000 personal guard battalions to Shunyang, and did not even fly his own battle flag.
Wei Ba's own statement was to confuse Wei Jun's sight, but Li Yan knew that Wei Ba was hiding his strength and biding his time. This did not reassure Li Yan. A young man in his early twenties actually knew how to hide his strength and bide his time. This was a terrible thing.
However, Li Yan understood better that compared to Wei Ba's threat, he now needed Wei Ba's help more. Only with Wei Ba's help could he possibly capture Nanyang, make military exploits that could compete with Zhuge Liang, and prove that he was better than Zhuge Liang.
It is more suitable to lead troops in battle and restore the original arrangements when Liu Bei died.
There was one thing that Li Yan didn't understand very much. How could Zhuge Liang send troops to Longyou when he didn't give Zhuge Liang more food? Where did he get the army food? If Zhuge Liang had never been short of food, why did he keep pushing for food, or even
Elevate the importance of food to the point where it is related to the survival of Guanzhong?
Li Yan realized that he had been deceived by Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang deceived him, which was expected. What made Li Yan even more uneasy was whether Hu Zhong deceived him on this matter.
In order to persuade Zhuge Liang to agree to his sending troops, he once sent Hu Zhong to Guanzhong. Hu Zhong was not only responsible for communicating with Zhuge Liang, but also responsible for investigating the losses in Guanzhong and understanding Zhuge Liang's strength. It was precisely because Hu Zhong said that the Guanzhong farmland suffered heavy losses
, without support, Zhuge Liang would not be able to launch a large-scale military operation, so Li Yan boldly sent troops to Nanyang to compete with Zhuge Liang for credit.
If Zhuge Liang is trapped in the pass and unable to act, no matter what results he achieves, as long as he is undefeated, even now, just capturing Xiangyang is enough to return to the court in triumph. But when Zhuge Liang leaves Longyou, the situation is completely different.
.If he cannot capture all of Nanyang, his attack this time will not achieve the expected results.
Zhuge Liang unexpectedly sent troops to Longyou, forcing him to the point of no return. What made him even more depressed was that the harder he fought in Nanyang, the more he helped Zhuge Liang.
Unknowingly, Zhuge Liang became the main force again, but he was just a partial force to contain the main force of the Wei army, and had to go all out.
All this is because of Hu Zhong.
Li Yan lowered his head and paced slowly in front of the map, his face gloomy to the point of dripping.
Brisk footsteps sounded outside the tent, and Hu Zhong walked in, bowed and saluted: "General."
"It's Shu Zhi." Li Yan raised his head, and his originally cold face softened a little. Although he still couldn't see the smile, it was already a very polite attitude towards him. "Wei Ba just sent the battle report.
, Firstly, Wei Feng captured Nanxiang, secondly, the Wei army supported Shunyang with 5,000 infantry and cavalry, and now he is blocking the attack at Shuanghuling."
Hu Zhong glanced at the map drawn by Li Yan and couldn't help frowning: "If this happens, wouldn't it be impossible for him to enter the hinterland of Nanyang as soon as possible?"
Li Yan lowered his head gently and sighed.
Hu Zhong thought for a moment: "Does the general want to send him some reinforcements?"
Li Yan raised his head, looked at the map, and suddenly said: "Shu Zhi, do you think if I only capture Xiangyang, will this deployment be considered a success?"
Hu Zhong was startled, pondered for a long time, and then said cautiously: "The Marquis of Guan's Northern Expedition back then was just to use the power of the Han River to attack and kill the Seven Forbidden Army. He didn't even capture Fancheng, let alone Xiangyang, and it already shocked China.
The general's Northern Expedition and the capture of Xiangyang in one fell swoop should be said to have been an outstanding achievement. He resisted Cao Rui and Sima Yi's army was undefeated, which is also extraordinary. No one dares to say anything about this. As for whether it is successful or not, even if the general conquers
Some people may think that capturing Cao Rui alive in Luoyang is not satisfactory, so why should the general care about this?"
Li Yan grinned silently and waved his hand. "Having said that, the army is tens of thousands and consumes countless grains. If we only get a Xiangyang city, it would be better to give the grains to the prime minister and let him concentrate on leaving Longyou."
Hu Zhong was silent for a moment, then raised his head again and looked at Li Yan's gloomy face: "Does the general want to strengthen Wei Ba's troops and send him out of Wanluo to force Cao Rui to retreat?"
"Why not?"
"Wei Ba is relying on the general now because he is not strong enough to compete with the general and the prime minister. But has the general ever thought that at his age, the general is just a county official, and he has such strength at such a young age?
If the general helps him again and allows him to make great achievements, sooner or later he will surpass the general. By then, will he still be able to listen to the general's orders?"
Li Yan rolled his eyes and said calmly: "The fame of Wei Ba as a young man is indeed beyond the reach of others. I have a crude surname, how can I be compared with such a young talent? Even a genius like the Prime Minister can't compete with him at his age.
He is still studying in Longzhong, let alone me. Besides, having such talents is a blessing to the country, how can I suppress him because of my own selfishness?"
Hu Zhong reluctantly handed over his hands: "The general's ambition is beyond my reach. How many people are you going to give him? Nanyang is a flat land. Without enough superior troops, especially without cavalry, I'm afraid I won't be able to deal with the Wei army."
cavalry assault."
After hearing what Hu Zhong said, Li Yan also scratched his head a little. He really couldn't spare too many troops to give to Wei Ba now, and without enough troops, Wei Ba would not be able to enter Nanyang, otherwise he would be attacked by Wei Jun's cavalry.
If he pursues him, he will definitely lose. Wei Ba must not be willing to take this risk.
Compared with those empty moral words, this is the most practical question.
After all, we should not have listened to Wei Ba at the beginning. Wei Ba said that he could only mobilize 10,000 more people, but in the end, only 3,000 guards came. Currently, on the entire battlefield, Wei Ba only has 10,000 troops.
Three thousand people, not even all of his standing troops were dispatched. If Wei Ba could mobilize all the troops he had recruited, at least 20,000 more people could be added, and he would not be so nervous now.
"You go to Shunyang and talk about changes with Wei Ba." Li Yan pointed at Hu Zhong, paused with his hand in the air, and then nodded more seriously: "Tell him that this war has entered into a new phase.
The stalemate, the chance of victory or defeat, the success or failure of reviving the Han Dynasty, all depended on his thoughts, and he failed to live up to God."