Mianzhu.

As a pass that resisted the Celestial Empire's army penetrating deep into the land of Yizhou, it played a vital role.

Because the terrain outside Mianzhu City was not suitable for the battle of the army, Zhang Liao's headquarters of the Seventh Army was entrusted here, but fortunately, Emperor Zhang Chao sent a holy decree, asking them to only need to support Zhuge Liang here, but Zhang Liao's heart was not so anxious.

In this way, the Seventh Army confronted the Xishu Army inside Mianzhu City outside the city, and from time to time it would launch some small battles to attack the city, but most of them ended in failure, which also made Zhang Liao more clear in his heart that this pass could not be attacked.

Deng Ai, the military division of the Seventh Army, was originally a minister of the Wei State, and was later captured and entered the Zhangjiawen Academy, where he worshipped Cai Yong as a teacher, and after studying for half a year, because of his outstanding performance, he was reused by Zhang Chao and became the military division of the first army division that everyone envied.

It's just that as a military advisor, Deng Ai's pressure is indeed the greatest, because whether it is in terms of age, seniority, or merit, he is the most bottom-of-the-line existence among the military advisors of several legions. This makes him feel more stressed, and he always wants to perform well.

With Deng Ai's ability, whether it is in the current Western Shu or Eastern Wu, he can be regarded as a great talent, but for the Celestial Empire, which is full of talents, it is really nothing. There are many different opinions on whether he can be named the military division of the Seventh Army Corps, but Zhang Chao's personal authority is too heavy, and no one dares to oppose the things he believes, at least in public.

It's just that no one dares to object, it doesn't mean that no one has other thoughts. In private, I don't know how many people are waiting to see Deng Ai make a fool of himself, once the time is ripe, I believe that there must be many people who play his book, and Deng Ai, who has no skill, even if Zhang Chao wants to protect him, I am afraid that there is no suitable language.

It is precisely because of knowing this that Deng Ai is very anxious, always thinking about performing well, at least to tell those who look down on him that he still has the ability.

It's just that the Mianzhu City in front of him has become a checkpoint that hinders Deng Ai from achieving revenge, and it has been here for several months, and he really hasn't come up with a way to break the city.

Fortunately, the commander of the legion, Zhang Liao, is very decent, and he has an elegant atmosphere, and he does not mean to look down on people, and he is also respectful of Deng Ai, which makes him feel better.

But the more this is the case, the more Deng Ai wants to behave well, thinking that Zhang Chao once said to himself when he left, believe in himself, he will definitely find a way to open up the situation, he feels valued at the same time, but he is even more embarrassed, after all, after such a long time, his performance is indeed very average.

What Deng Ai didn't know was that Zhang Chao deliberately stayed here with him, but there is a moral in history, it was he who used Jiang Wei to be restrained by Zhong Hui in the Sword Pavilion, from Yinping along the path, through the Han Deyang Pavilion, to Fu County, and directly into Chengdu.

Although Deng Ai is just a young guy now, Zhang Chao believes that gold will always shine, and as long as he is given enough time, he will definitely be able to come up with a good way to surprise him.

Facts have also proved that Deng Ai is too young after all, he was more than forty years old when he did those feats in history, but now he is only in his twenties, and he is indeed far from being mature at that time, at least he has not thought of a suitable way to solve the dilemma.

This is naturally partly because he is not old enough, has too little experience, and is not familiar with his mind, but part of the reason is that the opponent is Zhuge Liang, such a cautious person will not show any big flaws.

Let Deng Ai be a little embarrassed about Zhuge Liang. But this is indeed the reality.

Unable to think of a better way for a while, Deng Ai sent a lot of scouts to find some trails that could bypass Mianzhu, and it was this unintentional move that made him discover something shocking.

It wasn't that he found any way to break the city, but that the scouts he sent found a lot of spies from the Western Shu army.

Could it be that the Xishu army is also trying to find a small way to find an opportunity to surround itself? Deng Ai told the corps commander Zhang Liao about this discovery.

Zhang Liao really attached great importance to the discovery of the scouts of the Xishu army on the uninhabited roads outside Mianzhu, and immediately sent a team of elite scouts to let them investigate the matter clearly.

And it was this investigation that found something even more terrifying, that is, an army of 200,000 people was coming from Wenshan County to his rear, and after the scout's investigation, it was found that this army was wearing strange costumes, that is, it was not from the Central Plains.

"Where did this foreign army come from?" Zhang Liao and Deng Ai looked at the huge sand table in front of them and fell into deep thought.

Tianyan has already received information that the Xishu army has long since withdrawn to the south of Mianzhu because of the defeat of Shanglu City, so where did this sudden foreign army come from? Also, what are these people going to do when they suddenly appear behind them?

With this discovery, more elite scouts were sent out, and even Zhang Liao sent the deputy commander of the corps, General Pang De, to take people to reconnoiter the matter. Finally, there was more and more information, and the identity of this 200,000-strong cavalry team was finally confirmed, and it turned out to be the soldiers and horses of the Western Regions Qiang State.

When he was in the Western Regions, Zhang Chao had sent Lu Bu to destroy the Cheshi Kingdom, and he almost made a move against the Wuqiang Kingdom in the south.

Afterwards, at the suggestion of Guo Jia, Zhang Chao made peace with the countries of the Western Regions, and at that time, the Wuqiang Kingdom was also among the countries of the Western Regions that made peace, perhaps because the strength of the Celestial Empire was too strong, so the two sides withdrew their troops without fighting.

Soon after that incident, Zhang Chao withdrew from the Western Regions with his army and returned to the Yuguan. I thought that even if there was a conflict with the Wuqiang Kingdom in the future, it would be time to enter the Western Regions again, but I didn't think that they would take the initiative to attack, and they also wanted to cooperate with the Western Shu Army to outflank their own back road.

"These people must have crossed the Xiqiang Mountain to our rear, it seems that they have a lot of appetite, and they want to eat us." Standing in front of the huge sand table, Commander Zhang Liao sighed, and at the same time looked at Deng Ai, the military advisor on the side, with appreciation. If it weren't for this person sending scouts to find the way, I'm afraid he wouldn't have been able to find the 200,000 Qiang cavalry, in that case, once it was really copied by the two loaves, I am afraid that the Seventh Army would be in danger.

"Commander, don't look at me like this, it's all a coincidence." Deng Ai knew what the other party meant, so he said embarrassedly. He really didn't expect that the scout sent out couldn't find his way, but he accidentally detected such a thing, and now it seems that he is really careful.

"Hehe, okay, Master Deng doesn't have to be polite, no matter what, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to find these Qiang cavalry, so now that we know, let's think about what to do next? Do you want to go back and give them a blow? Zhang Liao smiled, luck is sometimes a kind of strength, but the factors are not very certain. In any case, Deng Ai did a good thing this time, and it is conceivable that with preparation, the Seventh Army will have more opportunities to take the initiative.

Zhang Liao said that he would turn back to deal with the cavalry of the Qiang Kingdom, and Deng Ai did have a different opinion on this point, he explained: "Commander, with the information we have now, as long as the arrangements are made properly, it is certain to give the cavalry of the Qiang Kingdom a heavy blow, and we are confident that we will achieve the greatest victory at the minimum cost." ”

Hearing that Deng Ai seemed to approve his proposal, Zhang Liao couldn't help but smile happily on the side.

It's just that then Deng Ai's tone changed and said: "It's just that in this case, we still have no way to take Mianzhu City, if we can't break here, we can't talk about the entry of troops into Chengdu, and naturally we won't be able to complete the task given to us by the emperor." ”

Hearing Deng Ai's words, Zhang Liao was stunned and said, "Oh? What does that mean..."

"Commander, Ai thinks so, even if we have learned the information in advance, can we take the opportunity to take down Mianzhu City?" Deng Ai said in a consultative tone.

When Zhang Liao heard this, he knew that Deng Ai must have an idea, and immediately said happily: "The military advisor has a clever plan." ”

"Hehe, I can't talk about a clever plan, but as long as you do it properly, there are still some opportunities. It's just that in this way, the Seventh Army is afraid that there will be some losses, after all, we have to use our own strength to deal with the joint forces of the Western Shu Army and the cavalry of the Wuqiang State. Deng Ai did have a way in his heart, but he really didn't know much about the combat power of the Seventh Legion. The so-called strategy can only be realized after having a certain strength, on the contrary, it is like a three-year-old child, even if he has an iron rod in his hand and asks him to sneak attack a young man, I am afraid that it will not succeed.

Zhang Liao understood the meaning of Deng Ai's words, as the commander of the Seventh Legion, he was still very confident in the combat power of the Legion, and he immediately said: "The military advisor doesn't have to worry. Where there are immortals in war, as long as the soldier's efforts are enough in return, it is worth it. As I said, although our Seventh Army does not dare to say that its combat strength is the best in the world, if it wants to defeat us on the battlefield, it is not something that anyone can do.

Seeing that Zhang Liao had such strong confidence, Deng Ai was also happy and said: "Okay, with the words of the corps commander, Ai has counted." That's what I thought..."

Stretch City.

The city is now in charge of General Wang Ping. Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and General Zhang Ren, who were originally here, had already left for Chengdu.

Originally, Zhuge Liang was going to stay here to join the cavalry of the Qiang Kingdom, a reinforcement from afar, and he wanted to wait for the siege of the Seventh Legion of the Celestial Empire before leaving.

Xishu and the Wuqiang Kingdom have long been connected. When Zhang Chao did whatever he wanted in the Western Regions before, Xishu also supported and gave some fine iron tools to the Wuqiang Kingdom, which was the beginning of the alliance between the two countries. And now Zhang Chao has set his sights on Xishu again, and he has won again and again, and he has no choice, Zhuge Liang asked for help from the Qiang State, and after making a lot of promises and paying a lot of price, the other party finally decided to send 200,000 cavalry to help.