Guo Huai's recent life has not been easy.

Since September, after receiving an order from Cao Hong in Chang'an, and learning that Liu Bei swore to the Northern Expedition in Hanzhong, Guo Huai has been in a very nervous state.

At that time, Guo Huai and Cao Hong's judgments were about the same.

Neither of them thought that Liu Bei would attack Liangzhou from the farthest Qishan Road, and the most likely place to send troops should be Chencang Road or Baochuan Road.

The reason is very simple, the Qishan Road detour is too far, the march is a little slower, and it will be November when the entire Liangzhou should start to snow, which is not conducive to marching and fighting at all.

Therefore, Guo Huai, who was in Liangzhou, first led his troops to Pingxiang County, Tianshui County, northern Yongzhou, which was demarcated by Cao Wei, and called on the Qianghu soldiers and horses to send troops here, and after the assembly was completed, he planned to go east to join Cao Hong, who was in Chang'an, and fought a decisive battle with Liu Bei's army.

Later, Guo Huai received a battle report from Cao Hong, saying that he found Liu Bei's Huangluo umbrella cover at the Bao Chuan Road, as well as Liu Bei's personal guard Bai Yu soldiers, which further strengthened Guo Huai's judgment that Liu Bei's main force was to go out of the Bao Slope Road and attack Guanzhong directly.

Therefore, until the beginning of October, Guo Huai was still making operational preparations for the eastward march to join Cao Hong.

But in mid-October, Guo Huai saw Gao Gang who ran back from Qishan Fort, and Gao Gang told Guo Huai that the Shu army came out of Qishan Road, broke through Qishan Fort, and was now killing in the direction of Tianshui County.

Guo Huai was taken aback, and then hurriedly asked for details.

If the main force of the Shu army came from Qishan Road, it means that the judgment of himself and Cao Hong, the governor of Yongliang, was wrong, and the purpose of the Shu army was not to Guanzhong Chang'an, but Liangzhou.

This is a mistake of strategic judgment, and at such times, it is very fatal.

Therefore, Guo Huai hurriedly summoned Gao Gang and tried to learn the specific information of the Shu army on the Qishan Road from Gao Gang's mouth.

Originally, Gao Gang was right, he told Guo Huai that the Shu army on the Qishan Road was the main force of Liu Bei's Northern Expedition, and there were tens of thousands of people.

But this is not because of how prescient Gao Gang was, nor because Gao Gang opened his eyes, it was purely because Gao Gang was shaking off the blame.

Although the loss of Qishan Fort was due to the unpreparedness of the night attack, the main reason was Gao Gang's own command error, which caused the Shu army of a few hundred to break through the camp guarded by the Wei army of 2,000 people.

When this kind of thing is said, Gao Gang also feels ashamed, and it is easier to be held accountable.

Therefore, in order to alleviate his guilt, Gao Gang exaggerated the number of Shu troops, claiming that the Shu army attacking Qishan Fort had tens of thousands of people and was the main force of this Northern Expedition.

This is indeed crooked, but the problem is that he may believe this statement if he changes to a brainless and reckless man, but he is facing Guo Huai.

Guo Huai, as a famous general of Cao Wei, relies not only on martial arts, but more importantly, on his good brain.

Since you Gao Gang said that the Shu army relied on a night attack to conquer Qishan Fort, how did you know the specific number of Shu troops?!

In the dark environment, and only fought for less than one night, how did you Gao Gang conclude that there are tens of thousands of people in the Shu army?!

Besides, the place of Qishan Fort, Guo Huai has not been there, that camp is on the mountain, if there are really tens of thousands of enemy troops, they would have surrounded you on the mountain and couldn't get through, how did you Gao Gang escape? !

Guo Huai quickly noticed Gao Gang's lies, and after repeated questioning, he finally let Gao Gang tell the truth.

Then Guo Huai was not lightly angry.

Why did you have 2,000 people guarding a camp, and it was easily breached by hundreds of people?!

Well, even then it's not so hateful, the most odious thing is that you, a bastard, dare to lie about the military in order to reduce your culpability?!

This kind of person, do you still keep it for the New Year?!

Cut it directly, in order to correct military law.

After cutting Gao Gang, Guo Huai dissipated his anger a little and began to seriously think about the information that Gao Gang brought back.

There was a Shu army in Qishan Road, this must be true, otherwise Gao Gang would not have been able to go to Pingxiang County to be stabbed like this, this is a joke with his own head.

But whether it is the main force of the Shu army or not, this is really hard to say.

Guo Huai's brain is much better than Cao Hong's.

If the Shu army did not appear in Qishan Road, then Guo Huai might have recognized the judgment of the current situation, thinking that the main force of Liu Bei's army was at the Baochuan crossing, and now he should quickly gather his troops and go east to join Cao Hong.

But the sudden appearance of the Shu army in Qishan Road is a bit intriguing.

It's hard to say whether this is the main force of the Shu army, after all, there are possibilities for both the main force and the partial division.

If it is a partial division, the purpose of detouring such a long way out of Qishan Road should be to attract his own attention, not to allow himself to go east to support Cao Hongdu, and to relieve the pressure on the main force of Liu Beijun on the Baochuan Road.

But if it is the main force, it means that the entire Cao Wei has made a mistake in judging the strategic intentions of the Shu army from top to bottom, and the purpose of the people is not Guanzhong, but Liangzhou.

Gao Gang lost too much and didn't provide Guo Huai with too much effective information, only one thing is certain. The Shu army that walked the Qishan Road was not the kind of suspicious soldier who had no combat effectiveness.

It is impossible for a suspicious army to break through Qishan Fort overnight with a few hundred people. Guo Huai is very clear about the gold content of this year's moon and night battle.

Therefore, Guo Huai judged that even if the Shu army out of Qishan Road was still not the main force, at least the combat effectiveness was definitely not weak, and it must also be an elite force.

If you extrapolate according to this line of thought, it is impossible for the Shu army to send an elite force to act as a suspicious soldier.

Then the purpose of the Shu army is definitely not to bluff and scare themselves at the Qishan Pass, but will definitely continue to attack and try to contain their Liangzhou army in a hard-hitting way.

And as the Shu army broke through the Qishan Road. The first one to attack was definitely Xixian.

After Guo Huai made a little judgment, he immediately put pen to paper and wrote a letter to the newly appointed Tianshui County Taishou Ma Zun, asking him to send county soldiers to strictly defend Xixian, and strive to determine the size and movement of the Shu army.

But. Before Guo Huai's letter could be sent, he met Ma Zun, who had run from Xixian to Pingxiang County.

Guo Huai wondered at the time, what is this bad guy doing well in Tianshui County for defense, what are you doing here?!

As a result, Ma Zun told Guo Huai that the Shu army came out of Qishan Road and killed Tianshui County, and his troops in Xixian County were insufficient, and the Tianshui County family was all against him, so he had to come to Guo Huai.

At that time, Guo Huai was angry again.

Gao has only been on his side for a few days just now, and the Shu army can kill Qishan Road and attack Xixian so quickly?!

Is this Shu army winged? !

As a result, after asking carefully, Guo Huai knew that Ma Zun did not see the arrival of the Shu army, but after receiving the report from the front, he rushed to Pingxiang County non-stop.

As for the so-called Tianshui family, it is just Ma Zun's own speculation, and there is no evidence at all.

Guo Huai was angry. What kind of evil did you create to work with these bastards?!

One guarded Qishan Fort after only half a night and fled, and the other was even better, he didn't even see the figure of the Shu army, so he ran away, and by the way, he also framed the Tianshui family for rebellion? !

Is this sure that this is not an undercover agent planted by the Shu army in Cao Wei?!

Guo Huai was very angry, but Guo Huai had no choice but to take Ma Zun.

Gao Gang is just a middle- and lower-level officer, and if he kills, he will be killed, and Guo Huai has no worries.

But Ma Zun is the Taishou of Tianshui County appointed by Cao Pi, the magistrate of a county, which is not something that Guo Huai can kill if he wants to.

Not only could he not be killed, Guo Huai also had to comfort the escaped Taishou in a good voice, asking him to return to Ji County as soon as possible, arrange defense, and buy himself a little time to reorganize his troops to fight.

If Xixian County loses it, it will be lost, but Ji County must not lose it.

But Ma Zun didn't listen at all.

In the administration of Wei, Tianshui County was under the jurisdiction of the Yongzhou Thorn History, while Guo Huai, the Liangzhou Thorn Shi, actually only had the right to suggest Ma Zun, the Taishou of Tianshui County, and had no jurisdiction.

So Ma Zun didn't go to Ji County, he stayed in Pingxiang County, Guo Huai really couldn't take Ma Zun theoretically, Ma Zun didn't leave Tianshui County, after all, Pingxiang County is the current county of Tianshui County, you really can't accuse Ma Zun of leaving his post without permission.

But Ma Zun didn't go to Ji County, and after the Shu army captured Xi County, the next target would definitely be Ji County. The strategic location of Ji County is too important to be lost.

It was impossible for Guo Huai to watch Ji County being captured by the Shu army, so he had to do everything possible to transfer troops to reinforce Ji County.

But Guo Huai also has Guo Huai's difficulties.

Don't look at the fact that Guo Huai claims to have more than 50,000 soldiers, but in fact, the soldiers that Guo Huai can really control are only 17,800 people.

Liangzhou is bitterly cold, this place has no output all year round, and the wealthy families in Liangzhou have always been despised by the Central Plains, so naturally their attitude towards themselves, the Liangzhou assassin appointed by Cao Wei, is not much better.

Therefore, Guo Huai's life in Liangzhou was not easy, and after many negotiations, Guo Huai reluctantly won the support of the Liangzhou family, recruited more than 10,000 people in Liangzhou, and gained a firm foothold in Liangzhou.

Then, Guo Huai relied on such a few people to build a great reputation in Liangzhou, and some of the Qianghu were feared as "gods".

I have to say that Guo Huai's ability is really strong,

This time the troops were sent to support Cao Hong, Guo Huai came with all the troops from Liangzhou, and at the same time recruited Qianghu Yicong from the surrounding Qianghu, which could barely gather more than 50,000 people, but these people did not all arrive in Pingxiang County, and even if they all arrived, these Hu people may not be able to fully obey Guo Huai's dispatch.

Therefore, the actual number of troops that Guo Huai can mobilize is only 17,800 people, and most of them are cavalry.

At present, Guo Huai does not know what the specific military situation of the Shu army is, nor does he know what the garrison situation of Xixian and Ji County is now. In this way, it will be difficult to suppress those mercenary Qiang Hu Yizun.

Once their own troops are not enough to deter them, it is possible for these people to be passive and slack off at best, or to rebel at worst.

It's not that Guo Huai doesn't want to save Ji County, but in the current situation, if he wants to rescue Ji County, he must wait until the Qiang and Hu soldiers arrive and go south with the army, and there is no way to let his direct Liangzhou soldiers go to the rescue now.

This thing will take time.

But now, Guo Huai feels that he doesn't have this time, and no one buys him this time.

At this time, Zhao Ang, the assassin of Yizhou in Ji County, wrote a letter to Guo Huai.

First of all, Zhao Ang complained about Ma Zun's escape without a fight, and at the same time reported the news of Guo Huai and the loss of Xixian.

Secondly, Zhao Ang told Guo Huai that he had taken control of the defense of Ji County, leading more than 5,000 soldiers to sit in Ji County, and Zhao Ang also told Guo Huai about the reality of the Shu army on the opposite side.

Now Guo Huai was finally relieved.

Zhao Ang's credibility is definitely higher than that of other Tianshui officials, after all, Zhao Ang has always stood firmly on the side of the imperial court.

In addition, Zhao Ang claimed that the Shu army only had more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, which somewhat reassured Guo Huai.

This number of people can basically be judged not to be the main force of the Shu army, so it is just a partial division all the way.

Zhao Ang has 5,000 soldiers in his hands, as well as the defense of Ji County, in the face of more than 10,000 Shu troops, as long as he holds on for seven or eight days, then he can organize the Qianghu soldiers and horses and go to support.

Fortunately, there is also a Zhao Ang in Tianshui County, who is diligent in royal affairs.

(End of chapter)