Guanzhong, Chang'an, Yongzhou Thorn Mansion.

Zhuge Liang faced the battle report in front of him, his brows furrowed.

To be honest, this Northern Expedition, from the time of preparation, there were too many things that were not under Zhuge Liang's control, and this feeling made Zhuge Liang feel very uncomfortable.

Although Zhuge Liang himself doesn't think so, in fact, Zhuge Liang is a perfectionist, and the reason why he has to do many things himself is because he is not worried that his subordinates can do things as they require.

But now, Zhuge Liang found that even if he did it himself, there would always be times when some things were not under his control.

Of course, Zhuge Liang hoped that Cao Wei would remain on the defensive until he made all the preparations for the Northern Expedition, so that when he sent troops to the Northern Expedition, everything would be in his plan.

But. Cao Wei actually launched the campaign to recover Guanzhong in advance, and at the beginning of the battle, he was caught off guard by Guanzhong.

Whether it is from the timing of the troops or from the strength of the troops, it is somewhat beyond the expectations of Zhuge Liang and Zhang Xi, resulting in Zhuge Liang not having time to transfer the Northern Army, Liangzhou Corps, and Yizhou Corps to Guanzhong, which can only rely on Yongzhou County soldiers for local defense.

And the development of the war slowly deviated from Zhuge Liang's expectations.

Originally, Zhuge Liang thought that this Cao Wei invasion should be the idea of breaking through on two fronts, so the conventional response was to block the two lines and wear down the opponent's spirit, and then take advantage of the sudden appearance of the Northern Army and the Liangzhou Corps to lay down the victory in one fell swoop.

The battle reports that can be sent back from the front show that things are developing differently than they thought.

First of all, in the right Fufeng area, Guo Huai's attack was obviously weak, and Liu Yin only relied on 15,000 new and old county soldiers to block the fortress defense line.

Then came Zuo Fengyi, Cao Zhen's main army was slow to attack, dragging its feet, and there was no attempt to regain Guanzhong's posture in one fell swoop.

Obviously, this is abnormal, not only Zhang Xi feels abnormal, but Zhuge Liang also feels abnormal.

Out of caution and worry, Zhuge Liang had already ordered Hanzhong to let Zhang Fei, the second general Wang Ping, who had just led the troops to Hanzhong, stop resting in Hanzhong, go north directly, enter Guanzhong from the Bao Slope Road, and quickly come to help.

After doing this, Zhuge Liang still felt uneasy, and ordered to urge the Northern Army led by Wu Yi to move east to the right to support Feng as soon as possible, and at the same time ordered Zhao Yun to immediately lead the Liangzhou Army into Xiao Pass to support Zhang Xi, who was fighting in Zuo Feng Yi.

Wait until Zhuge Liang has just finished making these arrangements. He received a battle report from the right wind.

The 20,000 cavalry of the Wei army suddenly appeared on the Youfufeng battlefield, broke through the Youfufeng fortress group from the front, and quickly advanced in depth.

The right Fufeng Taishou Liu Yin was defeated, and led the remnants of the army to defend Huaili, leaving a sentence after the break. And Jufu's whereabouts are also unknown in the process of breaking off, but he finally bought Liu Yin three days of arming time.

Subsequently, Guo Huai led nearly 20,000 people from the Wuguan Army to besiege Huaili, but the 20,000-strong cavalry corps once again disappeared.

With Zhuge Liang's ingenuity and grasp of the battle situation, it is almost impossible to think about it to know that this cavalry corps must have relied on the speed advantage, crossed the right Fufeng, and went to the left Feng Yi to attack Zhang Xi's flank.

Now Zhuge Liang has not received Zhang Xi's latest judgment on the situation, so he is naturally worried about this. If Zhang Xi was lured out of the city by Cao Zhen and took the initiative to attack, then he was likely to encounter a flank assault of 20,000 cavalry in the field.

And in Zhang Xi's hands, even if all the combatable soldiers are counted, it is only 30,000 people, how can he block the flank impact of 20,000 cavalry? !

There is also Youfufeng, Liu Yin, who has just experienced a defeat, whether he can hold Huaili and drag Guo Huai's nearly 20,000 soldiers to attack is also unknown.

The most terrible thing is that there are only 5,000 defenders in Chang'an now, and these 5,000 defenders are the last reserves that Zhuge Liang can use, and they can't be moved lightly.

This feeling of being out of his control made Zhuge Liang very uncomfortable, but he had no way at all.

At least, before the Northern Army led by Wu Yi arrived near Chang'an, he really didn't have any way.

Zhang Xi can't be defeated, if he is defeated, even if Zhao Yun leads the army into the pass, facing the main force of Cao Zhen's army with his hands free, he will not necessarily be the opponent of the other party.

And Huaili can't be lost, once Huaili is lost, Youfufeng will completely lose the hope of counterattacking, and there is no second choice except to trap Chang'an.

Zhuge Liang was in a hurry, he was in a hurry, he was all over the house, racking his brains to find a way to deal with the current situation.

Thinking about it, Zhuge Liang had no other way to think than to send fast horses again to urge Wu Yi to speed up the march and support Huaili as soon as possible.

At this time, Jiang Wan thought about it again and again, and finally stood up and suggested, "Why doesn't the prime minister recruit the grain transportation teams of those families for national use?!" ”

Jiang Wan's idea is actually nothing new, and everyone in this room knows about it.

In Chang'an City, there are not only 5,000 soldiers, but also a hidden armed force - the smuggled grain transportation team of the families.

This army, you can say that they are a rabble, but in the current situation, the Han has no choice, these grain transport teams are at least in terms of combat power, more reliable than the people temporarily recruited to defend the city.

Those people are also people who lick blood from the knife edge, and they can still help a lot when they are fighting with the wind.

As for whether it will work against the wind, how do you know if it doesn't work if you don't try?!

Jiang Wan, as the big steward of Chang'an City, of course he knew that there was such a team, and he had recommended it to Zhuge Liang more than once, but Zhuge Liang was always reluctant to use this rabble.

This grain transportation team has a lot of people, adding up to nearly 10,000 people, but the problem is that this grain transportation team is controlled by various families. Dealing with these families, especially when they are in a weak position now, do you dare to agree to the conditions proposed by those families?!

Again, Zhuge Liang didn't believe in those families at all.

Although the total number of this grain transportation team was 10,000, it was scattered in the hands of four or five different families.

Not all of the families work together, and there is intrigue between them.

And today's Chang'an, far from the end of the mountains and rivers, when the enemy soldiers are approaching the city, so there is no need to worry about them uniting to rebel, and having 5,000 county soldiers is enough for them not to dare to act rashly.

But if they are gathered together and placed under the command of someone, this gives them the opportunity to connect in tandem.

Those families will not agree to arm their private soldiers and hand them over to the people of the court to command, they will definitely nominate someone from their own family to lead this army, and at that time, who knows if they will do something brainless?!

Although Zhuge Liang felt that he had 5,000 county soldiers in his hands, which was enough to suppress the rabble of 10,000 people, if he really wanted to fight, his own losses would inevitably not be small, and once there was civil strife, it would inevitably affect the morale of the entire Chang'an defenders.

Therefore, such an army, Zhuge Liang is really not a last resort, and he really dare not risk using it.

And now. Zhuge Liang is also not sure if it has come to the time of "last resort".

Therefore, in the face of Jiang Wan's re-admonition this time, Zhuge Liang thought about it for a long time, and he was really seriously considering whether to compromise with these Guanzhong families.

In the end, Zhuge Liang still shook his head, rejected Jiang Wan's advice, and said, "Let's wait for two more days to see if the letter from the chief can arrive, if not, we will discuss it again." ”

said that it was to discuss again, but in fact, it was to wait for two more days, if there was still no good news, then Zhuge Liang would have to come forward in person and talk to those Guanzhong families.

Jiang Wan has no objection to this, if it is not really no way, there is really no one in his hands, and Jiang Wan does not want to bow his head to those Guanzhong families.

As the number one who assisted Zhang Xi in handling the daily official affairs of Yongzhou, Jiang Wan knew too well the virtues of this Guanzhong family.

Let's put it this way, the Guanzhong family, who were originally submissive, not only made a lot of money in the past three years of grain smuggling, but also became more and more urgent for Yongzhou's right to speak.

Now, if it were to be begged for them, it would be strange that these bastards didn't open their mouths.

Jiang Wan actually knew all this, but now there was really no way, at least he and Chen Yi had discussed privately for a long time, in addition to this method, I really couldn't imagine that he could find a way to use the army in the short term.

Therefore, Jiang Wan and Chen Yi both felt that although there were many troubles after doing this, if they couldn't keep Guanzhong Chang'an, the consequences would be more serious than the future troubles of these families.

Compared to these big families, it is still the land of Guanzhong that is more important.

Fortunately, two days later, Zhuge Liang finally received the letter sent by Zhang Xi under Dali City, and after reading this letter, Zhuge Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Since Zhang Xi had already predicted the strategic intentions of the Wei army, with Zhuge Liang's understanding of him, Zhang Xi would definitely not continue to confront Cao Zhen, and at least withdraw to Chongquan.

And at this time, Zhuge Liang's advance notice to let Zhao Yun enter the customs can just come in handy.

As long as Zhang Xi does not wave, holds Chongquan, and waits for Zhao Yun's support, then Zuo Fengyi's defense line is basically stable.

As for the right wind. The letter of Liu Yin, who is too guarded by Youfufeng, has also been placed on Zhuge Liang's desk.

Liu Yin said that he would lead 5,000 county soldiers to live and die with Huaili County.

The will to stick to it, Zhuge Liang is felt, but the problem is. Although it depends on will, will is not enough to help you complete the task of defending the city.

Without reinforcements, there is no point in holding on.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang must let Liu Yin and the soldiers see the hope of perseverance.

At this time, the Northern Army led by Wu Yi had just passed through Meixian County, and it was still seven or eight days away from Huaili.

Zhuge Liang wasn't sure if Liu Yin would be able to hold on to the day when Wu Yi led his troops to help.

After thinking about it, Zhuge Liang finally decided to make an appointment to meet the Guanzhong families in Chang'an City.

(End of chapter)