Turn back a month and a half.

Just when Zhou Yu and Zhang Xi were fighting each other's "artillery battles" with bed crossbows in Jiangling, the war in Luoyang City also ushered in new changes.

After Zhuge Liang took the initiative to shrink the defensive line, Sima Yi finally completed the plan to encircle Luoyang and led his troops to Luoyang City.

At this time, Sima Yi had 60,000 soldiers and horses, and he immediately divided 20,000 troops to Jia Kui, and asked Jia Kui to lead his troops to the south gate of Luoyang to cut off the connection between Nanyang and Luoyang, and he led 40,000 soldiers and horses to besiege the east gate of Luoyang.

At the same time, Sima Shi and Sima Zhao also led 20,000 Hanoi soldiers to complete the river crossing, occupied Mengjindu, and advanced in the direction of the north gate of Luoyang.

Cao Zhen is still fighting with Wang Chang in Hongnong County, but there is some progress, after Wang Chang took the initiative to abandon the defense of Mianchi and retreat to Xin'an, Cao Zhen led 25,000 soldiers to occupy Mianchi.

It seems that the entire Luoyang City is about to fall into the encirclement of the 100,000 Wei army.

But Zhuge Liang didn't panic at all.

First of all, he still has 40,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, and he still has a certain degree of certainty in defending Luoyang.

Secondly, according to the news from Guanzhong, Wu Yi and Liu Yin have completed all the preparations for sending troops to help, and they can send troops immediately.

Especially the Guanzhong soldiers under Liu Yin's department, they are the closest, and they will come to Luoyang to support, and the time will not exceed twenty days.

Zhuge Liang immediately ordered Liu Yin's troops to go to Zuo Feng Yi, pass through Tongguan, and quickly support Wang Chang in Hongnong County.

Now although the Bingzhou army led by Cao Zhen has reached Xin'an, they also have a fatal problem - Shaanxi County is too close to Tongguan.

The logistical supply of Cao Zhen's army was transported through the route of Hedong County-Shaanxi County-Xin'an, and in order to break through Hedong County as soon as possible and encircle Luoyang from the west, Cao Zhen had to concentrate his forces to defeat Wang Chang, so Cao Zhen's defensive forces left in Shaanxi County were less than 2,000 people.

Once the Guanzhong soldiers entered Hongnong County from Tongguan and attacked Shaanxi County, Cao Zhen's logistical supply was likely to be cut off.

At that time, Cao Zhen was in a dilemma, not only might he fall into a situation of running out of food, but he might even encounter the front and back attacks of the Guanzhong Army and the Hongnong Defenders.

The threat of soldiers and horses along the way has been completely eliminated.

As for the 80,000 Wei troops besieging the city, Zhuge Liang has 40,000 soldiers in his hands, if he can't hold on, with the solidity of Luoyang City, it will not be a problem to hold on for three or four months.

At the beginning, Sima Yi only had 20,000 people in his hands, and under the siege of 60,000 people of the Han army, they all held Luoyang for nearly three months, and there was no reason why Zhuge Liang couldn't hold it.

Therefore, the person who is eager to attack now has become Sima Yi, and the person who wants to lure the enemy into dividing his troops into battle has also become Sima Yi. is completely contrary to history, now Zhuge Liang has the confidence to stay in Luoyang City behind closed doors.

There is one thing to say, forcing Sima Yi to have the heart to give Zhuge Liang women's clothes.

First, Sima Yi couldn't think of a feasible way to lure Zhuge Liang into dividing his troops into battle, and naturally there was no way to use field battles to consume the strength of the Han army.

80,000 people besieged Luoyang City, which was held by 40,000 people, when will it be fought?!

Second, in the last war, Sima Yi accepted Zhuge Liang's appointment in Luyang City, but he retreated without a fight, and his reputation has been greatly affected.

And there are two ways to regain that reputation.

One is to lead troops to conquer Luoyang and defeat Zhuge Liang head-on. In the future, no one will say that they are afraid of Zhuge Liang, so they will retreat without a fight after the battle.

The other is to make Zhuge Liang's reputation also stink, so that Zhuge Liang will also become a coward who does not dare to fight, so that no one can say anything about anyone.

Obviously, the first way is too difficult, and the second one is actually a trick.

Sima Yi now also urgently needs Zhuge Liang to take the initiative to send troops, so it is feasible to stimulate Zhuge Liang by agitating the generals, or by making an appointment.

Zhuge Liang didn't agree, and Sima Yi didn't have anything to lose, but he agreed, and it was in Sima Yi's arms, the two sides fought in the field, Sima Yi had a military advantage, and he was confident that he would not lose to Zhuge Liang Of course, it was best to agree and regret it, so that everyone's reputation stinked together.

For this reason, Sima Yi wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang inviting him to fight, inviting Zhuge Liang to take the initiative to go out of the city to fight, and not to shrink in Luoyang City like a turtle without moving.

When Zhuge Liang received this letter, he actually thought it was quite funny. The old turtle said that others are turtles, and there is such a funny thing in the world?!

What did you Sima Yi do when he occupied Luoyang, do you need me to help you recall your memories?!

Zhuge Liang wanted to directly refuse Sima Yi's invitation to fight, but. There are several factors that make Zhuge Liang weigh the pros and cons.

To be honest, from a military point of view, Zhuge Liang should have directly rejected Sima Yi's invitation to fight, after all, it was not beneficial to defend the city.

However, from a political point of view, Zhuge Liang had to hesitate.

Since the Han reoccupied Luoyang, Zhuge Liang's governance here has not been smooth.

In the Sili region, there were a total of five counties, and the Han actually only controlled two counties: Henan County and Hongnong County.

The remaining three counties, Hedong County, Hanoi County and Yingchuan County, were still under Cao Wei's control.

In fact, this kind of rule is not too stable, especially the passage between Henan County and Nanyang County in Jingzhou is too narrow, and once Chen Tai of Yingchuan County counterattacks Xiangcheng, this passage may be cut off at any time.

This is a direct military advantage, which has led to the fact that the clans in the Sili region still have a lot of confidence in Cao Wei, thinking that Cao Wei is likely to return to Luoyang.

This made Zhuge Liang's infiltration and political persuasion work in the Heluo area very difficult.

Of course, there are also reasons why the Heluo family is resistant to the family policy of the Han Dynasty. But this is only a secondary cause, not a primary one.

After all, although the family policy of the Han Dynasty is stricter than that of Cao Wei, it will affect the interests of some family members, but the Han Dynasty still values and treats the family family preferentially after all, and Zhuge Liang also knows that in this era, without the support of the family family, it is impossible to stabilize the regime and control the place.

The restriction of the family by the Han Dynasty is only to affect some of the family's right to speak and interests, but it is not to completely destroy the family.

The real decisive factor is that the family has no confidence in the Han Dynasty to be able to hold Luoyang, don't look back, I just bet on Ji Han, turn around, you Ji Han will lose Luoyang and let Cao Wei kill back.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang now very much needs to prove with practical actions that it is impossible for Cao Wei to come back after losing Luoyang.

Only in this way can the clans in the Heluo region gradually give up supporting Cao Wei and turn to the Han Dynasty.

The easiest way, of course, is to hold Luoyang and repel the counterattack of the Cao Wei group.

But now there are not enough troops, and they have to retreat and defend the whole way. If the Han army was blocked by the Wei army in Luoyang City and beaten wildly in this battle, then even if it was difficult to hold Luoyang, it would not convince the clans.

The best thing is to defeat Wei Jun in a head-to-head one-on-one duel. That's the best proof of that.

For this reason, Zhuge Liang was really hesitant to agree to Sima Yi's invitation.

Although there is a clear political need, it is too risky to take the initiative to attack, and it is what the enemy wants to see. With Zhuge Liang's cautious character, of course he will be quite entangled.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang had to discuss these things with Xu Shu, Wei Yan, Zhang Fei and others. He really couldn't make such a determination alone.

With the revival of the Han Dynasty in sight, Zhuge Liang felt that the burden on his shoulders was getting heavier and heavier, and the lightness of talking and laughing and retreating from the enemy had appeared less and less on him.

Actually, it's not hard to understand.

Although Liu Bei's group encountered many difficulties in the early years, it was not impossible to move around, especially when Liu Bei and other old generals were there, although Zhuge Liang was also very tired, at least the pressure was not so great.

But now, Ji Han's momentum has risen, and he has even returned to Luoyang, but the space for flickering and maneuvering is even smaller.

Earlier, Liu Bei's group has been failing, and it is nothing to experience one more failure, and even at that time in Chibi, Zhuge Liang also fought in case Dongwu could not withstand Cao Cao's attack, then Liu Bei's group took advantage of the chaos to occupy a territory in Dongwu and develop slowly.

But now, Ji Han occupies Luoyang, and if Luoyang is lost again, the influence caused will be fatal, and it is very likely to directly affect whether the Han can prosper three times.

The first emperor has died, and although the Son of Heaven has reached adulthood, he lacks experience in governing and his prestige is not enough.

General Guan has passed away, and Zilong and the three generals are old. It is he Zhuge Liang, Fa Zheng, Pang Tong, Zhang Xi, these people are all over forty years old, and even Xu Shu, Huang Quan, Wei Yan and others are already over fifty years old.

If you can't complete Dahan Sanxing at this point in time. Handed over to the next generation, Zhuge Liang really has no confidence.

couldn't help but feel that Zhuge Liang was not under much pressure.

As for Zhuge Liang's proposal, should he agree to Sima Yi's invitation and take the initiative to fight. The response was surprisingly unanimous.

Since there is such a need, let's fight.

"I've been fighting on the battlefield for more than 30 years, can I still be afraid of these Wei thieves?!"

This is Wei Yan's original words, and it is also the loudest and most representative opinion.

But it's a pity that this is a belligerent word, and Zhuge Liang still values the opinions of Huang Quan and Xu Shu more.

And the opinions of these two people actually tend to take the initiative.

With an army of 40,000 in hand, facing the opponent's army of 80,000, if you choose to retreat and defend, it will be somewhat timid and fearful, and if you hold it for a long time, it will be detrimental to the morale of the army.

Rather than waiting until the casualties have increased and morale has dropped, and then looking for an opportunity to take the initiative, it is better to take the initiative to attack while there is still enough combat power now.

Moreover, from a political point of view, this battle is actually necessary.

Of course, using 40,000 people to fight 80,000 people is naturally the next step, but if you use 40,000 people to fight against the 40,000 people in Sima Yi's headquarters outside the West Gate, it is not without the certainty of a war.

If you can really repel Sima Yi in this battle. There is no need to even defeat it, as long as Sima Yi is repelled, then this Luoyang defensive battle is already half successful.

Therefore, playing is also a way of defense.

With the endorsement of these two people, Zhuge Liang made up his mind a little.

As for Zhang Fei, it's not that Zhuge Liang doesn't want to listen to Zhang Fei's opinion, but Zhang Fei's current state is very delicate.

"The words of the military advisor, I just listen to it."

This is the answer Zhang Fei gave after a burst of laughter. It makes people laugh and cry.

(End of chapter)