Upaushali City, west of the city.
Zhuge Liang looked at the camp with a cold face, seeing that one-fourth of it had been burned down, he spoke in a low but serious voice, "Is this just coincidence? Just because I came today and you couldn't defend against Guo Huai at midnight?"
Liao Hua kept his head down and remained silent, while Wu Yi, somewhat embarrassed, explained, "Reporting to the General, last night the Wei army sent men to launch surprise attacks and set fires in both the east and west of the city. The east was defended successfully, but due to the wind direction last night, we suffered some losses in camp housing in the west. However, there were few injuries among our soldiers."
Zhuge Liang spoke with a poker face, "The Wei army is trying to steal your morale!"
"I have personally arrived here today, and also brought reinforcements. Today is the 19th, General Wu, how many more days do you need to capture Upali?"
Zhuge Liang's expression turned stern, and Wu Yi felt anxious in his heart. He quickly bowed and said, "Please give me ten days, General, I will definitely capture Upali within ten days!"
"Ten days?" Zhuge Liang looked at Wu Yi and said, "That's too many, I'll give you only five days!"
After that, Zhuge Liang issued orders on the field: "Issue my order, dispatch Zhang Yi from Ji county to lead his own 5,000 men to attack Xianqin and Chengji counties. With the current situation of vacant fields in Anzhi Prefecture, bypass Chengji to attack Anzhi!"
"Where are Liao Hua and Zong Yu?"
Liao Hua and Zong Yu, the two generals, bowed their hands and stepped forward.
Zhuge Liang continued to maintain a serious expression and issued orders: "General Liao, your camp was burned last night, you should feel shame and strive to be brave in attacking the city!"
"General Zong, lead your detachment to set off at noon and join me in the attack on Lintai!"
Liao Hua and Zong Yu both nodded in agreement, while Wu Yi was sweating profusely at that moment.
There was no other reason. It was because the city of Upali had been besieged for a long time and the city of Lintai was retreated again without attacking. Now that Zhuge Liang led his troops to attack personally, although he did not explicitly say it, Wu Yi still felt a bit of shame at this moment.
......
Let's not talk about Wu Yi's secret determination to urgently urge his soldiers to launch a fierce attack on Upali. At this moment, the Wei emperor Cao Ruyi was getting closer and closer to the strategic point of Luyang.
On the fourteenth morning, Emperor Cao Ruyi personally led a force of 16,000 elite cavalry from Chang'an. At a speed of one hundred and twenty miles per day, they had already traveled 600 miles.
The distance from Chang'an to Luyang is a total of eight hundred and eighty miles, and Emperor Cao Ruyi is only a little over three days' journey from Luyang. At such a close distance, the messages from outside the city of Luyang are becoming clearer and clearer.
Thanks to the allocation by General Chen Ping, Zhang He's messenger was able to successfully detour and contact the subsequent Qian Chao army, thus conveying the information from Luyang City to the emperor's ears.
General Zhang He was infected with a cold and high fever, which the army under General Chen Ping still dared not conceal. However, besides General Zhang He himself, the city of Luyang was well defended. General Zhang He had several wild battles with the Shu troops outside the city, although his forces suffered some losses in terms of numbers, as a whole, he didn't suffer any major setbacks.
But the situation is still not optimistic.
Xin Bi was left behind in Chang'an, responsible for matters in the Central Plains and supply of food and forage. General Yang Fu took over the task of gathering military intelligence from Xin Bi.
General Yang Fu rode beside the emperor, slowly speaking, "Your Majesty, according to the latest report from General Zhang He five days ago, there is still ample food and forage in Luyang City. Supporting for more than a month should be no problem."
"But the grain in Qian Chao's camp is only enough for five days, and the grain in General Dajiang's detachment is only enough for three days."
"When will the subsequent grain supplies arrive?" Cao Ruyi frowned and asked.
General Yang Fu thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, before General Qian Chao's departure, he had already informed the two places of grain transport along the Longshan Road to the north."
"The grain from Yu and Yong counties will take another three days to reach Luyang. General Qian Chao has 15,000 men, General Dajiang has 8,000 cavalry, and in addition to that, Your Majesty's army has 16,000 cavalry... I believe that the first batch of grain will only be sufficient for the consumption of the large army."
"If the subsequent grain is delivered on time, it will just be enough to keep up."
Cao Ruyi asked, "Who is the supervisor of grain in Chencang?"
General Yang Fu answered, "It was the emperor himself who promoted Dun Jia in the Ministry of Agriculture earlier."
"According to the military report I received, the grain transport from Chenping left on the sixth day and was personally escorted by Dun Jia."
If it were anyone else, Emperor Cao Ruyi might have some concerns. But if it's Dun Jia personally supervising the grain, this man surely knows the importance of the task.
Cao Ruyi turned and instructed, "Tell Dun Jia the date you just mentioned in his military report! With Dun Jia personally supervising the grain, there's no worry that it will be late."
"I understand." General Yang Fu replied: "Zhu Gai sent a message from Chenping, requesting to fight for Your Majesty."
Cao Ruyi asked with a hint of confusion, "Zhu Gai is requesting to fight? Where does he want to attack?"
General Yang Fu explained, "Your Majesty, Zhu Gai wants to advance along the Chencang Road, harass the Shu forces, and attempt to enter Wudu County."
Emperor Cao Ruyi turned to Sima Yi and asked, "What do you think about this, Master Sima?"
Sima Yi spoke directly: "In my opinion, Your Majesty should let Zhu Gai be content with his current position! At a time when the large army at Luyang is in a stalemate and needs supplies, how can there be enough supplies for him to advance? Even if there were grain, there would be no livestock or manpower!"
"And even if he leads his troops into Wudu, what can he do? Can he break through into Hanzhong? At this moment, the opportunity lies in Shanggui and Luyang. I urge Your Majesty to explain the situation to Zhu Gai."
Emperor Cao Ruyi softly sighed, "That is why I entrusted Qian Chao with the command and Zhu Gai as his deputy."
"Zhu Gai is sitting idle in Chencang and I understand that he wants to fight. However, from a larger perspective, he is far inferior to Qian Chao."
"General Yang," Cao Ruyi reined in his horse and stopped by the side of the road to address General Yang Fu, "draft a letter for Zhu Gai on behalf of the emperor."
General Yang Fu also stopped, dismounted, and took out a small writing table and ink and brush from a bag on the saddle after looking at the emperor and asking, "Your Majesty, what message would you like to convey?"
Emperor Cao Ruyi said, "On behalf of the emperor, I say that keeping Zhu Gai's troops has greater purposes. At present, let him safely guard Chencang and restrain himself. Once the situation in Longyou is better, I will personally deploy him to fight in Longyou."
Hearing this, Sima Yi raised his eyebrows slightly and looked towards the emperor. He had thought that the emperor would issue a decree to reprimand Zhu Gai, but he did not expect the emperor to use imperial edicts to soothe him instead.
In his heart, Sima Yi thought, "Your Majesty's love and care for his generals is truly reminiscent of the style of Emperor Wu."
General Yang Fu quickly drafted the edict, showed it to the emperor for approval, sealed it with the seal of office, and immediately dispatched it.
At this moment, there were nearly fifty prefectural scholars under the banner who had not been granted official positions.
These were the first batch of students of the Great Wei Academy, who entered in September last year and graduated in August this year. Half of them were accompanying the emperor's army, and the other half were with Xu Chu's 16,000 infantry troops trailing behind.
From Luoyang, they have been on the road for nearly two weeks. Although all scholars in this era can ride horses, long-distance horseback rides for weak scholars are both physically and mentally demanding.
However, students who graduate from the first batch of the Great Wei Academy are no ordinary individuals. These prefectural scholars, each holding a salary of three hundred grains of rice, understand that this march is also a rare opportunity for them to test their abilities.
With the emperor himself leading the way in front of the troops, how could any scholar dare to fall behind and complain? Even if their thighs are rubbed raw, they would bear it. If they can't sit steadily, they would be tied to the horse and still follow the army.
If they really fall behind, they might as well give up on becoming officials. Who knows how long they would have to waste in the current position of prefectural scholar with a salary of three hundred grains of rice.
Jiang Wei, being the oldest and from the Longyou region of Tianshui, combined with his own talent, knowledge, and demeanor, has become the leader among the prefectural scholars after this journey.
After warmly comforting those colleagues who were tied to horses and were in the most discomfort, Jiang Wei rode back to the front of the formation and began conversing with Fu Gu.
After Xun Can was exiled to the Western Regions, Fu Gu, who was always outgoing, gradually became silent in the Academy. However, after this march, perhaps because of leaving Luoyang and opening up his mind, he has become increasingly talkative recently.
Fu Gu, who was born in Beidi Prefecture, was much younger than Jiang Wei but also had excellent horseback riding skills, allowing him to converse and laugh with Jiang Wei while riding.
"Brother Jiang, do you think it will be easy to fight in Longyou?" Fu Gu asked.
After all, they are scholars, and even the most talented ones will still have to go through a learning process for military strategies.
Jiang Wei said with a calm face, "Lanshan, do you see those prefectural scholars whose legs are rubbed raw?"
Fu Gu nodded.
Jiang Wei continued, "Your Majesty, as the supreme ruler of ten thousand chariots, you personally led the march to unify ten thousand horsemen and were only one day behind General Dajiang."
"Do you think that the emperor would have led two separate armies if the situation had not reached its darkest hour?"
Fu Gu replied, "Brother Jiang, what you said is reasonable. Then, the situation in your home prefecture should not be optimistic, right?"
"Tianzhen Prefecture," Jiang Wei sighed softly. "The military rumors say that the Shu forces may have as many as seven or eight million people. With the strength of one county, how can it withstand them? It is probably already in their hands now."
Fu Gu knew he had spoken too soon and quickly added, "Then, Yihou County, which is the county seat, must have soldiers defending it."
The details of the front-line military situation had not been notified to the prefectural scholars. Relying on his understanding of the region, Jiang Wei analyzed, "As for Tianzhen Prefecture, the most important places are only Xixian County, Yihou County, and Shanggui."
"If Zhuge Liang has seven or eight million troops, and Xixian County is on the must-travel route, it must already be beyond salvation."
"And since Yihou County is too far west, from a strategic perspective, Shanggui City is far more important than Yihou County. If there are any defenses in Tianzhen Prefecture, they must be at Shanggui, not Yihou County."
Fu Gu felt even more embarrassed at this point. He regretted mentioning this in front of Jiang Wei and could only say casually, "This time the imperial army has arrived, they will certainly defeat and drive back the Shu forces."
Jiang Wei nodded and replied, "Let's see how our clan will try to preserve itself. I hope they will still remain loyal to the Great Wei."
Fu Gu thought of something and sighed deeply, "Brother Jiang, do you know Fu Xie and Fu Nanrong? Nanrong is the uncle-grandfather of our clan."
Jiang Wei said sternly, "How could I not know the great name of Fu Nanrong? In the past, when Wang Dynasty and Han Xian were in rebellion, Fu Nanrong courageously held out in Yihou County and fought to death on the front line. How could I, as a native of Yihou County, not know that?"
"Lanshan, why not wait until the imperial army recaptures Yihou County, and we go together to pay our respects to Grandfather Nanrong!"
Fu Gu nodded, "I will definitely follow Brother Jiang to the place!" (End of chapter)
