Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Qinzhou is mountainous and roads are often in valleys between mountains.

When marching on such a long and narrow road, the role of scouts and vanguards became increasingly important. Chen Ping led 4,000 troops in front, and Zhang He's troops followed closely behind Chen Ping's troops.

The weather is fine, warm and windless.

Zhang He and Li Yan sat side by side on their horses, chatting as they marched through the army.

Zhang He had always loved literature, and Li Yan happened to be an all-round talent. He was knowledgeable in military strategy, literature, and classics. Moreover, because he was in a high position, his vision and perspective were unusual.

In the past few days, Zhang He and Li Yan have been chatting more and more harmoniously.

As they chatted, Zhang He asked about an old incident from two years ago: "Zhengfang, when you were in Jiangzhou, what did you think when you learned that Zhuge Liang was defeated at Chiting and lost Hanzhong?"

As a winner, I am never shy about talking about these stories.

Li Yan also adjusted his mentality quite well: "When Hanzhong was lost, I sent troops north to Dangqu to prevent the Wei army from continuing to move south along Micang Road."

"Dangqu, I also led the army there, but was defeated by Zhang Fei at that time." Zhang He chuckled and didn't care at all: "But I was able to lead the army to win back at Chiting, while Zhang Fei could only have his head and body separated, and became a laughing stock for the world."

Li Yan said, "That's true. When I was in the court, my colleagues were also puzzled when they heard about Zhang Fei's death."

Li Yan and Zhang Fei had no friendship, and now they belonged to two different camps, so it would be okay to tease them a few times.

Zhang He asked, "How did the Shu government respond at that time? How did Zhuge Liang stabilize the situation after such a defeat?"

Li Yan thought for a few moments. "After the news came, the Lord of Shu personally led his troops to Fu County, where he held up the situation for Zitong County ahead. The situation did not stabilize until the Wei Central Army withdrew along Chencang Road. Zhuti County in the south was a little unstable, but it was quickly suppressed. As for the more distant southern counties, the news did not spread so quickly."

"The affirmative side hasn't said how Zhuge Liang managed to secure his position," Zhang He reminded.

Li Yan nodded: "The Lord of Shu trusted him, and after this great defeat, he was only demoted in nominal rank, and the rest of the duties and power of the Prime Minister's Office remained in Zhuge Kongming's hands."

"To be honest with you, Mr. Zhang." Li Yan smiled bitterly and shook his head. "At that time, I thought that Kongming should resign after such a great defeat. But Zhuge Kongming himself did not have such an intention, and the Lord of Shu did not have any other opinions. As the matter dragged on, no one mentioned it again."

Zhang He stroked his beard and said with emotion: "Winning the emperor's heart is the most important thing for a minister."

Just as the two were chatting, they heard the sound of hurried horse hooves behind them. The messenger rode up to Zhang He and bowed, saying:
"General, General Lu's troops will meet ours in five miles."

"Okay, go ahead." Zhang He waved his hand, then said with a smile: "General Lu is really punctual in his march. Yesterday he sent someone to say when he would arrive today, and he arrived at this time today."

"Pass on my order to march forward another two miles, and then stop to rest for a while."

"Yes, sir!" The messenger took the order and left.
"Hello, General Zhang. It's been a long time since we last met. It's been almost a year, right?" After Lu Xun dismounted from his horse, he walked towards Zhang He while bowing and greeting him.

"Time flies by so fast, and our reunion is always caused by war." Zhang He smiled and said, "Come on, Boyan, do you know this man?"

"Hello, General Lu." Li Yan greeted him with a smile and bowed.

Of course, Lu Xun noticed the man who was standing next to Zhang He in the photo. Logically speaking, this man should be no less important than Zhang He, but the question is, where else can there be such a person in Qinzhou? Lu Xun also recognized the faces of all the really important officials in the court during the war in the second year of Taihe.

Lu Xun bowed and said, "Your Excellency looks unfamiliar. I was careless and could not recognize you. Please forgive me."

“Hahahaha.” Zhang He’s laughter became even more heroic. “It’s normal that Boyan doesn’t recognize him. Li Zhengfang from Nanyang, this man is a famous name, Boyan must have heard of him!”

"Oh?" Although Lu Xun was in a state of panic, he remained calm. After looking Li Yan up and down, he smiled and said, "Friends have come from afar to help us with state affairs. After meeting Brother Li, I noticed that General Zhang had a bit more of an air of wealth and nobility on his head."

"Bo Yan is good at making clever speeches." Zhang He said, "Since Bo Yan and I have joined forces, we will set up camp here today and march towards the narrow mountain tomorrow."

"Very good." Lu Xun said with a smile: "Although the food in the army is simple, I still want to ask General Zhang to be the host today."

Zhang He said, "Bo Yan is right. Today we three will have dinner together. It can be called a banquet for all the heroes."

Li Yan also laughed along with the two of them, but there was a hint of embarrassment behind his smile.

"General Zhang," Lu Xun asked, "Does the general have any military orders?"

Zhang He's expression gradually became serious: "Yes. The general sent someone to pass the message to me through a small road, ordering me to lead the army to capture the narrow mountain and block the retreat and food supply of the Shu army."

"Bo Yan's troops should be under my command."

Lu Xun immediately bowed and said: "Please ask General Zhang to give the order at that time, and I will obey it."

……

With the Shu Han army standing between Zhang He and Cao Zhen, the speed of information transmission was much slower, but communication was not impossible.

He Gui, who had hurried back from Zhang He, was now in Cao Zhen's central military tent, telling him everything about his experiences in Wudu City. In addition to handing the booklet to Du Xi, he also held the gold cake in his hand and wanted to hand it over.

He Gui held the four gold cakes in his hands. Seeing that Du Xi did not reach out to take them and Cao Zhen did not express any opinion, he could not help but panic. He knelt on the ground and said anxiously: "General, I was disrespectful in General Zhang's camp. I hope you will punish me!"

"What?" Cao Zhen moved his eyes away from the book with difficulty, raised his head to look at He Gui who was already kneeling on the ground, puzzled for a moment, then looked at Du Xi.

Du Xi said: "He Gui is apologizing for accepting four gold cakes from Chen Ping."

"Oh, about this matter." Cao Zhen laughed, "Zhang Junyi is generous, so I can't be stingy. Military Advisor Du, find four more gold cakes for He Gui, good things come in pairs."

"As you command." Du Xi responded, then looked at He Gui and said with a smile: "Don't just stand there, the general has given you a reward, you should thank him."

"Thank you, General. Thank you, General!" He Gui kowtowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

"He Gui, you go out first." Cao Zhen waved his hand and said, "Military Advisor, please come closer."

It was Cao Zhen who saw the two booklets first. He Gui had followed Cao Zhen for more than ten years and was loyal and trustworthy. In addition, He Gui was illiterate, so Cao Zhen could ensure that the information was intact.

Du Xi walked forward with doubts.

Just now, Cao Zhen wanted to reward He Gui with four gold cakes, so he didn't need to ask any more questions. But Cao Zhen's reward didn't seem to be for the ordinary merit of delivering letters. It seemed that the inside story behind it was about these two books.

"This is……"

After Du Xi took the booklet handed over by Cao Zhen, his eyes lit up almost immediately. His right hand trembled slightly, and his fingers turned page after page, reading quickly at a glance.

"Zhang Junyi has made great contributions!" Du Xi said with a firm tone as he watched.

Li Yan was a man who had served as the Chancellor of Shu Han. He wrote down in detail in the book the population of each county, who were the chief officials, the strengths and weaknesses of each road and pass, where to transport grain, and where there were dangerous places.

As someone who helped Cao Zhen handle daily military affairs in Guanxi, Du Xi truly understood the value of Li Yan's booklet.

"General, this book is of great importance. We should quickly copy it and then send the original copy from here to His Majesty in Xuchang. There should be no delay. With this book, the strengths and weaknesses of Shu will be known to Wei!"

"Yes." Cao Zhen said with a hint of emotion: "Li Yan's sneaking out of the Shu army and surrendering was a major event that was not planned."

"I originally thought that the Shu army would have more troops, perhaps 50,000 or 60,000. But Li Yan's document clearly states that the Shu army will have 40,000 troops in this northern expedition, 7,000 of which are stationed in Wujie, which means 33,000 in total."

Du Xi came forward and carefully looked at the page about the Shu army's strength that Cao Zhen had unfolded in his hand. After writing down the numbers, he stood up straight again, stroked his beard and said:
"The enemy at Xiabian has 25,000 men, while Zhang He's army faces 8,000 men. We should have Zhang He quickly defeat Wei Yan's army in the west, then go to Xiabian to join the general and attack the Shu army at Xiabian from both the east and west."

"If this is the case, Zhuge Liang is done for!"

Cao Zhen was silent for a few moments, and then he said, "Since we have to attack Xiabian from two directions, the enemy has more than 30,000 troops, and our troops are still a little weak. Military Advisor, I intend to have troops from Hanzhong and Wuxing come here, and then attack after the troops are combined."

"How many soldiers should be drawn?"

Du Xi thought for a moment and said, "There are 20,000 soldiers guarding Hanzhong. We can withdraw 5,000 Qiang soldiers and 5,000 foreign soldiers, leaving 10,000 soldiers. As for Wuxing Lu Pan, he only has 5,000 soldiers, so he should stay in Wuxing."

Cao Zhen and Du Xi looked at each other and nodded slightly: "Let's do as the military advisor said. This place is more than 300 miles away from Hanzhong. After Guo Huai receives the message, he must rush here to join forces with me within five days."

"Who should be responsible for the defense of Hanzhong?"

"Just leave it to Hao Zhao, and order Hu Zun to come here with Guo Huai." Cao Zhen said.

"Understood. I'll send out the transfer order right away." Du Xi nodded and then walked out.

Cao Zhen walked silently to the front of the map and carefully looked at the geographical figures near Xiabian. More than ten years ago, Cao Zhen had fought side by side with Cao Hong, Cao Xiu and others here. Now it would be more difficult to attack Xiabian again than when he attacked Wu Lan.

Zhang He's troops in the west and Cao Zhen's headquarters on the east side of Xiabian were like two iron fists, smashing towards the Shu army in the middle near Xiabian City.

Zhang He has 15,000 troops. Lu Xun may come to join the battle, but the strength of his troops is unknown. I also have 15,000 troops here. If we add Guo Huai's 10,000 troops, there will be at least 40,000 troops.

With more than 40,000 people attacking 33,000 Shu troops, although there is some advantage in military strength, we still need to be cautious, not underestimate the enemy, not be careless, and take it step by step.

Du Xi did not leave for long. About an incense stick of time later, he came back from outside the tent, followed by Deng Ai who had hurried here.

"How come Shi Zai came back so quickly?" Cao Zhen asked in surprise after turning around and seeing Deng Ai's appearance clearly.

"Greetings, General." Deng Ai bowed and handed Wei Zhen's letter to Cao Zhen: "Duke Wei has military information to share with the General in Chencang, so he sent his subordinates back quickly."

"Sixty days?" Cao Zhen looked at the letter Deng Ai handed over and frowned, saying, "If we calculate based on this sixty days, after four days, wouldn't there be more than fifty days left?"

"Shi Zai, how did Duke Zhen of Wei get this date?"

Deng Ai sighed and shook his head. "General, you may not know that when Duke Wei was in Chencang, the Yongzhou garrison had two uprisings by the Qiang people because of grain collection. Both uprisings involved more than 500 people. Duke Wei had already sent troops to suppress them."

"In addition to the two major ones, there are many small disturbances caused by Qiang people's farming in various places." Deng Ai paused for a moment, and then said: "This is what I learned four days ago. I don't know what has happened in the past four days." (End of this chapter)