Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 6 Prime Minister
"The rise and fall of the Han Dynasty depends on this battle. If I do not go after Cao Rui, how can I fight him and conquer the world?"

Liu Chan stopped talking here.

Because I talked a lot today and was very emotional, my throat is a little hoarse.

Jiang Wan and Dong Yun, two important officials in the palace, had to ask before, but no one asked again from then on.

If the emperor cannot even pass their questioning, if the emperor changes his mind just because of a few words from them.

Why do they believe that the emperor is not just passionate about something, and why do they dare to let the emperor lead the army in person?

This emperor who was not like a monarch, relied on his clumsy tests, his easily seen-through pretense of calmness, a piece of silk letter full of emotions, an impassioned debate with extensive citations, and a firmness and unwillingness to submit that could not be shaken by words and could not be taken away by powerful enemies. In the end, he won the temporary approval of these two important officials in the palace.

"Your Majesty, when are you going to set off?" Jiang Wan, with gray hair and beard, suddenly choked up after asking this question, and then burst into tears.

Young people who have not experienced hardship are always easy to empathize. Looking at Jiang Wan, whose eyes suddenly turned red for some reason, Liu Chan suddenly thought of the picture where the prime minister looked up to the sky and asked, "Why are you so poor than me?"

There is no such thing as "Your Majesty, please sit inside and let me handle external affairs."

There is no need for him to act stupid and funny, pretend to be obedient and show weakness, and finally find the right opportunity to fight back and kill with one blow.

He got the power to go to the front so easily.

It seems that not everyone would seek power by scheming, and not everyone wants the emperor to rule without doing anything.

History, which has deceived countless passers-by, is mostly a series of gladiatorial dramas with the main plot being emperors and generals scheming against each other for their own selfish desires.

The gladiatorial shows are very exciting, but God is a very good director. He knows that the audience will always get bored, so from time to time he sends a few outliers to break through the siege as a diversion when the audience is bored, to surprise the audience and leave them with an endless aftertaste, or to sneer and frown.

"Today." Liu Chan replied.

...

...

Sunset.

Longyou.

Shanggui.

An earthen city two miles long and wide.

A dirt hill as long as it.

A silhouette composed of a Jinxian crown, a straight robe, and a sword at the waist.

A general wearing a basin-collared armor and a ring-handled sword on his waist walked up the dirt hill with difficulty from the flat ground, approaching the slightly thin silhouette in the distance under the setting sun, his armor clanking.

"Prime Minister!" The general casually clasped his fist.

"How long will it take to dig this tunnel? If it's not dug through, will our twenty thousand plus men just waste a whole day here with him?"

Under the cold afterglow of the sun, the Prime Minister's face was somewhat grim. "Does Wenchang have any countermeasures?"

The Prime Minister did not answer Wei Yan's question about how long it would take to dig the tunnel.

Because the tunnel had only been dug for one day.

As for asking Wei Yan about his countermeasures, it was obviously not about how to speed up the digging of tunnels, but how to capture this small Shangqiu.

The more than 25,000 Han troops here have been fighting with Guo Huai's 6,000 defenders for half a month.

These 6,000 defenders were not veterans, but ordinary county soldiers, just like Guo Huai was only the governor of Yongzhou and not a general.

Cao Rui was well aware of the importance of Longyou, so in order to prevent separatism in Longyou, he did not give Guo Huai any military power.

But he also knew clearly that Guo Huai did have the ability to lead the army, so he appointed Guo Huai as the governor and asked the prefects of each county to recruit more soldiers so that Guo Huai, the governor, could hold out for a while in case of an accident, but he had no way to split Longyou.

The 6,000 defenders in this city were hastily gathered from the surrounding areas to Shanggui when the governor heard that the prime minister's army had arrived at Qishan Fort.

The Prime Minister had been planning this Northern Expedition for five years. He had bribed countless spies, and the letters he had communicated with the Han and Qiang tyrants in Longyou over the years could fill three or four boxes, so he knew Guo Huai's situation very clearly.

So at the beginning, the prime minister persuaded Guo Huai to surrender.

Unexpectedly, Guo Huai seemed to be a true loyal minister of the Wei Dynasty. He did not even say the same words as You Chu in Longxi, "Don't hit me, Han, I will surrender in a month." Instead, he just said, "There is only death."

This sentence is very heroic, but it also reveals that Guo Huai is not sure if he can defend the city.

The prime minister began to use ladders and chariots to attack the city.

Guo Huai used rockets soaked in tung oil to shoot back at the ladders, which caught fire and killed everyone climbing them. He then connected a millstone with a rope and smashed it against the Prime Minister's battering ram, breaking it.

The Prime Minister built a railing a hundred feet high and sent people with good eyesight to climb up the railing to observe the situation in the city. He then ordered the archers on the flat ground to throw arrows and shoot crossbows into the city.

There were occasional casualties, but they were negligible. The main purpose was to suppress the fire, allowing the Han army to build earthen hills with peace of mind.

However, building a mound to attack the city from a high position was not the prime minister's purpose. What he wanted was to build the mound to cover the coming and going of the people digging the tunnel and to digest the soil brought out by the tunnel.

Wei Yan did not like fighting underground warfare. He just wanted to end the battle quickly to avoid any further complications.

"This city is only three feet high, and the moat is only two feet wide. I think it would be better to directly fill the ravine with mud balls, raise the ground, and then directly attack with the entire army, climbing the city like ants!" Wei Yan didn't care how much this move would cost. The Prime Minister didn't answer Wei Yan immediately.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with Wei Yan’s plan. If now is the moment that determines the life and death of the Han Dynasty, he will immediately agree to Wei Yan’s method and take the city in the shortest time possible no matter what the cost.

But he did not have a God's perspective. He did not think that Ma Su would be defeated, nor did he think that Zhang He would be able to enter Long.

He only knew that the entire Longyou had not made any preparations for his Northern Expedition, and Guo Huai had gathered these few thousand defenders in a hurry. The food and firewood in the city would definitely not last too long, not even more than two months.

He made this judgment based on You Chu's statement that he would surrender as long as the Han army cut off Longxi for one month.

Xiangwu is the capital of Longxi County, and its population is larger than that of Shanggui.

However, Shanggui was not the seat of Tianshui County, but only a temporary base for Guo Huai, a commander without troops. The situation in terms of population, materials and garrison strength was not optimistic.

It was obviously impossible to obtain much food, fodder, firewood and other supplies in just a few days of recruitment and transportation, but the number of soldiers and horses in the city suddenly increased by four to five thousand.

"Wen Chang, wait a moment." The Prime Minister did not directly deny Wei Yan's plan, but patted Wei Yan's armor with a firm look, and then took out a few silk books from his sleeve and handed them over.

Wei Yan took it in confusion and saw that it was all about requests to return to Han.

There was a Li from Shanggui who was preparing to launch an uprising in the city. He hoped to make an appointment with the Prime Minister so that the Prime Minister could support him from outside.

"Prime Minister, if these people really wanted to surrender, they would have done so long ago. Why would they wait until we had been attacking the city for so many days before writing a letter?

"I think this is clearly Guo Huai's evil plan!"

The Prime Minister nodded, his tone slightly affirmative:
"Well, it's possible, but didn't Wenchang see something else?"

Wei Yan was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately.

When people have a backbone to rely on, they tend to lower their intelligence, and Wei Yan is no exception.

If he had seen these letters when he was alone, his first reaction would not be that Guo Huai was plotting something evil, but that the city had begun to fall into chaos.

This was a sign that the city was about to run out of food.

"I understand. I'll go dig a tunnel right now!" Wei Yan nodded heavily, turned around and left, his armor kicking up a cloud of dust.

The wind blew and it fell towards the prime minister.

The Prime Minister coughed a few times.

The general who was walking with the wind stopped and turned around.

Looking at the slightly hunched silhouette, he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He just curled his lips and quickened his pace.

After going down the dirt hill, he grabbed the shovel from an energetic young man without saying a word and dug into the tunnel with all his might.

...

...

Shanggui.

Watchtower.

Guo Huai stood against the wall, facing the row of increasingly high earthen hills, his eyes fixed on the figure who seemed to be covering his mouth and coughing.

He originally thought that the Prime Minister of Shu Han, who had never personally led troops to fight against the Wei Dynasty, was just a useless person, but he did not expect that after they really faced each other, he would bring him such a great sense of oppression.

This sense of oppression comes from the fact that the opposing army has neat battle formations, clear flags and drums, high morale, and a clear plan for advance and retreat, as if all the troops are like one.

This sense of oppression came from the solemnity and orderliness of the camp of the opposing army during their rest period. There was a sequence for drawing water and cooking, and there were rules for collecting firewood and going to the toilet. There were no soldiers quarreling or fighting during the day, and no soldiers running around and shouting at night.

Only those who truly understand military affairs can understand what this sharpness and organization mean.

Guo Huai didn't understand how the prime minister of Shu Han could have such an army.

This sense of oppression also comes from the fact that the opposing army seems to have abundant supplies to support it.

The action of building a hill meant that Shu Han planned to hold out against him for a long time, and it also meant that Shu Han had enough troops to complete the task of cutting off the Long line.

Otherwise, Shu Han would never be as calm as it is now.

But... what on earth did this Prime Minister of Shu Han do in the past five years that could allow him to invade Longyou today, five years after Liu Bei's death, and why could he make the officials and people of the three counties respond to his call?
Guo Huai did not know how many soldiers, horses and food supplies Shu Han had brought with it during its northern expedition, nor did he know how many people in Longyou had risen up and joined the rebellion. However, the composure shown by the opposing Han army made him feel that he would most likely not be able to return to Taiyuan this time.

I only regret that as a governor, he has no place to use his talents. He is not allowed to raise soldiers or store food. He is like a toothless wolf, worse than a dog.

A scholar in a hemp scarf who was in charge of food and fodder climbed up the steps from the bottom of the city wall, walked to Guo Huai who was leaning against the wall, and finally whispered in his ear.

Hearing that the city was about to run out of food, Guo Huai's face became even worse, and he once again squeezed the rammed earth wall into powder and ash.

Continue to look at the row of earthen hills outside the city that have not been completely completed.

When the darkness completely enveloped the earthen hills and camps outside the city, and the lights came on, he suddenly remembered something and called his military commander:
"Immediately get someone to dig a trench under all four walls, one zhang wide and one zhang deep. The Shu invaders might be digging a tunnel."

"Yes!" The military commander took the order and left.

(End of this chapter)