Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 9: It is a gift from heaven! (4.8k)

afternoon.

The old general returned to the Xiegu camp with several of his personal guards, remaining silent all the way.

His face looked very ugly.

Those who are familiar with this old general know that he is famous for his good temper.

He gets along with everyone in his life and everyone likes him, so very few people see him with such a sour face.

The same was true for Zhao Tong. When he saw his old father for the first time, he was extremely nervous.

"Father, what's going on? Is our Majesty really here for hunting? Is it such a joke?"

"Don't ask, just bring me some wine!" After entering the general's tent, Zhao Yun walked on his own, his beard shaking and his ears red with anger.

Zhao Tong was anxious: "Father, the military food doctor and the wound doctor have both told you not to drink alcohol, as it will cause your injuries to flare up!"

In fact, his old father had hardly drunk alcohol since he could remember, and would only drink a cup or two on days of great joy or sorrow.

Moreover, drinking is prohibited in the military.

So he didn't understand what the emperor had done to make his father so angry.

Could it be that His Majesty has the signs of the country's demise?
Seeing that Zhao Tong did not listen to his orders, Zhao Yun was too lazy to give any more orders and strode out of the tent.

After a while, he came back with two large jars.

"All of you, get out! No one is allowed within fifty steps of the commander's tent. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed!"

Zhao Yun's voice was low and deep, like an angry tiger lying on the ground or a bear baring its fangs, making it impossible for anyone in the tent to have the slightest thought of disobeying.

The tent was quickly cleared out.

The outsiders were quickly cleared out.

After a long time, Deputy Commander Deng Zhi rushed over after hearing the news.

"Hunyi, what happened to General Zhao?"

Zhao Tong looked anxious: "Military Supervisor, I don't know either, and I don't dare go in. The military doctor said he can't drink, and it's not appropriate to drink in the army. You are in charge of the three armies, please go in and persuade him!"

Upon hearing this, Deng Zhi hurried towards the commander's banner.

When the curtain was lifted and the room was opened, the first thing he saw was a wine jar as big as his head rolling on the ground, and the old general with white hair and beard was holding another wine jar as big as his head and pouring wine into his mouth.

His face was red, his eyes were blurry, his hair and beard were messy, and his sitting posture was sloppy.

He was already drunk.

Deng Zhi frowned and stood still for two breaths, then strode quickly to the old general and snatched the wine jar from his hand.

"General Zhao, what exactly happened? Didn't Hunyi say you were going to inspect the camp? Why are you drinking so much right after you come back?"

Deng Zhi did not intend to blame him, and his face was full of worry for the old general.

Zhao Yun raised his head in a daze, stretched out his hand to call Deng Zhi to his side, and whispered in Deng Zhi's ear: "Your Majesty has arrived at Chi'an."

"what?!"

"really?!"

Deng Zhi asked two questions in shock, then immediately remembered something, strode quickly to the door of the tent and lifted a corner of the curtain.

Seeing that Zhao Tong and others were still fifty steps away, he turned back.

"General Zhao wasn't inspecting the camp just now, was he going to see His Majesty?"

"Yes." Zhao Yun nodded. "Your Majesty will come here in a few days to inspect the troops and supervise the battle."

"This is nonsense! Did the Prime Minister ask His Majesty to come?!
"Impossible! The Prime Minister clearly knew we were a decoy, so there's no way he'd let Your Majesty take such a risk. Was this Your Majesty's own idea?!"

Deng Zhi tried his best to lower his voice, but his horror was evident in his words.

He finally understood why the old general was drinking alone.

This is just pure trouble!
Zhao Yun suddenly snatched the wine jar from Deng Zhi's hand and took another gulp.

Deng Zhi hurried over and grabbed it back, his face showing worry:
"Old General!
"You are now the backbone of the army, Optimus Prime!

“What if I get hurt by drinking? What will happen to the tens of thousands of people here?
"Well, I'll go to Chi'an to find Your Majesty. Please wait for my news!"

After saying that, Deng Zhi grabbed the wine jar and poured a mouthful of wine into his mouth just like Zhao Yun.

As a result, before the wine even entered his throat, his expression froze and his entire face instantly turned as black as eggplant.

This is not wine!
It's obviously jealous!

The old general looked at Deng Zhi's funny look and immediately opened his mouth and laughed silently.

Deng Zhi was surprised and puzzled when he saw the old general laughing.

After swallowing the vinegar with difficulty, he realized that there had been a slight smell of vinegar in the tent for a long time, but he was too anxious to pay attention.

After a long time, the old general who had been staring at Deng Zhi and laughing silently finally stopped laughing. He seemed to be embarrassed and wanted to say something but hesitated.

"His Majesty…"

"His Majesty……"

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

At this time, Deng Zhi still thought that the old general used vinegar instead of wine to express his dissatisfaction with the emperor.

The old general once again reached out his hand to call Deng Zhi to his side, and whispered in Deng Zhi's ear:

"His Majesty…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"It's a gift from heaven!"

After he finished speaking, the old general opened his mouth and laughed silently again. His whole body twisted and turned, his white beard trembled, and there seemed to be light in his eyes. Only Deng Zhi was left with his eyes wide open, so stunned that he forgot to breathe.

...

midnight. Shanggui.

The Prime Minister was still working at his desk, annotating documents, checking whether there were any errors, omissions or omissions in the documents of each camp, and whether the officers in charge of various affairs had really done their work or were just going through the motions on the documents.

He could always tell.

Wei Yan strode in, wearing a helmet and armor, and said impatiently as he walked:
"Prime Minister, in my opinion, we cannot take down Shanggui in such a short time!

"You said before that digging a tunnel would work, but that Guo Huai broke it!
"Continuing to delay will be detrimental to the war!
"If the Wei army attacks Long, it will be the end!"

The Prime Minister reviewed a scroll of bamboo slips and put it aside. He looked up at Wei Yan and asked, "What are your thoughts, Mr. Wen?"

Wei Yan strode to the Prime Minister's side, his armor clanging.
"Prime Minister, I also know that Guo Huai's food and grass will not last long, and the people in the city are in chaos. Otherwise, the Shanggui Li family would not have risen up in response and even slaughtered their entire family.

“But we just can’t defeat it!

"In my opinion, it would be better for me to move 10,000 troops to Jieting to join Ma Su, Zhang Xiu and others in cutting off the Long Mountains!
"As long as the Wei army cannot advance into Long, it will only be a matter of time before Shangqiu is captured!"

The Prime Minister thought for a long time and said earnestly:

“Wen Chang, it’s not that I don’t want to move, but I can’t.

"The art of war says to surround an enemy with ten men. We only have less than 30,000 men and horses, and our formation is very thin.

"In addition, we have been attacking for a month but have not been able to capture the city, and our soldiers are already tired and exhausted.

"Once the army moves, with Guo Huai's ability, he will definitely attack from the city.

"The enemy is determined to die, and I have no confidence in victory. If they leave the city to attack us, we will lose and not win."

The small number of soldiers was the biggest factor hindering the Han army from taking radical military actions.

For a besieging army that cannot complete the siege in terms of numbers, the front line will be stretched out, the battle formation will be thinned out, and the trapped enemy can easily break the siege.

The Han army, which was originally in high spirits, was now at the end of its strength after a long stalemate.

The Prime Minister could see it, and Guo Huai, who had been able to resist the Prime Minister for so long, could also see it.

The prime minister of the Han Dynasty really did not expect that Guo Huai would be so capable. The saying "when the enemy comes, the general will stop him; when the water comes, the earth will flood it" is exactly like this.

Wei Yan was unable to refute the Prime Minister's words. How could he not understand such a simple truth?

"Prime Minister, let me tell you, I don't trust Ma Su!

"The late emperor's discernment of talent is unmatched in the world. He said Ma Su was overconfident and unfit for important positions, yet the Prime Minister entrusted him with the all-important task of breaking through the Long Mountains. I am indignant about this!"

The Prime Minister pondered for a moment and said, "Wen Chang, I've been to Jieting. Although the small city is a bit dilapidated, it can be repaired in a few days.

"Lai She defended this city with only 2,000 men, holding off the attacks of tens of thousands of troops led by Wei Xiao for half a year.

"The Wei army marched two thousand miles from Luoyang and must have been exhausted after reaching Long.

"Youchang has more men and horses than Laishe, and the Wei army is exhausted by Weixiao. Even though Youchang's talent is far inferior to Laishe's, he can hold out for another two months without any problem.

"I also know that everyone is discussing the use of Wenchang, Ziyuan (Wu Yi), and Dexin (Gao Xiang) as the vanguard to defend Jieting and cut off the Longyou area. But for such a simple mission, why would we need such important generals?
"If Wenchang, Ziyuan, and Dexin defend Jieting, who will seize Liangzhou? Who will capture Shanggui? Who will defend Lieliucheng on the road to Chencang to prevent the pseudo-Wei from intercepting my return and cutting off my food supply?"

Wei Yan was angry, but he remained silent.

Of course, he knew that the Prime Minister did not need him to guard Jieting for this reason, but he also understood that the Prime Minister was afraid that he, the person who proposed the Ziwu Valley plan, would not obey military orders outside the army. He also understood that the Prime Minister just wanted to take this opportunity to give his confidant Ma Su a chance to make meritorious service so that he could be entrusted with important tasks in the future to compete with them, the veteran generals of the previous emperor.

What else is there to say?
After a long time, he left with a knife.

When he reached the tent door, Wei Yan turned around again.

But he saw the Prime Minister, who was kneeling on the table, was already annotating the documents.

I don’t know if his eyes were blurry, but he arched his back exaggeratedly, with his head only two fists away from the desk, and his hand kept moving the pen.

"Prime Minister, you should get some rest early.

"If it really doesn't work, you should call that bastard Yang Yi back."

Wei Yan and Yang Yi were political enemies. Wei Yan would often draw his sword and put it on Yang Yi's neck when they disagreed with each other, making Yang Yi so embarrassed that he burst into tears and often advised the prime minister to kill Wei Yan.

The Prime Minister seemed not to hear what Wei Yan said. After a moment, he suddenly stood up and walked towards Wei Yan, saying excitedly: "Master Wen, I have an idea that will definitely help us break through the city!"

Wei Yan was stunned.

"What?" Wei Yan asked, complaining in his heart.

Last time when we were digging a tunnel, you said we could definitely break into the city. I spent two days digging the tunnel and my waist was almost broken.

"Let's dig the tunnel thinner and finally burn the beams supporting it. Then the city wall will undoubtedly collapse!"

Wei Yan was stunned again: "Will this work?"

"It will definitely work!" The Prime Minister said excitedly.

It’s actually no wonder that Wei Yan has little experience.

Various siege methods and equipment have been strictly controlled by the imperial court throughout the dynasties and are not allowed to circulate among the people.

Once the world is unified, these knowledge and technologies will disappear directly and even be completely lost.

When Zhu Yuanzhang fought against Zhang Shicheng, the counterweight catapults were able to knock Zhang Shicheng, who was occupying Suzhou, unconscious and finally surrender the city.

But during the reign of Zhu Di, the Yan army's greatest weapon against cities became the clumsy method of digging river embankments, as if the counterweight catapult had never appeared.

As if infected by the Prime Minister's excitement, Wei Yan's expression also brightened up a bit: "Okay! Then Yan will trust the Prime Minister again!"

After persuading the Prime Minister to rest early again, Wei Yan walked out of the tent and happened to run into the good-natured Fei Yi who hurried into the tent without even looking at him, let alone saying hello.

So Wei Yan stood still far away outside the door, wanting to hear what was going on, but he heard Fei Yi, who was usually leisurely, panting and extremely panicked.

"Prime Minister, this is bad!
"Commander Wang Ping came to say that You Chang had abandoned Jieting City and led his army up the Nanshan Mountains!

"The enemy army of fifty to sixty thousand has reached Jieting. Although there is a water source where You Chang is stationed, it is very far from the camp and there is no strategic location to defend. Now the water supply has been cut off by the enemy!"

Wei Yan felt as if he was struck by lightning.

He rushed into the tent in two or three steps, only to see the prime minister standing there in a daze, his face pale without a trace of blood.

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(End of this chapter)