At the Guzi Gate in Tokyo, three riders were galloping on the avenue in the shape of a V-shaped product. One of the riders shouted from a distance: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" Such an arrogant scene was rarely seen on the streets of Tokyo.
One of them was wearing armor and had three red flags on his back. Each flag had this word written on it, which read: "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" The man was running while shouting: "Victory, victory! Guo Shao, the vanguard of the Western Expedition Army, has killed 10,000 Shu troops in ten days!"
Countless people and passers-by stopped to watch and hear the news. The so-called military and national affairs were now known to everyone in the blink of an eye. Of course, there was no harm in having such good news known to everyone.
Prime Minister Wang Pu was on his way up the straight road when he heard the rapid sound of horse hooves and shouts, and he also asked people to move the official sedan chair to the side of the road. For such urgent news, the prime minister rarely cared about the hierarchy, and he was not in the mood to argue with a few soldiers. Instead, he was in a good mood, and he walked out of the sedan chair and looked at the galloping horses with interest, with a calm and comfortable look on his face.
Xiang Xun and Guo Shao were both recommended by Wang Pu. As a prime minister, it is your duty to recommend the right talents.
Outside Weiwu City, Guo Shao was looking northeast in front of the central army tent. There was a large cloud of yellow dust in the sky. A part of the Fengxiang Army was about to arrive.
The general of the Second Army rode to the front of the tent, dismounted, looked in the direction of Guo Shao's gaze, and walked over and said: "General Wang Laojie is really sure of victory. When we have fought enough, we will take Weiwu City. There are not many defenders left in this city, and there is no reinforcement. We can consume the Shu army by surrounding it from all sides. The credit for capturing Weiwu City is a foregone conclusion."
Guo Shao said casually: We have eaten all the meat outside, why don't we leave a few bones for people
There is fat in the bones, the general said.
Guo Shao thought about his general's words for a moment and felt that the most valuable thing in Weiwu City was food. A military town like this would definitely stockpile food and grass for more than half a year to avoid being surrounded and collapsed.
He then said: How much food can one person carry? Can everyone carry it back to Tokyo? It will be fine as long as there is something to eat.
At this moment, Li Chuyun also walked towards the big tent. After hearing what the two said, he smiled and said: Now General Wang Jie will not say that our lord underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly.
Guo Shao thought: It's just luck. Whether we can quickly eliminate the garrison in Tangcang Town and whether the 20,000 hu of grain can be preserved, there are countless possibilities in these two links.
He said calmly: "Wang Jieshuai is cautious, but he is very experienced in deploying the overall situation of the battle. He is not like me who draws maps, but he knows the terrain of mountains and rivers. Let us march to Guzhen, which is a bloody trick."
Going south from Weiwu City along Chencang Road, Fengzhou is in the southwest. Going west from Fengzhou, the road is no longer flat in the main Qinling Mountains. Guzhen is a few dozen miles to the west, and Chengzhou is further west.
Among them, Guzhen is a military stronghold, because Qingniling is 40 miles to the south; Qingniling is a key location for the Shu army to reinforce the north from the hinterland, and it is the throat of the Shu Road. If Guzhen is occupied, it can easily threaten the reinforcements coming from Qingniling; if the throat of the Shu Road is strangled, Qin Feng will have no hope for reinforcements.
Guo Shao turned around and said to his generals: The First Army took over the defense in Tangcang Town, and the Second Army will be in the lead this time. Once the Fengxiang Army arrives, we can set out. The entire army will approach Fengzhou City. If we find that the Shu Army has left the city, we will form a battle array first and wait for the First Army to follow up. Pay attention to sending more scouts.
The general clasped his fists and said: I understand your command.
Guo Shao looked at the mighty tower for a while, thinking of the mighty governor Wang Huan who didn't let him shoot him a few days ago. At this moment, the city was full of Zhou troops, passing under their noses in a swagger. I wonder how Wang Huan felt when he saw this scene.
The Fengxiang Army arrived at the vanguard camp first and took over the defense. Guo Shao handed over the siege work of Weiwu City to the Fengxiang Army. When the large army behind came from the road, Guo Shao saw many ladders with his own eyes and thought: It turns out that the veteran Wang Jing also relied on climbing the wall to attack the city.
In the afternoon, Wang Zhang and Luo Yanhuan's troops also came from the northeast valley. Guo Shao then led most of the First Army to continue their advance along the Shu Road.
When they arrived at Fengzhou, they saw that the city was larger than Weiwu City, but the Shu army stayed inside and did not come out, apparently intending to defend it to the death. Guo Shao followed Li Chuyun's suggestion and left more than 2,000 soldiers from the Second Army and a group of civilians to build a wall around Fengzhou to prevent the Shu army from coming out. He led the Seventh Commander of the First Army and marched straight to Guzhen without stopping.
Before the main army arrived, Zhou army scouts had just started to move around near Guzhen when they saw a team of ten or so riders coming from the direction of Chengzhou.
The Zhou army scouts didn't understand clearly, and of course they didn't know that there was an important person in that small group of people. One of them was none other than Han Jixun, the Xiongwu Jiedushi of Qinzhou, who controlled the Xiongwu army in Longyou and could threaten Guanzhong at any time. The commander was only running with ten riders at this time.
The Qin, Feng, and Shu armies originally surrendered from the Central Plains Dynasty, and their armor was not much different from that of the Zhou army. If you didn't look at the pattern of the waistband material, it would be hard to tell them apart from a distance. However, the armor of the Zhou army's imperial guards was not so bloated, and their helmets were also different. You could still tell them apart if you looked closely.
Han Jixun recognized the Zhou army scouts and couldn't help sighing: If we had left a little later, we wouldn't have been able to escape! The Zhou army was too fast and had already reached Guzhen.
The attendant cursed: "Fengzhou's mighty governor Wang Huan is such a fool that he lost most of his mighty army in ten days. Once Fengzhou's fortress is lost, the road is gone. Who can we rely on to save us in Qinzhou?"
Han Jixun said: The main reason is that the Tangcang garrison was lost. I heard that the Zhou army's vanguard was called Guo Shao, and this man was extraordinary. When the Tangcang garrison left Huanghua Valley, Guo Shao was able to take the lead and set up an ambush in Tangcang Town. Not only was his army fast, but his timing was also too good.
The group galloped to Qingniling, then they breathed a sigh of relief, changed horses at the posthouse, and headed straight for Chengdu.
The one who moved faster than Han Jixun was Zhao Jizha, who arrived in Chengdu not long after. The Shu army that was escorting him fled halfway, and he ran too fast, and his staff members were also separated. Zhao Jizha rode alone to Chengdu.
Because no one was taking care of him, his clothes were all dirty and he looked miserable. Such a person rode a horse and was questioned at various post stations and city gates. Officials everywhere knew that it was the military supervisor appointed by the emperor who came back alone. Rumors spread all over the place, and people thought that the Zhou army was about to reach Chengdu. Zhao Jizha made officials and people panic wherever he went.
As soon as he reached the city gate, he saw an eunuch and a group of soldiers waiting there. The eunuch said: The emperor wants to see you, come with us.
Zhao Jizha said: It is too disrespectful to meet the emperor like this. Let me go home and change my clothes.
The eunuch said coldly: You are so anxious, and sometimes you change your clothes. Is it more important to change clothes for military and national affairs, or for etiquette? Let's go.
Zhao Jizha had no choice but to go to the palace in a panic. When he arrived in front of the palace, he saw the guards and ministers and palace maids looking at him sideways. He walked in dejectedly with his head down, and hurriedly fell to the ground in front of the palace. There was someone sitting on the throne in the distance, so how could he dare to look at him
My dear, what happened ahead that made you look like this? A voice asked anxiously.
Zhao Jizha's mind went blank, he lay on the floor without saying a word, he really didn't know how to start. A minister said angrily: "Zhao Shijun, the emperor asked you a question.
I, Zhao Jizha, said anxiously, "Your humble servant does not know."
The person who just called me "Aiqing" suddenly changed his tone: I sent you to inspect Qinfeng, but you didn't go.
Zhao Jizha felt the emperor's anger and began to tremble with fear.
The majestic voice said again: You came back like this, Qin Feng has lost
I don’t know. I really don’t know. Zhao Jizha cried.
The waste cursed loudly, someone come
At this moment, a minister knelt down and begged: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Envoy Zhao has disgraced his mission, but he only went to inspect the defense and did not command the Northern Army. His crime does not deserve the death penalty. Your Majesty is merciful."
GunGun started to curse loudly, completely throwing away the dignified and calm tone he had used before.
After hearing this, Zhao Jizha knelt on the ground and moved backwards quickly towards the palace door. This action was extremely difficult. It was not easy to walk on his knees while kneeling, but he could move backwards very quickly.
He was secretly glad in his heart. When he was in Fengzhou and Qinzhou, he saw that Han Jixun and Wang Huan had many soldiers and generals under their command. He was planning to return to Chengdu and recommend himself to be the commander-in-chief again. Fortunately, Zhou Jun arrived quickly. Otherwise, if he really became the commander-in-chief, he would not be able to save his head if he was defeated.
At this moment, a graceful figure walked away from behind the small curtained door on the side of the throne.
A few days later, Wang Zhaoyuan, an official of the Privy Council who was deploying troops in Shannan West Road, urgently reported to Chengdu. Only then did the Emperor of Shu have a rough idea of what had happened.
Wang Zhaoyuan called himself Crouching Dragon and often said to others that he was the Zhuge Kongming of the modern era, and he always had great ambitions. In his report, he probably explained the Qin Feng incident clearly, which made him much better than Zhao Jizha, who knew nothing about anything.
The Zhou army marched south along Tangcang Road and had already reached Guzhen, but the important town of Qinfeng was not lost. Wang Zhaoyuan did not think this was a bad thing, but rather a great opportunity for a counterattack. He asked Chengdu to send more troops and asked to be the leader of the northern army.
The strategy was to first encircle and annihilate the isolated Zhou army deep in the territory, and then split the troops into two groups, attacking Guanzhong from both sides from Qinzhou and Sanguan, first taking Fengxiang, then occupying Guanzhong and forcing Tongguan, and then being able to attack or defend; to make an alliance with the Southern Tang and the Northern Han to attack from three sides, first dividing the Central Plains
At this time, the envoy of Nanping State came to see him. First, he presented a letter to the emperor, persuading him to give up his title and become a vassal of the Zhou Dynasty, so that the crisis could be resolved.
Wang Zhaoyuan's view was very optimistic, but Nanping's attitude was as if Shu was going to perish. The two sides had completely opposite views and attitudes.
The emperor was furious and said to his ministers in the hall: When my father and I led our troops into Shuzhong to establish our empire, the people of the Guo family were still running around like stray dogs.