Section 31: Stalemate

Deng Ai sent someone to send the seriously injured Ma Su back to Jiangling. He was not worried that Ma Su would die. Under this circumstance, Ma Su would not seek death and would not let the Ma family in Xiangyang become history from now on. He led the new soldiers of Jingshan Army to march straight in. Half a month later, he arrived in Wuyang and met with Fa Zheng, who had been fighting a bad battle for nearly a month. Almost at the same time, Zhang Wei and Yang Ang also rushed to Wuyang with two thousand Hanzhong troops.

As soon as Fa Zheng saw them, he smiled bitterly, and said to Deng Ai and others: "This time he suffered a great loss. Four thousand elite soldiers were rushing to attack for a long distance. I thought they were surprise soldiers and could fight unexpectedly. Unexpectedly, Zhuge Liang left three thousand military soldiers here and built such a solid fortress. The surprise attack became a bad battle. Fortunately, the Jingshan Army and the White Tiger Army were fierce, so they could not be seriously damaged. However, after the battle was so fierce, I had no shame to command again. Shizai, since you have come by the general's military order, I will leave it to you here. I will go back to Jiangling to apologize to the general."

Deng Ai quickly smiled and said, "What did Lord Fa say? I was ordered by the general to come to learn from Lord Fa. How can you leave? Victory and defeat are common in military affairs, let alone you have not lost now, so what can you blame yourself?"

Fa Zheng was ashamed and shook his head repeatedly. After he killed Shamoke in Fuling, he thought that he would be able to go straight in and out of power, so he praised Haikou at Cao Chong. Unexpectedly, he could not move in Wuyang. Zhuge Liang's three thousand military troops were not strong enough to fight half of the battle, but they had a fortress built on the mountain and would never come out to fight, so they stayed in the fortress to fight with you. Fa Zheng tried his best to lure people in the fortress to come out to fight, but he was really helpless.

He sent people to attack for a few times, losing more than a thousand people, but it was useless at all. He still sighed at the fortress. He wanted to seize the grain from the military farm as military funds, but now Zhuge Liang had snatched the grain again, leaving only a piece of white land for him, and all his wishful thinking was lost. He didn't have enough troops on hand, and he wanted to send people out to grab the grain but didn't dare. If Le Jin had not received the news of his request for help, he would have had to withdraw his troops now.

"Is Zhuge Kongming opposite?" Deng Ai asked after hearing Fa Zheng's introduction.

"Well, Zhuge Liang is here." Fa Zheng, whose lips were so angry that his anger was full of sucking, nodded and cursed: "What a wool dragon? It's obviously a worm. I know that I can't come out when I hide in the shell of a turtle."

Deng Ai smiled secretly, thinking that Fa Zheng was really anxious this time. He boasted in front of the general that it was fine to take Wuyang, but he fought for a month and didn't make any progress, which directly delayed Cao Chong's plan to kill Liu Bei in Jingke. More importantly, Fa Zheng accepted a lot of bribes from those big clans in Chengdu, and Cao Chong was already a little dissatisfied. Fa Zheng wanted to take advantage of this war to make some contributions, but he didn't know that it was a mistake. He had to consider how to explain to Cao Chong. No wonder he was in chaos and was very gentle.

Deng Ai was in a bad mood when he saw Fa Zheng, so he didn't say much and said something about the topic. When he was with Fa Zheng privately, he told Fa Zheng that the general now felt that the early plan was too bold and had insufficient expectations for difficulties. Now that the battle was like this, he felt that the troops were not enough. Jiangling had used the reserve troops, and the personnel that could be mobilized in Chengdu were basically transferred out. Pang Xi transferred 10,000 people to Jingke, and joined forces with Pang Tong to deal with Liu Bei and Guan Yu's troops. Zhang Wei and Yang Ang were also transferred here to reinforce. The navy had been transferred to Wulin long ago. Now, except for the county soldiers in various places, there were only three left in Chengdu.

The troops, one is the Baishui Army, the other is Meng Da's Wudang Army, and the other is that Deng Zhi in Jiange still has two thousand troops, but he dare not move these three troops easily. Meng Da wants to guard Chengdu, which is the center of Yizhou, and he is not at ease. The Baishui Army is ready to deal with Guanzhong, and he cannot move easily. As for the personnel in Jiange, he can't even think about it. In other words, so far, all the people who can be drawn out have been drawn out, and no longer can win, there is only one way to retreat. If Le Jin cannot take down Lin Yuan in the short term and threaten Lingling to establish a rear for the Fazheng tribe, then it is obviously unrealistic to transport grain only by Jiangbei.

Once Fa Zheng and others retreated from Wuyang, it would mean that Liu Bei's plan to block Liu Ke's will go bankrupt. In a sense, this Jiangnan military operation was a failure, at least imperfect.

Fa Zheng's face was red and white, and he was really ashamed. If it weren't for his praise at that time, Cao Chong might not have easily asked Huang Zhong and others to cross the river. Now that he has crossed the river, the formation has been spread out, and it would not be so easy to withdraw it.

"Mr. Fa does not have to blame himself. The general said that Jiangnan must fight no matter what, but it is just a matter of how to fight. If the difficulties here are too great, the general wants to correct the goal. This time he occupied Changsha and Wuling and could have a foothold in Jiangnan. He once said that although Liu Bei's military power is comparable to ours, his economic strength is not good. We occupied Changsha and Wuling. Not only did he lose the natural danger of the Yangtze River, but his territory would also be reduced by half, and the subsequent development would be curbed. If this battle is not fought and they are allowed to develop, the subsequent battle will be even more difficult."

Fa Zheng slowly calmed down. Things had come to this point, and it was useless to be anxious. He pondered for a long time and said, "Is the war in Guanzhong almost going to be a result?"

Deng Ai smiled faintly. He nodded, took a copper box from the tiger's hand, opened the copper box, took out some tea leaves, and placed it in the teacup that the tiger's just scalded with boiling water. Then he asked the tiger's hand to pour half a cup of tea, gently pushed it to Fa Zheng, and said slightly: "As expected, after the eldest son of Guanzhong received support from our Yizhou, the war progressed as expected. Ma Chao and Han Sui were exhausted. The harvest in Guanzhong was not good in the past two years. They were no longer able to support and were about to defeat."

Fa Zheng sighed, he took the teacup and shook his head blankly: "I don't understand what the general is thinking. Ten million stones of grain should be used to support the eldest son. This is not..." He suddenly felt a little confused, and hurriedly glanced at Deng Ai, handed the teacup to his mouth in a concealed manner, tasted it lightly, and smiled: "Is this year's autumn tea?"

Deng Ai smiled and said, "That's right, this is what the young master specially asked me to bring to you." He said, putting the copper box in front of Fa Zheng. There was an etching of a galloping horse on the copper box, lifelike, with hair flying, and it was extremely magical. "This is a new tea box from Xiangyang. The general said you must like it, so he asked me to bring one to you."

Fa Zheng was stunned for a moment, put down the tea cup and picked up the tea box and looked carefully. There was a warm current in his heart. He lowered his head and didn't say anything for a long time. Deng Ai didn't say anything, quietly picked up the tea cup and sipped it, looking at Fa Zheng calmly. Fa Zheng was silent for a while, slowly raised his head and said, "Shi Zai, tell me the truth, does the general want to withdraw his troops?"

Deng Ai nodded and shook his head again.

Fa Zheng frowned in confusion and looked at Deng Ai in a daze: "What does the general mean? Is he worried about my face? It's hard to just say that I'll withdraw? War is not a joke. If you should advance, advance, retreat, retreat. You can't have a sentimental face inside. It's too far from the rear, and transportation is quite inconvenient. Now that you and the 4,000 troops of Gongqiu have arrived, the food consumption will be greater, and there is no one to allocate it. It will be very unfavorable for us to continue fighting."

Deng Ai smiled slightly: "Master Fa, you are wrong. If the general wants to withdraw his troops, it is impossible to put the relationship between the relationship. You know his temper. He said he wanted to withdraw his troops, but if there is no progress here, he would withdraw his troops to avoid further losses. He said he would not withdraw his troops, which means that it is not the time. We have difficulties here, and Zhuge Liang on the opposite side is even more difficult. He also has no soldiers to send. It depends on who can break the deadlock first. If we retreat first, he will immediately mobilize troops to support Liu Bei. As soon as Liu Bei comes out, his troops will go north, and it will be even more difficult for us to take down Changsha."

Fa Zheng also nodded: "What do you mean is that we are no longer the main attacker, but the role of the production?"

Deng Ai nodded: "Water has no constant power, and soldiers have no constant shape. The general means that Master Fa will follow the opportunity and fight if you have the opportunity. If you have no chance, fight if you have the opportunity, you will be restrained. It is also useful."

Fa Zheng suddenly laughed: "Did Zhang Junyi and Huang Hansheng take Changsha?"

Deng Ai shook his head: "Not yet, but it's too soon. I heard halfway through that Zhang Pingdi defeated Zhang Yide on the bank of Lanshui River and had dragged Zhang Yide near Yiyang. Now he is waiting for Leshe to attack Linyuan. Once Linyuan is taken down, he will be ready to encircle and annihilate Zhang Yide. In that case, at least Liu Xuande's arm can be cut off, and this battle will not be considered in vain. Therefore, we cannot withdraw here for the time being."

When Fa Zheng heard Zhang He defeated Zhang Fei, he couldn't help but be interested and asked Deng Ai to tell in detail. Deng Ai also received the news halfway, not specific, and there were not many details, which made Fa Zheng feel very satisfied. He smacked his lips, stood up and walked to the map, looked at the map and said, "Shizai, we have 5,000 people here. Although we may not be able to take the fortress in front, it is no problem to entangle them. Liu Xuande's army was beaten in a very embarrassing manner by Shi Yuan in Jing Ke. Guan Yunchang was going to pick him up. There was no way to send someone to support him for the time being, so we still have a chance. Look at this, we will also divide our troops and surround Wei to save Zhao?"

Deng Ai was quite interested when he heard this. He also walked to the map and watched Fa Zheng's arrangement. Fa Zheng pointed to Wuyang on the map, then pulled out a line slantedly, pointing directly to Quanling, the county seat of Lingling County: "Zhuge Kongming is here to guard against me, so you will take the people straight to his old nest. Quanling has limited troops now, and only Jiang Wan is left behind. There are no famous generals. You may be able to hit it with one blow. Even if you can't win, you can return to the army to directly take Linxiang, the county seat of Changsha County, echoing Huang Hansheng and others from the side to take Changsha County."

He turned around and looked at Deng Ai: "You leave the new soldiers of Jingshan Army to me and take away the White Tiger Army and Jingshan Army. They are all elite troops who have undergone bloody battles and will definitely have some help."

Deng Ai shook his head: "Master Fa, your idea is wonderful, but there are also few uncertain factors. We do not have a stable rear here, and it is very difficult to attack in the enemy's territory for a long distance. Perhaps because of this reason, before I came, the general did not mention letting us divide the troops. Instead, he emphasized that he had trapped Zhuge Liang several times and attracted his attention as much as possible." He suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at Fa Zheng, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Fa Zheng was confused by him and couldn't help but laugh, "Shi Zai, what good things have you thought of? You're so happy?"

Deng Ai smiled mysteriously and said, "Master Fa, I understand. The general doesn't let us retreat immediately because he still has a surprise soldier and he is waiting for news about that surprise soldier."

"Cabines?" Fa Zheng also smiled: "Are you talking about the two thousand iron cavalry of Pang Lingming and Yan Yanming? Are they not the general's personal guards now? Why do the general want to use cavalry to raid this trick again this time? There are many mountains and waterways here, so the cavalry may not be able to do it."

Deng Ai shook his head: "Master Fa, you are wrong. The surprise soldiers I am talking about do not refer to the two thousand iron cavalry - those two thousand iron cavalry must follow the general to encircle and annihilate Zhang Yide - the surprise soldiers I am talking about doubling another person. Master Fa think about it, who else has not been dispatched?"

Fa Zheng blinked his eyes and thought for a while. Ru Meng woke up, and he smiled mysteriously. He pointed at Deng Ai with his fingers: "Shi Zai, you are still alive. Since that's the case, we will not care about the division of troops to capture Quanling. From tomorrow on, we will concentrate our efforts to attack Zhuge Kongming's turtle shell. Even if we can't take it down, we will have to breathe."

"Master Fa is right." Deng Ai laughed: "I have to beat him so much that he doesn't even have time to sleep."

In the next few days, Deng Ai and Fa Zheng cooperated tacitly and attacked Zhuge Liang's fortresses in turn. They no longer attacked forcefully, but instead came up with a new trick. Liao Hua and Shuai Zeng brought two thousand new soldiers of Jingshan Army to sweep the neighborhood, collect food, contact the local clans, and buy surplus grain from them. These clans had just finished the autumn harvest. The grain in their hands was too much, but they would be borrowed by Zhuge Liang in the end. It would be better to sell it to Cao's army and exchange it for some cash. Besides, according to this situation, whoever wins and who loses. If Cao Chong wins and doesn't sell his grain now, wouldn't he be unlucky in the future? No matter what, they still use cash. Although the price is a little lower, it is better than to give it to Zhuge Liang for free. There is another key point: it's okay if you don't sell it, but you have to stop the two thousand Jingshan Army.

Zhuge Liang learned that Fa Zheng had added more troops and could split people to play this kind of gangster move, but he was anxious but helpless. He had no soldiers to adjust. If it weren't for the effective fortress built by Huo Jun, who was good at defending, he would have been beaten to the ground by Fa Zheng. Now Liu Bei was in Jingke, and he issued urgent orders every few days to ask him to send food. He had food. He had a lot of food harvested from the farm, but no one transported it. There was only one thousand food transport soldiers, no one replaced them, and it was all up to them. Because he had to prevent Jingke's Yong Kai from robbing grain, he had to let someone go to the south and rely on Guan Yu's military strength to enter Jingke. Fortunately, Guan Yu had arrived at Jingke now, and finally the journey was much closer.

"Zhong Miao, let's hold on for a while. When General Guan picks up his lord from Jing Ke, we will be fine here." Zhuge Liang, who has a tired face, said to Huo Jun, who is also tired face: "We don't ask those Cao troops who are robbing food for the time being, and they will not be rampant for a few days."

Huo Jun nodded: "Military advisor, I'll pay attention. We have insufficient troops, so we can only do this. As long as the lord withdraws from Jingke as soon as possible, our troops will not be controlled, and it will not be too late to fight back then. It's just that General Zhang is in Linyuan and is besieged by the army. The situation is critical. Will the military advisor have any arrangements?"

Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly: "I have no soldiers in my hands. Even if I want to save them, I can't do anything. I have sent someone to ask General Guan for help, hoping that he can send two or three thousand people to support him. There is no news yet. In addition, Jiangdong is still watching, these people... I really don't know what they are thinking. At this time, they are still in the mood to sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight. If we lose, how can they be beneficial?"

Huo Jun showed a bitter smile on his face, but Zhuge Liang saw it, but he was speechless. Jiangdong's approach was indeed inappropriate, but it was understandable to say it in detail. Who asked Liu Bei to secretly capture the four counties of Jiangnan while Zhou Yu attacked Jiangling? This time, Sun Quan sent someone to ask Jiangxia Ban County. He did not dare to make a decision privately. While sending people to negotiate with Sun Quan, he reported the news to Liu Bei urgently. But Liu Bei seemed to have no idea. Every time he came to order, he only urged food, and did not mention whether it was a matter of ceding Jiangxia, which made him unable to figure out what Liu Bei was thinking. Sun Quan waited for a while without replying and was a little annoyed, so he simply withdrew the navy army confronting Jiangxia and Wenpin back to Chaisang. I just wanted to see how long you could last.

Sun Quan's final result may not be good, but no matter what, he will support him a few more days than Liu Bei. Zhuge Liang's most fear is not this now. He was afraid that Sun Quan would break the jar in the end, and on the condition of jointly attacking Liu Bei, he would get the benefits of separating Yangzhou and Jiaozhou from Cao Chong. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that even if Cao Chong took over the four counties in Jiangnan, the losses would not be small. With his troops, he would not be able to fight in the short term. Sun Quan could survive for a few more years. If Cao Cao kicked his legs, maybe Cao Chong would have to use Sun Quan's power to seize the throne. In this case, it would not be impossible for Cao Chong to agree to Sun Quan's separatist Jiangdong to exchange for Sun Quan's support.

This is a chronic poison for Sun Quan, but for Liu Bei, it is a killer move.

Zhuge Liang didn't understand why Liu Bei was reluctant to give up Jiangxia Banjun. Obviously, this half of the county could no longer be defended. Why didn't he be a favor? In exchange for Jiangdong's support and jointly fight against Cao Chong.

He kept these words in his heart and was difficult to say to Huo Jun. But seeing Huo Jun's face, it was obvious that Huo Jun was not a fool, and he was also thinking about these problems. Everyone followed Liu Bei and wanted to have a good future. If Liu Bei walked step by step into the abyss, maybe Cao impulse would not take action, and his subordinates would fall apart. After all, most of the capable generals under Liu Bei were from Nanjun and Nanyang. Once these people were regretful, Liu Bei's life would be half gone.

At this time, Zhuge Liang felt the potential lethality of Cao Chong's helping the big families in Xiangyang to make money. At the beginning, he thought that Cao Chong was drinking poison to quench thirst and raising a tiger as a disaster. He might be too big in the future. But before he could see something happening to Cao Chong, he saw that something was going to happen to Liu Bei. Recently, Jiang Wan reported that many people in Xiangyang who followed Liu Bei south were uneasy and often gathered, probably thinking about whether they would go back to Xiangyang to make money with Cao Chong.

The Huo Jun in front of him is from Zhijiang, Nanjun. Will he have this idea? Zhuge Liang looked at Huo Jun with some concern. Maybe he is working so hard to defend now to let Cao Chong see his ability so that he can get greater benefits in the future. People's hearts are separated from their stomachs and everything is possible.

In addition to Huo Jun in front of him, there are also Yin and Ma families, who are all major families in Xiangyang.

Ma Su, would Ma Su return to Xiangyang after his defeat? Zhuge Liang suddenly thought of a question. He was shocked, sweating on his forehead, and said goodbye to Huo Jun quickly, attracting Hu Ji to work.

"Weidu, is there any news about Youchang recently?" Zhuge Liang asked anxiously as soon as he saw Hu Ji.

Hu Ji, whose courtesy name was Weidu, was from Yiyang. He respected Zhuge Liang very much. After he joined Liu Bei's tent, he followed Zhuge Liang. After Ma Su went to Fuling to fight, his affairs were handed over to Hu Ji. He told Zhuge Liang that Ma Su had won the battle, and he told Zhuge Liang that Ma Su had defeated the battle.

Hu Ji shook his head: "There has been no news since Yuchang was killed in Shamoko."

Zhuge Liang frowned, he calculated the day, which means that Ma Su had no news for nearly a month. Why didn’t he come back if he was defeated? Even if he didn’t go back to Lingling, he could go to Linyuan and Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei is different from Guan Yu. He respects scholars at least on the surface. Now there is no news. Where can he go? He can’t go to the west. Could he go north? Where can he go north? Cross the river and return to Nanjun.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was possible, and his eyes flashed. Hu Ji saw it and moved forward carefully: "Military advisor, I often don't know where I am. If..." He swallowed, looked at Zhuge Liang's eyes as he looked at him, and did not dare to continue. He knew that Zhuge Liang had a good relationship with the Ma family, and his relationship with Ma Su was better like a brother. It would be bad if he said the wrong thing.

"Weidu, Youchang was defeated in the battle and has not been seen yet. Do you think he has lost his battle or..." Zhuge Liang obviously understood what Hu Ji wanted to say, and he was also a little hesitant.

"Military advisor, it's not scary if the war is gone." Hu Ji thought about it and said, "If he appears in Xiangyang, it's hard for the military advisor to convey to the lord."

Zhuge Liang's face turned pale and he didn't say anything for a long time. Of course he knew the consequences. Liu Bei was always dissatisfied with his use of Ma Su. A few days ago, he heard that the reason he fought with Pang Tong in Meixian was because Liu Feng mentioned Ma Su. It is conceivable that he was annoyed. If Ma Su was still there, even if he lost the battle, he might feel a little better. At worst, he could blame him for using people inappropriately, which would be fine. But if Ma Su surrendered to Cao Chong, he would be really speechless.

"Weidu, according to the defeated military law, please publish official documents." Zhuge Liang raised his hand and said. These words seemed to have taken time off his strength, making him unable to sit firmly anymore. He held the desk in front of him, stood up hard, and walked towards the back room with some shaking. When he reached the door, he stopped again, paused for a long time before saying softly: "Hurry!"
Chapter completed!