Regardless of how Zhao Tong felt outside, in Zhuge Liang's central military tent, three civil officials and four military officials, seven important officials of Shu Han, gathered here.
Looking at Zhuge Liang's stern face, everyone knew that something must have happened to bring them together so late at night. Didn't the prime minister have his hair loose and not even a crown on?
Xiang Lang, Yang Yi, Fei Yi, Wei Yan, Wu Yi, Yuan Chen, and Chen Shi stood in the tent, quietly waiting for Zhuge Liang to speak. Although Yang Yi knew everything, he didn't dare to say anything.
"Everyone." Zhuge Liang finally spoke to the people in front of him after a long while, "Just now, Zhao Yun's son Zhao Tong came to the camp late at night to deliver a letter. More than 10,000 Wei cavalrymen are invading Baishui Pass from Yinping."
"Zhao Yun led his troops south to Yang'an Pass yesterday evening to provide rescue."
Yang Yi prided himself on his wisdom, but when it came to such an important matter that required a decision, he actually felt a little afraid. Instead, he lowered his head and stared at his toes.
The other six were all horrified. Wei Yan was the first to say, "Prime Minister, give the order to lead the army back!"
"Baishui Pass is the gateway to Shu, we must not lose it!"
Wu Yi was still thinking about how to protect himself a few days ago, but now the country is unstable! Baishui Pass is the most dangerous place on the Jinniu Road. As Wei Yan said, it cannot be lost!
Wu Yi cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, it's time to withdraw the troops! First, gather the troops to rescue Baishui, and second, control Wuxing, Juxian and other places, and Hanzhong can also be preserved."
After a pause, Wu Yi gritted his teeth and said, "Just treat this Northern Expedition as a training exercise! It will be easy to talk about it when we return to the court!"
Zhuge Liang ignored Wei Yan and Wu Yi and looked at the ministers who had not spoken yet: "What do you have to say?"
"Perhaps we can retreat slowly." Xiang Lang, considering Zhuge Liang's reputation, said more tactfully: "Is it feasible to defend here while dividing the troops and marching south?"
"Xiang Changshi thinks too little of the Wei army!"
Wei Yan directly retorted: "I was defeated in Lueyang in the past, and I repeatedly fought with the Wei army in the north of Mumen Road. Yesterday, I encountered Zhang He's sudden attack!"
"We all know that Baishui was attacked, how could the Wei army not know? If I hadn't personally led the army to resist at the third camp during today's attack, Huang Xi's army would have been defeated in battle after battle!"
"Do you believe it or not?"
Wei Yan's voice just got a little louder when Zhuge Liang glanced at him, and he suddenly became silent and his voice also lowered.
Zhuge Liang was not blaming Wei Yan, he just wanted Wei Yan to speak more quietly.
Among all the generals of Shu Han, the one with the strongest fighting spirit and the strongest desire to win is Wei Yan. Zhuge Liang knew Wei Yan well. He mentioned that the stronger fighting power of Wei army was not because they were afraid of the enemy, but because they considered the whole army.
Zhuge Liang said in a hoarse voice: "There are 35,000 troops in the Chiting camp now. The Wei army's central army plus the reinforcements from Guanzhong must be more powerful than ours."
"Zhao Yun led 8,000 soldiers to rush to Baishui, but it was obviously not enough to face the Wei army of more than 10,000 cavalry. If more troops were withdrawn, Chiting would be difficult to defend."
"We must withdraw our troops. But how and when to withdraw requires more consideration."
"Wen Chang, your troops will stay where they are." Zhuge Liang slowly looked at Wei Yan and said, "You will lead the four generals Wu Ban, Zong Yu, Hu Ji, and Liao Hua, with a total of 14,000 infantrymen. Set out immediately in the morning and rush to Baishui without stopping!"
Wei Yan listened carefully at first, but his expression changed in an instant.
"Prime Minister!" Wei Yan took a half step forward, his expression becoming more anxious: "The Chiting camp was originally built according to the terrain of the mountains and the water flow, and it extends its arms to both ends of the Baishui and Qingnishui."
"If we withdraw all the troops in the middle, how can we maintain it?"
"Chang Wen, think about going south first!" Zhuge Liang looked at Wei Yan intently, and then started to make assignments.
"Xiang Lang, Yang Yi, Fei Yi!"
"I'm here." The three of them answered in unison.
"Xiang Lang, Yang Yi! The two of you will be in charge of the main camp tomorrow morning and coordinate in the middle. Focus on letting Wu Ban, Zong Yu, Hu Ji and Liao Hua move south first." Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice.
"Yes, sir!" Xiang Lang and Yang Yi bowed in response.
"Wenwei!" Zhuge Liang looked at Fei Yi and said, "I order you to be the guard general. Go south with Wenchang and help coordinate the communication between the armies!"
"Wen Chang, Wen Wei, you two must put the overall situation first and drive out the Wei soldiers at Baishui Pass as quickly as possible. You can pursue them, but you cannot go beyond the Baishui Pass for more than 30 miles!"
"I understand." Fei Yi replied with a bow.
Wei Yan was still thinking about military strategy and just nodded.
Zhuge Liang didn't care. He turned to look at Wu Yi and said, "General Wu, your 6,000 men must hold on here for two full days! You can only retreat when I give you the order!"
"Yes, sir!" Wu Yi answered simply.
As Wu Yi expected, Zhuge Liang ordered himself to lead his troops to resist the Wei army's detachment at Baishuikou.
Many of his soldiers had already been taken away by Wei Yan and others. Now they had to block the enemy at Baishuikou for another two days? Could it be that they were going to cover the rear of the army?
But the Prime Minister had already issued the military order, so Wu Yi could only think about it in his heart and never dared to speak it out loud. The military order was like a mountain, how could it be a joke?
"Yuan Chen!"
"My subordinate is here!"
"Your headquarters will be in the center to coordinate, and you are not allowed to move without my order!" Zhuge Liang continued to make arrangements.
"Yes, sir!" Yuan Chen bowed.
"Chen Shi! Go wake up our troops in half an hour, and I'll give you another half an hour to sort out military affairs!" Zhuge Liang said as he put on his outer robe alone: "In an hour, I will set out with you to Wei Yan's army and lead his troops!" "Yes, sir!"
As the commander of Zhuge Liang's personal guards, Chen Shi simply responded without asking any questions.
But Wei Yan asked in surprise: "Why did the Prime Minister come to my army?"
Zhuge Liang took a deep breath and looked at everyone in the tent: "When the two armies are in a stalemate, it looks safe on the surface, but it is the most dangerous inside! What's more, Zhang He led his troops to attack fiercely yesterday."
"I will personally go to the front line and command the troops of General Huang and General Wei. Together with the troops led by Chen Shi, there will be 10,000 people in total to guard the important area of Qingnishui River Valley!"
"After the situation stabilizes, Yuan Chen will retreat first, Wu Yi will retreat second, and Ben Xiang will retreat last. All of them will retreat to Wuxing together!"
Wei Yan was stunned for a moment.
Wu Yi opened his mouth slightly and his eyes widened, looking incredulous.
Since the Northern Expedition, Wu Yi has always been guessing that Zhuge Liang wanted to discipline him.
The attack on Shanggui failed, the rescue of Lueyang was unsuccessful, and Zhuge Liang repeatedly ordered his soldiers to be separated. The initial dissatisfaction became more and more serious as time went by.
But he never expected that Zhuge Liang would have to command the troops at the front line himself to resist Zhang He's offensive!
According to the Prime Minister's division, of the 35,000 soldiers currently existing at Chiting, Wei Yan will lead 14,000 soldiers southward, and Yuan Chen will station 5,000 soldiers in the center.
The only remaining directions are white water and green mud water.
He led six thousand men to stop the Wei army's detachment at Baishui, and the prime minister led ten thousand men to stop the main force of the Wei army?
Wu Yi's mind was full of thoughts, and he asked in a flash: "Prime Minister, let General Yuan lead the troops! As the Prime Minister, you should be in charge of the overall situation. How can you lead the troops on the front line?"
When Yuan Chen heard Wu Yi's words, he secretly cursed Wu Yi for meddling in other people's affairs, but at the same time he also spoke out to persuade him.
"No need." Zhuge Liang looked at everyone and said, "Tomorrow, I will lead the army to attack!"
……
On the battlefield, the military situation was changing rapidly. The critical military situation from Baishui Pass in the south immediately mobilized the Shu army in Chiting.
In the morning, Wei Yan rode on horseback side by side with Fei Yi.
"Why did Wenchang make a promise to the prime minister before setting out, saying that he would repel the Wei army within half a month?" Fei Yi looked at Wei Yan and asked.
"Doesn't Wen Wei know the terrain of Baishui Pass?" Wei Yan was no longer in a hurry.
Starting from a soldier and gradually rising to the position of General Zhenbei of Shu Han, Wei Yan was definitely a man with a big heart.
"I have walked through Baishui Pass several times, but I don't know where Wen Chang's confidence in the half-month appointment comes from."
Wei Yan raised his head to look at the sky and said softly, "Baishui Pass is extremely difficult to conquer as it is connected to mountains and rivers, and behind us is the hinterland of Shu."
"If the Wei army manages to capture Baishui Pass, they will certainly not have the courage to continue southward. Can more than 10,000 cavalrymen capture Baishui, Jiameng, and Jiange in succession? The main army is in the north. If the Wei army moves southward from Baishui Pass, won't they be afraid of being blocked between Baishui and Jiange?"
"If the Wei army cannot capture Baishui, they can only camp there or head north towards Yang'an Pass."
"The Prime Minister was worried that General Zhao's 8,000 soldiers would not be able to stop the Wei army, so he asked me to come to his aid."
Fei Yi frowned: "If we follow what Wen Chang said, shouldn't General Zhao just hold Yang'an Pass? Once the main army arrives, it won't be too late to drive the Wei army southwards."
"It's not about whether we can do it or not, but we can't gamble." Wei Yan replied calmly: "Just now I said that the Wei army might be at a loss, which is exactly what will happen when General Zhao and I rush to rescue them."
"If we had come a few days later, I'm afraid the situation would be completely different."
Fei Yi asked again: "What does this have to do with Wen Chang's agreement of half a month?"
Wei Yan smiled and said, "It is 330 miles from Chiting to Baishui Pass, which can be reached in five days. There are 22,000 soldiers there, and the area outside Baishui Pass is not a place where cavalry can roam freely. If the Wei army does not retreat, it will be completely annihilated."
"Half a month is too much. In my opinion, ten days is enough!"
Fei Yi nodded quietly.
……
On the west side of Chiting, in the Wei army camp, Cao Zhen looked at Chen Ping, the military officer from Zhang He, who was delivering the message.
"Did you see it clearly? It's really Zhuge Liang's flag?"
In addition to General Cao Zhen, the emperor, the prime minister and other important officials were also present in the tent.
Chen Ping immediately saluted and said, "General, it is true. General Guo saw it with his own eyes. He had seen Zhuge Liang's banner outside Shanggui City. It was exactly the same as the banner opposite the current position! It was indeed Zhuge Liang in person!"
Cao Zhen nodded and turned to look at the emperor.
"Your Majesty, what Guo Huai said must be correct. Yesterday, General Zhang launched a fierce attack for the entire morning and then the situation was deadlocked for half a day."
"And today the Shu army's offensive is very urgent, it is definitely not the mediocre general of yesterday's Shu army." (End of this chapter)
