"How's the Prime Minister doing?"
When Wei Yan heard Zhao Yun's question, he became even more conflicted.
Zhao Yun left Wuxing early and Wei Yan followed him. Yesterday evening, Wei Yan received the news that the Han army was defeated at Chiting and retreated to Wuxing, and the prime minister was ill and unable to manage the affairs.
But seeing that Zhao Yun was already at the end of his strength, how could Wei Yan dare to say these to Zhao Yun?
Wei Yan could only reply in a confused tone: "With the Prime Minister there, what danger can there be? General, don't worry!"
"That's good, that's good." When Zhao Yun squeezed out these words, a trace of pain appeared on his face from time to time, but he relied on his willpower to hold it back and did not make any sound of pain.
"General..." Wei Yan held Zhao Yun's hand, not knowing what to say to comfort him.
Zhao Yun whispered, "Wen Chang, hold this place for the Han. I have brought eight thousand soldiers, eight thousand soldiers, and I entrust them to Wen Chang."
Wei Yan nodded heavily, tears flashing in his eyes: "General, don't worry! Now that I'm here, I will definitely not lose Baishui!"
Zhao Yun nodded very slightly, just looking at Wei Yan with his eyes, his mouth slightly open but no sound came out.
Wei Yan was horrified, and quickly put his ear close to Zhao Yun and asked, "General, do you have any last words?"
Zhao Yun showed a painful expression on his face, and he managed to squeeze out a few words: "Someday, bury me in Changshan!"
Wei Yan only felt that the left hand of Zhao Yun that he was holding was getting softer and softer, as if it had lost its strength, and gradually slipped out of Wei Yan's hand and fell onto the couch.
The personal guards and generals in the tent were crying. Wei Yan personally tidied Zhao Yun's face and covered him with a quilt. Then he bowed three times solemnly before getting up.
Wei Yan joined Liu Bei's army in Xinye and fought as a soldier.
As early as when he was in Hebei, Zhao Yun was the main rider beside Liu Bei, responsible for commanding the cavalry in Liu Bei's army.
During the seven years that Liu Bei wasted in the small county of Xinye, Wei Yan went from being a small figure who knew nothing about military affairs and had only served as a county soldier to receiving military guidance from Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and others.
Zhao Yun was not only the only capable general left in the Han Dynasty, but also the person who led Wei Yan and Wei Wenchang when they joined the army.
How far away is the restoration of the Han Dynasty?
Before his death, Zhao Yun did not mention his family or his offspring. He knew in his heart that the prime minister and the court would take care of him.
Zhao Yun's last words were only one sentence, which was that he hoped Wei Yan could help bury him back in Changshan one day.
If the Han Dynasty had not been revived, how could the Han Dynasty, which was entrenched in a remote area of Yizhou, have buried Zhao Yun back in his native county of Changshan, north of the Yellow River?
After all, the restoration of the Han Dynasty was linked to the fate of one individual after another in Shu Han. The connection between the macro and the micro was what condensed such a collective will.
But when there are fewer and fewer people like Zhao Yun in Hebei, how long will it take to restore the Han Dynasty?
Wei Yan made up his mind, slowly stood up from Zhao Yun's bed, turned around and looked at everyone.
They were all generals who had seen life and death before. Even though Wei Yan was grief-stricken, how could he forget the important military mission here?
"General Zhendong has entrusted the military affairs of this matter to me. I am the General Zhenbei of the Han Dynasty, and I am here to lead the army to assist under the order of the Prime Minister. Are there any of you who disobey me?"
Wei Yan interrupted the weeping of the crowd and shouted loudly in the tent.
The four captains in Zhao Yun's army looked at each other and bowed at the same time: "We are willing to follow your command!"
……
After the reinforcements brought by Wei Yan joined forces with Zhao Yun's army, the number reached 22,000.
After a simple funeral for Zhao Yun in the army, Wei Yan led his troops to advance towards Baishui Pass the next day.
After leaving 4,000 men to enter Baishui Pass, Wei Yan built camps and fortifications outside the pass and confronted Lu Xun's camp.
Wei Yan arrived later, so he naturally knew the military situation of Zhuge Liang in the north. However, given the elite strength of the Shu army, it was not easy to break through the Wei army camp in a short time.
In addition, the Wei army also had the advantage of cavalry, which could gallop left and right outside the camp to provide cover, making Wei Yan's attack even more difficult.
Fortunately, there were enough troops and no worries about food and logistics, so Wei Yan could only advance steadily, confronting and fighting day after day.
However, in Wuxing further north, the situation of the Shu Han army was getting worse.
Wu Yi withdrew his troops early in the morning on the 5th, and the sick Zhuge Liang was sent away by Yang Yi on the same day.
On the sixth day, the Shu army withdrew, and Cao Zhen followed closely and launched a pursuit.
It was not that Cao Zhen did not cross the river to attack the Shu army's camp east of Gudao River on the fifth day, but that Cao Zhen was powerless.
The 30,000 infantrymen of the Wei army at Qingnishui were extremely exhausted after more than three days of high-intensity fighting. They were simply unable to cross the river and attack the fortified camp built by Zhuge Liang in Hedong.
Qian Zhao and Xiahou Ru's troops at Baishui were equally incapable of doing anything. In other words, on the fifth day, Cao Rui and Cao Zhen spent more energy on reorganizing their troops besides preparing to march and pursue.
Cao Hong's cavalry had to be transferred from Xiabian, 10,000 troops had to be selected from Zhang He's 30,000 troops, and grain transport ships, material transfer, and logistics matters had to be arranged...
If they really crossed the river hastily and attacked Zhuge Liang's base camp, they would probably suffer defeat.
But after a day's rest, Cao Zhen became more adept when he led his troops south in pursuit on the 6th.
With the advantage of cavalry, although the roads on both sides of the river were narrow, they could constantly harass the rear. Multiple cavalry units rotated, making the retreating Shu army suffer.
The distance from Chiting to Wuxing is eighty miles. In addition to several successful attacks, Cao Zhen also defeated Wu Yi's ambush thirty miles north of Wuxing.
The so-called ambush is when one thousand men ambush one thousand men.
But if you want to use 3,000 people to ambush 30,000 people, I'm afraid there is no such big appetite in the world.
They marched south on the 6th, and most of the Wei army arrived outside Wuxing City on the afternoon of the 7th.
After arriving outside Wuxing City that afternoon, Cao Zhen ordered Zhang He to lead 20,000 troops to surround Wuxing City, while he personally led 10,000 cavalry to bypass Wuxing to the east and advance towards Ju County further east.
Ju County is strategically located, almost at the midpoint of the line between Wuxing and Mianyang.
Mianyang is the westernmost part of the Hanzhong Plain.
When Cao Cao and Liu Bei were fighting for Hanzhong, the two armies faced off in Mianyang. Dingjun Mountain, where Huang Zhong killed Xiahou Yuan in battle, is not far south of Mianyang City.
After learning that Cao Zhen was leading his army to pursue him, Zhuge Liang forced himself to get up despite his sick body, but was unable to do anything for a while.
There are simply too many Wei troops!
Cao Zhen led 30,000 infantry and cavalry south, including 20,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry.
After Zhang He led 20,000 infantrymen to guard the important roads outside Wuxing City, Cao Zhen was still able to squeeze out 10,000 cavalrymen to launch a surprise attack on Ju County in the direction of Hanzhong.
In contrast, Zhuge Liang's military strength in Wuxing was even less than that of Zhang He.
Of the 35,000 soldiers originally in the Chiting camp, Wei Yan took 14,000 with him when he went south.
There were only 21,000 soldiers left. After several days of fierce fighting, retreat, pursuit, and those who were caught up and surrendered by the Wei army, only 10,000 were left in Wuxing.
Including the two thousand people left here by Zhao Yun, there are probably about twelve thousand of them.
But most of them were withdrawn from Chiting. After witnessing such a brutal battle, how many soldiers were able to fight?
"Prime Minister, should we continue to defend Wuxing or break out and retreat?" Yang Yi volunteered when he saw that no one spoke in the hall.
The worst of Zhuge Liang's high fever had passed. He had taken a lot of medicine in the past two days and his condition had gradually improved, but he was still worried about the war.
"Where do you think we should break out, Lord Wei?" Zhuge Liang sighed and asked slowly.
All the ministers and generals in the hall turned their eyes to Yang Yi's face. If one counted the faces carefully, many familiar generals were gone since the Northern Expedition began.
But now is not the time to talk about the dead, what we should discuss is how to break through!
Yang Yi responded in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, we should break out of Yang'an Pass!"
Wu Yi took a deep breath and said, "Prime Minister, it's time to retreat to Yang'an Pass!"
"I agree that we should also retreat to Yang'an Pass." Yuan Chen replied with a bow.
Zong Yu and Wang Ping said the same thing.
Zhuge Liang sighed, shook his head, and his eyes were full of desolation.
What does Yang'an Pass mean? It's almost self-explanatory!
Hanzhong is in the east, Ju County is in the east, and Cao Zhen also went to the east!
Yang'an Pass is in the south, Shuzhong is in the south, and Baishui Pass is also in the south.
At the moment Cao Zhen led 10,000 cavalry eastward, Hanzhong was already in danger. If Zhuge Liang led his army to attack eastward, he would probably encounter Cao Zhen who was returning to attack him before he had gone far.
The only way to survive is to head south towards Yang'an Pass, and only then can we bring back as many of the Han Dynasty's remnants, as well as its civil and military officials as possible.
But what about Hanzhong? This is the dilemma for decision makers. (End of this chapter)
