Shu Chen

Chapter 275
Late autumn September, early ten days.

Located in Jincheng County in the west, the world is full of desolation.

The withered yellow of the forest, the more and more urgent cool wind, and the wilderness with no green in sight, made Wei Ping, the lord of the Jin City standing under the banner of the "Wei" banner, faintly feel the meaning of autumn in his heart.

Yes, unlike the smug general Jia Xu and other Hexi generals, he felt that the situation of the battle was bleak.

Because the Han general Wei Yan led the army to Zhiyang, not only did he not attack the city, but even the besieged city did nothing.

However, at the beginning of the year, when Cao Zhenbing returned to Guanzhong, Wei Ping wrote to the Luoyang Temple, asking for death to guard Jincheng County, and after obtaining approval, he began to actively prepare for the war.

Having been in Yongliang for a long time, he knew that if the Han army took the Hexi Corridor, they would first attack Jincheng County.

In other words, when the Han and Wei dynasties competed for the front, the winner of the Jincheng would win Liangzhou.

Therefore, in addition to emigrating people to accumulate valleys, building deep ditches, reinforcing city walls, etc. to repair fortifications, and cutting mountains to store supplies for defending the city, Wei Ping also thought carefully about the place where the troops were guarded.

Needless to say, the river valley where Jincheng County is located (now the Lanzhou Basin) is an excellent place to gather people because of the closed terrain of "two mountains and one river", as well as the easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack Sangyuan Gorge at the east end and the shore gate at the west end. land.

Wei Pingqiang ordered all the family members of the soldiers, the leaders of the Haoyou and Qianghu tribes in various counties and counties, and the Li Shu of the villages outside the city to move to live in Jincheng County.

The euphemistic name is: When the Han army is attacking, it is his responsibility to guard the border and keep the people safe, and to protect them from the flames of war.

In fact, it was captivity in disguise.

Let the soldiers dare not fight for the sake of their families, let the Haoyou and the leaders of the Qianghu tribe not dare to seek personal gain and stir up the army's morale, put an end to the Haoyou who are at both ends of the head when the Han army approaches the city, and secretly gather together private soldiers to start Surrender to the enemy at the city gate!

As for whether these people will have different ideas because of dissatisfaction.
No need to worry.

Wei Ping not only conscripted half of their private troops into the army, but also left [-] soldiers to guard them.

These soldiers are not from Liangzhou, and they will never be lenient in punishing those who have changed their minds!

As for the Siwang Gorge, a dangerous pass separating Longxi County and Xiping County, [-] soldiers had been guarding Guo Huai since Guo Huai was in office.

Therefore, Zhiyang City, which is located on the bank of Wuting against the water and can shelter the Siwang Gorge and the Dahe Valley in the rear, has become the best choice for Wei Ping's troops to stick to.

It took several months to heighten and strengthen the city wall, build watchtowers and arrow towers and other repairs, and all the civilians in the city were relocated and [-] soldiers entered. The small city of Zhiyang has been praised as impregnable.

Wei Ping was confident that as long as he could not defend himself and the food and fodder in the city were not exhausted, the Han army would have no chance of breaking the city.

However, when the Han army arrived, he became less confident.

Because the behavior of the Han army is very strange.

First, the three thousand Xiliang iron cavalry led by Wei Yan and Ma Dai, the chief generals of the Han army, approached the city. After watching the defense of the city for several days, they went back.

Then he led the army to the former habitat of the Kewu tribe and set up camp.

Moreover, they felled wood and took stones, and Lianheng repaired many small garrisons.

In this regard, Wei Ping didn't think it was weird at first when the scouts came back to report.

In the habitat of the Kewu tribe, there is a small path leading to Xiping County. It is the trail that used to be used by Guo Huai to trick Kewu into surrendering and lure Li Yanqing into the battle, destroying nearly [-] elites.

Wei Ping felt that the Han army's move was due to the consideration of food supplies.

After all, although the trail was narrow and only allowed three or five people to walk side by side, it was more convenient to transport grain and fodder from Xiping County than crossing the barren valley from Shuyin City Fortress.

But soon, Wei Ping found it difficult to understand.

It has been more than a month since the Han army arrived in Zhiyang, and they didn't come to attack the city, nor did they trap the city!

The only movement was the cavalry of Ma Dai's tribe, who often explored the surrounding valleys and brought some Qiang Hu or Li Shu back to the barracks who had not been forcibly moved into Jincheng County by Wei Ping.

However, it was so unbelievable!
The Han army traveled thousands of miles, but Lin Rong formed a camp to consume supplies and food fodder.

Could it be that Nishu's intention to send troops this time is only to plunder the population and bring them back? !
Wei Ping didn't know why.

Even the soldiers under his command couldn't understand what he meant.

When the Han army arrived, Wei Ping had already boosted morale several times, and they had been irritated by the post-war rewards for many days, but the Han army did not come to attack the city.

"When Ni Shu sees that the city is indestructible, and our army is heavily guarded, it's all intentions, so don't attack your ears! Don't be suspicious, just be careful. Wait for the governor of Hexi to lead his troops to force him, and the governor of Yongliang Lead the Guanzhong army to push Longyou, and the Han army will retreat!"

Faced with the doubts of the soldiers, Wei Ping explained it in this way.

But in private, there are hidden worries.

Having been in the army for many years, he felt that there were only two schemes to explain the behavior of the Han army.

One is to make the city chaotic without fighting.

Because the Qianghu tribe in Jincheng County and the Li Shu of the Han family made their livelihoods by combining farming and animal husbandry.

Animal husbandry accounts for half of the daily food.

It is now late autumn, and the Li Shu have already collected the fodder for the cattle and sheep to survive the winter, but the reserves will only last until next spring.

If the Han army has been stationed outside the city, cutting off the connection between Jincheng County and Hexi, and when spring comes next year, it will send troops to prevent the Li Shu in the county from going out to graze, and there will be chaos in the city!
No matter how Wei Ping suppressed it with military power, he could not force the county officials to kill all the cattle and sheep.

That destroyed the basis of their survival, and it also forced them to open the city gate to meet the Han army-many of his soldiers were recruited from Jincheng County.If they saw that their family members' livelihoods were unsustainable, they would no longer fight for the banner of Wei Guo.No matter how Wei Ping promised to make compensation after the war.

However, if the Han army adopts this strategy, the time to send troops should be in the spring of next year.

Why bother to come here when the winter is approaching, it will waste food and fodder and make the soldiers suffer.

The other is that the Han army saw that Hexi had formed a coalition army. In order to avoid being attacked by the enemy, it wanted to turn to attack Hexi first.

Today, the soldiers are standing still, waiting for Jia Xu to lead the army spontaneously.

Wei Ping thought to himself that if he was the general of the Han army, he would definitely choose the second possibility.

But in fact, it was the most difficult for the Han army to attack Hexi.

Jia Xu is not a reckless general.

Even if Jia Xu came to harass the soldiers as the Han army wished, he would be cautious, and it was impossible for the Han army to find an opportunity for a decisive battle.

And the Hexi Allied Forces rode more.

The tactics Jia Xu chose must be based on raids and harassment.

When approaching the battle, if there are many soldiers facing the Han army, they will avoid them; if they are few, they will attack them.If it is unfavorable to the battle, it is not difficult to retreat, and there is absolutely no saying that there will be no end in one battle.

Furthermore, the Hexi coalition has [-] troops, more than the Han army.

If the Han army, which is mainly composed of infantry, wants to lure and ambush, the Wei Yan tribe who has camped here must go back and attack together, otherwise it will be self-defeating due to the lack of soldiers.

But if Jusai and Zhiyang County are separated by more than two hundred li, how can Wei Yan hide his whereabouts when he leads his troops back?

Alas, that's all, it's useless to think too much.

He Nishu didn't attack the city, I just waited and watched the changes.

Wei Ping, who was perplexed, gave up further investigation and turned to urging the soldiers to be on strict alert.

(End of this chapter)