Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1397 Disappointment
Guan Ping knew that Zhuge Liang was trying to comfort him, so he smiled bitterly and said, "Prime Minister, your words make me feel even more ashamed. I could have wiped out the Wei army this time, but because of you, I failed."

"Now that the Qingni Pass has been opened, the soldiers I brought are not enough to threaten Chang'an. I will return to Xiangyang and leave this place to the Prime Minister."

Zhuge Liang saw that Guan Ping had made up his mind, so he said, "Since the general has his own ideas, I won't say much."

"After the general returned to Xiangyang, he sent his regards to Pang Junshi on behalf of Liang, saying that Liang was very grateful for his advice and help this time."

"Besides, the defeat of Wei in Chang'an this time is a good opportunity for Hannan to send troops to Shangyong Fangling. Military Advisor Pang will not miss it. If you go back now, you can catch up."

After hearing this, Guan Ping seemed to be thinking about something, so he said goodbye to Zhuge Liang and returned to the army.

After Zhuge Liang sent Guan Ping away, he occupied the Qingni Pass. He did not delay and headed directly northeast. After two days, he encountered the Wei army retreating from Wugu Pass.

The Wei army was chased by the army of Wei Yan and Huang Zhong, who had captured Wuguan. They attacked from both sides and annihilated all the defenders of Wuguan, thus joining forces.

After the three met, Wei Yan and Huang Zhong reported the battle situation to Zhuge Liang. Wei Yan said, "Although we defeated the Wei army and killed two of their civil officials, we still let Guo Huai escape."

Zhuge Liang said to Wei Yan: "Killing Sima Yi's two lieutenants is a great achievement. I met Guan Ping the other day and he said he didn't see Guo Huai's flag. I'm afraid he was killed in the chaos."

"Thanks to your courage and perseverance, we were able to reach Chang'an as scheduled."

"General Zhao from the north has already entered Tianshui. We will head north out of Huashan and arrive at Huayin, which is about a hundred miles behind Tongguan. It is just the right place to cut off Cao's army's retreat."

"My lord, you should have taken Sanmenxia by now, but you may not be able to break through Tongguan. As long as the two sides attack together, the Wei army will definitely not be able to hold Tongguan, and the general situation will be determined."

Huang Zhong looked at the mountains ahead and felt a little pain in his teeth. He said, "This is the extremely steep Huashan Mountain Range. It's not easy to climb over it."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said, "That's right, so we split into two groups heading north. One group will take the easier route north and exit the mountain from Weinan."

"Although the mountain road here is easy to walk on, it is more than 200 miles away from Tongguan, and we still have to travel a long way."

"No matter what, it will be difficult for Your Majesty to attack Tongguan head-on. We must lend a helping hand no matter what."

Wei Yan and Huang Zhong already trusted Zhuge Liang very much, so they immediately took orders and divided into two groups to enter Huashan and head towards Tongguan.

At the same time, Yuan Xi, with his large army, had already reached Tongguan, just as Zhuge Liang had predicted, and was continuing his offensive towards Tongguan.

In the previous half month, he marched all the way from the Qiaohan Road and reached Shan County in front of Sanmenxia. Xiahou Shang had retreated here in advance to deploy defenses and densely set up fortifications in front of Shan County to block the Jin army.

But he did not expect that there was another force on the Jin army's route, namely Xu Huang, who was sent in advance. He had previously marched on the north bank of the Yellow River and rushed to the section of the Yellow River north of Sanmenxia to cross the river and attack Xiahou Shang from the side and rear by surprise.

When Yuan Xi received the news, he ordered Zhang He to advance immediately. Under the attack from both directions, Xiahou Shang could not hold on and was forced to abandon the city and flee.

Zhang He and Xu Huang received orders from Yuan Xi and chased after them relentlessly. Xiahou Shang fled all the way, secretly groaning in pain. If he continued to retreat like this, he might not be able to defend Tongguan!
At this time, Ma Chao led his troops from Tianshui and came through Tongguan to help. He happened to encounter the fleeing army of Xiahou Shang. The two sides joined forces. Xiahou Shang was overjoyed and turned back to counterattack Zhang He and Xu Huang, blocking the offensive of the Jin army, and then retreated safely to Tongguan.

Zhang He and Xu Huang attacked several times, but were blocked by Ma Chao's troops. Seeing that pursuit was hopeless, the two men stopped their troops after discussion and waited for Yuan Xi's army to arrive.

After Yuan Xi arrived with his troops, he heard the two men's apology and said, "It doesn't matter. Now there is only Tongguan left in front of Chang'an."

"We have sufficient logistics. As long as we continue to put pressure on Tongguan, the Wei army will be unable to hold it sooner or later."

"This is the last gateway of the Qiao-Han Road leading to Chang'an. If we take it down, Chang'an will no longer have any passes to defend."

"What's more, if one of the other two routes is opened before us, we can go straight to Chang'an. Tongguan will be meaningless, and Xiahou Shang will escape sooner or later."

Xiahou Shang in Tongguan also had the same worries. He heard about the battle situation in Liang Province before Ma Chao left and said worriedly: "Although the Marquis of Yanling is brave and good at fighting, he is young after all. The generals of the Jin army are all experienced generals."

Ma Chao said, "You mean, even if Yanling Hou and Han Sui join forces, they may not be able to hold the city?"

Xiahou Shang nodded and said, "The strength of the Jin State has not yet been fully utilized. I am worried that they will hold back and then attack with all their strength. No matter which route we take, it is possible that we will be unable to stop them."

"The most stable route is to the south, with General Sima, but it may also be the most difficult to deal with."

"I suspect that Jin had already made adequate preparations before sending out its troops, so we have to prepare for the worst." "Tongguan must be defended, but the retreat route must be safe. Within 200 miles after the pass, from Huayin to Weinan, defenses must be deployed and scouts must be conducted to avoid any accidents."

"If our retreat is cut off, we will be completely finished."

"But don't worry, General. I will protect the retreat route while blocking the Jin army in front of Tongguan. The terrain here is steep and the Jin army's siege equipment cannot be deployed. I will trouble you to attack from the flank."

Ma Chao now trusted Xiahou Shang very much, so he said, "Okay, I have endured for a long time this time, and I will teach the Jin army a lesson!"

Although the two said so, they were both unsure in their hearts. After all, the current situation seemed like the Wei State was doomed.

In the next half month, the Jin army arrived at Tongguan and began to attack it. Xiahou Shang and Ma Chao also sent troops to counterattack. Both sides suffered casualties and the situation was deadlocked.

During this period, Zhao Yun in the north led his troops to attack Tianshui, defeated Cao Zhang, killed Han Sui, and completely routed the Xiliang army. Zhuge Liang in the south also led Wei Yan and Huang Zhong to defeat Sima Yi, chased all the way into Huashan, and were heading towards Tongguan.

During this period, Sima Yi escaped from Qingni Pass to Lantian, and then went all the way north to Chang'an. The Wei army had many troops deployed on this road, so Zhuge Liang did not take this road, but chose to go from Huashan to the Qiaohan Road to meet Yuan Xi.

When Sima Yi fled to Chang'an in a panic, the tens of thousands of troops he had taken with him were now reduced to only five or six thousand wounded soldiers. He immediately went to see Cao Pi to apologize.

The scene when the Wei army entered the city had long been known to the officials of the Cao Wei court. After they learned that Sima Yi had suffered another major defeat, although many people gloated, more people were panic-stricken, because the loss of Nanyang meant that the Guanzhong Pass would sooner or later fall into the hands of the Jin army, and Chang'an would no longer be safe!
Sima Yi knelt at the bottom of the steps and bowed his head deeply. Cao Pi, who was sitting on the throne, said nothing. The atmosphere in the hall was extremely depressing. After a long time, Cao Pi finally spoke: "General, I once had high hopes for you, but now I am extremely disappointed."

"I never thought that the first problem would come from your side."

Sima Yi raised his butt high and said, "I have failed your majesty's trust. I know that I have committed a grave sin. Now I have the audacity to escape and come back to apologize to your majesty in person. I also ask your majesty to punish me according to military law. I will die without any complaints."

Cao Pi sighed and said, "General, there are very few people I can trust, so I am so disappointed in you."

"But you knew that you would be held accountable for your defeat, but you still came back to see me. This shows how much you respect me. Otherwise, wouldn't it be better if you surrendered to Jin right away?"

"Don't worry, I will save your life, but I'm afraid you can't bear the impeachment between the government and the people, so I will take away your military position first. You stay at home for a while."

After hearing this, Sima Yi thought that he had made the right bet. There were too few available people in Wei State, and Cao Pi might not be willing to kill him. He kowtowed to express his gratitude, took off his official seal and uniform, placed them on the ground in front of him, and walked out backwards.

After Sima Yi left, Cao Pi slammed the armrest of the dragon throne. He received urgent news half a day ago saying that Cao Zhang was defeated in Tianshui, Han Sui was killed in the battle, and all the soldiers in Xiliang were scattered. He was afraid that Liangzhou could not be saved!

In this case, the fall of Tongguan is actually a matter of time, and there is no possibility of defending Chang'an afterwards!

Father, oh father, not only did you leave me dozens of concubines and a dirty court full of intrigue, you also left me such a mess!

I have been struggling to hold on for the past few years. If Cao Zhi had come to power, I'm afraid the Wei Kingdom would have been destroyed long ago, right?

Now that two of the three routes have been lost, Chang'an is in danger. Is it that I can only retreat to Yizhou next?

If you keep retreating, sooner or later you will have no way to retreat. What's the point of continuing like this?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He immediately stood up and shouted to the eunuch, "Urgently summon all officials to the court to discuss this matter!"

The eunuch hurried up to the platform and struck the bronze bell. The loud bell sound from the high place immediately spread throughout Chang'an. When the Cao Wei officials heard it, they changed into court clothes and rushed to the palace.

Originally, the Wei Kingdom had a fixed time for court sessions, but after Cao Pi came to power, whenever he had an idea, he would summon court officials to discuss it at any time. However, there were so many officials that it was extremely difficult to notify them.

Later, someone came up with a solution, which was to build a high platform and place a large bell on it. Whenever Cao Pi had important matters, he would have people ring the bell on the high platform. When officials in the city heard the bell, they had to rush to the palace to discuss matters.

Suddenly, the road was filled with carriages and officials hurrying on their way. Chen Qun was sitting in a carriage. When he saw Zhong Yao's carriage in front of him, he quickly let it pass and said, "Grandmaster, Grandmaster."

Zhong Yao lifted the curtain and saw that it was Chen Qun, so he stopped the carriage and Chen Qun quickly got on Zhong Yao's carriage.

After the carriage started, Chen Qun couldn't wait to ask, "Grandmaster, Wei is not doing well now, what can we do?"

Zhong Yao listened and said with a half-smile: "Why, Changwen thinks Wei can't hold on any longer?"

"Then joining the State of Jin might not be a bad idea."

(End of this chapter)