Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 510 504. "Willingly Surrender"

To the east of Ji County is another important town in Liangzhou, Shanggui City. Like Ji County, this place is backed by the Wei River and is one of the keys to Liangzhou's defense of the south.

Jiang Wei led three thousand remaining troops to escape here and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Even if the Han army was only the vanguard, the offensive force was definitely not something Jiang Wei could handle. Zhang Bao and Guan Xing led their own teams to attack the city from the south and west gates at the same time. Although Jiang Wei was extremely talented, his battle experience at this time was obviously not as good as theirs. In addition, the pressure from the Han army was definitely not comparable to that of the Qiang people or bandits.

In just one morning, under the cover of the Han army's powerful crossbows, the city wall of Ji County was breached. Although Jiang Wei personally led the team to recapture the western section of the tower from the city wall, how could these local county soldiers fight against the elite northern expeditionary Han army? The Wei army fell like wheat being cut, and their morale dropped as they fought, and finally they were close to collapse.

Jiang Wei had no choice but to summon the remaining Wei troops and, while the Han army was trying to seize the key point in the city, he went straight out of the east gate and headed straight for Shanggui City.

"Huh... I really underestimated the Han army. This feels like a mighty force that is unstoppable."

Jiang Wei sighed in Shanggui City. He also knew that he could not stop the Han army by himself. But he gritted his teeth and thought about how to fight the enemy.

Zhang Bao and Guan Xing were also in a dilemma. If they wanted to cross the Wei River and attack Pingxiang, where all the officials of Liangzhou were, Jiang Wei in Shanggui would definitely cut off their retreat. If they attacked Jiang Wei, they would have to temporarily give up crossing the Wei River.

In the end, the two men could not agree on a decision, so they could only stay in Ji County first and send someone on a fast horse to inform Zhuge Liang in the central army behind them and ask him to make the decision.

When Zhuge Liang saw the military intelligence sent by Guan and Zhang, he had a feeling that made him like him very much and couldn't help but love his talent. Jiang Wei was an extraordinary man, both civil and military. If he could recover the city, he would be a great general of the Han army in the future.

So after careful consideration, Zhuge Liang ordered a messenger to tell Guan Xing and Zhang Bao that they could just cross the river to attack Pingxiang, while Zhuge Liang would take care of Jiang Wei's situation.

"Go and ask General Zhao to come over."

Even when he was in the army, Zhuge Liang was always waving his feather fan, looking calm.

"I've met the Prime Minister."

Not long after, Zhao Yun, who was white-haired but in very good spirits, walked in and saluted Zhuge Liang in a serious manner.

"Zilong, just now my two nephews sent someone to report that they have captured Ji County, but a defeated army fled to Shanggui in the east. They are worried that this enemy army will harass our logistics, so I want you to handle this matter."

Zhuge Liang waved the goose feather fan in his hand, but Zhao Yun knew that this matter seemed not that simple. If it was an ordinary enemy, why would they only come to him when there were so many powerful generals in the Han army?

"Prime Minister, what is so special about the enemy here?"

Zhao Yun waited for Zhuge Liang to finish speaking before asking.

"That's right. The Wei general here is named Jiang Wei. My two nephews said before..."

When Zhuge Liang told Zhao Yun about Jiang Wei, he understood.

"Could it be that the Prime Minister has a desire to attract talented people?"

For some unknown reason, Zhao Yun suddenly asked this question. Although he didn't know where he had heard it before, he suddenly remembered it.

"exactly."

Zhuge Liang nodded. He had no need to hide anything from Zhao Yun. "So, Zilong, you don't need to capture cities when you go. The families of the officials in Liangzhou are in Pingxiang. Even if Jiang Wei has no family, when all the places in Liangzhou belong to the Han Dynasty, you can take the opportunity to persuade him to surrender..."

Zhuge Liang gave Zhao Yun a lengthy explanation, which roughly meant that Zhao Yun didn't need to think about deliberately defeating Jiang Wei, but just needed to hold Jiang Wei back.

In the Han army, only Zhao Yun could do this. First, Jiang Wei was a skilled warrior, and ordinary generals could not suppress him. Even Ma Dai and others could not do it.

Secondly, Zhao Yun had worked with Zhuge Liang for more than 20 years, so he was relatively familiar with the requirements of his military advisor and knew the right balance. Although Ma Chao could have overpowered Jiang Wei, it was obvious that Ma Chao would not be able to grasp the right balance.

Just like the recovery of Jiang Wei in the original timeline, Zhuge Liang’s main point is the principle of "wholehearted submission", although from the perspective of the future, this thing is more or less tainted with PUA.

After a few days, although Guan and Zhang, the vanguards of the Han army, crossed the Weishui River, their progress was extremely slow. The villages and counties along the way did not have the ability of Jiang Wei, so they could only surrender honestly and did not dare to resist at all.

In Pingxiang City, the news that more than half of Liangzhou had fallen naturally reached the ears of the county magistrate Ma Zun. However, most of the troops had been handed over to Jiang Wei before. Now there was no news about him, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead. Ma Zun was anxious but helpless.

"Sir, there is a messenger sent by General Jiang!"

When Ma Zun was anxious, Gongcao Liang Xu came to report, and it turned out to be news about Jiang Wei, who had lost contact for several days.

"Call someone here quickly!"

Ma Zun was immediately cheered up, as if a long drought had finally brought him a downpour.

"The little one has met the adults."

Not long after, a soldier with a Liangzhou accent and wearing Wei army uniform came in and bowed to Ma Zun when he saw him.

"Get up, where is Jiang Boyao now? Is there any letter?"

Ma Zun asked this question because he saw that the man didn't seem to be planning to take any action.

"Reporting to you, sir, the Han army is very powerful. Although you defeated the Han army twice in Ji County, you were helpless as the Han army attacked the city directly. You could not resist and had to retreat to Shanggui City. The situation is urgent, so the general ordered me to come and tell you that he will seize the opportunity to harass the Han army's food supply route to give you a chance."

After the soldier finished speaking, Ma Zun nodded and asked him a few more questions about Jiang Wei's current situation and military strength. The soldier answered fluently, so Ma Zun stopped asking and let him go.

Naturally, there was no questioning of the other party during this period. After all, the other party had a Liangzhou accent, and he came back only to report the news, not to ask for help. He was purely giving him information. What was there to test him about?

Moreover, what this person said was completely consistent with the information Ma Zun already knew, so Ma Zun naturally did not suspect anything.

"Go and call the others over, and let's discuss a strategy to repel the enemy..."

Naturally, no one paid any attention to the soldier who left, and no one paid attention to where he went.

On the second day, a carriage slowly drove away from Pingxiang. The Han army was still far away, so although Pingxiang had increased its security, there were not many restrictions on entry and exit. Moreover, the soldiers guarding the city saw that the person inside was a woman in her forties or fifties. The driver only said that she was going to the countryside to escape, and there was no suspicion, so the soldiers guarding the city let her go.

When the Han army advanced to the vicinity of Pingxiang, Ma Zun received some bad news: Jiang Wei seemed to have rebelled. Someone saw Jiang Wei leading the Han army to persuade the cities to surrender at night.

(End of this chapter)