After the discussion, the people of the household of Xiang quickly dispersed, but Yang Yi remained in the hall.
"Is there anything else, Marquis Wei?" Zhuge Liang's eyes shone brightly as he looked towards Yang Yi.
"Your servant reports to the Prime Minister: regarding the war in Shangguan, I have a rough estimate in mind, but I am unsure if it is appropriate. Therefore, I wish to present it privately to the Prime Minister."
Zhuge Liang replied: "If it is related to the war, whether it is feasible or not, I am willing to listen. Marquis Wei, please go ahead and say."
Yang Yi asked, "Your servant discovered today in the morning while sorting out information that the Duai (Commander) Gao Gang, who commands the troops of Tian Shui County, is from a prominent family in Nan An Commandery."
Gao Gang... Nan An Commandery...
Zhuge Liang keenly grasped the key and asked: "Can we find Gao Gang's family?"
Yang Yi replied, "Certainly, it can be done. It's just that the Wei army has been confined to the city of Shangguan recently, not coming out. Even if there is a sliver of a chance, I don't know how to contact Gao Gang or how to persuade him to defect."
After a moment of silence, Zhuge Liang said, "You do this first, Your Eminence will order Wu Yi to send out the garrison in the city."
Seeing the slightly confused look in Yang Yi's eyes, Zhuge Liang explained, "Previously, Guo Huan was hiding indoors because Wu Yi did not mount a large-scale attack on the city. Instead, he sent envoys daily to persuade the city to surrender and spread news within the city to create panic."
"Ji Yi has been making the well guardrails, siege ladders, ramming carts, and other equipment for the city siege in the past two days. I will order him to make them near Shangguan."
"If Guo Huan still has some wisdom, he would definitely send someone out to attack and break the place where the siege equipment is being constructed. Then, there would be a chance to kill or contact Gao Gang."
Zhuge Liang laughed confidently: "If Guo Huan is still afraid to come out, then after the construction of the siege equipment is completed, we will proceed with a strong attack."
Yang Yi sighed in admiration: "Prime Minister's excellent strategy; Guo Huan will undoubtedly have to come out of the city, and he won't be able to huddle up in Shangguan any longer."
"In any case, we must speed up the attack on Shangguan! Give Wu Yi another five days, and if there is still no progress, I will personally oversee the battle outside of Shangguan City!"
"Obediently, I will send a message to Wu Yi right away." Yang Yi bowed and then retired.
With only the guards standing at the corner and by the door, there was only Zhuge Liang in the hall at this moment. He leisurely walked to the courtyard, took a deep breath of the cold air of winter, and looked up at the timeless stars hanging in the night sky.
Since the outbreak of the campaign, Zhuge Liang has been observing the sky every night, but he has never found any auspicious or ominous signs. The stars and constellations above seem to have no connection with human affairs, and they do not show any response to his army's movements.
This campaign has mobilized all the manpower and material resources accumulated in Shu for years. It is a challenge for one Yizhou to oppose the majority of Wei with the resources it has. If this opportunity to close the gap between both sides is not seized, how can we wait for favorable conditions as scholars advocate?
If heaven's will is not fully revealed, I shall make my own will of heaven!
…
Zhuge Liang recruited many Qiang and Di people for his cause by relying on the prestige of the Han dynasty and the official positions and rewards he promised.
On the other side, the Great Wei also recruited many Qiang people.
After the several Qiang rebellions of the later Han Dynasty, the Qiang people who had previously lived beyond the borders of the country came in to seek protection and filled up the mountainous and remote areas where Han people did not want to live in Guanzhong and Yangcheng.
In the three commanderies of Nanshan, Longxi, and Tiangui, many Qiang people, besides those who responded to Zhuge Liang's recruitment, still had no interest.
The reason is very simple. A Qiang tribe in Xinxing County made their position clear when facing the recruitment of the Shu Han.
What Han, what Wei, is just a fight among Han people. We don't want to get involved in this mess.
This is a clear stance of neutrality. Even with Zhuge Liang's army nearby, he did not wish to force these Qiang people to take sides.
Meanwhile, Guo Huai, the Prefect of Liangzhou, was surrounded in Shangguan and lost contact with the outside world. With Nanshan lost and Xiangwu in Tongwei under siege, there was no reason for local Qiang people to come to help the Wei forces.
The western Xiping Commandery's Protector of Qiang, Lu Sun, however, took his role to the extreme and made the most of it.
On the sixteenth day of December, Lu Sun, the Protector of Qiang in the western Xiping Commandery, received a warning from Longyou and immediately led his 2,000 Qiang auxiliaries from his commando and marched towards Yucheng and Longxi Commandery.
Since Quying's rebellion and capture by Lu Sun, who then took him to the court, Lu Sun was well aware that many Qiang people in Wudu Commandery and Longxi Commandery had connections with Shu Han.
With Shu Han's large-scale military campaign in Longyou, it is certain that they would call upon the Qiang people from Wudu, Yinpingsi, and Longxi commanderies to join the cause, and even the local Qiang people in Longyou would be subject to their command.
With such a judgment, it is time to draw up false invoices.
So-called Qiang people are just a general term imposed by the Han people. There are huge differences between various tribes. Some are poor, while others are rich. Some have tens of thousands of households, while others only have over a thousand households. They are almost like tribes on the grasslands fighting for pasture land.
They are constantly at war with each other, fighting over farmland and pastures.
Would you expect the Xiongnu in the He Tou region and the Xianbei to the north of Daijun Commandery to have a "we are all Han" kind of simple-minded sentiment?
Moreover, the Qiang people in Longyou, Wudu, and Yinpingsi have been beaten by Wei for a while. Almost everyone in the Qiang people of Xiping and Jincheng Commanderies knows that Wei's military is formidable.
Not to mention, just this year alone, the head of Qu Ying was known throughout every tribe!
Therefore, when Lu Sun announced that he would distribute the land of the local Qiang people from Wudu and Yinpingsi commanderies to the Qiang people in Liangzhou, from the seaside of Xihai to all of Xiping and Jincheng Commanderies, oppressed Qiang people burst out with great enthusiasm for survival.
With such good credit as the Commander Lu, fighting for the Great Wei, and promising so much land, where else could such a piece of cake fall from the sky?
When Lu Sun passed through a county, he would recruit three or four thousand Qiang auxiliaries to join him.
Upon entering the territory of Jincheng Commandery, more Qiang people from Lengju, Haodan, and other places flocked in and joined Lu Sun's army. They all came with their own dried food.
It can only be said that the Qiang people are also universally pressed by the crisis of survival. With slightly relaxed policies, these Qiang people have all joined in.
Even a hundred years ago during the most severe Qiang rebellion, there were Qiang people from Liangzhou who followed the Bao Xie Pass to reach Hanzhong! Among these Qiang tribes, some still knew about geographical advantages and situations.
When Lu Sun led his Qiang auxiliaries to Yucheng, he was shocked when he saw that Xiahou Biao, who led only 2,500 troops from Wuxi Commandery, had also arrived at the same time.
It was the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
At this moment, the number of Qiang people around Lu Sun has reached tens of thousands, and they are all young Qiang riders. Their combat strength cannot be predicted, but just looking at their momentum is still quite intimidating.
Xiahou Biao, with a bitter smile, bowed to Lu Sun and said, "I am deeply impressed by Brother Zhuge's great talent."
Lu Sun quickly shook his head and said, "Xiaohou, you misunderstand. I'm just offering more benefits to the Qiang people as a means to entice them. Without the reputation and achievements of the Great Wei as support, how could I possibly attract so many Qiang people?"
Xiahou Biao said, "No matter what, Brother Zhuge has given a surprise to Longyou!"
Lu Sun calmly replied, "It's no problem. These Qiang soldiers were extra to begin with. The journey of the campaign is long, and since I selected soldiers from each tribe in roughly equal numbers, they are unlikely to have any ulterior motives or plot against us."
"The emperor advised me to surrender in Chongqing, guiding me to be responsible for Qiang matters and later facing the Wu Han."
When he heard this, Xiahou Biao also laughed: "If we talk about fighting against Wu Han troops, among all the generals in Yanzhou or even across the entire Wei Dynasty, Brother Zhuge has achieved the most prominent achievements."
Lu Sun maintained a rather modest demeanor: "The Qiang people's combat strength is unreliable; I'm just using their large numbers. The specifics of how to fight will only be known after reaching Longxi Commandery."
"Xiaohou, I believe Runbo has already arrived in Xiangwu by now?"
Xiahou Biao thought for a moment and then replied, "Considering the timeline, he should be arriving today."
"However, since the Shu army intends to attack Longyou, they won't leave too many troops in Longxi Commandery. With us joining forces, with over thirty thousand people, we are enough to form an independent force. We have no need to fear the Shu army."
Lu Sun nodded and said, "It is already afternoon. We will rest for half a day in Yucheng today and set off early in the morning tomorrow."
Xiahou Biao bowed and said, "I will go and coordinate supplies with local officials. The Qiang people need to be properly pacified by Brother Zhuge."
"Xiaohou, take your time, I will handle this matter," Lu Sun replied as well.
…
The 15,000 infantry troops led by Qian Zhaode arrived in the northern part of Lueyang on December 18, facing off against the Shu troops led by Wei Yan.
And Wu Yi was indeed unable to capture Shangguan within five days. On that eighteenth day, Zhuge Liang personally traveled from Ji County to the east, heading towards the outside of Shangguan City to oversee the battle.
Zhuge Liang's personal arrival undoubtedly injected a strong boost of confidence into the central army outside Shangguan City.
On the afternoon of the eighteenth, Wu Yi and Liao Hua, taking a two-pronged attack, used newly built ladders and wells to attempt to scale the walls of Shangguan City.
Guo Huai, who was defending the city, was facing a difficult dilemma.
Runbo stood on the city's parapet, with an urgent expression on his face, and asked, "Commander Guo, what do we do? The Shu army is so numerous, it seems they will launch another large-scale attack on the city today!"
For the past few days, Guo Huai had almost daily led his troops out of the city to repel the Shu army that was building siege weapons not far from Shangguan City.
Even if Guo Huai was as cautious as possible in battle, with four and a half thousand soldiers in the city, over a thousand casualties had been incurred. It was not that Guo Huai's military tactics were poor, but rather that the Shu army was simply too numerous.
At this moment, outside the city of Shangguan, Wu Yi's 15,000 troops, Liao Hua's 4,000 troops, Zong Xiao's 6,000 troops, as well as Zhuge Liang's own 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry troops were all gathered at the foot of the city.
Guo Huai bit his teeth and said, "We cannot leave the city anymore! Now, every soldier's life is precious, and we cannot lose them in open-field battles!"
"I will issue an order, letting Hu Zun fully handle the defense of the southern city walls. Which side do you think is more crucial?" Guo Huai asked Runbo.
Runbo sighed and said with bitterness, "Isn't it the same on both sides? Commander Guo, please stay here in the west. I will head to the east of the city!"
Guo Huai nodded resolutely in response, then quickly turned around to arrange the defense measures without stopping for a moment.
