Cao Zhuge remained motionless in the hall, taking one hour to carefully divide the army and ask each commander about the various matters they had accomplished as they marched north.
First, it was Zhao Yun and Wang Ping, followed by Wei Yan and Wu Ban, and finally Ju Fu.
By the time it was Ma Su's turn, he was almost unable to contain his impatience, and before the eyes of everyone, he kneeled down before Zhuge Liang and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Dang, dang, dang."
As Ma Su struck his forehead heavily against the ground, the expressions of those around him grew increasingly tormented. Some watched Ma Su's trembling figure as he cried, while others glanced at Zhuge Liang's countenance, filled with desolation.
"Yuochang," Zhuge Liang's voice remained steady, "Do you know where you went wrong?"
Ma Su raised his head, tears and snot mixed as he looked at the Zhuge Liang, who sat in the hall: "The Prime Minister assigned me to be an army adjutant, with the authority to command the upper and lower echelons of three hundred thousand on the east. Now that our army on the east has suffered a defeat, losing two thousand soldiers, it is all my fault for poor deployment. I alone deserve to die as a sacrifice to the world!"
"Please punish me, Prime Minister!"
To the surprise of everyone in the hall, Zhuge Liang stared into Ma Su's eyes and said, "That statement of yours is still wrong! The loss of twenty thousand soldiers in the eastern army is not solely your fault!"
Ma Su definitely had wrongdoings, and he was certainly unable to escape. Zhuge Liang's words astounded all the generals present, while Wei Yan and Wu Ban, who had suffered the most losses, began to sweat on the seats.
At this moment, Zhuge Liang had already sorted out the dynamics of the battlefield over the past ten days from the accounts of his generals, and he described each event as if he were actually there.
"The first mistake you made was in seeking a day's advantage by sending Deng Zhi with four thousand county troops to advance alone, cutting them off from the rest of the army nearly a day's journey behind. As a result, General Deng Zhi and his four thousand soldiers were all killed under the city of Lueyang!"
This matter has nothing to do with Wei Yan and Wu Ban. Although Zhao Yun and Wang Ping, who were marching with Ma Su, had not yet spoken, they tacitly agreed with Zhuge Liang's statement.
Ma Su's face turned pale, kneeling on the ground and using his hands to prop himself up, barely supporting himself so as not to fall. He slowly, stiffly nodded.
Zhuge Liang showed no mercy, continuing to speak in front of everyone in the hall:
"Your second mistake was on the twenty-first night, when Wei Yan reported to you that his camp was unstable and under heavy attack by Wei forces. Instead of ordering him to move his camp, you used my military strategies as an excuse!"
Zhuge Liang slapped the table forcefully: "Ma Su! You were fully aware that Wei Yan and Wu Ban relied solely on their camps for defense. Why didn't you allow Wei Yan to retreat when his camp was unstable and the Wei forces had overwhelming numbers?"
As he spoke, Zhuge Liang's voice grew louder, and he even coughed heavily: "If Wei Yan and Wu Ban had camped together with Zhao Yun, with twenty thousand soldiers gathered in one place, how could they have been breached by the Wei forces in a single day? They would definitely have held out until Wu Yi's troops arrived!"
"I..." Ma Su opened his mouth, but ultimately couldn't utter a single word.
"Your third mistake..."
Zhuge Liang's expression, which had started as serene, then shifted to a frown of anger, and now was one of chagrin and disappointment: "Victory and defeat are common in military affairs; the key is to organize and survive! But why did you have no decisive actions when faced with danger yesterday morning and noon?"
Zhuge Liang stood up and walked in front of Ma Su, looking down upon him with a sorrowful gaze: "Where is your usual military strategy, courage, and wit? Why did you need an old soldier like Zhao Yun to help you in the end?"
"How have you always said to me in the past, and what did you do at Lueyang?"
Ma Su knew there was no more room for pleading, and he once again knelt down and continued to kowtow. The generals in the hall, hearing Zhuge Liang's piercing words and witnessing Ma Su's pitifully cowering demeanor, felt a sense of sorrow arise within them.
Zhuge Liang sighed heavily, raised his head, and shouted loudly: "Where are my attendants?"
Ten armored soldiers standing in the corner of the hall approached Zhuge Liang, bowing to him in unison.
"Take Ma Su," Zhuge Liang said, looking at Ma Su one last time before lowering his head, "and place him under arrest until we return to the capital and report to the emperor, then decide on his punishment!"
"Yes!" Two armor-clad soldiers came forward and, one on the left and one on the right, supported Ma Su, dragging him out of the hall.
From the ground to being dragged out of the hall, Ma Su said nothing. The generals in the hall also only glanced at him briefly, then turned their attention away, as if afraid they might upset the Prime Minister.
Zhuge Liang turned back to his seat, and as he sat down, the sorrow in his eyes had transformed into a sharpness. He spoke with firm words, "The eastern army of thirty thousand troops traveled north from Shangguan, and almost all the grain, military supplies, and baggage were lost. Only ten thousand defeated soldiers returned!"
"And there were five thousand foot soldiers led by Zhang Yi traveling from Xianqin north. I have already sent someone to dispatch urgent messages this morning, and now I can only hope he doesn't run into Wei army camps."
Zhuge Liang continued, "The four thousand troops under Deng Zhi were lost to Zhang He."
"Wei Yan's force of eight thousand, among whom the five thousand foot soldiers led by Ma Dai were either killed or surrendered to the Wei cavalry, and Ma Dai himself is nowhere to be found. One thousand were lost during combat, and the remaining majority have not returned to the original ground."
Wei Yan didn't know what to say, so he subconsciously lowered his head.
Zhuge Liang didn't stop for a moment and continued, "Wu Ban's three thousand troops were all killed in pursuit by the Wei cavalry."
"Ju Fu made one charge and then retreated with over half of his troops injured."
Wu Ban and Ju Fu's faces were full of guilt.
Zhuge Liang looked at Wang Ping and Zhao Yun, "Wang Ping has already exerted his utmost to defend the camp, and Zhao Yun has made every effort to ensure that the remaining troops are not completely destroyed."
Hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Wei Yan felt desolate in his heart, thinking that the Prime Minister would punish him along with Wu Ban.
Unexpectedly, after Zhuge Liang swept his gaze across the hall, he spoke resolutely:
"Although this battle did not go well, Wei Yan, Wu Ban, Ju Fu dared to fight in the face of the enemy, and Zhao Yun, Wang Ping preserved the remaining troops. In my opinion, they have all done nothing wrong!"
"Why would you say that, Prime Minister?!" Wei Yan couldn't suppress his surprise and asked out loud.
Zhuge Liang looked at Wei Yan and said, "You and Wu Ban with ten thousand and eleven hundred people faced at least three thousand Wei troops in front of them, such a reckless attack that didn't care about life or death. They managed to hold their camp for over half a day, fighting a battle that was not wrong!"
"Same goes for Wu Ban!"
"Zhao Yun remained calm under pressure and showed the qualities of a great general!"
"Wang Ping acted cautiously and preserved the majority of his troops!"
"Ju Fu charged three thousand Wei cavalry with one thousand, which can be called courageous!"
"Wu Yi rushed north to support the allied forces!"
As Zhuge Liang named one after another the generals in the hall, praising their achievements instead of condemning their mistakes, everyone was surprised.
When Wei Yan was surprised, he suddenly had a feeling and quickly got up to bow: "Prime Minister, please wait!"
The generals around him were all experienced commanders, and they were all perceptive. At this moment, they all guessed what Zhuge Liang was about to say and got up to bow and dissuade him.
Zhuge Liang waved his hand: "I know what you mean! There's no need to say more!"
"I am the prime minister of the great Han dynasty and the commander-in-chief of the northern expeditions. I dispatched troops along the eastern route to seize Lueyang and cut off Gansu, but did not anticipate such swift reinforcements from Wei's central forces."
"The loss of twenty thousand troops from the eastern army is all my fault!"
"After this battle, I will present a memorial to the emperor and remove my position as prime minister!"
"Wei Yan," Wei Yan cried out hurriedly.
"Prime Minister!" Zhao Yun turned his face aside, at the same time bowing his hands, unwilling to look at Zhuge Liang's face.
"Prime Minister..." The generals in the hall wanted to persuade.
Zhuge Liang gently lowered his head, but after a few moments, when Zhuge Liang raised his head again, his demeanor grew even more resolute:
"The defeat of the eastern army is all my fault, and I alone ordered the use of Ma Su. You all need not say more!" Zhuge Liang swept his gaze over the generals in the hall and bit out the words, "This battle has not yet ended!"
"Defeating the Wei invaders and restoring the Han dynasty is not something I can do alone. You all are important generals of the Han empire, and we must work together to achieve this great achievement!"
"Don't be downhearted! If we lose, we'll fight our way back to victory!"
The generals in the hall agreed thunderously and bowed to Zhuge Liang in unison.
"..."
Liuleishan in Gansu Province is about 80 li away from Shangguan. Liangxi Prefecture's administrative center of Xiangwu is even further, with half of Gansu Province and the entire Nan'an District passing through.
Lu Sun and Xiahou Ba, two generals, one serving as the Prefect of Protection of the Qiang and the other as the Prefect of Liangzhou, led 2,500 troops from Wuwei County and 30,000 Qiang soldiers. They set out from Yuzhong in Jincheng Commandery on the 15th day.
As the number of Qiang soldiers increased, even if they were all horsemen, their marching speed slowed down unavoidably. The 400-li journey took them eight days to complete.
On the 22nd, or last night, they finally arrived outside Xiangwu City.
Xiangwu is located upstream of the Wei River, along with Ji County and Shangguan, both situated beside the Wei River.
However, the situation in Xiangwu City at this moment is somewhat bizarrely stalemated.
In Xiangwu City, there were originally one thousand county soldiers garrisoning the city under the command of Yu Chu, the Governor of Longxi. After Hao Zhao led two thousand infantry soldiers from Yuzhong, the number of troops on guard in the city reached three thousand.
It has become a number that cannot be easily broken through in a short period of time.
On the outskirts of Xiangwu City, the five thousand infantry troops of Yuan Feng's squadron were set up in a camp to the south.
Then led here by Gao Xiang, the ten thousand Qiang cavalry from the famous Qiang force of Fuhan, Tang Tie, were scattered in an unorganized manner around the north of Xiangwu City.
Tang Tie's camp can only be described as a temporary encampment, far from qualified to be called a fortification.
Further north of Tang Tie, the forces of Lu Sun and Xiahou Ba arrived in the afternoon of yesterday. They led 30,000 Qiang cavalry and 2,500 county soldiers, trapping Tang Tie in the middle.
By the afternoon of the 23rd, Lu Sun, in high spirits, went to Xiahou Ba's tent: "Zhongquan, come with me to see someone!"
Xiahou Ba furrowed his brow and asked, "Xiangwu City is surrounded by the enemy. How can we go to see someone here?"
Lu Sun laughed and said, "Zhongquan, have you heard of the famous Qiang from Fuhan, Tang Tie? I have persuaded him to come to our camp in the evening. We will have a feast together with the Qiang chieftains in the north!"
"Really?" Xiahou Ba's eyes nearly popped out: "Of course, I've heard of Tang Tie! He wasn't attacking us with the Shu army? How did you persuade him to surrender?"
"Who said Tang Tie has surrendered?" Lu Sun smiled and said, "It's just that he's coming over for a banquet. Zhongquan, don't think too much, just follow me to the evening!"
Xiahou Ba nodded oddly in agreement.
