After a pause, he pointed to a city in Tudong and said, "Lantian has not yet fallen into the hands of the Shu army. I want to send a group of troops to guard Lantian first. If our army fails to attack the pass, we can retreat to this place.

Furthermore, even if our army successfully leaves the valley, it is still a matter of whether we can return to Chang'an. If we cannot, Lantian will be the same place, so we will not be poor in the wild and have no supplies."

"The general is far-reaching and admires his humble position." Shao Heng bowed his hand and said with doubts: "It's just that the Grand Sima asked us to work hard to attack the pass. The four or five thousand people in his hand are a little short of it. If we divide another army, the winning rate of attacking the Zikou pass will probably decrease."

"Don't worry, there will not be too many soldiers and horses sent to refuse to guard Lantian, only a thousand people are needed. In fact, whether it is the 4,000 army or the 3,000 army, it will not have much impact on the events tonight, because the terrain north of Zikou Pass is also narrow and the army cannot be fully launched. The war tonight is focused on the word sneak attack.

Okay, this matter is settled. In the future, Grand Sima asked the general and I had something to say." Zhang He said.

Shao Heng lowered his head and replied, "Yes, but the general is the decision."

At night, Zhang He ordered the captain Ma Xi to lead a thousand troops to Lantian twenty miles away, and he himself led the remaining more than 3,000 people to touch Zikou Pass to the west.

In the south of Zikou Pass, several teams of Wei troops lit torches and were still launching fierce attacks. Although the Wei army failed to break through the pass after more than ten days, they would use this time to build chariots and catapults, and no longer have to rely on cloud ladders to attack the key points.

Hundreds of stones hit the wall heavily, which not only put a lot of pressure on the Han army, but also made the wall full of holes. In addition, with the rain of arrows everywhere, the Wei army's lethality greatly increased. The Han army suffered casualties for a while, and almost only had the ability to resist and had no power to fight back.

Fortunately, Zhang Yi led a team of new forces to arrive in time, shooting crossbows and shooting stones continuously, and finally dispelled the Wei army's fierce attack.

Looking at the Wei army who had temporarily retreated to the formation, Zhang Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Tonight it was his turn to go to the pass to refuse to guard, and Yu She led his troops to retreat to the military camp behind the pass to rest.

"Although there are torches everywhere, illuminating the night like day, these catapults are still higher in the daytime.

Is Cao Zhen so anxious? He just built it in the morning and used it in the evening?" Zhang Yi narrowed his eyes and looked at the more than ten catapult cars on the opposite slope. He felt a little strange in his heart and muttered to himself.

Lei Xiong, who was standing beside him, heard this and said, "The Wei army was trapped in this Ziwu Valley without food and supplies. It is normal for Cao Zhen to be so anxious. Anyway, the catapult cart will be used sooner or later."

"As it is, the more urgent the Wei army attacked, the more unfavorable their situation. No matter how strong his offensive is, we just need to defend the pass."

Zhang Yi nodded, then lowered his voice and said, "What's more, the Wei army's attention is all on Zikou Pass. Tonight, General Zhennan and General Zijun and others will implement a fire attack plan. It is best for Cao Zhen and others to keep in the dark."

"What the Fujun said is that after tonight, the Wei army's offensive will probably not be as fierce as before." Lei Xiong looked expectant.

On the high slope, Cao Zhen looked at Zikou Pass with a worried look on his face, eager to see the agreed signal appear. Calculate the time, Zhang He and the others should have approached Zikou Pass, so why hasn't there been any movement yet?

Cao Zhen knew that if the progress went smoothly, Zhang He's troops would attack Zikou Pass for one or two days. Although he didn't know the exact time, he still ordered his subordinates to maintain a fierce offensive to attract the attention of the Han army in Zikou and ensure that Zhang He's sneak attack was successful.

"Da Sima, it's cold at night, so I'd better go back and rest. I'll just stare at here." Xiahou Ba walked over and said.

Cao Zhen shook his head slightly: "No, Zhang Junyi and the others may appear behind Zikou Pass at any time, maybe tonight, tomorrow night, and of course maybe the day after tomorrow.

Zhongquan, the past two or three days have been related to the life and death of our army. There must be no mistakes. I must keep an eye on it myself."

Xiahou Ba nodded and stopped persuading him. After a while, Cao Zhen turned his head and asked, "All the assault soldiers have been deployed?"

"Don't worry, Grand Sima has already been deployed. Every meal these days has been good wine and good food. The soldiers are full of energy and spirit. When they fight, they will definitely be like a tiger coming out of the cage." Xiahou Ba replied.

In order to cooperate with Zhang He's troops to attack Zikou Pass, Cao Zhen ordered Xiahou Ba to gather an elite army of about 3,000 people and stationed in the inner camps inside and outside, and stand at any time.

This army does not participate in any war and gives priority to food. They eat dry rice, meat, wine, and specialize in restoring energy and waiting for labor.

Cao Zhen said: "It's so good. Zhongquan, then you can take this army yourself."

"Don't worry, Grand Sima, the last general will fulfill his mission."

Cao Zhen patted his shoulder: "You and I are both relatives of the Great Wei clan. At this critical moment, we must lead the way and lead the crowd. Only in this way can we strengthen our morale and preserve our army for the emperor."

"Yes, I will understand."

In the west of Chang'an City, the Prime Minister was in camp.

Zhuge Liang, Yang Qing, Zhao Yun and others were waiting for news in the central army tent. Liu Yan had led 10,000 Jiangzhou troops to approach Zikou Pass under the cover of night, and prepared to enter the valley to support Yuan Jin and Wang Ping.

Of course, the other Han troops were also ready to respond at any time. They were worried that Cao Zhen and others would see the clues, so they stopped moving and stayed under Chang'an City to continue besieging Xiahou Ru, Guo Huai and others.

Although Liu Yan was the chief general of the Jiangzhou Army, he was not good at military affairs. So Zhuge Liang sent Ma Zhong and Yao You to him to paint military operations.

Since the rebellion in the South Central China was quelled, Ma Zhong served as the prefect of the Guanyu for almost four years. During these four years, he raised and polite, encouraged the farmers and the tribes, appeased the barbarians, and was very powerful.

So at the beginning of this year, Ma Zhong, who was famous for his official reputation, was recruited by Zhuge Liang as the Prime Minister's Office to join the army, and the wealthy chief Jiang Wan was appointed as the official. Later, the Wei army attacked three groups, and Ma Zhong was transferred to Hanzhong to assist Yang Yi in the military affairs.

He had not made any contributions to this Northern Expedition. After learning that Zhuge Liang was interested in sending one or two troops to Liu Yan's army to help, he volunteered to go to the front line to make a difference.

"What time is it now?" Zhuge Liang stood in front of the map with an oil lamp, asking without looking back.

Zhao Yun stepped forward and said, "Prime Minister, it's about seven minutes from the middle of the year, and it's almost ugly."

"Is there a wind blowing?"

Li Miao, who was standing at the door of the big tent, observed the wind through the crack of the curtain, hurriedly responded: "Not yet, Prime Minister."

The implementation of fire attack strategy is inseparable from strong winds. As the saying goes, wind helps the power of fire. If you want to ignite dozens of Wei army camps, it is difficult to rely solely on manpower. Fire-burning camps must rely on wind.

"No, no, I have already decided that there will be a strong wind tonight." Zhuge Liang calmed down and said calmly.

Zhao Yun said: "The Prime Minister is well-versed in astronomy. He also calculated the date of the southeastern wind for the coalition forces back then. There must be no problem tonight."

"I hope to regain the glorious results of the Battle of Red Cliff tonight, so that our Han army will once again defeat the Cao army." Zhuge Liang said with a smile.
Chapter completed!