Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains Section 79||

In March, Luoyang, the Son of Heaven traveled.

General Li Hong, General Zhang Yan of the Right Guard, General Jia Xu of the Protector Army, and Tian Chou of Zhonglang of Wuguan gathered in front of the map to discuss the situation.

The Jingzhou army and the Yuzhou army counterattacked Yingchuan, which was expected, but it was somewhat unexpected that Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Yuan Tan joined forces to attack Chenliu.

There are 50,000 Northern Xinjiang troops on the Yingchuan battlefield, and in the case of the rebels' three-way attack, the strength is indeed a little tight, but there is no reinforcement at present, because the rebels have no obvious advantage in the three battlefields of Luyang, Yecheng and Xuchang. The Northern Frontier Army relied on strong cities and criss-crossing rivers to block the rebels on the border of Yingchuan. However, if the combined forces of Cao Cao and Yuan Tan conquered Chenliu and formed a three-sided encirclement of Yingchuan, Yingchuan would be in danger.

"I feel the need to reinforce Chenliu." Fu Gan pointed to Chen Liujun on the map and said, "Chen Liu's current location is very important, and whether Chen Liu's ability to hold on is directly related to the development of the situation in the Central Plains." ”

"With Chenliu as the center, to the east, it forms a protection of the hinterland of Yanzhou with Changyi and Rencheng. To the north, it protected several grain routes between Hebei and Luoyang. To the west, it protected Henan and helped the army to besiege the city of Luoyang with all its might. To the south, it posed a threat to Yuzhou and Xuzhou, and protected the flanks of the Yingchuan battlefield. ”

"Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Yuan Tan joined forces to attack Chenliu, and their purpose was obvious, that is, they wanted to cut off our grain routes, attack Henan and Yingchuan, and threaten the security of Yanzhou." Fu Gan's hand pointed to Yingchuan on the map, "If the rebels want to save Luoyang City, the fastest and most effective way is to capture Chenliu, attack Yingchuan with the main force, and attack Lord Yan Liang from east to west, so that he will fall into the predicament of being attacked by the enemy on his back." Once Yingchuan was lost, the southern pass of Luoyang City was under direct attack by the rebels. As long as one of the three passes of Otani, Yique and Yuyuan is lost, our attack on Luoyang City is likely to fail. ”

"Cao Cao's purpose may also be Yanzhou." Wang Ling said, "Although fighting Yingchuan will help to quickly rescue Luoyang, for Cao Cao, rescuing Yuan Shao will not do him any good, Yanzhou is his real goal." Now our main force is in Luoyang City, and there are very few defenders in Yanzhou, if he can capture Chenliu and block our main force in Luoyang, he will have enough time to sweep Yanzhou. In this way, he can not only transfer our main force out of Luoyang City, but also occupy a part of Yanzhou counties and counties, killing two birds with one stone. ”

"If Yanzhou is in chaos, there will be problems with our grain and grass, so it is imperative to support Yanzhou before Cao Cao." Jade looked at Li Hong and said, "Let Fengxian (Lu Bu) stay in Chenliu, I will personally lead the army to garrison the front line of Dingtao and Changyi, and at the same time let Lord Zang Ba of Qingzhou, Lord Gaoshun of Lu State, and Lord Wei Xu of Rencheng lead the army south to attack Xuzhou, what do you think?" ”

"No, if we do this, we just fell for Cao Cao's ** plan." Zhang Yan shook his hand and said, "Cao Cao's army attacked Chenliu, but we launched attacks on several battlefields, and we also sent reinforcements from Luoyang City back to Yanzhou. If you want to fight, you will beat him in Chen Liu, beat him to the point of embarrassment, and any problem can be solved. ”

"The war in Yanzhou should be resolved by the Yanzhou army, and there is no need to transfer troops from Luoyang City. Lord Gao Shun and Lord Wei Xu of Yanzhou still have enough troops to deploy. Tian Chou said, "At present, it is impossible for the left-behind army in Xuzhou to attack northward, and in the case of them taking a defensive position, Lord Lu Bu can transfer the main forces of Gao Shun and Wei Xu to fight on the battlefield of Chenliu." ”

"Cao Cao and Sun Quan don't have a lot of men, if they want to achieve the purpose of attacking, they can only concentrate on one battlefield, otherwise they will gain nothing, and they may even be defeated by us." Jia Xu said, "So I personally think that Cao Cao is most likely to send troops to fight Yingchuan after conquering Chenliu." Because only on the Yingchuan battlefield can they form an advantage in strength and get the greatest results. ”

The generals in the tent argued.

Li Hong smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, "Do you think that why did Cao Cao and Sun Quan join forces with Yuan Tan to attack Chen Liu?" What do they want? ”

Li Hong's eyes were on Jiang Ji. Jiang Ji hesitated for a moment, bowed slightly and said, "For Cao Cao and Sun Quan, after we defeat Luoyang, the next target is them. In order to survive, they will, of course, fight back at all costs. If this counterattack is successful, they will help Yuan Shao keep Luoyang, and it is very likely that a north-south confrontation will form in the world, which is probably what they want. ”

"Do you think there will be a confrontation between the North and the South?"

"According to the current strategy of the imperial court, after the army conquered Luoyang, it immediately marched west to Pingqiang and stabilized the western frontier, so ......" Jiang Ji looked at Li Hong cautiously and said very cautiously, "So I think that after the end of this war, there will inevitably be a confrontation between the north and the south in the world." ”

Li Hong nodded appreciatively, "Now you adults understand?" The key is Luoyang. As long as we lay down Luoyang, the general trend of the world will be in our hands. ”

"Urgently order Mustafa, take 5,000 iron cavalry to Chenliu, help Lord Lu Bu drag the rebels, and give us time to attack Luoyang."

"Tell Lord Lu Bu that I have no reinforcements to pick him up, and ask him to use Yanzhou's army to hold Yanzhou as much as possible, and find ways to inflict heavy losses on the rebels."

In March, Chen stayed on the battlefield.

Lü Bu led the army to block the rebels on the front line of Huating and Yongqiu, and the two sides made many contacts, but finally retreated step by step due to the disadvantage of their troops.

The eight-hundred-mile fast rider delivered the general's letter to the slippery pavilion. After reading it, Lu Bu handed the letter to Peng Lie, "The general gave us five thousand iron horses. ”

"Five thousand iron horsemen." Peng Lie said happily, "Is it Changshui Camp?" He glanced impatiently at the letter, and the smile on his face disappeared, "No more reinforcements?" Call other armies in Yanzhou? If the Xuzhou army takes advantage of the situation to enter Yanzhou, what will we do? Cao Cao may attack from the east to the west, and when we transfer all the Yanzhou troops to the Chenliu battlefield, and then he will attack Yanzhou from the direction of Pengcheng and the East China Sea, then how can we resist? ”

Lu Bu smiled and shook his head. "There is no need to call in other armies. The general's intention of transferring the Changshui battalion to the Chenliu battlefield was already very obvious. Can you hold Yongqiu? ”

"Absolutely." Peng Lie said without thinking, "10,000 people guarding a small city, who can enter it?" ”

"That's good, you guard Yongqiu, and I'll lead the Changshui battalion to attack and kill on the periphery." Lu Bu sneered, "I want to see when Cao Cao can hit Chen Liu." ”

"I'm guarding Yongqiu, you lead people to attack and kill the enemy in the area of Langtang Canal and Suishui River, so what should Chen Liucheng do? Who's going to keep it? Peng Lie asked worriedly, "Do you want Sun Luan from Changyi to lead the army to help?" ”

Lu Bu thought for a moment and nodded. "Tell Sun Luan and ask him to lead the army to hurry to Chenliu to garrison."

The two shook hands and said goodbye. Peng Lie retreated to the small city of Yongqiu, and Lu Bu led his guards to Kaifeng to meet the Changshui camp.

In March, Yingchuan battlefield.

Kuai Yue commanded the Jingzhou army to storm Luyang City, and the offensive was fierce.

At this moment, there were only 10,000 troops of Zhang Xiu in Luyang City, and Ji Ling was stationed at Guangcheng Pass with 10,000 troops to ensure the safety of the two passes of Dagu and Yique. Lu Mian led an army of 10,000 troops to garrison the line of Jiaxian and Xiangcheng on the north bank of the Rushui River, taking into account the safety of Yangzhai City, and supporting the three battlefields of Luyang, Yecheng and Xuchang at any time, and also transporting grain and grass to the two battlefields of Luyang and Yecheng.

After Yan Liang led the army to capture Luyang last year, he used the whole winter to strengthen the city defense of Luyang, deployed a lot of heavy equipment to defend the city, and hoarded a large amount of grain, grass and baggage. This created favorable conditions for the army to hold on to Luyang City and block the rebels outside Yingchuan.

The Jingzhou army attacked for several days, although it was well prepared, but under the counterattack of heavy equipment in the city, it suffered heavy losses and had to stop, waiting for the army of Deng Yi and Pang Ji to break through Kunyang and kill the line of the Rushui River to cut off the grain route of the defenders of Luyang.

Deng Yi and Pang Ji quickly broke through the blockade and fought a decisive battle with Liao Lei in Yecheng, but then they were overwhelmed by the attack of the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry.

Jiang Wu asked Xiao Lei to hold Yecheng with an army of 10,000, and he carried 5,000 iron horsemen to move outside the city. He divided the iron cavalry into two parts, one part operated on the front line of Kunyang and Xiangcheng to protect the grain route of the army; Some of them were divided into pieces, with 100 cavalry as a team, which haunted the mountains and forests between Duyang, Yecheng and Wuyang day and night, frequently attacking the grain transportation team of the Jingzhou army and attacking the camp of the Jingzhou army, so that the Jingzhou soldiers were worried and tired, and their morale was gradually declining.

Jiang Wushu told Yan Liang and asked him to wait patiently in Luyang City, as long as he seized the opportunity to burn the grain and grass of the Jingzhou army and forced Deng Yi and Pang Ji to withdraw to Wancheng, the rebels' first counterattack on Yingchuan this year would be considered a failure.

March 15, early in the morning, Luoyang City.

Yuan Shao, Yuan Wei, Feng Ji and others panted up to the Yongmen Tower, and everything in front of them made them dumbfounded and shocked.

The stone cannons outside the city are one after another, densely packed. Each stone cannon was surrounded by soldiers, ready to fire. In the distance, the people gathered into a long line, driving the baggage carts to transport the stone bullets.

Overnight, the Northern Army erected thousands of stone cannons outside the city, dense enough to destroy all the defenses on the walls of Luoyang.

Yuan Shao's whole body was full of blood, his body shook involuntarily, and then his eyes suddenly went black, and he was dizzy. Yuan Shao screamed in pain, and tried his best to stretch out his hands to support the city wall in front of him, but his hands lost sensation at this moment, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift them. Yuan Shao fell on his back.

Feng Ji, who was standing next to him, was quick and grabbed Yuan Shao's clothes, "My lord, my lord......"

Yuan Shang, Yuan Wei, Xun Chen, Xianpei, Xin Ping, Zhu Ling, Gao Rou and others rushed up and carried him into the gatehouse.

Yuan Shao's mouth was crooked, very crooked, and saliva kept flowing out. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Yuan Shang, who was in tears, trying to say something, but the sound came out intermittently, and no one could understand it.

"Quick, quickly ask the healer to come and ......," Feng Ji shouted, "Don't move your lord, don't shake him." ”

"Due south, block the gatehouse, no one is allowed to come in, hurry up, ......"

The judge looked at Yuan Shao, who was gradually unconscious, and for a while, all thoughts were lost, and he staggered out of the door and hugged him. The soldiers around the gatehouse saw the trial come out and hugged them together, "My lord, how is Lord Yuan?" How is Lord Yuan? ”

As soon as the judge wanted to speak, he heard the sound of drums outside the city like thunder, and a huge roar was like a violent hurricane sweeping through the heavens and the earth, shaking the earth.

The judge raised his hands and raised his head and shouted: "Withdraw, order all the soldiers to withdraw to safety." ”

The drums of the alarm rose to the sky. On the city wall, in the tower, in the urn city, and behind the Fengyuan wall, all the guards rushed to the city as fast as they could.

The judge turned around and slammed into the door of the building, and shouted at the panicked Luoyang officials inside: "On your back, let's go quickly, and retreat." ”

"Adults can't move now." Yuki glared and shouted, "He might die." ”

"Hurry up, you can't leave after a while, let's go quickly, let's ......" The judge rushed to Yuan Shao's side in a few steps, picked him up, and rushed out without looking back.

The sound ......of the war drums became more and more violent, as if they were about to break through the sky and go straight to the sky.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the northern Xinjiang shouted wildly, and the huge waves converged into torrents, crashing head-on into Luoyang City with a devastating momentum.

Xiao Tianzi, the great general Li Hong, and all the ministers of civil and military affairs all raised their arms and cheered at this moment.

Luoyang City trembled in the torrent and groaned in the impact.

"Release, release......" Koji Yi waved his arms and said hoarsely, "Give me ......"

The drums beat more and more intensely, like a mountain collapsing and the ground cracked.

On the battlefield of Dongcheng "......", Zhao Yun, the general of Long Xiang, galloped on his horse and shouted wildly, "Release, release ......"

On the battlefield of Beicheng, Sima Yi waved the order flag again and again, "Brothers, release, release ......"

On the battlefield of Nancheng, Wen Chou was shirtless and personally beat the giant war drum, "Let it go...... Bomb the towers, blow them down......"

Five thousand stone cannons raised their heads into the sky and let out a deafening roar.

Five thousand stone bullets rushed into the sky with a thrilling roar, tumbling all the way, and smashed into Luoyang City with thunderous momentum.

On the azure canopy, the sky was covered with stars in an instant, and the black, white, and gray stone bullets were like meteors passing through the sky, leaving beautiful traces on the canopy.

"Boom...... Rumble...... Boom ......"

All the meteors fell into Luoyang City, and Luoyang City boiled and shook at this moment. It was like a wounded beast that let out a terrible howl.

The two-storey gatehouse of Yongmen bore the brunt of the blow and was devastated.

The heavy stone artillery of the Northern Xinjiang Army aimed at the gatehouse and bombarded continuously, and the stone bullets weighing 100 pounds smashed down violently like a violent storm, and the roof of the gatehouse disappeared in a blink of an eye, and bricks, wood, and gravel flew all over the sky. Then the upper floor of the gatehouse was overwhelmed and collapsed.

Because of the weak support points and insufficient thickness of the horse face on the city wall, it was difficult to withstand the crazy attack of stone bullets, and they were destroyed and fell one after another.

The other buildings, large and small sheds, because they are all wooden structures, are basically vulnerable, and they have been turned into broken wood under the overwhelming blow of stone bullets.

After the gatehouse of Yongmen collapsed, the urn city outside the city gate was bombarded by the heavy stone artillery of the Northern Xinjiang Army. The urn city is mainly made of rammed earth walls, and the thickness and hardness of the city walls are far from being comparable with the main city walls. As pieces of stone bullets weighing dozens of catties and hundreds of catties hit the wall continuously, the walls of the urn city began to collapse little by little.

Feng Yuan and Horse Rejection Belt under the city were also the main targets of stone artillery. Feng Yuan is only fifteen feet (about three meters today), and it is also made of rammed earth. It was very difficult to force the attack with manpower, but with the intensive bombardment of stone cannons, this low earthen wall was smashed like soft mud, and in a short time it became a broken wall. As for the rejection of horses and deer, they were quickly overwhelmed by stone bullets.

Yuan Wei, Yuan Shang, Feng Ji, Xian Pei and others stood on Yongmen Avenue a hundred steps away from the city gate, watching in amazement as all the defensive facilities on the city wall turned into powder, and their faces were like ashes for a while, except for deep fear and pain in their hearts, they no longer had half of self-confidence, and their hopes of defending Luoyang City were completely destroyed.

The soldiers and men in Luoyang City stood on the streets, looking at the dense and violent "stone rain" in the sky, one by one, they were stunned, blood and death occupied their hearts in an instant, and the breath of defeat instantly enveloped the entire Luoyang City.

Tears flowed from the trial.

More than a year of hard work was lost in a blink of an eye, and with the collapse and destruction of various defensive facilities such as gatehouses, horse faces, and platforms, the defense of Luoyang City became fragile.

Now that Yuan Shao has fallen, the morale of the soldiers is low, and the only reliance is on this hundred-foot-high wall.

"Order the chariot battalion, return fire, return fire immediately......" Feng Ji suddenly shouted, desperate and miserable, "We also have stone artillery, we also fight, artillery against artillery, fight, hit me ......"

Gao Ran saw a stone projectile flying out of the castle. He scolded angrily and roared loudly, "Order, all heavy stone cannons, extend the attack into the city, hit me, hit ...... hard"

The 500 heavy stone cannons were replaced with 50 to 70 kg stone shells, and the projectile distance was greatly increased. With Gao Lan's order, five hundred stone projectiles crossed the city wall and rained down on the stone cannon positions in the city.

The defenders in the city were caught off guard, smashed to the ground, and ran away with their heads in their hands. More than a dozen of them were damaged to varying degrees.

Feng Ji and Xian Pei were taken aback, and hurriedly ordered the stone cannon to be withdrawn to the back. But it was too late, the second round of strikes of the Northern Xinjiang Army came in an instant, and the soldiers and people in the artillery array were severely damaged, and everyone rushed to disperse in extreme fear. The stone shells of the Northern Xinjiang Army poured down one after another, destroying most of the few stone cannons in the city.

The judge wanted to cry without tears, squatting on the ground with his head in his arms, desperate.

"What to do? Now what? Feng Ji dragged him up, "What now?" How could Li Hong have so many stone cannons? How could he build so many stone cannons in half a year? ”

"Only in the evening, after the Northern Xinjiang Army stops bombardment, we will try to recover." The judge said in a hoarse voice.

"Recovery? How to recover? If the Northern Xinjiang Army continues to bombard like this, in a few days, all the facilities on the city wall will be destroyed, even the women's wall will be destroyed. Feng Ji shouted at the top of his voice, "How can you restore the city wall that is dozens of miles long?" ”

"This is the main direction of attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army." Pointing his finger in front of him, he said weakly, "Let's take the Yongmen as the center and rebuild the defenses along the walls at both ends of the Yongmen. There are still 60,000 people in the city, and there are 200,000 people, even if we fill it with people, we can block the northern Xinjiang army outside Luoyang City. ”

The trial miscalculated, and the Northern Frontier Army attacked overnight, not giving him any chance at all.

The next day, the Northern Frontier Army continued to attack.

On the third day, the Northern Frontier Army was like going crazy, and it still bombarded wildly. The defenders of the city were in despair. They couldn't imagine that the chariot battalion soldiers of the Northern Xinjiang Army could support it for three days in a row. Are they all iron men? Don't sleep and don't eat?

On the fourth day, the 5,000 stone artillery of the Northern Xinjiang Army were still bombarding. The defenses on the four walls of Luoyang City were almost completely destroyed, seven of the gatehouses of the twelve gates were destroyed, and four of the urn cities were destroyed.

The city of Luoyang is in jeopardy.

Yuan Shao suffered a severe stroke, half of his body was paralyzed, and his memory, intelligence, and language abilities were almost completely lost. Although the healers tried their best to diagnose and treat him, the effect was very small, and he could only barely keep him alive.

After careful deliberation by Yuan Wei, Yuan Zhong, Feng Ji and others, they convened the civil and military officials to solemnly announce that Yuan Shang would succeed him as Duke Zheng, and the new generation of Yuan lords would lead the army to continue to hold Luoyang City.

Yuan Shao's sudden serious illness made the people of the army panic and their morale was greatly damaged.

On the night of the fourth day, the Northern Frontier Army began to attack the city with flint shells.

The firewood and grass in the front ditch laid in front of the "Fu Yan" (a low wall built by rammed earth on the ring road in the city) were the first to be ignited, and then the houses close to the city were also smashed one after another, many houses were on fire, and the flames in the city were lifted into the air, and thick smoke was billowing out. Most of the shacks on the crossbow platform in the city were also hit and set on fire, and the archers on the crossbow platform retreated in panic.

Feng Ji, Xian Pei, Xin Ping, Gao Rou and others commanded the soldiers and people to fight fires everywhere. Once the fire in the city burns, not only Luoyang City will be destroyed, but 260,000 people will also be killed in the fire.

Feng Ji was so angry that he scolded. Li Hong was mad and wanted to kill people, but also burn Luoyang City.

In March, Guanzhong, Chencang.

Since Hao Zhao received Xu Rong's letter and learned that the rebels in the direction of Nanyang had begun to attack Wuguan, he sent a large number of scouts into the Longnan area to investigate the enemy's situation, and always guard against Liu Bei's army from attacking Guanzhong from Chencang Road.

In early March, the scouts returned, and Liu Bei's army entered Longnan from Baogu and was rapidly killing along the Chencang Road.

Hao Zhao urgently reported to Chang'an Xu Rong. Hanyang Pang De and Hua Xiong personally led 3,000 men and horses to garrison Dasanguan, and let Sima He Lin of other departments lead 2,000 men and horses to garrison Chencang.

Dasanguan is forty miles away from Chencang, the pass is located on the Dasanling, there is Qingjiang River in front, and the terrain is extremely dangerous. After Hao Zhao arrived at the pass, he immediately burned the wooden bridge over the Qingjiang River, buried the horse rejection on the front slope of the Dasanling, dug a trench to protect the pass, and laid wooden thorns in the trench, and waited for the battle.

In mid-March, Cao Bao and Pang led 10,000 horses to take the lead in capturing the old road, and the troops were at the pass. Cao Bao tried to erect a pontoon bridge several times, but was shot back condescendingly by the archers commanded by Hao Zhao.

In mid-March, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Ren and others captured Hechi and besieged the city under the rule of Wudu County. Wei Duan, the Taishou of Wudu County, had a good relationship with Yang Song in Hanzhong, and Yang Ren took Yang Song's letter to the city to persuade him to surrender. This Wei Duan is Han Sui's best friend, after Han Sui died in Guanzhong, the Western Xinjiang was in turmoil, and the Qiang people were in Koubian, which made him hate Hebei very much. It is Hebei's sin to think that Western Xinjiang fell under the iron hooves of the Qiang people. Yang Song knew that the people of Western Xinjiang loved their homeland, so he said in his letter that Liu Bei, the general of the chariot cavalry, led the Northern Expeditionary Army to the west of Liangzhou, and its main purpose was to kill the Qiang people and recapture the border counties. You should help Lord Liu Bei pacify the Western Xinjiang and attack and kill the rebels in Guanzhong, so that you can not only defend the Western Xinjiang, but also avenge Han Sui, and work hard to revive the Han Dynasty, with both loyalty and righteousness.

Wei Duan thought about it all night and hesitated. Who is Liu Bei, he has heard a little, at this moment Liu Bei rushed thousands of miles from the Central Plains to Yizhou, and rushed to Longnan, his purpose was definitely not to pacify the western Xinjiang, but to aim at Guanzhong. Han Sui and Yuan Shao teamed up and failed to keep Guanzhong, what big thing can Liu Bei do in Guanzhong? Liu Bei was defeated in Guanzhong, and he was definitely going to be attacked by the Northern Xinjiang Army, and he might even implicate Han Yi, so he couldn't make up his mind for a long time.

Liu Bei didn't have time to wait, and the next day he ordered the siege of the city, but Zhang Song blocked him and said You give me an hour, and I will persuade again. After Zhang Song saw Wei Duan, he explained the situation in the world, meaning that the Northern Xinjiang Army has been committed to going south to Jingxiang and Jianghuai to quell the rebellion in the past few years, and will not take into account the Western Xinjiang, and the Western Xinjiang is finished. The western frontier is over, the Qiang people will soon be able to kill Longnan, you Wei Duan and the three thousand men and horses of Longnan will be scattered in a blink of an eye, and tens of thousands of people in Longnan will become slaves of the Qiang people. If you are willing to make Longnan a ranch for the Qiang people, then you can wait for death.

Wei Duan couldn't hold back any longer, and asked him, Liu Bei really wants to recover Western Xinjiang? Zhang Song asked rhetorically, do you think Liu Bei can beat Guanzhong and hold Guanzhong? Han Sui was killed by the people of Northern Xinjiang, how many days can Liu Bei support him? Wei Duan asked again, why did Liu Bei recover Western Xinjiang? Zhang Song said, why? Just rely on the support of Lord Liu Zhang in Yizhou. Wei Duan sneered, who is Liu Bei? Is he willing to give you Bashu a nursing home? Zhang Song scoffed, do you have a brain? Liu Bei is the general of the Han Dynasty, he is not to give me Bashu to take care of the home, but to save the Han Sheji. You have been following Han Sui for decades, and you have read books to your stomach, and you don't even understand such a little truth?

Wei Duan was scolded by Zhang Song, and immediately offered the city, expressing his willingness to respect the Son of Heaven and the court in Xiangyang.

Liu Bei was very happy and asked him if he would be willing to help the army attack Longxi. Wei Duan didn't say a word and agreed. To be honest, what he is most worried about now is not the Northern Frontier Army, but the Qiang people in Longxi. If you let the Qiang people come in, you will have to flee to Hanzhong with the people of Longnan. Now that he has the opportunity to attack and kill the Qiang people to recover the western frontier, of course he is willing.

Wei Duan said, I immediately sent someone to Yicheng to contact Han Yi and asked him to focus on the western frontier and join forces to attack the Qiang people.

The next day, Guan Yu, Pang Ji, Zhang Song, Zhuge Liang and others set off with an army of 20,000 and went to Longxi.

Zhang Ren and Yang Ren quietly killed Hanyang County with men and horses, and attacked Yicheng and Shangqi, accompanied by Wei Duan's son Wei Kang, Don't drive Yang Fu and two thousand Longnan troops to let Jian Yong, Sun Gan, and Wei Duan take three thousand men and horses to sit in Longnan, transport grain and grass to the various armies, and he led eight thousand troops to quickly kill Dasanguan.

In late March, Liu Bei commanded an army of 18,000 to attack Dasanguan.

Hao Zhao fought to the death, and according to the terrain advantage, he did not retreat.

The more Liu Bei fought, the more anxious he became. Zhang Fei's army attacked Chang'an from the meridian road, and the grain and grass were very small, and even the large siege equipment was not brought.

Wei Duan's long history Zhao Ang and Gongcao Li Jun advised Liu Bei not to worry, the Dasan Pass was too steep, and the Northern Xinjiang Army had already prepared, and the losses of the strong attack were too great, so it was better to wait for Zhang Ren to succeed on the front line of Yicheng and Shangqi, and then attack back and forth, and fight down.

Liu Bei will be skeptical. Could it be that Wei Duan could really convince Han Yi? Zhao Ang smiled and said, Lord Wei Duan is Han Yi's father-in-law, do you think he can convince Han Yi? Liu Bei suddenly realized. Zhao Ang continued, "For us people in the western Xinjiang, the top priority is to drive out the Qiang people and recover their homeland. Since the people of Northern Xinjiang have given up Western Xinjiang, why should Han Yi and Ma Chao continue to submit to Hebei?

In March, Hanyang County, Western Xinjiang.

Zhang Ren and Yang Ren's troops, under the guidance of Wei Kang and Yang Fu, quietly entered the Tiger Shooting Valley.

Wei Kang and Yang Fu rushed to Yicheng and asked to see Han Yi.

When Han Yi heard the news, he personally rushed outside the city to greet him. After seeing Wei Kang, he hurriedly asked, "Something happened to Longnan?" After receiving the news that Liu Bei's army appeared in Hanzhong, Han Yi wrote to Wei Duan three times and twice, Jing He must be careful and guarded, but who knew that things had changed amazingly. Wei Kang smiled: "Something happened to Longnan, but it's a good thing." We'll talk about it when we get home. ”

Back at Han Yi's mansion, Wei Kang and Yang Fu carefully explained what had happened. Wei Kang said: "My father thinks that starting from the situation in Western Xinjiang, we should now respect the Son of Heaven and the imperial court in Xiangyang, so as to get the help of Liu Bei and Liu Zhang, drive out the Qiang people, and recover Western Xinjiang." ”

Yang Fu also said: "If you can recover the western frontier with the help of Liu Bei, you can not only reorganize your strength to confront the Northern Xinjiang army, but also avenge Mr. Wenyue, this is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone, why not?" If you continue to follow the Northern Frontier Army, not only will you see all the Western Frontier fall under the iron hooves of the Qiang people, but you will also not be able to avenge Mr. Wenyue. Think again. ”

Han Yi slapped his palm on the table and said angrily, "What do you have to think about twice?" Li Hong's enmity and I are as deep as the sea, if it weren't for the invasion of the Qiang people this time, the western frontier was powerless to resist, how could I be willing to devote myself to the northern frontier? ”

Han Yi urgently summoned Ling Ru, Zhang Ji, Zhang Ming, Bian Yan, Yang Qiu, Cheng Yin and others to the mansion to discuss secretly.

Han Yi and Wei Duan's strategy of recovering Western Xinjiang surprised and delighted everyone. Ling Ru, Yang Qiu, Zhang Ji and others were extremely cautious, and they carefully inquired about Liu Zhang's and Yang Song's attitude towards the recovery of Western Xinjiang, the goal of Liu Bei's army to the north, and so on, and finally unanimously agreed that this was the best strategy to recover Western Xinjiang in the shortest possible time. At present, Hongri's Hexi Qiang cavalry is fighting hard with the Xianbei people in the Tianqiong Desert, and there are only Tang Xiao, Li Cai and Lei Biao's Qiang cavalry in Jincheng and Longxi, which is the best opportunity to recover Jincheng and Longxi and drive away the Qiang people. However, the problem is that if Liu Bei is stationed in Xijiang for a long time, Xijiang will confront the northern Xinjiang army head-on, and Xijiang will not be able to achieve the maximum benefits in the situation of confrontation between the north and the south, which will be very bad for the future of Xijiang, and Xijiang will fall into continuous wars and disasters, and there will be no time to recuperate.

"Liu Zhang and Yang Song are so enthusiastic about helping Liu Bei and us recover Western Xinjiang, obviously seeing a crisis ahead." Ling Ru analyzed, "If the confrontation between the north and the south appears, the northern army will inevitably do its best to manage Guanzhong if it fails to conquer Luoyang. Hebei is set in Chang'an, and for the safety of Guanzhong, the targets of the Northern Xinjiang Army must be Western Xinjiang and Bashu. Conquering and stabilizing the western frontier will be worry-free. The capture of Bashu can lead down the river from Bashu, attack Jingxiang, and contain Liu Biao, so as to obtain advantageous conditions for the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack Luoyang for the second time. In other words, the attack strategy of the Northern Xinjiang Army in the next few years is to first go to the west, then to Bashu, and then to plot the world. ”

Therefore, Liu Zhang of Bashu and Yang Song of Hanzhong had to set their sights on Western Xinjiang for their own safety. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that Longxi is used to control Shu, and whoever gets Longxi first will be able to occupy the advantage of attacking Bashu. Therefore, in order to prevent trouble, Liu Zhang and Yang Song couldn't wait to push Liu Bei to the battlefield in Western Xinjiang. ”

"What is Liu Bei's goal? Whether it is Yizhou or Western Xinjiang, Liu Bei is a very unfamiliar place, he wants to rely on his own strength to gain a foothold in these two places, it is difficult to ascend to the sky, so he still wants to fight Guanzhong. But even if he defeated Guanzhong, he would not be able to gain a foothold, so he had to find a place to take refuge. Liu Bei was first driven to Yuzhou by Cao Cao, then deceived by Yuan Shao and Liu Biao to Yizhou, and now driven to Western Xinjiang by Liu Zhang and Yang Song. Therefore, we must make a good plan, since we plan to use his strength to recover the Western Frontier, then we must give him a foothold, and then join forces against the Northern Frontier Army. ”

Han Yi and everyone looked at each other and thought of Longxi in unison. Liu Bei's army had entered Longxi and was about to start a war with the Qiang people, and after his army joined forces with Zhang Ren and Yang Ren, it was about to enter Jincheng. However, the Qiang people's army was mainly concentrated in Jincheng, and no matter how fast their army was, they could not rush to Longxi before Liu Bei. This place in Longxi must be Liu Bei's.

"Liu Bei has only one place in Western Xinjiang that can gain a foothold, and that is Longxi, because the people of Yizhou need him to block the Northern Xinjiang Army in Longxi, and we need him to block the Qiang people in Longxi." Ling Ru said, "Liu Bei was not only constrained by the Yizhou people in Longxi, but also attacked by the Qiang people, and his life was very difficult. If he wants to get out of this predicament, he can only join forces with us. And we will use his power to go north to recover Hexi first, and after we have gained a firm foothold in Hexi and obtained the advantage of worry-free advance and retreat, we will be able to unite Liu Bei against the Northern Xinjiang Army while recovering our vitality. ”

"If Liu Bei is allowed to gain a foothold in Longxi, then Ma Chao can't let him go back." Zhang Ji smiled bitterly, "Mr. is gone, and no one can control Ma Chao." And Ma Chao will not agree to be a minister in the same palace with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. If he returns to Longxi, he will definitely have to compete with Liu Bei, and the western Xinjiang will be in chaos, and then the Qiang people will be cheapened for nothing. ”

"But Ma Chao saved us." Yang Qiu said, "We can't kill Ma Chao. ”

"Then drive him away." Han Yi said, "Drive him to Shangti." Then he arched his hand at Zhang Ji, "Please take your Excellency to make a hard trip, take Jiang Yin, Yang Yue and Ma Chao and escape back to Shangtai together, and open the gate of Shangtai City for us." ”

"Okay." Zhang Ji said happily, "I really didn't expect that we would be able to recover Western Xinjiang so quickly." If the spirit of the sky knows this good news, it will definitely not be 1/2|jump to