"Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu were so enthusiastic to help Liu Bei and us recover Western Xinjiang, obviously because they saw a crisis ahead. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" Yang Fu analyzed, "If the confrontation between the north and the south appears, the Northern Xinjiang Army is bound to do its best to operate Guanzhong if it fails to conquer Luoyang." For the sake of the security of Guanzhong in Hebei, 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 Zhang Lu 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 Zhang Lu 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 Guanzhong, and now driven to Western Xinjiang by Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu. 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." Yang Fu 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, "The lord 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 and said, "Please, Mr. make a hard trip, take Jiang Yin, Yang Yue and Ma Chao to escape back to Shangtai 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." ”

On the night of the third day, Han Yi arranged everything, and then ordered Yang Qiu to open the city gates.

Zhang Ren, Yang Ren, Wei Kang, and Yang Fu led the army into Ji County. Han Yi, Cheng Yin and others took advantage of the chaos to attack and kill, and there was chaos in the city.

Huangfu Li and Ma Chao were caught off guard and broke through desperately with 3,000 cavalry.

Accompanying Huangfu Li rushed out of Ji County, there were hundreds of people such as Zhang Ji and Jiang Yin. The group hurriedly fled into Wangyuan Castle.

Zhang Liao, the general of Zhenxi, was stationed in Wangyuan City. Wangyuan City is small, and there is no food and grass, so in the face of the roaring rebels, they can only retreat to Shangqi.

The general Gao Xianzhi and the Li Wei general Hua Xiong were stationed in Shangqi, which was the last gateway to Guanzhong.

Huangfu Li was so angry that his lungs exploded, and he still didn't understand how Yizhou's army could appear in Ji County? How could Han Yi betray?

After he rushed into the city gate, he yelled at Gao Xianzhi and Hua Xiong: "Surround Ma Chao's army for me, arrest all the Xiliang generals, and not one of them is allowed to escape." I'm going to judge them one by one. ”

The Xiliang army originally had a deep hatred for the Northern Xinjiang Army, and the anger of the Battle of Guanzhong was still burning in his heart, and this time he was stabbed in the back by his own people. finally escaped from death and ran to Shangqi, but was suspected of rebellion by the Northern Xinjiang Army, where could he bear it, and it broke out on the spot. The two sides first hurled insults at each other, and then a fight. Zhang Ji and others were even more ill-intentioned, wantonly provoking right and wrong, and the Weishui River soon became a battlefield.

Ma Chao's eyes were red, and he was about to leave with the army. Zhang Liao desperately held on, and swore to ensure the safety of him and the Xiliang people.

At this time, Han Yi, Zhang Ren, Yang Ren and others came over with a large army. Ma Chao had no way out, so he had to order the army to lay down his arms and enter the city under the custody of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

Huangfu Li, Zhang Liao and Ma Chao talked for a long time, in the current situation, it is impossible for the Northern Xinjiang Army to trust the Xiliang people anymore, and it is impossible to put the Xiliang people in the city.

Zhang Liao said: "Liu Bei is attacking Dasanguan, Huaxiong is about to lead the army back to help, you go to Chencang with him." ”

Three days later, Hua Xiong and Ma Chao led their troops back to Guanzhong. On the way, Zhang Ji, Jiang Yin, and Yang Yue told Ma Chao that they were unwilling to follow the Northern Xinjiang Army and that they wanted to go back to Xiliang. Ma Chao agreed, and let them quietly leave the barracks at night.

………………

Guanzhong, Chang'an.

The Meridian Road was opened in the Qin Dynasty. When Emperor Gaozu went to Hanzhong, he went south from the meridian road and burned the plank road to indicate that he would not return.

The Meridian Road is nearly 1,000 miles long, and the exit is 40 miles north from the Meridian Valley. The exit of the meridian road is also called "Zikou", which is located near Duling, where there are still 120 miles away from Chang'an.

The four-party alliance of Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, and Zhang Lu led by Zhou Cang walked cautiously on the Meridian Road for about 20 days, and reached the end of the Meridian Valley in late March. At this time, he received a report from the scout, saying that the plank road twenty miles ahead had been demolished by the Northern Xinjiang Army for several sections, and the road was broken.

Yan Yan and Yang Ang suggested an immediate withdrawal.

Yang Ang said: "This place is too close to Duling, and the Northern Frontier Army must have scouts nearby. Once we find out that we are laying a plank road here, the northern Xinjiang army stationed in Duling will definitely block us at the exit, and the army will not be able to advance an inch, and the slightest carelessness will be the fate of the entire army. ”

"Our scouts have been scouting ahead, and yesterday we didn't notice that the boardwalk was broken. Today, it was suddenly broken, indicating that we have been discovered by the Northern Frontier Army. Yan Yan also said, "There are still more than 20 miles from the place where the plank road was broken to the exit, and we don't know how many sections of it have been demolished." If the Northern Frontier Army dismantles 10 sections, each of which is half a mile long, it will take us at least 10 days or so to recover. They will tear it down in front, and we will repair it in the back, and when we arrive at Zikou and the reinforcements of the Northern Xinjiang Army have also arrived, we will wait for death. ”

Zhou Cang and Gan Ning hesitated. Seeing that he was about to arrive in Chang'an, the sneak attack might be successful, but he gave up halfway, and he was really unwilling.

"As I said earlier, Kuai Zirou's strategy is to sit at home and look at the map, and take it for granted that he is talking nonsense." Yang Ang complained very dissatisfied, "The Meridian Road is only more than a hundred miles away from Chang'an, and it is related to the survival of Chang'an, how can the Northern Xinjiang Army not send heavy troops to defend it?" Even if they didn't send heavy troops, wouldn't they burn down a section of the boardwalk, but send a few scouts to sit on the top of the hill and wait for us to appear? From Zikou to Duling to Chang'an, there are beacon towers along the way. As long as the beacon smoke is together, the army of Chang'an City will be killed quickly, and we can only be buried in the cliff valley. ”

Yan Yan saw that Zhou Cang and Gan Ningzhong's faces were ugly, and tried his best to soften his tone and said: "Although there are four plank roads over the Qinling Mountains, since ancient times, only Chencang Road is the only place where soldiers must fight, and Dasanguan is the throat road between Guanzhong and Hanzhong. We Yizhou people have grown up in this mountain and water since childhood, don't we know this? ”

"Now let's take a step back and say, even if the Northern Frontier Army doesn't find us, even if our scouts don't dare to go too deep and don't find out that the plank road ahead is broken, then how much time will it take for us to repair the plank road? Ten days or twenty days? If the first 20 miles of the plank road are completely destroyed, we will need at least a month to repair it, not including the time when it rains and loses work. So, will we have enough food? I'm afraid that even if we withdraw at that time, we will go hungry and eat tree bark along the way. ”

A few people were discussing, and suddenly the soldiers on the plank road screamed, one by one panicked.

On the mountain peaks in the distance, a plume of smoke rose into the sky. The Northern Frontier Army discovered them and lit a beacon fire.

Zhou Cang and the others' faces changed greatly.

"Evacuate, it's still too late." Yang Ang shouted angrily, "If the scouts of the Northern Frontier Army climb over the mountains and burn the plank road behind us, we will starve to death on this plank road." ”

Zhou Cang shook his head and looked at Gan Ning.

Gan Ning smiled bitterly, smashed his fist on the rock, and gritted his teeth and said: "Withdraw, there is no way, this trip is in vain." ”

"As I said earlier, your Mr. Kuai Zirou is only rhetorical and purely self-righteous idiot." Yang Ang shouted at the top of his voice.

"Have you scolded enough?" Gan Ning's eyes suddenly widened, and he yelled at Yang Ang, "What are you, scold me and kick you off the cliff again." ”

Yang Ang was startled and hurriedly hid behind Yan Yan.

"Withdraw." Zhou Cang looked at the smoke in the distance and spat fiercely into the cliff valley, "What kind of bullshit is this?" It's just fun to make people happy. ”