After regaining Wuguan, Chen Chong did not act rashly. Instead, he sent scouts to inquire about the latest situation in Nanyang County. After all, after Wuguan was occupied, the DPRK never received any military reports from Nanyang. And due to the sudden fall of Wuguan, he was also accustomed to estimating the situation to be worse.
Fortunately, facts have proven that although his previous judgment was wrong, it was not a big mistake in the end. Due to insufficient estimation of the hydrology of the upper reaches of Mian River, a gap appeared in Nanyang's defense at Wudang. However, the Shu army obviously did not have the ability to engage in a decisive battle with the Nanfu cavalry on the plain after leaving the building ships. Therefore, after conquering Nanxiang, Danshui, and Wuguan, Liu Fan saw that he had achieved the goal of isolating Nanyang from Guanzhong, so he ordered his troops to go south to rendezvous, and then continued to encircle and attack Fancheng. Even in the two counties of Shandu and Zhuyang in Miannan, the Shu people only divided their troops to guard them and did not make any moves to attack.
Seeing that the situation was still under control, Chen Chong felt relieved, so he did not send troops immediately. Instead, he sent an envoy to Wancheng to contact Wei Yan secretly and inquire about his current arrangement to resist the enemy and the situation on the front line.
It's just that the messenger failed in Wancheng. It turned out that Wei Yan was not in Wancheng at this time, but led most of the army to camp on the shore of the rushing water in the southern suburbs of Xinye, facing the Shu army camp in Mianbei forty miles away. .
Wei Yan was ashamed and happy to learn that Chen Chong had arrived at Wuguan. He quickly wrote a letter blaming himself for his inability to resist the enemy, and analyzed in the letter that he believed that although Nanxiang fell, it was not critical, and Fancheng was the key point in Mianbei. If the Shu army cannot capture Fancheng, even if it gains some ground in other places, it will have no choice but to retreat when the tide ebbs in the autumn. But if Fancheng is really lost to the Shu army, the situation will be very bad. Therefore, he is now stationing troops in Xinye just to prepare for relief.
However, Wei Yan emphasized in his letter that the Shu army was now encamped under Fancheng and would not go out to fight in the field. He also attacked the camp several times but could not break through the outer perimeter of the Shu army. Although Liang Shuang in the city is still holding on, no messenger has escaped, so he does not know the specific news about Fancheng. In his opinion, it is always good to hold on until May, but if he waits until June, the Han River will rise. At this time, the Shu army diverted water to flood the city. Whether Liang Shuang could hold on was a matter of uncertainty.
After receiving the letter, Chen Chong appreciated it very much, and turned to the generals in the army and said: "Wen Chang's general plan is correct, but now we are in a stalemate. It is obvious that our army does not have access to water, causing the river to become the enemy's arm." Why is it that the Southern barbarians are so rampant, if we don’t beat them up on the battlefield, I’m afraid there will never be peace in Southern Xinjiang.”
At the same time, there were some words that he did not say out loud. He only thought in his heart: Wen Chang is proficient in cavalry warfare, but he is unable to break through the Shu camp at the moment. I don’t know why?
On April 9th, Chen Chong left Wuguan with 5,000 horses and headed southeast along Danshui. Although Wei Yan did not plan to divide his troops to assist, in order to ensure the smooth flow of the Wuguan Pass, he still needed to make preparations to regain Danshui and Nanxiang counties. However, what surprised Chen Chong was that when they arrived at Sanhu Pavilion, they heard that the locals The people said that the Shu army had just withdrawn the day before yesterday, and at this time Danshui City had become an empty city.
Chen Chong initially thought that the Shu army wanted to concentrate its forces to stop the attack in Nanxiang. Although conservative, it is still a coping strategy. But the day after he entered Danshui City, he immediately received news that the Nanxiang Shu army had also withdrawn, which surprised Chen Chong.
Although Wuguan is back in the hands of the Western Army, both Danshui and Nanxiang can be regarded as a city that threatens the transportation between Guanlong and Nanyang. The Shu army gave up so easily, which made Liu Fan's previous move of sending troops from Hanzhong completely meaningless. This not only violated military common sense, but also made the previous losses in vain. Chen Chong couldn't believe it, so much so that he suspected it was false news released by the Shu army. After sending people to investigate and confirm, he slowly entered the city.
Chen Chong investigated the layout of Nanxiang City and found that the fortifications in the city had not been demolished, and the people in the city had not been moved away. Only the grain and baggage originally stored in the city had been taken away. Could it be that something unexpected happened among the Shu army? Chen Chong thought so, and then asked the people in the city what happened when the Shu troops withdrew. Unexpectedly, the citizens said that the Shu troops withdrew in an orderly manner, with calm expressions. As for the food and crops in the city, they had been evacuated ten days ago.
These signs made Chen Chong even more confused. Obviously, Liu Fan had other intentions, but he couldn't guess the purpose. The feeling of emptiness made Chen Chong feel even more anxious. But on the one hand, Chen Chong told himself that from all aspects, there were no major loopholes in his arrangements for national affairs, and it would definitely be difficult for Liu Fan to make a breakthrough. In this way, Chen Chong temporarily suppressed his uneasiness and chose to take a short rest before heading to Xinye to meet Wei Yan.
Wei Yan had been waiting in Xinye for a long time. As soon as he heard about Chen Chong's arrival, he would go out of camp twenty miles to greet him. The two met at noon in Guiwei. As soon as they met, Chen Chong saw an extremely terrifying scar on Wei Yan's face, from under his left eyelid to his chin, and pink polyps could also be seen at this time. , obviously it has not healed for a long time.
Chen Chong was very surprised at first. He pointed his finger at Wei Yan and was speechless, but he opened his mouth and then smiled again. The sword wound itself is what a warrior should have. As long as a person can come back safely from the battlefield and stand in front of him with normal hands and feet, it is gratifying enough.
He asked: "Wen Chang received this blow, but he didn't know how many levels of beheading he had?" Wei Yan touched the scar and said, "I was bitten by the Jinfan thief, so I returned the blow without taking any advantage. As for killing by level of beheading, , I’ve lost count for a long time.” The two looked at each other and smiled, then walked back to the camp side by side.
After sitting down, Chen Chong looked at the map and asked Wei Yan about the situation on the battlefield and the troop deployment of the Shu army. Wei Yan answered them one by one and quickly pointed out the difficulties in resolving the siege. It turned out that this time the Shu army not only relied on the boat division, but also brought a large number of baggage convoys. They initially surrounded Fancheng. Wei Yan led his troops to relieve the siege. The Shu army used the boat division as support and launched a semicircular vehicle formation along the river. When the cavalry came to attack, they fired random arrows like locusts. When the cavalry was exhausted, they counterattacked with a small number of elite troops. This tactic restrained the mobility and impact power that the cavalry was proud of, making Wei Yan unable to rescue the siege twice before. After the Shu army had time, they successfully set up camp under Fan City and built a ten-mile fence around the city, making it more difficult for Wei Yan to break the siege. This tactic of the Shu army gave Chen Chong a sense of deja vu.
Wei Yan said: "Isn't this the strategy used by the commander when he went north to fight Kuitou and regain Pingcheng? I couldn't believe it when I first saw it!" Chen Chong was suddenly stunned after hearing this. He had experienced so many wars. So much so that he forgot many past experiences. He read it again after being reminded, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Eight years after Yanxing, Liu Boyu probably spent day and night trying to figure out his own fighting methods, and he had already learned it to a seventh degree.
He also asked Wei Yan if he had thought of a way to restrain himself. Wei Yan replied that since a fort had been built on the opposite side and he did not dare to go out to challenge the enemy, he planned to use chariots against chariots. During these days, he ordered the rear to supervise the construction of horizontal carriages, imitating the carriage camps of the Dongping Army. Each carriage was made uniformly. The carriage plate was five feet high, and then a three-foot-thick wooden board was erected on the upper part, and then covered with two layers. Made of cowhide, the body is equipped with two crossbows on the left and right sides. In this way, the soldiers can be close to the Shu camp under the rain of arrows, and after fighting hand-to-hand to tear the line apart, the cavalry can be sent to fight in the Shu camp.
Chen Chong thought about it for a while, opened the tent and looked outside. Although the rain has stopped temporarily, the sky is still a gloomy color, and it is obvious that there will be heavy rain soon. The loess on the ground had been dug into many pits by the soldiers, and it was now filled with mud and water. Thinking of the fatigue and hardships of attacking Wuguan before, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. In spring and summer, the boat master was indeed the best. On this stage, if you don’t have a naval force that can fight, it’s natural to fall into a disadvantage.
He looked back and said to Wei Yan: "With the car camp, it is true that we can get close to the Shu camp. However, there are so many people in the Shu army. If we want to tear apart the front line, it may not be enough. In my opinion, we need to add some that they have not seen." Things that have passed.”
Wei Yan didn't know why, and Chen Chong didn't give in. He showed a sly smile, tapped the map and said slowly: "Speaking of which, back then, Cao Cao used a stone chariot to defeat Feng Gao. Even I was amazed. Today, it is used in Here, let’s see how they respond?”
However, to Chen Chong's surprise, Liu Fan did not accept the challenge. Five days later, a train formation of soldiers from the Western Camp appeared at the northern fence of the Shu Camp. The Shu people had already deployed rangers outside the fence, and immediately flew back to Liu Fan. Liu Fan was sitting in the camp at this time and was having a game of chess with Pan Jun. When he heard that the Western Camp was dispatched, he couldn't help but tap the chess pieces with his chess pieces and asked: "Have you seen Chen Chong's flag?" He received a positive answer. Afterwards, his expression relaxed a lot, and he turned to Pan Jun and said, "Thanks to Chengming for attacking Wuguan, we finally lured this big fish out of the nest."
Seeing that Liu Fan was quite satisfied, Pan Jun showed some hesitation in his heart. He asked, "It's just that we let the two cities go so easily. It will not be easy to attack them again in the future."
Liu Fan waved his hand and said with a smile: "That's right! Don't just look at the gains and losses of one city or one place. Since Wuguan is broken, no matter how strong the Dan and South cities are, they can't stop Daibei's cavalry. They can't fall sooner or later, and Why waste the lives of soldiers? If you want to plan for the world, you must make choices. Now that we know that Chen Chongnan is coming, there is no need to defend anymore."
After that, he put the chess pieces back into the chess basket and continued: "Let's end this game here. Although it is a good game of chess, it is a pity that chess is not the only thing in the world. God's will is unpredictable and things have a beginning and an end. I am very fond of Chen Chong. We don’t have much chance of winning, so the priority is to withdraw our troops at the moment.”
As he spoke, Liu Fan seemed to have a clear idea of the outcome of the war. Everyone here knew about his plan, saw that he was looking forward to gaining power and that he was sure of victory, and they all felt admiration.
But in fact, Liu Fan himself was also uneasy. He looked toward the Qinling Mountains in the northwest, his eyes seemed to have gone over many mountain passes, penetrated the sea of clouds and rain curtains, and looked down at the crowds of people passing through the narrow mountain roads in a sunny sky. The fists in his sleeves were clenched quietly, silently praying that this plan would succeed.
