Mianzhu Pass is the last great pass before Chengdu and a pure military fortress.
If you can't hold on to this place, even if there are 100,000 troops, you can't easily pass the checkpoint. So Zhang Xi really doesn't understand how Zhuge Zhan thought of leaving the checkpoint to fight in the field.
This is not a city. If we are surrounded, we will run out of food.
Mianzhu Pass is surrounded by mountains, and there is a pass in the middle that blocks the road. It is impossible to climb over from both sides, and it is impossible to attack from the front and back. And behind Mianzhu Pass, there is Chengdu supporting grain and grass, so why can't we defend it.
Facing such a majestic pass, not to mention Zhang Xi, even Liu Bei, Pang Tong, and Fazheng all had a headache.
Really, Zhang Xi wanted to take Wei Yan out right now and let him take a good look at whether this was a pass that could be conquered by a force of 10,000 people.
But after thinking about it, I let it go. Anyway, even if the old man knew he was wrong, he wouldn't admit it.
Just that virtue.
As for this pass, Zhang Xi and others actually thought of ways.
When Zhang Ren was on his way to the stronghold and preparing for the second field battle, Zhang Xi also suggested that he could take a detour from the flanks and guard near Mianzhu Pass. When Zhang Ren's army was defeated, he could follow the defeated troops and attack the gate of the pass. Can sneak attack successfully.
Liu Bei thought it made sense, and Pang Tong also agreed with this, so Liu Bei sent Auxiliary Kuang to lead an elite force to find a way to ambush Zhang Ren behind him, and then wait for Zhang Ren to retreat and wait for an opportunity to attack Mianzhu Pass.
As for Zhang Xi's idea, why didn't Zhang Xi lead his troops there? What if there was a place named "Luoxi Slope" here? !
The opponent is Zhang Ren! ! !
Fortunately, it turned out that Zhang Xi thought too much.
It can even be said that Liu Bei did not expect that the soldiers commanded by Zhang Ren were so inexperienced. They would retreat as soon as they engaged, and they would be defeated as soon as they retreated. The outflanking troops led by Fu Kuang could not run as fast as Zhang Ren's defeated troops. By the time Fu Kuang arrived at Mianzhu Pass via a detour, Wu Yi had already entered the pass first, closed the city gate, and organized a defense on the spot.
Soon, Liu Bei led his pursuers and arrived at Mianzhu Pass.
Fu Kuang was also unlucky. If Zhang Ren had persisted for two more days, Fu Kuang might have been able to lead his troops and achieve great success.
But at this moment, Zhang Ren wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
The defeats in these two battles were too cowardly.
It's not that he doesn't know how to command, it's just that no one listens to his command.
The first battle was okay, and he obeyed the military orders to some extent, but his fighting strength was not enough, and there was nothing he could do if he lost.
The most frustrating thing was the second battle. I had just arranged my formation, but before the enemy attacked, my soldiers began to run away.
That stance is typical of not trying to outrun the enemy, but just trying to outrun your teammates.
As a general, Zhang Ren's commanding ability was completely unused in these two battles.
But equally, as the general, he also needs to be responsible for these two defeats.
Otherwise, what should I do? Wu Yi already said, just return to Mianzhu Pass as soon as possible and stick to it. He insisted on fighting Liu Bei's army in the wild.
If Liu Zhang was stabbed at this matter, even if Liu Zhang protected him, there would be no punishment at all.
In addition, Wu Yi has been sarcastic towards Zhang Ren ever since he returned to Mianzhu Pass.
On the one hand, Wu Yi was from Dongzhou and Zhang Ren was from Yizhou, and they were Liu Zhang's confidants. The two of them disliked each other.
On the other hand, Wu Yizhen doesn't feel that he is worse than Zhang Ren, but he has been suppressed by Zhang Ren all these years and feels frustrated. That is impossible.
Now, if Wu Yi hadn't occupied Mianzhu Pass first, I'm afraid Mianzhu Pass would have been lost now, and Zhang Ren would have no chance of standing in front of him alive.
So, um, Zhang Ren is very aggrieved, very aggrieved.
What made Zhang Ren even more aggrieved was what Liu Zhang did next.
Liu Zhang sent reinforcements. The leader of the reinforcements was Li Yan and his deputy was Fei Guan. They were both from Dongzhou.
Liu Zhang sent these two men not only with 30,000 reinforcements, but also with Li Yan taking over Zhang Ren's position as general.
As for Zhang Ren, Liu Zhang did not impose any punishment. He just deprived him of his position as commander and still let him serve at Mianzhu Pass.
After all, he is his confidant.
These days, it is not easy to train a confidant in Yizhou. Wu Yi and Li Yan are both from Dongzhou, and the reinforcements they brought were all from Yizhou families. If there is no confidant to watch these soldiers, God knows what they could do.
Then, Li Yan and Wu Yi surrendered to Liu Bei together.
By the way, it also came with a majestic pass and more than 30,000 soldiers.
Really, Liu Bei didn't expect such a good thing, nor did Zhang Xi, but Fazheng did.
Li Yan, Fazheng, and Meng Da are close friends.
Among them, Meng Da was considered the most important by Liu Zhang among the three. He was a powerful captain who could command thousands of troops, followed by Li Yan, who was also the order of Chengdu, equivalent to the mayor of the capital city.
As far as Fa Zheng was concerned, he waited several years for the official position of an ordinary county magistrate. After only a few years of service, he was hanged up by Liu Zhang and assigned a casual position as a military council captain. He also arranged for a business trip or something.
These three people were actually very dissatisfied with Liu Zhang in private, and they had also discussed together in private that they wanted to defect to Liu Bei.
It happened that at this time, Liu Bei's army defeated the Yizhou soldiers led by Zhang Ren in Fucheng. When the news reached Chengdu, Liu Zhang was panicked and Zhang Ren couldn't defeat him. Who else could defeat Liu Bei? !
At this time, Chengdu city was not all a group of young people.
In fact, at this time, many powerful families in Chengdu were on Liu Zhang's side, and they were willing to support Liu Zhang in continuing to attack Liu Bei and defend Chengdu.
For example, Zheng Du once suggested to Liu Zhang that Liu Bei should strengthen the walls and clear the country, and not allow Liu Bei's army to fight to support the war. In this way, Liu Bei would not be able to survive for long with the weak supplies at Jiameng Pass.
But Liu Zhang didn't listen to him.
Although Liu Zhang made a good point about this matter, saying, "I have heard of resisting the enemy to calm the people, but I have never heard of mobilizing the people to avoid the enemy." However, after Fa Zheng heard about this matter, he commented that "it cannot be used in the end." .
Note, it means "cannot use", not "cannot bear to use".
Liu Bei has already reached the vicinity of Chengdu, which is the territory of the powerful Yizhou. Although Zheng Du's strategy is said to be used to prevent Liu Bei from obtaining supplies, once the walls are fortified and the country is cleared, the "cleared" ones will all be in the city of Chengdu. The powerful "wild" of the Yizhou family.
Liu Zhang's level is a bit low, but he is not stupid. It is impossible for him to offend a local family in Yizhou under such circumstances.
And Zheng Du's fate is also very telling - he was deposed.
If it was just a suggestion that was not accepted, would it be necessary for Liu Zhang to depose Zheng Du? !
Obviously, it was Zheng Du's strategy that caused public outrage. Liu Zhang had to depose Zheng Du and calm the hearts of the powerful Yizhou family so that the powerful Yizhou family could stand with him.
And Yizhou Haoqiang obviously prefers Liu Zhang like this to Liu Bei, the hero of the world.
After all, Liu Zhang was relatively easy to control. With Liu Zhang around, only the powerful Yizhou families could ignore the law and commit lawlessness.
Once Liu Bei is replaced, God knows how he will treat the interests of Yizhou's powerful people. This is a kind of uncertainty.
Furthermore, Liu Zhang is not hopeless now. As long as he can buy enough time, once the troops from other states and counties arrive, it will be impossible for Liu Bei to attack Chengdu.
Therefore, these aristocratic families gathered another 30,000 troops to support Liu Zhang in resisting Liu Bei.
But Liu Zhang wanted to die, so he let Li Yan, the Chengdu order, lead the troops as an acting guard to support Mianzhu.
Well, Li Yan was worried about how to defect to Liu Bei, so Liu Zhang was very considerate and helped him prepare all the qualifications for promotion.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived at Mianzhu Pass, Li Yan, who had gained real power, privately encouraged Wu Yi, who was also from Dongzhou, to surrender to Liu Bei together with his troops and the pass.
They were quite particular about Zhang Ren, and they didn't forget to tell this guy to run away before surrendering.
Anyway, Zhang Ren has no soldiers and generals, so he can't make waves. Notifying him to run away can be regarded as a sign of friendship between colleagues.
Therefore, Zhang Ren had no choice but to return to Chengdu alone.
Then he was scolded by Liu Zhang, who put all the responsibility for the defeat on Zhang Ren, and finally left him idle.
After all, he is his confidant, and he is not willing to kill him.
But Liu Zhang's actions immediately made people in Chengdu panic.
Originally, it was not easy to gather 30,000 troops and come out. Without even seeing a splash, they were given to Liu Bei together with everyone.
Now there is obviously a scapegoat, but you, Liu Zhang, don't kill him because you are one of our own.
If you don't kill if you lose a battle, if you lose ground but don't kill, if you lose troops but don't kill, does that mean you don't kill if you surrender? !
Thinking about it more carefully, it seems that there is no need for me to fight Liu Bei.
Yes, Liu Zhang was easier to control, but when Liu Bei came, he was from a noble family. Could it be that Liu Bei could govern the place without relying on a noble family?
As a result, many aristocratic families in Chengdu began to waver.
Of course it would be best if Liu Zhang could be saved, but if there is really no hope, there is no need to hold Liu Zhang to a tree and wait for death.
Not to mention these aristocratic families, even Liu Zhang himself began to waver.
If it really doesn't work, then surrender.
After all, Liu Bei is from the same clan as him, and his reputation for benevolence and righteousness is spread throughout the world.
Liu Bei himself was unreasonable about capturing Yizhou. If he surrendered voluntarily, Liu Bei wouldn't force him to death, right? !
Liu Zhang really had such thoughts at this moment, but one person disagreed.
That was his son, Liu Xun.
Liu Xun was a stubborn man. He didn't want to just wait for death, nor did he want to pin his family's hopes on Liu Bei's kindness.
Therefore, Liu Xun tried his best to dissuade Liu Zhang from surrendering, and took thousands of soldiers he had recruited to ask his father for permission to personally defend Luocheng.
Luocheng is the last line of defense in front of Chengdu. Once Luocheng is breached, Chengdu can only rely on tall city walls to defend itself.
Liu Zhang had nothing to do with his son, and even his son had not surrendered. How could he, as a father, surrender?
——I won’t criticize Adou by name here, he is really worse than Liu Zhang.
Therefore, Liu Zhang gathered 10,000 soldiers for Liu Xun and personally sent Liu Xun on his expedition to garrison Luocheng.
At this time, Zhang Ren, who was supposed to be introspecting behind closed doors at home, suddenly visited Liu Xun, knelt down in front of Liu Xun and begged to take him with him on the expedition.
You don't want to be a general, you just want to be a coachman.
Liu Xun originally looked down on Zhang Ren.
Zhang Ren has always been deeply trusted by his father. In the past, he has always been promoted to a higher position and has never treated him badly.
However, Zhang Ren lost 50,000 troops in two battles. As Liu Zhang's confidant, he didn't even watch Jiameng Pass. If he hadn't been let go, he would have been tied up to see Liu Bei.
This man was loyal, but Liu Xun believed that Zhang Ren's ability was seriously overestimated.
Therefore, Liu Xun looked down on Zhang Ren, but now Zhang Ren almost begged him to let him take him on the expedition. Liu Xun was always a man, and he really couldn't bear to look at the old general like this.
Therefore, Liu Xun said to Zhang Ren, "General, when you go into battle this time, you must not let down your fame."
This was the last chance Liu Xun gave Zhang Ren, but Zhang Ren also understood the meaning of Liu Xun's words.
In this battle, Liu Xun did not need Zhang Ren's help in defending the city. He just gave Zhang Ren a chance to prove that he was still a loyal minister.
And Zhang Ren also just wanted such an opportunity.
Therefore, under the leadership of Liu Xun, an army of 10,000 people set out for Luocheng.
(End of chapter)
