After Liu Bei's group occupied Mianzhu Pass, they did not rush southward, but took a short rest in Mianzhu.
This was the joint suggestion of Pang Tong, Fazheng and Zhang Xi.
Since he raised his troops from Jiameng Pass, Liu Bei has been fighting smoothly from Jiameng Pass to Mianzhu Pass. As long as he breaks through Luocheng on the south side of Mianzhu Pass, he can approach Chengdu and make an emergency landing for Liu Zhang.
It seems to be going well, but in fact, Liu Bei Group's current crisis is actually not small.
First, although Liu Bei's march was smooth and he occupied Zitong County in less than a month, not all the local armed forces and aristocratic families in Zitong County sincerely surrendered. Many of them did so because of their feelings for Liu Zhang. Those who are dissatisfied, or forced to fight, fearing that their own interests will be harmed, choose to surrender.
Once Liu Bei encounters a certain degree of setback, these people may rebel in a minute and return to Liu Zhang's side.
Secondly, although Mianzhu Pass surrendered together with the people and the pass, the 30,000 soldiers brought by Li Yan were actually private soldiers cobbled together by aristocratic families in Chengdu.
Let’s not talk about the combat effectiveness of these private soldiers. Loyalty is a big problem.
Liu Bei originally only had more than 30,000 soldiers, but Li Yan immediately surrendered with 30,000 soldiers. If these 30,000 surrendered soldiers rebelled on the battlefield, Liu Bei would really have no place to cry.
Therefore, Liu Bei had to reorganize the 30,000 surrendered troops brought by Li Yan and disperse them to the generals' tents. At the same time, they had to stay at Mianzhu Pass for a period of time to strengthen training and screening. For the time being, they would not be able to launch an attack.
Third, although Liu Bei's march went smoothly, he was ultimately fighting one county against one state. His opponent Liu Zhang was not an incompetent person who only relied on his father's favor to rise to power. Even if he reached the city of Chengdu, if Liu Zhang held on or retreated to Jiangyang County in the southwest, Even if he continues to resist in the farther Nanzhong area, it will take a lot of effort for Liu Bei to pacify Yizhou.
Whether it is Zhang Xi, a time traveler, or local wise men like Pang Tong and Fazheng, they can all see this problem.
Therefore, the three people's opinions were unanimous, allowing Liu Bei to postpone the attack and reorganize the army's combat power.
Zhang Xi even strongly suggested that Liu Bei write to Zhuge Liang, who was staying in Jingzhou, and ask Zhuge Liang to lead troops to Sichuan for support.
On the one hand, it makes up for the gap in military strength.
On the other hand, Zhuge Liang was asked to attack other prefectures and counties in Yizhou from the southeast, and finally joined forces with Liu Bei at the gates of Chengdu to completely surround Liu Zhang.
Although Liu Bei felt that Zhang Xi was a little too cautious, the current situation could not be said to be too smooth. After careful consideration, he still accepted the suggestion.
In the novel, it was because Pang Tong was killed in battle and Liu Bei was beaten so hard by Zhang Ren that Jingzhou soldiers were sent to Sichuan to support him.
But in history, nothing happened to Pang Tong. At least Pang Tong is still alive and well at the moment. It was Liu Bei who attacked Luocheng and was blocked by Liu Xun in the lower part of the city for half a year. Only then did he think of writing a letter asking Jingzhou soldiers to go to Sichuan to support him.
Zhang Xi thinks that with these people, even if they really capture Luocheng and approach Chengdu, after all, the war is fought on the north side of Chengdu. If Liu Zhang really wants to run south, Liu Bei will not be able to stop him at all.
We cannot pin everything on the so-called romance line and historical line. It is better to make changes in advance.
This is why Zhang Xi insisted on advising Liu Bei to let Zhuge Liang enter Sichuan half a year in advance to attack the southern counties of Yizhou. Maybe Yizhou can be pacified early, so that he can free up his hands to defend Jiangdong.
Moreover, at this time, the confrontation at Qingnikou ended with Guan Yu slowly retreating and Le Jin "repelling" Guan Yu.
As early as the first month of the eighteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao had arrived at Ruxukou. Sun Quan sent the vanguard Gan Ning to lead four thousand troops, their horses wrapped in cloth, and their ranks to sneak attack Cao Cao's camp.
Yes, Gan Ning's "Hundred Cavalry Robbery of Cao Ying" did not happen in the second Battle of Hefei, but in the first Battle of Ruxu.
At this time, Sun Shiwan had not let Zhang Babai feel any psychological shadow, and it was the time when he was in high spirits.
After that, Sun Quan asked Zhou Yu to lead the troops again, and led the Jiangdong navy to completely defeat Cao Cao's newly trained navy, beating Cao Cao so hard that he could only hold on to the shore.
However, the Jiangdong Army's land combat capabilities were still limited. In addition, due to the lack of troops, Sun Quan was also unable to attack, and the two sides entered a confrontation stage.
In April, with the arrival of the rainy season in the Jianghuai River, Cao Cao could not attack, and Sun Quan was unable to expand his victory. Finally, Sun Quan wrote a letter of "submission", along with a small note that said, "I will not be safe until I die with one step." After provoking Cao Cao's famous saying "Be like Sun Zhongmou when giving birth to a son", he took the initiative to retreat.
Because the Sun and Cao families had been facing each other for several months at Ruxukou, and they needed a period of recuperation after each other retreated, the pressure on Jingzhou was suddenly relieved, and Jingzhou was naturally free to go to Sichuan to assist Liu Bei.
Therefore, in Jingzhou, Zhuge Liang personally led the troops, with Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun as the vanguard generals, and led the troops into Sichuan along the Yangtze River waterway. Guan Yu was left to guard Jiangling and Wenpin was guarding the public security. Xu Shu rushed to Wuling to take over the defense of the four counties of Jingnan from Zhao Yun, the governor.
After making these arrangements, Zhuge Liang led the Jingzhou Army into Sichuan from the Yangtze River Waterway.
At the same time, in Yizhou, Liu Xun entered Luocheng and began to renovate the city defenses, purge armaments, and prepare for a defensive war.
Through the results of the previous battles and Zhang Ren's narration, Liu Xun judged that the combat power of Liu Bei's army was far superior to that of the Yizhou soldiers, so Liu Xun did not even think about fighting Liu Bei in a field battle.
Liu Xun planned to defend Luocheng and play a city offensive and defensive battle with Liu Bei.
Everyone who has been on the battlefield knows how difficult it is to fight a city offensive and defensive battle these days. This is also the main reason why Liu Xun looks down on Zhang Ren.
As long as Zhang Ren can guard Mianzhu Pass, with this magnificent pass in hand, Liu Bei will not be able to enter Shu even if he is killed.
As for whether Liu Bei's group would besiege the city, Liu Xun also thought about it when Liu Xun ran out of food and grass, but he didn't care.
When Liu Xun was guarding Luocheng this time, he never thought that he would be able to return alive. His purpose was to delay Liu Bei as much as possible and prepare for Liu Zhang to mobilize all forces to defend Chengdu.
Liu Bei was basically a lone army in Yizhou. His only supply line was Jiameng Pass and Zitong County behind him. He only had one county.
As for Liu Zhang, there are also the wealthy families in Badong County, Ba County, Jianwei County, Jiangyang County, Guanghan County, and even Nanzhong County.
As long as sufficient benefits are given to the forces in these places, these people may send troops to assist Chengdu. At that time, there is no need to fight, just attrition, and Liu Bei will only die.
In a sense, Liu Xun is much stronger than his father, and the most important thing is that Liu Xun is very calm and knows exactly what he wants to do.
By the time Liu Bei organized his army, digested Mianzhu's surrender, initially formed combat effectiveness, and began to attack Luocheng, it was already June of the 18th year of Jian'an.
And Liu Bei also found that this time he seemed to have hit an iron plate.
Liu Bei really didn't take Liu Xun seriously at first. After all, Liu Xun was just Liu Zhang's son, just a young man. Liu Bei really didn't think that such a person could have any ability to defend the city.
Liu Bei believed that this was just Liu Zhang's death struggle.
Therefore, from the beginning, Liu Bei sent two generals, Wei Yan and Huang Zhong, to launch a fierce attack on Luocheng.
Although Zhang Xi repeatedly reminded Liu Bei that Liu Xun was not to be trifled with and he must be careful.
But because of what happened to Zhang Ren before, Liu Bei didn't take it seriously.
As a result, after a month of siege, Liu Bei's army lost five to six thousand casualties, and he didn't even get to the top of the wall.
Liu Bei suddenly realized that he might have really hit an iron plate. This Liu Xun was really difficult to deal with.
Quickly withdraw the siege troops to rest, rebuild the siege equipment, and then call everyone for a meeting.
Not only the counselors have to meet, but the generals also have to meet.
Huang Zhong and Wei Yan were the two people directly responsible for the siege, and their opinions were very important.
However, these two people had a very high opinion of Liu Xun. They believed that Liu Xun was very knowledgeable in city defense. They fought several times and all the siege equipment was destroyed by Liu Xun. In the end, they could only attack the city with ants, which inevitably resulted in casualties. Somewhat big.
Liu Bei also saw this, but what Liu Bei wants to discuss now is not how good Liu Xun's defense is, but whether he has any flaws.
Huang Zhong and Wei Yan thought about this for a long time, and finally shook their heads slightly and sighed in silence.
In terms of defending the city, Huang Zhong felt that he was not fighting a young man in his twenties, but a city defense master who was experienced in military formations.
The generals have nothing to do, but what about the counselors? Liu Bei turned his face and looked at the three counselors.
The three counselors are also worried. Liu Xun is a bit troublesome.
Attacking a city is nothing more than a few tricks.
One is to attack hard regardless of casualties. This is the last resort and there is no other way. After all, the casualties of attacking the city are too high. If the attack fails, morale will be low, and the opponent may even counterattack, causing the army to be defeated.
Besides, Luocheng is just an appetizer, and Chengdu is the main dish. If you are full from the appetizer, how can you eat the main dish? !
So, a strong attack is not advisable.
The second one is to use strange tactics.
Fazheng and Pang Tong are actually quite good at this, and both of them are also considering this aspect.
But the city of Luocheng is the last barrier before Chengdu. Although it is not a military pass, its geographical location is also very dangerous. The city is built in the middle of the avenue. Only the north and south gates face the road, and the east and west gates are close to the mountains. It is quite It is so steep that the military formation cannot be deployed at all, and there is no way to run over the mountains and ridges to the south gate for a north-south pincer attack.
Therefore, Luocheng really only needs to guard one north gate to stop Liu Bei from going south.
But Fazheng and Pang Tong's clever plan really lies in crossing mountains and ridges.
Fa Zheng said that when he was traveling near Luocheng in the past, he knew a path that led over the mountain from outside the north gate and directly to the south gate of Luocheng.
Then Pang Tong thought that he could use this small road to raid behind Luocheng, attack from the north and south, and maybe break the city in one fell swoop.
After all, all of Liu Xun's attention is now focused on defending Liu Bei at the North Gate, and it is even less likely that anyone can cross the mountains of Bashu. This time, he suddenly appears at the South Gate to attack, and the probability of success is very high.
Liu Bei felt that this matter made sense, and was about to agree, when Zhang Xi quickly stopped Pang Tong from seeking death.
Good guy, I thought there was no such thing as Luofengpo. As long as I kept an eye on Pang Tong and didn't let him go to the front line to supervise the battle, I could prevent this big-faced man from committing suicide.
Unexpectedly, after going around in circles, Mr. Fengchu still found Luofengpo and insisted on breaking in.
(End of chapter)
