In December of the 17th year since Jian'an, Liu Bei officially launched his troops from Jiameng Pass. After nearly a year of fighting, Liu Bei fought his way from Jiameng Pass to the gates of Chengdu.
The Jingzhou Army led by Zhuge Liang and others set out from Jingzhou in April of the 18th year of Jian'an. It took half a year to conquer the southern counties of Yizhou and then met Liu Bei in Luocheng.
These two things, taken separately, didn't seem to be a big deal, but when combined, Zhang Xi suddenly realized that something was wrong.
In November of the 18th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei had already besieged Chengdu. Why do you feel that the timeline has changed? !
Liu Bei seemed to have besieged Chengdu more than half a year in advance.
Zhang Xi suddenly panicked. Will the next thing happen one by one as he knew? !
Apart from anything else, the siege of Chengdu was the last straw for Liu Zhang. Will Ma Chao still appear under Chengdu? !
At this moment, Ma Chao should be on Guanlong, fighting with the Liangzhou wealthy family, and then being tricked by Wang Yi, he only escaped with his life, right? !
Zhang Xi suddenly felt that what happened next might be out of control.
Can a time-traveler really strategize and maneuver in this era after losing the ability to foresee? !
Zhang Xi was a little anxious about this.
Now Liu Bei's army is resting in Luocheng and reorganizing the army's sergeants.
Chengdu will be besieged next. Some arrangements must be made as to who will be the main offensive general of the four gates and who will be their lieutenants.
Therefore, Liu Beijun held a military meeting.
At the military meeting, Liu Bei was asking Zhuge Liang about the relevant arrangements in Jingzhou, while Zhuge Liang bowed to answer Zhang Xi's continued anxiety.
During the dinner, Fazheng suggested that he could write a letter of persuasion to surrender to Liu Zhang to see if he could persuade him to surrender. Zhang Xi continued to be anxious.
In order to boost morale, Liu Bei announced in public that after the capture of Chengdu, the treasury property would be available to the soldiers, and he would not take any of it. Zhang Xi was still anxious.
In the end, Zhuge Liang couldn't stand it anymore and asked aloud, "Yuan Chang. Yuan Chang?! Liang Guan Yuan Chang frowned, but what are the worries?"
Zhang Xi paused and then realized that this was a military meeting and it was not the time for him to be in a daze. He quickly shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. The military advisor is worrying too much!"
When Zhang Xi said this, Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zhang Fei.
"Hahahaha, the military advisor is indeed overly worried. According to my opinion, Yuan Chang is just missing his wife and children!" Zhang Fei smiled and said to Zhang Xi, "I should have made it clear to Yuan Chang earlier, but I never had the opportunity. After my brother and sister returned from Jiameng Pass, they settled down in the mansion to wait for their childbirth. At the end of last year, Yuan Chang gave birth to a daughter."
Before Zhang Fei finished speaking, Zhang Xi immediately rushed to Zhang Fei and said nervously, "Third General, where is the letter?!"
I'll go, you didn't tell me such an important thing earlier.
Zhang Xi always remembered Sun Shangxiang's pregnancy.
But since last winter, Zhang Xi has been fighting, and Yizhou's communication with the outside world has been somewhat affected. Zhang Xi really has not received any letters from Sun Shangxiang.
Counting the days, when Sun Shangxiang gave birth, it should be the time when Zhang Xi, as a vanguard, launched his troops to attack south. At that time, Zhang Xi himself did not know where he would appear on which day, and he could not deliver the letter at all.
Not to mention arriving in Luocheng, we were busy fighting at that time, so who had nothing to do to deliver messages to the war zone.
Therefore, Sun Shangxiang's family letter was entrusted to Zhang Fei to bring to Zhang Xi when he came to Sichuan. The delay was quite long.
But these days, Zhang Xi has been able to deeply understand what it means to have a letter from home worth ten thousand yuan.
He didn't even care that it was a military meeting, and it was a bit rude. He asked Zhang Fei for a letter on the spot.
Fortunately, Zhang Fei and Zhang Xi are really familiar with each other, and their relationship is really good, so they don't care.
And everyone knows that this is Zhang Xi's first child. Most of the people present, whether they are civil servants or military generals, have had similar experiences, and no one will accuse Zhang Xi of not doing his job properly.
Of course, it is also related to Zhang Xi's current status. Just now, Liu Bei exaggerated Xi, saying that Zhang Fei was the first contributor to Jingzhou's army, and Zhang Xi was the first contributor to the southward movement.
Zhang Fei even laughed and helped Zhang Xi smooth things over, saying, "Look, I just said that Yuan Chang misses his wife and children. It's really good, right?!"
Well, when Zhang Fei said this, Zhang Xi realized that it was now a military discussion.
Resisting the urge to open the letter now, Zhang Xi bowed to Liu Bei and apologized, saying, "Xi really misses my wife and children, and I lost my temper for a moment. I hope my lord will forgive me."
Liu Bei just smiled and said, "There is no need to apologize, Yuan Chang. This is human nature."
As for Zhuge Liang, he also helped Zhang Xi ignore the matter and said directly, "Since Yuan Chang has no objections, this is how we will arrange the siege of Chengdu. Please work together to achieve this great success."
Having said this, it is equivalent to the end of the arrangements by all parties. After Zhuge Liang concluded the arrangements, Liu Bei announced that the meeting was adjourned and that the generals would return to their camps to prepare and march to Chengdu at any time.
Zhang Xi originally planned to withdraw from the arrangement, but soon, he was stopped by Zhuge Liang again.
"Do you have any free time, Yuan Chang?!" Zhuge Liang smiled, caught up with Zhang Xi, and said, "If you have some free time, how about we go to Liang's camp to talk?!"
Zhang Xi looked at Zhuge Liang and nodded.
Although he was anxious to return to camp to read letters from home, Zhuge Liang wouldn't invite him to reminisce about old times for no reason, right? !
Sure enough, Zhuge Liang still felt that Zhang Xi's behavior just now did not seem like he was worried about his wife and children. He still thought that Zhang Xi had noticed something inappropriate in his arrangement.
And Zhang Xi can't tell Zhuge Liang that I used to have the ability to observe stars at night and predict the future, but now I suddenly don't have it, so I am a little worried that Zhuge Liang will treat Zhang Xi as a magic stick.
Although there are many people who pretend to be gods and ghosts these days, Zuo Ci, Guan Ren, and Yu Ji are all great people in this field. But as far as Zhuge Liang is concerned, he is not the kind of person who believes in ghosts and gods.
Therefore, Zhang Xi could only pretend and said to Zhuge Liang, "There is nothing wrong with the military advisor's arrangements. It's just that Xi thought that since Liu Zhang is not someone who just sits back and waits for death, he must be prevented from getting into a fight with a trapped beast."
This is nonsense. Liu Zhang has been able to sit in Yizhou for so many years, which is certainly not a good thing.
But after Zhuge Liang heard this, he nodded slightly and said in agreement, "Liang is also worried about this matter. If Liu Zhang really wants to be trapped, he will defend the city with elite troops inside, and with Zhang Lu and even Xia Houyuan of Longyou, Cao Cao and Yuan Chang of Yecheng outside. How do you think this matter should be handled?!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xi thought for a moment and suddenly understood Zhuge Liang's worries.
There are two gateways to Yizhou, both of which are crucial places.
One is Yufu, also known as Baidi City, which is the gateway to defend against enemies in the east.
Zhuge Liang was not careless about this place and appointed Chen Dao to lead the army to guard it.
The two are Jiameng Pass, which is the gateway to guard against enemies in the northwest.
Here, Huo Jun only led a thousand soldiers, and he had to face the attack of more than 10,000 troops sent by Liu Zhang.
Although Liu Bei's army is approaching Chengdu now, Liu Zhang seems to be at his wits' end, but in fact, it is not that there is no way to die together.
If Liu Zhang really wanted to make up his mind to defend Chengdu, with Chengdu's city defense and hoarded grain and grass, there would be no problem at all for him to defend it for a year and a half.
And if Liu Zhang contacted Zhang Lu or even Cao Cao at this time, attacked Jiameng Pass from front to back, broke through Huo Jun's defense, and marched straight into Shu, then Liu Zhang might be finished, but Liu Bei would also be in trouble.
Not impossible.
Xiahou Yuan of Cao's army is on the right side of Longyou, and he can attack Hanzhong at any time.
As for Cao Cao, even if he didn't go through Yangpingguan or Longdao, he could still enter Hanzhong from the three eastern counties, but he could bring fewer soldiers.
Once Cao Cao enters Hanzhong, not to mention that Zhang Lu can't stop him, even if Liu Bei personally leads the troops to resist, the outcome will still be between 5 and 5. But in this way, Liu Bei will no longer be able to besiege Chengdu.
Although Liu Zhang may not be able to truly get out of trouble, Liu Bei may not be able to completely swallow up Shu. In this way, the variables will increase, and no one knows what the situation in Shu will be like.
Thinking of this possibility, Zhang Xi suddenly got a headache.
See, this is the disadvantage of not having foresight and having to think about the problem yourself.
Ma Chao was still fighting with the wealthy families in Liangzhou and Longyou, while Xiahou Yuan was watching the show happily. Now the whole Liangzhou was in chaos, and there was no way to threaten Yongzhou. Xiahou Yuan really had the strength and ability to raid Hanzhong.
Regarding this matter, Zhang Xi did not dare to talk nonsense anymore, and asked Zhuge Liang for information about the Northland, and began to think and analyze seriously based on the experience he had accumulated over the years.
After a period of sorting it out, Zhang Xi said tentatively, "Is it really possible for Xia Houyuan to march into Hanzhong regardless of the comfort of the food supply when Liangzhou was in uncertainty?! Cao Cao returned to Yecheng from Ruxukou in April. Is it really possible? Who would raise troops again in such a short period of time, march into Yongliang in large numbers, and take a peek at Hanzhong?!"
What Zhang Xi used was a question. He was asking Zhuge Liang, because he didn't know what was going on.
As for Zhuge Liang, after listening to Zhang Xi's words, he began to re-analyze based on various intelligence from the north.
After finding a certain piece of information, Zhuge Liang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The traitor Cao may not be able to advance westward for a while."
Zhang Xi picked up the piece of information and took a look - in May of the 18th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao added nine tins, called him Wei Gong, founded the Wei Kingdom, and made Ye his capital.
Not sure? !
What does this mean? !
However, Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and explained, "The traitor Cao is newly promoted to Duke of Wei and needs to raise his hopes. He may not easily conquer him personally. If only Xiahou Yuan comes with the troops of Yongzhou, Liang will have his own way to deal with it."
(End of chapter)
