Liu Zhang made his final decision as the lord.
For some things, you can safely let your subordinates take the blame, but for some things you cannot.
As a lord, you still have to take responsibilities.
So when Liu Zhang asked Zhang Ren to pass the message like this, he was telling Wenpin that he was the one who killed him.
I also told Jiang Dong and Lu Meng that I will not agree to your request.
As for Liu Zhang's last words, Zhang Rendang obviously didn't hear it. He went to greet Liu Zhang early the next morning and told Liu Zhang Wenpin's reaction.
Wenpin really didn't know that Lu Meng had contacted Liu Zhang privately, and Liu Bei was not as cunning as Zhang Ren and Liu Zhang thought, and installed a spy in Liu Zhang's mansion.
After all, Liu Bei is not a god, and it is impossible to think that Jiangdong would use Liu Zhang's identity to make a fuss. In Liu Bei's view, it is enough to let Wenpin keep an eye on Liu Zhang just in case.
Wenpin was still puzzled when he saw Zhang Ren coming to see him with his head. After hearing Zhang Ren tell the whole story, his whole back was soaked.
I'm afraid.
If Liu Zhang really started an uprising in the Public Security City, it would be really difficult for Wenpin to handle it.
Liu Bei did hint that Wenpin should keep an eye on Liu Zhang, but this was just a hint and no formal order.
Liu Zhang's status was too special, and coupled with Zhang Ren's relationship, even if Wenpin could quell the civil strife in time, his vitality would be severely damaged.
That's fine in normal times, but now Jiangdong's army is besieging the city outside. Even if he is willing to help Liu Bei take the blame, if the police can't defend him, then there is no point in taking the blame.
Fortunately, Liu Zhang rejected Jiang Dong's solicitation, killed the envoy, and asked Zhang Ren to send it to him. This was tantamount to eliminating his own escape route and making him feel relieved.
Wenpin stood up immediately and saluted Zhang Ren to thank him. This gift was not for Zhang Ren, but for Liu Zhang.
At the same time, Wenpin also said that after the Jiangdong Army was defeated, he would personally visit Liu Zhang and ask Liu Bei for credit for Liu Zhang.
Indeed, just because Liu Zhang did not accept Jiangdong's solicitation and there was no civil strife, it was enough for Wenpin to help Liu Zhang ask for credit from Liu Bei.
Of course, asking for credit is a lie. In fact, it is a disguised form of telling Liu Bei that Liu Zhang is very honest now and just wants to be a rich man honestly, so there is no need to worry too much.
This is what Liu Zhang needs most now.
After Liu Zhang heard Zhang Ren relaying Wenpin's words, he was greatly relieved, and then quickly urged Zhang Ren to defend the city. He also said that if the troops were not enough, he still had three to four thousand tenants who could be called upon.
Although he can't be of much help, he can still do it by being a civilian husband and transporting rolling stones and wood.
Now Liu Zhang has made his position clear, so he should simply make it more obvious.
This is really not to blame Liu Zhang. As long as there is hope, Liu Zhang also wants to make a comeback.
But now the situation in the world has become like this. The fight back and forth is nothing more than a question of who is stronger among the three families. There is no room for anyone to start from scratch in the cracks between the three families.
In this case, Liu Zhang might as well keep his family's wealth.
Liu Zhang himself was not an ambitious person, nor was he as persevering as Liu Bei, otherwise he would not have easily thrown away Yizhou, the treasure land he had ruled for more than ten years.
Zhang Ren finally breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the west gate and south gate to take charge of defending the city wall.
Outside the city, Lu Meng waited for about three days, but still did not wait for Liu Zhang to start an uprising. The news of the civil unrest in the Public Security City became a little uneasy.
It doesn't make sense.
Generally speaking, for people like Liu Zhang, even if Liu Bei treats him well on the surface, he still needs to be on guard in private.
As long as Liu Zhang meets his envoy, Wenpin will know that Liu Zhang will rebel no matter whether he wants it or not.
And if Liu Zhang rebels, the deputy general of the police, Zhang Ren, will also rebel.
Why hasn't there been any movement for a long time? !
Could it be that Liu Zhang is really that hopeless? ! Or maybe Liu Zhang really doesn't hate Liu Bei and would rather kill his own envoy to show his loyalty to Liu Bei than cooperate with Jiang Dong? !
No way. Isn’t that the case for Liu Zhang? !
This was the first time that Lu Meng felt that things were a little out of his control.
But no matter what, Lu Meng decided not to wait any longer, and wrote a letter to Wenpin, the guard of the public security city, telling Wenpin that Xu Shu in Wuling had been held back by the barbarian rebellion, and he could not wait for Wuling's reinforcements. of.
If we start a wave of psychological attacks, maybe Wenpin will surrender? !
Wenpin's reaction to this was to throw a human head from the city. Lu Meng ordered his people to take it back and take a look, and he knew that his plan had completely failed.
Wenpin not only refused his offer to surrender, but also sabotaged his plan to incite Liu Zhang to rebel.
To be honest, Lu Meng really didn't understand how Liu Zhang resisted this temptation. Could it be that so many years as a local landlord had worn away his ambition to be the leader of a party? !
Don't you even dare to take this risk? !
But no matter what, since the strategy has failed, then adapt to changes and act according to the times.
The Public Security Bureau is an important fulcrum for Wuling County to support Nan County. If it is not taken down, it will always be a threat.
But at the same time, the public security area is not particularly necessary for Jiangdong Army, which has the advantage of naval forces.
If there are enough naval forces to block the Yangtze River waterway and block the public security and Wuling reinforcements on the south bank of the Yangtze River so that they cannot cross the river, then in fact the public security is not that important.
For Jiangling, the Public Security Bureau is an outpost and a transfer station for reinforcements, but for Jiangdong, there is no need to capture the Public Security Bureau.
Because Jiangdong's navy was enough to block the public security ferry.
If we can defeat the public security forces and eliminate Jiangling's expectations for reinforcements, it will indeed be of great benefit to the attack on Jiangling City.
But if you can't defeat it, it won't be a big problem.
Lü Meng continued to attack the city for five more days. After still being unable to break through the city defense of the public security, Lü Meng began to consider the possibility of bypassing the public security and coming ashore from the north bank of the Yangtze River to attack Jiangling.
After all, in a sneak attack, the most important thing is the speed of advance.
Now that nearly half a month has been wasted in the public security city, Jiangling City may be on guard. If we don't advance troops quickly, I'm afraid it will turn from a sneak attack into a strong attack.
Moreover, Lu Meng also had to cooperate with Sun Yu and Sun Huan's offensive troops. Calculating the time, they should have already begun to attack Ying County.
Although Ying County was the capital of the Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, after five hundred years of desolation, the original city could no longer be inhabited. Now there is only a newly built small town as the county seat. To capture this city, it should not be a problem. big.
Therefore, Lu Meng had to think about marching north as soon as possible and joining the brothers Sun Yu and Sun Huan at the foot of Jiangling City.
As long as Jiangling City is defeated, Jiangxia and Nanjun can be connected together. Then Lu Meng and the Sun brothers will march north together to attack Xiangyang, and cooperate with Cao's army in the north of Xiangfan to attack from front to back. Guan Yu will not be defeated.
As long as Guan Yu is defeated, then both Wuling and Lingling can make a decision, let alone the small police.
Of course, the public security could not ignore it. Considering that the public security only had 4,000 men on guard, for the sake of safety, Lu Meng left 8,000 men led by Xu Sheng to continue the siege and containment, while he led the remaining 30,000 people north to attack Jiangling.
In Jiangling City, Wang Ji, who was acting as the governor of Nanjun, had already received information from Wenpin before the siege. He had learned that Jiangdong had betrayed his alliance and that Lu Meng personally led an army to attack Nanjun.
Wang Ji didn't panic, really.
Wang Ji himself felt it was super strange. It was his first time contacting the war, but he didn't panic at all.
Logically speaking, Nanjun has just been mobilized by Guan Yu to send 10,000 soldiers to the north for support. There are only about 7,000 garrison troops left in the city. This is indeed a time when the garrison strength is insufficient.
But Wang Ji looked at the map carefully and found that he was not without reinforcements.
First of all, the walls of Jiangling City are very high and the city defenses are strong. Wang Ji has inspected it himself and knows this very well.
The high city wall means that ordinary ladders or hook ladders cannot directly climb the city wall and must be specially made, which wastes the siege team's time.
Secondly, the autumn harvest has just happened, and there is no shortage of food and grass in Jiangling City's treasury. At least for a few months, there is no need to worry about the siege being cut off.
Third, southwest of Jiangling City, there is a miner camp led by Deng Ai. Since last month, weapons have been distributed there and they are actively practicing under the leadership of Deng Ai. When necessary, they can return to Jiangling City at any time.
Counting this way, Jiangling City has a garrison strength of 12,000.
In addition, Linju, Zhijiang, and Dangyang counties in the north of Jiangling City all have garrisons, especially Linju garrison, which is as high as 3,000.
Therefore, after Wang Ji received the battle report from the public security, he immediately ordered the garrison in Linju to mobilize 2,000 soldiers and horses to return to Jiangling, leaving only 1,000 soldiers and horses to garrison to guard against the Wei army in Fangling County in the northwest.
The garrison troops in Zhijiang and Dangyang all returned to Jiangling City and strengthened their defenses. These two places are originally the hinterland of Nanjun. If Jiangling can defend it, the two counties will not be in danger, but if Jiangling cannot defend it, rely on these two counties. It is impossible for the garrison to hold on.
As for Deng Ai's 5,000 miner camp, Wang Ji did not immediately transfer it back, but ordered Deng Ai to choose the opportunity to harass Jiangdong Army's flanks and prevent Jiangdong Army from concentrating its forces to attack the city.
After Wang Ji made these adjustments, he immediately discovered that there were more than 10,000 defenders in Jiangling City, and there were 5,000 people led by Deng Ai cruising outside the city. In theory, this should be enough.
After all, judging from the news returned by Tan Ma Tan, Jiangdong only had 30,000 to 40,000 troops this time. He had a total of 15,000 people for defense, and Jiangling City's solid city defenses, so the number of troops was not too small.
But then, Wang Ji got another bad news.
More than 20,000 Jiangdong troops sent troops from Jiangxia, quickly occupied Wulin, and are now moving towards Ying County.
According to this calculation, Jiangdong Army has about 60,000 people, while Jiangling City only has 15,000 people, of which 5,000 are still wandering outside the city.
It seems that the military strength is not enough.
Just when Wang Ji was wondering whether to let Deng Ai lead his army back to Jiangling to strengthen the defensive forces in Jiangling City, Wang Ji got another piece of good news.
The Jiangdong Army, which attacked from Jiangxia, advanced slowly in Ying County, only marching fifty miles in ten days.
Wang Ji wondered what was going on? !
After looking at the battle report carefully, Wang Ji was a little unbelievable. There were more than 20,000 Jiangdong troops, but they were held back by the Yingxian garrison of only 1,000 people.
And the reason is only because of a county captain - Shi Bao.
(End of chapter)
