Zhang Xi personally wrote a battle report on the battle in Ji County, and then asked Jiang Wei to serve as a messenger to help him deliver the battle report to the King of Hanzhong.
On the one hand, allowing Jiang Wei to meet the King of Hanzhong can also make up for the shortcomings in history.
On the other hand, if Jiang Wei really wanted to save the lives of the Zhao family, then he would naturally know what to do.
Of course, Zhang Xi did not break his promise in the battle report he wrote to Liu Bei, and distributed half of the military merits to Ma Chao as promised, but that is not the point now. The real point is that Zhang Xi proposed the next step of the battle to Liu Bei - - Seize the time to cut off Long.
The matter between Zhao and Ma Chao can be discussed later. Anyway, you, Ma Chao, have killed three members of Zhao Ang's family, and your anger has been vented a bit. It can't be said that you are preventing you from taking revenge.
The most important thing now is not to waste such a good opportunity, because our own side's slow action caused the Northern Expedition to completely fall short.
Therefore, Zhang Xi suggested that Liu Bei should not take care of Cao's troops in Nan'an, Longxi, and Anding for the time being. After detaching a part of his soldiers to contain Cao's troops in Guangwei, the main force of the army went straight to Shanggui, trying to capture Shanggui and occupy Long. The mountain road blocked the possibility of Cao Jun's westward march to Liangzhou and achieved the end of Long.
As long as Long is cut off, these prefectures and counties, as well as the further Liangzhou prefectures, will belong to Liu Bei sooner or later. There is no need to worry about the gains and losses of one city or one place now.
But if you can't cut off Long, separate Liangzhou and Yongzhou, and give the governors of these states and counties hope to stand firm and wait for help, then even if you capture these states and counties, with the size of Cao Wei's army, you can still defeat them. go back.
Therefore, Long must be cut off first.
The key to breaking Long lies in Shanggui and Jieting.
On the one hand, people need to be sent to besiege Guo Huai who has retreated to Shanggui. On the other hand, people need to be sent to garrison in Jieting to block the Cao Wei army that may arrive at any time.
As for this, Liu Bei is actually struggling with this now.
After learning that Guo Huai's Liangzhou Corps was defeated in Ji County, Liu Bei began to work on the next battle plan.
According to Liu Bei's idea, he sent soldiers to seize Nan'an, stabilize the two counties, and attack Guangwei and Longxi counties, trying to occupy these places and unite the captured territories.
There are some special changes here.
Ten days ago, as news spread that Zhang Xi led troops to conquer Ji County and Liu Bei led troops to station in Xi County, Cao Wei's northern Yongzhou was in great turmoil, and all states and counties were unstable.
In these ten days, Liu Bei kept receiving contact letters from aristocratic families from various states and counties, especially the recent Nan'an County. He almost begged Liu Bei to quickly go over to accept the prefectures and counties and take over Nan'an County.
And in Anding County, which is across the road from Longshan, there is also news from aristocratic family trustees, saying that as long as Liu Bei attacks Longshan, they will surrender all the counties. So now Liu Bei wants to send his own army to take over these states and counties. .
After all, it is winter now. Due to the snow on Qishan Road, the period of grain and grass transportation has gradually become longer. Liu Bei also urgently needs to expand his occupied area and obtain more grain and grass to supplement military supplies, and these states and counties are all It is not difficult to occupy those who take the initiative to surrender, so Liu Bei chose to divide his troops to take over surrounding counties.
But both Fazheng and Pang Tong opposed Liu Bei's move.
The current situation of the Liu Bei Group is that although it only occupies half of Tianshui County, it has the most critical Hebei County in Tianshui County and has defeated Guo Huai, so it has no worries at all.
At this time, the Liu Bei Group is like a clenched fist, ready to go. This is when its power is most concentrated.
If Liu Bei divides his troops at this time, it will be equivalent to taking the initiative to disperse his troops to capture those states and counties that will be eaten sooner or later.
Therefore, both Fazheng and Pang Tong suggested leaving those prefectures and counties alone and rushing to advance to Shanggui. God knows who arrived at Longshan first. At this time, Cao Hong must have known that Zhao Yunjun at Baoxie Road was a suspect.
Now is the time to rush for time.
But this is an issue considered from a purely military perspective. From a political perspective, it is really difficult for Liu Bei to ignore those wealthy families who actively surrendered.
Now that Liu Bei has just arrived in Tianshui, people from Anding County, which is across the Longshan Mountain, have sent people to contact them. If Liu Bei cannot make a corresponding gesture to respond to them, causing them to be defeated by Cao Wei's forces, then who will respond to his march in the future? !
Therefore, out of political considerations, Liu Bei must at least send soldiers to Nan'an County and Anding County to support him, and at the same time put pressure on Longxi County and Guangwei County to prevent Cao Wei's troops here from attacking Nan'an and Anding County, otherwise Liu Bei will be in Longxi County. Losing the hearts of the noble family.
But neither Pang Tong nor Fazheng could understand it, especially Fazheng, who directly stated that any family that chose to surrender at this time was not necessarily a family that cared about the Han Dynasty, but more of a speculative family that wanted to strive for maximum benefits.
After all, the Liu Bei Group does not completely control Longyou. If they are eager to surrender now, they are just taking a gamble. Surrender first and profit first.
Liu Bei sighed helplessly and told Fa Zheng - aristocratic families willing to invest in themselves are better than those who sit back and watch success or failure before making a choice, right? !
Liu Bei has lived for more than sixty years. Does he know the virtues of the aristocratic families these days? Does he know the current situation of Liangzhou in the past hundred years? Now there are still people who are willing to invest in themselves, a member of the Han clan, to help the Han clan. I bet that I can't let these people down no matter what.
Therefore, Liu Bei still insisted on sending troops to take over these states and counties and connect these aristocratic families.
At this moment, Zhang Xi's battle report arrived.
Liu Bei skipped over the part about Ma Chao in the battle report.
Liu Bei is in Xixian County. How could he not know what Ma Chao did in Jixian County? !
Zhang Xi spoke for Ma Chao to ask for credit, but Liu Bei simply ignored it. To be honest, with Ma Chao's current official position and title, even if his work was in vain, as long as the Northern Expedition went smoothly, he would still be considered a meritorious minister.
This is determined by Ma Chao's social status and has nothing to do with what he has done, so Ma Chao is simply overthinking.
But similarly, Liu Bei did not trust Ma Chao, so even if Ma Chao really made great achievements, Liu Bei would not give him the title of governor of Liangzhou.
Regarding Ma Chao, Liu Bei's idea is very simple - use it when it is needed, and provide it if it is not needed, but he will never give Ma Chao any real power.
Especially for Liangzhou, I don't know what Ma Chao thinks, and he actually wants to be the governor of Liangzhou. Today you become the governor of Liangzhou, and tomorrow you directly turn against him, Liu Bei won't be surprised at all.
Therefore, what Liu Bei mainly looks at is Zhang Xi's suggestions on the current situation.
As for Jiang Wei recommended by Zhang Xi, Liu Bei took advantage of the situation and kept him by his side. On the one hand, it was to stabilize the hearts of the Tianshui County family, and on the other hand, he was also able to test Jiang Wei's abilities.
After seeing that Zhang Xi also suggested in the letter to ignore the prefectures and counties and go directly to Shanggui, Liu Bei was somewhat hesitant.
Several of his counselors saw the key point and reminded themselves that Liu Bei was really not good at insisting on his own way.
But I want the key points in the military, but Liu Bei also wants to win the political hearts. What should I do? !
In the end, Pang Tong gave Liu Bei an idea, a slightly risky idea.
If it is necessary to divide the troops to attack the prefectures and counties, it is not impossible, but only partial divisions can be sent, and the main force should try not to make major changes.
Don't Zhang Fei and Zhang Xi have 40,000 soldiers there? Now in Ji County, there is no threat from the Liangzhou Army, so there is no need for so many soldiers there.
You can send Fu Wei to lead thousands of troops to station in Ji County, and transfer back Zhang Xi, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and other generals, as well as the more than 30,000 troops under their command.
At the same time, let Zhang Xi and Zhang Fei partner up and lead 20,000 troops to attack Shanggui. After all, the two of them have fought against Guo Huai, so they are familiar with each other and can fight easily.
As for Ma Chao, he temporarily led the Qiang and Hu Yi to follow the main force of the army.
Before, there was no choice but to rely on Ma Chao to recruit Qiang and Hu cavalry and to fight against Guo Huai's Liangzhou Army. Ma Chao had to be used.
But now, Guo Huai's Liangzhou Corps has been defeated, and it is too dangerous to leave Ma Chao alone in the north of Tianshui County.
With Ma Chao's influence in Liangzhou, God knows if Ma Chao will have any strange thoughts.
Therefore, Fazheng suggested that it would be more appropriate for Liu Bei to keep Ma Chao by his side.
As for Nan'an County and Anding County, Liu Bei can each send a partial general and lead thousands to 10,000 troops to respond.
Anding County is far away, so you may need to bring more people there. Let Wu Yi lead 10,000 troops there, but there is really no need for Nan'an County. Let Feng Xi and Zhang Nan each lead 3,000 soldiers and go there. In the northern part of Nan'an County, just guard against the Longxi County soldiers attacking Nan'an County.
To put it bluntly, Pang Tong was betting that You Chu would not send troops to copy Liu Bei's retreat.
As long as You Chu from Longxi County does not send troops, there will be no problem no matter how small the number of troops arranged by Nan'an County and Tianshui County.
The governor of Longxi County, You Chu, is a famous scholar in Liangzhou. He has a good reputation in Liangzhou in recent years, has made outstanding achievements in local governance, and has certain military capabilities.
It is impossible for such a person to clearly see the current situation. Therefore, Pang Tong judged that You Chu was unlikely to abandon the defense of Longxi County and take the initiative to attack Liu Bei's army.
After all, Longxi County is too far to the northwest, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as Longxi County sticks to the prefectures and counties, it will be able to do very well after the war.
If Cao Wei wins, they have done a good job in defending their territory. If Liu Bei wins, then it will be too late to surrender when the time comes.
And just in case, Pang Tong arranged for two generals, Feng Xi and Zhang Nan, to lead 3,000 men each to Nan'an County to assist in the defense. Of course, it is unrealistic to attack Longxi County with this small force, but it is enough to prepare for a surprise attack from Longxi County.
The plan was risky, but Pang Tong felt it was still controllable. Although some troops were divided, the main force was not dispersed.
Therefore, the real focus of the next Northern Expedition is actually Guangwei County.
Liu Bei must send his own soldiers, or simply conscript himself, to attack Guangwei County.
As long as Guangwei County is captured and connected with Tianshui County, then Nan'an County can be connected to the north and Anding County can be connected to the east to encircle Guanzhong.
By that time, Liu Bei would have sufficient access to march into Longshan.
In addition, if Zhang Fei and Zhang Xi can conquer Shanggui and open the Longshan Pass, then Liu Bei can even directly lead the army out of the Longshan Pass and surprise Cao Hong's back.
Of course, the prerequisite is that Zhao Yun and others can hold off Cao Hong, and Cao Wei does not have any reinforcements coming to Chang'an or even the northwest.
But this is definitely unrealistic. Fazheng and Pang Tong can only say that this is the best result in their ideals.
But no matter what, Guangwei County must be captured. This is a key step in breaking Long. Only by capturing Guangwei County will Liu Bei have enough space and time to deal with Cao Wei's possible westward march.
Therefore, Pang Tong and Fazheng suggested that Liu Bei use Gao Xiang and Chen Shi as the vanguard, Ma Chao lead the cavalry as guerrillas, and personally lead the main force of the army to attack Guangwei County.
My physical strength is still a bit weak. I owe you a chapter first and will pay it back later.
(End of chapter)
