Since Guan Yu's Northern Expedition in October of the 25th year of Jian'an, he has opened up the situation in the southern part of Nanyang County very quickly, and quickly recovered three counties, including Xinye, almost without any blood.
But in fact, Guan Yu knew very well in his heart that the reason why this march went so smoothly was because his old friend Zhang Liao was taking the initiative to shrink his troops, not because he was more capable.
The current situation is actually similar to the time when the three brothers were stationed in Xinye. Both sides were fighting back and forth near the southern part of Nanyang County. In fact, they were concentrating their forces while dispersing the enemy's power, lengthening the enemy's supply line, and then finding the enemy. The enemy's vulnerability.
The difference is probably that the three brothers were always on the weaker side in the new field, whether it was military strength or logistical supplies, but now, the two sides are at least on an equal footing.
Therefore, when Guan Yu continued to push past Xinye North and near Deng County, he really couldn't push anymore.
One is that Zhang Liao has begun to organize a counterattack, but the other is that Guan Yu doesn't want to push north anymore. Xu Shu repeatedly reminded Guan Yu, don't forget that there is still Sima Yi in Xu Du. If he suddenly sends troops to cut off his supply line or attack Xinye , that is the most uncomfortable thing.
Guan Yu is a person who is relatively reluctant to listen to advice, but he still listens to things that he thinks make sense.
Obviously, Guan Yu also knew that he could not advance further north unless he could eliminate the threats on his flanks and ensure the safety of the grain road.
But in fact, this is simply impossible.
Although the journey from Xudu to Xinye is very long, longer than the journey from Wancheng to Xinye. But do you dare to say that Sima Yi will not suddenly send troops to attack you? !
Guan Yu's advance base is now located in Xinye. Once Xinye cannot be defended, Guan Yu will be cut off from Fancheng, and the Northern Expedition will basically fail.
But Xinye doesn't have the conditions to hold on. It's okay if there are only a few people coming, but if the number of people coming exceeds 5,000, then it's hard to say whether Xinye can hold on.
Therefore, Guan Yu accepted Xu Shu's suggestion and maintained a confrontation with Zhang Liao in Deng County. This place was not far from Xinye, and it was only a day or two's journey back for rescue.
Guan Yu's original intention was to attract Zhang Liao to personally lead his troops and come to him for a decisive battle.
But who is Zhang Liao? He was the first general among Cao Wei's foreign surnames to become the commander of the front army. He is also your old friend of Guan Yu. We are very familiar with each other. Can he be fooled by this? !
If you, Guan Yu, want to go north, then I will hold on with all my strength. If you, Guan Yu, were just with me in Deng County, I would be a fool to take the initiative to fight you.
The commotion made Guan Yu a little temperamental, and he once insisted on leading his troops northward to attack Wancheng regardless of the situation.
Fortunately, at this time, Guan Yu had not only Xu Shu to dissuade him, but also his son-in-law Deng Ai and his second son Guan Xing. The three of them worked together to dissuade Guan Yu. This was better than Guan Ping and Ma Liang in history.
Xu Shu emphasized to Guan Yu on the third day that we are a partial force, and the purpose is to attract Zhang Liao's 50,000 defenders and Sima Yi's 20,000 defenders from Xudu next door, so that they cannot have an impact on the battle in Guanzhong.
Moreover, the King of Hanzhong and the others have just defeated the Liangzhou Army and have not yet truly threatened Guanzhong. It is not yet time for us to fight the enemy forces on the opposite side.
Now you are sending troops to fight in advance. What if the King of Hanzhong needs you to send troops to support him and you have no spare strength? What will you do then? !
Really, if you try to persuade Guan Yu with other things, Guan Yu might be a little bit rebellious with you, but as soon as you mention Liu Bei, Guan Yu will stop immediately.
Thinking about it, when the entire combat plan was originally designed, the time when the Xiangfan direction played its greatest role was when his brother personally led the troops out of Longshan and attacked Guanzhong.
At that time, Guan Yu, who has sent troops to Xiangfan, must use all his strength to contain the defenders in Nanyang and even Luoyang. If possible, he must even attract some troops from Chang'an to come over for support. It is too early to launch an all-out attack now.
In this way, Guan Yu suppressed his emotional agitation and stood still for the time being.
In the direction of Nanyang, for more than a month, it didn't feel like there was a war at all.
To what extent, Deng Ai was able to take Guan Yinping and Huawan to Deng County to visit his father-in-law's friend, Zhang Liao.
In the first battle at Xiangfan, although both sides wanted each other's head before the battle, after the battlefield, friends were still friends.
Just now, due to official business, the coaches of both sides cannot meet each other, but in private, Guan Yu asked the junior to visit Zhang Liao, and Zhang Liao still received the three people very warmly.
Of course, the main person Zhang Liao received was Guan Yinping, who was considered his niece. As for Deng Ai and Hua Wan, they were incidental.
But later, Zhang Liao discovered during the conversation that this Deng Ai was not a fuel-efficient lamp either.
When this kid spoke, he was as polite as a scholar, and he was full of "courtesy", but when he talked about war, he was full of weird ideas. Some of his ideas were quite wild and unconstrained, but upon careful consideration, they may not be unfeasible.
That is to say, I don't know what the actual command ability is. If he can go through the test of harsh battlefields, his command level will not be bad, and he will also be a famous general in the future.
Zhang Liao was very happy. His old friend had a successor. Although he was only his half-son, the parent-child Guan Ping had always been with Guan Yu. Now his reputation was not small, at least he was much better than his son Zhang Hu.
Somewhat envious, but more pleased.
Their generation is slowly getting older, and they don't know how long they can continue to fight, let alone when the world will truly be at peace. The only thing they can hope for is that their children can make a difference and continue the family's survival.
At least now it seems that Guan Yu doesn't have to worry, but the people on his side are more likely to die than others.
Zhang Liao kept the young couple one night, and the next day, he asked Deng Ai to take his approval slip and allowed them to wander around the city. But they could not go near military facilities, otherwise he, as an uncle, would not give him face. .
And Deng Ai didn't do this. After all, his major was "Book of Rites" and he couldn't do such a thing.
The reason why Deng Ai wanted this note was actually explained to Zhang Liao, which was to visit the head of the Deng family in Deng County.
Some time ago, Guan Yu led the army back to Xinye County, but at this time, Xinye County was already dominated by people. Most of the residents of Xinye County fled to Jiangxia with Liu Bei, and those who stayed behind were basically killed by Cao Cao. It migrated to the north, but where exactly it went is unclear.
Therefore, when Deng Ai and his two wives tried to return to Dengjia Village to worship their ancestors, there was no clan tablet in the ancestral hall and they could not worship.
But if you don't worship your ancestors, according to the rules of this era, you always feel that something is missing. So Deng Ai thought about coming to Deng County to find the head of the Deng family.
First, ask yourself whether the Deng family in Deng County knows the whereabouts of this tribe. The other one also wants to use the ancestral hall here to worship.
Although some of the ancestors are different due to different branches, the common ancestor is still Deng Yu. At least let the first generation ancestors know that Deng Ai has not only grown up, but has also achieved certain results, and his wife has two children. I would like to express my condolences to my ancestors.
This is filial piety, the most important virtue of this era.
It was precisely because of this that Zhang Liao dared to give Deng Ai a small note and allow him to move around the city, otherwise Zhang Liao would not have done such a heartless thing.
Deng Ai's reasons are very in line with the aesthetic standards of people of this era. If Deng Ai was caught using this opportunity to spy on military defenses, Zhang Liao would have just adjusted the layout at most, but Deng Ai would have been completely ruined.
Zhang Liao didn't believe there were such stupid people in the world who would ruin a major life event for such a trivial matter.
Therefore, Deng Ai successfully visited the head of the Deng family and made his request.
The head of the Deng family had no objection to this and was very welcoming. Deng Ai didn't even show Zhang Liao's warrant. The head of the Deng family warmly entertained the three of them.
The reason is very simple. A clan member of the Deng family in Deng County went to Shu to avoid war. The current head of this clan is named Deng Zhi.
Well, Deng Zhi is following Zhao Yun and Chen Dao to fight with Cao Hong at the intersection of Baoxie Road.
So, it’s hard for aristocratic families to say anything these days.
Well, after all, they all have the surname Deng, and they are all members of the same clan with genealogies to test. We all have the same ancestor. What's wrong with the reception? !
As for worshiping ancestors? !
Yes, yes, I finally returned to my family. How can I do it without paying homage to my ancestors?
Where is the Xinye Deng family? !
Don’t worry about this, you’ll find out after a little inquiry.
Although people have moved away, the contact has definitely not been broken. If you spend a little time looking for letters, you can know where they have gone.
It didn't even take long for Deng Ai to know the result.
A branch of the Deng family in Xinye was moved to Runan to farm.
So you’re talking about Runan? !
Deng Ai's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he thought of something.
Statistics of outstanding chapters: 2 chapters in total.
(End of chapter)
