Zhang He, courtesy name Junyi, was born in Mo County, Hejian County.
In his early years, Zhang He joined the army and followed Han Fu to suppress the Yellow Turban Uprising, and made many military exploits.
Later, Han Fu was brainless and was coaxed by Yuan Shao with a few words. His men were frightened and gave up Jizhou.
At that time, Zhang He had little say in the decision-making process, so he surrendered to Yuan Shao.
After following Yuan Shao, Zhang He was not buried. He followed Yuan Shao in the southern and northern wars, made many military exploits in the battle to defeat Gongsun Zan, and was moved to the Ning Kingdom as a lieutenant general.
In Yuan Cao's battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao made many mistakes, especially after Wuchao fell. Guo Tu said that he could play extreme and change his family at this time, but Zhang He suggested that Cao's army's camp was well prepared and could not be captured for a while, so it was better to lead troops to rescue Wuchao. .
As a result, Yuan Shao actually accepted both suggestions.
This wasn't a problem originally, but Yuan Shao's arrangement was very deceptive.
Zhang He originally felt that Cao's camp was difficult to fight, but Yuan Shao insisted on sending Zhang He to attack, trying to realize Guo Tu's strategy of changing families. However, Zhang He suggested rescuing Wuchao, but Yuan Shao personally led the army there. This would only be possible if they could defeat it. Damn it!
Zhang He originally did not want to attack Cao Jun's camp, but now he was forced by Yuan Shao to attack. However, as Zhang He expected, Cao Jun's camp was well prepared and could not be attacked at all.
After failing to attack Cao Cao's camp for a long time, Yuan Shao failed to rescue Wuchao. Guo Tu also slandered Zhang He by saying that Zhang He was gloating over Yuan Shao's failure. Zhang He was so angry that he made the first important decision in his life - surrendering to Cao Cao. .
After that, although Zhang He was promoted all the way to the rank of general from the side general to the general of the left, one of the four generals, he still held his breath under Cao Cao's tent.
In the Cao Wei camp, whether you are the commander-in-chief of an army is not determined by the size of your official position. Although Zhang He's official position has never been too low, he has never served as the commander-in-chief of an army every time he marches.
When Cao Cao regained Hebei, the commander-in-chief was Cao Cao. There was nothing to say about Zhang He being an ordinary general. After all, he was Cao Cao.
But in the Battle of Bailang Mountain, Zhang He was controlled by Zhang Liao. When he suppressed the rebellion in Huainan, Zhang Liao was still the chief general and Zhang He was just his deputy. , Xiahou Yuan was the commander-in-chief again. After the battle at Dingjunshan, Xiahou Yuan was promoted as the temporary commander-in-chief after his death. He unified the army to preserve the combat power of Cao's army. For such a great contribution, he was still given back his military power and returned to Cao Cao. Yecheng is on standby.
Zhang He has been fighting for most of his life, always obeying the orders of others, and he has no chance to stand alone.
Zhang He is already over fifty this year, so it's strange that he would be willing to do so.
This time Liu Bei's Northern Expedition was led by Cao Pi himself. Originally, Zhang He still had no chance to become the general. Cao Ren, Cao Xiu, Xia Houshang and other Cao Wei clan generals were all there. According to Cao Wei's employment standards, it was not Zhang He's turn to take charge alone.
However, Cao Pi chose Zhang He against all objections and ordered him to lead 50,000 troops to quickly rescue Longyou. This made Zhang He realize that this was his last chance to become a general in his fifties.
After Zhang He received the order, he rarely regained his vitality. He no longer thought about fishing and used all his skills.
After carefully analyzing the current situation, Zhang He concluded that the rescue of Longxi must be done quickly. He must rush to Longyou before Liu Bei completely cuts off Longxi and digests the five northern counties of Yongzhou, giving the prefects hope of holding on. .
Otherwise, the situation in Longyou is in a state of decay, and if Liu Bei is allowed to calmly complete the break of Long, then the entire Yongliang area, except Guanzhong Chang'an, will no longer be owned by Cao Wei.
But if you want to quickly send troops to rescue Longyou, there are two options.
One is to risk the difficulty of marching in winter and march westward from the Wei River to directly support Guo Huai in Shanggui.
As long as the siege of Shanggui is solved, a nail can be driven into Longshan to prevent Liu Bei from cutting off Long, and the pressure from Guanzhong on Longyou will always be maintained. If Liu Bei cannot complete the cutting off of Long, naturally he will not be able to go north to attack Liangzhou with peace of mind.
The other one was to enter Guangwei County from Longshan Road. While Guangwei County had not yet been captured by Liu Bei, he led troops from Guangwei County into Tianshui County to attack the retreat of Liu Bei's army.
If we can successfully detour to Liu Bei's rear, force Tianshui to fall again, and completely cut off the Liu Bei Group's grain and grass supply lines in Nan'an and Nan'an counties, then Liu Bei's Northern Expedition will probably fall short.
There is a saying that Zhang He really wanted to take the second path at the beginning, because this way, the results would be greater, and he would be more likely to become the sole defender after the war.
However, this road requires a detour through Longshan Road, and the non-stop rush to enter Tianshui before Liu Bei captures Guangwei County. Zhang He is not sure whether Liu Bei will give him this opportunity.
Taking the Weishui River to support Shanggui is almost a straight line distance. Although it is not easy to walk from Guanzhong to the Weishui River, the distance is very close.
Taking the Longshan Road to Guangwei means going in a big circle. Although it can avoid the main force of Liu Bei's group, if Liu Bei ignores the threats from the back and attacks Guangwei County and Shanggui after Zhang He enters Tianshui, he will be left alone. People, on the contrary, become themselves.
It's not impossible.
After all, Liu Bei's army's current force distribution is different from that of the prime minister's attack in history. Liu Bei's army does not have the problem of dispersion of forces. It is impossible for Zhang He to break through without being able to counterattack.
Guo Huai of Shanggui may be able to hold on longer, but no one knows how long Guangwei County can hold on. Once Liu Bei captures Shanggui and Guangwei County, it will be a close game. With the gap in military strength between the two sides, Zhang He Even if they break into Tianshui County, the most they can do is cause some destruction and prevent Liu Bei from continuing to expand his advantage, but it will be difficult to take back the northern part of Yongzhou.
Another one. It's winter now.
It has started to snow all over Yongliang, and even in places where it is not snowing, the ground is frozen quite hard.
In this kind of weather, the speed advantage of the cavalry cannot be brought into full play. If it is exhausted, it will only be faster than the infantry.
Considering the speed of the cavalry in the current weather, Zhang He really did not have the confidence to take a longer detour to Longshan Road in order to enter Guangwei County before Liu Bei.
Even Liu Bei didn't have to go to such trouble. As long as he set up a few thousand people to defend the street pavilion and fought in the current weather, it was not difficult to delay his cavalry for ten days and a half.
So if you take such a long circuit to enter Longshan Road, you probably have to figure out how to get there and how to get back.
On the contrary, if we take the Weishui River to rescue Shanggui, we will have the unexpected effect of going up the Weishui River to rescue Shanggui. Originally, this waterway was not easy to travel, and now it is winter again.
Who would have thought that in the winter, Cao Jun would go from the direction of the Weishui River to support Shanggui? !
The Weishui River will also freeze in winter, making it impossible to sail at all. Most people would never imagine that reinforcements would come from the direction of the Weishui River.
After comparing the two, Zhang He made a decision.
He ordered his general Fei Yao to lead 20,000 cavalry to Longshan Road at a normal marching speed, attracting the attention of Liu Bei's group and making Liu Bei's group think that their rescue direction was on Longshan Road, attracting Zhang Fei from Shanggui to divide his troops. Pavilion to block the advance of his own cavalry.
In fact, Zhang He led 30,000 infantry to set off in advance, heading north from the coast of the Wei River to rescue Shanggui.
The Wei River freezes in winter and the fleet cannot go out? !
It doesn't matter, Zhang He never thought of using a fleet to transport troops and food.
Zhang He ordered the entire army to carry ten days of dry food and advance rapidly along the mountain paths on the banks of the Weishui River, crossing mountains and ridges to quickly support Shanggui.
Zhang He has always been a general known for his "knowledge of the terrain". The investigation of the geographical environment has always been the first priority. After Danqu was beaten by Zhang Fei, he even considered the geographical advantages. very heavy.
Therefore, since Zhang He dared to make the decision to cross the mountains along the Weishui River to support Shanggui, it must mean that Zhang He had already found a land road from Guanzhong to Shanggui, otherwise he would not have made such a decision.
Not to mention, this is not the first time Zhang He has taken this road. Seven years ago, Xia Houyuan marched westward to attack Ma Chao and break the siege of Liangzhou's powerful forces. It was the same road that forced Zhang He to enter the northern part of Yongzhou. This road , Zhang He has already walked through it once and is very experienced.
After making all preparations for the march, Zhang He personally led 30,000 infantry and set off, climbing over the mountains and ridges along the Weishui River and approaching Shanggui. At this time, Zhang Fei did not expect that Zhang He would come from the direction of the Weishui.
Zhang Fei was not unprepared, but just as Zhang He thought, Zhang Fei was concerned about the flow of water in the direction of the Weishui River.
When coming from Guanzhong to aid Shanggui, most people think of taking a boat upstream from the Wei River. After all, it is more convenient for ships to transport troops and food.
But now the Wei River is frozen, and large ships cannot move at all. As long as the Wei River does not thaw, Zhang Fei feels that there is no need to worry about Cao's army coming from the direction of the Wei River.
But who would have thought that Zhang He led his soldiers over the mountains and ridges in the middle of winter and marched along the mountain paths on both sides of the Wei River. It took him seven or eight days to secretly arrive at Shanggui and contact the people who were stationed in Shanggui City. Guo Huai sent troops from two directions to attack Zhang Feijun who was attacking Shanggui.
Zhang Fei was caught off guard and was indeed driven away by Zhang He's troops. At the same time, Guo Huai in Shanggui City also used the 3,000 cavalry he brought from Liangzhou to Shanggui. Under a sudden attack, Zhang Fei suffered heavy losses and had to Retreat twenty miles and re-establish the camp and defense line.
Zhang Fei is also a famous general after all. Although he was attacked from two sides and retreated for twenty miles, his soldiers were not completely defeated. After setting up the stronghold, Zhang Fei gathered the remaining soldiers and finally gathered thousands of people to defend. At the same time, he quickly issued a warning to both Liu Bei and Zhang Xi. information.
And Zhang He had solved the siege of Shanggui, and obviously had no intention of stopping there.
There are still 10,000 Liu Bei's troops in Jieting. Now they may not necessarily know the battle situation in Shanggui, and it is only four or five days' journey from Shanggui to Jieting. Zhang He wanted to make an information gap and swallowed this directly. Branch street pavilion garrison.
In this case, Zhang He can completely open up the Longshan Road, occupy Longshan, control Jieting, Lueyang, and organize defenses on the Shanggui front line, and then cooperate with Cao Pi's subsequent reinforcements. This way, he can prevent Liu Bei from cutting off Longshan and retain Cao's army from entering the northern part of Yongzhou. And the passage to Liangzhou.
Two hundred years ago, Emperor Guangwu finally took control of Longshan through this hand, thus completely wiping out the Northwest Wolf Kuixiao. Now Zhang He is just taking the medicine according to the prescription.
Therefore, Zhang He did not pursue Zhang Fei's troops, but directly changed the direction of the attack and attacked Lueyang. He planned to directly attack Jieting after occupying Lueyang.
Then Zhang He and Zhang Xi collided directly.
(End of chapter)
