While Cao Pi was busy making peace with Sun Quan, on the other hand, he had already sent 30,000 of his own troops to Baoxie Road to join the original Chang'an garrison led by Cao Ren and Cao Hong.
After the combined forces, Cao's army totaled more than 70,000 people. Cao Pi asked Cao Ren to immediately lead these soldiers from the west of the Weishui River to Longshan, and join the two generals Guo Huai and Zhang He who were holding firm in Shanggui to compete with Liu Bei for control of Longshan.
At the same time, Cao Pi also sent a messenger to Xu Miao, who was holding firm in Liangzhou, ordering him to immediately organize Liangzhou soldiers to counterattack Tianshui County in the north of Yongzhou, and put pressure on Liu Bei's army from the side and rear.
Although everyone knows that the aristocratic families in Liangzhou are just outsiders, and although Xu Miao is devoted to the imperial court, it is difficult for him to survive alone in Liangzhou. But in this situation, as long as he can involve the Liu Bei Group's energy and dilute the Liu Bei Group's military strength, it doesn't matter. Cao Pi was willing to try the trick whether it worked or not.
After making these arrangements, Cao Pi sat in Chang'an and quietly waited for reports from the front line.
There is a saying that Cao Pi's approach is not wrong. At least he made all the preparations he should make and sent out all the troops he could. As a monarch, he personally sat in Chang'an and only had one army left in his hand. The army guarding by tens of thousands of people is already very impressive.
But... for some things, you have to see who you compare with.
Anyway, Cao Ren felt that if Cao Cao encountered the current situation, he would not sit in Chang'an to watch the show. He would definitely lead his troops to Shanggui in person and fight Liu Bei head-on.
Although he knew that Cao Pi could not compare with Cao Cao, it was rare for Cao Pi to have the courage to sit in Chang'an. However, Cao Ren always felt uncomfortable and could not get used to the practice of having the lord sit in the rear when desperate efforts were needed.
As for Cao Hong, Cao Hong now has a big opinion on Cao Pi.
Actually took away his military power? ! !
That bastard boy, doesn't he really think that Zhao Yun and Chen Dao's partners are easy to bully, and the dignified Bai Jibing is easy to bully, right? !
If you feel bullied, why don't you try to beat me? !
Even if the eldest brother came to Baoxie Road in person, he could only temporarily suppress the 10,000 white soldiers led by Zhao Yun and Chen Dao. Now Zhao Yun and Chen Dao are shrinking in Baoxie Road and cannot come out, but that is just because the other side does not want to fight head-on and lose their troops. That's all, it doesn't mean that the eldest brother has completely defeated them.
Even if he is the eldest brother, he only arranges soldiers to guard the key pass after repelling Zhao Yun and Chen Dao, blocking the way out for Zhao and Chen. Although it is better than fighting back and forth with others, but based on this, we must Cao Hong would never accept being deprived of his military power.
However, due to the fact that Cao Pi had caught him and his eldest brother came to lead the troops in person, Cao Hong did not have a direct attack.
Cao Ren also knew what Cao Hong was thinking, but the current situation was like this.
Let's not talk about the simple principle of one emperor and one courtier. Cao's clan generals have been in serious trouble in the past two years. The older generation of Xiahou Dun, Xia Houyuan, Cao Chun and others have passed away. The new generation of Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xiahou Shang, Qin Lang and others have not experienced the training of the war. As the last pillars of the Cao clan, their brothers have to support Cao Pi even if they are dissatisfied.
After all, this is Cao's family business.
Therefore, Cao Ren had to repeatedly comfort his younger brother, and at the same time ordered Cao Hong to be the vanguard and lead the troops to Shanggui first to join Zhang He and Guo Huai, while he stayed at the Baoxie crossing and waited for Cao Zhen to come from the Chencang crossing to take over and guard Bao. After the crossing, lead the troops northward.
Cao Ren made all the arrangements he could, and in the northwest, the battle situation also experienced some changes.
After retreating to Shanggui, Zhang He and Guo Huai took a few days to rest and regained some of their combat power. They were preparing to attack Zhang Fei's camp in front of them with all their strength. However, the Shame of the First Blood Street Pavilion received some bad news.
Liu Bei finally led his army to conquer Linwei County, the governor of Guangwei County. Wang Yun, the governor of Guangwei County, died in the battle, and other prefectures and counties surrendered one after another.
Liu Bei has completely pacified the other prefectures and counties in Guangwei County, and is leading his troops quickly to Lueyang County, the last prefecture and county in Guangwei County.
Once Liu Bei's army arrives at Lueyang, Jieting will be completely controlled by Liu Bei's army. It will be impossible for Zhang He to divide his troops to attack Jieting and occupy Longshan.
Now Liu Bei's group has passed the most dangerous moment. When Liu Bei personally leads the troops to Lueyang, the ones who will be surrounded will be Zhang He and Guo Huai of Shanggui.
In just a few days, the battle situation in northern Yongzhou has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Now there are two paths before Zhang He and Guo Huai.
One is to defeat Zhang Fei in front of him, expand Shanggui's defensive depth, and avoid being flanked by Liu Bei in the future.
The other way is to quickly seize Lueyang, connect Lueyang and Gui as one, and form each other's horns, and wait for Cao Ren's reinforcements to arrive before the decisive battle.
Zhang He and Guo Huai discussed for a long time and decided to attack on two fronts.
It is not difficult to seize Lueyang. Currently, Lueyang is only defended by more than a hundred soldiers of Liu Bei's army. Zhang Xi also suffered heavy losses in the street pavilion behind Lueyang, so he should be unable to support Lueyang for the time being.
The real problem in Lueyang is not whether it can be occupied, but how to defend Lueyang under the attack of Liu Bei's army.
If he could follow the example of the famous general She from two hundred years ago and hold on to Lueyang with a small number of troops until Cao Ren's reinforcements arrived, it would be possible for Cao Wei to defeat Liu Bei and take over Longshan.
As for Zhang Fei in the front, although it is not easy to deal with, Zhang Fei has few soldiers after all. Even if Zhang Fei has returned to the defensive position now, he will only have six or seven thousand soldiers to hold him to death. At least half of them have traveled a long distance, just now Soldiers who have been fighting for a long time return to the camp.
Guo Huai and Zhang He had nearly 30,000 soldiers in total. Although half of them were cavalry, which was not suitable for fighting in the mountains, the remaining 10,000 infantry were enough to break through the camp guarded by Zhang Fei.
And time waits for no one.
I had been dilly-dallying for a while before, but the news about Liu Bei's attack on Linwei arrived. If I continue to dilly-dally, once Liu Bei's backup army arrives, neither Lueyang nor Zhang Fei will be able to get it. inside.
Therefore, after five days of rest, Cao's army in Shanggui City was dispatched again. One group was led by Zhang He and consisted of a majority of cavalry and a small number of infantry. They quickly captured Lueyang before Liu Bei arrived.
Guo Huai, on the other hand, led most of the infantry and launched a fierce attack on Zhang Fei's camp in front.
Facing Guo Huai's attack, Zhang Fei was indeed under great pressure. After all, his troops were too few.
But Zhang Fei is not an incompetent reckless man after all. In terms of infantry commanding ability, Zhang Fei is no worse than Guo Huai, not to mention that this time Zhang Fei also has three thousand Qiang and Hu cavalry led by Ma Dai as support.
Several times, Guo Huai was about to break through Zhang Fei's camp. At this time, Ma Dai would lead three thousand Qiang and Hu cavalry to attack, causing a lot of trouble for Guo Huai's attacking army.
It's not that Guo Huai doesn't have cavalry in his hands, nor does he understand Zhang Fei and Ma Dai's intentions, but although Guo Huai has cavalry in his hands, he doesn't have a qualified cavalry commander.
Even though Guo Huai's cavalry should be stronger than Ma Dai's Qiang and Hu cavalry, due to the lack of qualified cavalry commanders and Zhang Fei's ability to catch fighters, Guo Huai's attacking soldiers only had a slight advantage every time. If he relaxes, Zhang Fei can always seize the opportunity to launch a counterattack and destroy Guo Huaijun's attack.
Therefore, although Guo Huai always had the advantage, he still let Zhang Fei hold on tenaciously and waited for reinforcements from Xixian led by Wei Yan.
When Guo Huai saw the reinforcements from Liu Bei's army arriving, he knew that the situation was impossible. He immediately retreated to Shanggui and continued to hold on, waiting for the arrival of Cao Ren's reinforcements.
As for Zhang He, after occupying Lueyang, he thought about marching towards the street pavilion again. After all, according to the information Zhang He received, although Zhang Xi had thousands of infantry on hand to guard the street pavilion, after that battle In the end, there were not many soldiers who could actually fight, otherwise Lueyang would not even come to seize it.
Therefore, Zhang He actually considered whether to rely on the speed of the cavalry to sneak attack the street pavilion before Liu Bei's army arrived. However, not long after Zhang He arrived at the street pavilion, he discovered Liu Bei's army's flag on the mountains around Lueyang. .
Zhang He was not sure whether this was the soldiers sent by Zhang Xi in the direction of Jieting, or Liu Bei's vanguard. Anyway, no matter how you look at it, it is not good news.
If there are soldiers in the direction of Jieting, it means that Zhang Xi does not seem to be as weak as he thought, and he still has enough energy to come to Lueyang to investigate the situation. If it is the vanguard of Liu Bei's army, it means that Liu Bei's army is not far from Lueyang.
Under such circumstances, Zhang He was cautious and did not act rashly. Instead, he chose to strengthen Lueyang's city defense and prepare to defend Lueyang.
Just like that, three days later.
Liu Bei personally led the main force of the Northern Expedition, more than 50,000 infantry and 10,000 Qiang and Hu cavalry, to Jieting. After joining Zhang Xi's remnant army, the troops pointed directly at Lueyang.
At the same time, more than 30,000 people from the front of Cao Wei's reinforcements led by Cao Hong also arrived at Shanggui.
The two sides once again faced off in this small area in the southeast of Guangwei County.
(End of chapter)
