The two armies of Cao and Liu in the Shanggui direction fell into a helpless confrontation.
In Wancheng, Guan Yu, who had been facing off for a long time, also seemed a little anxious.
Zhang Liao on the opposite side is really difficult to deal with.
Facing Guan Yu's attack, Zhang Liao had no intention of competing with Guan Yu. Instead, he chose to shrink his defense line and rely on several counties such as Wancheng and nearby Deng County for defense.
Zhang Liao relied on the more than 40,000 defenders on hand to build a strong defense line near Wancheng, blocking Guan Yu's Northern Expedition army south of Wancheng and preventing them from advancing even an inch.
In order to defend Jiangdong, Guan Yu sent troops to the Northern Expedition this time with only half of the troops in Jingzhou, and some soldiers had to be left in Xiangyang and Fancheng areas for defense. Therefore, the troops that Guan Yu could really mobilize were only 30,000 to 40,000 people.
Zhang Liao on the opposite side also had a similar number of troops and chose a strategy of holding on. Guan Yu really had no way to capture Wancheng without paying a heavy price.
Another one, Sima Yi from Xudu, after Cao Xiu and Jia Kui retreated to Runan and their flanks were guaranteed defense, he also began to make moves and tentatively entered Nanyang territory several times.
If it weren't for the encounter between Deng Ai and Sima Yi that made Guan Yu aware of the weak defenses of Xinye and transferred Deng Ai to guard Xinye, Sima Yi might have led his troops to raid Xinye and cut off the food route of the Xiangfan Northern Expedition.
Guan Yu feels a little uncomfortable now, feeling unable to advance or retreat.
With the current strength of the troops, it is a bit difficult to achieve a breakthrough on the Wancheng front line. Being able to reach Deng County is already the limit. Zhang Liao will not agree to go further.
There is also the threat of the Xudu army led by Sima Yi on the flank. The troops in Deng Ai's hands can barely defend Xinye, but they are seriously insufficient to defeat the Xudu army led by Sima Yi.
Moreover, this Sima Yi, according to Deng Ai's reports, is a very difficult opponent.
Sima Yi chose a step-by-step strategy, never greedy for success and advancing rashly, bit by bit encroaching on the area east of Nanyang, advancing unhurriedly towards Xinye, not giving Deng Ai any opening to attack.
If Guan Yu wants to break through Wancheng under the constraints of these two parties, unless there is another coordinated attack at the right time like flooding the Seventh Army, it is really difficult to have a chance of winning. It is already very difficult to maintain the current battle situation.
Therefore, although Guan Yu knew that Cao Pi in Chang'an did not have many troops, he could not break through the Wancheng line. Guan Yu could not truly threaten Chang'an. Cao Pi in Chang'an was still firmly on Mount Tai.
It's not that Guan Yu didn't want to be surprised, but he really couldn't think of a good way to bypass Zhang Liao's defense line, even with Xu Shu's help.
As for Kou Feng in You Fufeng, there is even less hope.
Kou Feng sent troops from Shangyong to attack Youfufeng. In the strategic plan, it was only used to divide Chang'an's troops. Therefore, Kou Feng only led 20,000 soldiers to send troops.
It did play a role in dividing the troops at the beginning. In order to prevent Kou Feng from attacking Youfufeng and threatening Chang'an, Cao Hong sent 10,000 soldiers to support Wang Jing, the defender of Youfufeng.
But it was this little-known Wang Jing who, after receiving reinforcements from Cao Hong, temporarily blocked Kou Feng, who was known for his bravery, in the Youfufeng area, preventing Kou Feng from moving forward.
Later, Cao Pi visited Chang'an in person and sent the famous general Xu Huang to You Fufeng. He replaced Wang Jing and commanded the defenders of Right Fufeng. Together with Cao's army from left Fengyi, they in turn suppressed Kou Feng's army. Kou Feng suppressed all the troops and almost retreated. Shangyong has gone.
It was difficult for Kou Feng to protect himself along the way. It was too difficult for him to expect him to open a gap.
Theoretically speaking, Guan Yu's Northern Expedition did not complete its strategic mission. At least at the beginning of the campaign, Guan Yu attacked Nanyang and contained most of the troops in Wancheng and the hinterland of the Central Plains, forcing Cao Pi to transfer central troops from Yecheng. The Imperial Army came to Chang'an and bought Liu Bei a lot of time to leave the Qishan Road and conquer the northern part of Yongzhou.
But Guan Yu was somewhat dissatisfied.
Especially in the current situation, the western battlefield and the southern battlefield are in a stalemate at the same time. If there is a breakthrough at this time, the impact will be huge and can completely determine the outcome of this battle.
Therefore, Guan Yu wanted to mobilize Wang Ji from Jiangling and Shi Bao from Wuling and let them lead the Jingzhou army guarding Jingnan to the north.
Now Sun Quan's army is either in Huainan or Qingxu. At this time, Jiangdong is unable to threaten Jingzhou. It is meaningless to put so many soldiers to guard Jingnan.
It would be better to take a risk and let Wang Ji and Shi Bao lead the army north to strengthen the offensive against Wancheng. If Wancheng can be conquered in one fell swoop and threaten Chang'an, the balance of the entire battle will tilt towards Liu Bei's army.
There is one thing to say, Guan Yu's idea is not unreasonable, especially when it is clear that Jiangdong's army has also moved north, it does not make much sense to arrange so many defenders in Jingnan.
But Xu Shu still tried to persuade Guan Yu not to take such bold risks.
We have arranged so many soldiers in Jingnan, but Zhou Yu from Jiangdong still dared to fight on two fronts, attacking Huainan and sneak attack Qingxu. Are you saying that he did not arrange soldiers to stay in his hometown? Is it possible? !
There must be soldiers left in Jiangdong. At least the soldiers from Yuzhang County will definitely not be transferred. We are preventing Jiangdong from attacking Jingzhou. Does Jiangdong trust us so much that he doesn't leave any troops to guard his home? !
What if we transfer the soldiers from Jingnan to the north? The relationship between the two parties is already like this. You can't expect Sun Quan to have any integrity left, right? !
Don't tell me, although Guan Yu is arrogant, he is not an idiot.
Especially after the battle at Xiangfan and Jiangdong's betrayal and sneak attack, Guan Yu's trust in Jiangdong had completely dropped to the freezing point.
As Xu Shu predicted, Jiangdong still has some troops in Yuzhang County. Once he mobilizes his troops to the north, Jiangdong will be determined to sneak attack Jiangling or Jingnan County. After all, it will be a trouble.
But with the current situation, it would be very difficult to achieve a breakthrough on the Wancheng frontline without moving the Jingnan defenders northward.
Guan Yu thought about it for several days, but finally couldn't let go of the temptation to conquer Wancheng and threaten Chang'an, so he discussed it with Xu Shu again.
Guan Yu wanted Xu Shu to temporarily return to Jiangling to take charge, while he would send some soldiers from Wuling County and part of Jiangling's garrison to go north, leaving 10,000 soldiers to guard Jiangling.
At the same time, Wenpin of Jiangxia was ordered to lead the navy to strengthen patrols along the river, make preparations to support Jiangling on land, and combine the efforts of the two counties to protect Jiangling and Jiangxia.
In fact, the implication is that Guan Yu can choose to abandon Wuling and Lingling counties in Jingnan, as long as Xu Shu and Wenpin can defend Jiangling and Jiangxia north of the Yangtze River.
After he led his troops to conquer Wancheng, intimidated Cao Pi in Chang'an, broke the stalemate in the battle, and cooperated with the King of Hanzhong to leave Chang'an eastward and occupied the old capital, it was too late to go back and settle accounts with Jiangdong.
Xu Shu still didn't quite agree with Guan Yu's opinion. After all, Xu Shu really couldn't trust Jiangdong. He always felt that doing so was a bit too risky. Jingnan had never been the focus of Jiangdong's sneak attacks. If Jiangdong wanted to launch a sneak attack, he would definitely be targeting Jiangling. It was too dangerous to leave only 10,000 soldiers to guard it.
It's not that Guan Yu didn't know this, but the problem was that Guan Yu really didn't believe that when Zhou Yu sent troops to Huainan and Sun Quan sent troops to Qingxu, how many extra soldiers would be left in Jiangdong, which could be used to sneak attack with Xu Shu in charge? Jiangling guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers.
Jiangling city defense was built by Guan Yu. In the past few years, Wang Ji only had more than 10,000 soldiers, which blocked the sneak attack of Jiangdong's 50,000-strong army.
Can Jiangdong still raise 50,000 troops now? !
Therefore, Guan Yu felt that although his approach was a bit risky, it was not insecure.
Furthermore, the current situation is no longer the time when only three counties were in hand. With Xiangyang and Fancheng in hand, Guan Yu does not have no way to retreat. Speaking of taking 10,000 steps back, even if Jiangdong attacks and captures Jiangling again, Guan Yu will rely on Xiangfan to defeat Jiangling. It's not like there's no chance to fight back.
Therefore, Guan Yu decided to take the risk against all opinions and transferred Wang Ji and Shi Bao to lead 30,000 troops northward.
Seeing that Guan Yu could not be persuaded, Xu Shu just sighed helplessly, packed up his luggage, and went to Jiangling to guard.
Although Xu Shu was uneasy about Guan Yu's forced troop transfer this time, he was not too dissatisfied. In fact, from a cautious point of view, Guan Yu's transfer did put Jingnan, including Jiangling, in danger. Possible, but from a practical point of view, Xu Shu actually didn't believe that Jiangdong could still have the power to attack Jingzhou in a two-front battle.
And from a political point of view, after the last sneak attack in Jiangdong failed, he has become politically passive. If he launches a sneak attack this time, how will the people of the world view Sun Quan, the lord of Jiangdong? !
Xu Shu only warned Guan Yu not to take too many risks out of his duties as a military advisor. After all, their journey was a feint attack. There was really no need for Guan Yu to turn the feint attack into a main attack every time. This might destroy Liu Bei's overall strategic plan.
But Guan Yu is Guan Yu after all. Not only is he a famous general in the world, he has his own plans, but he is also Liu Bei's sworn brother. Xu Shu is not easy to persuade Xu Shu of the decisions he makes, unless they are too outrageous.
After all, Xu Shu was only here to assist Guan Yu, not to make decisions for Guan Yu.
In this way, Xu Shu returned to Jiangling and took charge, while Wang Ji and Shi Bao led the troops north to support the Nanyang battlefield.
(End of chapter)
