In May of the 26th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei, who was still stationed at Longshan Road, finally made the decision to withdraw his troops after receiving a victory document from Zhao Yun and learning that Liangzhou had been captured.
However, before withdrawing his troops, Liu Bei needed to make an arrangement for the defenders of Longshan Road.
Although the Liu Bei Group now occupies the Longshan Road, as long as the Cao Wei Group recovers, it will definitely not ignore the Longshan Road that threatens Guanzhong at all times. It will definitely try every means to recapture the Longshan Road. Therefore, the Liu Bei Group's defense of the Longshan Road Arrangement is very important.
In this regard, Liu Bei has his own ideas.
There are three important points on Longshan Road - Jieting, Lueyang and Shanggui.
All three points are crucial.
What Shanggui is looking at is the waterway and mountain road passages along the Wei River of the Cao Wei Group, Jieting is guarding the Longshan mountain road, and Lueyang is the intermediate hub connecting Jieting and Shanggui, so these three places must be protected. Arrange suitable people to guard the camp.
In the direction of the street pavilion, there is a ready candidate, and that is Wang Ping.
Wang Ping had followed Zhang Xi in the battle to defend the street pavilion, and he had a good understanding of the geographical situation of the street pavilion. Moreover, Wang Ping's Wudang Feijun was very suitable for fighting on mountain roads, and it was a natural place to be placed in the street pavilion.
Regarding Lueyang, Liu Bei appointed Zhang Yi as the guard general of Lueyang to support Shanggui and Jieting on the left and right sides of the middle road.
If the appointment of these two people can be considered a reasonable arrangement made by Liu Bei based on his personal abilities and the current status of the two generals in the army, then Liu Bei's appointment of General Gui exceeded almost everyone's expectations.
Liu Bei appointed Hao Zhao, the surrendered general, as the guard general of Shanggui.
This appointment was decided by Liu Bei against all opinions.
On the one hand, Liu Bei had his own way of looking at people. On the other hand, Liu Bei believed in Zhao Yun. Liu Bei also chose to believe in Hao Zhao, whom Zhao Yun strongly recommended for appointment.
After Hao Zhao surrendered in Guzang County, he followed Su Ze to surrender to Zhao Yun, but Hao Zhao was actually unconvinced in his heart.
If it weren't for a coward like Su Ze, Hao Zhao felt that he might not be able to block Zhao Yun and Qu Yan's attacks from both front and back.
But his boss decided to surrender in Kaicheng, so what could Hao Zhao do on his own.
At this time, Hao Zhao was just a miscellaneous general who was slightly more senior than the captain, and his reputation in the army was not good. Su chose to surrender. Hao Zhao did not have the charisma to make the soldiers continue to fight and could only surrender. .
Hao Zhao felt dissatisfied, but Zhao Yun admired Hao Zhao's ability very much. Although it was only a short period of ten days, Hao Zhao's defense methods were the most effective and the most effective ones Zhao Yun had ever seen.
Zhao Yun is the person with the best temperament among the senior generals of Liu Bei's group. When encountering such a talented person, Zhao Yun's first thought is to recommend him to Liu Bei for inspection and appointment.
Therefore, Zhao Yun wrote a special letter to Liu Bei and asked Hao Zhao to escort Xu Miao to see Liu Bei. At the same time, he also described Hao Zhao's abilities in detail in the letter and specifically recommended Hao Zhao to Liu Bei.
After Liu Bei personally persuaded Xu Miao to surrender, he also took the time to meet with Hao Zhao and had some simple conversations with Hao Zhao. He got a general understanding of Hao Zhao's abilities and immediately had a general idea of Zhao Yun's recommendation.
As for Xu Miao, Liu Bei personally persuaded him to surrender and sent him back to Liangzhou. He was promoted to serve as the governor of Liangzhou and assisted Zhao Yun in governing Liangzhou.
Hao Zhao, on the other hand, was retained by Liu Bei, who not only promoted Hao Zhao's miscellaneous generals to a higher level, but most importantly, Liu Bei appointed Hao Zhao as the guard general of Shanggui.
Hao Zhao could be said to be grateful for this.
You know, in the military, seniority has been relatively important since ancient times. With Hao Zhao's seniority in Cao Wei, even if he were transferred, it would not be enough to hold the position of a city commander.
Not to mention that he, Hao Zhao, was still a subordinate general.
As soon as he surrendered, Liu Bei dared to hand over such an important place as Shanggui to Hao Zhao, and at the same time made an exception and promoted Hao Zhao to be the commander-in-chief of the first city. This was the first time that Hao Zhao had been used in such an important way in the army for nearly ten years.
Originally, Hao Zhao joined the army in Cao Wei with the purpose of gaining fame. However, after fighting for Cao Wei for ten years, he was nothing more than an ordinary general and a miscellaneous general.
But after this surrender, when Liu Bei came to his side, he immediately became the general of the city. If he performed some more meritorious deeds in guarding the important place, wouldn't it be possible to become a general in the near future? !
With such treatment, how could Hao Zhao not feel grateful to Liu Bei? This is Mingzhu! ! !
In this way, Liu Bei arranged the defense of Longshan Road, and then left Shanggui and headed east along the Weishui River to the entrance of Baoxie Road to join the army led by Zhang Xi.
Liu Bei's sudden appearance made Zhang He and others who were still confronting Zhang Xi on the west bank of the Weishui River very cautious. On the one hand, they strengthened their defenses, and on the other hand, they quickly sent people to notify Cao Pi, who was still in charge of Chang'an.
Cao Pi suddenly felt as if he was facing a formidable enemy, thinking that Liu Bei's sudden eastward advance was intended to attack Chang'an and capture the Third Assistant.
Cao Pi immediately ordered Xiahou Shang to strengthen defenses against Chang'an City, and at the same time ordered Zhang He and others to strictly guard the west bank of the Wei River as a third auxiliary barrier.
Immediately afterwards, Cao Pi gave an order to Cao Ren in Wancheng, hoping that Cao Ren could mobilize some troops from Wancheng to support Chang'an. Not too many, just ten thousand people.
After receiving Cao Pi's order, Cao Ren was so angry that he wanted to scold his mother. Why was this eldest nephew so timid? !
Not to mention that Zhang He, Xu Huang and others are blocking the west bank of the Wei River. If Liu Bei doesn't break them, he can't even think about marching into Sanfu. To take a step back, even if Liu Bei really enters Sanfu, you still have nearly 30,000 defenders in Chang'an. Even if Liu Bei The entire army can only hold down 60,000 to 70,000 people, so you are afraid of nothing.
With the city defense of Chang'an, Liu Bei does not have more than 100,000 troops, so it is impossible to break through Chang'an, which is defended by 30,000 people.
You also want to reinforce me. You don’t even look at who my opponent is. It’s not easy for me to hold Wancheng now. You want me to reinforce you? !
The person opposite me is Guan Yu. Huh? ! Eh? ! ! !
Cao Ren was criticizing Cao Pi for his cowardice, but he was shocked to find that Guan Yu, who was still attacking Wancheng yesterday, suddenly raised his troops and pulled out his camp today, pretending to retreat.
Neither Cao Ren nor Zhang Liao chose to attack at this time. They were not stupid, and they would not regard Guan Yu as a fool. No matter what kind of difficulties Guan Yu encountered and had to retreat, he would not fail to take any precautions when retreating.
At this time, if you go out of the city and take the initiative to attack, you may fall into Guan Yu's trap and lose your troops and generals.
The most urgent task is not to pursue Guan Yu's retreat, but to figure out why Guan Yu retreated.
Some time ago, Guan Yu's strong attack did cause a lot of losses to Liu Bei's army in Jingzhou, but this loss was not enough to hurt Guan Yu. Guan Yu suddenly withdrew. Could it be that Sima Yi from the Xinye direction had obtained the victory? Progress, cutting off Guan Yu's food supply? !
If this is the case, then Cao Ren and Zhang Liao should try to pursue them. After all, the army that is short of food will become weaker and weaker as time goes by. And if they retreat from Wancheng back to Xiangyang, they will have to march normally. It took seven or eight days, but there was no chance of a sneak attack.
But before Cao Ren and Zhang Liao could discuss how many men to lead in pursuit, Sima Yi's letter arrived.
Sima Yi said that he suddenly discovered that Liu Bei's army had increased the defensive strength of the New Field Army in the direction of Xinye. He felt very strange, so he came to ask the two generals if there was any change in the direction of Wancheng.
Sima Yi still had confidence in Wancheng's defense. He didn't believe that Guan Yu could break through Wancheng so quickly. Sima Yi was worried that Guan Yu was going to retreat back to Xiangfan, and he would kill himself by hunting rabbits along the way.
After Cao Ren and Zhang Liao received Sima Yi's letter, they immediately felt that the problem was serious.
Guan Yu's sudden retreat was not what Cao Ren and Zhang Liao expected. Who is Guan Yu? What kind of character is he? If he doesn't fight with you to the end, it means he has restrained his temper. How can he take the initiative to retreat? !
Now that Guan Yu has taken the initiative to withdraw his troops, is this really not a trap? !
Now Cao Ren and Zhang Liao were a little unsure.
Out of caution, Cao Ren immediately gave Sima Yi an order to suspend his attack on Xinye and retreat twenty miles to defend in case Guan Yu suddenly marched into Xinye to encircle him.
At the same time, Cao Ren and Zhang Liao discussed and asked Zhang Liao to lead 20,000 troops and pursue Guan Yu cautiously. Don't get too close to prevent fraud, but at the same time be alert to Guan Yu's retreat and know the way Guan Yu retreats.
If Guan Yu just retreated normally, then he could just chase Xinye and then retreat.
If Guan Yu's purpose is to encircle and suppress Sima Yi, then he must find a way to support Sima Yi. He cannot let the Xudu army led by Sima Yi suffer too much loss, otherwise Xudu may not be protected.
In this way, Zhang Liao led his troops to pursue carefully for five days. When Guan Yu's army completely retreated from Xinye, Zhang Liao stopped the pursuit and contacted Sima Yi.
It was only at this time that Zhang Liao and Cao Ren completely believed that Guan Yu had really retreated.
It was also at this time that Cao Ren remembered that Cao Pi had asked him to send troops to rescue Chang'an, but he had not been able to do it. He quickly sent 20,000 reinforcements to Chang'an.
But at this time, Cao Pi no longer needed any reinforcements. He had already received the battle report from Zhang He on the front line.
After Liu Bei gathered his army at the Baoxie Road crossing, he left Chen Dao to lead 7,000 white soldiers and 5,000 regular soldiers to guard the Baoxie Road crossing, while he led the remaining 40,000 troops to retreat back to Hanzhong from Baoxie Road.
This made Cao Pi breathe a big sigh of relief. It was only at this time that Cao Pi finally confirmed that Liu Bei had completely withdrawn his troops and Chang'an was saved.
But then, Cao Pi received another piece of news that made his heart skip a beat.
Man Chong received an urgent report from Yecheng. The famous scholar Wei Xi wanted to join forces with Changle guard Chen Yi to attack Yecheng, the Wei capital, and kidnap the Han emperor in Yecheng to escape.
But the guard Chen Yi was frightened and informed Man Chong who was staying in Ye City. After learning about it, Man Chong immediately united with Dong Zhao and others in Ye City to suppress the rebellion bloodyly with brutal methods, killed Wei Xi, and regained the Emperor Han.
But this attempted rebellion in Yecheng made Cao Pi quite frightened. The lair was on fire! ! !
(End of chapter)
