The edict sent from Luoyang to Wancheng only takes about ten days to be delivered to Zhang Liao.
When Zhang Liao saw such an edict, he could only smile bitterly.
Let yourself take the initiative to fight against Guan Yu. Does the emperor know what kind of situation he is facing now? !
Yes, he has more than 30,000 soldiers in his hands, but Guan Yu on the opposite side is so easy to deal with? !
Zhang Liao did not ignore Cao Pi's previous private message intentionally, but because Zhang Liao himself was not sure that he could defeat Guan Yu's 50,000 army with 30,000 soldiers in a field battle.
But now, this is an edict.
An edict is different from a private message. There is no room for bargaining.
Although, these days there is also a saying that "if a general is away, the emperor's orders will not be accepted." Zhang Liao, as a veteran of the two dynasties, has sufficient qualifications. But Zhang Liao's surname is not Cao, so he will not do this.
Zhang Liao's ability to become the first front army commander with a foreign surname in Cao Cao's era relied not only on his ability, but also on his principles of conduct.
First, Zhang Liao's orders to Cao Cao were to be carried out without any compromise.
Cao Cao asked him to lead the troops in the battle at Bailang Mountain. Without saying a word, he led the troops and rushed towards the Wuhuan cavalry, and directly broke through the enemy's formation, slashing the formation.
When Cao Cao asked him to defend Hefei, he took the initiative to fight against Sun Quan. Zhang Liao and his 800 men dared to attack Sun Quan's central army without any compromise.
Second, the relationship between Zhang Liao and Cao Jun's generals is actually not that good.
Zhang Liao was born as a general, so it was destined that he would not be able to mix with veteran figures such as Xiahou Cao. Among generals with foreign surnames, Zhang Liao's popularity was actually very low.
Zhang Liao had a grudge against Li Dian, which was obvious.
When Zhang Liao served under Lu Bu, he killed Li Dian's uncle and his clansmen during the Battle of Yanzhou. The two were mortal enemies.
The relationship between Zhang Liao, Yu Jin, and Le Jin cannot be said to be very good. When Cao Cao went south to conquer Jingzhou, he ordered the three of them to garrison in three places. However, each of these three people felt that they should be the commander in chief, and they refused to obey anyone. They were fine every day. The two sons quarreled and started a lawsuit. Cao Cao had no choice but to send Zhao Yan as a peacemaker and command them as an army marching south, and then he reluctantly calmed down.
Not to mention, Zhang Liao even had a quarrel with his bodyguard Wu Zhou. Let's put it this way, apart from having a good relationship with Xu Huang and Guan Yu, Zhang Liao was really not popular within Cao Ying.
This is also the reason why Zhang Liao, a general with a foreign surname, was the first to become the commander of the front army - Cao Cao can rest assured.
Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for Zhang Liao to disobey Cao Pi's edict. Even Zhang Liao knew that if he played any trick of "if he is outside and your orders are not accepted," then the people who would make trouble for him would definitely be worse than the people who spoke for him. Much more.
So we have to fight.
But the question is, how to fight? !
The requirements of the Emperor of Wei were not easy to meet.
If Zhang Liao was simply asked to repel Guan Yu, although Zhang Liao would find it very difficult, he could still find a way to try.
Thirty thousand against fifty thousand, although the troops are weak, in field battles, command on the battlefield is also a key to victory or defeat. Zhang Liao does not feel that his command ability is really worse than Guan Yu.
But Cao Pi's request was that after Zhang Liao defeated Guan Yu, he immediately led his troops to Chang'an to support him.
This means that Zhang Liao must not only repel Zhang Liao, but also ensure that the damage to his soldiers is not too great.
Otherwise, once the two sides fight fiercely, both sides will suffer losses. Even if Guan Yu is defeated, Zhang Liao will not have enough troops to support Chang'an's defense.
This request is really too much.
The Shu general opposite is not some cat or dog, that is Guan Yu, who was so powerful in China that he almost moved the capital after defeating Emperor Taizu Wu. Are you serious? !
Even if I defend the Nanyang defense system I have established, it is not easy to block Guan Yu's attack. Now you ask me to abandon the defense system and take the initiative to fight, and you also ask me to win a big victory. The most terrible thing is that I can't suffer any losses myself. It’s too big. Why don’t you go to bed early? There really is everything in your dreams.
After receiving the edict, Zhang Liao became more and more frustrated and anxious as he thought about it.
This kind of daydream-like thought, what did the emperor eat that damaged his brain to give such an order? !
But the edict had been issued, and Zhang Liao could not disobey it, so he had to find a way to implement it.
After thinking about it, Zhang Liao felt that the conventional tactics of using troops should no longer work.
The only way is probably to find an opportunity to challenge Guan Yu in a one-on-one gambling battle, and strive to kill Guan Yu. This may destroy the military morale of the entire Shu bandits in Jingzhou, and win easily.
But this matter is not that easy.
When Guan Yu's formation beheaded Yan Liang, Zhang Liao was watching from the flank of Guan Yu's army. All Cao Jun generals who had seen Guan Yu's formation behead Yan Liang with their own eyes could not admire Guan Yu's bravery.
The value of "all the generals in Shao are not good enough" was not just blown away, it was seen by Zhang Liao with his own eyes.
Although Guan Yu is now in his early sixties and Zhang Liao is only in his fifties, theoretically speaking, Guan Yu's force value should have declined a lot, but Zhang Liao is still not absolutely sure that he can kill Guan Yu on the spot.
As long as he had this certainty, Zhang Liao had already agreed to Guan Yu's duel when Guan Yu challenged him to a fight.
But now, Guan Yu has not come to the camp gate to challenge for a few days. Instead, it is Zhang Liao who needs to seek a fight with Guan Yu.
What the hell is this? !
Zhang Liao had no choice but to write a letter to Guan Yu in person, agreeing to Guan Yu's invitation to fight.
Yes, I agreed to a fight. Zhang Liao made a cautious move here.
Although, more than a month ago, he clearly rejected Guan Yu's request for a duel in front of the two armies, but Guan Yu didn't accept it, and during that time he came to the camp every day to challenge him.
So, in fact, this can also be seen as Guan Yu continuing to challenge Zhang Liao.
Now the situation is different. Zhang Liao was forced by Cao Pi and had to solve this problem in a duel. Zhang Liao had to be shameless and wrote to Guan Yu. He agreed to Guan Yu's request for a duel and let Guan Yu choose the time and place. People fight.
Here, Zhang Liao took advantage of Guan Yu's aloof temper. Since it was Guan Yu who proposed the duel, and Zhang Liao "reluctantly" agreed, then Guan Yu would definitely not use the same attitude as Zhang Liao did before. To prevaricate with rhetoric.
The second master is such a person. He has the most integrity. What he says will be honored by you even if he grits his teeth.
I have to say that Zhang Liao really understands Guan Yu.
When Guan Yu received Zhang Liao's reply and agreed to a fight, he almost didn't think about anything else. He agreed on the spot and replied to the letter to schedule a duel.
Fortunately, Zhang Liao's reply was regarded as military information, and Guan Yu did not read it privately as a private letter. Instead, he called Xu Shu, Deng Ai and others to discuss it together, which gave Deng Ai and Xu Shu the opportunity to dissuade him.
To be honest, sometimes, Deng Ai really couldn't understand how his father-in-law's brain circuit developed.
Good guy! ! !
Did my father-in-law lose his mind and go crazy or something? Why did he agree to such a crazy request? !
"General, think twice!!!" Deng Ai hurriedly persuaded, "Today is different from the past. In the past, the general wanted a quick victory, but he had no choice but to take such a dangerous strategy. Now, General Yongkou has come with 20,000 elite troops. We have only been here for three days, and the governor Wang has already led 20,000 troops to the north from Jiangling. They can reach Fancheng within ten days. When the army gathers together, there are only 30,000 Wei thieves. What's the point?! If the general accepted the promise of Zhang Liao, wouldn't he? To sacrifice the long and take the short is not what a general would do!!!"
What Deng Ai said is really true.
In this time and space, Kou Feng and Meng Da have no reason not to send reinforcements, and there is no excuse for not sending reinforcements.
Historically, Liu Feng and Mengda did not send troops to rescue Guan Yu. On the one hand, it was a matter of personal grudges. On the other hand, it was true that at that time, they had just captured the Dongsan County, and the morale of the people and the army were unstable. They rashly sent troops to aid Guan Yu. The Dongsan County might be restored at any time. opposite.
But in this time and space, Kou Feng is not called Liu Feng, so there is no personal grudge. Moreover, with the help of Dong Yun, Kou Feng has been in control of Dongsan County for several years. It can basically be said that it is deeply rooted and there is no possibility of revolt.
And more importantly, Guan Yu is now the great general of the Han Dynasty.
The general, who controls the military power of the country, dispatches Kou Feng to lead troops to support the Nanyang battlefield. If Kou Feng dares not to go, no matter what valid reasons there are, Zhang Xi will not be able to protect him, and even Dong Yun has the right to directly remove his military power. , he led troops to reinforce Guan Yu.
Although Kou Feng is a bit reckless, he is not a fool. If he can't figure this out, can Liu Bei trust him to guard Dongsan County? !
Therefore, as soon as Kou Feng received Guan Yu's general order, he left Dong Yun in charge of Shangyong's government affairs and ordered Meng Da to take charge of the defense of the three counties on his behalf. He immediately organized his army and set off to support the Nanyang battlefield.
Because Nanyang County is relatively close to Xincheng County and has convenient transportation by the Han River, Kou Feng still has about three days to reach the front line of the Nanyang battlefield.
Relatively far away, Wang Ji, the governor of Jingzhou who was stationed in Jiangling City, had also finished reorganizing his army. He left two brothers, Xi Zhen and Xi Hong, to handle government affairs and ordered Zhang Ren, Pan Jun, Li Qiu and others to take control of key passes. , don't move lightly, he himself will lead an army of 20,000, with Shi Bao as the vanguard, leave Jiangling and go north to support Guan Yu.
In other words, in at most ten days, the number of soldiers under Guan Yu's tent will surge to 90,000.
With ninety thousand against thirty thousand, a three to one military strength comparison. If Guan Yu hadn't been mentally retarded, could he have agreed to Zhang Liao's single-on-one invitation? !
(End of chapter)
