Guan Ping was full of fear about Zhang Liao's sudden appearance.
Guan Ping didn't know the extent of Zhang Liao's injury. He only knew that his father said that Zhang Liao must be seriously injured and unable to govern. With how much Guan Ping admired his father, he naturally believed it without any doubt.
But now, watching Zhang Liao appear under the commander's flag on the city tower, commanding the Wei army to defend Deng County, Guan Ping began to feel a little guilty.
This reflects Guan Ping's shortcomings, or in other words, Guan Yu's shortcomings in cultivating heirs.
In fact, to a certain extent, there is not much difference between Guan Ping and Zhang Hu. They are always in front of their father, protected by their father's wings, and never have the opportunity to stand alone.
Guan Ping is slightly better than Zhang Hu, because Liu Bei has been in poverty in the first half of his life, so Guan Ping has to fight in battle. He has rich battlefield experience. He is a little better than Zhang Hu, a second-generation general who has a serious lack of experience in battle. .
But, that's all.
Guan Ping, like Zhang Hu, also lacks the experience of leading alone, or he has always been accustomed to his father making decisions, and they have to execute them. When sudden changes occur and they need to make decisions by themselves, their adaptability is seriously insufficient.
Therefore, when Guan Ping saw Zhang Liao appear, just like Zhang Hu two days ago, he misjudged for a while, thinking that with his ability, he should not be Zhang Liao's opponent.
But after all, Guan Ping was much luckier than Zhang Hu.
Zhang Hu had no helpers, and his father was seriously injured and unconscious, so he had no choice but to go in alone. With a guilty conscience and misjudgment, the decision he made was naturally compounded of mistakes.
But Guan Ping is different. Guan Ping has helpers.
"Even if Zhang Liao comes personally, why should we be afraid?!" Kou Feng said with a nonchalant look, "With the current situation, I am strong and the enemy is weak. Big brother does not need to worry too much. When the younger brother leads the army to attack the city, he will kill Zhang Liao sooner or later. Head, give me victory under my command!"
Kou Feng was a fool and didn't care whether Zhang Liao was personally directing the defense of Deng County.
He only knew that based on the current comparison of military strength between the two sides and the comparison of the morale of the soldiers on both sides, he had the upper hand. So there was nothing to worry about. He could just get started.
Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that Kou Feng has been on his own for many years.
Once you are able to stand alone, no matter who your opponent is, you must first not be timid. Kou Feng may not be able to explain this truth, but he can indeed do it.
This is why Liu Bei is willing to give him the opportunity to guard Xincheng County.
Of course, if it was just Kou Feng who was a fool who said this, Guan Ping might still hesitate, but this time, Deng Ai also spoke.
"The city tower is more than two hundred steps away. I can't see clearly in my daze. How could my brother know that it is Zhang Liao himself?!" Deng Ai thought for a moment and said, "If Zhang Liao really returned to normal, how could he not be seen in the past two days? , causing the army to be defeated and trapped in Deng County?! In my opinion, the man under his command may not be Zhang Liao himself. Even if it is, Zhang Liao may not recover from his injuries. This may be a delaying strategy for the enemy. Brother, there is no need to worry, and he should lead the army. The key is to attack the city."
Guan Ping, who does not have the filter of "natural enemy", is very convinced of Deng Ai's ability. His brother-in-law is indeed a talented commander. He has said so, so don't hesitate.
Guan Ping immediately ordered the entire army to prepare to attack the city.
Xu Shu, who had stood aside for a long time without saying a word, now showed a relaxed smile.
There is a saying that Xu Shu was also a little worried when he saw Zhang Liao suddenly appeared.
But I am not worried about Zhang Liao, but I am worried that Guan Ping will make mistakes due to lack of experience.
Zhang Liao's sudden appearance was indeed beyond Xu Shu's expectation, but Xu Shu, like Deng Ai, saw through the irrationality at a glance.
It's just that Deng Ai thought that the Wei army had found someone to pretend to be Zhang Liao and wanted to slow down the army, but Xu Shu believed that Zhang Liao on the tower was real. Zhang Liao did this not to slow down the army, but to improve his side as much as possible. The morale and morale of the soldiers were improved to prepare for the defense of the city.
But no matter which possibility it is, as long as Guan Ping can make up his mind to attack Deng County, it doesn't mean much whether Zhang Liao appears or not.
The two armies had been facing each other outside Deng County for almost two months. During these two months, although Guan Yu had been thinking about a quick victory, Xu Shu had not been idle.
No matter whether it is a quick victory or not, it must be implemented in the end to siege the city. Therefore, during this period, Xu Shu did not relax at all and asked the army sergeants to work hard to build siege equipment.
Now, the army's siege equipment is complete, and it is capable of fighting even a fortified city like Wancheng, let alone a small Deng County.
Now, Guan Ping has dispelled his doubts and uses Kou Feng as the vanguard to attack the city. The army's siege equipment is quite complete in Deng County. Even if Zhang Liao guards it personally, he will not be able to hold on for long.
What makes Xu Shu most gratified is that the younger generation is finally growing up slowly.
Strictly speaking, as for the Jingzhou Legion, there is actually quite a talent gap among the younger generation.
The reason for this talent shortage is, on the one hand, that when Liu Bei entered Sichuan, he took most of the young talents from Jingzhou to Yizhou.
The literary ones include Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Yi Ji, Jiang Wan, Xiang Lang, Yang Yi, etc. The martial arts include Huang Zhong, Feng Xi, Zhang Nan, Fu Wei, Zong Xu, Huo Jun, Chen Shi, Gao Xiang, etc., all Liu Bei came from Jingzhou Take Iri Sichuan with you.
While these people supported Liu Bei's team in controlling Yizhou, they also left a large vacancy in Jingzhou's talent pool.
Another reason is that when Guan Yu was governor of Jingzhou, he controlled military power too tightly and did not pay attention to the cultivation of talents at all.
Especially in the years when Liu Bei first entered Sichuan, both Guan Yu and Zhang Xi, the second-in-command who was later transferred back to Jingzhou from Yizhou, were wary of the Jingzhou aristocratic families and never trusted these people, which led to the recruitment of Jingzhou talents under Liu Bei. The proportion of employees working within the group is not high.
But at least Zhang Xi is better than Guan Yu. If Guan Yu really doesn't trust him, he won't use it. Zhang Xi at least knows how to tap potential from outside. Not only did he bring two generals, Li Qiu and Zhang Yi, from Yizhou, but he also dug up Shi Bao, Wang Ji, two men with both civil and military talents, finally left their apprentice Deng Ai behind in Jingzhou.
But even so, none of Li Qiu, Zhang Yi, Shi Bao, and Wang Ji were from Jingzhou.
What is the composition of the aristocratic family these days? ! How proud they are! ! !
Since your Liu Bei Group is unwilling to use us Jingzhou people, even if you want to use it, it will be to let our children go to Yizhou to serve as officials instead of working for the benefit of local aristocratic families in Jingzhou. Then why should we support you?
Therefore, in the years when Liu Bei first entered Sichuan, the relationship between the Jingzhou aristocratic families and Liu Bei's Jingzhou left-behind legion was not very coordinated.
This situation did not change until later.
At that time, Jiangdong betrayed his alliance and attacked Jiangling, but was blocked by Wang Ji and was unable to move forward. At this time, although the Jingzhou aristocratic families did not fully support Liu Bei, at least they did not create any obstacles for the Guan Yu Group, or even for Xiangyang. , because of the defection of the aristocratic family, Guan Yu easily captured Xiangfan, and was finally free to attack Jiangdong.
In Jiangdong's sneak attack against the alliance, the Jingzhou aristocratic families chose the right side, which also gave Guan Yu a little trust in these aristocratic families. The two sides relaxed the relationship slightly and started some cooperation. But in the end, the time was too short. Guan Yu attacked Nanyang twice in five years, and the talent reserve had not yet been established.
Therefore, from the perspective of short-term development, the growth of Wang Ji, Deng Ai, Guan Ping, Zhang Ni, Shi Bao, and Li Qiu is the key to whether Liu Bei Group can continue to stand firm in Jingzhou.
Wang Ji doesn't have to worry too much. The ability he has shown is fully capable of taking charge on his own. If he hadn't been left in Jiangling to defend Jiangdong, Wang Ji should have followed Guan Yu north to attack Nanyang.
Shi Bao. Xu Shu is a bit hard to comment on this person.
To be honest, Xu Shu couldn't stand Shi Bao's character. This person seemed to be afraid of poverty. What he liked most was money, beauty, and luxury. He really didn't look like a virtuous person.
But Xu Shu quite recognized his talent.
Let's put it this way, if Shi Bao didn't have so many uneasy shortcomings, it would be more than enough for Shi Bao to guard Jiangling. There is no need to tie Wang Ji there.
But it's a pity that in this era, people are hired based on their virtues first. Shi Bao's virtues, especially his lustful nature, are really not accepted by the mainstream concepts of this era.
Li Qiu and Zhang Yi, two people who came to Jingzhou from Yizhou to serve as officials, although their reputation within the Jingzhou family is very poor, their abilities are really good. They have grown up now. Li Qiu is already the head of Wuling County. Book, the second in command of a county. Although Zhang Yi was only the guard of Fancheng, given Fancheng's strategic location, having Zhang Ni serve as the guard of Fancheng itself also represented recognition of his abilities.
Now only Guan Ping and Deng Ai are left.
Among them, Guan Ping was the most regretful to Xu Shu.
Deng Ai, this kid, is extremely talented. What he lacks now is actual experience in leading troops. As long as he is given the opportunity to lead troops alone and train for a few years, his achievements will not be much worse than his master.
But Guan Ping was too protective of Guan Junhou, and he was too worried about his son.
If this continues, Guan Ping will be completely useless and can only become an ordinary general, not a commander-level general.
But fortunately, now Guan Ping finally has this opportunity, and this opportunity is very good.
As long as Guan Ping can win this offensive and defensive battle in Deng County and spread the word, it means that Guan Ping has defeated Zhang Liao head-on. Although this Zhang Liao has a weak health, he is still Zhang Liao.
This is not only a great improvement for Guan Ping's reputation, but also a great improvement for Guan Ping's self-confidence.
Now things are developing very smoothly and in the direction Xu Shu hopes.
(End of chapter)
