Liu Bei really had no intention of attacking Wuguan and Tongguan at this time.
Wuguan and Tongguan, as the two eastern passes among the four passes in Guanzhong, are the passes directly connected to the hinterland of the Central Plains.
Tongguan was newly built by Cao Cao twenty years ago. Its current reputation and status cannot be compared with the other three passes. But the Hangu Pass behind Tongguan is famous far and wide.
Not to mention Wuguan, it is an important pass from Guanzhong to the land of Jingchu. Now Jingzhou has been occupied by Liu Bei for most of it, leaving only Nanyang County in front. If Wuguan is lost, then Nanyang County will We are about to face the situation of being attacked from both sides.
Therefore, once Liu Bei goes east to Tongguan or south to Wuguan, the Cao Wei Group will definitely try its best to defend the two passes, and these two passes have dangerous terrain and are notoriously easy to defend and difficult to attack. If Liu Bei attacks Wuguan at this time, , will inevitably start another protracted war.
After all, Liu Bei's Ji Han has a weak foundation. What he is fighting now is relying on the wealth accumulated in Jingzhou and Yizhou in the past few years. Liangzhou is a big hole. The people's livelihood has not been fully restored yet, and there are many foreign races around. It is necessary to Suppressing these Qiang and Hu aliens itself costs money.
Not long after Yongzhou was acquired, the most elite Guanzhong area had just been captured, and they really did not have the strength to launch another war.
Therefore, under Zhuge Liang's persuasion and after careful consideration, Liu Bei decided to temporarily give up attacking Wuguan, and even called Zhang Xi back who was besieging Tongguan.
It's a pity to get Zhang Xi.
Thirty counterweight catapults have been built, and they smashed Tongguan for seven or eight days. Wang Chang was so stunned that he thought about leaving the city and fighting to the death. Liu Bei's edict When they arrived, Zhang Xi could only be ordered to withdraw his troops.
Zhang Xi felt it was a pity because he felt that he could really win Tongguan, the "first pass in the ages". But in Liu Bei's eyes, Tongguan could be taken at any time. The real obstacle was Hangu Pass behind Tongguan. That was In this era, it is recognized as the first level in the world.
If you are not sure of taking Hangu Pass, then taking Tongguan will not pose a substantial threat to Luoyang.
In Liu Bei's third auxiliary attack plan, the requirement for attacking Tongguan was that Zhang Xi could cut off the passage for the Manchu people to move in from Tongguan, force the Manchu people to divert to Wuguan, and buy time for the main army.
Now that this strategic goal has been achieved, there is no need to continue to struggle under Tongguan. It is better to withdraw the troops temporarily to save a waste of military supplies and troops.
Zhang Xi's withdrawal made Wang Chang confused, and he thought Zhang Xi was up to some conspiracy.
But unfortunately, Zhang Xi really retreated, and Tongguan was not captured after all, leaving Wang Chang lucky enough to escape.
But even so, Wang Chang also knew that he would not be able to calm down for long.
Tongguan is too close to Chang'an. If the Shu thieves want to run Guanzhong, they can temporarily ignore Wuguan, which is five or six hundred miles away, but Tongguan, which is about three hundred miles away, must find a way to control it. Otherwise, the security of Guanzhong cannot be adequately guaranteed.
Therefore, Wang Chang immediately reported to the Emperor of Wei and asked Cao Pi to send enough reinforcements to garrison Tongguan. Even if Tongguan was not guarded, Hangu Pass behind Tongguan must be heavily defended.
Otherwise Luoyang will not be protected.
Well, in fact, there is really no need for Wang Chang to remind Cao Pi of this matter. Cao Pi is not so stupid that he does not know the importance of Hangu Pass.
Although, due to the diversion of the Yellow River and sedimentation, the current Qinhan Valley Pass and Hanhan Valley Pass have lost their original dangerous terrain to some extent, but no matter how you say it, the two passes themselves have complete defense facilities. .
Qin Hangu Pass withstood the siege of six countries, which shows its strength.
Although the Hanhangu Pass is more due to economic and political factors, it is also a pass that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty focused on building. It is only more than 300 years ago, and it has been repaired and reinforced during the two Han Dynasties.
The most important thing is that the two Hangu Passes are both on the west side of Luoyang. They are ready-made protective barriers for Luoyang. Cao Pi cannot ignore them.
That is to say, Cao Pi can't send enough reinforcements for a while now. After he calms down, Cao Pi will definitely strengthen the defenses of Tongguan, Qinhangu Pass, and Hanhangu Pass to defend Luoyang with all his strength.
In fact, this tone has almost softened.
Regarding Guanzhong, although the defense of Guanzhong failed in the end, they had to retreat to Tongguan and Wuguan to protect themselves. However, Manchong moved nearly 400,000 Guanzhong people into the Guanzhong. Although it cannot be said that Guanzhong was completely evacuated, it can also be said that it was left to Liu Bei was left in a dilapidated Guanzhong.
As for Nanyang, with the arrival of Sima Yi, Nanyang's defense line was finally temporarily stabilized. At the same time, Cao Zhen's reinforcements had entered the pass and were ready to support Nanyang at any time.
At this time, Cao Pi was limited by the transmission efficiency of communications and did not know that Liu Bei had temporarily withdrawn his troops and stopped fighting after entering Chang'an, and that the Jingzhou Army had begun to withdraw its troops to Xiangyang.
However, there is good news, Cao Pi has now received it.
Gu Yong, the peace envoy sent by Sun Quan, has also arrived in Luoyang and requested to meet Cao Pi in order to reconcile matters between the two countries.
Although Cao Pi really wanted to expel Sun Quan's envoys from Luoyang, if the Qingxu war stopped, he would be able to free up his troops. Whether it was to support Nanyang or to defend the three passes, at least he would not have to worry about insufficient troops. .
Cao Pi was very unhappy, but to Cao Pi, Soochow was just a clown, and the real trouble was the Liu Bei Shu Han Group to the west.
Therefore, Cao Pi still met with Gu Yong in person.
Then, Cao Pi was really angry.
Son, Sun Quan, you are bullying others too much! ! ! !
He clearly came to seek peace, but he actually opened his mouth. Not only did he ask Cao Pi to recognize Sun Quan as the emperor of Dongwu, and the two were equal, he also asked Cao Wei's army to completely abandon Pengcheng Kingdom and withdraw from Qingxu. The most annoying thing is that this bastard boy He still had the nerve to ask for Cao Pi's daughter to marry his son.
It was not because of the prince Sun Deng that he asked to marry, but because of his second descendant Sun Li.
This old boy is just rubbing his nose in his face.
Really, at that moment, Cao Pi really thought about whether he should send someone to Liu Bei to contact him privately and discuss whether we should make a truce first and join forces to take Jiangdong first, kill the shameless Sun Shiwan, and then fight again. In this world, is the surname Cao or Liu?
The person named Sun is so disgusting.
Unfortunately, Cao Pi could only think like that. His reason told him that if he really wanted to do this, Liu Bei could turn around and expose this matter and make the world laugh at him.
The foundation of the founding of the two countries, Wei and Han, is determined. These two countries are mortal enemies and will never stop fighting. There is no possibility of any alliance at all.
If Cao Pi dared to fall into Liu Bei's hands like this, it showed that he had a guilty conscience. He believed that his country was unfair and he was just a prince fighting for the world in troubled times.
So all the concessions Cao Pi made before and the orthodoxy he emphasized were all in vain.
Therefore, although Cao Pi was disgusted, he still had to endure it and sent Sun Zi and Liu Fang to deal with Gu Yong.
Don't even think about acknowledging Sun Quan's throne. At most, Sun Quan can be allowed to call himself the Lord of Soochow and want to be on an equal footing with the Emperor of Wei. There is no room for negotiation on this matter.
Giving up on Pengcheng Kingdom was something that was out of the question. Cao Pi would not do this even if he had no future.
If the land is taken down by others, then it is considered that you are incompetent and your skills are not as good as others. If you lose, you lose.
But he took the initiative to sell the territory out. Cao Pi was not cowardly enough yet.
It's not impossible to marry a daughter, but you can't marry Cao Pi's daughter.
Cao Pi's biological daughter must marry Sun Quan's crown prince Sun Deng, and she must be a concubine. This is a matter of political principle. If she marries Sun Quan's second son Sun Lu, she will appear to be inferior to Sun Quan.
In the final analysis, Cao Pi was still unwilling to recognize Sun Quan's throne. According to Cao Pi's truest thoughts, Sun Quan was just a prince after he died. It was Cao Pi's favor to allow him to become king. You still want me to admit that you are equal to me? !
If reality didn't allow it, even if Cao Pi wanted to marry Sun Quan, he could just choose a daughter from the Cao clan to marry.
Sun Quan's son wants to marry my own daughter, the Emperor of Wei, but he is really out of his mind.
Anyway, this is the condition. If Soochow wants to make peace, then we can make peace. If not, we will continue to waste money.
This condition made it difficult for Sun Zi and Liu Fang, and it also made Gu Yong quite embarrassed.
Indeed, according to Cao Wei's conditions, this is hardly a condition for reaching a peace agreement. The differences between the two parties are so great that the first clause cannot be passed.
Sun Zi and Liu Fang didn't get any bottom line requirements at all, just an edict from Cao Pi, and they didn't even have room to bargain and fight back.
As for Gu Yong, Sun Quan gave the bottom line that the other two conditions were not important and that Cao Pi recognized his throne. This was the key, and Cao Wei must be made to let go.
But what happened to the leader of Soochow? !
It's like the relationship between the central court and the vassal state. With Sun Quan's temper, can he accept such a title? !
Although Liu Bei didn't admit it openly, at least the two parties called each other by name. Cao Pi, who puts the status of both parties on the same level, acted like a subordinate. How can Sun Quan do it? !
Sun Quan wanted the title of Emperor Wu, not King Wu of Wei.
But no matter what Gu Yong said, Cao Wei refused to let go, leaving Gu Yong helpless.
As Liu Bei stationed troops in Guanzhong, news of the Jingzhou army's withdrawal to Xiangyang reached Luoyang. Gu Yong knew that if he did not reach a peace agreement with Cao Wei quickly, things would be in trouble.
Once Cao Wei frees up his hands in the northwest war and sends his troops eastward to support Pengcheng and counterattack Xuzhou, the problem will be huge.
There was no other way, Gu Yong could only write a letter quickly, write down Cao Wei's conditions, and quickly report back to Sun Quan, asking Emperor Wu to make a decision.
(End of chapter)
