During the Double Ninth Festival banquet in Changting, Lan Tian's intentional or unintentional foreshadowing gradually resolved Lu Su's doubts. Before leaving, he brought out the story of Zhou Shanyu robbing the prince, which almost made Lu Su confused.
Guan Yu watched from the beginning to the end. He was sincerely shocked by Lan Tian's words, which had the ability to turn decay into magic.
After sending Lu Su off smoothly, Lan Tian took advantage of the sunset to play with his son Lan Ji by the river.
Guan Yu stroked his long beard and watched the two enjoying their family relationship. He couldn't help but admire Lan Tian. This intimate relationship was enviable.
Whether it is Liu Bei, Zhang Fei or himself, no one can be as close to his son as Lan Tian. Most of them only play the role of strict fathers.
Guan Ping walked up to Guan Yu at this time, with his own thoughts on his green face, because Guan Yu married him in Jiangxia a year ago, and maybe he will have his own son soon.
Guan Yu patted Guan Ping's shoulder and said: "Who doesn't like a child like Lan Ji, but your uncle is a master in the world, and his talent is not inferior to Kong Ming, so if you can learn something, learn it. If you really can't learn it, don't force it." Own."
Guan Ping nodded, "What my father said is absolutely true, but Lan Ji is also a bit powerful. I admire him..."
"What do you mean?" Guan Yu turned around and asked in confusion.
During the Double Ninth Festival banquet, Guan Ping took Lan Ji to play and get close to his younger brothers and sisters according to Guan Yu's wishes.
Guan Yu's tutoring was very strict, and the children's play at home was very measured, but Lan Jicai had only been here for half a day and became the king of children in the back house of the Guan family.
Hide and seek, hopscotch, attracting ants with sugar candies, burning ant nests, jumping goats, cockfighting, climbing trees, wrestling...
Lan Ji played almost all the games he usually played in the Guan family's back house, except for going to the house to uncover the tiles. Guan Xing and his sister seemed to have opened the door to a new world.
Although Guan Xing was several years older than Lan Ji, he was willing to follow him as his younger brother, and his younger sister Guan Yinping became Lan Ji's crush.
Guan Ping was worried that Guan Yu would turn around and punish his younger siblings. He had just seen that he had a good impression of Lan Ji, so he took advantage of Guan Yu's happiness to tell the family affairs in advance. This was equivalent to giving Guan Yu a vaccination. As a result, Guan Yu not only did not get angry after hearing this , but showed a long-lost smile.
"No wonder the third brother wants to take Bao'er to Quanling to play. The sons Ziyu has taught are really different. Lan Ji is really wild. I don't know what Lan Yuan is like. What can you and Xing'er do in the future? Get close to them." Guan Yu said meaningfully, stroking his long beard.
"Father, aren't you angry? The house is in a mess right now, and I guess I won't be able to finish cleaning it tomorrow..." Guan Ping lowered his head after saying that.
"Hahaha, it doesn't matter. I'm a bit harsh on you. It's okay for Ji'er to come as a guest and have fun..." Guan Yu said with a smile.
Guan Ping was worried about his younger brothers and sisters, but he didn't expect Guan Yu to be so tolerant and talkative today. He thought to himself that it would be great if his uncle often brought his son as a guest, and he could see his father's smile more.
Lan Tian was about to leave early the next morning, and Guan Yu invited him to have a night talk by candlelight in the war room. Lan Tian seemed to have a magical power, and it was always a pleasure to talk to him.
The two sat on the ground at night. Guan Yu remembered Lan Tian's suggestion to attack Hefei from Jiangdong. Lu Su was worried that the battle of Tongguan would end soon. In addition, it would be more difficult to attack the city in winter, and he was afraid that Sun Quan would not agree to send troops.
Guan Yu put one hand on the ground and asked: "Lu Zijing doesn't know Ziyu's ability, so he can't listen to your suggestions. It was previously expected that the Ma Chao coalition would fall into the trap. Could it be that Cao Cao won't win the Tongguan battle so easily?"
Lan Tian smiled and said: "Lai Gong and Lu Meng are fighting a war of attrition in Jiaozhou. This kind of conspiracy will not advance very quickly. Once it really takes hold, it will be devastating. Jiangdong's monarchs and ministers don't even grasp Cao Cao's intentions. How could they guess it?" How long does the war take? Even a hundred thousand pigs cannot be killed in a short time..."
Guan Yu nodded, "Fortunately, the generals in Kansai rebelled, and my eldest brother was able to take the opportunity to capture Xichuan. We are just in time to recuperate. When the world is divided into three parts, I will send my army to the north to attack the Central Plains. When the time comes, I will rely on Ziyu to guard the rear."
"If my family doesn't speak to each other, General Guan will move forward when the time comes. I will prepare troops, food and armor for you to help my brother-in-law support the Han Dynasty." Lantian said solemnly.
"You Ziyu's words make me relieved..." Guan Yuxin said, "I can show you my age for nothing."
"I have to go on a journey tomorrow, why not just turn off the lights and go to sleep?" Lan Tian suggested.
"That's fine." Guan Yu nodded slightly, then blew the oil lamp on the stage.
The moment the fire went out, Guan Yu's eyes fell on the location of Yongzhou on the map in the palace. After two nights of communication with Lan Tian, his horizons broadened and his way of thinking became more comprehensive.
According to Lan Tian's saying, you guys should fight hard. Whether it's Cao Cao and Ma Chao at Tongguan, or Sun Quan and Cao Cao at Hefei, the more you consume, the more beneficial it will be to your eldest brother Kuang Fu Han in the future.
In August, Cao Cao marched westward via the Yellow River from Gushuo to Tongguan and had been in a stalemate with the Kansai Allied Forces for nearly a month.
Although Tongguan is majestic and steep, it is not a narrow pass that can only be opened by one man. It is a narrow pass that cannot be opened by ten thousand people. To really defend this pass, a large army is needed to garrison it.
Cao Cao took advantage of the characteristics of Tongguan and adopted a strategy of urgent suppression after the troops arrived. He pretended that he must break through Tongguan and entered the Guanzhong area. After the attention of the coalition forces was attracted to Tongguan, various ministries successively increased their troops to Tongguan for defense.
Cao Cao was not worried but happy when he heard that Tongguan had increased its troops. General Cao Hong asked in confusion: "The prime minister was frowning when he first came to see Xiongguan. Why was he so happy when he heard that the coalition troops were increasing?"
Cao Cao looked around at the advisers and generals in the tent and saw that everyone was thinking hard, except for Jia Xu, whose expression was a little strange. Cao Cao knew that this man was very scheming, so he raised his head and smiled and said: "Guanzhong is difficult to travel in the long run. If all the thieves rely on danger to block it, I have raised an army to conquer for a year or two, but it is still undecided. Now all the thieves have gathered, and although there are many of them, they will not surrender to each other. The army has no suitable leader and can be destroyed in one fell swoop. It is difficult to achieve success, so I am very happy."
"The Prime Minister is wise." Cao Hong clasped his fists in compliment, and all the generals in the tent cheered in agreement.
Cao Cao adopted Xun You's strategy of weakening first and then strengthening, and directly targeted the Kansai generals. In order to make a name for himself, he used seemingly unwise tactics to force them to rebel.
Watching the time gradually dragging on to winter and the weather getting colder, Cao Cao became determined to fight decisively. The so-called war of attrition does not mean waiting until the food is actually exhausted. In addition to food, the coalition forces also lack winter clothing to keep out the cold. At this time, it is easy to make mistakes if you are eager to fight. .
After Cao Cao had the idea of attacking, he summoned Xu Huang, who was familiar with the terrain of Guanzhong.
"Gongming is here again. Is there any plan to help me enter Guanzhong?" Cao Cao asked.
Xu Huang clasped his fists and answered: "Tongguan is strong and difficult to attack. The coalition forces are heavily stationed at this time. Why don't the prime minister divide his troops and cross the Yellow River to the west? It is not difficult to bypass Tongguan's natural dangers by water and lose the geographical advantage."
Cao Cao smiled and said: "Gong Ming and I coincidentally agreed. I will cross the Yellow River from Pubanjin to the west with your four thousand soldiers and horses and Zhu Ling. I will lead the main force to cross the river to cover you. As long as one army can cross, all the troops can cross." ."
