Since the fifth day of March, Li Jue and Guo Si's army and Liu Bei's army formed a long river-crossing confrontation between the banks of the Longshan River Valley, the situation and rhythm of the battle have suddenly slowed down.

When the two armies were just deployed, Li Jue launched two tentative attacks on the grounds that "our army had just met successfully and had a strong morale."

The water of the Wei River is originally a small tributary of the Wei River. The river water is not wide. Even when it reaches the Chencang near the Wei River, it is only twenty or thirty feet wide. The water volume is smaller and narrower, about ten feet wide, and an average of one or two feet deep. Some rivers have a wide area of ​​shallower, only about half a meter, and you can cross the river by simply riding a horse and wading across the river.

Li Jue and Guo Si took advantage of finding places to interfere, so he launched an attack from those points. But soon the Truth Sect, "Whoever attacks in Longshan Valley will suffer losses", found that he had only twice the number of troops on his books, and he still could not defeat Liu Bei in the offensive battle. He could only give up and continue to waste it and wait for the fighter to turn around.

However, there is a turning point. Because 194 was the year of severe drought in Guanzhong. From the day when the two armies began to stalemate, it had not rained for more than ten days before, and there would be three months before. The amount of rainwater that can gather in the Longshan Basin dropped sharply, and the water became shallower and shallower. Almost every day the two armies confronted each other, they could see that the river water was one or two inches shallower and visible to the naked eye.

Jia Xu, a counselor of Li Juejun, also took these geographical factors into consideration and was also thinking, "If you continue to wait and the water level of the water drops again, will Liu Bei's grain channel be unable to transport water because of the river breaking down?" These variables made Jia Xu feel that he could indeed observe for a few more days.

Who made this era without a weather forecast? Jia Xu was in Huating and only knew that it was not raining in the mountains of Longshan Mountains and the water level of the Lishui River was declining. But he could not know that there was no rain in the Jinghe River and the Weihe River basin, and the water level of the Jinghe River, as the Li Jueliang Road, is also declining.

Only when the rear clearly realizes that the situation is wrong can it report weather and geographical abnormalities in various places. If Jia Xu can open up the weather forecast vision of the entire Guanzhong area, he would never dare to waste it like this.

...

A tentative stalemate battle lasts for more than ten days. The two armies are like masters who have enough internal strength, and no one dares to act rashly and then withdraw.

Liu Bei had Li Su coordinated the logistics and could accurately calculate the consumption of the troops and the burning rate of materials, but he was not that panic.

Taking advantage of the stalemate in the past few days, Li Su basically clarified the exact deployment of the enemy and our army and the realities.

As mentioned earlier, Liu Bei's army was originally divided into three groups, with a total force of 130,000 troops in the Northern Expedition. Wu Kuang, the Western Army, Huchuquan, more than 20,000, Zhang Fei and Wang Ping of the Eastern Army, and the main force of the middle Army was 85,000.

However, due to the transportation capacity of the Sanguan Road, I was afraid that there would be insufficient food, so the first batch of troops of the Central Army that came out of the mountain in early February was only 60,000, and the subsequent 25,000 people were originally planned to arrive in batches in March and April.

So as of this moment, Liu Bei's central army should have 75,000 people. In addition, there must have been losses when attacking Chen Cang before, with casualties of about one or two thousand. The raid of Wang Fang and Lei Xu in the Battle of Beiyuan Weiqiao also suffered some losses, and Zhang Ren suffered losses in the blocking battle at Jieting.

Total total, there are as many as seven or eight thousand casualties, including those who died in battle and were seriously injured and were seriously disabled and could not be in the army. The total number is 5,000. The rest are those who can be treated with minor injuries.

Therefore, Liu Bei's main force in the middle line has 75,000 troops left for battle. In addition, because Ma Chao's 5,000 cavalry were originally assigned to Zhang Fei, and Zhang Fei and Wang Ping had no cavalry in Weinan and Wang Fang. Therefore, after Ma Chao's troops were counted, the number of soldiers in the middle line army could still be restored to 75,000.

As for the Western Route Army, although Guo Si retreated, he left Han Sui who was dying in Ji County. At this moment, Wu Kuang and the others were taking over Guo Si's unfinished career and continued to beat Han Sui in groups. After all, Han Sui was also an old rebel. Wu Kuang and the others could not dare to hand over the back road to Han Sui, so they underestimated the enemy to pursue Guo Si. Since this is the case, it would be better to take advantage of Guo Si's defeat of Han Sui and cut off completely. This means that the Western Route Army cannot support the main battlefield of the middle road for the time being.

Of course, in Chencang and Weinan, many prisoners were arrested, and more than 18,000 prisoners of war and surrendered enemy soldiers were captured.

However, Liu Bei and Li Su were both worried about the morale and loyalty of these troops, so they would not dare to let these prisoners of war who were still the Western Liang army two months ago go back to fight the Western Liang army. If they turn against each other, it would be a bad thing. Therefore, these 18,000 prisoners of war have been confiscated and do the work of auxiliary soldiers, such as building fortifications, transporting food and grass, and providing labor and labor.

Prisoners of war must be re-educated in brainwashing and patrioticism, and re-education of qualities. The bandits and plundering habits of the Xiliang soldiers must be used to make great use. If they cannot be changed, they would rather screen and sort them. If they can still save their nature, they will be put back as farmers. If they really do not accept evil, they will be punished for hard labor for the rest of their lives.

Compared with Liu Bei's 75,000 troops, the total force of the Li Guo coalition on the other side before the war should be 190,000 troops. Li Jue brought about 90,000 people from Chang'an, he himself 60,000, Duan Wei 30,000, and arrested more than 10,000 strong men in Anding County, so the Li family army was 100,000.

Guo Si sent 70,000 troops to attack Han Sui. After months of bloody battles, several thousand were killed and injured, and the remaining one was no more than 65,000. However, because Han Sui's elderly bandits were crowded with many bandits, he could only clean up the prisoners captured by Han Sui's counties outside Han Sui, or force the people who had served in the army to join the army again, and he could loot at least 20,000 fish.

Guo Sicai didn't care whether the incorporation of Han Sui's surrendered soldiers into the army would affect morale. The Xiliang army did not pay attention to this, so Guo Si's troops were also expanded to 80,000, plus Zhang Xiu's more than 10,000 people. The Xiliang coalition forces actually scored 190,000 before attacking Jieting.

However, in the Battle of Jieting, they killed and injured 20,000 people and met. Although most of the dead were cannon fodder like An Dingzhuang and Han Sui surrendered soldiers, there were still 170,000 left, Li Jue and 60,000, Guo Si, 70,000, Duan Wei, 30,000, and Zhang Xiu.

170,000 combat soldiers were fighting each other with 75,000. Although Liu Bei had excellent troops and sufficient defense, he did not dare to easily transfer the frontal troops and dared not open up a second battlefield.

If Liu Bei had drawn another 10,000 or 20,000 elite troops from the 75,000 front line of Weixian County to reinforce Zhang Fei in Weinan and let him attack Chang'an, maybe Li Jue and Guo Si would have to rely on the 170,000 people at hand to pile up the more than 50,000 people left in front of Liu Bei. Liu Bei could not take risks, and 50,000 people might not be able to withstand it.

As for immediately taking the initiative to retreat and the entire army to attack Chang'an, it was not realistic, because they would be fought on the inside, and the main force of Li Jue, who followed him, cut off the food route. Before destroying the live power of the main force of the Xiliang Army, stealing the city was meaningless. Chang'an was very strong, and it would be easy to defend for ten days if there were more soldiers.

The forces on both sides were in a delicate balance. Fortunately, Liu Bei might have subsequent reinforcements, and his food supply was close, so he felt that there was an advantage to continue waiting.

The first advantage is that Han Sui, who had only one last breath, could be annihilated at any time, so that Liu Bei's Western Route Army could be liberated. Not to mention that all 20,000 to 30,000 people were pushed northward, even if the 8,000 Southern Xiongnu Shanyu personal guards in Huchuquan rushed to the front battlefield, it would still allow Liu Bei's balance to make up a lot of bargaining chips.

The second advantage is that the Central Army originally had three batches. The third batch of Ailaoyi and War Elephant troops were originally planned to arrive at the front line in April. Although the rear has been required to speed up dispatch, the Shu Road is difficult, and temporary adjustments and urgent deployments still require time to implement them.

If you wait a little longer, and when the ten thousand Ailaoyi barbarians and one hundred war elephants are put into the front line, the strength comparison between the two sides will be greatly improved, and the decisive battle will be more certain.

There is no way for Ailaoyi and the war elephants to participate slowly. The main reason is that the people of Yunnan and elephants cannot bear the cold. They will fight in the Guanzhong area in the north in February and March. Even if they just persist for a while, there will be a large-scale epidemic of diseases and their combat effectiveness will be sharply reduced.

The 10,000 Kunming Black Yi soldiers who were just joined the list a few days ago are a living example. The Kunming Yi's attributes in resisting frost and cold are slightly better than those of Ailaoyi. However, after arriving in Guanzhong in March, many soldiers were still sick and needed some time to adjust and adapt to the soil and water.

...

On March 17th, the twelfth day after the stalemate, the fortifications of both sides became stronger and stronger as they were repaired.

The troops were idle and had nothing to do. Simple rammed earth walls were built on both sides of the river, and the digging of soil naturally formed a long trench pit. The surrounding mountains were mixed with small trees, and those suitable for cutting and sharpening were all woodcut to make deer antlers and lay them in the pit. The remaining areas that were not suitable for traps were used as firewood.

On the evening of that day, another grain transport team from Hanzhong in the rear arrived in Fan County, and Sun Qian, the general logistics officer of the Central Army, also accompanied the army.

Sun Qian brought some mixed news, so Liu Bei met him as soon as possible and treated him with wine.

Sun Qianxian said bad news: "King, our army seized all the surplus grains of Zhang Ji's troops in the treasury of Chencang City in February. At present, all the food and wages required by our army depend on Hanzhong to transport them from the Western Han River.

Although the Western Han River saved 160 miles of land routes in the northern section of the Qinling Mountains, and the loss was much smaller than before, when transported here, Hanzhong still needed to produce two stones of grain and one stone. Seventy-five thousand war soldiers, plus the hard labor of prisoners of war, a total of more than 90,000 people were supported by the government, with a daily expense of 4,000 stones, and from Hanzhong, eight thousand stones were needed to be transported every day.

Our army began to accumulate grain in Hanzhong the year before yesterday, and each person provided an additional two stones of grain for the Northern Expedition. Before the expedition, the Hanzhong grain silo was stored in 600,000 stones, and the Xiguan Post also had more than 300,000 stones of grain transported from Chengdu to the Jialing River. According to the current consumption, there will be another 120 days, that is, by half of July, the military rations prepared by Hanzhong will be in danger."

Sun Gan said that Chengdu had transported more than 300,000 shi of grain to Xiguan Post. This was the last year when the renting and placing law reform, the profitable merchants in Shu dumped grain to lower the price of grain, and the government had collected more than 300,000 shi. The transportation from Chengdu was more than 800,000 shi, and 500,000 were all consumed on the road, and were eaten by all the civilians, coolies, boatmen, and shipbuilders along the way.

The transportation losses on Shu Road were so terrifying. This was the result of Li Suguoyuan and others repeatedly managing traffic and suppressing at least half of the losses. If Zhuge Liang had made a Northern Expedition in history, the logistics punishment would be even more terrifying.

After looking at the accounts, Liu Bei realized that he had entered the second stage that was a little more difficult. After all, the food seized by Chen Cang had been completely eaten up, and it would not be beneficial to his national strength if he dragged it on for a long time.

He asked: "As far as I know, Li Jue should have had a hard time in the past ten days. He stayed here with 170,000 people. Boya calculated that the additional grain reserves in Jingyang, Linjing and Huating counties in Anding County should have been almost eaten by Li Jue. There were less than 5,000 households in these counties, with few people and few grain reserves.

Moreover, Boya estimated that the drought this year will be large, the water level of the water in the water of the water has dropped, and the Jing River will definitely decline. Li Jue should not last long and will retreat with our army. When will the elephant soldiers of Ailaoyi be transported? As long as they arrive, Gu will fight Li Jue in advance."

Sun Gan: "It should have been to Xiguan Post. The elephant is moving slowly. It will take seven or eight days to arrive at Chencang. It should have arrived with the next batch of grain transport teams. Since the last time the king urged them to speed up the assembly, Ailao soldiers have begun to head north from Ba County."

Liu Bei nodded and called Li Su again. Xun You discussed it and calculated the life. Finally, he sent a messenger to send another letter to Li Jue.

Li Jue was also tortured by the difficulties of transporting grain. After receiving the letter, he went to discuss with Guo Si and Jia Xu.

Li Jue made a straightforward question: "Liu Bei said this year's severe drought, and the water level of the water in the water has dropped in half a month, so it is not easy to transport grain. I believe that the water level of the Jing River has also dropped, and it is not easy to sail. Both sides may have a shortage of food. It is better to take a step back. Our army retreated eastward to the Jing River, and he retreated southward to the Wei River, alleviating the shortage of food and choosing a place to fight again

Wenhe What do you think? I haven’t learned about it yet. Has the water level of Jinghe really dropped? Come and ask the grain supervisor.”

Jia Xu didn't notice the weather changes behind him, and agreed with this suggestion and asked the logistics officers, but the result was really complaining.

The grain supervisor was also a short time ago. One of his predecessors was killed by Guo Si, who was drunk that day and didn't ask for details. Therefore, the followers only dared to speed up their lives and did not dare to report objective difficulties.

In order to transport grain, hundreds of boatmen were exhausted from the rear. Because the water of the Jing River was too shallow, boats in several places had to unload part of the cargo, and carried them over the dangerous shoals by manpower or carriage, and then loaded them onto the boat to continue walking. In addition, boats in too shallow areas could not move forward by wind or paddles, so they had to pull extra ropes.

"It's so difficult? It's also my fault that I neglected my logistics and didn't notice it for a while." Li Jue was a little regretful, but he also knew there was nothing he could do, because the Xiliang army was used to living on two-legged sheep and always robbed and maintained military supplies.

Even if the food was a little insufficient these days, the large households with a little surplus of grain among the people of Anding County were killed and robbed the surplus grain they had originally wanted to eat the autumn harvest to be used as military rations.

But the current situation is indeed impossible to hold on, and Liu Bei's suggestions are acceptable, so everyone will take a step back.

Li Jue thought for a while and asked Jia Xu: "How many days will the food in our former military camp be sold to the Huating front line?"

Jia Xu learned about the accounts and told him that he could eat them for about ten days. Generally, he saved enough rations for the troops for at least ten days in the military camp to ensure food security. This is also a common case of marching and fighting.

Li Jue thought for a while: "Then send a messenger to inform the army that the subsequent grain will be transported to the grain stations by the river. Don't transport it to Huating by land. We will station for another eight days to find opportunities. Then each person will bring food with him for three days and withdraw his troops and retreat to the banks of the Jinghe River. The food that has been transported has been transported after eating, so as to avoid the need to transport it back.

If Liu Bei had a trick and dared to pursue him, we would be slow to take the cavalry and pretend to retreat, attract Liu Bei to the Jing River and then surround him and kill him. At that time, our army was backing the Jing River, but Liu Bei was far away from the Bai River for more than a hundred miles away. He was still on the Jing River Plateau. Didn’t we let our army cut off its food route? Liu Bei would die if he dared to chase him! Wenhe, do you think there was something wrong?"

Jia Xu thought about it and said, "It's okay, but I always feel something is wrong. You should be cautious, especially since our army has been in stalemate for a long time, and the aura that was just now when we met was broken by several tentative attacks.

If Liu Bei had any additional method of attacking the heart and dispersing the morale of our army, I was afraid that there would be variables in the hundreds of miles of the Jinghe River from Huating. If I had no confidence to restrain my subordinates, I could not do this easily.

I am even more worried that Liu Bei will spread rumors about the situation in Chang'an and disrupt our military morale during the war. If the general wants to retreat, he must find a way in advance to make the entire army believe that there is nothing wrong with Chang'an. No one in the court's court opposes us, and Li Ying and Li Ru have completely grasped the situation."

Li Jue paced back and forth a few steps: "I will pay attention to these."
Chapter completed!