Guan Yu brought Lan Tian to the Jiangxia War Room. Various sand tables were arranged here before the Battle of Chibi. It was the favorite place for Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others to stay.
After Liu Bei took over Jingzhou, Guan Yu demolished all the original sand tables in Chibi and Wulin, replacing them with only two sand tables. One of them was a simplified version of the sand table that started from Yiling, passed through Jiangling, Gong'an, and reached Jiangxia. It was Guan Yu.
The patrol scope of the navy.
The other is Xiangfan, a sandbox around Nanyang. It seems that Guan Yu has moved his strategic focus northward.
"In August, Lu Zi respectfully asked me to send troops to Xiangfan to coordinate Jiangdong's deployment of troops in Hefei. I refused on the grounds that there were not enough garrison troops in Jingzhou. Gao Boping's trapped troops cannot be hidden now. He will definitely ask when we meet tomorrow."
Guan Yu reminded.
Lantian smiled and said: "The total force in Jiangdong is now only 50,000 or 60,000. Among them, Lu Meng took 20,000 to Jiaozhou. How can they capture Hefei with 30,000 to 40,000 left? In the past, Zhou Yu surrounded Xiangyang with 50,000 troops and could not conquer it for a year.
, How can we capture Hefei now that there are no soldiers and generals in Jiangdong?"
"Cao Mengde forced the generals in Guanxi to rebel. Zhong Yao not only lost Chang'an but also Tongguan. Cao Cao saw that Ma Chao and others were powerful, so he had no choice but to send troops from various places to help. I heard that Cao Cao only gathered his troops in July to march westward. Now Xiangfan and Hefei
It is estimated that the troops are indeed insufficient, so Lu Zijing thinks it is a God-given opportunity." Guan Yu said.
"Cao Cao knew clearly that Jingzhou and Jiangdong were his strong enemies, so why did he force the generals back to Kansai and draw troops from all over the country? This man has so many wise men under his command, how could he do such a stupid thing?" Lan Tian analyzed.
Guan Yu was startled when he heard this. He hesitated after receiving Lu Su's invitation. Lan Tian confronted Lu Meng again in Jiaozhou, so he asked people to go to Jiangling to ask Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang replied with only eight words: Tong is a treacherous matter, so don't touch it lightly.
.
Why could he, Lu Su and others only see Cao Cao's crisis, but Lan Tian, ​​Zhuge Liang and others could see something different?
Guan Yu quickly clasped his fists and asked, "What's the reason behind this? Please give me some advice from Ziyu."
Lan Tian pointed to the map of the Thirteen Prefectures of the Han Dynasty hanging in the main hall and said leisurely: "After the Battle of Chibi, the world will be in great shape. Because Cao Cao has no navy, he cannot go south to take Jingzhou and Jiangdong for the time being, so he sets his sights on the Kansai generals and
If Zhang Lu of Hanzhong can conquer Liangzhou and Hanzhong, Yizhou may be able to send a message. At that time, Cao Cao will be sitting on the territory of ten states, and we will have no possibility of resistance."
Guan Yu nodded, "Fortunately, my eldest brother has led troops into Sichuan. At least Yizhou cannot easily fall into the hands of the enemy. However, Ma Chao and others have a large army and are accustomed to fighting. Wouldn't Cao Cao be causing trouble for himself by doing this?"
"Brother-in-law has already marched into Xichuan. The three-pointed world is a foregone conclusion. The most terrible situation cannot happen. Does General Guan know that the generals in Guanxi will rebel in March? Why did Cao Cao wait until July to go west in person? In the art of war, it is not often said that soldiers are valuable.
Are you so fast?" Lan Tian smiled mysteriously.
Guan Yu stroked his long beard with a confused look on his face, "Could it be that he is worried that we and Sun Quan will attack Xiangfan and Hefei?"
Lan Tian shook his head and said: "The population of the prefectures and counties controlled by Cao Cao is more than ten million. If the situation in Tongguan is really critical, he can send troops on the spot in Hebei, the Central Plains. How can he entangle the elite troops in Xiangfan and Huainan? Cao Cao deliberately spends the war time to
Postponed."
"deliberately?"
"The generals in Guanxi were forced to counterattack too suddenly. They gathered 100,000 people just for a quick victory. The supply of military supplies was a big problem. After the Li Guo Rebellion in the Guanzhong area, the fields were barren and the population was lost. Even if they occupied Chang'an, they would not be able to win.
There is not much food in stock to consume, and many of the 100,000 soldiers are farmers? How can it last for a year without farming?"
Guan Yu was shocked when he heard that Cao Cao loved to cut off people's food routes, and he also paid special attention to his own supply lines. Now that Lan Tian has cleared up all the fog, he actually used the same old strategy.
After Lan Tian finished speaking, Guan Yu suddenly became enlightened and once again had a profound understanding of the strategic overall situation.
"Don't Ma Chao and others fall into the trap?" Guan Yu asked.
Lan Tian said with certainty: "The further the war progresses, the more difficult it will be for Liangzhou to transport grain to Guanzhong. As long as subsequent supplies cannot reach the front line, if Cao Cao can send people to intercept grain, the generals in Guanxi will be in chaos without attacking.
..."
"According to Ziyu's inference, Cao Cao is consuming food and grass with the generals in Guanxi, so don't we really have a chance to capture Xiangfan or Hefei?"
Guan Yu looked excited. Although he did not have as strong a strategic overview as Lan Tian, ​​he could still find useful parts from this information.
Lan Tian smiled bitterly and shook his head, "siege battles are often protracted, and Cao Cao's main force is in Tongguan. Unless Ma Chao defeats Cao Cao and captures Luoyang and Hulao Pass, it is impossible to capture Xiangfan with Jingzhou's existing troops."
Guan Yu frowned, "Then Hefei..."
Lan Tian: "Hefei is far away from Tongguan. If we surround it with heavy troops, there is a chance. However, Sun Quan asked Lu Meng to divide his troops to go to Jiaozhou. It seems that he did not have such courage. Lu Zijing asked the general to send troops. He was actually testing whether I would intervene in Jiaozhou.
..”
Guan Yu frowned even more, "Then if I reject Lu Zijing... wouldn't I be wronging Ziyu..."
Lan Tian comforted him and said, "I act secretly in Jiaozhou. On the surface, it is Lai Gong who is calling the shots. The officials in Jiangdong may not be able to figure it out clearly. Let me deal with Lu Zijing tomorrow."
Guan Yu nodded, "That's the best. Ziyu always makes people feel at ease when he does things."
The two had not seen each other for a long time. In addition to the war at Tongguan that they were most concerned about, they also talked about the defense of Jingzhou and the confrontation between Jiaozhou and Lu Meng. Unknowingly, it was already late at night.
Lan Tian's thoughts spanned thousands of years, and what he said often made people think deeply. It was difficult for Guan Yu to have such time alone, so he invited Lan Tian to sleep on the floor in the war room.
At about six o'clock the next day, Lu Su's ship docked at the north bank of Jiangxia. Since his status was no longer the same as before, Guan Yu greeted him at the dock with reciprocal courtesy.
The first thing Lu Su said when they met was: "Can you invite Mr. Ziyu?"
Guan Yu raised his head and smiled and said: "Zijing and I haven't seen each other for a long time, why do you have such favor with Ziyu? He is preparing shabu-shabu at the small table in the pavilion. Let's lean on the railing by the river and talk about old friendship over wine."
Lu Su had not had a chance to try shabu-shabu yet, so he was confused when he heard the term.
"Ziyu is not an honest friend. He has such a relationship with Liu Shijun, but he keeps Su in the dark. I will definitely scold him later." Lu Su pretended to be angry.
Guan Yu held Lu Su's hand and laughed endlessly. Lu Su frowned and said, "Yun Chang didn't tell the truth, and now he laughs at me? This is not what a gentleman does, so why should I laugh?"
"Zijing won't keep talking about the marriage relationship, right? Ziyu can't just say to everyone: My sister is the concubine of General Liu. This is really not what a gentleman would do..." Guan Yu couldn't help but shake his head.
"If we had known in Chaisang..." Lu Su hesitated, because if we had known at that time, we would not have talked like that.
Guan Yu immediately appeared and said: "At that time, everyone was his own master. Why did Zijing bring up old scores? Guan also served in Cao Ying, why didn't he see my elder brother being suspicious? Let him go by the wayside."
Chapter completed!