After having such a consensus, even generals like Guan Yu who supported Liu Bei felt that it was too risky to take the initiative to attack. Defensive counterattacks and cutting off the enemy's food routes were their most suitable strategies.
Because this plan has the highest fault tolerance, to a certain extent, it can even make them invincible. They can retreat all the way from the Dawan area to southern Tianzhu. With such a long distance, it is almost difficult for a large army to break through. .
Just one example will help you understand how long this distance is. Later Xuanzang traveled 108,000 miles to the west, and he walked this way for thirteen years. Of course, the reality may not be that long, but it is still 30,000 to 40,000 miles. Yes, this strategy ensures that it will be difficult for Daqian to destroy them in one battle.
Then Liu Bei came on stage to pay homage to the general, and first appointed his prince Liu Feng as the commander-in-chief of the southern battlefield (Liu Bei in this world was luckier, he did not experience several close calls, and his family did not die in battle, so his prince was no longer Adou). .), appointed generals such as Wei Yan, Gan Ning, etc. to assist him. They will lead an army of 300,000 to be stationed throughout southern Tianzhu to resist the attack of the Daqian army from the sea!
The northern battlefield was the main battlefield of this war. 90% of Liu Bei's generals and the most elite 200,000 troops were concentrated on this battlefield.
This northern army was commanded by Liu Bei himself. At the same time, he appointed Zhang Fei as the vanguard of the army and led an army of 30,000 to attack Dawan, Wusun and other countries under the rule of Dagan, destroying Dagan's frontline garrison. At the same time, he expanded Zhuhan's frontline defenses. front.
He himself led an army of 160,000 as the central army to support Zhang Fei, and the army on the northern route tried to capture Dazhu, Wusun and other places before Lei Gong entered the Western Regions.
Although they formulated a defensive strategy, it was not a dead end defense, because Da Qian used Duan Peng, Duan Yun, Liu Hu and other elders to establish more than a dozen small countries in the Western Regions. If Liu Bei and the others did not eradicate these small countries, they would be equivalent to Da Qian. There are huge supply points and army garrison strongholds in the Western Region, which is an extremely disadvantageous factor for Liu Bei and the others.
Therefore, they must take advantage of the fact that the main force of Daqian has not yet arrived in the Western Region, and clean up the country in the western region first, laying a solid foundation for the next battle!
As the commander of the cavalry, Zhao Yun led 10,000 cavalry to sneak into the Western Regions in multiple directions. The main task of this cavalry was not to fight, but to wait for Liu Bei and the others to fight Lei Gong. Zhao Yun's cavalry broke ties and cut off Lei Gong's food and grass. Materials to support the front presence.
In mid-March of the 19th year of Daqian (AD 220),
Zhang Fei led an army of 30,000 men and officially marched towards Wancheng.
After a month of marching, Zhang Fei led an army of 30,000 people to the border of Dawan!
Zhang Fei did not attack the city immediately, but ordered his chief minister Huangfuli to lead 500 soldiers to recruit the Kushan tribes around Dawan City!
In the war to destroy the Kushan Empire, Liu Bei occupied most of the land and people because of his large numbers and strength.
But Duan Peng and the others were not without gain. Land was not a scarce resource in the Western Regions. Therefore, after Duan Peng and the others knew that they could not compete with Liu Bei, they did not have many disputes with Liu Bei over the land.
Their idea was to recruit more people from Kushan to replenish their country, so Duan Peng's military operations focused on gaining population. In more than three years of war, they probably brought back more than 2 million Kuishang people. Western Regions to enrich their own country.
Although these more than 2 million people were distributed to more than a dozen countries, and Dawan State received tens of thousands of people, because the agricultural grassroots in the Western Regions was so poor, local food alone was simply not enough to feed them.
The vast Western Region is an area of half farming and half grazing. In the short term, grazing is even more profitable than farming.
So Duan Peng and others thought of letting these people herd to support themselves. Relying on their previous connections in the desert, they went to the tribes in the desert to buy a large number of cattle and sheep, so that these new people could join the Kushan people to live a herding life.
Later, after the cattle and sheep were fattened, they could enter the interior of Daqian from the Western Regions through nomadism. Using this method, Duan Peng and the others found that they could make several times more money than farming!
So at this time, there are pastures all over the Western Regions, but this economic foundation gave Zhang Fei an opportunity. Herding requires a huge territory and the tribes need to be dispersed. In this state, it will be difficult for Duan Peng and the others to control the entire lower-level Kushan people. .
So Huangfu Li took some Kushan people to find these tribes in Dawan. Huangfu Li actually successfully instigated seven or eight Kushan tribes to rebel, giving Zhang Fei thousands of reinforcements and tens of thousands of civilians. There are also a lot of livestock!
But Zhang Fei's actions were quickly noticed by Duan Peng. On the one hand, he asked his people to quickly gather in Dawan City to concentrate their forces to defend Zhang Fei's attack. On the other hand, he ordered his people to gather in the rear to form cavalry. At the same time, he ordered his people to gather in the rear to form cavalry. He also asked Zhang Xiu of the Western Region Protectorate for help.
Zhang Xiu was overjoyed after learning about the Dawan War. He already knew the news that the imperial court was going to deal with Liu Bei. He even knew that the ruling general would lead an army to the Western Regions.
This news made him overjoyed. Although the Western Regions were promoted quickly, they were easily forgotten by others.
Just like Zhang He, the first governor of the Western Regions Protectorate in the Da Qian Dynasty, he was originally a demoted general, and logically speaking, he should have no future within the Da Qian Dynasty.
But he found another way and led his men to station in the Western Regions. After that, he was promoted every year. In just a dozen years, his promotion rate was not much worse than that of his closest confidants in power!
However, few people envied this speed of promotion, because Zhang He stayed in the Western Regions for 20 years. In the end, due to old age and frailty, the court allowed him to retire and return to his hometown in Jidu after he retired.
And now it has been 5 years since he succeeded Zhang Heng as the governor of the Western Protectorate. Although he has been promoted to three levels in a row in these 5 years, he already feels that he has been forgotten. Zhang He's fate is now Wave to him.
But he didn't expect that his fortune would turn around. There would be a big war in a remote place like the Western Region. This was great news for him. As long as he made contributions in this war, he could If you are transferred back to the Central Plains, you might be able to get promoted a few levels.
The fastest promotion among military generals in Daqian was military merit. Now Liu Bei's army is attacking Dawan City. As long as he repels Liu Bei, he will be the first to make the first contribution in this battle.
So after he received the message asking for help, he immediately mobilized 10,000 troops, and also ordered other countries to form armies to join him. He wanted to take this opportunity to eliminate Zhang Fei's vanguard force.
At this time, Zhang Fei, who was attacking Dawan, encountered the first difficulty of the battle.
He thought that Dawan would be easily captured by him, but the reality taught him a lesson. Duan Peng defended Dawan City securely, and his 30,000-strong army could not attack Dawan City at all.