Zhuge Liang actually had a premonition about the war between the Sun and Cao families that was taking place in Yangzhou, but their current situation no longer allowed him to consider others.
"One more month... This battle can only be fought for one more month. If January comes and our army still fails to make progress, we will have no choice but to withdraw..."
After the first encounter at Dingjun Mountain, all the generals around Liu Bei seemed to be discouraged.
The feeling of being hit head-on by someone was excruciating, not to mention that Liu Bei, who almost lost his life, had no intention of going to the front line to supervise the battle.
Under such circumstances, Zhuge Liang did not intend to hide anything from everyone, and just plainly stated their current situation.
"Why...strategist...if Liu Zhang provides us with food and grass, this battle still needs to be fought! Dingjun Mountain doesn't look like there will be more troops. We currently have the advantage of troops. As long as we surround it...cut off the opponent's
With the grain road, we can easily take it down!"
Liu Feng was a little excited. In his opinion, contrary to Zhuge Liang's statement, they clearly had a chance to win...
After the first encounter, Zhuge Liang issued an order to fight steadily... He said he wanted to capture the opponent's war horse and study it carefully to see if Cao Jun had pulled out any secret weapons. As a result, since that day,
There was peace at the foot of Dingjun Mountain. As long as Liu Bei did not send troops, Xia Houyuan would stay quietly on the mountain.
It seems that Zhuge Liang has determined that he will not fight a protracted war.
And Zhuge Liang had to say that the decision made by the other party was quite correct... so correct that it made him grit his teeth and feel uncomfortable all over.
After Liu Feng spoke, many people also expressed their agreement. Except for Huang Zhong who did not speak, even Liu Bei asked with a look of embarrassment:
"Kong Ming...could it be that...there's something hidden in this?"
"The secret...is right here..."
As a result, as soon as Liu Bei finished asking, Zhuge Liang took out a letter from his arms with cold eyes, and slapped it on the table looking very bored.
"This is…?"
Huang Zhong was also stunned. Yesterday he saw Zhuge Liang receiving a soldier who came from Micang Mountain... He thought it was nothing serious, just ordinary military information... Now it seems that the other party is sending a letter to someone.
Letter?
Everyone looked at the letter one after another, but Liu Bei limped and walked to the table actively, picked up the letter and read it loudly:
"My brother Xuande personally initiated——"
"Um...is it for me?"
Liu Bei glanced at it and felt a little confused. Zhuge Liang extended his hand to invite Liu Bei to continue reading.
I opened the envelope and took out the silk paper inside. There was still a faint scent of ink on the paper. The seal at the end of the letter also confirmed the identity of the sender - Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang.
At this time, when the two armies were fighting fiercely, Liu Zhang sent a letter at this time?
Liu Bei instinctively felt a little uncomfortable, but in response to Zhuge Liang's wishes, he continued reading.
"Recently, Chengdu has been hit hard (in Shu language). There was a sudden fire in the city, and there were traitors and traitors. Yudi was busy suppressing the chaos, so he was exhausted mentally and physically and could not take care of everything else. This coincided with widespread protests from the gentry, and the supply of food and grass was blocked. This was really adding to the misfortune.
Disaster cannot be resisted by manpower - I hereby inform my brother about Yizhou's difficulties... If by January of the next year, we still cannot decide the outcome with Cao's army, and it is really difficult to maintain the current situation with food and grass, I hope my brother will not be surprised.
.”
Liu Bei read the last few words tremblingly, his voice was trembling, and his hands were trembling.
He raised his eyes and looked at Zhuge Liang. In addition to doubts, he was also puzzled:
"Kong Ming... this is... what is going on? Yizhou... Yizhou was not peaceful before we came. Why is there another fire, another rebellion... a rebellion? Who rebelled?"
Of course Liu Bei was confused, but Zhuge Liang, who was clear-minded, did not hand over the letter immediately after reading it yesterday precisely because he spent the whole night thinking about the reason.
And the conclusion he finally came to...
"Lord...our plan...may have been exposed."
"What!?"
Zhuge Liang's simple words were more shocking than any of his previous discouraged words.
plan?
Yes, from the beginning, the invasion of Hanzhong was just a part of Zhuge Liang's plan.
The Jingnan-Jingzhou-Yizhou-World strategy he designated for Liu Bei is now reaching its most critical step.
Their pace was a bit faster, but Zhuge Liang would never let go of this excellent opportunity in the Battle of Hanzhong.
He had told Liu Bei before that it didn't matter whether they succeeded or failed in the battle of Hanzhong. The best situation was that they defeated Cao Cao and captured Hanzhong. They also consumed Yizhou's accumulation and obtained Liu Zhang's victory.
of trust.
However, even if Hanzhong is not captured, their decisive battle with Cao Cao is not meaningless.
Depleting the strength of Cao Cao's army is one of the keys to opening up the situation for Jingzhou. Regardless of success or failure, as long as Cao Cao can be held in Hanzhong for half a year, then Cao Cao will never be able to take care of Jingzhou. By then, whether they join forces with Sun Quan,
It is quite convenient to plot Xiangyang, or to directly seize Yizhou. When Cao Cao is consumed, Yizhou is also consumed. More importantly, as long as it drags on, Guan Yu will have the opportunity to continue to instigate Liu Zhang's side.
's ministers.
Now it has been confirmed that Liu Zhang's subordinates who intend to switch to Liu Bei: Zhang Song, Fazheng, Meng Da, Li Hui, etc., and Pang Xi, the general of Yibei, has his own ideas.
Perhaps the only two close ministers Liu Zhang could trust were Huang Quan and Cheng Ji, who had no dealings with Pang Xi - but of these two, Huang Quan had been exiled by Liu Zhang for speaking out and admonishing him, and the other Cheng Ji
Ji is currently working with Pang Xi in Zitong as a check.
Liu Zhang had absolutely no one around him, and had been poached by Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang and others.
It stands to reason that under such circumstances, just as Zhuge Liang predicted, as long as they continue to fight this battle symbolically, there will be advantages and no disadvantages. They can advance into Hanzhong, retreat and defend Jingnan, and capture Yizhou in one fell swoop.
However... Liu Zhang's personal letter definitely disrupted all the plans of Zhuge Liang and even the entire Liu Bei Army.
This is also the reason why Zhuge Liang, who was upset all day, did not send anyone to besiege Dingjun Mountain today.
"How could he discover our plan? With Zhang Song here, Fazheng and others...Liu Zhang...Liu Zhang shouldn't be so sharp, right? Otherwise..."
Huang Zhong's words hit the nail on the head, describing Liu Zhang's true nature.
For such a cowardly and suspicious person, the sincerity shown by Liu Bei before would never be easily discovered by the other party, not to mention committing such a violent act like a strong man cutting off his wrist.
Not to mention that Zhang Song and Fazheng were waiting by Liu Zhang's side to stabilize the situation and turn a deaf ear to him.
It may sound unrealistic, but in fact, several of Liu Zhang's sons have vaguely revealed to Liu Bei their welcoming attitude towards Liu Bei from Fazheng and others.
How did Liu Zhang escape from such a drama, which was performed by the whole village?
"It's just my guess at the moment... maybe... Cao Jun has sent people to Chengdu and started to use his good words to incite something... Of course, this is just my guess."
Calling it a guess, Zhuge Liang is now almost certain that his opponent is Yi Xiaotian. Otherwise... how can he explain his failure?
