After crossing Zoumaling, you can see the long, narrow and quiet Chencang Ancient Road.
The Chencang Ancient Road extends from Yangping Pass to the northwest. The first pass is naturally the small town of Guangshi that Zhang He previously occupied -
The terrain of Guangshi is relatively high, making it an easy-to-defend but difficult-to-attack place. That's why Zhuge Liang ordered Zhang Fei and others to be the vanguard to occupy the Jinniu Road first, relying on their speed advantage to capture Guangshi as soon as possible.
As long as Guangshi can be captured, it will be like grabbing the throat of Cao's army, whether it is the food route or the march route.
However, Zhuge Liang was not the only one to notice this. Jiang Wan clearly saw the topography of the entire Hanzhong area on the first day he arrived in Nanzheng City.
He entrusted Zhang He to garrison Guangshi, which was a very wise decision.
There is no need to mention what happened next.
Therefore, Wei Yan will not be stupid enough to attack Guangshi, a place that is worthless and a pity to abandon. After losing the initial time difference advantage, even if they take Guangshi now, they will still be suppressed by Cao's army.
——
Wei Yan chose a more desperate approach.
No one stopped him, and no one had time to remind him.
I have to say that Wei Yan really has some ideas.
The strategies he comes up with are often a narrow escape from death.
Of course, if it can be done and accomplished, it can naturally achieve the effect of turning the tide of the war in one fell swoop.
"As long as I take down Ben... and retreat, I can easily occupy the Chencang Ancient Road and form a cornering force with Yide and the others - advance..."
Wei Yan crossed their previous camp at Zoumaling, full of ambition, looking at the majestic city shrouded in smoke in the northwest...
"Chang'an...hehe, if we can capture Chang'an, even you, Zhuge Wolong, won't dare to be disrespectful to me anymore!"
Wei Yan said what he said without any reason, and he laughed quite crazy.
Several lieutenants around him, after experiencing the night that had threatened their lives before, did not dare to make any remarks that were obviously meant to counter him.
This army is dead.
Becoming Wei Yan's puppet, at this moment, Wei Yan was doomed to defeat.
It's just that at the moment, he is not close to his end.
——
Yes, what Wei Yan thought was that if he could capture the lower city of Wudu, he could easily control Chencang and then plot the Chang'an area.
Even more boldly - if Wei Yan hadn't still had an unfulfilled wish, he could have highlighted Yongliang in one fell swoop - Han Sui and Zhang Lu were dead, and Ma Chao was on the front line, so the vast area of Yongliang had become his target.
meal?
Wei Yan is not so bold in his idea of self-reliance. The goal he has set for himself at the moment is to achieve a very high status in Liu Bei's army: no matter what, he must at least be on an equal footing with Zhuge Liang before he has a chance to stand up in the future.
With this belief, Wei Yan led his troops to march faster than ever before.
A silent army descended from the cliff and did not seem to cause any commotion until it entered the valley.
In this way, Wei Yan, who left his luggage behind, quickly moved towards Xiabian to attack after confirming that he had crossed the Guangshi defensive circle.
——
At the same time, Liu Bei's army's fighting strength had weakened.
Under the leadership of Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun and others, they repelled the menacing Cao army.
Xu Chu and Xia Houdun spoke harshly from a distance:
"Grandpa let you live this time, and I will teach you to pay the price next time!"
"I, the general, did not perform well today! We will fight again tomorrow, so that you can experience the power of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!"
After saying these words, Cao Jun left smoothly. This instant departure made even Zhang Fei, who was a little slow to react, feel strange.
"They...have no intention of going to war with us at all?"
"I'm afraid that's the case..."
Zhao Yun echoed from the side.
As a result, while Zhang Fei was still thinking, Huo Jun's anxious voice disturbed everyone:
"General Zhang! There's a big problem!"
"General Wei Yan led his army across Zoumaling alone, but now there is no trace of him! Could it be... could it be that you really let him go to attack Xiabian!?"
"Yes...so what?"
Huo Jun was almost crying. Although he was young, he was actually the clearest-minded among the generals who were confused in the field.
Zhang Fei's whole body trembled, and a bad premonition suddenly surged in his heart.
"What do you mean, so what!?"
Huo Jun, who couldn't control his voice at all, jumped off his horse, rushed in front of Zhang Fei, and shouted at him with all his strength:
"In this way, we have completely fallen into the enemy's trap! This is a feint attack by the enemy! The purpose is to attract General Wei Yan to separate from the main force of our army. If we cannot chase General Wei Yan back, I am afraid that the entire army will be waiting for us.
Destruction!!"
At this moment, Zhang Fei finally woke up.
The previous sense of disobedience came to mind, making Zhang Fei sober.
The drinks he drank in the past two days seemed to have turned into cold sweat, which was pouring out from his body crazily.
In an instant, Zhang Fei became a drowned rat.
The words Zhuge Liang told him began to flash in his mind, as well as the scene when he promised Zhuge Liang that he would not violate military intelligence.
"broken…"
Drinking makes things worse - he has been completely captured by Wei Yan and alcohol in the past two days. The key is that he seems to have inadvertently interrupted the dissuasion of Huo Jun, Zhao Yun and others.
"Now...what to do now?"
Zhang Fei suddenly woke up and spoke immediately, his eyes constantly dodging, as if he wanted to find a remedy.
"I'll go! Generals, you still need to use all your strength to resist Cao Jun here. The more brave you are, the safer General Wei Yan's situation will be."
"The key is…"
Huo Jun didn't finish his words. He was worried not only about the frontal battlefield and Wei Yan's problems. He was worried about whether Zhang Fei and the others were slightly careless, or that Wei Yan was really wiped out by the opponent in one fell swoop. What would happen to those who hadn't received the news yet?
Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others were in an even more dangerous situation.
This is no joke.
Micang Mountain is steep, and it takes a lot of time just to transport grain and grass into the mountain.
Based on this time, it is possible that Wei Yan was destroyed and Zhuge Liang had just received the news.
He could only hope that the spies he sent to the mountains before could find Zhuge Liang and others as soon as possible.
But the problem is... Now that they've reached this point, their plan... seems to have failed.
——
Huo Jun feels good.
Let’s not mention that they have done nothing on the frontal battlefield and are already showing signs of collapse.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang did not achieve the expected advantage at all.
In two days, Zhuge Liang sent people to investigate the frontal battlefield and asked Liu Bei to personally write military orders to replace Wei Yan's position with Huo Jun. On the other hand, he urged Huang Zhong to try his best to win the battle.
Capture Dingjun Mountain in the shortest possible time.
And this disregard of casualties only accelerated their defeat.