In the middle of winter in the sixth year of Yanxing in the Han Dynasty, Chen Chong was still quietly organizing and training the new army. In Xi County, the confrontation between Liang and Shu had reached the point where everyone was fighting.
After Liu Fan occupied Wuzhangyuan, 120,000 Shu soldiers poured out of Baoxie Road one after another. Liu Fan did not march immediately. Instead, he accumulated supplies at the slope and rested and organized his troops in the camp. The camp formed a line along the south bank of the Weishui River.
The characters are arranged. Because Sichuan is rich in brocade, there are many flags in the army. Almost every five people have a flag. When the north wind blows, thousands of flags flutter, stretching for more than 40 miles without end, which is very spectacular.
As for the Liang army, Jia Xu first and Song Jian, the emperor personally led the Chang'an garrison to Yi County, and then recruited Han Sui, Ma Teng, Dong Cheng and other troops, leaving only about a thousand people to guard Shaan County, Lu Bu, Gao Shun and others.
The troops also withdrew from Hedong, and Li Kan, who was guarding Liangzhou, and Huang Yan's troops also arrived one after another, accompanied by the Baima Qiang Yang Teng from Wudu, the Three Wolf Qiang Lei Ding, Rou Di Mangzhong, Lu Shui, Hu Yinjian, the concubine, Zhi
Yuan Duo, Wudu Qiang Fu Jian and others, together there are nearly more than 100,000 people. Compared with the Shu army on the south bank, although the Liang army does not have so many banners, it has a lot of cavalry, and the horses are like a tide on the north bank day and night.
Running around hard, the sound of neighing can be heard from across the bank, and it has a unique scene.
After Jia Xu arrived in Yi County, he first sent an envoy to the south bank to deliver a letter. In the letter, he first traced the mutual contact between Shuo, Liang and Yi before August, in which both sides vowed to support the country and respect the emperor. Then he greatly praised Liu Yan
He also mentioned that the emperor was deeply moved by this and specially made Liu Yan the King of Shu. This was extremely unfavorable. He then asked Liu Fan why he brought his troops here. Was it a misunderstanding? What if he withdrew his troops from Hanzhong?
, the imperial court can forget the blame and still regard the family as a foreign vassal.
Liu Fan really just learned about the imperial court's decision to confer the title of king. After all, the Han Dynasty was cut off. The imperial envoy took the Yinping Road from Wudu to Shu, and happened to pass by Liu Fan's army. However, he had no intention of retreating and directly accepted the edict.
, and then dictated to the envoy: "How dare a group of remnants of Dong's thieves dare to speak out to help him? Back then, I was arrested in the prison of Dong's thieves to save His Majesty, and both my legs were broken. Where is Jia Wenhe?"
Just farm under Duan Zhen!【1】"
At this point, the generals of the Shu army burst into laughter. Liu Fan waited until everyone was quiet before continuing: "Go back and tell Lu Bu and Jia Xu that it is not me who is unfaithful to the country, but they who have betrayed them first. If
If I can surrender Sizhou to our army as I said three months ago, I may not be unable to fulfill the contract. I will attack Jinyang with him and hand over Bingzhou. If it still doesn't work, then there is nothing to talk about. Let's see the outcome on the sword!
”
Jia Xu had no reaction after receiving the message. After all, this was expected. After conveying the opinions of the Shu army to the emperor, he commented: "Liu Yan and his son were spying on the artifact. If they went north this time, they would not have been defeated by a horse."
I'm willing to come back lightly." But Lu Bufang returned from Hedong in a hurry, and he was very angry with the Shu army. He sneered and said: "This kid is so arrogant, why do you need to say more? I will tie them up in two days and chop them all into pieces.
Feed the eagle!" The emperor couldn't help but sigh after hearing the sound. Knowing that a war was inevitable, he could only reward the troops and encourage them, and then hurried back to Xijing.
But what is strange is that the Shu army traveled thousands of miles and consumed an incredible amount of food and fodder along the way, but Liu Fan ordered the army to guard the camp tightly and did not show any signs of engaging Lu Bu.<
/p>
Everyone speculated that Liu Fandang also knew that if it was a general battle, the Shu army would have more infantry and less cavalry, so our chances of victory would be good. But if they build strong walls and high fortresses, and compete with our army here to waste food and fodder, the outcome is difficult to predict.
After all, there has been no war in Sichuan for several years, and it is a grain-producing land with abundant reserves. However, Guanzhong had previously mobilized more than 100,000 troops to Guandong, and much of the stored grain had been sent with them. This year's winter wheat harvest has failed again. If the stalemate continues until the end of next year, I am afraid it will be delayed.
It can also drag our army to death!
Lu Bu believed this, and was also anxious about it. In the past two days, he sent knights to the camp several times to shout in an attempt to arrange a battle with Liu Fan. But no matter how he shouted, no one in the Shu camp seemed to hear it. This became more and more solid.
After realizing his previous suspicions, Lu Bu felt troubled for the first time and had to hold military meetings many times to discuss the strategy of directly attacking the Shu army camp with the Xiliang generals.
Unexpectedly, Han Sui and others had observed the camp on the south bank in advance and had secretly concluded that the Shu army was well guarded and the terrain was dangerous. If they attacked by force, the casualties at the main attack area would be heavy. Therefore, these Xiliang people thought: They and Lu Bu are just the same.
For the time being, we can make an alliance with wealth, but there is no need to risk our lives. As a result, Lu Budan said that he would attack the camp, and everyone agreed. But when he asked who was willing to lead the attack, no one responded. In addition, Lu Bu himself was not willing to attack by force, and the situation became worse.
There was a stalemate again.
In the end, it was Jia Xu who broke the siege and said that it was difficult to attack the fortress, so it was better to think of other strategies. He then analyzed the situation of the two armies and believed that the Shu army's food road was long and could not be defended. It was better to send another surprise army to go around the sloping valley.
If Liu Fan is determined not to withdraw and instead divides his troops to guard the grain road, the front camp will be empty, and it will not be too late to attack the camp by then. All the generals heard this
Call it good.
But before the candidates for the special forces were selected, strange rumors gradually began to appear in Guanzhong Sanfu.
Some people say that Liu Yan was once Chen Chong's lord, and Liu Fan also had a close relationship with him. Therefore, the Shu army went north this time to avenge Chen Chong, and the old troops of Sili Mansion would reuse him; others said that the new Shangshu Ling Jia Xu
He thought that the new general Lü Bu was domineering and had a previous regicide, so the two were extremely at odds. Jia Xu had repeatedly advised the emperor to get rid of Lü Bu; some also said that Lü Bu was resentful of the defeat at Fengyi Mountain and secretly had an affair with him.
Liu Fan conspired to murder Han Sui, Ma Teng, and Song Jian, and took the opportunity to annex their tribes; as for other Qiang and Di changes, there are countless rumors about Dong Cheng's dissatisfaction, and it is difficult to tell the truth.
.
When Liang Jun discussed the general strategy at the military meeting again, almost half of the people attending the meeting were reduced: Han Sui said he was ill, Dong Cheng came alone, and Qiang Di was mostly absent. Faced with this situation, everyone was suspicious, and in the
Naturally, I didn’t know what was said at the meeting, and it took a long time to reach a conclusion.
Two days later, Liu Fan actually sent an envoy to the camp, saying that he would make an appointment with the Liang army. Lu Bu was overjoyed and agreed immediately. Unexpectedly, before returning to the camp, the envoy openly gave gifts of gold and silver to the generals, and also attached
There is a letter. It is such a blatant attempt to win the hearts of the enemy. Logically speaking, the generals should capture the messenger immediately to prove their innocence. But for some unknown reason, after everyone received the letter, they looked at each other without saying a word and indulged the messenger.
Leave.
Seeing this situation, Jia Xu screamed in his heart that something was not good. He hurriedly went to discuss with Lu Bu and said: "The morale of the army is already in chaos. If we raise the army again now, I am afraid that it will be premature and everything will not be accomplished. The top priority is no longer a war, so we should temporarily suspend the army. Let’s follow Zhou Yafu’s old wisdom.”
In his words, he had already made a plan: after most of the troops withdraw to Chang'an, Han Sui and others can also withdraw from Chencang. The Shu army will inevitably face a choice, whether to attack Chencang or Chang'an. No matter which city they attack, their flanks will be exposed. For the other army, this is a good opportunity to win.
However, Lu Bu not only refused to listen, but instead asked him sideways: "The country has a lot of land and a lot of money, but Wen He has abandoned it like a straw. What's the reason? Not long after we became the general, we let the Shu thieves attack Xijing. All the princes should be aware of this." How to discuss? How to appease people's hearts?"
He already had a calculation in his mind, and without waiting for Jia Xu to say more, he continued: "Since we have made an appointment with the bandit army, we should not miss the date. Even if Han Sui and others are timid in fighting, my men and yours will total 60,000 people. Moreover, there are many fast horses in the army, which are unparalleled. Those pig herders in Shu, even if their strength is ten times that of mine, are just a ragtag crowd, how can they compete with us?"
When he said this, his tone couldn't help but become excited, and he continued: "Besides, those of you are just looking at the situation. As long as I break through the enemy's formation and make the Shu army retreat, all the generals will see that I have a chance to win, and they will definitely come out to fight for the merit." , then we can expect to defeat the enemy!"
Jia Xu's face was slightly gloomy and he just asked: "So what if we don't win?"
Lu Bu replied casually: "If you can't rush forward, then just retreat. Can they catch up?"
Seeing that Lu Bu was determined to fight, Jia Xu couldn't say anything more, so he just cupped his hands and left.
When Gao Shun heard that the two of them had broken up so unhappy, he was extremely worried. He secretly advised Lu Bu: "Jia Jun's wisdom is the best in the court. If the general doesn't use his tactics, it's fine. Why should he be against him?" ?"
Hearing this, Lu Bu raised his eyes and replied: "Although Jia Xu is very wise, he lacks the courage. He only knows how to act after making a decision, but how can things in the world be so comprehensive? If he doesn't move until he has a very good chance of winning, then what's the point? Xiang Jui should be ready to be captured while he is in Pengcheng." Gao Shun had nothing to say about this, but only Lu Bu himself knew whether this was the truth in Lu Bu's heart.
The plan had been decided, and Lu Bu immediately made intensive preparations for the battle. As soon as he got busy, the days and nights flew by like running water, and soon it was the night before the battle. After Lu Bu had dinner, he handed over his stomach to be cleaned by his personal attendant. He went to the stable to feed the horses again, and after adding fodder twice himself, he fell asleep early. When he woke up, the sky was still black and blue, and there were stars twinkling on the top of the mountain, like the eyes of the sky wind.
Before the starlight was extinguished, the ice mist slowly rose, and nearly a hundred thousand Liang troops moved out. They slowly stepped across the river ice in the fading dawn and approached the Shu army camp on the south bank.
There was no wind in the vast mist. The Liang army lined up behind the water step by step, with their heartstrings tensed, anxiously waiting for the upcoming battle. But until the sun passed through the morning fog, there was no sound of the formation moving on the south bank. Lu Bu felt it was very strange and hesitated for a long time, so he sent someone to the south camp to investigate the situation.
Half an hour later, the scout came back with panic on his face. He dismounted and reported: "General, the south camp is silent. When I looked closer, there was no one left." Lu Bu was also shocked and asked for details.
He said anxiously that they had asked the people around them, and they all said that they had heard the sound of footsteps like a tide in the middle of the night, and they might have gone east!
Xiangdong? Lu Bu was suspicious for a moment, then suddenly realized, and then broke out in a cold sweat: The Shu army should abandon the army and go straight to Chang'an!
【1】Liu Fan comes to the rescue: See Chapter 35 of Volume 7 [Guanshan Difficult to Cross] [Chang'an is Weird].