After Chen Chong's left army captured Nanchong and Langzhong in June, Duan You on the right also relied on Pan Jun's surrender and massive momentum to first surrender Baishui Pass and then break through Jiameng Pass. The two armies had now completely opened up the Western Han Dynasty. The passage of water can be connected through the water of the Western Han Dynasty. Since Zhang Liao escaped, the only key places left in Shu County are Zitong and Mianzhu.
However, there is still a dangerous Jianmen point to the north of Zitong, which is not easy to attack. Jianmen Mountain is also called Dajian Mountain, and thirty miles northeast of it is Xiaojian Mountain. The two mountains are dangerously connected, and the Feige thoroughfare is called Jiange. Among them, Xiaojian Mountain There is a small stone gate on the mountain, and the passage through the mountain is more than six feet long. It was carved with stone oxen during the Qin Dynasty. Qin Sima Cuo used this road to conquer Shu and became the foundation of Qin's unification. Therefore, the southern section of Shu Road is also called the Golden Ox. Dao. Five hundred years later, Duan Yan and Chen Bing were at this time, and they had to lament the danger of this place. According to Pan Jun's news, the defenders of Jianmen were only a thousand people. However, relying on the danger of Shimen, how could Duan Yan attack in turns with 20,000 people? , there was no sign of decline at all.
In desperation, Duan Xuan could only write to Chen Chong to ask for advice. Chen Chong's reply was very simple: after I loot it, the people will collapse.
At this time, Chen Chong had already gone south along the Western Han River. After occupying Anhan, he then marched westward, took the mountain road to Fulishui, and then went up the Shuo River. At this time, the center of Shu was extremely empty. Scholars along the way heard that Chen Chong had marched to Bashu. In the hinterland, people in Bajun, Hanzhong, defected along the way. They were all horrified and frightened, thinking that Liu Fan was gone. Chen Chong only traveled forty miles a day. Every village pavilion he passed was filled with prominent figures in the county, all of whom were eating pots of pulp to welcome the king's army. There was no need to attack. In just four days, the Han army marched from Deyang to Pingyang Township. Zitong is a hundred miles to the northwest, and Mianzhu is a hundred miles to the southwest, just like a triangle.
It was already early July. Yin Feng, who was accompanying him, learned that Chen Chong planned to take Zitong first. He was quite puzzled and met him to ask for the secret.
He asked: "Mianzhu is the leader of the enemy, and Zitong is his minion. The close relationship between the two is well known to the world. Now that the two armies of the imperial court have been fully deployed in Shu, it is impossible for the people of Shu not to know the prime minister's arrangements. .When the Prime Minister goes to attack Zitong, he will definitely expose his flank to Mianzhu, but Mianzhu still has some strength left. If he sends out troops to rescue Zitong and is attacked from the north and the south, won't our army be in danger?"
Chen Chong smiled lightly and replied: "Zeng Zeng was too worried. We have been stationed in Nanchong for twenty years. If Mianzhu has the intention to make progress, he can send troops to help at that time. If the news is delayed, We should also send troops to Deyang to prevent our army from continuing to advance westward. Until now, we have not sent troops to resist the encirclement. If we reach the heart of the country and then want to counterattack, does he think he is Xiang Yu? By this time, the people of the entire Shu region have turned to me. Now, if he fails to rescue Zitong, he will no longer have a foothold. Do you think Liu Zhang dares to take this risk?"
Yin Feng thought about it carefully. If he were Liu Zhang, he might not dare to do so. He might as well continue to hide in the city and wait for Liu Fan to come back for help. At least this would be blameless.
Chen Chong said: "Although Liu Zhang has a reputation for benevolence and has some talents in caring for the people, when faced with war, he is still cowardly and has no plan. From my guess, he must not be willing to take risks."
"Then does he have other strategies to choose from?"
"For Liu Jiyu, rescuing Zitong is the last option. The middle option is naturally to order Zitong to withdraw to Mianzhu, retreat to Zicheng, fortify the battlements, and wait for reinforcements. The two legions enter Zicheng and defend the area.
It is smaller and there are more people, which is naturally not conducive to our attack on the city, and the morale in the city is also low. However, it takes great courage to abandon Zitong Jiange, and he will never choose it."
"What's the best strategy?"
"The best strategy is to gather all the remaining troops in Shu and retreat to Jiangzhou immediately. Although it looks embarrassing, once Liu Fan's main force returns to the division, he will be able to confront our army with an absolute superiority in strength. We will penetrate deep into the enemy's territory.
The geography is unfamiliar, and the villagers from all over the country will report to the Shu army. When the time comes to decide the outcome of the battle, we only have a 30% chance of winning. If we fail, I am afraid we will have to flee back to Guanzhong in a hurry."
After setting up camp for a while, Chen Chong led the left route army to continue to advance. Ma Chao's vanguard cavalry had approached Fu County, searching along the way and expelling civilians to repair roads and bridges. Li Hui, the magistrate of Fu County in the Shu Dynasty, detected the actions of the Xifu Army.
Judging that the Han army would launch an attack on Zitong in the near future, he hurriedly sent troops to report to Mianzhu.
The alarm from Fu County reached Mianzhu, but the messenger was blocked outside the palace gate by the guards. It turned out that Zhenwei General Liu Zhang's youngest son was infected with a gas disease and was seeking treatment from a doctor in the palace. He was so distraught that he could not see clearly, and important officials of the Shu Dynasty were also accompanying him.
Stay aside, so it’s not appropriate to disturb you.
The messenger had galloped for dozens of miles and was sweating profusely. He was standing outside in the scorching sun and was even more dizzy. After the doctor finished reading and went out, someone presented Li Hui's official letter.
After Liu Zhang finished reading, he didn't look flustered and handed the book to Liu Ba, Wu Yi, Zhao Wei and other important officials to read.
After reading it, Liu Ba said: "Zitong just received a letter a few days ago, saying that the sword pavilion was strong and had blocked all the enemy troops. Chen Chong led his army to attack from a pincer. This must be the reason."
Wu Yi said: "But if he sends troops to attack Zitong, isn't he afraid of our troops attacking from the flanks? This is a taboo for military strategists."
Zhao Wei said: "Yes, there is nothing to be afraid of. If Chen Chong dares to come, I will personally lead the troops to harass him. He is not familiar with the place, and even grinding can grind him to death."
Liu Zhang was silent for a long time and said: "There is no need to take risks. We have sent a message to Jiangling. The most important thing now is to keep Mianzhu alive. We will wait for my brother to lead his troops back to the city and then we will see how to deal with it. Now you and I are doing things."
, once something goes wrong, how do you explain it to your brother?"
At this point, his face finally showed a hint of gaffes, and he turned to complain to Zhao Wei, the prefect of Shu County: "Pan Jun and other Chu people cannot be trusted. I have already told my brother bitterly, and that Zhang Lu,
Using rice to pretend to be gods and deceiving the public with monstrous words will cause serious trouble sooner or later, so they should be taken down early, but my brother never listens. Now that they are fine, they have caused such a big disaster, but they want me to clean up the mess."
When Zhao Wei heard this, he didn't know how to answer, so he could only smile bitterly, but Liu Zhang continued to say coldly: "When Hanzhong was lost, Zhang Liao from Langzhong ran so fast that he fled directly to Jiangzhou, and he wanted us to come with him."
Moved. He fears the dragon's head as much as the tiger, but regards the country as nothing. How can such an incompetent person deserve to be reused?"
Wu Yi listened to him for a long time, and became a little impatient, so he said: "Since the general will not allow Zitong to be rescued, let's implement martial law first, move all the people from the villages outside the city in, and fortify the walls and clear the fields to prevent the thieves.
An opportunity to take advantage of."
This statement hit the mark, and all the other ministers agreed. Unexpectedly, Liu Zhang was hesitant at this time, and said to everyone: "When the king was alive, he often said to my brother that when you govern in Yizhou, you should be kind to the people. Now
We have exhausted all the people's strength in the battle against Jingzhou, so how can we destroy the people's homes? Moreover, Longshou is a man of good reputation. It is said that he has done nothing wrong all the way. If I do this, wouldn't it be true and make the people's hearts even worse?
To him?"
So in the next few days, Wu Yi declared martial law internally and externally, but in fact there were not many substantial measures to solidify the defense. Many celebrities in the city agreed, and some people commented privately: "Your Highness is really stupid for letting Liu Jiyu take charge of Mianzhu.
Come on! What's the point of imposing martial law without relocating the people? It's just a show! When Chen Chong comes, all the residents outside the city will become accomplices."
As for Li Hui, who encountered the vanguard of the Han army, Liu Zhang sent a message to him, asking him to hold on to the city and delay the time. Unexpectedly, just one day after the letter was sent, news came that Li Hui of Fucheng had opened the city to surrender! And then another message was sent to him.
Here comes the news that Zitong is under siege!
Liu Zhang couldn't help being furious after hearing this, and discussed with his ministers: "Li Hui betrayed his trust and allowed the imperial court to attack Zitong. The only solution now is to fight vigorously!"
Mianzhu ordered Liu Ba to speak bluntly to him: "Your Majesty, I see that Chen Chong is so powerful that he has shaken Shu and the Han Dynasty. Not only the hearts of the people around him, but also the hearts of the soldiers are no longer enough to rely on. Your Majesty, I still want to take advantage of the fact that the enemy army has not yet encircled them.
Let’s all go to Jiangzhou!" Liu Zhang just sighed after hearing this. People like Wu Yi and Zhao Wei also found it difficult and did not dare to come forward to agree.
After all, Liu Zhang could not make up his mind to give up Mianzhu, and instead continued to ask for help from Jiangling. At the same time, he issued orders to Dong He and Pang Xi of Nanzhong, asking them to lead the Nanzhong Army and rush south to support.
After the envoy left, it was night. Liu Zhang continued to take care of his youngest son Liu Yin in the mansion. He felt heartbroken when he saw the child coughing constantly on the couch. He and his wife sat on the couch with him until midnight. He finally waited for Liu Yin to fall asleep.
After that, he exhaustedly put on his robe and went out, when he bumped into a man waiting at the door with a sword.
He was startled at first, but when he saw it was his eldest son Liu Xun, he breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Liu Xun clasped his hands and said, "I see that your Majesty is worried about national affairs. Although I am not talented, I am still a Yuanfu man. I practice martial arts on weekdays just to share your worries for you today. If you don't give up, I am willing to lead the people to rebel against the imperial court."
Fight!"
When Liu Zhang heard this, he was half happy and half sad
Chou said to Liu Xun: "Since you are determined, I won't stop you. Now that a disaster is approaching and the city is short of manpower, go and transfer some money and rice from the treasury and go around to recruit villagers."<
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After watching his son take the order and leave, Liu Zhang felt even more sad. That night, he and Liu Ba went to the Jingyuan Pavilion in the city and looked at the starry sky. He leaned on the railing and sighed and said: "Guest stars guard Yulin, in the middle of the country.
If there are female ministers, the battle will be defeated!" Liu Ba saw that his courage was low and frustrated, so he had to comfort him and said: "The stars should be in the north, what does it have to do with us?" Liu Zhang just closed his eyes and shook his head without answering.<
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He thought in his heart: The former king listened to the words of the wise men and said that there was the emperor's spirit in Shu, but the emperor's prophecies were so many! I think this is nonsense. The emperor has nothing good to do, it is better to defect to him as soon as possible
How could the imperial court be in such trouble today! But he also knew that these words were treasonous, so he only dared to think about it in his heart.
Besides, Li Hui surrendered to Chen Chong. After Chen Chong led his troops to surround Zitong, he ordered Yang Fu to lead 4,000 cavalrymen to attack Dajian Mountain in the north.