After the news of Zhang He's victory over Xianbei came, Bai Xiaowen received the reminder that the "Unification Main Mission 2: Consolidate the North" was completed.
Bai Xiaowen chose to submit the task.
Although this second main line of unification is not as difficult as the first one of defeating Cao Cao, it takes longer.
It took Bai Xiaowen more than ten days to defeat Ma Chao. It also took more than ten days to recruit Zhang Yan and conquer the Hu people. In total, it took almost a month.
Although the unification process has gone smoothly so far, and he has accumulated about forty days of free exploration time, Bai Xiaowen still dare not slack off.
After all, these two unification tasks are quite special.
Cao Cao had a heroic spirit, he could take things up and let them go. He knew that he had no hope of conquering the world, so he entrusted his unification ambition to Bai Xiaowen. A suicide note saved Bai Xiaowen a lot of time to clean up the mess, and he was able to solve the problem as quickly as possible.
It only took more than ten days to consolidate the rule of the Henan states.
As for Ma Chao, only Camille, a senior spy, can defeat him quickly.
If no such special circumstances occur, the two unification tasks combined may not take less than two months.
Bai Xiaowen once again convened the civil and military forces to formulate national policies.
Xun Yu was ill and did not participate. This is also a symbol of Xun Yu's gradual distance from Bai Xiaowen's ruling center.
Bai Xiaowen cherished Xun Yu's talents. After Xun Yu fell ill, he invited famous doctors to diagnose and nurse him back to health. However, Bai Xiaowen could only do this one step. He could not change Xun Yu's thoughts and let him become his king.
, proclaimed himself emperor and made plans.
Up to now, Xun Yu's "Wang Zuo" master skill is still working, and Bai Xiaowen is already thankful.
At this meeting, the counselors had a dispute over the next strategic goal.
Some people say that we should first attack Jingzhou, go to the south of the Yangtze River, and then attack the east and west rivers (Xichuan is Yizhou, and Dongchuan is Hanzhong).
The reason is that the terrain of Jingzhou is relatively simple and easy to capture. However, the terrain of Hanzhong and Yizhou is complex and the mountain roads are rugged, which is not conducive to the deployment of large armies. If the army is conquered by force, it will be half the result with twice the result.
There is some truth to this statement.
However, Tian Feng put forward the opposite opinion:
"Yan Gong should take the two rivers first for three reasons.
"First, the temporary reconciliation between Sun Ce in Jiangdong and Liu Cong in Jingzhou must be because they are afraid of our army going south. If our army rushes to attack, it will be quite difficult for Sun and Liu to join forces; if our army slows down, there will inevitably be changes within Sun and Liu.
"Secondly, when conquering an enemy country, the key point is not whether the terrain is dangerous or whether the mountain roads are rugged, but whether the enemy's leader is wise and whether the monarch and his ministers are united. Needless to say, Sun Ce from Jiangdong, Liu Cong from Jingzhou, and Liu Bei were also assisted. They are all wise leaders, from top to bottom.
With the same force, Zhang Lu in Hanzhong has a weak army and few generals; Liu Zhang in Yizhou is even more weak and incompetent, so it is not difficult to win.
"Third, surrender Ma Chao, sharpen his sword, and think day and night to capture Hanzhong and bring Zhang Lu to trial. Since Duke Yan has made a promise, he cannot break his promise; and to drive Ma Chao to devour Zhang Lu, our army will win or lose.
, everyone can reap the benefits.”
Bai Xiaowen smiled and said: "Tian Gong's words are really golden. I have decided to be alone. I will slow down my plans for the south of the Yangtze River and capture the two rivers first."
After Bai Xiaowen said this, the spirit world rules prompt message came:
"The main mission of the Great Unification 3: Get Long Wangshu, start."
"Mission goal: to obtain the actual rule of Hanzhong and Yizhou."
"You get 30 days of free exploration."
The actual right to rule refers not only to the superficial surrender of the two Sichuan provinces, but also to the true surrender and inclusion in Bai Xiaowen's imperial territory.
Bai Xiaowen narrowed his eyes slightly. How could this main unification mission 3 be triggered so easily?
No matter how you look at it, Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are not as good as the combination of Ma Chao and Hu Ren, and they are not as good as the Cao Group.
But since it was triggered, Bai Xiaowen didn't think too much about it.
He immediately sent an order to allocate 10,000 elite troops to General Cheng Lie, Ma Chao, as a vanguard, and immediately sent troops to Hanzhong. Ma Dai, Ma Xiu, Ma Tie, Ma Yunlu and other Ma family members also went to fight with the vanguard army.
Bai Xiaowen took command of the army himself, made some preparations, and set off for the expedition in person three days later.
This time, Bai Xiaowen still did not lead many troops, only 50,000 elite soldiers. In addition, he sent two powerful lord-level generals, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, to lead their troops to garrison Yuzhou to guard against any movements by Sun and Liu in Jing and Yang.
Ma Chao was put on the bench by Bai Xiaowen and sat on the bench for half a month. It can be said that he has been depressed for a long time.
Now that he finally had a chance to play, he was naturally impatient and ordered the entire army to march all night and starry to attack Hanzhong.
…
When Zhang Lu in Hanzhong heard the news about the imperial army's conquest, he was panicked and summoned his subordinates for discussion.
Under Zhang Lu, the civil servants include Yan Pu and Yang Song, and the generals include Yang Ang, Yang Ren, etc. Their strength is average, and only Yang Ren is a rare leader-level general.
In addition, Zhang Lu also had a younger brother, Zhang Wei, who was also quite prestigious in Hanzhong. Many times, Zhang Lu had to consider Zhang Wei's opinions when making decisions.
After hearing that Bai Xiaowen was revered as the Duke of Yan by the imperial court, that he did not follow the imperial court, was not praised and worshiped, and that he went to the palace with a sword, Zhang Lu was worried and thought about how to protect Hanzhong.
After thinking about it, Zhang Lu actually thought of establishing himself as the "King of Hanning" and granting him civil servants and generals to compete with Bai Xiaowen.
It can be seen from this that Zhang Lu is also a real person. He really thinks that he can beat Bai Xiaowen by claiming the title of king and surpassing Bai Xiaowen in terms of title?
Before Zhang Lu could stand on his own feet, the civil servants and generals under his command were shocked.
The scribe Yan Pu urged Zhang Lu to find a way to annex Liu Zhang first. After occupying the two Sichuan lands, it would not be too late to establish himself as king.
Zhang Lu thought it made sense, so he put aside the idea of self-reliance for the time being.
Yizhou Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu had a genocide feud. In terms of territory, Liu Zhang's territory was several times that of Zhang Lu! The reason why he had not been able to capture Zhang Lu was because Liu Zhang was too weak and his civil and military officers were not well-thought-out.
.
However, the relationship between the two families is still extremely bad.
In both public and private matters, Zhang Lu wanted to kill Liu Zhang.
Unfortunately, Yizhou is even more difficult to defend and difficult to attack, and Zhang Lu's strength is not good either. The thunder is loud and the rain is light.
Before Zhang Lu could make any progress, new news came.
Yuan Xi, the Duke of Yan, pacified the Wuhuan and other tribes in the north, incorporated Zhang Yan, and completely consolidated the entire northern territory; he also appointed Ma Chao, the surrendered general, as the vanguard to attack Hanzhong!
Zhang Lu panicked and said, "How about we surrender?"
Yan Pu, a minister in Zhang Lu's tent, remained silent. Yang Song nodded and said, "I have heard for a long time that Duke Yan is benevolent and always treats generals generously. My lord, using the power of a county to resist the army of Duke Yan is like a mantis using his arm as a chariot. It's not as good as that."
If you surrender early, you may be able to obtain the title of marquis."
Zhang Wei scolded: "You can surrender. My brother is the lord of Hanzhong. How can we be compatible after surrendering to Yuan Xi? He will be killed. Brother, don't worry, the terrain in Hanzhong is extremely dangerous. I will take Yang Ang and Yang Ren with me."
The two generals go forward and guard Yangping Pass; even if Yuan Xi has a million troops, he will never be able to leap over."