Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1390 Showdown
Guo Huai has been very happy recently.

He guessed Zhuge Liang's intention of flanking and infiltrating the enemy twice in a row and led his troops to ambush in advance, causing the Jin army to suffer a not-so-small loss and temporarily halting the momentum of the attack.

And a few days ago, he even predicted that Wei Yan on the upper road would take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Sima Yi's central army, so he adopted a strategy of luring the enemy deep into the territory, causing Wei Yan to be ambushed and defeated. For a time, the pressure on the Wei army being surrounded on three sides was greatly reduced.

Sima Yi himself let Guo Huai do it, and went alone to suppress Guan Ping of Hannan Kingdom, forcing him to retreat again and again, and also took back the previously lost Fancheng, getting closer to Xiangyang.

Fancheng was recaptured by the Wei army, and the siege of Shangyong and Fangling was lifted, and the defense line was pushed back to the vicinity of Xinye.

The current situation is that the Wei army is deployed on the line of Wancheng, Anzhong, Dengcheng and Fancheng, the Hannan Kingdom is deployed on the line of Xiangyang and Maicheng, and the Jin army is deployed on the line of Lushan, Anle and Xinye.

These three forces are located on the three lines of the triangle, and there is a river between them, namely the Han River, the Yu River, and the Xiang River.

Xiangyang is the junction of the three rivers. Due to the rising water level, it is much more difficult for the attacking party than for the defending party, which has led to the current stalemate.

The end of Wei's long defense line is Wancheng, Nanyang, which is an old place familiar to both Jin and Wei, and it is also the place where Wei Yan suffered a loss last time.

Previously, because Zhuge Liang's military campaign was blocked, Wei Yan requested to advance from the Xuanyuan Mountain area of ​​Xiangcheng, northeast of Wancheng, bypass the source of the Yu River, launch a surprise attack on Wancheng from land, and cut off Cao's army's retreat.

Seeing that the situation was at a stalemate, Zhuge agreed to Wei Yan's plan. Wei Yan ordered 3,000 soldiers and horses to march from Xudu Yingchuan to Xiangcheng, heading west all the way to Wancheng. However, they were ambushed by Guo Huai and had to retreat in embarrassment.

Now Guo Huai is in Wancheng and Sima Yi is in Fancheng, guarding this line tightly. But the Wei army also knows that they will not be able to break the siege if they continue like this, because news has come that the central route of the Jin army has broken through Hangu Pass and is approaching Tongguan.

At this time, the news of the fall of Liangzhou had not yet arrived, otherwise the Wei army might have considered retreating. But now, the loss of Hangu Pass alone was not enough to make the Wei army panic.

This is because although the Xiaohan Road was occupied by the Jin army, they had to cross many mountains to go south, and they had to pass through Huashan and the Sanxiao Mountains in the middle, which was almost impossible.

If the Jin army wanted to go south, one way was to cross the Luo River from Luoyang to attack Nanyang, the second way was to go through Xuanyuan Mountain, which was the focus of defense by Guo Huai, to attack Nanyang, or the third way was to take Chang'an and then go through Qingni Pass from Lantian in the south, and go east through Wugu Pass and Lushi to Nanyang.

All of these three roads pass through Wancheng, which is why Wancheng's strategic location is so important. When Liu Biao was guarding Jingzhou, as long as Zhang Xiu in Wancheng and Liu Bei in Xinye were not in trouble, Cao's army would not be able to move south.

The reason why the Wei army is not panicking now is that the Luo River is flooded and the surrounding area is full of swamps. As long as Guo Huai guards Wancheng, they can retreat to Chang'an from Wugu Pass through Qingni Pass at any time.

The key place, Wancheng, was of utmost importance. The reason why Zhuge was at a loss when dealing with it was that at the beginning, the Wei army, under the advice of Guo Huai, made a desperate move and went directly south to attack the Hannan Kingdom.

If the Wei army were allowed to break through Xiangyang and reach the area around Maicheng, Nanjun and Yiling, the barrier of Hannan Kingdom would be opened. By then, the Wei army would occupy Kuiguan and Wu Gorge, and Hannan Kingdom would be under the constant threat of being destroyed by the Wei army.

The Wei army dared to do this because they knew that Guan Yu was not around, and they took advantage of Guan Ping's lack of experience in leading a force. This indeed had an effect. Not only did Guan Ping suffer a defeat, but Zhuge Liang's intention of sending troops to support Guan Ping was also guessed by the Wei army. It can be said that Guan Ping's army, which was intended to be a helping hand at the beginning, became a hindering factor.

Guan Ping knew this very well. He was walking around in Xiangyang City, at a loss as to what to do, when the guard said that someone was coming from Changsha.

When Guan Ping went out to greet him, several guards were carrying a stretcher down from the carriage. When Guan Ping looked closely, he was surprised to find that the person coming was the military advisor Pang Tong who had been seriously injured and had not recovered yet!

Pang Tong was half lying on a stretcher, the wound on his forehead still wrapped in linen, which was permeated with a dark red and burnt brown color, and there was a faint unpleasant smell coming from it.

Guan Ping hurried forward and bowed, "Military Advisor, you have come from afar, are you in good health?"

Pang Tong reluctantly raised his hand and bowed, saying, "Pang Tong greets the general. I am physically disabled and cannot perform the salute. Please forgive me."

"I was ordered to come here this time because the king learned that the war was at a stalemate and ordered me to help."

Guan Ping quickly had Pang Tong carried in, and after he was placed on the couch, he said, "Ping did not fight well, and I have failed the king."

Pang Tong reluctantly stood up, leaning his back against the wall and said, "General, there is no need to blame yourself. After all, Sima Yi is the most difficult opponent for Wei State to deal with. Even I am not sure of winning."

"I am a little disappointed with Zhuge Kongming of Jin. I thought Sima Yi would be unable to resist him as long as he took action. I didn't expect that the Jin army, which had the upper hand in strength, would fight so ugly."

Guan Ping's face froze, "The Jin army was ambushed because they came to my rescue..."

Pang Tong waved his hand and said, "It's just to besiege Wei to save Zhao. As a military advisor, it would be ridiculous if he couldn't understand this."

"I laughed at him because Jin was the stronger party, but it was so restrained in its fight, and was not as decisive as when he came out of retirement."

"The reason why they have this idea is that Jin feels that the overall situation in the world has been determined and they are eager to win the hearts of the people. That's why they have so many concerns."

"If they continue like this, they will suffer a great loss sooner or later."

Guan Ping asked cautiously: "What should we do next?"

"Do you want to meet with Prime Minister Zhuge to discuss how to deal with Sima Yi?"

Pang Tong sneered and said, "Don't worry, General. I have my own strategy. Let's fight our own battles and ignore them."

"We can't win even if we join forces with Jin to fight the dying Wei. If word gets out, we can't afford to lose that person!"

Guan Ping smiled bitterly after hearing this. Pang Tong had always been arrogant, and this kind of talk was in line with his character. He could only say, "Then I'll have to trouble the military advisor to give me some advice."

Pang Tong nodded and said, "General, if you can trust me, then I will tell you my thoughts first."

"I'll guard Xiangyang."

"General, go directly north to attack Shangyong."

Guan Ping opened his eyes wide in surprise, "I'm going to fight Shang Yong?"

"Wasn't that originally reserved for the Jin army?"

Pang Tong sneered and said, "Since Zhuge Liang is incompetent and can't take it, then we will go and take it."

"After taking Shangyong, General, don't worry about Nanxiang and Fangling in the east. Just cross the river to the north, climb over the mountains to attack Qingni Pass and cut off the Wei army's supply."

Guan Ping was even more surprised when he heard this. Going north to cut off the enemy's rear checkpoint was hard to say whether they could take it or not, or even whether they could cross hundreds of miles of mountain roads and find the Qingni Pass.

Moreover, if Cao’s army takes back Shangyong, wouldn’t he be unable to return?

He raised the question in his mind, and Pang Tong said, "General, as the son of General Guan, you must be under a lot of pressure, right?"

"General, are you afraid that you will be compared with General Guan?"

Guan Ping gritted his teeth, "But..."

Pang Tong said calmly: "In fact, you underestimate yourself too much. General Guan may not be able to do better than you at your age."

"What you lack now is General Guan's determination to forge ahead and fight to the death."

"Without this spirit, the general will never be able to be on par with General Guan in his life. I'm afraid he can only be a second-rate general."

"General, do you want to live your life in fear?"

After hearing this, Guan Ping stood up and said, "Okay!"

"Regarding what the military advisor said, I also want to prove to the world that I, Guangping, am not a person who relies on my father's protection and gains fame in vain!"

"I will mobilize the troops and set out now. I'll leave Xiangyang in the hands of the military advisor!"

Pang Tong nodded and said, "General, go with peace of mind. When I came out of the mountains, I became famous for defending Xiangyang. No one knows the defense of this place better than me."

"And the general is not going to die. If Zhuge Liang reacts, he will definitely surround Wancheng, then attack Wuguan, and then block Qingni Pass to cut off the retreat of the Wei army."

"If the general can attack the pass, the Jin army will almost certainly be able to take Wuguan. The Wei army will have no way to escape and will only be destroyed."

Guan Ping straightened up and thought to himself that although Pang Tong said that he was disappointed with Zhuge Kongming, he must still have a lot of confidence in him, otherwise why would he expect him to attack Wuguan?
It seems like Pang Tong is unwilling to accept the fact that he has no chance to fight against Zhuge Kongming, right?

At this time, in Lushan City upstream of the Yu River, Wei Yan was surprised to meet Zhuge Liang, who was supposed to be in Xinye.

He thought that Zhuge Liang might come to hold him responsible for the defeat, so he said, "Yan's sneak attack on Wancheng failed. Please punish him, Prime Minister."

Zhuge Liang said, "It's alright. I miscalculated as well. How can I say that to Wen Chang?"

"A temporary setback is not a big deal. If you lose your determination to make progress, you will fall into the trap set by the State of Wei."

"What they want to do is to drag us to death here so that they can't guess our thoughts. As long as we can't reach Chang'an, their goal will be achieved."

"My mistake a few days ago was that I forgot the original purpose of this expedition. I always wanted to open up Shangyong Fangling and seize the gateway to Yizhou. My appetite was too big, and the Wei State saw through my true intentions."

"Now I have let go of unrealistic expectations and am ready to do every step well step by step."

"So I left Wen Pin to guard Xinye, and secretly brought Huang Zhong here, just to join forces with you, directly cross Nanyang, climb over the mountains to attack Wuguan, and cut off the retreat of the Wei army!"

Wei Yan was surprised when he heard this and said, "Prime Minister, you are acting cautiously, but isn't this also taking a risk?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Actually, I really like adventure."

"And I also want to see how the other side will respond if we attack them openly like this."

As Zhuge Liang expected, when Guo Huai heard that the entire Jin army had crossed the Weishui River and was not coming to Wancheng but heading north, he was completely paralyzed.

The opponent doesn't want to attack the gate of Wancheng, but wants to go directly to Chang'an?
(End of this chapter)