Ji Han Liu Zhang

In August of the second year of Xingping.

Liu Zhang deployed men and horses and had already stationed more than 10,000 troops in Dingjun Mountain. At the same time, he carefully arranged for Shen Mi to guard the food and grass passage from Dingjun Mountain to the camp in front of Yangping Pass to avoid the situation of being cut off and becoming a lone army.

After he broke into Dingjun Mountain, the countdown to the Battle of Hanzhong entered. Now he was extremely patient and sent Gan Ning and Lou Fa to attack the camp established by Zhang Lu.

The fort that Zhang Lu set up at the foot of Dingjun Mountain was not just one layer of defense, but multiple forts lined up in front and back, creating a 'heavy siege' posture. Therefore, Liu Zhang, who had the upper hand, slowly used the multiple fortresses set up by Zhang Lu, exerted pressure on Zhang Lu little by little, waited for the pressure to reach the maximum, and when Zhang Lu and the Han soldiers had no intention of fighting, he then attacked Zhang Lu in one fell swoop. All the fortresses established by Lu were breached, and they penetrated to the end and won the Battle of Hanzhong.

Now, Liu Zhang generously handed over the right to command Gan Ning and Lou Fa's offensive to Fa Zheng. Taking advantage of the huge advantage in victory and defeat in front of him, and a small setback that would not affect the overall situation, Liu Zhang planned to sharpen Fa Zheng. Zheng, although Fa Zheng was a first-class counselor in history, Fa Zheng took refuge with Liu Bei and really showed his talents when he was about forty years old. Fa Zheng is only a young man now, so it is a good thing to hone his military talents more.

But Fa Zheng was standing on the top of the mountain, overlooking the battle situation of Gan Ning and Lou Fa at the bottom of the mountain. At the same time, he commanded the flag commander to issue instructions according to the battle situation, and used the flag to convey the message to Gan Ning and Lou Fa's headquarters at the bottom of the mountain.

It must be said here that Fa Zheng's military talent is extremely terrifying. Fa Zheng's cumbersome flag orders, analysis of the strength and weakness of the situation, and grasp of fighter opportunities have been polished like a piece of beautiful jade under the command of the past few days. It exudes dazzling light.

In this way, Liu Zhang felt a lot more relaxed. He was different from his nominal father Liu Yan. Liu Yan liked to seize power and seize power into his own hands. He was unwilling to share power with others and only focused on himself. Taking care of many matters, Liu Zhang delegated power generously and appointed talented people to their best advantage. He thought that a monarch could do so much work alone, and how could a monarch be proficient in everything? It takes everyone to achieve great things. The flames are high when gathering firewood.

After leisurely leisurely, Liu Zhang began to read the documents sent from Chengdu. He planned to see if there were any important matters in Chengdu. It was something that Chang Shi Wang Shang was not good at or should not handle, and he, the Yizhou Shepherd, needed to take care of it himself.

Liu Zhang flipped through the pieces of cloth one by one, browsing them quickly without any hesitation. Suddenly he stopped, looked at the piece of cloth in front of him with a playful expression, and recited the name on the piece of cloth.

"Xun You."

'Loyalty and Zheng's conspiracy, Fu'an inside and outside, Wen Ruo (Xun Yu) is the first, Gongda (Xun You) is the second. 'This is the evaluation given by Cao Cao, who unified the north in history, to Xun Yu and Xun You. In Cao Cao's mind, Xun Yu is the well-deserved first, and the second is Xun You.

'This is a bit embarrassing, Boss Cao. Liu Zhang showed a slightly cunning smile. The document in his hand was handed over by Chang Shi Wang Shang. It said that Xun You, who was appointed as the prefect of Shu County, arrived in Chengdu from Xiangyang and paid a visit to Wang Shang. According to Wang Shang's words The implication is that Xun You is determined to serve Yizhou.

Liu Zhang stretched out his hand to rub his chin. He had cut off Boss Cao's trick, and that was wrong. Xun You had thrown himself into the trap, not recruited by him. However, Xun You's coming to invest has a lot to do with what he did last year and his good reputation. It can be regarded as a passive interception of Boss Cao's tricks.

In the end, Wang Shang, the long history official, wrote a letter recommending Xun You. He said that he wanted Liu Zhang to give Xun You a better official position in order to retain Xun You, a great talent, to enrich Liu Zhang's treasury, and to make Liu Zhang respect him. Xun You, Wang Shang said a lot of good things.

'Changshi, Changshi, you don't know Xun You as well as I do! Liu Zhang looked at Wang Shang's praise of Xun You and said silently. Although he had not seen Xun You now, he knew what kind of person Xun You was.

Liu Zhang picked up his pen, wrote a paragraph on the letter, and handed the letter to the scribe Cheng Yu: "Send this letter back to Chengdu in an urgent manner as important military information."

"No." Cheng Yu took the book and immediately turned around to execute it.

'Now that you're here, don't leave, let's help the Han Dynasty together! Liu Zhang, who was facing the north, turned his head slightly and seemed to be looking towards Chengdu, and said something vaguely.
-

Hanzhong, Chenggu County.

Zhang Lixiu had some doubts in the past few days. The Zhang family raised Chenggu County instead, but Zhang Lu, the master of Hanzhong, did not send an army to attack. He only sent more than a thousand ghost soldiers to set up a stronghold near Chenggu County, far away. They stared at them and did not come to attack the city.

Unexpected and unexpected, Zhang Lixiu was originally prepared for a fight to the death, thinking that fighting to death in front of the battle would be better than living like a dog in a fly camp, but in the current situation, it seemed that she did not need to fight to death.

At the suggestion of Ranger Chen Tiao's former guests, Zhang Lixiu sent out scouts in the direction of Nanzheng and Yangping Pass to get the news and see what happened, so that Zhang Lu could ignore the evil that broke out from their inner circle. .

On this day, Zhang Lixiu finally returned to the scout who was inquiring about the news. The scout was riding back and forth with a very tired look on his face, but his eyes were bright and he had a relaxed expression on his face.

'good news! The scout first asked for a bowl of water. Before he could speak, everyone saw the scout's expression and roughly guessed the situation outside. They thought it was very beneficial to Liu Yizhou and very unkind to Zhang Lu, the rice thief.

After drinking a bowl of water like a cow, the scout spoke under the gaze of everyone: "Madam, Liu Yizhou's army has occupied Dingjun Mountain. Now the rice thief Zhang Lu has set up a fort on Dingjun Mountain and is fighting with Liu Yizhou. But seeing the situation, the rice thief Zhang Lufei is Liu Yizhou’s rival, and sooner or later he will be defeated by Liu Yizhou.”

Dingjun Mountain?

As the scout said a geographical term, everyone started talking. They knew about Dingjun Mountain. After all, they were all Hanzhong people and they were all good rangers. If they didn't know about Dingjun Mountain, I'm afraid This is going to make people laugh.

The key is that Liu Yizhou occupied Dingjun Mountain, and Dingjun Mountain is located in the outer belly of Hanzhong, which means that Liu Yizhou has already penetrated Hanzhong. This is very important, but how Liu Yizhou got to Dingjun Mountain is not clear to some people. .

The experienced guest under Ranger Chen Tiao was the first to figure it out. He said with a smile: "Zhang Lu, a rice thief who guards against day and night, actually neglected that Liu Yizhou could cross the Mianshui River south and follow the mountain path. The way to reach Dingjun Mountain... Now Liu Yizhou has strong troops and is perched high on Dingjun Mountain. He is commanding and powerful. Naturally, Zhang Lu, the rice thief, is no match for him." As soon as the words of the mature guest came out, everyone immediately understood the current situation and all started talking. A smile appeared on his face. On the one hand, he was excited that Zhang Lu was about to be defeated, and on the other hand, he was glad that his family did not have to fight hard.

The mature guest raised his hands to Zhang Lixiu and said: "Madam, without further delay, we should send an envoy to Dingjun Mountain to express to Liu Yizhou the loyalty and sincerity of Chenggu scholars like us."

"As it should be." A slight smile appeared on Zhang Lixiu's usually solemn face. She had been somewhat worried in the past few days, but now she felt relieved.

Zhang Lixiu selected a refined person from Chen Tiao's guests as an envoy and several brave men as escorts, and sent them out of the city towards Dingjun Mountain.

After bidding farewell to the envoy, Zhang Lixiu raised her eyes and looked westward. Thinking of her husband Zhao Song, she said angrily in her heart: "Rice thief, you are here too." '
-

In front of Yangping Pass.

Huang Quan sat in the middle, and Peng Yi made targeted response commands at any time based on the enemy's situation observed by the soldiers on the watchtower. While Gan Ning, Shen Mi, and Lou Fa followed Liu Zhang to Dingjun Mountain, they led the troops to attack the old and new buildings. The generals at Yangpingguan were Yang Huai, the lieutenant general, and Yin Pu, the captain.

Yes, although the Shu soldiers have occupied Dingjun Mountain, the battle to attack the old and new Yangping Pass has not stopped.

After discussing with Yang Huai earlier, Huang Quan felt that it was better to attack the old and new Yangping Pass as usual to put a certain amount of pressure on the Hanzhong defenders, so as to prevent the defenders of the new and old Yangping Pass from reducing the pressure and being able to draw more troops to leave Yangping Pass. Go to Xiang to help the rice thief Zhang Lu against Liu Zhang.

The Shu soldiers' offensive was compact but not blind. With the idea of ​​putting maximum pressure on the Hanzhong defenders at the minimum cost, the Shu soldiers often used thunder chariots to attack first, and then sent soldiers to attack the city after a chaotic attack. There was no need to attack the city. Instead of attacking the city with the ants who suffered the most casualties, they took advantage of the fact that the defenders were so hit by the Thunderbolt Chariot that they did not dare to show their heads, and tentatively tried to attack the city.

Now that Dingjun Mountain is in the hands of the Shu army, Huang Quan thinks that there is no need to attack too hard and cause too many casualties. He just needs to put pressure on the Hanzhong defenders quickly but without stopping. Time is on his side. The Hanzhong defenders were the anxious party.

Just as Huang Quan inferred, Li Xiu, the guard guarding Xinyang Ping Pass, was in a very bad mood. There were several blisters on his mouth due to anxiety. They were not big but very conspicuous, and they fell directly on Meng Da. in the eyes.

Meng Da has some doubts recently. First of all, the first thing is that Zhang Wei, who was guarding the old Yangping Pass, suddenly led his troops out of the pass and went to the east. He didn't know this from Li Xiu's mouth. , but learned about it from Yang Bo. Li Xiu was a more steady person and was somewhat wary of a newcomer like him. Many news were not synchronized with him, while the straightforward Yang Bo was more carefree and would tell some news that he didn't know.

The second thing is that Shen Mi and Lou Fa, who usually came to attack the city in the Shu army, disappeared and were replaced by Zhonglang general Yang Huai and school captain Yin Pu. In fact, this can be explained by the rotation of Shu soldiers to attack. But at the same time, the decrease in the number of Shu soldiers is a real thing. It cannot be explained here. Without taking Yangping Pass, the Shu soldiers will not retreat easily.

Meng Da connected the two things together, and he came to an inference that something happened to Zhang Lu who was stationed in Mianyang. Maybe it was an uprising by a wealthy family in Hanzhong, or maybe the north entrance of Micang Road was breached. , after an analysis, Meng Da felt that the probability of an uprising among the Hanzhong wealthy families was higher. Zhang Lu had been operating at the north entrance of Micang Road for a long time, so it should not be so easy to be captured by the Shu army.

But if a wealthy family in Hanzhong rebels, another problem arises here, that is, Zhang Lu has been in Hanzhong for a long time and has a certain degree of control over Hanzhong. In addition, Zhang Lu has troops stationed in Mianyang, and his military strength is still sufficient. There was an uprising among the powerful families in Hanzhong, and Zhang Lu's troops were enough to solve the problem. There was no need for Zhang Wei to lead the soldiers guarding Yangping Pass back to rescue them.

He couldn't figure it out, Meng Da couldn't figure it out, but Yang Bo didn't know some important news. Only the coach Li Xiu knew about it. Therefore, Meng Da was blind to what happened inside Hanzhong. The problem is huge, Meng Da is sure of this.

While Li Xiu stood guard at the top of the city, he glanced eastward from time to time. Unfortunately, the mountains were high and the roads were far away, and the floating clouds obscured his vision. He could not see such a far distance, so he did not know where to set the army. How far has Shan's situation reached now?

Li Xiu is aware of the news that the Shu army has occupied Dingjun Mountain. A person of his level has access to extremely confidential information. As long as he waits for a few more days, the news about the Shu army's occupation of Dingjun Mountain will probably be revealed. spread throughout the army.

Without him, even if he didn't want his soldiers to know, who would not know such obvious things as messengers exchanged news, pedestrians could see on the road, and the Shu army occupied Dingjun Mountain? What could be concealed for a while, how could it be concealed for a lifetime.

However, after the news spread throughout the army that the Shu army had occupied Dingjun Mountain, the morale of the army was about to fall to the bottom. Li Xiu sighed silently. The current situation was very bad. After the Shu army occupied Dingjun Mountain, they turned against the guests. , Although Master Zhang Lu led his troops to block it, how long can it block the Shu army?

Perhaps it was time to think about his own future. Li Xiu unexpectedly came up with an idea, but he quickly suppressed it. After his family fled to Hanzhong, he was taken in by Zhang Lu and appointed as a military commander. Lu was kind to him, and besides, his family and tribe were still in Nanzheng as hostages for the sake of his tribe, so he could not harbor any dissatisfaction.

Li Xiu shook his head solemnly, suppressing the news of Dingjun Mountain in his heart, putting aside his thoughts of a way out, and began to concentrate on dealing with the Shu army's attack today.

Just as Li Xiu expected, the Shu army occupied Dingjun Mountain. Such a bright news was finally exposed after he tried hard to cover it up for several days. It spread through the mouths of the soldiers below, and even caused some small-scale riots. There were commotions, but under Li Xiu's pressure, these commotions were suppressed.

at night.

There was a lamp like a bean on the table, and the night wind blew in through the gap in the curtain, causing the huge figure illuminated by the lamp to waver. Meng Da, who reflected the huge figure, looked particularly heavy now. The Shu army occupied Dingjun. Shan, he already knows this news that has been covered up by Li Xiu.

Now the big ship in Hanzhong is about to sink, and the captain Zhang Lu is also going to sink with the ship, but he doesn't want to follow Zhang Lu. He needs to think about his own way out. (End of chapter)