Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 318 Discussing Shu in the Temple
Wuhan, the state capital.

"Snapped!"

Liu Bei angrily threw the towel to the ground and said angrily: "Cao Ah Man actually dares to call Wei Gong. He is so disrespectful and has no superiority. He is worthy of death!"

"My lord, calm down!"

Xu Shu picked up the towel that had been thrown to the ground, patted the dust on it, and said: "Cao Cao held the emperor hostage to command the princes, and everyone knows his intentions. Now for the most important thing, we must move down to Shu immediately and take advantage of the river to reach the mountains. To avoid danger, in order to revive the Han Dynasty."

Liu Bei paced impatiently in the hall and asked, "How is the war in Jiangzhou going today?"

Zhuge Liang hesitated a little and said: "Liu Zhang repeatedly sent reinforcements to Jiangzhou. Although the reinforcements were defeated by General Guan, the city of Jiangzhou is dangerous and Liu Xun defends the city. Zhang Ren and Deng Xian are his minions. Our army is really in trouble." Break it."

"Can't wait any longer!"

Liu Bei tried to calm down his mood and said anxiously: "Now Cao Cao returns to Xuchang to proclaim himself Duke. If our army does not capture Jiangzhou, Cao Cao will definitely go south next year. By then, the army that attacked Shu will be withdrawn from Wu Chu, and all the hard work of several years will be undone. "

"Lord!"

Xu Shu wanted to say something, but Liu Bei interrupted him.

Liu Bei paced in the hall and said: "Cao Cao's soldiers returned to Xuchang to proclaim themselves dukes, and were unable to take care of foreign affairs. Now that Jianghuai is stable, generals Zilong and Hansheng will return to Wuhan to aid Wuhan. How about leading two generals to conquer Bashu in person?"

Seeing that Cao Cao was successively pacifying Guanzhong and Longyou, he was about to claim the throne again.It is impossible for Liu Bei not to be anxious. As he said, if it drags on any longer, Cao Cao will go south to intervene in the war, and his long-term plan to conquer Bashu will be ruined.

Seeing that Liu Bei was so anxious, Zhuge Liang raised his hands and said, "My lord, can you please listen to me?"

"Kong Ming, please elaborate!"

Zhuge Liang held the feather fan and asked: "Master, what do you think of the civil and military attack on Shu?"

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said: "The three generals Yun Chang, Yide and Xingba are brave enough to be worthy of all men, and they are rare generals in the world. Xiaozhi and Shiyuan are resourceful and good at military strategy, and they are the best soldiers in the country. The rest are the best in the country. The generals are loyal and diligent in state affairs, and they are all trusted confidants."

Zhuge Liang fanned Liu Bei and consoled him by saying: "The soldiers who defeated Shu are elite and dare to fight, and they are under the command of the lord's confidants, civil and military. It can be seen that the battle in Jiangzhou was not due to the generals not fighting with all their heart, nor to the filial piety and uprightness of the two monarchs and the lack of wisdom."

"The city of Jiangzhou is strong, and the location of Jiangjin is steep. There are soldiers inside who dare to fight, and reinforcements from outside are constantly rushing to help. Therefore, Jiangzhou cannot be breached now, and it is not because of the generals!"

"This~"

Seeing that he still could not convince Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang took out the map of Jiangzhou from his arms and pointed it out: "My lord, Jiangzhou faces the river on three sides and has mountains on its back to control Jiangjin. At that time, Liu Xun was defending the city, and Liu Zhang was outside to provide reinforcements. But my lord wants to reinforce Jiangzhou with troops, but I don’t know how to defeat the enemy?"

Liu Bei looked at the city defense of Jiangzhou on the map and was also in trouble.

Jiangzhou City is located on the Yuzhong Peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides and facing mountains to the west.To the north is Fushui, to the south is the Yangtze River, and to the east is the confluence of Fushui and the Yangtze River.Although the west is connected to the land, there are many mountains to the west.This kind of city is not only difficult to siege, but also difficult to break.

Jiangzhou is Chongqing. People often say that Xiangfan is difficult to conquer, but they don’t know that Chongqing is also one of the few fortified cities in the world.

During the Song-Mongolian War, many people heard about Diaoyu City, but Diaoyu City was only a link in Chongqing’s peripheral defense line.

It took more than thirty years for Mongolia to conquer Chongqing, during which Mongolian Khan died in the Battle of Diaoyu City.The Chongqing defense line deployed by the Southern Song Dynasty was so strong that it eventually forced Mongolia to bypass Chongqing and attack Xiangfan.After conquering Xiangfan, the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed.However, even so, Diaoyu City held on until three years after the surrender of the Southern Song Dynasty.

It was so difficult for the Mongols to attack Jiangzhou, let alone the troops of Guan, Zhang and others who counterattacked Bashu from below.

If you let Huo Jun come, you will still have to gnaw at the mountain city of Chongqing honestly.Qimou is only an auxiliary in military operations. The real victory must rely on fighting and confrontation between the two sides.

Historically, Liu Bei's ability to defeat Bashu was mostly due to his own contribution.

When Liu Bei and Liu Zhang had a falling out, Liu Bei was only more than [-] miles away from Chengdu. He attacked all the way south, defeated all the generals, besieged Luocheng, and contained the Bashu army.The external military strength was empty, so Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun sent troops to Bashu to support Liu Bei in the battle, and took two to three years to capture Bashu.

Now the situation has changed too much. Zhang Fei took Hanzhong and was no longer in Shu.Only by capturing Jiangzhou first can we advance into Bashu.Historically, Liu Xun defended Luocheng for a year, but now he has defended the city in Jiangzhou. The situation has changed so much that it is completely different from the historical trend.

Liu Bei sighed, sat back on the couch, and asked, "Since the city of Jiangzhou cannot be easily destroyed by human power, I wonder what Kong Ming has in mind?"

Zhuge Liang stroked his feather fan lightly and said with a smile: "Zhong Miao is good at fighting. He said that the battle to attack a city is to attack the heart, not to break the city. When the people's hearts are scattered, it is difficult to defend even if the sky is a chasm. If you want to break the Jiangzhou City, you may have to go above these words. .”

"Oh?"

Liu Bei looked surprised and said: "Kong Ming has a plan, why not send a letter to Jiangzhou to help the army break the city."

Zhuge Liang stroked his fan and thought, and said: "Liang can know this strategy, how can Shi Yuan and Xiao Zhi not know it? My lord can order people to go to Shu and give Yun a long holiday. Whether the city can be broken will depend on it in one or two months." .If the city cannot be broken, the lord can lead his soldiers to conquer it himself."

"If my lord goes to conquer Bashu in person at this time, the people of Shu will know that my lord is anxious, and will strengthen their determination to defend the city, which may make it even harder to defeat. Liang is thousands of miles away, so it is difficult to talk about the war in Jiangzhou. However, Liang secretly thinks that my lord is responsible. I have full confidence in all the generals and advisors." Zhuge Liang advised Liu Bei not to enter Shu for the time being. This was not unreasonable, but Liu Bei really couldn't move at this time.

Now that Cao Cao has returned to Xuchang to proclaim himself Duke, he will soon be exposed to the world.Bashu and Longxi are connected to each other, so they must know the trends in the Central Plains.

If Liu Bei personally conquers Bashu, it will not actually put pressure on Liu Zhang. Instead, it will allow wise men to see through Liu Bei's anxiety and persuade Liu Zhang to resolutely resist.Once Cao Cao launched an attack from the north and Bashu survived Liu Bei's personal attack, Wu and Chu's army had no choice but to retreat.

Keeping it as it is, conveying a calm and unhurried mood will be conducive to the army's attack on Jiangzhou.Once Jiangzhou is defeated, Liu Bei's entry into Shu will speed up the army's march to Shu.

Liu Bei thought for a long time and said: "Since Kong Ming said that you can't enter Shu alone, then I wonder if Zilong and Han Sheng can lead their troops into Shu?"

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "Generals Zilong and Hansheng have been on an expedition to Jianghuai for a long time. They can rest in Wuhan for a few days to observe the progress of the war in Jiangzhou."

"good!"

Liu Bei sighed and said: "I hope we can defeat Bashu soon. If Cao Cao is allowed to withdraw and go south, all the previous achievements will be wasted!"

Hearing this, Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and said: "With the current situation, even if our army breaks through Jiangzhou, it will still take time to capture all Bashu. Next year, when Cao Cao sees our army fighting fiercely in Bashu, he may take the opportunity to go south. Now, I have to worry."

Liu Bei stroked his sparse beard and agreed: "Our army is fighting fiercely with Bashu. With Cao Cao's character, he will definitely go south and will never sit back and watch our army defeat Shu."

"Hanzhong, police, Hefei!"

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and then said in a deep voice: "If Cao Cao goes south next year, there are only three places where he can march. Gong'an City is high and strong, and Shi Ran is brave enough to fight, so he will have no worries; Hefei City, with Chao Lake at his back, is not a good place. Cut and take.”

"Hanzhong is close to the northwest, isolated thousands of miles away, with few soldiers and many cities. Now Longyou has been captured by Cao Cao, and Guanzhong is at peace for the first time. If Liang is Cao Cao, he will march from Hanzhong to capture Bashu. At that time, our army was fighting Bashu, and Cao Cao's army Going down to Hanzhong will be a time of crisis!"

Liu Bei finally sat down, but Zhuge Liang's analysis made him anxious.

Getting up from the couch, Liu Bei said worriedly: "If that's the case, wouldn't Boyan be in danger? Hanzhong is the first to be captured, and it will be captured by Cao Cao. Even though Bashu is in my hands at that time, it's hard to be safe!"

"Kong Ming, is there a way to solve it?" Liu Bei asked.

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "Only by breaking through Jiangzhou early, using Badi as the base, and connecting Hanzhong, we might be able to resist the enemy. However, Liang did not dare to say that Cao Cao would definitely enter Hanzhong or use troops against the police."

As he spoke, Zhuge Liang stroked his fan and muttered, and said: "Zhongmiao, the governor of Jianghuai, has made outstanding contributions. Now that Cao's thieves have withdrawn, the enemy will not dare to attack lightly. My lord, why not take advantage of the end of the year to summon Zhongmiao back to Chu to report on his duties, and let his son Jingjing temporarily Take charge."

Liu Bei thoughtfully nodded and said, "Zhong Miao has been on the war for a long time, and his family has been away from him. It is inevitable that he will be missed. Now let Zhong Miao return to Chu."

"Come here, write to Governor Huo and ask him to finish arranging military affairs in the Jianghuai River and return to Wuhan to report on his duties. Yan Gu has not seen him for a long time and misses him very much."

"promise!"

Seeing that Liu Bei had finished discussing the military affairs, Xu Shu took out the Wen Shu from his arms and said: "My lord, Lu Wu County impeached Mi Danyang and occupied the army's supplies in the name of sending troops to Yuzhou."

"Ok?"

Liu Bei took the Wenshu, frowned and asked, "Did Zhongmiao have anything to say about Zifang seizing military supplies?"

Seeing Liu Bei looking at him, Zhuge Liang coughed and said, "My lord, Zhong Miao did not report this matter. However, Liang also heard about Zifang's corruption. When he was ordered to buy war horses from Liaodong, he often underreported the number so that he could sell them to the market. Make money in the market."

This time Mi Fang took half a year's worth of food and grass to the north, but his journey from the north to his return to the army only lasted about five months.However, the baggage that was supposed to be left actually disappeared out of thin air.Mi Fang thought that there was no grain in Danyang County and asked Lu Dai for grain and grass.

After Lu Dai gave the grain and fodder, he found the military rations circulating in the black market in Wu County. After further investigation, he naturally found Mi Fang, and immediately reported the matter to Wuhan.

If you ask Huo Jun if he knows, of course he knows that Mi Fang is greedy.As for why he didn't report it, it was probably because Mi Fang was the governor of Danyang and was often warned not to disrupt the Northern Expedition.

Liu Bei looked at the contents of the manuscript and sighed and said: "When I was alone in the East China Sea, my heart was scattered. There was no food in the army, so that everyone could eat each other. Without a son, Fang and Zizhong spent all their family resources to prepare for today."

After saying that, Liu Bei put the text on the table and said: "Zifang is greedy for ink, and I will warn him in this letter. As for Lu Dai, I will give him a generous reward, and he will live up to his loyalty and remonstrance."

Mi Fang is corrupt. What do you ask Liu Bei to do? Of course you have to forgive him!
After all, for a minister like Mi Fang, corruption is nothing as long as he does not commit political issues.

"promise!"

Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu cupped their hands and responded.

(End of this chapter)