Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 435 Make a decision and then act

Winter, the twenty-third year of Jian'an.

Wuhan, Han Palace.

In the palace, Liu Bei was wrapped in his outer robe and placed his hands on the stove to keep warm. As his body functions age, Liu Bei becomes more and more afraid of the cold. Especially in the cold and humid Wuhan winter, Liu Bei cannot do without a fire for warmth.

Fazheng, Zhuge Liang and other advisers and scholars were sitting by the stove, not far from Liu Bei. The monarch and his ministers were harmonious, talking about what happened in Jing and Jiao.

Fazheng held hot tea in his hand and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, General Guan defeated Cao Ren, killed more than 10,000 prisoners, surrendered Hu Xiu, the governor of Jingzhou, and Fu Fang, the governor of Nanxiang. Jingxiang was in commotion because of this. This is a great victory. !”

The smile on Liu Bei's lips couldn't be closed, and he said: "Thanks to Commander Yun and his generals for fighting and killing the enemy outside, and the ministers staying in the temples to plan strategies, and working together as one, they can win with a barbaric voice."

As he spoke, Liu Bei changed the topic and said: "Cao Cao has a deep foundation and has as many as one or two hundred thousand soldiers and horses under his command. The loss of more than 10,000 elite troops today shakes the foundation of Jingxiang, but it does not damage the foundation of Cao Cao. There are still many difficulties in planning for Xiangfan."

Fazheng sipped his tea and said: "The layout of the city of Xiangfan is peculiar. Fancheng must exist because of Xiangyang, and Xiangyang must be protected because of Fancheng. Judging from General Guan's attack on Jing, even if Fancheng cannot be defeated, he can deploy heavy troops on the periphery. The communication between Xiangyang and the outside world will consume the enemy's food and supplies, and wait for them to run out of food. Although it will take a long time, we can finally get to the city!"

The strategy of defeating Jing formulated by Guan Yu and Lu Meng has three options: upper, middle and lower.

Liu Bei pondered for a while and asked: "Although Xiangfan is empty, if Yun Chang raises his troops to advance, Cao Cao will definitely send soldiers south to stabilize Xiangfan. Gu Zheng is thinking about whether to send troops north to help Yun Chang defeat the thieves, and then face Cao Cao." "

The central strategy was to besiege Fancheng. After a long battle, Fancheng was conquered and Xiangyang was surrendered. Then look at the situation in Jingzhou. If the situation is unfavorable, we will digest the results of the battle and occupy the two cities of Xiangfan to wait for the next Northern Expedition.

"No!"

Although Guan Yu and Lu Meng formulated three strategies: upper, middle and lower, Guan Yu's temperament could not be satisfied with the lower strategy, so he must aim at the middle strategy.

The best strategy has the greatest results, but is the most difficult to implement; the middle strategy achieves the goal, has normal difficulty in implementation, and takes a faster time; the lower strategy also achieves the goal, but it takes at least one year.

"It is going to be late winter now, the rain is not abundant, and the Han River is declining. The Northern Cavalry can go south from the Han River and build a fortress in Xiangfan; or they can go out of Suicheng and send troops to Jiangxia. At that time, the two armies were fighting. Jianghan, fight on foot and cavalry in formation, this is the enemy's strength, but it is also my weakness!"

After saying that, Zhuge Liang added: "The Manchu troops came out of Yiyang and headed towards Jiangxia. Fearing that the king would send his troops north to Xiangfan, Cao Cao implemented the strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao. He lined up on foot and rode in the north of the Yangtze River and surrounded the army in Jianghan. This would be a disaster for the family. also!"

Liu Bei made Wuhan his capital, and it was close to the front line to guard the country for the emperor and stabilize people's hearts. However, since the emperor guards the country's gate, he must bear the risk of enemy invaders knocking on the door.

The best strategy is to go to Fancheng and Xiangyang according to the plan of Guan Yu and Lu Meng. Then he led the army to sail north up the Juishui River, conquered Xinye and Juoyang, took Wancheng directly, and restored the entire territory of Jingzhou.

The last strategy was to defeat Fancheng, and cut off the communication between Xiangyang and Hanbei through a combination of water and land, and use up all the supplies in Xiangyang City to capture Xiangyang. Then through the serial relationship between the two cities of Xiangfan, Cao Wei was forced to abandon Fancheng.

Zhuge Liang stroked his feather fan gently and said: "The king raised his troops to go north to Xiangfan. Cao Cao knew that he would go south. Now that Cao Cao usurped the throne in Xuchang, it was only more than a thousand miles away from Xiangfan, and the Chinese army could arrive in half a month. The two armies faced each other at Xiangfan. Fight for the whole country.”

As for why we don't aim for the best strategy, the reason is that if we want to achieve the best strategy, in addition to luck, we also need to see whether the opponent makes consecutive faint moves, thus giving us a lot of opportunities.

Going north to the Central Plains from the south, in addition to Jianghuai, Xiangyang, and Hanzhong, you can actually go through Jiangxia and pass through the three passes of Yiyang, and you can go directly to Runan. Liu Bei arranged for civil servants to be stationed in Jiangxia County in the north of the Yangtze River, with the intention of defending him against enemies north of the Dabie Mountains.

Now Liu Bei is sending his main army north to Xiangfan. Cao Cao can take advantage of Wuhan's emptiness to imitate the strategy of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao, and send troops south from Runan. The army will reach the north of the Yangtze River and insert itself behind the Southern Han army attacking Xiangfan. At that time, Liu Bei will have no choice but to withdraw his troops to protect the enemy. Wuhan.

This is why it is difficult for Liu Bei to leave Wuhan lightly. Unless Cao Cao has a clear direction for using troops, Liu Bei will never dare to use troops before Cao Cao. If Liu Bei used troops first, such as during the Northern Expedition to Shouchun, Liu Bei would ask Guan Yu and Wenpin to stay in Jiangbei, like the left and right door gods, protecting Wuhan from Cao Cao stealing his home.

In this current dimension, although there is no story about Liu Bei's promotion of Wei Yan and his appointment as the prefect of Hanzhong. But there is a story about Liu Bei believing in Wenpin and entrusting him with important tasks.

Wenpin first followed Liu Biao, then Liu Qi, and then Liu Bei. Logically speaking, he would not be able to control the north gate of Wuhan unless he was Liu Bei's general.

In the years before and after Liu Bei moved his base to Wuhan, many people persuaded Liu Bei to replace Wenpin and let Zhang Fei be the governor of Jiangxia. At that time, Liu Bei also asked Huo Jun for his opinion on this matter. Huo Jun was very trustworthy in his words and it was up to Liu Bei whether he would change it or not.

To everyone's surprise, after Liu Bei and Wenpin talked behind closed doors for a night, Liu Bei directly handed over all Jiangxia military and political affairs to Wenpin, and his trust was equal to that of General Yuan Cong. Gai felt Liu Bei's trust, and in the following years, Wenpin devoted himself to guarding Jiangxia.

"Xiao Zhi, what do you think?" Liu Bei asked.

Fazheng put down the hot tea in his hand and said: "Your Majesty, I agree with the military advisor. Your Majesty, please don't rush to move your troops. Your troops are heading towards Xiangfan right now. I'm afraid Cao Cao will move from behind, which will be detrimental to our army."

After a pause, Fazheng said emphatically: "Today's battle in Xiangfan is about siege, not battle. General Guan will encircle 30,000 troops into Xiangfan. When the bandit army is strong and outnumbered, General Guan will definitely send people to ask for help. , At that time, the king can choose good generals and rush to help."

"Your Majesty, treat the central army as a back-up force and make plans before moving. This is the way to lead a large army. Anyone who rushes forward in a hurry will be taken advantage of by the enemy."

After many years of assisting Liu Bei, Fazheng has discovered the characteristics of Liu Bei's soldiers. He especially likes to rush and fight fiercely, and he does not have the consciousness to command an army. As a monarch or a general, commanding tens of thousands of soldiers in battle, how can you easily lead an army into danger? You must have a strategy of advance and retreat before you can advance slowly.

Even though I say that, I understand the truth. But Fazheng is only a counselor, not a god, and cannot accurately predict every move of the enemy. Like the previous Battle of Shouchun, because he didn't know the terrain of Jianghuai River, Liu Bei ordered Huo Jun to go north to Xiapi, but Jia Xu and Liu Ye seized the opportunity, which almost prevented Huo Jun from escaping.

But it cannot be said that Liu Ye suggested the strategy of blocking Sikou based on Huo Jun's behavior of building the dam. Huo Jun believed that Liu Bei's army could contain Cao Cao. After all, he was only a partial army, leading 20 to 30,000 people to cooperate with Liu Bei in fighting. In terms of threat, he was far inferior to Liu Bei's troops.

Thanks to the experience of fighting Cao Wei's top adviser last time, Fazheng did not dare to let Liu Bei move lightly. After all, Liu Ye, Jia Xu, and Sima Yi are all rare advisers in the world. If they are really lacking in ability, how can they be appreciated by Cao Cao.

For example, when he was chatting with Huo Jun before, he talked about the abilities of everyone in Cao Wei. Huo Jun said that although Cao Cao was not as talented as Gao Zu, there were among the officials in Cao Wei who were as good as the three heroes. For example, Xun Yu and Jia Xu had the ability to be kind and peaceful and should not be underestimated.

After listening to the advice of Zhuge Liang and Fazheng, Liu Bei gave up the idea of ​​sending troops to help Guan Yu.

"Although the second minister said it is true, let's watch Yunchang use his troops now." Liu Bei ordered: "Send Ma Liang as an envoy to go to Yunchang's army to express condolences to the soldiers."

"promise!"

Zhuge Liang stroked his feather fan gently and asked: "Your Majesty, Cao Cao usurped the throne in Xuchang, and the Han Dynasty collapsed without a master. Your Majesty, as a nobleman of the Han Dynasty, it is best to ascend to the throne of the Emperor as soon as possible to keep the people of Annan in mind."

Liu Bei hesitated a lot and said, "Xiangfan and Jiaoling are each engaged in war. The matter of succeeding to the throne should be discussed later."

As he spoke, Liu Bei added: "The war in Jiaoling has been going on for a long time. Now we should let Zhongmiao lead the army to quickly pacify Shixie. After peace, Zhongmiao will regulate the military and politics of Jiaoling, select talents, and appoint governors of each county."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)