The last three kingdoms

Chapter 973
Xia Houxian couldn't help being secretly surprised by Jiang Wei's straightforwardness. In his opinion, Jiang Wei would at least bargain again. After all, such a negotiation is a kind of tug-of-war. In order to win more of his own interests, It's good to procrastinate.

But Jiang Wei wanted to be straightforward. The main reason was that Jiang Wei urgently needed to find a breakthrough, a breakthrough to march to the Central Plains, so that the Shu army could fight against Jin on two fronts. In the area north of the Yellow River to contain the main force of the Jin army, Jiang Wei has every reason to believe that going straight to Luoyang is not an unattainable dream.

Of course, the prerequisite for all this is to win Xiangyang. If Xiangyang cannot be won, even if the Shu army has already won the three counties of Shangyong, it will still be unable to break through the Jin army's defense line.

Xiangyang is a fat piece of meat. Lu Kang of Wu State and Yang Hu of Jin State are all watching here. It is not easy for Jiang Wei to get a share of the pie here. The key is Zhong Hui's attitude.

Zhong Hui's careful thinking and Jiang Wei didn't understand that even if he was cornered, Zhong Hui would not be willing to give up his military power, which was his lifeblood.

But for every surrendered person, it is almost impossible for the surrendered person to continue to be in charge of the soldiers and horses, because the surrendered person has ulterior motives, and no one can guarantee that there is still an army in his hands. Revolt again.

Xia Houxian also mentioned that Wu Guo had put forward similar conditions. Obviously, Lu Kang also had the same concerns. Zhong Hui’s surrender is acceptable, but the prerequisite is to hand over the land and troops. High-ranking officials and rich salary are okay, but they just can’t. In charge of military power.

And the focus of the conflict between the two sides is precisely here. Zhong Hui is the kind of person who has a strong desire for power. Without military power, he has no sense of security. The harsh surrender conditions will inevitably make him refuse to surrender.

Jiang Wei was the first to put forward the three conditions of "professing a minister, dedicating land, and handing over troops", but in fact it was just a trial and error. Even Jiang Wei felt that these three conditions were too harsh, and Zhong Hui might not agree to them.

Letting Zhonghui keep his military power, Jiang Wei has not never thought about it, but it is too risky to do so. Zhonghui is the kind of person with great ambitions. After the change, Zhong Hui will still be an obedient minister.

This is probably the reason why Lu Kang dared not agree, but Jiang Wei had other thoughts. The current situation has gradually become clearer. Whoever gets Xiangyang from the three families of Shu, Jin and Wu can win the initiative.And the opportunity is in front of us. If Jiang Wei agrees to Zhonghui's request, not only can he get the important town of Xiangyang, but he can also get the tens of thousands of Zhonghui's troops to join him. The power of the Shu army can be expanded to full strength in a very short time. The point where it can compete with Yanghu's Jin army is even slightly better.

Jiang Wei's vision is not limited to one city and one place. The purpose of his eastward expedition is not just to get the four counties of Jingzhou. Jiang Wei's goal is to win Luoyang Those who aspire to the Central Plains, since ancient times, those who achieve great things do not care about small things. No matter how ambitious Zhong Hui is, he will not be able to ride on Jiang Wei's head. In the future, the Shu Han will rule the world. Not worth mentioning.

Jiang Wei did not have to insist on taking back Zhonghui's military power like Soochow. The initial proposal was only tentative. Of course, it would be better if Zhong Hui was willing to hand over military power, but if Zhong Hui refused However, it was impossible for Jiang Wei to collapse the negotiation because such a condition was not fulfilled, so when Xia Houxian explained Zhong Hui's bottom line, Jiang Wei immediately agreed to his request freely.

Xia Houxian was overjoyed and thanked Jiang Wei. The next negotiation involved the details of Zhong Hui's surrender. After finalizing these contents, Xia Houxian hoped that Jiang Wei could send troops as soon as possible to relieve Xiangyang's urgent need.

No matter how proper the discussion here is, if Xiangyang City is captured by Yang Hu, then in the end it will be a waste of water from a bamboo basket. Of course Jiang Wei knows this well. He asked Xia Houxian to go back to Xiangyang as soon as possible and report to Zhong Will report everything, with the heart of the army in Xiangyang.

On the other hand, Jiang Wei ordered the Shu army to set up a camp, with Jiang Bin as the vanguard, Wang She and Liu Yin were on the left and right to support them, and marched in the direction of Shandu.

In order to stop the eastward advance of the Shu army, Yang Hu ordered Du Yu to lead [-] troops to Shandu.The Jin army's main attack target was Xiangyang, so there were not many soldiers and horses that could be distributed to Du Yu. Of course, Yang Hu did not expect Du Yu to defeat Jiang Wei. As long as he is given a little more time to win Xiangyang, all difficulties will be solved.

Yang Hu's goal is very clear. First of all, he wants to quell Zhonghui's rebellion. The army occupied the three counties of Shangyong, but Yang Hu did not dare to move lightly. Only after Zhonghui was eliminated, the Jin army could point the finger at the three counties of Shangyong again.

However, the mountains are not the kind of dangerous terrain. In fact, except for the three counties of Shangyong, the whole of Xiangyang is flat. Under such terrain, if Du Yu tried to prevent the eastward advance of the Shu army, it would be very difficult. Not small.

After Jiang Bin took the order, he led the vanguard army to point directly at the mountain capital.

Du Yu knew that if he defended the city, he would not be able to stop the Shu army from advancing eastward, because the Shu army's attack target was Xiangyang, and a small county like Shandu would be ignored. Du Yu could only stand on the sidelines The camp was set up on the road to Xiangyang.

Jiang Bin led his troops to the front of Du Yu's battalion in one breath, forming an array to fight.

Du Yu led the troops into battle, and when the two battles faced each other, a partial general named Hao Wei came out from the Shu army.

As soon as he finished speaking, a general turned around behind him and said, "The last general is willing to go."

Du Yu saw that it was Wu Lin, the general in front of the tent, nodded immediately, and said: "Be careful in the battle, don't underestimate the enemy!"

Wu Linnuo let out a cry, slapped horses and swords, and fought out until Hao Wei was in front of them. The two generals exchanged names and fought together.

Wu Lin is nine feet tall, with big arms and round waist, a big sword, and powerful force. Hao Wei can't fight with him more than ten times, but he is out of breath.

Unexpectedly, Wu Lin's horse was fast, so she immediately chased after her, raised the knife in her hand, and chopped Hao Wei under the horse.

The momentum of the Jin army rose sharply. Du Yu waved the red flag in his hand, and all the troops rushed out together, advancing in multiple directions, and rushed towards the Shu army.

(End of this chapter)