My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 471 We are not going to fight Liu Zhang, we are just going to protect Liu Zhang from being beaten by Cao Cao

The news about Hanzhong coming from Jingzhou really makes people feel uncomfortable.

Liu Bei was so shocked that he was eager to ask for countermeasures before he even figured out how Cao Cao had broken through Yangping Pass. He wanted Zhuge Liang to help him advise him on how to deal with the current situation.

Because Liu Bei had repeatedly deduced and set the tone with his Zhuge brothers over the past two years.

To deal with Cao Cao, the strategy should be "In peacetime, our army should hold the front line steady and free up one hand to deal with other scattered forces in the rear."

Once "there is a change in the world", that is, when Cao Cao's forces are pinned down by other princes or Cao Cao makes other major moves, Liu Bei's army will take the opportunity to attack Cao's weak points. If they can take advantage of the opportunity to weaken them a little, they will do their best.

In this way, the gap in absolute strength between Cao and Liu will be gradually eliminated. Finally, the quantitative change will accumulate to form a qualitative change. After the enemy and our strength are completely reversed, we will launch a general attack on Cao Cao!

According to this model, Liu Bei has already finished conquering Liaodong, while Cao Cao is still fighting Zhang Lu and has not yet completely finished. There seems to be a time difference window that can be seized - so how can we seize it to maximize the benefits?
Faced with his lord's eager questions, Zhuge Liang could not help but carefully examine the tone he and his elder brother had set in the past two years.

He did not apply it mechanically, but combined it with the current actual situation and examined it coldly without any historical baggage or path dependence.

The feather fan waved silently in Zhuge Liang's hand. It was unknown how long it had been waved before he slowly said:
"In theory, according to the strategy that my brother and I agreed upon for the Lord, now that 'the world has changed', our army should take the opportunity to find a few protruding parts of the Cao army in the areas directly adjacent to the Cao army's controlled areas, give them a few blows, and fight as many annihilation battles as possible.

Once Cao's army has completely finished its campaign in the west and we have tied them back, we should resume our defense, retreat to strategic locations and hold our ground, not giving Cao's army the chance to continue their war of attrition. By doing this, we can weaken Cao Cao by nibbling away at him a little at a time, and the accumulation of small gains will add up to a large one. "

Zhuge Liang first reviewed his previous plans, but did not immediately draw a conclusion. When he said this, he paused for a moment and looked up at Liu Bei. The two looked at each other, and he saw a hint of doubt and reluctance in Liu Bei's eyes.

Zhuge Liang then changed the subject with great encouragement: "But this is a different time. When we first formulated this strategy, we only talked about it in general terms and did not think about who Cao Cao would attack next if he attacked other princes.

However, the original plan actually had a drawback, which was that once we were on the several protruding parts of the plains where Cao's army was, it would be easy to end up in a stalemate by fighting those annihilation battles of 'enemy advances, we retreat; enemy retreats, we advance'.

For example, if we choose to attack the two salient areas of Lu County and Fuli, we may only be able to annihilate some enemies and plunder some people in one or two months. When the main force of Cao's army returns to defend, we will not be able to gain a firm foothold on the plain and will have to retreat. It will take several more tugs of war to reverse the enemy's strength, and in this process, the casualties are all the people of our Han Dynasty.

In contrast, if we have other options, we can take a piece of land and stand firmly. Even if Cao's army returns to defend, we don't have to be afraid or retreat. We can take every bite, isn't it better?"

When Zhuge Liang thought about things, he was still very compassionate.

Weakening Cao Cao is important, but if there are two options, one is to take steady steps, and the territory conquered can directly settle the people without repetition. The other way can also weaken Cao Cao, but the people will suffer more and may be repeatedly washed. In comparison, Zhuge Liang would rather choose the former, even if the absolute amount of benefits of the former is less.

What Zhuge Liang least wanted to see was to conquer a piece of territory and then be unable to defend it, forcing him to relocate the people back to his core territory and then leave the emptied land back to Cao Cao.

Liu Bei was also a monarch with compassion for the world, so he only listened to Zhuge Liang's brief advice and figured out the twists and turns of the matter.

Every time the tug-of-war lasted, the casualties were all Han people! Sooner or later, these people would become his subjects.

Liu Bei sighed and said, "I know what you mean. You mean that the strategy we originally envisioned is just a general one. As long as Cao's army moves its center of gravity westward, we can take advantage of it and attack.

However, the more general strategies may not be the most suitable for the current situation. If Cao Cao's troops were moving westward during this period to attack Han Sui, then the strategies that Master and Ziyu had thought of back then could be used directly.

But now Cao Cao is fighting Zhang Lu, so sir, do you have a better way to teach me?"

When Zhuge Liang heard his lord take the initiative to point out this, he smiled with relief.

My lord, your thinking has improved in the past few years. You can now analyze problems rationally and comparatively.

As expected, Liu Bei had many high-IQ counselors around him. He learned from them every day, and his decision-making and judgment abilities were significantly improved. Zhuge Liang: "That's what I mean. If Cao Cao attacks Han Sui, then his actions will not threaten other princes, and will not cause panic among them. We will be trapped in the righteous cause and cannot expand our influence to other princes except Cao Cao.

But now Cao Cao was fighting Zhang Lu, who had crossed the Qinling Mountains and breached Yangping Pass, exposing the Jinniu Road connecting Hanzhong and Shuzhong to the threat of Cao Cao's troops. At this juncture, how could Liu Zhang not be afraid?

In this way, if we adopt the attitude of 'wherever Cao Cao attacks, we will save there' and help other Han royal family members avoid Cao Cao's bullying, our army's righteousness and prestige and trust among the Liu royal family members all over the world will further increase.

The lord can immediately have Yide prepare in Jingnan, ready to send troops to Sichuan to reinforce Liu Zhang at any time. Then, you can send envoys to contact him - if you are lucky, you don't even need to wait for our envoys to come to you. Zhang Song, who has reached a tacit understanding with the lord before, may take the initiative to persuade Liu Zhang to invite the lord to help him defend.

At the beginning, our army could have been sincere and assisted in the battle, and not shown any threat to Liu Zhang. For example, we could have proposed that as long as Liu Zhang gave us the passage from the Yangtze River into Sichuan, our army would never cross the Jiangzhou line, and would not cross the intersection of the Yangtze River and Jialing River.

As long as we gain control of the Yangtze River Three Gorges all the way to the mouth of the Jialing River, our reinforcements can then turn into the Jialing River, head north to Zitong, help Liu Zhang block Baxi, Badong and Baishui Pass, help Liu Zhang block all the important roads from Hanzhong to Shu County, and help him block Cao Cao's possible invasion from the south in the future.

The Shu Road is difficult. Even if we help him block the Baishui Pass between Zitong and Hanzhong, there is still a Jiange Pass in the southernmost section of the Mamingge Road, which is held by Liu Zhang himself. In this way, Liu Zhang does not have to worry about our troops guarding Baishui Pass threatening him in turn.

Our reinforcements are like a gap that will be inserted diagonally between the future territory of Liu Zhang and the territory of Cao Cao, separating the two to protect Liu Zhang. If Cao Cao wants to invade Shu County to the south, he must first pass through the Baishui Pass defense area controlled by our army. "

As Zhuge Liang spoke, he asked someone to bring the topographic map of Western Shu that Zhang Song had drawn before he left last year, and pointed at some points on Zhang Song's map.

Liu Bei followed the instructions and read through them. He suddenly understood: This is a great plan! It will definitely satisfy all the righteousness! Not only can he enter Shu, but he can also gain the reputation of Qi Huan who helped the world.

Historically, when Liu Bei entered Shu, he more or less used the excuse of "helping Liu Zhang defend against Zhang Lu's invasion". Although he eventually seized Liu Zhang's foundation, Liu Bei was quite patient in the first two years and never stabbed his allies in the back. In the end, Liu Zhang wanted to cut off his military rations, and the two sides argued and finally fell out.

But no matter how many moral flaws there were in Liu Bei's fight against Liu Zhang in the original history, in this life, with Cao Cao first destroying Zhang Lu, the balance of power in Shu was completely broken.

Liu Zhang's request for Liu Bei's help was unprecedentedly high. And no matter how the situation developed in the end, Liu Bei could maintain his righteousness and reputation.

A key point here is that Cao Cao is much stronger than Zhang Lu.

In the original history, Liu Bei entered Sichuan first and Cao Cao entered Sichuan later. Now it has become Cao Cao entered Sichuan first and Liu Bei entered Sichuan later.

This change in the first and second moves is very crucial in the fight for justice and justice.

Even if we don't say anything else, just use Zhuge Jin's orthodox theory of "the palace is prosperous and it is self-defense", Liu Bei can easily obtain the legitimacy of "changing the status quo in Shu".

It was Cao Cao who took the first move!
Before Cao Cao took action to break the balance of Shu, this relatively closed geographical unit was in a peaceful state, and the people lived and worked in peace.

It was Cao Cao who first broke this balance and destroyed the peace in Shu.

Liu Bei was forced to take up arms in self-defense to protect his allies only after the people of Shu had lost their peaceful living environment, after everything was irreversible and after Shu had "fallen from order to chaos". This was simply too just.

Therefore, since Zhuge Liang could think of such a good opportunity to seize Shu, of course he had to "be public-spirited" and concentrate his forces to protect Liu Zhang as the top priority. Why did he still get hung up on Hejian, Lujun, Fuli and other trivial matters, and why did he bother with Cao Cao?
Liu Bei was enlightened by Zhuge Liang's deduction. He looked at Pang Tong and saw that Pang Tong had no objection. He then stood up and said, "You two gentlemen are right! I have made up my mind. I want to spread justice to the world. Naturally, I must start by helping the poor and the needy and by saving the dying and carrying on the legacy of the extinct.

Ji Yu is my brother. As the chief minister and his elder brother, it is only natural for me to lend him a helping hand. In the past, Duke Huan of Qi united the nine states and brought peace to the world. Even if they were states of different surnames, he would have helped them as long as they respected the King of Zhou. Moreover, I am from the same clan as Ji Yu.

I immediately ordered Yide, Yuanzhi and Zhengfang in Jingnan to prepare and transfer all the troops in Jingnan to Yidao to wait. I then gathered more troops and slowly went up the river, waiting for Ji Yu to send Ziqiao as an envoy to ask for help.

If they don't come to ask for help, I can send an envoy to express my willingness to support them. But in that case, I'm afraid it won't be as good as Ziqiao's initiative to ask for help. I don't want Brother Ji Yu to cede more land, as long as he gives up the road between the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and the north bank of the Jialing River, so that I can go north along the Jialing River to fight Cao Cao. "

(End of this chapter)