My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 481: Liu Zhang was so scared that he quickly looked for someone to hug
"My lord, the vanguard of Cao's army advanced lightly to test the enemy. Why did you let the ambushes on the hillsides on both wings be easily exposed and use bows and crossbows to block the formation? Although I am old, I still have the ambition of Ma Yuan.

With such a good opportunity, we should have let the enemy troops enter the city and then sent out the ambush troops on both wings. I could have gone out of the city to kill the enemy and won a great victory. But now the enemy troops are not deep in the trap, and we have already alerted them... What a pity! What a pity!"

Two days later, a small-scale exploratory conflict broke out between Xiahou Yuan's army of Cao and Liu Qi's army of Liu Biao in the Qinling Mountains valley west of Xicheng County.

After Liu Qi's troops successfully repelled Xiahou Yuan's troops, Huang Zhong, as the vanguard of Liu Qi's troops, did not feel the slightest joy of victory. Instead, he felt extremely annoyed - in his opinion, today's ambush on the enemy's pathfinders could have been fought more beautifully and more enemies could have been killed.

It was obvious that they had already set up a number of forward positions west of Xicheng County, secretly set up two secondary camps in the dangerous places on the Qinling hillsides on both sides of the Han River Valley, and stationed ambushes halfway up the mountain.

If we had been more patient and let the enemy's probing vanguard troops go deeper into the pocket and then charged into the pocket, we could have definitely won a decisive battle and killed at least one or two thousand more Cao troops!

But the friendly generals who cooperated with him were too reckless! Not long after Cao's army entered the firing range, they fired their crossbows, exposing their firepower in advance and scaring the enemy away.

In the end, only a few hundred Cao soldiers were shot or wounded, which greatly reduced the outcome of the battle and the number of enemies killed was reduced by at least two-thirds.

Huang Zhong was so unwilling to accept this! How could he not come to Liu Qi to complain?

However, Liu Qi's reaction was far beyond Huang Zhong's expectations.

Liu Qi personally poured Huang Zhong a cup of hot wine and said to him, "General Huang, please do not be anxious. Victory and defeat are common in the military. Moreover, we still won the battle today, but the result may be less than expected.

But you should not blame Zhong Miao for scaring off Cao's troops. It was me who warned Zhong Miao (Huo Jun): When encountering an attack by Cao's troops, you must scare them off immediately with thundering force. Never let Cao's troops think that our Jingzhou army is weak and can be bullied.

Cao's bandits are too powerful to be defeated by the princes of one state or one region. Therefore, it is impossible to kill all of Cao's soldiers. It doesn't matter if we kill more or less. The key is to force Cao's army to realize that our army cannot be underestimated, so that they will retreat and turn their attention to Liu Zhang, which is more in line with the fundamental interests of our Jingzhou army.

Although we may have lost a thousand enemies in today's battle, I will still give General Huang and Zhong Miao credit for killing two thousand enemies, and they will definitely receive the promotion and reward they deserve."

Of course, Liu Qi's words were taught by Xu Shu, and the original source was the secret letter from Zhuge Liang.

However, when the words came to his lips, Liu Qi reorganized the language based on his own understanding, which was more in line with the narrative stance of the princes of Jingzhou.

After hearing this, Huang Zhong finally realized that the military should serve politics. The eldest son and the lord had not yet planned to completely break off relations with Cao's army, and hoped to stop at the right time and stop when things were going well.

In this light, it seems that it would be best to let Cao's army know that the Jingzhou army currently has powerful soldiers and armor, and an inexhaustible supply of powerful crossbows and arrows.

After shooting and killing hundreds of enemy soldiers, they were scared away, which at least saved Xiahou Yuan's face and prevented the fight from ending in death.

……

Just two days after Huang Zhong was put on the brakes by Liu Qi, Xiahou Yuan also learned of the failure of his exploratory attack in Nanxiang County of Hanzhong Prefecture.

This made Xiahou Yuan quite angry, and he was tempted to send more troops to take revenge. Fortunately, Jia Xu remained calm, held him tightly, and analyzed carefully:

"General, please don't be angry! I have heard the details of the defeated army's report and found some unusual clues. Please think twice!"

Xiahou Yuan waved his hands and said, "What other clues are there that are worth thinking about? Those Jingzhou soldiers are not afraid of the imperial army at all. They dare to defend to the end for a few counties, and they will resolutely fight back when they encounter the imperial army. What will happen in the future?

What I care about is not these counties, but whether the majesty of the court can suppress Liu Biao! If Liu Biao becomes bold, he must be pushed into the mud and forced to recognize the situation! "

Jia Xu quickly pointed out: "General, please think about it. If the Jingzhou army is determined to inflict heavy damage on the imperial army, will they go all out to meet our pioneers as soon as they enter the ambush circle?
If we had put our vanguard deeper before we started, the casualties today would not be just a few hundred people. It can be seen that Liu Biao and Liu Qi are still timid, and the court should use both kindness and force. If it were up to me, we should stop hesitating and head south to take Baxi as soon as possible. "

After Jia Xu's analysis, Xiahou Yuan was able to save face a little: According to Jia Xu, Liu Qi had the opportunity to inflict greater casualties, but he did not do so. He just wanted to scare off Cao's army. This was also a manifestation of their fear of the court, which showed that the court's threats were still effective.

Xiahou Yuan was hesitating, but later that day, Liu Qi sent an envoy to seek peace, bringing a generous gift of gold, silver and jewelry, hoping to make peace with Xiahou Yuan.

Xiahou Yuan was in a difficult situation and needed a way out, so he met the other party together with Jia Xu.

When the envoy entered, Xiahou Yuan sat in the middle with a golden sword and a large horse, and pointed his halberd at him and cursed: "Who are you? Why did Liu Biao send you as an envoy?"

The envoy bowed and said: "I am Song Zhong, a wild man from Xiangyang. I am honored by the courtesy shown to me by Liu of Jingzhou. I shall repay you." It turned out that this envoy was also a great scholar in Jingzhou. He had once been friends with Sima Hui, Pang Degong and others. He was a generation older than Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang, and could be considered a famous scholar of the past.

Two or three years later, Liu Biao died of illness, and Liu Cong was bewitched by Cai Mao to surrender to Cao Cao. He sent Song Zhong as an envoy, and later sent Song Zhong to inform Liu Bei that he had surrendered. Liu Bei was so angry that he almost chopped Song Zhong to death, but in the end, he looked down on Song Zhong because of his status as a famous scholar.

(Note: "Records of the Three Kingdoms. Shu Shu. Biography of the First Lord": Bei was greatly shocked and said to Zhong: "You and your people did such a thing, but you didn't tell me earlier. Now that the disaster has come, you are telling me now. Isn't it too much?" He drew his sword and pointed at Zhong and said: "Chopping off your head now will not be enough to relieve my anger, and it is shameful for a man to kill you before leaving!")
Now Liu Qi needed an envoy who could temporarily show weakness and feign compliance to Cao Cao's camp, so of course he thought of asking his father for Song Zhong.

Of course, Liu Qi would not tell Song Zhong all of his and Xu Shu's plans. So Song Zhong did not know Liu Qi's real motive for showing weakness, and he just wanted to make peace freely.

Liu Qi didn't care about Song Zhong's life or death, even if Song Zhong was killed by Xiahou Yuan. Song Zhong was a weak surrenderist, so his death was not a pity.

By chance, Song Zhong was humble when he saw Xiahou Yuan, praising the court's virtues and euphemistically saying:
"My lord has no intention of fighting with the court, but when Zhang Lu was defeated, Shen Dan and Shen Yi were unstable, and my lord was worried about changes in Xiang and Fan upstream, so he had to send troops to protect himself.

Now that the imperial court has pacified Zhang Lu, as long as they no longer plot against Jingxiang, my lord will naturally be willing to make peace with the imperial court. But if they insist on threatening Jingxiang, my lord will have no choice but to seek shelter under the chariot and cavalry general to protect himself.

I have brought 100 catties of gold, 500 catties of silver, and 3,000 rolls of silk. I hope General Xiahou will accept them as a token of my consolation for your efforts in pacifying Hanzhong. My lord does not dare to bother you with money or vulgar things. He only wants to reward the king's army with food and drink."

When Xiahou Yuan heard that the other party had sent such a large gift of money and goods, he felt a little relieved. In addition, Jia Xu had repeatedly persuaded Cao Gong and repeatedly stated that Cao Gong certainly did not want any complications. With the cooperation of both inside and outside, Xiahou Yuan's hatred was finally completely removed.

Xiahou Yuan failed to support Shen Yi in time, originally because he lacked face. As long as he regained his face and had a way out, this situation could be solved.

Now Liu Qi showed off his muscles a little, but at the same time he did not blindly pursue killing more Cao's army in a probing attack, but stopped at the right time.

After ordering, he also gave a gift, admitted his mistake in a nice way, and Xiahou Yuan took the opportunity to back off.

"In this case, let Liu Biao take care of himself! Discipline your son well!" Xiahou Yuan beat and frightened Song Zhong majestically, then let him go.

Song Zhong was a spineless man. After being frightened by Xiahou Yuan, he almost ran away in panic.

Seeing how cowardly he was when he ran away, Xiahou Yuan despised him more and more, but he also relaxed his vigilance.

In the following days, Xiahou Yuan continued to rest, adjust his deployment, and collect military rations in Nanxiang, while waiting for Cao Cao's official reply.

In the past, Xiahou Yuan had a conflict with the Jingzhou army over the Shangyong issue, and he did not dare to act on his own, and he also asked Cao Cao for instructions on the next strategy. Under the new situation, whether to attack Shangyong or threaten Bashu in the next step, Cao Cao will have to make the final decision.

After waiting for a few days, Cao Cao's messenger finally crossed mountains and rivers and did his best to inform Xiahou Yuan.

Xiahou Yuan and Jia Xu looked at Cao Cao's new order together, and indeed, he agreed that Xiahou Yuan should continue to focus on Bashu and not make too many enemies.

With this general policy as guidance, Xiahou Yuan no longer had any doubts and put his rested troops into a new attack.

He divided his troops into two groups. One group followed the route they had taken to pursue Zhang Lu, crossed the Daba Mountains, and took the mountain roads to threaten Badong and Baxi, trying to infiltrate the Qujiang River basin and capture Dangqu.

The other route was to go south along the Jinniu Road outside Yangping Pass, then turn to Ma Mingge Road, intending to attack the heartland of Shu - but there were many strategic passes along the way, and Jiameng Pass and Baishui Pass along the Ma Mingge Road were both easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The difficulty of the Road to Shu will also be fully demonstrated on this road.

Xiahou Yuan's army had just advanced a few dozen miles along the Jinniu Road when it encountered the resolute blockade and layers of resistance from Liu Zhang's army.

Xiahou Yuan was not very good at geography, and his previous impressions of the environment in Shu were only based on what others had told him.

Now that I have been there myself and personally fought in two battles to capture the valley passes in Shu, I now know how painful it is to hit a wall.

Xiahou Yuan had no choice but to consult with Jia Xu and other advisers, and had to find another way to attack Shu.

But Xiahou Yuan's attack had already frightened Liu Zhang so much that he was completely at a loss and desperately wanted to find someone to hug.

(End of this chapter)