My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 523 Xiahou Yuan: If I can't beat Liu Bei, I can't beat you, Liu Zhang? Who gave you the courage to add insult to injury?

The decisive battle of Dianjiang between Liu Bei's army and Xiahou Yuan's main force took place between the third and the fifth day of April.

With the collapse and escape of Xiahou Yuan's main force, the subsequent stage entered the pursuit stage.

Liu Bei sent troops to deal with Xiahou Yuan's detachment for food and grain collection. On April 8th, he fought a small battle with Xiahou Yuan's detachment near Mengtouzhai.

Xiahou Yuan's army was small and weak, but Liu Bei sent a pursuit force composed mainly of Wang Ping and other Bandun Man soldiers. They were natives of Brazil, and they had received Liu Bei's army's excellent equipment and the power of a great victory, so they were naturally full of momentum.

More importantly, the counties and villages near Dangqu were originally the strongholds of the Bandun barbarians. Upon learning that Wang Ping had returned, the tribes that had been hiding in the deep mountains and had grudges against Xiahou Yuan all came out again to harass and intercept Cao's army.

For a while, Xiahou Yuan's army was like being ambushed from all sides, and they were startled several times in one night. In the final battle of Mengtou Village, Cao's army was defeated miserably and retreated more than 100 miles. They could not even defend Dangqu County, 60 miles upstream of Mengtou Village, and collapsed directly.

On April 11, Wang Ping recaptured Dangqu County, located in the core settlement area of the Bandunman, and then spent more than ten days advancing step by step to the Daba Mountains.

At this point, Wang Ping had finally recovered all the counties and villages in the upper reaches of Qujiang River and south of the main ridge of Daba Mountain in Baxi County. The subsequent cleanup work could also be completed within half a month.

Ensure that by May, no organized Cao army troops will be seen south of Daba Mountain.

Compared to Wang Ping who was fighting piecemeal in the mountainous areas, Zhang Fei and Gan Ning who were heading north along the Jialing River naturally had a heavier task.

On the tenth day of April, Zhang Fei chased the enemy to Anhan County.

The small county had been abandoned by Xiahou Yuan, who only left some harassment troops who would pop up from time to time on both sides of the valley to annoy Zhang Fei.

When Zhang Fei deployed his troops and was about to go up the mountain to pursue and suppress the enemy, Cao's army immediately ran away and did not fight with Zhang Fei.

This happened five or six times, slowing down Zhang Fei's speed so much that it took him and Gan Ning another six full days to advance from Anhan County to Nanchong County, more than a hundred miles upstream.

Nanchong County was also not garrisoned by a strong army because the city was in ruins. However, Cao's army was very disgusting and adopted a scorched earth strategy in Nanchong, transporting away all the edible things and burning all the things that could not be transported away. The people were also forcibly relocated to Langzhong in the north to increase the logistical difficulty of Liu Bei's army.

Zhang Fei and Gan Ning's logistics were hampered as a result, and it took them another ten days to finally advance from Nanchong to Langzhong County by fighting and fleeing.

Langzhong is a big county in Bashu. In the Battle of Hanzhong in history, Zhang Fei fought a battle with Zhang He in Langzhong. He fought very well and beat Zhang He badly. It can be regarded as one of Zhang Fei's battles to establish his prestige. It can be seen that Langzhong still has certain strategic value.

In this life, Xiahou Yuan did not have Zhang He available, but he still left troops in Langzhong to defend it. He hoped to use this city to delay Liu Bei until Cao Cao's main force entered the Hanzhong Basin, and prevent Liu Bei from advancing too quickly to Jiameng Pass and Yangping Pass.

In order to achieve this goal, Xiahou Yuan also left General Feng Kai here and took charge personally.

Faced with Langzhong being defended to the death by Feng Kai and thousands of Cao's troops, and the fact that the mountains surrounding the city were indeed dangerous with no way around, Zhang Fei and Gan Ning had no choice but to advance step by step. It would probably take a month or so to break through.

Zhang Fei reported the situation to Liu Bei and Pang Tong. Liu Bei did not blame him, but comforted him with kind words, telling him not to worry:
"Yide, don't be anxious. As long as we pass Langzhong County and go upstream, we will reach Jiameng Pass and join forces with Brother Ji Yu's garrison. At that time, we will join forces and counterattack Yangping Pass from Jiameng Pass along the Jinniu Road. Once we enter Yangping Pass, the outcome of the Battle of Hanzhong will be completely reversed!"

Zhang Fei sighed regretfully, "That's true, but you've always said that if we wait until May, Cao Cao's reinforcements will probably cross the Qinling Mountains and head south. By then, it won't be as easy to break through Yangping Pass as it is now."

Seeing that there was no one around, Liu Bei lowered his voice and revealed to Zhang Fei some details that only Zhuge brothers and Pang Tong knew before:
"Don't worry. We originally wanted to use Hanzhong to consume Cao Cao. How long can Cao Cao's army sustain by entering Sichuan and relying on Qinling Mountains to transport food? After a while, it will be good if Cao Cao is not eaten to death."

……

Therefore, the generals of Liu Bei's army temporarily stopped in Langzhong to fight a steady and solid battle, while also digesting and controlling the newly occupied 500 miles of land in Baxi County and slowly consolidating the rear.

After leaving Feng Kai to defend Langzhong, Xiahou Yuan took Jia Xu and the remaining nearly 20,000 soldiers, passed through Jiameng Pass and turned into Jinniu Road, trying to retreat to Yangping Pass, the gateway to Hanzhong.

However, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps on.

Since Xiahou Yuan was defeated in the decisive battle in Dianjiang County, the news reached Jiangzhou defender Yan Yan in just two days.

After Yan Yan heard about it, he naturally did not dare to neglect it. He just did a little verification and then rushed to report to Chengdu. Liu Zhang knew about it on April 9th.

After Liu Zhang learned about it, no matter what the subsequent decision was, he would definitely share this good news with the generals of the garrison who were in a stalemate with Cao's army on the front line. So by mid-April, even the generals of Liu Zhang's army in Jiange Road, Zitong, Jiameng Pass, Baishui Pass and other places knew the news of Cao's defeat. Even the defenders of Zitong got the news from other channels first, and then received the intelligence sent by their lord Liu Zhang from the regular channels - and this "other channel", if you really break it down, is nothing special. It was the spies of Liu Bei's army who went upstream along the Fu River and came to Zitong to spread the news.

All of this was a plan arranged by Pang Tong. He did not even discuss it with Liu Bei in advance, but went to apologize to Liu Bei the next morning after sending out the spies to spread the news.

At that time Pang Tong said:
"Please forgive me, my lord! I was responsible for collecting and analyzing military intelligence, but I neglected my duty and forgot to issue a gag order yesterday regarding our army's victory over Xiahou Yuan.

The scouts in the army went out to scout and if they met friendly troops, they would inevitably like to brag. Perhaps the soldiers under Liu Jiyu's command also knew the news of Xiahou Yuan's defeat. "

Liu Bei didn't react at the time and felt that this was nothing worth keeping secret.

Liu Zhang would definitely know that he had won a great victory. At least Wang Ping would have to give Yan Yan an explanation afterwards, it was just a matter of time.

Liu Bei then comforted Pang Tong with gentle words: "It's no big deal, military advisor, don't worry about it."

But just after he finished comforting him, Liu Bei also realized something was wrong: if it was such a small matter, why did Pang Tong make a fuss and apologize to him? Even if he didn't say it, he might not have noticed it.

After Liu Zhang learned about the battle situation on the front line on his own, he would not check when Liu Zhang found out about it.

Although Liu Bei was not a man of extraordinary wisdom, he had been with the Zhuge brothers and Pang Tong for so many years, and naturally became more insightful. Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then sighed and took the initiative to confirm:

"Military Advisor, what is the real intention behind this? Is it that you want to tell me that you deliberately leaked the news of our army's great victory to Liu Zhang in a hurry?

Although you didn't ask for instructions on this matter, Liu Zhang will know it sooner or later. It doesn't hinder our army, and I don't blame you. But I still hope that the military advisor can give you an explanation as to why you did this."

Pang Tong finally revealed his true intentions and analyzed in detail: "In fact, deliberately leaking this information in a hurry may not be effective, but I think it will at least not do any harm, and it can also test and test the sincerity of our allies."

Liu Bei raised his eyebrows: "How to test, how to test?"

Pang Tong took a deep breath and spoke quickly: "Although Liu Zhang is cowardly and suspicious, many of his generals are ambitious and want to make achievements, but they are not trusted and reused by him.

In short, with Liu Zhang's talent in governing Shu, there are too many civil and military officials in Yizhou who have their own interests, and too many people who are suspicious of their lord. This method of mine is also to induce those who have different intentions to expose themselves as soon as possible."

Pang Tong paused here and waited for Liu Bei to digest the information.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment and finally understood: "Military Advisor, do you want the Liu Zhang army garrison at Jiameng Pass and Zitong to think that Xiahou Yuan was defeated and lost two-thirds of his troops, and therefore weak and can be bullied? Do you want the friendly army generals who have been defending Jiameng Pass for more than half a year to be greedy for merit and rush out to block the Jinniu Road and intercept Xiahou Yuan's way back?"

Pang Tong nodded slightly without commenting: "That is also possible."

Liu Bei couldn't help but frowned: "Why do you say 'also'? Moreover, if Yang Huai and Gao Pei really go out to intercept Xiahou Yuan on his way back, can they stop him?

If our army is in Nanchong or Langzhong, and is delayed by Xiahou Yuan's rear guard, and cannot reach Jiameng Pass in time to join forces with the friendly forces to attack, wouldn't it delay the opportunity to fight? This is not a good thing for us to win the hearts of the people in Shu. "

Pang Tong immediately gave Liu Bei a reassurance: "Don't worry, my lord. Liu Zhang is so suspicious and hesitant, and the generals in Shu are so greedy for merit. How could they do such a selfless thing? The possibility is very small, so I just said the word 'also'.

Even if Yang Huai, Gao Pei and other generals had escaped from Jiameng Pass, they would not choose to risk their lives to block Xiahou Yuan's return. They would only try to race against time, rush before Xiahou Yuan, try to advance lightly, cross Jinniu Road, and seize Yangping Pass!

These generals have followed Liu Zhang for many years, but they have no military achievements. They can only defend their own places and protect their own interests. The only thing that can make them underestimate the enemy and advance rashly is to grab land and take advantage of it, and directly occupy the empty hinterland behind the enemy. How can they take the initiative to fight a tough battle? "

When Liu Bei heard this possibility, he immediately became anxious again, but this time he was not anxious about the same thing: "Can they be so decisive? Will Liu Jiyu's generals take advantage of the situation and directly attack Hanzhong?"

Pang Tong shook his head confidently: "As far as I know, Yang Huai, Gao Pei and other generals have never known themselves and have never fought against heroes outside Shu. If they think that Xiahou Yuan was defeated by our army and lost two-thirds of his troops, and think that Xiahou Yuan's remaining troops are weak and can be bullied, they will definitely pay the price.

Therefore, my subordinates deliberately leaked the news of Xiahou Yuan's defeat in a hurry, but it was not to harm our friendly forces. We are just testing our friendly forces to see if they are greedy. If they can withstand the test, do not act on their own, and are willing to cooperate with our army in everything, then we will pretend that nothing happened.

If Yang Huai, Gao Pei and others are really blinded by greed, and are reckless and dare to make us fight a tough battle while they take advantage of the enemy's weakness, then let them be punished by God!"

(End of this chapter)