Zhao Dangshi was generally satisfied with Wang Laixing's series of military operations in Sichuan in the early stage, which also prompted him to make the choice of attacking Sichuan with Wang Laixing in the north and south.

Although Zhang Xianzhong is temporarily weak, Zhao Dangshi knows that he must not take it lightly in the face of such an opponent at any moment, if it were not for the more urgent situation in northern Sichuan and no time to delay, he would actually prefer to personally command the encirclement and suppression of Zhang Xianzhong. With this premise, Zhao Dangshi appointed Qin Qigong, who performed very well, to continue to assist Wang Laixing, and gave Wang Laixing two strategic goals: one high and one low.

The high goal, needless to say, is to annihilate the Western Army and capture Zhang Xianzhong; The low goal is to continue to trap the Western Army in southwest Sichuan, stick to the key passes on all sides, and wait for Zhao Dangshi to come back for help.

The water flows to the lower places, and the people go to the higher places, Wang Laixing has triumphed all the way before, and even won Chongqing Mansion, Chengdu Mansion and other important towns in Sichuan, which is extremely exciting, where will he be willing to only seek the bottom, although he does not speak, but he has a lot of strength in his heart, and he wants to strive for the most beautiful results. Zhao Dangshi knows him very well, and he knows what he thinks when he looks at him with a stiff face and doesn't speak, and he appreciates his temperament, but he doesn't say much.

The policy was decided, and they acted separately. Zhao Dangshi rectified the soldiers and horses in Chengdu Mansion for two days, and immediately divided the army with Wang Laixing. As for how Wang Laixing planned to deal with Zhang Xianzhong, that was something that he and Qin Qigong and others carefully pondered, Zhao Dangshi has always been suspicious of employing people, in addition to asking Wang Laixing to inform him in time when he encounters a major situation, he is now engrossed in his own purpose, and does not interfere with the rest of the departments at will.

The main reason why the war in northern Sichuan was considered more urgent by Zhao Dangshi was that the gains and losses in this area had an impact on the entire strategic layout.

Zhao Ying's strategic plan for hegemony is very clear, taking Huguang and Sichuan as the basics, and then 'forging ahead. Huguang has been fully controlled by Zhaoying, and the territories of Nanyang Mansion and Runing Mansion in other provinces around Huguang are serving the follow-up progress. In the same way in Sichuan, Zhao Ying currently occupies eastern Sichuan, southern Sichuan and Chengdu Prefecture, at least from the perspective of military control, at least more than seventy percent of Sichuan, Wang Laixing attacked Zhang Xianzhong, Zhao Dangshi attacked northern Sichuan, all in order to achieve the strategic goal of completely covering Sichuan with Zhao Ying's sphere of influence. But this is not enough, Sichuan's geographical situation is very independent, can be used as a basic self-consolidation, but itself lacks an enterprising frontier. As long as Hanzhong Mansion is obtained, Zhao Ying can attack and retreat in Sichuan, and the strategic significance of Sichuan to Zhao Ying is far more important than simply being a rear.

Xu Hui led troops to intervene in the chaos in Hanzhong Mansion, and it was for this reason that he cooperated. Northern Sichuan is blocked between Sichuan and Hanzhong Mansion, and it must be opened, otherwise simply attacking Sichuan and Hanzhong Mansion, the two sides will be cut off, and the overall situation of Zhao Ying will still not be able to be revitalized.

Another important point is that Shaanxi broke into the army like mercury, turning clouds and rain, although Zhao Dangshi assigned Xu Hui to pass through Hanzhong Mansion in accordance with the strategic ideas drawn up early in the morning, but the world is unpredictable, only Xu Hui's lone army and Sun Chuanting's remnants may not be able to successfully maintain the situation in Hanzhong Mansion. Only by opening up northern Sichuan as soon as possible, connecting Sichuan and Shaanxi, and providing mutual assistance, can Zhao Ying truly stabilize the situation. In other words, Zhao Ying's northward march was a race for time with the invincible army in Shaanxi, compared to Zhang Xianzhong in the south, who fell into the trap and could be slowly encircled and suppressed, it was more than one point urgent.

Of course, it is also important to rescue the old man Ruiwang Zhu Changhao. However, this is not the safety of Zhu Changhao, no matter how domineering the military towns in northern Sichuan are, after all, they are still Ming official soldiers, and they dare not harm Zhu Changhao's life with a hundred courages. What Zhao Dangshi was worried about was that they would hold Zhu Changhao hostage, and use the name of Rui Fan to pull up a big banner as a tiger skin and gather stronger forces.

On December 12, just after the Great Cold, the envoys sent to northern Sichuan to negotiate returned, and there was no accident, and the generals of northern Sichuan led by Cao Xun rejected the request to hand over the Rui Domain, and confidently claimed that they had already agreed with the Rui Domain, and that they would be escorted back when the situation in Hanzhong Prefecture was stable.

After this small temptation, coupled with the recent frequent transfer of soldiers and horses in northern Sichuan, Zhao Dangshi confirmed that the generals in northern Sichuan had the heart to resist and officially began to prepare the battle plan. As usual, through the intelligence collected by Wang Laixing earlier and the recent spying of scouts, the deployment of troops in various military towns in northern Sichuan can be roughly known.

The 2,000 men under the command of Deng Ruoyu, the general of Long'an, sat in Mianzhou, blocking the main road from Chengdu to northern Sichuan. After passing through the Fujiang River in Mianzhou and flowing southeast into Tongchuan Prefecture, Hou Tianxi, the general of Yongning Town, led 1,500 people to station between Tongchuan Prefecture and Shehong County, controlled the waterway, and echoed Deng Ruoyu from afar. In Zitong County, after Mianzhou and Tongchuan Prefecture, there are 2,500 people from the Longfu Imperial Department, the deputy general of Baishuiguan Town, as a successor. Therefore, Deng Ruoyu, Hou Tianxi and Long Fuhuang, a total of 6,000 people, can be said to constitute the forward front of the northern Sichuan army.

When Zhao Dangshi's army first arrived in Chengdu Mansion, the three divisions of Deng, Hou and Long were already in place, and the rest of the military towns in northern Sichuan were still gathered in Baoning Mansion. However, according to the latest clues, affected by the chaos in Shaanxi, the armies of northern Sichuan will not dare to look at the south and ignore the north, and Yang Zhan, the garrison of Guangyuan, led a thousand people from his headquarters to go back to Guangyuan County and garrison Chaotian Pass, just in case. Zhu Hualong, the commander-in-chief of Songpan Town, who had the strongest troops, also stationed in Jianzhou with 5,000 men to take care of the northern and southern defense lines. However, 2,000 people from Cao Xun's department, a general of the Han Qiang army, and 3,000 people from Zhao Guangyuan, the general soldier of Hanqiang, were still stranded near Langzhong County and Cangxi County in Baoning Prefecture.

"Zhu and Yang are in the north, Cao and Zhao are in the east, this is the best time for our army to urge the city to pull out the village."

Zhao Dangshi is far from being comparable to Wang Laixing, and the experienced generals such as Han Gon and Ma Guangchun have a keen sense of war and far exceed the fledgling Sichuan generals such as Zeng Ying and Liu Jiayin in Wang Laixing's army. As soon as the map was unfolded, combined with the deployment of the soldiers and horses in northern Sichuan, it was immediately possible to see where the fighters were.

As a strategic location, northern Sichuan must focus on defense at both ends, especially at the moment when the Ming army and Zhao Ying's soldiers in Shaanxi are gradually converging in Hanzhongfu, for the generals of northern Sichuan, the defensive pressure in the north is not less than that in the south, and it is bound to be impossible to relax. Yang Zhan only has a thousand people, although he has the danger of the sky, he is weaker in the end. Zhu Hualong's 5,000 men were stationed in Jianzhou, which was not only a reserve for Yang Zhan, but also the second line of defense in the north. Moreover, although Jianzhou can connect the north and the south, it is said that it takes both ends into account, but it is near the north and far south, so it can be seen that the military center of gravity of Zhu Hualong's department is still in the north, and it can be regarded as forming an independent front with Yang Zhan's department.

From here, the defensive strategy of the generals of the Northern Sichuan Army can be sorted out into three sections: southern, northern, and central. In the southern section, Mianzhou, Tongchuan Prefecture, and Zitong County were the main war zones, with 6,000 people from Deng Ruoyu, Hou Tianxi, and Long Fuhuang as the core to block Zhao Ying's northward movement; In the northern section, Chaotianguan and Jianzhou are the main war zones, with 6,000 people from Zhu Hualong and Yang Zhan as the core, to prevent Hanzhong soldiers and horses from moving south; In the middle section, it was centered on Cao Xun and Zhao Guangyuan's two departments of 5,000 people, and they responded to changes.

If these three sections of the first-line defensive strategy are allowed to take shape, considering that the terrain in northern Sichuan is majestic and precipitous, the defensive effect will inevitably not be bad, but the current situation is that the two northern Sichuan soldiers in the south and north are basically in place, only the most important middle section connecting the two sections has not yet taken shape, and it is inconvenient for Cao Xun and Zhao Guangyuan, who are still stranded in the territory of Boryeong Mansion, to the north or south.

"Northern Sichuan seems to be an iron plate, and who can completely guess the thoughts of the generals in China." Gu Junen, the left army division of Zhao Ying, who was traveling with the army, said leisurely, "Baoning Mansion is Cao Xun's lair, and he is very comfortable staying there, maybe he has the intention to wait and see the situation in the north and south before making plans, or maybe he has not been able to reach an agreement with Zhao Guangyuan, it is unknown." ”

Zhao Dangshi nodded and said: "What the military advisor said is true, but for our army, this is a rare fighter, so why bother with him." He also said, "The soldiers are very fast, and when the middle section of northern Sichuan is formed, the thickness of the northern Sichuan front will be greatly deepened, and our army will face the dilemma of knocking a checkpoint every step of the way, even if it can be forcibly opened in the end, the cost of casualties and time paid is something that our army cannot afford." It is imperative to break through the southern front of the Northern Sichuan Army first. ”

Gu Junen held a thin bamboo cane, cocked it and nodded to the map: "The southern section of the Northern Sichuan Army is composed of three places, of which Zitong County is in the back, Shehong County is in the south, and only Mianzhou is blocking the façade of our army, which is the biggest nail. ”

Zhao Dangshi said while looking at the map: "It is not difficult to fight a simple Mianzhou, but it is very tricky to have the support of the northern Sichuan soldiers of Tongchuan Prefecture and Zitong County, once it falls into a tug-of-war, the middle and northern sections of the Northern Sichuan Army may also be involved, and our army will inevitably fall into the predicament of thorns step by step." To fight Mianzhou, we must fight quickly. ”

Han Gon frowned and said, "Why don't you hit Shehong County in Tongchuan Prefecture first, and get rid of Mianzhou's wings?" ”

Gu Junen vetoed: "No, the journey to Shehong County is too long, and Emperor Long Fuhuang of Zitong County can lead troops to cut off the back road of our army at any time and break our army in sections, and Shehong County is on the other side of the Fujiang River, and our army will have to cross the river in the past, which is even more difficult to fight." ”

Han Gon said: "In this way, you can only find flaws in Mianzhou." ”

At this time, Gu Junen suddenly asked Liu Guidao, the general of Daning: "Lord Liu, have you been to Mao County?" ”

Liu Gui, the new vassal, was standing silently on the periphery of the circle, and the audience exchanged heads and ears, and was caught off guard by name, and said with a red face: "Go, go." ”

"How?"

"Take Guan County more to bypass Yulei Mountain and Zhangshan Mountain, pass through Wenchuan County, and go north along the Wenjiang River to Mao County." Liu Gui replied.

Zhao Dangshi approached the map and took a closer look at the location of Mao County. The west out of the Chengdu Plain is the endless mountains, and the Wenjiang River, also known as the Minjiang River, flows out of this group of mountains, the river washes out a narrow valley between the mountains, Mao County and Wenchuan County are located in these small river valleys of the county seat, and along the river flow through the road connection. The Wenjiang River enters the Chengdu Plain from Guan County, and the mouth is the famous Dujiangyan, that is, in Guan County.

"How many people can walk along the valley through which the river passes?"

Zhao Dangshi watched and listened to Gu Junen ask.

"How many people can go?" Liu Gui was stunned, "Does the military advisor refer to the march?" ”

"Exactly."

Liu Gui thought for a while and replied: "Although the county can travel through the river valley, the river valley itself is not too wide, and the caravan of the common people is okay to move around in normal times, if a large number of soldiers and horses pass, I see the most...... It can accommodate up to one or two thousand people in parallel. ”

"One or two thousand people......" Gu Junen bowed slightly, the bamboo cane waved lightly, and he drew north, "Continue walking from Mao County, can you go to Long'an Mansion?" ”

"This ......," Liu Gui shook his head and said, "I haven't been to Long'an Mansion, but I heard from the merchants that from Qushan Pass to the north, it is Long'an Mansion." East out of Mao County along the northeast road to Qushan Pass, this road I also walked. ”

Ma Guangchun crossed his hand and said: "Does the military advisor have to attack Long'an Mansion to attack it?" Deng Ruoyu's old base camp is in Long'an Mansion, and most of the generals can think of this when they hear this, "But no one has walked this road from Qushan Pass to Long'an Mansion, which is extremely dangerous. "If you want to attack, you must use the horse army, Ma Guangchun had a hunch that Gu Junen wanted to let him go this way, and questioned it in advance.

Zhao Dangshi knew what he meant, and also said: "Our army has two dilemmas, one is difficult to strength, and the other is difficult time. Our army cherishes the strength of the army, especially the Ma army, and we must keep the road of long-term combat and rash marching, and the road ahead is unpredictable. And it takes time, delays the fighters. The matter of attacking Long'an Mansion has to be carefully considered. ”

When Gu Junen heard this, he responded: "It is difficult to know the victory or defeat of the attack on Long'an Mansion in the eyes of our army, so it is also the same in the eyes of Deng Ruoyu. ”

Zhao Dangshi heard what he said and said, "Sir, please speak." ”

"Lord Liu walked through Qushan Pass, that is to say, the road from Guan County to Qushan Pass can accommodate one to two thousand soldiers and horses, right?" Gu Junen's gaze turned to Liu Gui.

Liu Gui nodded solemnly and said: "I just walked through it last year, and if no more than 2,000 people walk it, there will be no problem." ”

Gu Junen's face softened, and he pointed to the vicinity of Qushan Pass, and said, "Everyone, please see, it is true that you can go north from Qushan Pass to Long'an Mansion, but you can go out of Jiangyou County to the south." ”

Everyone's eyes gathered, and Jiangyou County was behind Mianzhou.

Zhao Dangshi said thoughtfully: "I understand what Mr. means." ”

Han Gon asked: "Could it be that the division is divided to attack Jiangyou County, and then attack Mianzhou?" ”

Gu Junen put down the bamboo cane and said: "No, if this is the case, the Northern Sichuan Army will have a gap in reacting, and the Dragon Fuhuang of Zitong County can cut off the back road of our army and encircle and annihilate our army." Then explained, "As long as our army can reach Qushan Pass, Deng Ruoyu will be chaotic, try to ask if there is a strong man near the door, can you break into the door and open the door, do you choose to save or gamble on half of the luck?" ”

Han Gon suddenly said brightly: "Deng Ruoyu will give up Mianzhou and retreat north!" ”

Gu Junen said: "It is very likely that Deng Ruoyu is not Cao Xun's subordinate, and there is no need to sacrifice his life and forget death for him." He continued, "In my opinion, this attack on Mianzhou requires troops to be divided into three routes. On the left side, Han and Ma led the horse army to 1,500 people to go to Qushan Pass through Wenchuan County and other places, and the right road sent troops and horses to go around Tongchuan Prefecture, and the middle road was led by the lord to enter Mianzhou, pressing but not attacking, and putting pressure on Deng Ruoyu. This plan is not difficult to implement, because after Wang Laixing entered the Chengdu Fucheng and controlled the Sichuan Governor Yamen, he quickly pacified the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Chengdu Prefecture in the name of Long Wenguang and Liu Zhibo.

Zhao Dangshi fully understood his thoughts, and continued to say for him: "Lao Han and Lao Ma went out first with 1,500 horses from the left and right battalions of Feijie, and went to the vicinity of Qushan Pass, pretending to threaten Jiangyou County. Deng Ruoyu was afraid that Jiangyou County would be captured and the retreat would be cut off so that it would be difficult to save Long'an Mansion, and nine times out of ten he would abandon Mianzhou and retreat northward. He also said, "The right road is divided into a part to go to Tongchuan Prefecture, Hou Tianxi's main force is mostly stationed in Shehong County, and there are not many people in Tongchuan Prefecture, so you can block there first and restrain Hou Tianxi." As long as Mianzhou is lost and Deng Ruoyu is defeated, the situation will suddenly open, and Zitong County and Shehong County will be under the front of our army, and it will be much easier to deal with it. Speaking of this, the voice mentioned, "This war will end within three days, if Deng Ruoyu does not retreat, then make a plan." Lao Han and Lao Ma returned the same way, and there was no risk. ”

When Han Gon and Ma Guangchun heard this, they took the lead in responding to their promises.