Whether it was Gao Jichang or Liang Zhen, they all thought at first that Ma Yin could hold out for at least a year or two, or even another three or four years, after all, although Ma Yin was defeated one after another, he still had so many territories, and it was not so easy for Wu to seize them one by one.

But what they didn't expect was that Ma Yin surrendered so early, which really made Gao Jichang and the others feel angry and helpless.

What made the two even more anxious was that Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, suddenly had a big fight with Li Maozhen, the king of Qi, and looking at the current situation, I was afraid that it would be difficult to achieve victory without a year and a half.

Although the strength of Shu is good, it is only compared to those weak forces, for example, compared with Jingnan and Shu, the strength is too far apart.

But if it is compared with Wu Guo, it is inferior.

The strength of the state of Wu is also well known in today's world, although the Wu army has been fighting against the forces in the south in recent years, and the scale of each time the army is only 40,000 or 60,000, which is not comparable to the scale of Wang Jian's use of troops in the country of Qi this time.

However, no one will doubt the strength of Wu State, after all, as early as a few years ago, in the era of the Huainan Army, Yang Wu had led the Northern Expedition of the 150,000 Huainan Army, known as 300,000, and his prestige shook the world; In recent years, although Wu has hidden its claws, the territory of Wu has expanded rapidly in recent years, and now it is even a little bigger than Liang; As for the population, military strength, etc., it is far above the Shu Kingdom.

If Shu concentrates its forces east to Jingxiang, the Shu army may still be able to compete with Wu; But now that the main forces of Shu are all contained by Qi State, how can they stop the Wu army just by relying on some partial divisions?

Therefore, for Gao Jichang, on the one hand, the time for the Wu army to attack will be greatly advanced; On the other hand, the Shu army, which he had originally pinned his hopes on, was also pinned down, and it was difficult to rescue Jiangling.

It can be said that the situation in Gangneung is now extremely dangerous.

"Senior, that Ma Yin has surrendered now, and it is difficult for Shu to count on it, and the Liang army is even more restrained by the Jin State, and it is impossible to go south to rescue. You said that when the time comes, if the Wu army comes to attack, how about this marshal directly surrender to Wu Guonatu? Gao Jichang suddenly asked.

"Why did the marshal suddenly have the idea of surrendering? Hasn't the marshal always wanted to make a career? If he surrenders to Wu, he may only be able to spend time in Jinling City! Liang Zhen asked a little strangely.

"The seniors also knew that Ben Shuai was just a slave at first, and all he thought about every day was how to eat enough, how to live, how to take care of his relatives in the future, and then get married and have children, etc.; However, what he didn't expect was that Ben Shuai later met and advised His Majesty when he was conquering King Qi in the west, and as a result, he was reused by His Majesty; At that point, Ben Shuai's goal changed. ”

"When the commander saw the other generals, leading the army one by one, conquering the world until he reached the Jiedu side, his heart longed for it; Therefore, the goal of this marshal at that time has also become to be able to sit on the festival envoy in the future, like those marshals, command thousands of troops and horses, and fight on the battlefield! ”

Later, Ben Shuai's goal was achieved, and he sat in the position of the envoy of Jingnan Jiedu, full of thoughts that in the future, he could be like other feudal towns, and call Wang Jianguo. It's a pity that in the past few years, although I have worked hard every day to maintain it, I can't change the crisis of the situation! Gao Jichang didn't know if it was because he drank a little wine, and there were more words at this time.

He didn't know when he had the idea of surrendering in his heart.

After so many years, Wu's policy is well known to the world.

Although after surrendering to the state of Wu, he could not take charge of one side as before, and it was likely that he could only get an idle one in Jinling, but there was no problem in enjoying the wealth.

For example, the Qian clan who surrendered to Wu in the early years.

Back then, Qian Biao and Yang Xing fought for more than ten years, and the feud between the two families was also great; Later, Qian Biao did not completely surrender until the mountain was finally exhausted.

After the surrender of the Qian family, although he was oppressed in Guangling at first, life was tight; However, after the official establishment of the State of Wu, with Yang Wen being canonized as a princess, coupled with the passage of time, the original grudge gradually faded, so the status of the Qian family was also improved, and now it is also a rich and noble family in Jinling.

Not to mention the Zhong family in Jiangxi, there are two hereditary earls in the family, plus a princess, which can be described as a rare magnate in Jinling City.

As for Wang Shenzhi's family, who only took refuge in the previous two years, they were also not harmed in Jinling, but Wang Shenzhi himself was courteous to Yang Wu, and often summoned them to the palace to talk.

In general, although taking refuge in Wu will lose power, it can also ensure a lifetime of wealth and wealth, and there is no need to work all day like now, which is a very comfortable day for people who have no ambition.

Liang Zhen was a little surprised by his exclamation, and only after a long time did he say, "Maybe surrender is also a good choice!" But the key is to see if the festival marshal has let go of the ambition in his heart! ”

Gao Jichang smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Of course, he knew that he couldn't let go of the ambition in his heart, and he was able to get to where he was in this life, in addition to his own ability and opportunity, the most important thing was because he had ambition.

Unfortunately, his rise came too late.

When he sat in the position of Jiedu envoy, not to mention that the powerful forces such as the Liang State, the Wu State, the Jin State, and the Shu State had already consolidated their own territory, even those relatively small forces had also consolidated their own territory, and it was already difficult for other forces to rise.

Liang Zhen already knew his final decision when he saw his expression, and immediately said: "Jie Shuai, it is not impossible to resist the attack of the Wu army now, the key lies in two aspects!" ”

Gao Jichang's expression was shocked when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked, "Dare to ask seniors, what are the two aspects?" ”

"The first point is naturally the determination of Wang Jian, the lord of Shu! Although Wang Jian is fighting with the king of Qi, there are more than 200,000 troops in Shu, of which the current 120,000 troops are used to deal with Qi, and 40,000 or 50,000 troops can still be dispatched in the remaining army, the key is to see if he has the determination to go east to Jingxiang! ”

Gao Jichang nodded after hearing this and said, "Yes, there is no shortage of troops in the Shu army for the time being, but do you think that the senior will send troops to rescue me while fighting with the Qi State?" ”

"It's not completely impossible, after all, if the Wu State enters Jingxiang, it will not only threaten the Liang State, but also the Shu State! Don't forget, Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty Liu Yu sent troops from Jingxiang to destroy Shu just before the Northern Expedition. Now that Wu is strong, isn't Wang Jian worried that after Wu gets Jingxiang, he will send troops to attack Shu? Liang Zhen asked.

"Yes, if I were Wang Jian, the lord of Shu, I would be so worried, even if I don't send troops to occupy Jingxiang, at least I have to ensure that Jingxiang does not fall into the hands of other powerful forces!" Gao Jichang said with some excitement.

But then, he sighed again: "Even if Wang Jian sent troops to rescue our country because he was worried about the threat of Wu State, he would only send forty or fifty thousand troops at most!" And the strength of Wu is as many as 200,000 forbidden troops! With just 40,000 or 50,000 Shu troops, plus 20,000 or 30,000 troops from Ben Shuai, what can be done? ”

Liang Zhen smiled: "This depends on the second aspect!" As I said just now, if the Wu army invades Jingxiang, it will greatly threaten the Liang State, in this case, will the Liang State see Jingxiang fall into the hands of the Wu State? ”

Seeing that Gao Jichang was still a little puzzled, he immediately explained: "The Wu army attacked Ma Yin, and the Liang State would not come to the rescue, not because it was beyond his strength, but because he was unwilling!" At that time, Zhu Wen was bent on concentrating his forces to destroy the Jin State, or at least to suppress the Jin State again. But in the past few years, his plan has obviously not succeeded, and instead of being suppressed, the Jin State has become stronger and stronger, and now it has the upper hand in the battle for hegemony with the Liang State! ”

"Then in this case, Zhu Wen will naturally change his strategy and switch from the previous offensive strategy to a defensive strategy!"

Gao Jichang nodded, and listened to Liang Zhen continue with a solemn expression.

"With the strength of the Liang State, launching an active attack on the Jin State will inevitably require the mobilization of a large number of troops, so Zhu Wen did not have the extra troops to go south to rescue Ma Yin; However, if he changes his strategy and switches from offense to defense, then he will not need to invest as many troops. ”

In other words, after switching from offense to defense, the old man estimated that Zhu Wen would be able to spare at least fifty or sixty thousand troops to go south to rescue. If he can recognize the situation and join forces with Shu, then 50,000 or 60,000 Liang troops, plus 450,000 Shu troops, plus Jieshuai's army, that is about 120,000 troops! ”

"If there is an army of 120,000 people, and then rely on the strong city of Gangneung, it may not be impossible for the marshal to hold Gangneung!" Liang Zhen said in a low voice.

"Good!" Gao Jichang couldn't help but cheer loudly, but he forgot that he was still in the tavern.

As a result, many drinkers were taken aback by his loud shout, but fortunately, there were so many guards around Gao Jichang who were guarding, and no one dared to come over to cause trouble.

Gao Jichang hurriedly lowered his voice and said: "Senior, I almost lost confidence before I went down, and I thought that the general trend had gone, and I actually had the idea of surrendering in my heart, and now that I am said by my seniors, I feel that there may still be little hope, but at least there is hope!" ”

Gao Jichang's voice was a little excited, obviously greatly encouraged.