The first year of Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty. The general Guan Yu played Liu Bei, the Zhaolie Emperor of the Shu Han Dynasty, and asked for an answer, so he summoned Ma Chao and Wei Yan to return to Chengdu to discuss the plan to defeat Wei.

After Ma Chao and Wei Yan received Liu Bei's edict, they immediately left Hanzhong and returned to Chengdu as soon as possible.

In front of the city gate of Chengdu.

On the tower of the city gate, Guan Ping looked into the distance, only to see billowing smoke and dust rising from the official road in the distance, and at a glance, he knew that there was a large group of people and horses coming.

"Get my broadsword!" Guan Ping snorted lightly, and the little colonel next to him immediately lifted Guan Ping's big knife over.

Guan Ping walked down the city tower with a knife, walked out of the city gate, raised his eyes and looked into the distance, at this time Guan Ping appeared, and the people who came were all Shu soldiers. On a big flag, a big "Wei" character fluttered in the wind.

"Looks like it's General Wei Yan here!" Guan Ping said, put away the knife, and after a while, Wei Yan had already come to the city gate.

"General Wei Yan!" Guan Ping immediately greeted him.

"It's Major General Guan! I didn't expect Major General Lao Guan to come to greet him! Wei Yan said.

"General Wei, let's go to the city and rest. Now that General Ma Chao has not yet arrived in Chengdu, it is estimated that it will take a few days for the dynasty to discuss the attack on Wei. ”

Wei Yan was stationed according to loyalty. And Ma Chao is stationed in Yangping Pass. comparatively. Wei Yan is closer to Chengdu. Therefore, Wei Yan will return to Chengdu one step ahead of Ma Chao.

A ray of sunshine sprinkled on the majestic city wall of Chengdu. Guan Ping saw that it was getting late. So he commanded, "It's not too early." It seems that General Ma will not be able to come today. Pass the order down. Close the gates! ”

"General. Look there! The little colonel next to him pointed into the distance. I saw a group of cavalry appear in the distance. Came to Chengdu at a gallop. One person for the land is Ma Chao.

"It's General Ma Chao! It's so fast......"

It stands to reason that Ma Chao and Wei Yan are at least a day's journey apart. But Ma Chao and Cao Cao have a grudge against their father. I have long wished to cut down Wei. Now I heard that Liu Bei was going to attack Wei. Immediately came to Chengdu day and night. So not long after Wei Yan came to Chengdu, he also followed him to Chengdu.

……

Day 2.

There was no morning court today, but early in the morning, many officials still gathered in the court.

There were not many people who came, only a dozen, but these dozen or so people were all core figures under Liu Bei's command. And today, what everyone is talking about is the plan to destroy Wei.

Such a thing as Vawei is very involved, and it does not mean that it can send troops if it sends troops. For example, the number of troops, the guarantee of logistics grain and grass, who will be sent to guard the rear base camp, etc., and the most important thing is which road to choose to cut Wei.

This time, Liu Bei sent about 200,000 troops. The departure of a large number of people and horses out of Shu is different from the scattered people and horses out of Shu, there are more people and horses, and the first thing to consider is the supply of grain and grass. So, of course, you have to choose the main road. There are only two roads in and out of Shudi, one is to go out of the mountain, cross the upper valley and enter Longxi, which is the road chosen by Zhuge Liang for the first Northern Expedition; And the second is to go out of the pass to attack Chencang, which is the road of Gaozu Ming to repair the plank road and secretly cross Chencang. These two sets of roads are relatively wide and gentle, suitable for large groups of people and horses.

In other places, although the slope valley road can also be marched, but it is far less easy to walk than the first two roads, and the slope valley is greatly affected by the weather, if it encounters rain, you may be trapped on the road for days, and it is easy to delay the fighters. Not to mention the Meridian Valley, the roads are dangerous and difficult to travel, and there are many lofty mountains and mountains, if more than 100,000 troops take the Meridian Valley, the supply of grain and grass alone will not be available.

On the issue of road selection, there were disagreements among the people, and Zhuge Liang advocated that it was still the same as in history, and that the main force of Cao's army should be mobilized in detail, but that the army would go out of Qishanxi, first occupy Tianshui, Anding and Nan'an, cut off the connection between Yongzhou and Liangzhou, and then fight steadily and steadily, slowly advancing eastward, and finally occupying Chang'an, and stabilizing the battle line in Chang'an.

Guan Yu thought that he should follow the example of Gaozu to go out of the pass, flash into Chencang, divide Yongzhou into two, and then take Chang'an directly, first take Chang'an, and then capture Tianshui and Longxi and other places in the Hui army. At that time, because the road was blocked, the reinforcements from the Central Plains could not support Guanzhong, and Longxi Tianshui and other places would inevitably collapse without a fight without reinforcements.

Pang Tong supported Zhuge Liang's opinion. Although Pang Tong likes to go off the rails with swords, this battle is the first battle after Liu Bei became emperor, and it is related to the future national fortunes of Shu. Pang Tong knew that most of the grain and grass consumed in this war came from Hanzhong, and if Shu failed to achieve certain results in this war, I am afraid that it would be difficult to have the ability to send troops to the Northern Expedition in the next five or six years. Therefore, Pang Tong is also in favor of being more stable.

In comparison, although Guan Yu's method is effective quickly, it is also more dangerous, and it is easy to be attacked from both sides, if the number of soldiers is not dominant, Pang Tong may support Guan Yu, but now Liu Bei can mobilize 200,000 troops to the Northern Expedition, 200,000 horses, which may not be anything when the troubled times first rose thirty years ago, but now, 200,000 troops are enough to make it difficult for any side of the Three Kingdoms to parry.

Speaking of Liu

Among them, they are more in favor of Guan Yu's idea. But Liu Bei himself knows that there are more than 300,000 people. And if it is his own Northern Expedition, he naturally needs to leave people to guard Bashu and guard against Sun Quan, coupled with the problem of logistics grain and grass supply, 200,000 people are close to the limit of sending troops to the Northern Expedition, and the same 200,000 people are Liu Bei's own family foundation, Liu Bei has worked hard for decades, and he has accumulated this little bit of people, so Liu Bei feels that it is better to be stable, and finally Liu Bei agreed with Zhuge Liang's opinion.

At this time, Wei Yan stood up again and offered to give him 5,000 soldiers and horses to take the Meridian Valley to attack Chang'an.

At this time, it was still Xiahou who guarded Chang'an. Xiahou is Xiahou's son and has a good relationship with Cao. A year ago, Xiahou died of illness, and Cao named Xiahou as the general of Anxi, holding the festival, and after Xiahou Yuan, he supervised Guanzhong and stationed in Chang'an.

At this time, although Guo Huai was the assassin of Yongzhou, the power in his hands was not as good as that of Xiahou. Xiahou was the governor of Guanzhong, which was equivalent to controlling an independent corps, and Guo Huai was only a state, and the real power in his hands was still inferior to Xiahou's. After all, the military in Guanzhong is a matter of great importance, and Cao is still not at ease when it is put into the hands of Guo Huai, a person with a foreign surname. And the Xiahou family is also a relative of the Cao family, so even if Cao knew that Xiahou's ability was not as good as Guo Huai's, he still handed over the military power to Xiahou's hands.

Wei Yan believes that Xiahou can only reach his current position because of his father Xiahou's shadow skills and a good relationship with Cao. Liu Bei's army went out of the mountains and attacked Longxi, which inevitably mobilized Cao's main force to the west, and Chang'an in the east would be guarded against emptiness, and at this time, if he sent a light army to follow and take the Meridian Valley to raid Chang'an, as long as Chang'an was captured, then the battle of Yongzhou would be basically over. With the loss of Chang'an, Cao Wei's army will face the problem of not being able to supply grain and grass, and there may be a chance to annihilate the Cao army in Yongzhou at that time.

Zhuge Liang immediately suggested that the method Wei Yan said was too dangerous.

However, Zhuge Liang did not clearly object, but just expressed his disapproval. Unlike Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition in history, Liu Bei did not go through the defeat of Yiling, so Liu Bei's family foundation at this time was still very rich, and Liu Bei could afford the loss of 5,000 men and horses.

In comparison, the return on the investment of these 5,000 men and horses is extremely rich, if it can really blitz to take Chang'an, it is enough to change the situation of the entire Yongzhou war, lose Chang'an, Yongzhou's Cao soldiers will not be able to continue, if the Cao army does not withdraw from Guanzhong, it will inevitably be annihilated by Liu Bei. Using 5,000 people to gamble on the entire Guanzhong is definitely worth it for the current Liu Bei.

Zhuge Liang knew that Liu Bei could definitely afford the loss of 5,000 men and horses now, and Zhuge Liang also knew that although Wei Yan's proposal was risky, the rate of return was extremely high, so Zhuge Liang casually did not express support, but did not object.

And Pang Tong was very supportive of Wei Yan's proposal. Pang Tong is not as steady as Zhuge Liang in doing things, and he likes to win with curiosity. Pang Tong felt that even if he sent 5,000 men and horses to capture Chang'an, but it could also play a role in containing the Cao army, if the Cao army brought the army to Longxi, and at this time Chang'an was attacked, the Cao army would inevitably go back to Chang'an, and this was a godsend for the Shu army that was attacking Longxi. The Shu army could take advantage of this opportunity to push the front forward.

Liu Bei's two major strategists, Zhuge Liang did not object, Pang Tong expressed his support, and the matter was settled, and Wei Yan led 5,000 men and horses to the Meridian Valley and raided Chang'an City. And because the Meridian Valley trail was difficult to navigate, the five thousand wooden oxen and flowing horses that were built first were also used by Wei Yan first.

The question of the troop route has been solved, and the next step is to discuss the question of how many troops to bring to the battle.

The Northern Expedition to Wei State, the biggest test for Liu Bei was the supply of logistics. Although Yizhou is rich in grain, the road to Shu is difficult, even with the assistance of wooden cattle and horses, the logistical pressure is still very large. A wooden ox can transport a soldier's grain and grass for a month, and in addition to the time consumed on the road back and forth, it also takes half a month to transport grain and grass from Hanzhong to the front line, that is to say, a wooden ox and a horse can only supply a soldier with half a month's grain and grass.

But fortunately, Chengdu to Hanzhong can take the waterways of Yizhou, such as Tuojiang River and Dianjiang River, and Yongzhou is a plain, as long as the grain arrives in Yongzhou, you can use a cart to transport grain, so the wooden oxen and horses only need to go back and forth on the dangerous roads in Sichuan. However, even so, after preliminary estimates, if Liu Bei raised 200,000 troops for the Northern Expedition, he would need to recruit at least the same number of people to ensure the supply of grain and grass.

200,000 people had a very big impact on the productivity of Yizhou, so in the end Liu Bei decided to lead 200,000 troops and attack Cao Wei in the north.

It's a little less today, and the plot of the Northern Expedition still has to be considered, and the gluttonous worm has to make a detailed outline, and the speed will be improved when the specific matters are thought about. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next.) More chapters, support &UC e-book&! )