With the arrival of the powerful Xiqiang Iron Cavalry, with such a strong reinforcement, Liu Bei certainly had reason to breathe a sigh of relief and rekindle his confidence.

In a blink of an eye, the Qiang army arrived at the city, and Liu Bei gave an order, asking the Qiang soldiers to go down to the village outside the city, and ordered the Qiang king Cheriji to go to the gate to face the saint.

Liu Bei set up a banquet in the main hall of the palace to wash the dust for the Cheriji who came from afar.

In the main hall, Cherrigi knelt down to Liu Bei as a courtier, expressing his willingness to be loyal.

Liu Bei treated Cherrigi with courtesy, and he was extraordinarily heavy, and he also rewarded Cherrigi with a thousand gold rewards on the spot.

At the same time, Liu Bei solemnly promised that once he repelled the Wei army, he would definitely crown Che Liji as the king of Jincheng and support him to unify the Qiang tribes.

Even, Liu Bei also said that he was willing to consider accepting a noble woman of the Qiang people as a concubine to show the determination of his Qiang and Han families.

Cheriji was convinced of Liu Bei's promise, and immediately said angrily: "Since Your Majesty values us Qiang people so much, the minister has nothing to say, Your Majesty will say, when will you go out of the customs to clean up the dog thief surnamed Su!" ”

Seeing Cheriji's statement, Liu Bei was secretly proud in his heart, glanced at Zhuge Liang, and a knowing smile flashed in the eyes of the two monarchs and ministers.

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "King Jincheng, don't be anxious, when you repay Your Majesty's kindness, it's just that the Su thief is treacherous, and there are 280,000 soldiers and horses under his command, which should not be underestimated." ”

Cherry Ji said proudly: "I Xiqiang iron lock heavy armor ride, invincible in the world, don't say that the Su thief only has 280,000 soldiers and horses, even if he has 2.8 million troops, this king will still kill him!" ”

Cherrigi's bold words made Liu Bei more and more energetic, and he faintly had the idea of turning defense into offense.

At this time, Guan Yu said angrily: "Your Majesty, since the Xiqiang Iron Cavalry is helping, what is there to be afraid of the Su thief, and the minister advocates sending troops." ”

Ma Chao also said angrily: "How many soldiers did the thief kill us, it's time for him to pay the price, Your Majesty, let's go to war." ”

"We all have Xiqiang Iron Cavalry, and I'm afraid that the Su thief will do something, and the minister should also attack!" Zhang Fei also shouted to fight.

Guan Yu is anxious to avenge his son, Ma Chao wants to avenge his younger brother, and as for Zhang Fei, he is unwilling to be defeated by Su Zhe and is anxious to be ashamed, so he naturally wants to fight to take revenge.

The three of them were all important generals of the Han State, and the three of them asked for war at the same time, how could Liu Bei not be moved.

At this time, Zhao Yun frowned, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the Su thief is powerful, and it must not be underestimated, even if we have the help of the Xiqiang Iron Cavalry, the minister thinks that it should be safe, or strictly guard the Tongguan." ”

"Zilong is reasonable, and the minister also thinks that sticking to the city is the best policy." Zhuge Liang also took advantage of the situation to follow.

Seeing that the two of them were opposed, Cherrigie was unhappy, and snorted coldly: "I said Prime Minister Zhuge Cheng, General Zhao, are you scared of the Su thief, or do you have no confidence in me Cherrigie and our Xiqiang warriors?" ”

Zhao Yun heard the dissatisfaction in his words, but he was not afraid, and said calmly: "King Jincheng, your Xiqiang Iron Cavalry is indeed strong, but the strength of that Su Zhe is far beyond your imagination, otherwise, we will not invite you to come to help in the battle, I advise you not to underestimate Su Zhe." ”

As soon as these words came out, Cherrigi's face immediately became gloomy, and his expression was obviously dissatisfied.

Seeing this, Liu Bei secretly glared at Zhao Yun and signaled him not to collide with Cherrigi's words.

After all, he still has to rely on Cherrigi's Xiqiang Iron Cavalry to reverse the unfavorable situation, so he naturally has to be kind to him, and he must be forbearant at the appropriate time.

Zhao Yun saw Liu Bei disobeying his heart like this, and he was also displeased in his heart, so he had to give up his hand and say: "The minister just said what he thought in his heart, if he wants to fight, he still has to defend, but it is up to His Majesty to decide." ”

Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang Zhao Yun, and then at Che Liji, Guan Yu and others, who hesitated for a while, and it was not easy to make a decision.

Sima Yi, who had been silent and secretly observing, saw that Liu Bei was actually inclined to fight, and his eyes turned secretly, and he had an idea in his heart.

At that moment, he stood up and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, the minister has a saying, I don't know whether to say it or not." ”

"Zhong Da, but it doesn't hurt to say it." Liu Bei was busy waving his hand, wanting to hear Sima Yi's opinion.

Sima Yi coughed dryly, and said slowly: "King Jincheng and his Xiqiang Iron Cavalry are the sharpest knives, since they are knives, they naturally have to be used to attack, if they are just blindly defending, our Han army alone is enough, why do you need King Jincheng to come to help in the battle." ”

As soon as this remark came out, it was clearly in favor of sending troops, which was in Liu Bei's arms, and his eyes couldn't help but light up.

Sima Yi continued: "Su Zhe's family has a strong foundation, sufficient grain and grass, and he has enough confidence to spend it with us. But we use the land of Erzhou to support more than 100,000 soldiers, and the supply of grain and grass is severe, if it continues to be consumed like this, it must be the collapse of our army's first food, and at that time, even if we have Tongguan natural danger, what is the use? ”

Sima Yi looked at Zhuge Liang, and his words were obviously questioning Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang sighed lightly and refuted wordlessly, which was tantamount to acquiescing in the difficulties Sima Yi said.

"Therefore, instead of holding a sharp blade in our hands, in the absence of any chance of winning, we will fight with the Su thief to consume and fight for national strength, why not take advantage of the morale to take the initiative to attack with this sharp blade, not to mention ten percent, at least half of the chance, can hit the Su thief hard and force him to retreat."

After his words, even Zhao Yun couldn't refute it.

After all, Su Zhe's attack on the Han this time, relying on the strong national power, forced Liu Bei to fight a decisive battle with him, so that Liu Bei couldn't hide.

Sima Yi's words made clear the key to this war, and Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun could not oppose it again.

Syllable!

Liu Bei took the case and said resolutely: "Zhong Da is reasonable, this battle really can't drag on any longer, since I have the sharp weapon of Xiqiang Iron Cavalry, there is no reason not to use it, I must take the initiative to fight!" ”

"Your Majesty is wise!" Cherrigi touted.

Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Zhang Fei and other ministers praised Liu Bei's wisdom.

At this time, Sima Yi said again: "However, the worries of the prime minister and General Zilong are not unreasonable, the Su thieves are deceitful, and there are many soldiers and horses, although we want to fight, we can't fight blindly." ”

"What Zhong Da said is extremely true, how did Zhong Da say to attack?" Liu Bei nodded and asked.

Sima Yi then said: "Our advantage lies in the cavalry, the minister thinks that His Majesty can send cavalry to wantonly attack the Wei army's grain road, until the Wei army is short of food and grass, forced to retreat, we will have the opportunity to go out of the customs again, only then can we be sure of victory." ”

"With my strengths, attacking the enemy's shortcomings, lack of reality is the best strategy, good, just follow Zhongda's plan." Liu Bei nodded happily.

On the same day, after this feast, Liu Bei began a counterattack.

Liu Bei's soldiers and horses on Tongguan already had nearly 60,000 people, plus 60,000 Xiqiang iron cavalry, the number of soldiers and horses reached 120,000.

Although the number of Wei troops was more than double that of the Han army, the cavalry of the Han army was twice that of the Wei army, which can be said to be superior.

Liu Bei then used Sima Yi's strategy to send a large number of Xiqiang light cavalry out of the pass, detoured to the side of the Wei army, and wantonly launched a crazy attack on the supply line of the Wei army.

Hongnong County is a long and narrow east-west terrain, from Tongguan to Hanguzhong, there is a road of more than 300 miles in the middle, which can be harassed by the cavalry of the Han army.

In view of the limited transportation capacity on the Yellow River, half of the Wei army's grain and grass still had to be transported to the front line by land, which gave the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Moreover, because the water of the Yellow River in the Tongguan area is turbulent, which is not conducive to water transportation, most of the grain and grass transported by water still need to be disembarked in the Huxian area, and then transferred to the front line by land.

The Han army took advantage of the weakness of the Wei army and launched more than 40,000 light cavalry to raid the Wei army's grain route day and night.

In order to protect his grain route, Su Zhe had to send a large number of soldiers and horses to protect the grain team, but he was still unable to resist the enemy's elusive attack.

In less than 30 days, the Wei army lost nearly 200,000 stone grain and grass, and nearly 3,000 soldiers were killed or wounded.

In the face of the enemy's almost "shameless" tactics, for a while, Su Zhexian was a little helpless.