After defeating Han Sui's forces, Liu Bei reorganized his troops and horses and went to Hanyang County, where he led an army of 50,000 to attack Lintao.

In fact, Liu Bei's use of troops is also virtual and real, this attack on Lintao is to test Liu Qi's strength, if Liu Qi is well prepared, then he is just a feint, the purpose is naturally to attract Liu Qi's main force, and then divide the army to capture Jincheng, and if Liu Qi does not have a garrison here, he will naturally take advantage of the situation to occupy Lintao, so as to block the connection between Liu Qi's Liangzhou and Wudu, so that Liu Qi is completely trapped in Liangzhou.

And the fact is just as Zhuge Liang expected, Liu Qi did not dare to lose such a strategic place as Lintao, he sent Yan Yan and Zhang Ren to lead an army of 10,000 to rush to Lintao in the first time after conquering Jincheng, and after pacifying the soldiers and civilians of Jincheng, he ordered Ma Dai to lead 5,000 troops to defend Jincheng, and then the army of his own commander followed.

When Liu Qi's army arrived at the city of Lintao, Liu Bei's army was attacking the city, but their spies had already found out the news of the arrival of Liu Qi's main force, so they did not love to fight, and immediately withdrew and returned to the camp.

At this time, Liu Bei had already received the news and knew that Jincheng only had Ma Dai's 5,000 troops, and the rest of the troops were mainly concentrated in the Lintao area.

Liu Bei was overjoyed in his heart, and he was about to send someone to attack Jincheng, but Zhuge Liang raised his eyes to stop him.

Although Liu Bei was puzzled, he still listened to Zhuge Liang's advice and resisted the urge to send troops.

After waving his hand to dismiss the civil and military forces, Liu Bei withdrew his attendants again, and then asked strangely: "Military advisor, why don't we take the opportunity to send troops to attack Jincheng?" ”

But he heard Zhuge Liang say slowly: "Liu Qi is cautious with his troops, if the lord sends troops to attack Jincheng so quickly, he will definitely find out, and the distance between us and Jincheng is definitely not as close as him, once he discovers a flaw." I'm afraid that our surprise attack plan will never be realized again, and if we send Yan Xing to Jincheng, it will be tantamount to raising a tiger. Yan Xing would not tolerate Liu Qi and Han Sui at the same time, and then he would be loyal to the lord with all his heart. Once he guards Jincheng, he will return to the sea and the tiger will return to the mountains and forests, and Liang is afraid that it will no longer obey the orders of the lord from now on, so we can only wait for now, put on a decisive battle with Liu Qi's army, and deliberately let him know that our main forces are here. After that, wait until Liu Qi is slack, and then send troops to attack Jincheng. ”

Liu Bei can be said to be obedient to Zhuge Liang, so he naturally agrees with Zhuge Liang's analysis, and nods his head again and again.

So after that, Liu Bei's army of 50,000 always went to Liu Qi's army to provoke and fight, but Liu Qi knew that Liu Bei's troops were all elite soldiers in a hundred battles, and now their morale was flourishing. But it will definitely be a huge loss.

After all, the Bai'er soldiers under Liu Bei's command are also rare elites in the world, and dealing with them is not as simple as dealing with the Xiliang soldiers, although the sergeants under his command are confident that they are stronger than them. But it must not be consumed in this kind of all-out duel, especially his personal soldiers, who have been successfully cultivated at a huge cost, and the loss of one is heart-wrenching, how can he take risks lightly and cause unnecessary losses?

Therefore, Liu Qi ignored Liu Bei's provocations and battles, and he was like an experienced hunter, ready to go. Waiting to deliver a fatal blow to their prey.

Seeing Liu Qi so cautious, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh: "Liu Qi is a child." There is really a set of soldiers, and they know that they have an advantage. But he is still so cautious, but this qiē is not expected by the military division, it seems that the military division is superior after all. ”

Zhuge Liang was not carried away by Liu Bei's praise, and said cautiously: "Liu Qi's use of troops is elusive, and Qi Zheng is very cleverly combined, so we must not take it lightly, because anyone who despises Liu Qi has now been defeated, my lord, we must send more spies to find out the news, we must keep abreast of the movements of Liu Qi's army, and at the same time, we must strengthen vigilance to prevent Liu Qi from leading the army to attack the camp." ”

Liu Bei's expression suddenly became solemn, and he immediately arranged for Zhang Fei to strengthen the patrol, and there must be no slackness, and at the same time ordered the sergeant to strengthen the defense of the camp, and it was necessary to build the camp as solid as gold, and definitely not let Liu Qi's army take advantage of it.

In fact, Zhuge Liang had already expected that Liu Qi would not dare to send troops to attack him without authorization, but he still carefully made a good deployment and strived for his arrangement without a trace of loopholes.

Zhuge Liang was right, Liu Qi really wouldn't joke with the lives of the soldiers under his command, and he was also like Zhuge Liang, deep ditches and high fortifications to avoid fighting.

At the same time, the two sides also showed their own means, what tricks to lure the enemy, pride the enemy, and exhaust the enemy came in turn, but the generals on both sides understood that as long as they refused to fight, the enemy army would be useless even if they had the means.

As a result, the main forces of the two sides did not even fight a decent battle, and entered a state of confrontation, which made many soldiers on both sides deeply stunned.

However, most of the soldiers on both sides resolutely carried out the orders of their lords, so there were no complaints in the army.

Although the two sides seem to be safe on the surface, neither side dares to relax their vigilance, and at the same time they are secretly paying attention to each other's movements.

However, behind such a confrontation is not only the patience of the main generals on both sides, but also the consumption of materials.

Although Liu Qi's army is large, most of it is in the city, and the consumption is not much more than Liu Bei, plus Gan Ning has continuously transported a large amount of grain and grass from all over the country, and even occasionally brings a lot of cattle, sheep and pork from the Qiangdi tribe, so even if his army lasts for ten or eight years, there is no problem.

But Liu Bei's army can not afford to consume, because although the Guanzhong region under his jurisdiction is rich, but after more than ten years of war and destruction, the economy has long been withered, although Liu Bei ordered a light levy after ruling Guanzhong, for forced labor is less or exempt from levy, for the people to win a certain amount of time for development, at the same time he also carried out the tuntian in the military and civilian, but in recent years after all, he has been fighting for many years, although the military tun exists, but due to frequent wars, almost abolished, Therefore, the huge consumption of grain and grass mainly comes from the people.

Although Guanzhong is ripe this year, but half a year has gone, and countless money and grain have already been spent, if the confrontation continues like this, it is estimated that even if Jincheng is captured, his grain and grass will definitely not be able to support the next grain harvest.

Therefore, Liu Bei, who was helpless, ordered people to go to Luoyang to find Cao Cao to borrow grain, and on the other hand, he decided to take the lead in breaking the deadlock and preparing to lead his troops to attack Jincheng in the near future, so as to realize the plan they had been brewing for half a year.

At this time, Zhuge Liang was pleasantly surprised to get the news, there was a trace of slackness in Liu Qi's army, and the vigilance of many soldiers was not high, so he decided to launch a night attack on Liu Qi's army.

That night, Liu Bei personally led the army, and found a sergeant from the army who looked very similar to Zhang Fei, and attacked Liu Qi's camp together under Zhang Fei's banner.

Because Liu Qi was well prepared and well defended, Liu Bei's sneak attack was of course unsuccessful, but Zhuge Liang commanded the troops well, and his sergeants were disciplined, so naturally they did not encounter the enemy's encirclement and interception, so they finally returned to the camp safely.

After returning to the camp, Liu Bei ordered Hao Zhao to continue to hold Liu Qi's army under the banner of him and Zhuge Liang, and retreated to Ji County to hold on for three days.

At the same time as Zhang Fei's army set off, Liu Qi had already ordered Yan Xing of Wuwei to lead the army to set off, to join Zhang Fei's elite infantry, his own Bai'er soldiers and Yan Xing's Xiliang cavalry, and a total of 60,000 people from the three-way army would attack Jincheng.

But Liu Bei didn't know that on the night when Zhang Fei's army went to Jincheng, he was heard by Liu Qi's spies, because Liu Qi also knew that with Liu Bei's current strength, it was impossible to defeat Lintao, and his ultimate goal was to deal with Jincheng, so as to consolidate Wuwei, and then occupy the three counties of Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang, so his army was confronting Liu Bei at the same time, and also deployed a large number of spies from Lintao to Jincheng, as long as they got the news that Liu Bei led the army to attack Jincheng, Immediately Pegasus will report Liu Qi.

And Liu Qi did not stop long after learning that Liu Bei's army had set off, and immediately ordered Ma Chao to lead 20,000 cavalry to rush to the aid of Jincheng, and at the same time, his 20,000 personal soldiers also set off for backup.

In addition, Liu Qi also specially left Huang Zhong to lead his Tuifeng battalion and a total of 50,000 soldiers from Meng Huo, Shamoke, Yan Yan, Zhang Ren and other troops, and led the army to attack Hanyang County when Liu Bei's rear troops were empty, so as to completely remove Liu Bei's threat to his rear road.

Although Liu Qi's army set off relatively late, but because his army can go to Yunwu in a straight line through Guò Lintao, coupled with the speed of Ma Chao's elite cavalry, Liu Qi's personal soldiers are good at carrying heavy loads, while Liu Bei's army needs to go back to Hanyang County, through Guò Dao, Pingxiang, Warriors, Yuzhong, Jincheng and other places to arrive, the itinerary is more than 100 miles farther than Liu Qi's army, because of this, Liu Bei let Hao Zhao confront Liu Qi's army here for three days.

And Liu Qi obviously knew Liu Bei's psychology, so he ordered Huang Zhong to launch an attack on the enemy army three days later under the banner of himself, Ma Chao and other generals, but his army quietly rushed to the city of Yunwu first, and laid an ambush there, waiting for the arrival of Liu Bei's army. (To be continued)