Zhuge Liang listened to Liu Bei's words, meditated for a moment, and suddenly sighed: "Huang Zhong's 30,000 army is divided into six counties: Qidao, Pingxiang, Xianqin, Wangyuan, Shangtai, and Xixian, and the defenders of the six counties are not much, I am afraid that they will fall if they can't wait for our rescue, once the city is easy to defend, we want to capture it again, I'm afraid it will be difficult, because as long as the defenders can hold out for a few days, Liu Qi's reinforcements will come, not to brighten the morale of others to destroy their own prestige, the land of Hanyang projectiles, and there is no danger to defend, with Liu Qi's tens of thousands of troops contending, we are simply unable to preserve, For today's plan, Mo Ruo ordered Hao Zhao to lead the crowd to quickly retreat to Baoding, and then rely on Wuwei to defend the southern border, so that Baoding, Wuwei, Xijun, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang counties will not be lost. ”

After Liu Bei listened, he nodded thoughtfully and said: "The words of the military advisor are in line with the lonely will, I Guanzhong Isthmus, the property is barren, the counties of Hexi are connected to the Western Regions, it is the old road of the Silk Road, and it is also the only channel for our country to communicate with the Western Regions, and I heard that Liu Qi's Jiaozhou and Yangzhou are interconnected with overseas countries, and have accumulated abundant wealth, and use them to equip the soldiers under their command, so that the 300,000 troops under his command are all well-equipped, and we should also learn from its experience, reopen the Silk Road, and trade with the countries of the Western Regions, in order to communicate with each other, Build wealth. Therefore, we would rather give up Hanyang-gun than give up the land of Hexi. It's just that in this way, Liu Qi's army and materials in Shuzhong can be transported to Longxi and Jincheng counties unimpeded, which is also a big threat to our army. ”

Liu Bei paused, and then suddenly said: "But the question now is, whether our army can hold the two counties of Anding and Wuwei, if these two counties are also lost, I am afraid that our efforts to conquer Liangzhou will really be in vain, and from then on we will be restricted by Liu Qi's forces, completely blocked in Guanzhong, and there will be no room for development." ”

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he heard this. Because he heard a trace of unconfidence from Liu Bei's words. And this kind of unconfidence is rarely seen in Liu Bei, as far as he knows, Liu Bei has been mixed among the heroes for more than 20 years. Although he has been defeated repeatedly, his ambition has never been lost. It was precisely because of this unquenchable ambition that moved him, so he decided to do his best to assist Liu Bei and help him achieve his great cause.

In fact, Liu Bei did show him unprecedented courtesy after getting him, this kind of courtesy was actually equivalent to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and the heart of dependence even exceeded the two of them.

Of course, Zhuge Liang did not live up to Liu Bei's high hopes and helped him occupy Guanzhong. established a large area of foundation, and later conquered Wuyuan, Yunzhong, Shuofang, Shangjun and other places, causing its power to expand unprecedentedly.

Suddenly, Liu Bei gave trust, Zhuge Liang contributed loyalty and wisdom, and the intimate cooperation between the two became a good story.

But their progress was blocked one after another by Liu Qi's continuous rise.

The first is Guan Yu, at that time, Guan Yu had already attacked Xuchang, and he could support the Son of Heaven, and use it to command the heroes to fight against Cao Cao. seized its foundation, but he didn't expect it to be destroyed by Liu Qi, not only did Xuchang not get it. Even Nanyang, an important base of his own side in the Central Plains, was lost, and even Guan Yu was killed.

This is definitely Liu Bei's heaviest loss since he started the army, Zhuge Liang didn't expect such a heavy loss, the reason was because he casually said "borrowing Nanyang" in order to deal with Liu Qi.

To tell the truth, although Guan Yu's death is related to his own lack of vigilance against Liu Qi and his vain self-defeating Xuchang, his strategy of letting Liu Bei Lai Nanyang do have an absolutely unshirkable responsibility!

After that, he was ready to wait until the end of the war in Hezhou, so he persuaded Liu Bei to enter Hanzhong in the name of aiding Liu Zhang, and further plotted against Bashu. As long as this is achieved, your own army will be able to go down the river. The capture of Jingzhou and Yangzhou led to the collapse of Liu Qi's strength. This is the business of Emperor Qin and Gaozu. It's a pity that Liu Qi's reaction was so fast, and before his own war with the state was over, the other party occupied the entire Bashu, and then subdued Hanzhong with a thunderous momentum, making his strategy of going south completely come to naught.

At this time, Zhuge Liang persuaded Liu Bei to form an alliance with Cao Cao to deal with Liu Qi together, so he urgently sent troops to fight for Bashu, but Zhang Fei was defeated in Hanzhong first, and he persuaded Liu Bei to go to Hanzhong in person to fight, but in the end he fell short because of Liu Qi's smuggling of Yinping......

Later, he persuaded Liu Bei to seize Liangzhou to expand the foundation, but he didn't expect Liu Qi to fight for it, he originally planned it very appropriately, but he didn't expect to be used by the other party, and took Jincheng by attacking it, and then later, the two sides confronted each other in Hanyang County, and he used clever tricks to prepare a surprise attack on Jincheng, but he didn't expect Liu Qi's action reaction to be so fast, but he rushed to Jincheng before him, and used his mindset to create the illusion of abandoning Jincheng, and set up an ambush in the city, although he sensed the crisis with his keen sense of smell, But in the end, the battle was lost.

And although Jincheng was defeated, Zhuge Liang could see that his side still had a temporary advantage in Liangzhou, because the talent he recommended, Hao Zhao, firmly held the enemy's attack on Hanyang County, and Wuwei's troops were enough to resist the attack in the direction of entering the city.

It's just that Zhuge Liang regrets that the other party still grasped his biggest flaw, so he once again turned the defense into an attack, disrupting his plan.

This series of blows actually made Liu Bei, who was becoming more and more frustrated, gradually lose confidence, which made Zhuge Liang feel very shocked, but at the same time, he was deeply ashamed.

He originally came from comparing Zhong Leyi, but Wen couldn't prosper the country, Wu couldn't expand the territory, and he had been suppressed by his great enemy Liu Qi, such a psychological gap made him feel very much pressure in his heart, and now even Liu Bei has been shaken a little, and the sadness in his heart is even heavier.

"Am I really not as good as Liu Qi? Could it be that Yueying would rather marry him as a concubine than marry me, which turned out to be the right choice? No, I don't believe that! I must want her to prove that I am better than Liu Qi, and I want her to regret it! ”

This deep sense of humiliation once again deeply stimulated Zhuge Liang, made him firm in confidence, and also made his mind sober again, so he thought silently for a moment, and solemnly said to Liu Bei: "Lord, although we have been repeatedly frustrated by Liu Qi, after all, we control most of Liangzhou, plus we occupy a favorable location, the transportation and supply of grain and grass materials are relatively easy, plus we have good generals like Hao Bodao to guard, as long as we defend carefully, Liu Qi will definitely not be able to conquer, so, the lord has lost a Hanyang County, But in exchange for the land of Hexi, this move is completely worth it, not to mention that now that Huang Zhong has changed his strategy, Hanyang County will not be able to keep it no matter what, even if it is grabbed again, it will not have much value. ”

Liu Bei was also infected by Zhuge Liang's affection, and said with a smile: "With the words of the military advisor, Lone is relieved, hehe, although Liu Qi'er is arrogant, but the army under his command has been fighting for many days, and he is already exhausted, coupled with the difficulty of supply, although the army is in Zhangye County, it can't last at all, as long as we stick to Guzang, there must be nothing he can do." ”

After that, Liu Bei decisively ordered Hao Zhao to retreat to Wushi to defend the town, led the army to guard Guzang, and ordered the sergeants to defend the deep ditch and high fortress, and no longer paid attention to Liu Qi's army.

However, it is said that Hao Zhao, who was defending Ji County, had already realized that things were not good when Huang Zhong led the army to attack the surrounding counties, because he knew that as long as these places were occupied by the enemy, especially after the two counties of Pingxiang and Xianqin and Wangyuan, which were connected with the direction of Wuwei, and Xianqin and Wangyuan, which were linked to stability, the Ji County he was guarding would completely become an isolated city.

At this time, Hao Zhao's subordinate Wei Ping persuaded: "Now the enemy army is strong, although the general is capable, but the surrounding counties are all small and outnumbered, and the chief is mediocre, once all are lost, the last general is afraid that the general will be in a desperate situation, so if the general listens to the advice of the last general, he will lead the army to retreat to stability, otherwise, once he falls into the hands of the enemy, the general may regret it." ”

Hao Zhao listened to it and said without hesitation: "The general was ordered to guard Ji County, and he didn't hear the order to retreat, how could he retreat without permission?" Although the general is in danger, but it can also make the enemy unable to occupy this place with peace of mind, you and I are favored by the Duke of Qin, when we sacrifice our lives for righteousness, kill ourselves to become benevolent, and vow to live and die with Ji County, even if the grain and grass are exhausted, we must fight with the enemy as hard as possible, try to cause losses to the enemy, and reduce the pressure on the enemy in the future for the Duke of Qin, how can we give up the city? ”

Hearing this, Wei Ping couldn't help but sigh at Hao Zhao's loyalty, moved by his loyalty, and said: "The general is reasonable, the last general is willing to follow the general, swear to fight the enemy to the death, the city survives and survives, the city dies and dies, and never abandons the city lightly." ”

"Hehe, General Wei understands righteousness, regards death as home, and is also a man, let us use our blood and loyalty to serve the Duke of Qin, why should the people be afraid of death? We don't even want our lives, so what are we afraid of falling into the hands of the enemy? Even if we die this time, we will pull the enemy army as a backing and let them know that if they want to occupy our territory, they will have to pay the price of blood. ”

Hao Zhao's face showed a trace of tragedy, but it was more full of pride, showing the young general's extremely firm determination.

At this moment, he suddenly saw Gong Cao Jiang Jian holding an order and said: "General, the Duke of Qin has an order, worship the general as the governor of stability, and lead the army under his command to quickly retreat to Wushi to defend the town, and no orders are allowed to fight without authorization." ”

"Since Duke Qin has an order, we naturally have to follow the order, hehe, General Wei, it seems that this time we will not die." Hao Zhao's face was not overly excited, as if it was someone else who was desperate, and said with a faint smile: "But we need to sum it up, now that there is Huang Zhong's team outside the city, how should we act in order to break through." (To be continued)