The large-scale flood that occurred in the Central Plains really hurt the vitality of the two princes, Liu Bei and Cao Ying. Under the premise that the roads are not smooth and the food is insufficient, the two of them can't toss too much fame if they talk about it. But they are all idle people, even if the big hall can't be tossed, the smaller hall still has to be tossed. Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang to capture Xichuan, and Cao Ying also sent Xiahoudun to send troops to Sanhan, and kidnapped more than 200,000 households in Sanhan to enrich Jizhou and Qingzhou, which slightly alleviated the losses caused by the flood. According to Xun Yu's estimates, more than half of the territory in Caoying's northern prefectures were affected by the floods, and nearly one million people died, most of them from Jizhou and Yanzhou, who died when the Yellow River burst its banks. And Liu Bei in the south also lost about five or six hundred thousand people, most of whom died in the flood of the Xiangjiang River.

Fortunately, thanks to the plague a few years ago, Cao Ying and Liu Bei now have a certain understanding of the epidemic prevention work after the disaster. Before the rain completely stopped, he was busy disposing of the deeply buried corpses. When the flood waters receded, they began to set up disaster relief points and dig deep wells to get water for drinking. There is also a very simple but effective isolation, so that the outbreak of a large-scale plague can finally be avoided.

Zhang Fei and others in Xichuan don't know all this, but they don't know it. From the rising water level of the Han River, and Zhao Lei's sigh every time he came, there was not much food to store, which made Zhao Feng and Zhang Fei feel very pressured. No, under the city of Bajun, Zhang Fei has been stationed for a month, but Zhang Ren is determined to be a turtle with a shrunken head, but he will not fight, no matter how Zhang Fei scolds, he just won't show his head.

"The military advisor, Zhang Ren, is a shrunken turtle all the time, and he doesn't even show his head. I even sent someone to scold the formation, but he couldn't hold on, so what can I do? In the barracks under Bajun City, Zhang Fei asked Zhuge Liang sullenly. In order to lure Zhang Ren to fight, Zhang Fei racked his brains these days. All the tricks used to fool Zhang Jaw in Beihai back then, pretending to be drunk, pretending to beat people, pretending to be slack, Zhang Fei put almost all his energy into acting, but Zhang Ren seemed to turn a blind eye, no matter how Zhang Fei tossed, he just avoided it and did not fight. If it weren't for the fact that he still showed his head during his daily inspection, Zhang Fei would have suspected that he was still in Ba County.

"Zhang Rennai is the first general in Xichuan, and there are really hills and ravines in his chest, and he can actually endure it for more than a month." Zhuge Liang's tone also carried a hint of admiration. Looking at Zhang Fei with an anxious face in front of him, Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Don't worry, the three generals, Liang is sure that this Zhang Ren will not always be unable to hold out." ”

"Kong Ming, what do you mean by this?" Zhang Fei didn't understand why Zhuge Liang had so much confidence in Zhang Ren.

"Zhang Ren is known as the first general in Xichuan, and he is by no means a person who will stick to it. If he can only stick to it, then he can only be on a par with Huo Zhongmiao and Hao Bodao at best, how can he be regarded as the first general in Xichuan? Judging from the bright view, he must have deceived our army into running out of food and grass, so he blindly insisted on it. It was only when our army retreated because of the instability of the army's instability that we took advantage of the situation to cover up the killing. Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan lightly, quite affirmatively.

"That makes sense!" Zhang Fei also knew that Zhang Ren was afraid that he was going to fight such an idea, so he hurriedly asked: "Then according to the will of the military advisor, what should I do?" ”

Zhuge Liang looked at the map, thought about it again, and said: "The general can send a group of men and horses first, go south to take the two counties of Qiqi and Zhudi, and then transfer General Zhao's construction corps from Jingnan to the nearest Tuntian." ”

"Tuntian?" Zhang Fei didn't understand why Zhuge Liang was suddenly interested in doing this, and he was a little confused for a while.

"The two counties of Tuntian, Qiqi and Zhudi have four advantages: one can harvest military rations for the use of the army; The two counties were originally conservative from the invasion of the Nanban, although the former Nanban had been driven back to Yongchang and Yunnan by the veteran Yan Yan, but these two counties were still sparsely populated, and the defenders were empty. The first war with this place is conducive to the garrison of the place; Third, if these two counties can be captured and consolidated, they can detour to Ba County from the south road and enter Chengdu, so Zhang Ren will not dare to blindly stick to Ba County; Fourth, the implementation of military tun is tantamount to telling Zhang Ren that we are short of food. Zhuge Liang was confident.

"In this way, once our army withdraws its troops, Zhang Ren will think that our army will retreat because of the lack of food?" Zhang Fei also understood, and hurriedly divided his troops to take these two counties. At that time, Li Hui guarded Yuejia to prevent the southern barbarians, and the guards of these two counties were unknowns, and the city was either captured or surrendered soon after he ruled. However, in October, the two counties have been pacified.

"What? Zhang Fei captured the two counties of Qiqi and Zhudi, and opened up the wasteland? In Bajun City, Zhang Ren was also quite surprised when he heard the news that he had come back.

"Yes, Zhuge Liang's garrison is working with the people in the local area to reclaim the famine, and they will divide their grain equally after the rice is ripe, and many people and even the barbarians in Nanzhong have heard the wind and come here, and these two counties are now very lively." He replied honestly. Zhang Ren waved his hand to signal him to go down, and then unfolded the map to take a closer look.

"It seems that Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang want to bypass Ba County, and at the same time slowly encroach on the counties of Nanzhong, and use this as a foundation to enter Shuzhong!" Zhang Ren looked at the map and came to this conclusion.

"Governor, if they are allowed to seize the second county and establish a foundation in this tuntian, wouldn't it be a big trouble?" Adjutant General Liu Xuan exclaimed. Zhang Ren smiled slightly and waved his hand: "It will take several months for the rice to mature, Zhuge Liang wants to use the tuntian to supplement the military rations, and he will inevitably not be prepared in a hurry." Now the Jingzhou army is short of food and grass, but when its food and grass are insufficient, the army's morale is unstable, first repel Zhang Fei, and then take advantage of the situation to recover the second county! The hearts of the people in the two counties have not recovered, but they can go down in one go! ”

"The governor is right!" Liu Bi also feels that this is more safe. At this time, Zhang Ren looked at the map, and suddenly frowned slightly and asked, "Do you know where Hanzhong is, how is the military situation?" ”

"The old general Yan Yan and Zhao Feng confronted each other in Brazil, the old general strictly guarded the pass, and Zhao Feng attacked several times, but they all returned in vain. The army of Hanzhong is not to be feared! General Ma Yan smiled, but Zhang Ren frowned slightly when he heard this.

"What does Governor Zhang think is wrong?" Liu Bi was closest to Zhang Ren, and seeing that his face was not very good-looking, he hurriedly asked for details.

"Zhao Botao is a famous general in the world, and he will calm Hanzhong when he raises his hand. Now that he is blindly confronting Brazil, I am afraid that he intends to do something else! Zhang Ren frowned. Compared with Zhao Feng, who swept Hanzhong at the beginning, he is now trapped in Brazil and cannot enter an inch, and his performance can only be described as a nest. Although Zhang Ren knew that Yan Yan was brave and strategic, he also felt that such a situation was too weird.

"Even if Zhao Fengsheng attacks the east and the west, his intention can only be in Jiameng Pass and Jianmen Pass. These two places are all natural hazards, and there are Wu Ziyu and others heavily guarded by soldiers, so they can be guaranteed to be foolproof! Another general, Liu Han, said with relief. Zhang Ren was right to think about it, and immediately sent someone to write a letter, reminding the two defenders to be more careful, and at the same time he sent the general Gao Xiang to lead the army to cut off Zhang Fei's grain route.

Under Langzhong County, Brazil, Zhao Feng's army has been stationed here for more than a month. In this month, Zhao Feng also waved his army to attack the pass several times, either by storming or plotting, but he was repelled by Yan Yan, who was defending the city. The city of Langzhong is dangerous, and it is not beneficial to barely attack.

Zhao Feng originally wanted to emulate Zhang Fei's tricks against Yan Yan in history, and sent people to explore the path to lure Yan Yan out of the city to set up an ambush, but he was plotting. To his disappointment, however, there were no nearby trails for him to use this strategy. As for attacking with all his might, he had more than 40,000 people on hand, except for the men and horses who stayed in Hanzhong, and he spared no effort to fight, and it was inevitable that he would suffer heavy casualties. Xichuan is the kind of dangerous pass that is difficult to open, if you just fight all the way to Chengdu, I am afraid that I will need at least 100,000 lives.

"It seems that it can only be like this, no wonder in history Zhong Hui and Cao Ying won Hanzhong, but they also failed to take Xichuan easily, but this pass is difficult to beat!" Zhao Feng sighed. Originally, I thought that Wu County in Jiangdong and Nanzheng in Hanzhong were already rare dangerous cities in the world, but this kind of city built by manpower was much easier to attack than natural dangers such as Jiameng Pass.

"Gather all the people to my big tent!" Zhao Feng looked at the dangerous Langzhong City, and also sighed secretly. But Yan Yan in the city watched Zhao Feng collect his troops, and he was also secretly relieved. These days, Yan Yan has deeply realized what it means to be terrible. This young man who is less than thirty years old has endless siege methods. If you weren't cautious, you might have lost the pass these days. Just the day before yesterday, I wanted to make a raid, but I was made dumplings. Of the 3,000 people who left the city, as well as the general who led the team, only a hundred or so returned, and almost all the rest were left behind.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have been confronting Yan Yan here for almost a month, and we have not been able to advance an inch so far. I mean, the plank road is repaired in the light, and the darkness is in the warehouse. Leaving the army with this, I led a raid to other places, avoided the real and attacked the hinterland of Xichuan, and planned the army to enter Xichuan! Zhao Feng waited for everyone to arrive, and then he said his plan.

"No, General. Langzhong here is already the most easy place to attack, if you divide the troops to take Jiameng Pass and Jianmen Pass, those two passes are extremely steep, it is difficult to attack if there are few people, and it is difficult to hide the traces of the people when there are many people, and it can not have the effect of surprise. After listening to Zhao Feng's words, Wang Ping was the first to object.

Wang Ping is most familiar with the geography of Hanzhong and Xichuan, and he can't say it anymore, and the rest of the people have nothing to say. I don't want to, but Zhao Feng smiled slightly: "Where did I say that I was going to take the Sword Gate Pass or the Jia Meng Pass?" ”

"What does the general mean?" Wang Ping asked a little incomprehensibly, as soon as the words came out, he seemed to have expected something, and his face couldn't help but change greatly, and his mouth stammered: "Could it be, general, do you want to take that plank road?" ”

"That's right!" Seeing that Wang Ping had already guessed, Zhao Feng also nodded. He just wanted to take the Yinpingguan plank road that Deng Ai walked in history, bypass Jianmen Pass and Jiameng Pass, and go straight to Jiangyou and other places. This is also a decision he made after careful consideration, first of all, his current grain and grass and troops are a little unsustainable, and he should not enter the army at this time, but if he does not take advantage of Cao Ying's inability to go south now to pacify Xichuan as soon as possible, and when he is on his northern expedition, in case Hanzhong is captured by these people, it will be passive. In addition, Xichuan is a rich land, and capturing this place can also provide more troops for his northern expedition, so that he can also have a better chance of winning in the future.

"But general, the Yinpingguan plank road is in disrepair, whether it is still in disrepair is still a problem, and the end of the road is the cliff of Motianling, and the general is to fall to death by walking this way!" Wang Ping was a little alarmist. Of course, alarmism is Zhao Feng's opinion, in fact, most of the people in the tent agree with him, even Lu Xun does not approve of such a risk.

"Hehe, when you and I send people to Tuntian, is it just for Tuntian?" Zhao Feng suddenly laughed and said, Wang Ping's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked in a trembling voice: "Could it be that the general has already sent someone to repair the Yinping Pass Plank Road?" ”

"I can't talk about repairing, I just sent someone to take a look. Although it has fallen into disrepair, it is still able to leave. Zhao Feng said half-truthfully. For taking the Yinpingguan plank road, Zhao Feng is still very confident. In history, Deng Ai still walked there more than 50 years later, and he left 50 years in advance, no matter how dangerous it is, it will not be more dangerous than Deng Ai's time. If he can get by, why can't he himself? Of course, he also suffered a lot because he didn't understand the situation, and he needed to learn some lessons.

"If you can go, you can be surprised. But general, the plank road of Yinpingguan is extremely steep, ordinary soldiers don't want to go, as long as you look down at it, I'm afraid that you will be scared! Wang Ping thought for a while.

"This doesn't matter, I have five thousand Danyang elite soldiers, they are all from the mountains, and they are used to walking mountain roads. In addition, I have selected 5,000 strong soldiers from the Hanzhong Army and the Yizhou Army who are good at walking mountain roads, and gathered 10,000 people to follow me on the Yinpingguan Plank Road. Zhao Feng laughed, but Wang Ping was shocked when he heard this: "Could it be that the general wants to personally lead the army to raid?" ”

"I am the commander of the three armies, and this march is a matter of success or failure, how can I not go out in person? If you can bypass Jianmen Pass and Jiameng Pass and go directly to Jiangyou, wouldn't it be twice the result with half the effort? Zhao Feng said with a smile, not waiting for everyone to persuade him again, Zhao Feng said again: "Zijun, you are familiar with the geography of Hanzhong, and you should march with me this time." Bo Jianjiu fought against the Sichuan army, and he could also march with me. The rest of the generals led a large army to station here and contain Yan Yan! ”

"In that case, General Zhao, do you want to go to Nanzheng to transfer General Zilong here and lead the army?" Ma Jian looked at everyone, and finally said with some hesitation. In terms of seniority and prestige, none of them seemed to be strong enough to lead this army of forty or fifty thousand men.

"Zilong still needs to defend Hanzhong, although Yuan Jian has settled in Shangyong to guard the three eastern counties, but the land of Hanzhong needs to be guarded by a general, and it is easy to leave." Zhao Feng thought for a while. As soon as this sentence is said, it basically means that you can only choose people from these people in front of you to lead the army, and for a while, everyone's eyes involuntarily focused on He Qi, after all, in terms of prestige, how can He Qi, who is over thirty years old, look more reliable than Zhu Ran, Ma Jian and others who are only about twenty years old.

"Bo Yan, when I am not there, you will take charge of the army on my behalf and feint to attack Brazil to deal with the army!" Zhao Feng unexpectedly handed over this important task to Lu Xun. Regardless of everyone's stunned faces, Zhao Fengjing picked up his sword and big seal on the table and handed them to Lu Xun, and continued to speak: "When I am away, all military affairs will be taken care of by you. This is my sword mark of General Zuo, if anyone disobeys the general's order, he will be dealt with according to this sword mark! ”

(To be continued)