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Xia Houlan's last sentence can be regarded as a euphemistic ultimatum. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Zhang He couldn't help but fall into a dilemma.

When he served Yuan Shao back then, Yuan Shao actually treated him well, but in the battle of Guandu, he never imagined that Cao Ying would finally turn the tide of the war with one-tenth of his troops. When he switched to Cao Ying at that time, it was when the grain of Wuchao was burned and the Hebei army was panicked, so it can be said that he turned his back on Yuan Shao when he was in the most difficult time.

Although Zhang He has excuses such as "Yuan Shao does not accept good words" and "he was framed", these excuses are obviously very far-fetched.

In the final analysis, Zhang He's betrayal was because he saw clearly the ending of Yuan Shao's destruction, so he chose to be a "person who knows the times" and came to "choose a good bird to perch on". In fact, his surrender is essentially no different from Xu You and others.

The betrayal of these people represents only the beginning of the abandonment of Yuan Shao by the Hebei Shi clan.

Today's situation is so similar to the situation of Yuan Cao's struggle back then. Today's Cao Ying, sitting on two-thirds of the world, occupies the richest, most populous, and most extensive Central Plains, just like Yuan Shao, who once owned the land of four states.

Today's Liu Bei, although he has won a lot of battles and his territory is constantly expanding, his overall strength is still far from Cao Ying.

It seems that history will have a tendency to repeat itself.

Could it be that it's time to choose to stand back again?

Of course, Zhang He can also choose to pay his full name for Cao's death, but this is obviously not his style.

If it weren't for Xiahou Yuan not listening to me, how could the situation in Guanzhong become like this, and how could I, Zhang He, be trapped in this dead place!" ’

Zhang He's hatred was not Cao Ying, but Xiahou Yuan, but this resentment also showed that in fact, his heart had begun to waver.

Xiahou Lan keenly observed the change in Zhang He's expression, and when he saw that Zhang He was beginning to hesitate, he said: "Fang Jinguanzhong has been obtained by the King of Hanzhong, and the surroundings of Wugong City are also surrounded like iron buckets, this brother must also be very clear. Even though my brother is talented and brave, and can fight his way out of the encirclement of this martial arts, is my brother still confident that with more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in your district, he can still fight his way out of Guanzhong? ”

Zhang He was shocked when he heard this, and the only bit of pride he had was gone.

'Xia Houlan is right, keep it, or kill it, in the end it is just a dead end, I Zhang He has not yet created a famous career in history, how can I die in this small place of martial arts. ’

At this time, Zhang Hesui made up his mind, but his face was extremely embarrassed, shaking his head and sighing: "When I was in Hebei, I always admired the king of Hanzhong. It's just that Cao Gong treats me well, and if I betray him, I'm afraid that I will be slandered by the world. ”

As soon as she heard this, Xiahou Lan knew Zhang He's intentions, and knew that what Zhang He needed at this time was a suitable step for him to come down, so he said: "Brother, this is wrong, you are facing our army of more than 100,000 people, and only more than 10,000 people will stick to the entire Guanzhong and surrender, as far as Cao Gong is concerned, you have already done your duty and repaid Cao Gong's kindness to you." And now that you are tied to the net worth of so many soldiers, if you stubbornly resist and cause so many brothers who follow you to accompany you, how can you bear it? ”

Xiahou Lan's steps were well built, and Zhang He immediately moved his heart and sighed: "Yes, these brothers have followed me Zhang He from birth to death for many years, how can I let them bury me for the sake of my name." ”

Xiahou Lan then said: "In fact, whether my brother was serving Yuan Benchu at the beginning, serving Cao Gong now, or serving the King of Hanzhong in the future, he is all serving the Han Dynasty. And the king of Hanzhong is the uncle of the Han Emperor, the Liu family, you are obedient to him, and it is even more justifiable, as for your so-called worry about the loss of your reputation, there is no need. ”

It seems that the existence of Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty still has some effect, at least he can be used as an excellent excuse for people to change bosses, because no matter which boss it is, it is nominally working for the Han Emperor, so in this way, no matter which boss he works with, he still works for the Han Emperor in name.

Xia Houlan's words can be regarded as building a solid ladder for Zhang He, and it depends on him whether he is willing to draw down the ladder.

At this time, Zhang He couldn't help but stand up, pacing back and forth in the hall, looking like he was making a difficult choice in his heart.

After a long time, he stopped abruptly, with a relieved expression on his face, and after a moment, he let out a long breath, "Okay, I am determined to submit to the king of Hanzhong." ”

Two days later, Zhang He officially surrendered the city.

Zhang Fei, who besieged the city, was a gentleman and a villain, and he had admired Zhang He's opponent for a long time.

A few days after the feast, Zhang Fei sent someone to send Zhang He to the northern front to meet Liu Bei, and Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard that Zhang He had surrendered, and personally led the Chinese military officers to leave the camp twenty miles to meet him, and immediately made Zhang He the general of the expedition to the north, and ordered Zhang He to accompany Zhang Fei to various places in Guanzhong to appease the hearts of the people.

Once again, the war has entered a stalemate.

After Zhang He's surrender, Liu Bei was able to transfer part of the Weishui army to the north, so that the strength of the Han army on the front line of Luoshui reached 130,000.

At the same time, Cao Ying also transferred part of the troops on the Nanyang front line and part of the troops guarding several states in Hebei, so that the strength of the Luoshui Cao army reached as many as 170,000.

The two sides launched a fierce offensive and defensive battle along the Luoshui line, but with little success, and in the blink of an eye, the Han army once again faced the problem of lack of food.

Because the counties of Longxi could not get a year, the grain and grass that could be provided to the front line was limited. And Guanzhong Xinde, although rich, but before Zhong Xuan withdrew the troops, he burned all the granaries in Guanzhong, because the people of Guanzhong were not stable, so they did not dare to levy grain from the people of Guanzhong too quickly, therefore, the grain and grass on the entire front line in Guanzhong still need to be transported from the rear of Yizhou.

Half a month later, a winter snow suddenly arrived, and the passages in Hanzhong that were close to Guanzhong, such as Xiegu and Chencang Road, were all closed by heavy snow, and the transportation road was interrupted. The grain and grass transported from Yizhou to Guanzhong had to make a detour to Qishan, take Longyou Avenue, cross Longshan from Weishui, and then arrive at the front line in Guanzhong.

Compared with the Han army, the grain supply of the Cao army was much easier, Fengyi County was very close to Luoyang, Hebei and other Kanto grain-producing areas, and there was the Yellow River, a natural water transportation channel, so the grain of the Kanto region could be transported to the Hexi front line quickly and labor-saving in a few days.

Taking into account the morale of the army, the number of troops, food supplies and other comprehensive factors, the strength of the two sides of the confrontation on the front line of Luoshui is actually equal so far.

As for the Nanyang front, in order to attract Cao Ying's attention, Guan Yu had already done his best to launch a fierce attack on Nanyang, and the consumption and losses were quite heavy. Since the beginning of winter, with the cold weather and the arrival of the hinterland of Guanzhong, the offensive of the Jingzhou Army has also taken shape like the end of a strong crossbow, and Guan Yu wisely shrunk the front to the south for more than 100 miles.

The Nanyang battlefield also fell into a stalemate.

The only thing that has not moved is the two Huai line.

At the beginning, Sun Quan promised to jointly attack the Central Plains, but it took nearly three months for his 100,000 army to assemble, and the army was idle in Chaohu, but their Wu Hou just didn't give the order to attack.

With the stalemate of the Guanzhong War, the role of Soochow gradually became more subtle.

………… Luoshui, the camp of the Han army, the big tent of the Chinese army.

The scout hurriedly entered and presented a battle report from upstream, Liu Bei took it and looked at it, his frowning brows were relaxed, and he circulated the battle report to the strategists.

It turned out that two days ago, he received a report from Xizuo that Cao Jun Xu Huang's troops were trying to smuggle Luoshui from fifty miles upstream, and Liu Bei urgently ordered Zhang Fei to lead an army of 10,000 soldiers and horses to help upstream. This morning, Zhang Fei's troops met with Xu Huang's army in Bandu, and the two armies fought fiercely, and after eliminating more than 1,000 enemy troops, Zhang Fei successfully thwarted Xu Huang's smuggling operation, and the upstream trend turned the corner.

"It seems that Cao Ying's determination to fight to the death with Lone this time is even stronger than when he confronted Longshan before, if this Cao Mengde is serious, it is really not easy to deal with." Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh.

"The king is not Yuan Shao back then, although Cao Ying is powerful, he can't set off any storms. What I'm really worried about is not Cao Ying, but the grain and grass of our army. Now the Qinling Valley Road is frozen, and the grain and grass in Yizhou can only take Longyou Avenue, and the transfer of grain and grass for thousands of miles is more difficult than when Longxi was attacked. Pang Tong worried.

As soon as he mentioned this, Liu Bei said hatefully: "Lone originally planned to eat near Guanzhong, but he hated that Zhong Xuan's ruthlessness, not only burned all the granaries in Guanzhong with a fire, but also looted most of the grain and grass stored by the people." At present, the hundreds of thousands of people in Guanzhong are not only unable to support the army, but have become a burden because of the lack of food. ”

Pang Tong snorted coldly, "Zhong Xuan, this old ghost is playing the trick of the strong wall and clearing the wilderness." It has always been a hidden danger for so many people who are short of food to stay in the rear, and for the sake of today, it is better to encourage them to go west to the counties of Longxi to beg for food, and wait until they get through this difficult period. ”

Liu Bei nodded slightly and sighed: "So far, that's the only way to go." ”

Fang Shao said: "This can only postpone the urgent situation, and now the plan is to find a way to retreat from the Cao army as soon as possible." ”

Pang Tong said: "With our own strength, it is not realistic to force Cao Ying to retreat. However, if Eastern Wu can raise troops and launch an attack on Lianghuai, Cao Ying will probably have to return to the Central Plains. It's just that Wu Hou is very cunning, obviously he wants to reap the benefits, and wants him to send troops, hmph, it's difficult-"

After listening to everyone's discussions and feelings, Fa Zheng, who had been silent, suddenly spoke: "There is a strategy, which may be able to prompt Eastern Wu to send troops." ”

(To be continued)