With the lesson of the last time, Cao Ying's defense against Guanzhong must be strengthened, and the 60,000 or 70,000 reserve troops left in Luoyang will certainly not be used easily, as long as the war in Chencang is tight, Luoyang's reinforcements can quickly enter Guanzhong. And it is much easier to support Guanzhong by taking the plain avenue than it is to support Longxi by crossing the mountains and mountains.

This means that even if the Han army can occupy Wuzhangyuan and Beiyuan and block the grain route from Chencang to Chang'an, as long as Zhang He and Xu Huang can hold on for a month at most, if Xiahou Yuan still can't get through the grain route, then Luoyang's reinforcements can arrive quickly, and in this month, it is still unknown whether the Han army can capture the front line of Chencang.

Therefore, the most critical point in this battlefield battle is to drag the reinforcements of Luoyang's Cao army. Obviously, it is not advisable to attack the fortified city of Chang'an with surprise troops, even if it can be captured for a while, but Luoyang's reinforcements can still easily enter the pass through Tongguan, and in the case of Chen Cang is not under and cannot meet with the main force, the limited number of surprise attack troops is obviously unable to resist the continuous stream of enemy reinforcements from outside the pass.

Therefore, quickly capture Tongguan, block the foreign reinforcements, in a short period of time, the Guanzhong Cao army formed a situation of closing the door and fighting dogs, and broke through the enemy of Chencang people's hearts with absolute superiority, as long as the two Han armies of Hanzhong and Yongliang can smoothly enter the Guanzhong Plain, then, even Xiahou Yuan, who is brave and good at fighting, is unable to save the defeat, all he can do is to be surrounded and annihilated in the Guanzhong Plain, or he can only choose the way to escape.

What Fang Shao offered was a perfect and risky plan, and for a while, the hall fell silent.

There were mixed expressions on the faces of all the senators, those who were conservative and those who were bold enough to be excited about it.

However, no one stood up to express their approval and denial, even the brave Ma Chao, although he felt that this risk was to be taken in his heart, but he did not stand up to express his approval, because the result of approval is likely to be that Liu Bei will entrust him with the heavy task of this surprise attack, and success is enough, and if he does not succeed, he will become benevolent, and he Ma Chao does not want to take this risk.

No one was willing to risk their fame and surname, and Fang Shao knew very well what they were thinking.

"In fact, this plan is not what Shao alone thinks, in fact, when Shao passed by the three eastern counties, he heard what Wen Chang said, but at that time, Longxi was not down, Shao felt that the time was not very ripe, so he did not offer it to the king, but now the time is just right. And at the beginning, the chief of the text also took the initiative to ask for help, if the king decided to adopt this plan, he might as well entrust this important task to the chief of the text. ”

Fang Shao broke the silence and recommended Wei Yan to Liu Bei, because he knew that among the generals under Liu Bei, perhaps only Wei Yan had the courage.

"Wen Chang, Wen Chang, don't you want to go down in history, brother, I'll give you this opportunity, but if you're unlucky, don't blame me, if you want to be as famous as Wei Qinghuo, you have to pay a price." Fang Shao sighed in his heart, quietly observing Liu Bei's expression, guessing what decision the king of Hanzhong was going to make.

Liu Bei returned to his throne, holding his forehead with his hand, his fingers kept hitting his forehead, his eyes were closed, his brows were tightly locked, and it was obvious that his heart was also in the midst of a fierce choice.

I don't know how long it took, suddenly, Liu Bei raised his head, his eyes were filled with a terrifying murderous aura, Fang Shao knew that Liu Bei had already made a decision.

………… After January, when the autumn weather was crisp, preparations for war in the land of the four states had been in full swing for more than a month.

The pacification of the rebellion in the south of Yizhou relieved the worries of the front, which allowed more Yizhou troops to be freed up and transferred to Hanzhong, and it is expected that the number of troops gathered in Hanzhong will reach as many as 100,000.

In the past two years, relying on Jiang Wan's outstanding political ability, Jingzhou has been thriving, and the newly seized northern part has also stabilized, and the troops stationed in Xiangfan have been able to barely eat nearby, and this autumn's bumper harvest has provided sufficient material support for the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, after the autumn, after receiving the secret edict of the king of Hanzhong, Guan Yu began to dispatch troops, and by the end of September, the army assembled in the direction of Xiangyang had reached as many as 70,000. Excluding the 20,000 soldiers and horses guarding Eastern Wu in Lukou Town, this is already the limit of the troops that the entire Jingzhou can mobilize.

As for Yongliang, Fa Zheng and Ma Daizheng led a cavalry corps of more than 20,000 people composed of the Han army and Qiang Di from Xiliang to the south, and Zhang Fei and Pang Tong's more than 40,000 Longxi legions, this 60,000 or 70,000 mixed infantry and cavalry corps, in fact, is the strongest combat effectiveness in the Han army, but only after crossing Longshan and smoothly entering the Guanzhong Plain, can it exert its powerful field combat ability.

At the beginning of October, Fei Yi returned from the envoy to Eastern Wu and brought back a reply from Wu Hou, the lord of Jiangdong nominally agreed to the proposal of the east and the west to meet together to attack Cao Ying, and prepared to gather nearly 100,000 troops to enter Chaohu, and put on a strategic intention of preparing to enter Hefei and attack Shouchun along the river into Huaibei.

Of course, as Fang Shao expected in advance, the assembly of the Wu army was quite slow, and when the vanguard of Guan Yu's army had left Xiangyang and arrived in Xinye, and the army of Hanzhong began to move in the direction of Yangping Pass, the so-called "100,000 army" of Eastern Wu was less than half.

Obviously, Sun Quan planned to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight this time, waiting for the fisherman to make a profit, but this was already under full consideration.

Therefore, soon after Fei Yi returned to Hanzhong, Liu Bei issued combat orders to all the armies, and the Han army, totaling nearly 250,000, began to attack Cao's army from all fronts.

Xudu, the palace of the king of Wei.

The white-haired man on the throne, although he is in his twilight years, still exudes a terrifying murderous aura all over his body.

He was dressed in royal clothes, silently looking at the newly sent information, while the ministers under the throne were silent, King Wei did not ask, and no one dared to squeak.

He read the last piece of information, put down the silk book, glanced around at the ministers, and suddenly asked, "Why didn't Zhongde come to the meeting?" ”

Zhongde, that Cheng Yu, was originally offered a plan to lure Cai Mao to surrender, but Liu Bei planned to take Longxi and Liangzhou, and he was ashamed of his heart, and now he has been sick in bed for almost half a year, and he almost swallowed a breath.

"Back to the king, when Cheng Zhongde heard about the defeat in Longxi last year, he was sick at home with heart disease, and now he is also unwell and cannot come." No one squeaked, so Liu Ye came out to explain, not so much to explain, but to expose Cheng Yu's scars in front of everyone, and then ridicule him.

Cao Ying remembered the old things and was angry in his heart, so he snorted: "Forget it, if you don't come, you won't come, it's okay to lack him." Ziyang, have Zixiao's soldiers and horses arrived in Nanyang? ”

"General Zixiao's army was stationed in Wancheng in front of him, and the number of troops of our army in Nanyang has reached 70,000, which is comparable to Guan Yu." Liu Ye replied very neatly, he had served under Cao Ying for many years and had been in charge of intelligence work.

"What's going on in Soochow?" Cao Ying asked again.

"Dongwu's troops are also assembled in the Chaohu area, but their movements are obviously not as fast as Liu Bei's, and there seems to be a suspicion of deliberate delay."

Cao Ying sneered, "Sun Zhongmou, this kid, wants to play the trick of sitting on food and fishing again, hum, it's a pity, the Wu people's water war is acceptable, but the land war is really unsightly." Summoned an order to Zilian, telling him to guard Shouchun, no matter how provocative the Wu people are in the future, he must be restrained. ”

Then, Cao Ying asked about the movements of the Han army in Hanzhong and Yongliang, which could be regarded as giving a bottom to the ministers.

Then, Cao Ying asked: "Ziyang, in your opinion, Liu Bei's real purpose is in Guanzhong, or is it in Nanyang?" ”

Liu Ye said decisively: "Judging from the experience of the last time, it is Liu Bei's established strategy to first take Guanlong, and then take the Central Plains, and according to the intelligence this time, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei led the enemy troops to attack the front line of Chencang, the number of people has reached more than 100,000, it is obvious that Guanzhong is Liu Beizheng's goal, and the Jingzhou offensive is just to contain our army's soldiers and horses." ”

Cao Ying nodded slightly, and said: "Then do you think Liu Bei will use the trick of the last time, and then play the strategy of attacking the east and the west, when he led the army into the pass alone to fight a decisive battle, but he led the army to the east along the Han River, and suddenly joined Guan Yu from Shangyong and other places to attack Nanyang?" ”

"The minister thought that Liu Bei would not do this this time, the reason is very simple, the terrain of Nanyang is flat, our army has the advantage of cavalry, and it can be ten, even if Liu Bei really plays the trick of attacking the east and the west, as long as his soldiers and horses come out of the mountains, once they enter the plain, no matter how many soldiers and horses they have, they will not be able to set off any storms."

"It's different now, Liu Bei, a weaver and a shoe seller, must not be underestimated, and with the help of Yun Chang, Lone must not be taken lightly this time." Cao Ying was cautious this time, it seemed that due to a series of previous defeats, the new King of Wei no longer dared to underestimate his biggest rival in his life.

"Zhongda, in your opinion, how should you respond to this battle?" Cao Ying turned to ask Sima Yi, now, this famous man in Hedong, because of his foresight surname several times, as well as his resolute support in the matter of claiming the king, has quickly won Cao Ying's respect, as if he has replaced Cheng Yu and other old ministers, and has become the first strategist under Cao Ying.

"Liu Bei's intention to capture Guanzhong is obvious, but Nanyang is close to my Xu Luo's henchmen, once there is a business trip, it will be related to the overall situation, so as the king said, it should not be taken lightly. Therefore, Yi thought that Guanzhong and Nanyang could not be abandoned, and now there were nearly 70,000 soldiers and horses of General Xiahou in Guanzhong, as long as they held the Chencang Pass, so that the enemy could not penetrate into the Guanzhong Plain, it was expected to be fine.

Sima Yi saw that Cao Ying listened attentively, so he continued: "As for Nanyang, General Zixiao should also take a defensive strategy, and if he constantly invades the grain route of Guan Yu's army with light cavalry, there should not be any big problem. As for Lianghuai, according to Sun Quan's vision, it is expected that he will not launch an attack before the war on the Western Front is clear. And the king should lead the reserve troops and horses to sit in Xu Luo, so that no matter which side of the three places is in a hurry, the king can quickly lead the army to rescue. This is the perfect strategy that Yi can think of, but this is only the words of the Yi family, and I hope that the king will set it. ”

After pondering for a long time, Cao Ying said slowly: "This time against the enemy, it is just to be safe first, Zhong Da's words are very lonely, well, just follow his strategy." ”

(To be continued)