The Xiangfan and the Seventh Army that Cao Cao longed for are now in Liu Bei's hands.

When Liu Bei heard that Xiangfan was taken down by Pang Tong, the corners of his mouth smiled as bright as flowers.

"Shi Yuan deserves the name of Feng Xiao, and he actually deceived Cao Ren with fake death, induced him to send troops, and was defeated. Now that Xiangfan is in my hands, there are no internal worries! ”

Liu Bei tightened the towel in his hand and said with a smile: "Yun Chang defeated Cao Ren and surrendered to the ban, Ziming retreated from Zhang He and raised the Magi, and Shi Yuan came up with a clever plan and went down to Xiangfan." Although the service lasted for more than a year, the soldiers suffered a lot of losses, but fortunately, they were finally defeated. ”

The Battle of Xiangfan involved many generals and troops, far exceeding the Battle of Chrysostom.

The only difference is that the leader is different, the battle of Chrysostom, the coach is Huo Jun. The battle of Xiangyang was for the generals of the Southern Han Dynasty, the commander was Liu Bei, and the executors were Guan Yu, Lu Meng, Pang Tong, Liao Hua, Meng Da and other generals.

The significance of this battle, for Liu Bei, was not only to take Xiangyang and deal a heavy blow to the Northern Wei Dynasty, but also to reduce Huo Jun's influence in the Southern Han Kingdom and strengthen his authority in the country.

It was not that Liu Bei was afraid of Huo Jun, but that he weakened Huo Jun's influence, which was not only beneficial to Liu Bei, but also beneficial to Huo Jun. After all, how much Liu Bei trusted Huo Jun and was willing to share his rights, but the two were always monarchs and ministers.

On the side of Cao Wei, Cao Ren was dismissed as a concubine, Xu Huang was injured, Yan Xing and Zhu Zhi were killed, Yu Ban, Hu Xiu, Fu Fang, and Lü Chang surrendered to Han, and captured more than 48,000 Wei troops, which was a great victory second only to the Battle of Chrysostom.

However, compared to the last time, Jing Xiang was demoted as a consumable, and this duel directly damaged Cao Wei's Jingzhou and the strength of the Chinese army, which made Cao Cao feel painful.

Compared with the loss of the Northern Wei Dynasty, on the side of the Southern Han Dynasty, Guan Yu was seriously wounded, Shiren was killed in battle, Meng Da was disabled, and nearly 20,000 soldiers were lost due to the defeat of Wancheng, and the siege and battle losses were less than the losses of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Liu Bei handed the letter to Fa Zheng and asked excitedly: "Xiaozhi, now that Xiangfan has been ordered, I want to gather troops from all sides, carry the momentum of breaking the enemy, and then fight Cao Cao, what is it?" ”

Fa Zheng quickly swept through the letter and asked rhetorically: "Your Majesty said that the enemy's momentum is broken, I don't know why?" ”

Liu Bei did not hesitate and said: "How can the soldiers not boost morale?" ”

Fa Zheng poured cold water on Liu Bei head-on, and said: "If the soldiers break Xiangyang, what do you have to do with the soldiers, you can only make Your Majesty and the generals happy." The soldiers of the Jiang and Han Dynasty went on an expedition, and they traveled with the Marquis of Guan Jun for a long time, and they had to break through Xiangfan, and they were afraid that the generals would return to their hometowns with more rewards! ”

Being reminded by Fa Zheng like this, Liu Bei sobered up a lot and asked, "Does filial piety mean to withdraw the army?" ”

Fa Zheng stroked his beard and said, "Your Majesty, what is the strength of Cao Cao and his men?" ”

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said: "Cao Cao's soldiers and horses are no less than 200,000 people, and now there are 15 or 60,000 people in the Seven Armies and Jingxiang soldiers and horses. Hewuhuan and the Southern Xiongnu joined the army, and under the country, they were still able to send 200,000 troops. Its many cavalry, foot soldiers are strong, this water Ze soldiers are not as good as Chinese infantry horses! ”

Fa Zheng bowed his head and analyzed: "Your Majesty should underestimate the power of China, since Cao Cao leveled Henan, it has been 20 years; It is planned in Hebei, and China has been safe for 12 years. China's household registration is increasing, and the number of soldiers and civilians is increasing. It is expected that from a positive point of view, China will pour out troops and horses, and there will be no less than 300,000 troops. ”

"Your Majesty went down to Jiangdong, embraced Jingchu, Kebashu, no year without fighting, every year of service, the soldiers and people were tired. Today, His Majesty's troops are not as many as China's, and his infantry and cavalry are not as strong as China's, so how dare he say that he can defeat the enemy with a tired old army? ”

The Battle of Xiangfan lasted for a year and a half, not counting the grain and grass, and the soldiers and horses who fought with Guan Yu before were already veteran soldiers of the division. There are not many people with high morale today, but Liu Bei has troops and horses. But the number of soldiers and horses under Liu Bei's account was far less than that of Cao Cao, otherwise he would not have been pressed and beaten by Cao Cao.

The strength and combat effectiveness are not as good as Cao Wei, and the morale of some soldiers is not high, Liu Bei wants to change from passive to active, and it is not so easy to defeat Cao Cao. If Cao Cao seized the opportunity, Nanhan would suffer.

Liu Bei stroked his gray beard, pondered and said: "What Xiaozhi said is reasonable, but Cao Cao knew that Xiangfan was under me, so he was unwilling to withdraw his army. Cao Cao hangs his army in the north, and it may not be easy for me to withdraw my troops. ”

"Xiangfan geography, how can Your Majesty not know."

Fa Zheng smiled faintly and said: "Cao Gong raised 100,000 soldiers to surround it, and he also sighed when facing the river in the city. If Cao Cao does not retreat after a long siege, His Majesty will wait for his soldiers to be tired, and then attack by the water division, he will be able to defeat his army. ”

After a pause, Fa Zheng said: "Today, Xiangfan has been ordered by our army, so from a positive point of view, Cao Cao also has the heart to withdraw his army. Specifically, we will be able to tell in October. ”

"Good!"

Liu Bei hesitated a little, and then asked: "Xiangfan is Ke, I don't know what way to make contributions to the next Northern Expedition?" ”

Hearing this, Fa Zheng frowned and thought for a long time, and said: "There are three views on the upper, middle and lower, I wonder if Your Majesty wants to hear it?" ”

"Please speak!"

Liu Bei was sitting precariously and stretched out his hand to ask Fa Zheng to speak.

Fa Zheng pondered and said: "The best policy, Your Majesty and Huo Du will join forces to besiege and attack Shouchun. Under the city of Shouchun, Xiangfan in the west, Huaiyin in the east. When Yuzhou has no screen, the Central Plains can be expected, His Majesty's generals returned to Wancheng, and the center was frightened; Huo Du sent troops to Henan, and the Central Plains was shaken. If Your Majesty can go to Luoyang, and Huo Du can go down to Yan and Yu, then Cao Thief can be destroyed! ”

"In the middle strategy, let Huo Du go out of Huainan for the partial army, and His Majesty will break the army through Wancheng, cross the bear's ears, knock on the Yique Pass, and take the old capital Luoyang. Under Luoyang in the First World War, the thieves were forced to move to Yecheng. His Majesty can look at Henan in the east and Guanzhong in the west. The second cut crosses the big river, and the world can be leveled! ”

"Make a decision, Your Majesty will go against Xichuan and move towards Wuguan, and order Bashu to send troops to attack Guanzhong. The two armies worked together to go down to Guanzhong, and the old capital Chang'an was restored. The second attack out of Wancheng, the first will go out of the pass, Huo Du into the Central Plains, the three armies swept Henan, and then Beiping Youji, then the world is peaceful! ”

With Xiangfan, the army went out of the middle road, as Zhuge Liang said on the river in the past, he could respond left and right, wait and see the Central Plains, and revive the Han Dynasty.

However, the above three strategies are easy to say, but no matter which one of them, it is difficult to operate. Most of the pressure had to be given to Liu Bei, and extremely high requirements were put forward for Liu Bei's military talents. After all, he had to fight all the way and defeat Cao Wei's soldiers and horses in order to take Chang'an or Luoyang.

Listening to Fa Zheng's suggestion, Liu Bei frowned slightly. There is almost nothing to be done with these upper, middle and lower strategies, and the only thing that can make him easy is the best strategy, and he and Huo Jun join forces to break Shouchun. However, Liu Bei had scruples about Jianghuai in his heart, and he was deeply impressed by the Jianghuai epidemic last time.

In the middle strategy, it seems convenient and fast to take Luoyang, but he went to Luoyang in his early years, but he knew that Luoyang had eight levels, and those eight levels were not so easy to beat. And he will lead the main force to fight face-to-face with Cao Cao's army, which is by no means difficult, and it is easy to return defeated.

The next strategy is to take Wuguan into Guanzhong, and with the cooperation of Hanzhong, the probability of success is not small. But if Cao Wei's army keeps an eye on the army, let alone entering the customs, he won't even be able to get out of Nanyang. But to be honest, if the two armies can enter Guanzhong together, the probability of winning Guanzhong is really not low.

Liu Bei hesitated for a long time and said: "On the plan, Shouchun's strength is not lower than Xiangfan, and it is even more difficult to be in Xiangfan." I and Zhong Miao joined forces on the Northern Expedition, but it didn't work out after all, and they broke their generals one after another; In the plan, Luoyang is difficult and dangerous, and it is difficult to cross the bear's ears, and if the thieves and soldiers attack together, the army is easy to lose. ”

"Under the plan, Wuguan is long and narrow, Wancheng is not overcome, and it is difficult to advance westward. However, if you can conquer Wancheng and get the echo of the soldiers and horses in Hanzhong, you can work together to break the enemy and encroach on Guanzhong. Looking at the pros and cons of the three strategies, it is said that there are pros and cons to each one, and it is difficult for me to think about it deeply, and allow me to return to the country and discuss it with the secretaries in detail. ”

Not to mention that Liu Bei is difficult to finalize, even if he is the Fa Zheng who offers these three strategies, he is hesitant in his heart. Seeing that Liu Bei decided to return to China to discuss, Fa Zheng was deeply fortunate, after all, he was most afraid that Liu Bei would choose either one for brain fever.

"Your Majesty, now that the war in Xiangfan is coming to an end, we can send messengers from the west to the east to inform Huo Du and General Yide to withdraw their troops. lest our army return south, and the second army was broken by Cao Cao. Fa Zheng suggested.

"Good!"

Liu Bei commanded left and right, and said: "That is, according to what Fa Qing said, he ordered the Second Division of Zhao to return to the army, and Yan Xiangfan has already been ordered, and it is not suitable to fight for a long time." ”

"No!"

(End of chapter)