HLnovel Chapter 512 Sun Quan defeats Zhang Liao? Liu Bei: Is this true?
Chapter 512 Sun Quan defeats Zhang Liao? Liu Bei: Is this true?
定军山
Liu Bei's command tent
Liu Bei and his men had waited in vain for the flowers to wither, but Cao Cao's army showed no intention of attacking the mountain.
The same applies to the area around Tiandang Mountain.
Time is the best thing to wear down ambition.
Especially after being thoroughly ravaged by Cao Cao's sixth brother, one's confidence may be severely diminished.
At this moment, Liu Bei was not afraid of Cao Cao's army attacking, but he was afraid that Cao Cao's army would not take any action at all!
The key point is that even with Cao Cao's army, Liu Bei didn't dare to take the initiative to go down the mountain and fight them.
What if that sixth guy on the other side pulls some nasty trick? We'd be completely doomed.
Fa Zheng entered the tent, cupped his hands in greeting to Liu Bei, and said:
"My lord, all the paths on Dingjun Mountain have been reinforced with defenses."
"Kongming has also made arrangements for the Yinping Trail over Yangping Pass."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei said:
"Very well, very well. In that case, our army should respond to any situation with inconvenience."
The Yinping Trail is not in Hanzhong, but in Yinping County in Shu, which borders Liangzhou.
Because Yangping Pass is nearby, Yinping Trail is often overlooked.
However, the combination of Fa Zheng and Zhuge Liang is quite effective.
The moment Zhuge Liang took command of the rear area of Chengdu, he immediately began road repairs throughout Yizhou.
He explored every road in Shu, big and small, fearing that Cao Cao's sixth brother might take advantage of any loopholes!
Fazheng also thoroughly explored all the paths in Dingjun Mountain and Tiandang Mountain.
As for the waterways, Liu Bei has also deployed troops to defend them.
Ba Commandery originally had a navy, which later surrendered to Liu Bei along with Pang Xi.
Fa Zheng sat down next to Liu Bei, and the two fell into silence.
After a long silence, Liu Bei spoke:
"Xiaozhi, can Bei really defeat Cao Mengde?"
Fa Zheng frowned slightly:
"My lord, you were full of vigor just a few days ago, why have you lost your confidence now?"
"If even you, my lord, have lost your confidence, how can we possibly contend with Cao Cao's army?"
"My lord, remember that confidence brings good fortune."
"Moreover, my lord, you are no less impressive."
"Cao Mengde was just lucky."
"Now that our lord has acquired Shu, if we take Hanzhong, and then conquer Liangzhou and Guanzhong, we can achieve the same level of power as Emperor Gaozu!"
Liu Bei sighed softly.
He knew perfectly well that Fa Zheng was trying to comfort him.
In reality, the situation Liu Bei encountered was completely different from the situation Liu Bang and Xiang Yu faced off against each other.
Trying to follow Liu Bang's path to restore the Han Dynasty would be extremely difficult.
Unless Sun Quan of Jiangdong can make further efforts to coordinate between the east and west.
It's unclear whether Liu Bei's prayers had an effect or Sun Quan's efforts were sufficient.
Not long after Liu Bei finished speaking, Zhang Fei suddenly glared at him and rushed in from outside.
"Brother! Strategist! Good news has arrived!"
"Cao Cao's troops inside Nanzheng City are retreating towards Beijia Pass!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei and Fa Zheng exclaimed in unison:
"What!?"
Why did Cao Cao's army abandon Nanzheng and head for Beijia Pass?
Zhang Fei quickly pressed for an answer:
"Big brother, should we give chase?"
Liu Bei fell into deep thought.
Judging from his numerous battles against Cao Cao's camp and his repeated defeats, with no chance of victory, it's clear that...
Cao Cao's tactic is a classic example of "Old Six's roundabout strategy"!
If he dares to send troops to pursue, he will be 100% sure to be surrounded by Cao Cao's "sixth brother".
Taking a deep breath, Liu Bei resisted the temptation to pursue and gave the order:
"Tell all soldiers not to act rashly; this is very likely a trap set by Cao Cao's army to lure us in."
Fa Zheng nodded, agreeing with Liu Bei's assessment.
However, for the next few days, Cao Cao's camp continued to withdraw its troops.
Of Cao Cao's 100,000 main force troops, nearly three-fifths have withdrawn.
This unusual behavior made Liu Bei very concerned.
He constantly sent out spies to gather intelligence.
Finally, perseverance pays off, and the scout brought back excellent news!
"My Lord!"
"Sun Quan of Jiangdong raised an army of 100,000 and captured Hefei in one fell swoop. He is now marching towards Xuzhou!"
"I heard that Chen Deng, the governor of Xuzhou, wrote three memorials in succession, requesting Cao Cao to return with his troops to provide support!"
After he finished speaking, everyone in Liu Bei's command tent fell silent.
Zhang Fei shouted sternly:
"I never expected that blue-eyed brat to have such outstanding military command abilities?"
Fa Zheng was also extremely surprised.
Although it was "a matter of course" for Sun Quan to lead an army of 100,000 to capture Hefei.
But Sun Quan still dared to attack Xuzhou and even gained the upper hand, which is truly amazing!
This record is even more impressive than Sun Ce's back then!
Liu Bei slammed his fist on the table.
"If that's the case, Sun Quan has done us a great favor."
"No wonder Cao Cao was so eager to withdraw his troops and return to Beijia Pass."
"If we don't take Hanzhong now, when will we?"
Just as Liu Bei was about to order the entire army to pursue them.
Fa Zheng stopped Liu Bei.
"My lord, the intelligence still needs further confirmation."
"Moreover, Zhou Yu has always been the commander of the troops in Jiangdong, so why is Sun Quan being asked to lead the expedition personally this time?"
"Furthermore, even if Sun Quan attacks Xuzhou, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, and others should still have troops to support Chen Deng."
"Surely Cao Cao's camp shouldn't be in such a dire situation all at once?"
Under Fa Zheng's persuasion, Liu Bei gradually calmed down.
It is also possible that Cao Cao's camp released false information.
We should send someone to investigate again and see what the situation is like in Jiangdong.
soon.
Liu Bei's army captured some fishermen who traveled between Jing and Yi provinces.
The fishermen informed Liu Bei that Zhou Yu had launched an attack on Jiangxia several days ago.
Cao Ren is leading his troops to Jiangxia to provide support.
So currently, Zhou Yu is in a standoff with Cao Ren.
Upon hearing this news, Liu Bei and Fa Zheng's doubts gradually dissipated.
This is right!
Cao Cao's various battle zones are all very busy right now.
The four prefectures in Hebei and Liaozhou were too far apart, and they also had to be wary of the Xianbei.
Although the Wuhuan and Southern Xiongnu were destroyed, the Xianbei still existed.
Xiahou Yuan was too far from Xuzhou.
Cao Ren was busy confronting Zhou Yu.
Xiahou Dun needed to oversee all officials, while also guarding against the machinations of powerful families.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, Xiahou Dun would avoid moving if possible.
No wonder Chen Deng traveled thousands of miles to call for reinforcements from Cao Cao!
Everything makes sense now!
After receiving Fa Zheng's approval, Liu Bei finally ordered his troops to pursue the enemy and successfully seized a batch of grain from Cao Cao's army.
In order to further expand the gains and strive to bring the entire territory of Hanzhong under control.
Liu Bei decided to besiege Nanzheng City.
At this moment, according to the scouts, Cao Cao's army in Nanzheng City has only 10,000 men left.
Even the Hanzhong garrison originally under Zhang Lu's command had mostly been taken to Beijia Pass by Cao Cao.
Unfortunately, Liu Bei had no idea what a false proposition Sun Quan's claim of breaking Hefei was!
The fishermen traveling between Jing and Yi provinces did not actually deceive Liu Bei.
Zhou Yu was indeed leading troops to attack Nanzheng, and Cao Ren was also confronting him.
It can be said that Zhou Yu was quite capable of commanding troops and was an excellent commander.
His timing in sending troops was impeccable!
but……
Sun Quan didn't attack Hefei!
Even if we really fought, we wouldn't even be able to get past Zhang Liao, let alone Chen Deng of Xuzhou!
The terrifying thing about disinformation is not that it is all false information.
Instead, it's a mixture of truth and falsehood, triggering the brain's ability to fill in the gaps and leading to incorrect judgments!
……
PS: Bonus chapter delivered. Another day, I'll add a list of the current governors and deputy governors of Cao Cao's various provinces, as well as the list of important figures.