The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 162 Volume I Want All

Qiangduan and Agui led the Di people from Wudu and Yinping counties to go out. As an old neighbor, Zhang Lu naturally could not remain indifferent.

They had been waiting on full alert at Yangping Pass, waiting for the Qiang people to come to Hanzhong to seek spoils of war. However, they found that these Di people did not go east to attack Hanzhong, but instead went north to Longyou.

In addition, there were reports from "ghost soldiers" (Note 1) in the Shangyong area that a large amount of food and fodder being transported from Jingzhou to Guanzhong had been intercepted, which made Zhang Lu smell something unusual.

"Dong Zhuo seems to be planning to conquer Longyou?"

Hanzhong is isolated from the rest of the country and even if one takes the fastest route through Chencang Road, it will take half a month to get any news.

After Zhang Lu confirmed the news, he immediately ordered his younger brother Zhang Wei to lead the troops and station them in Qishan. He also moved the people in the Longyou area to Hanzhong to increase the population.

Zhang Liao, who was pretending in Lucheng, was also shocked when he saw a large army suddenly coming out from Qishan. He reported the news to Lu Bu and ordered his soldiers to start repairing the city walls, making the fake play real as a precaution.

Lu Bu in Shanggui was also somewhat confused when he heard that a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from Qishan Road.

"It's Zhang Lu."

After all, Xun You had worked in the Secretariat before, so he was quite familiar with some secrets.

"When the grain was transported from Jingzhou to Guanzhong, there were bandits from Shangyong who attacked and robbed the grain transport team."

"At the time, some people speculated that it was Zhang Lu of Hanzhong who was behind the instigation of the bandits, but there was no evidence... But now that Zhang Lu has openly led his army out of Qishan, it is clear that we can no longer ignore it."

From Qishan Road, they can directly sweep across the Longyou area, and even occupy Jieting, threatening the army's retreat.

Now that Lu Bu was about to go on an expedition, an army from Hanzhong suddenly appeared, which made Xun You feel a little tricky and troubled.

After all, no matter how careful the calculations were made in the court that day, they did not expect that Zhang Lu would lead his troops to Qishan at this time!

"The Qiang people are never honest, and now Zhang Lu wants to join in the fun?"

Lu Bu slammed the table in the big tent and said, "Then fight!"

"Even if we march out of Qishan, how many people can we bring out from Hanzhong? Do you really think that the Marquis of Huaiyin is everywhere and can easily march out of Hanzhong to the north?"

"Moreover, Zhang Lu is a heinous criminal, and he occupies the birthplace of the Han Dynasty! Why not take this opportunity to defeat him in one fell swoop and take back Hanzhong!"

Zhang Lu was a Han thief who secretly established his own regime in Hanzhong after he successively killed Hanzhong governor Su Gu and other military commander Zhang Xiu! If the imperial court didn't cause trouble for him, he should have prayed to his so-called Heavenly Master. How dare he take the initiative to provoke the imperial court?
"As long as I lead the light cavalry to Lucheng, I can easily drive them away!"

The most elite Xiliang cavalry were stationed in Shanggui!

Lu Bu was confident that he could completely defeat them by leading only a small number of troops!

"General Lu, you can't do that."

Xun You was also a little troubled by Lu Bu's arbitrary style of doing things.

"The reason why all the cavalry stayed behind in Shangqiu is to be able to reach Jincheng as quickly as possible and lock the Qiang people in the Jincheng Valley!"

"It is not difficult to defeat the Hanzhong army. But if we let the Qiang people in Jincheng escape because of defeating an army that has no benefit, then we will lose the big picture for the small one!"

"Therefore..."

Xun You pleaded with Lü Bu: "General Lü should rush to Jincheng now, block the Jincheng Valley as planned, and annihilate the Qiang people!"

Lü Bu pointed to Hanzhong on the map and asked: "What about the troops in Hanzhong?"

"What if Zhang Lu took the opportunity to march north, capture Jieting, or even directly break through Shanggui, cutting off the retreat of the army?"

"..."

Xun You carefully observed the map and said confidently: "General Gao Shun and his Xianzhen Camp should be stationed in Shanggui, and we will be safe!"

"When I was in the palace, I often saw the emperor studying the art of war and then thinking about how to attack Guanzhong from Hanzhong..."

Lu Bu raised his eyebrows. "Why does the emperor want to study how Hanzhong can attack Guanzhong in the north? Does the emperor really think that Zhang Lu of Hanzhong or Liu Yan of Yizhou could possibly attack Guanzhong?"

Xun You said he didn't know...

"The emperor not only studied it himself, but also called me and Jia Lingjun to find countermeasures together in his spare time."

"If we attack Guanzhong from Hanzhong, there are only five routes, namely Qishan Road, Chencang Road, Baoxia Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road."

"Although the Qishan Road is the widest, the emperor often uses this route to send troops. He asked me and Jia Lingjun what the probability of a successful northern expedition is."

Lu Bu asked, "How much?"

"One in ten chance of winning, less than."

Xun You was extremely pessimistic about the Northern Expedition from Hanzhong.

"The roads in Shu are rugged, so transporting grain is naturally very difficult."

"General Lu should know that this time the court bought 200,000 dan of grain from Jingzhou, but only 100,000 dan were left when they were transported to Chang'an, and only 70,000 dan were left when they were transported to Longyou. If General Lu went to Jincheng, I'm afraid he could only transport 30,000 dan of grain at most."

"And transporting grain from Hanzhong to Qishan would certainly consume even more grain. Even if Hanzhong and Shu had a good harvest every year, at most 20,000 soldiers could only hold out in Longyou for a month."

"On the other hand, Longyou, whether it is Shanggui, Lucheng, or Jixian, is a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack. And with the support of the narrow Chencang Road, it is easy to transport grain from Guanzhong here to defend against the enemy."

"Food is in short supply and it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even if the former Marquis of Huaiyin were to be resurrected, I'm afraid it would be difficult for him to escape from Hanzhong, this place where the dragon is trapped, right?"

When Lü Bu heard what Xun You said, he also relaxed his vigilance against the Hanzhong army that suddenly appeared. "But just now, Xun You also said that the chance of winning is less than 10%... Even if it is less than 10%, it must be a success in the Northern Expedition. Is it impossible for Zhang Lu's army to replicate such a record?"

impossible!
Xun You didn't hesitate at all!
Absolutely impossible!
In order to ensure the success of the Northern Expedition, Liu Xie created almost all the favorable conditions.

First of all, if the army marching north from Hanzhong is a benevolent and righteous army, the people will provide them with food and drink as soon as they arrive in Longyou, and they can find a place to stay in Longyou without any effort.

Secondly, there must be a general with a lot of experience in Liangzhou who can easily unify Liangzhou and stabilize it, forming a siege on Guanzhong. And during this period, there must be a steady general stationed in Jieting to prevent the army and supplies from Guanzhong from supporting Longyou.

Finally, there must be a major change within Guanzhong, so that the Northern Expedition Army in Hanzhong cannot be fully focused on. Only then will there be a glimmer of hope to seize Guanzhong from Hanzhong...

Xun You was completely impressed by the emperor's innocence.

The people in Longyou won food and followed their lead, and changes occurred within the Guanzhong forces?
How could such a golden opportunity be so easy to find?

The only simpler condition seems to be to have a steady general stationed in Jieting to block the support from Guanzhong to Longyou.

But shouldn’t such a person be easy to find? For example, Gao Shun is one of them.

I don't know why the emperor couldn't forget Jieting, and even reminded Lu Bu again before he set out...

"So, it is definitely not that easy to march north from Qishan Road to Longyou."

Xun You told Lu Bu to rest assured.

"But this matter still needs to be reported to the Emperor."

"It's better to be prepared for the worst. If Zhang Lu not only sends troops from Qishan Road to harass, but also from Chencang Road and Baoxia Road, and lets the Hanzhong rice thieves drift to Guanzhong to cause chaos, it may really cause a shock to the court!"

Lu Bu finally accepted Xun You's advice.

He personally led 10,000 infantry and cavalry and rushed towards Jincheng as quickly as possible to complete the original plan of strangling the Qiang people.

As for Shanggui, Gao Shun was ordered to stay behind to prevent the Hanzhong army from taking advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos and cut off his retreat.

To be on the safe side, Lu Bu also withdrew Xu Huang from Jieting and ordered him to garrison in Chencang to prevent Zhang Lu from invading Guanzhong through Chencang Road.

When Liu Xie in Chang'an received the news that Zhang Lu was sending troops from Qishan Road, he was also a little dazed.

"I don't attack him, but he comes to scare me first?"

Liu Xie was fingering the military intelligence and was deeply troubled.

There is actually nothing wrong with Xun You’s analysis.

Even Zhuge Liang failed to capture Longyou, so Liu Xie didn't believe Zhang Lu could succeed.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Zhang Lu would come to take advantage of the situation at all costs.

Although Zhang Lu is unlikely to win, he may still be able to affect the war in Liang Province of the imperial court.

After all, no one likes to have a stranger with a stick standing behind them while they are fighting.

Even if this stranger is a child with short limbs, it still won’t work!

In a war, let alone a child behind you, even a maggot could become a concern for the soldiers on the front line.

If you get poked, at best you'll burst into tears, at worst you'll end up with blood on your crotch!

"And Zhang Lu actually dared to rob the imperial court of grain in Shangyong? He is courting death!"

Robbing food and sending troops to Qishan, this parasite under his nose has obviously been making too much trouble recently, and even Liu Xie feels uncomfortable.

"It would be great if we could capture Hanzhong."

You are always greedy for more!
Even before he got Longdi, Liu Xie had already begun to look forward to Shu...

But unfortunately, Liu Xie had no choice but to act as he pleased.

Liangzhou is located on the flank of Guanzhong, and the people who are causing trouble for Liangzhou are the Qiang people. They are a hinterland that must be pacified and an enemy that must be defeated.

Although Hanzhong is a troublesome place, it is not dangerous enough to threaten the survival of the Han Dynasty.

If they were to change their route and attack Hanzhong, they would undoubtedly be abandoning Liangzhou...

"Is there no way... to have the best of both worlds?"

Liu Xie stared at the map, stared at Hanzhong, stared at the place where the Han Dynasty was founded and which dared to tempt him.

Just as Jincheng was a temptation to the Qiang people, Hanzhong was equally as tempting to Liu Xie.

If Zhang Lu had not come to provoke Liu Xie, Liu Xie might not have thought of taking Hanzhong, but he had to come to provoke... If Liu Xie did not deal with him, it would be a shame to the country's name "Han"!

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Note 1:

Lu then occupied Hanzhong and taught the people the way of ghosts, calling himself "Master". Those who came to learn the way were initially called "ghost soldiers". Those who believed in the way were called "Jijiu". Each led a tribe, and the one with the most followers became the chief and the great Jijiu. - "Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 8, Book of Wei, Volume 8, Biography of the Two Gongsuns, Tao and the Four Zhangs, Volume 8"

(End of this chapter)