My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 479: Zhuge Liang: Xiahou Yuan is still useful for the time being, it won’t be too late to kill him after he has been used up

At the celebration banquet, Xiahou Yuan was of course extremely angry because the fun was ruined by the harassment from Liu Qi and Huang Zhong.

He had just been feeling gratified and proud of his feat of forcing Zhang Lu to land, and was drinking happily. But at this critical moment, someone poured a bucket of cold water on his head. Who could bear it?

What's more, Xiahou Yuan was known for his bad temper and decisive actions.

He was so angry that he showed off his "desk cleaning master" skills on the spot, sweeping all the cups, plates and bowls to the ground with force. For a moment, ceramic fragments flew everywhere, and wine, food and fruits were scattered all over the floor.

After venting his anger, Xiahou Yuan was still furious. He sat down on his horse with his sword in hand and pointed at Jia Xu without any courtesy and asked:
"Wenhe, I want to send troops immediately to support Shen Yi, recapture Shangyong, kill Liu Qi and Huang Zhong, and avenge Shen Dan - what do you think?"

Jia Xu was pushed to the forefront and felt a little embarrassed for a while. Fortunately, he was a calm old man after all, and reason always prevailed. He first said a few words to smooth things over so that Xiahou Yuan would calm down a little, and then tactfully changed the subject:
"I hope the general will understand. Now that our army has pacified Zhang Lu and has crossed Daba Mountain, this is a golden opportunity to threaten Liu Zhang and advance to Baxi and Badong. If I rashly change the plan because of Shangyong's incident, I'm afraid it will cause complications...

Of course, Shen Yi is in a critical situation now, and he should be rescued. But our army must not throw everything at Shen Yi. We only need to send a part of our troops and advance quickly with light cavalry to reach Xicheng, enter the city to help Shen Yi defend the city, and control the Han River waterway. There is no need to mobilize heavy troops to quickly counterattack Shangyong.

Shangyong is a remote place in the mountains and valleys, and can only be advanced along the Han River Valley, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Since Liu Qi has already taken Shangyong and Yang County and has considerable troops, even if we attack them, they can just switch from offense to defense and rely on mountains, rivers and cities, and our counterattack will definitely not be effective quickly.

In this case, it is better to choose a stalemate in the direction of Shangyong, and then quickly expand the results of the battle in Bashu. As for whether to deal with Liu Biao in the future, Shangyong is not a big deal. If Cao Gong wants to fight Liu Biao, where can he not fight? From Xuchang Luoyang, crossing Tongbai Mountain and taking Wancheng first, isn't it easier than going to Shangyong to get between Xiang and Fan?"

Jia Xu's words were earnest and sincere, and he was extremely careful with his wording. He tried every means to dispel Xiahou Yuan's anger and reduce the possibility of him making wrong decisions due to his lack of calmness.

Although Xiahou Yuan was a man of swift and decisive character, he also knew what was right and wrong. After hearing this analysis, he finally calmed down a little.

He knew very well that among all the counselors in Cao's camp, Jia Xu was the one least likely to be pardoned by Liu Bei, and they were definitely on the same side. Therefore, Jia Xu would never dare to betray or harm his own people, so his words had to be taken seriously.

After all, it was Jia Xu who instigated Li Jue and Guo Si to rebel and put down Wang Yun and Lu Bu, thus destroying the possibility of the first revival of the Han Dynasty and the emperor ruling the country personally.

Later, Jia Xu helped Cao Cao design an elimination of Dong Cheng and Lu Bu, thus eliminating the possibility of the emperor ruling the country for the second time.

Such a crime would definitely be recorded in the eyes of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. If Liu Bei turned the tables in the future, even if he pardoned the side members of the Cao and Xiahou families, he would never pardon Jia Xu. Jia Xu would definitely be cut into pieces, torn to pieces, lingchi, minced, and his bones would be crushed and his ashes scattered.

Such a person would certainly not harm Cao Cao's camp. He just hoped that Cao Cao's camp could successfully conquer the world so that he would have a chance to survive.

After Xiahou Yuan calmed down a bit, he finally sighed: "What Wenhe said does make some sense. Raising troops in anger is a taboo in military strategy. The prime minister ordered us to enter Sichuan for other important things. How can we miss the point because of these minor details?
In this case, we can temporarily divide more than 10,000 troops and quickly go to Xicheng to assist Shen Yi in defending and ensure that the Han River Valley is blocked to prevent Liu Qi and Huang Zhong from continuing to cause trouble. The rest of the troops will temporarily stay in Nanzheng and Nanxiang to rest and collect the remaining food from the people in Hanzhong, and be ready to go south to Baxi at any time! "

Seeing that General Xiahou had finally controlled his emotions, Jia Xu breathed a sigh of relief. He then helped to find out the gaps and provided some suggestions on marching and deployment, which Xiahou Yuan also adopted.

The next morning, the detachment sent by Xiahou Yuan to reinforce Shen Yi in defending the city set out from Nanxiang County, went down the Han River, and after traveling more than a hundred miles to the east, they camped in Anyang County for one night.

After two days of sailing downstream, they finally reached West City, but what they faced were Shen Yi's defeated troops - West City had been breached by Huang Zhong and Su Fei's fierce attack.

This sudden change really shocked Xiahou Yuan's troops.

Xiahou Yuan's troops had nowhere to rely on in the Han River Valley in the Qinling Mountains, so they could only retreat another hundred miles, taking Shen Yi with them and setting up camp in Anyang County.

Anyang County was a small county, and it was crowded with more than 10,000 Cao troops and 2,000 defeated soldiers of Shen Yi. It was difficult to keep the food supply. They could only rely on Nanxiang County and other places in the rear to collect food and grass as soon as possible and transport them downstream to Anyang for storage.

At the same time, the latest developments on Shen Yi's side were also sent back to Nanxiang along with the messenger asking for food and reported to Xiahou Yuan.

In just five or six days, Xiahou Yuan was shocked again:

"What? Didn't Huang Zhong and Su Fei just reach the gates of West City when Shen Yi sent an envoy to ask for help? I have already sent troops to reinforce them, how come they are still late? Is Shen Yi a fool? He knew that Shen Dan would be killed by Huang Zhong if he rashly went into battle, but he still wanted to go into battle again to die?"

The emergency messenger explained with a sad face: "General, Lord Shen did not go to the battle to die! He just defended the city and refused to fight the enemy in the field, but the enemy's offensive was so swift that we could not hold the city even if we tried our best."

Xiahou Yuan grabbed the collar of the messenger, pushed him out, and threw him to the ground: "Nonsense! My reinforcements arrived so quickly, how could he not even hold out for three days?"

The messenger was knocked unconscious by the fall, but he dared not show any resentment or anger. He turned over and knelt down to apologize:
"General, please understand! It took more than three days! When Lord Shen's messenger arrived in Nanxiang, it was already three days since the enemy approached! It took us time on the road as well! It took another three or four days for the reinforcements to arrive, so it's been six or seven days in total!"

The messenger rushed back to Nanxiang from Anyang to report the emergency. It took him another day on the journey, and now it has been the eighth day.

The planned things were disrupted again and again by accidents. Xiahou Yuan's anger was getting harder and harder to contain. He couldn't help but lead his troops to Xicheng to see if he could push Liu Qi, Huang Zhong and Su Fei back. Jia Xu naturally advised him: "General, don't act rashly! After Zhang Lu surrendered, the expedited document reporting the victory has been sent out for four days. In a few days, Cao Gong's reply will definitely arrive. Anyway, Xicheng has been lost, so these few days are not a big deal. It's better to wait for Cao Gong to make it clear whether to go south or east next, and then we will follow his orders."

……

While Xiahou Yuan was furious, Huang Zhong immediately went to defend the Xicheng area of Shangyong County after he broke through Xicheng County. He then began to repair the city defense works of Xicheng, and at the same time built temporary camps on the Qinling slopes on both sides of Xicheng to control the dangerous areas and prevent the enemy from crossing the mountain.

If they were given enough time, Liu Qi even wanted to mobilize the people's manpower to build a rammed earth pass here to block the not-so-wide flat area on both sides of the Han River Valley and prevent the army from passing.

No matter how you look at it, the Jingzhou army had an attitude of "quit while they are ahead". They were already satisfied with taking over the counties of Shangyong and had never considered continuing to advance and anger Xiahou Yuan or attacking the territories already occupied by Cao's army.

Liu Qi was too aware of the gap between himself and Cao Cao. It was okay to bully Shen Dan and Shen Yi who were temporarily without a leader, but if he took the initiative to attack Xiahou Yuan, he would be seeking death.

So of course you have to defend, put all your skill points into defense, and digest the fruits of victory you have already gained, and you will be very satisfied.

At the same time, Liu Qi did not forget to report the victory to the rear and ask his father what to do next. He sent people back to report the victory once when he captured Shangyong, and again when he captured Xicheng.

Liu Qi was also more cautious. He not only reported to his father, but also asked Yi Ji, who was in Xiangyang, to help him pass a message to Hanyang to find Xu Shu, the envoy of Xuande's uncle. In this way, Liu Bei could also grasp the movements of the Shangyong front at any time, and communicate any opinions and suggestions as soon as possible.

Although Liu Bei and Liu Biao were still two independent princes, they were almost like one family in terms of sharing military intelligence - at least Liu Qi's faction shared complete intelligence with Liu Bei. As for Liu Cong and Cai Mao's faction, forget it.

……

On the other hand, when Liu Bei sent his envoy Xu Shu to persuade Liu Qi to send troops, Liu Bei's troops that were preparing to enter Sichuan for reinforcement had just arrived at Ruxukou.

When Xu Shu met Liu Qi and offered advice, two days had passed since Liu Bei sent the envoy, and Liu Bei himself had marched to Chaisang.

By the time Liu Qi had discussed the matter with his father Liu Biao and marched along the Han River through Xiangyang and began to enter Shangyong, Liu Bei also marched to Wuchang.

Afterwards, Liu Bei stayed in Wuchang for three or five days, and then ordered his army to continue upstream to Baqiu and Yidao, ready to enter Sichuan to support Liu Zhang at any time.

Anyway, the march of a large army is definitely much slower than Liu Bei himself advancing with some guards and light cavalry. Letting the main force go first is also a way to save time.

Liu Bei himself stayed in Wuchang temporarily. Firstly, as the Marquis of Wuchang, it was rare for him to return to Jingnan, and he always had some affairs to deal with.

Secondly, he wanted to reminisce with his third brother Zhang Fei and appease the civil and military staff in Wuchang. At the same time, he could also wait for Liu Qi's response.

During the first three days after arriving in Wuchang, there was naturally all kinds of music and dancing, and I drank heavily with Zhang Fei to build our relationship. There is no need to elaborate on the details.

Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong would not stop it, as this kind of thing was inevitable.

The three or five days of waiting were indeed not in vain, because while Liu Bei was still playing music and dancing, the news of Huang Zhong's attack on Shangyong came back. It was immediately delivered to Xu Shu who was stationed in Hanyang, and then immediately delivered to Liu Bei across the river.

All the good news was expedited at a rate of at least 400 miles a day, and some even traveled 600 miles a day.

Liu Bei was delighted and surprised when he heard this, and immediately asked Zhuge Liang for advice:
"How could Huang Zhonglang of Jiangling be so brave? He was able to defeat Shangyong and kill Shen Dan in one day? It seems that the progress of the Jingzhou army is much faster than we expected?
Sir, do you think that Qi'er's quick victory will have any impact on our overall situation? Will he perform too well and attract Xiahou Yuan's hatred? "

After hearing this, Zhuge Liang couldn't help but frown. He and Liu Qi were somewhat related. Liu Qi was Huang Yueying's aunt's cousin. From a personal standpoint, Zhuge Liang certainly hoped that Liu Qi would make contributions.

But such legislation now may be a bit too eye-catching.

In the words of later World of Warcraft players, if Xiahou Yuan's hatred was taken away, causing him to OT, that would not be a good thing.

If the BOSS doesn't attack the T, will the T still beg the nurse to give him milk at all costs?
Maybe I should step on the brakes a little and wait until Liu Zhang, the T, finishes begging.

It’s not that we can’t defeat Xiahou Yuan, but at this critical moment, Xiahou Yuan is still useful.

(End of this chapter)