Chapter 443 The overall situation is the most important thing
Liu Bei was not too angry.
He knew that something bad was going to happen as early as when Yuan Shao and Cao Cao strongly recommended him to take the position of leader of the alliance.
But it’s still those four words.
The overall situation is important!
It is a fact that Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are now powerless. Apart from begging for alms, what else can they do?
"Don't worry, the two of you. Although there are not many war horses in Jingzhou, there is plenty of food and grass. I can provide a certain amount of food to Brother Benchu and Brother Mengde to protect you from any emergency."
After hearing what Liu Bei said, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were delighted but also felt a little ashamed and annoyed.
I never thought that they would have this day.
In terms of strength, the two of them were definitely ranked in the top two among the five great princes, but now they have become the weaker party.
After Liu Bei spoke, Liu Fan and Sun Ce followed suit without hesitation.
Their advisers did not really care about this matter.
Although there was some indignation, the three southern states were not short of food at that time.
During those years, although Gan Ning plundered a large number of people in the south, he also left behind a huge amount of money and grain.
In addition, the three southern states originally produced a lot of grain and were not affected by natural disasters.
How wealthy are the three southern states now? Liu Bei, Sun Ce and Liu Fan can be said to have never worried about money and food.
Although the wealthy and powerful families had more money and grain, the common people could still only get enough to eat a full meal, but it was not difficult for Liu Bei and others to get some money and grain.
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were so envious of this that their eyes turned red.
They were never so extravagant even when they were at their richest. God is really blind.
Among the five major princes today, the division between the north and the south is still very obvious.
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were both particularly good at fighting, and most of their men were elite soldiers and generals who had experienced countless battles, but they were short of resources.
Although Liu Bei, Sun Ce and Liu Fan had no shortage of money and food, their hard power was far inferior to that of Yuan and Cao. Moreover, the special characteristics of the southern soldiers made them indeed lacking in combat power in the field.
Under Tian Ze's intimidation, they gradually began to merge.
The southern princes provide money and food, and the northern princes are responsible for fighting. This is undoubtedly the best configuration.
After all, Yizhou has natural defenses, Liu Bei's Nanyang is impregnable, the Jiangdong navy is not inferior to Gan Ning, and the three princes in the south can completely stabilize the situation.
Most of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's territories nowadays are surrounded by enemies and have no strategic locations to defend, so they can only rely on warfare.
Given the situation of Liu Bei and others, they could definitely support Yuan and Cao.
However, this is only an ideal state after all. Everyone present knows very well that even if this situation can be maintained, it will not last long.
Even if the southern princes could keep up with the supply of money and food, the increase in population and troops under Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would probably not be able to keep up with the consumption.
If this continues, both will eventually die out.
unless……
Everyone present was well aware of this, but with a powerful enemy at the doorstep, they could not say anything that was not conducive to unity.
This is also the reason why Liu Bei and the other three did not put forward any conditions for assistance. They did not want to force Yuan Shao and Cao Cao into a corner.
To some extent, they have sacrificed a lot for the overall situation.
Even though he was forced to "sacrifice".
This is a confusing account. If we really settle it, the only outcome for both parties is to go their separate ways and wait for death.
Therefore, even though the three men suffered losses and their civil servants were quite unwilling to accept this, they did not say much.
In this tense and delicate atmosphere, the meeting continued to move forward.
Liu Bei looked around at everyone, his expression solemn and calm, and said: "Everyone, although the matter of assistance has been preliminarily agreed upon, this is only a temporary measure."
"If we want to truly defeat Tianze, we still need to plan long-term strategies and develop a set of practical strategic plans." It is absolutely impossible to just defend blindly. With Tianze's development speed, as time goes by, the strength of both sides will only continue to increase, not decrease.
Therefore, defense is only temporary. If you want to break the situation, you still have to find a way to counterattack.
"Tian Ze now uses the Yellow River and Qinling Mountains as its defense line, and has stationed a large number of troops along the way. It can be said to be impregnable. I'm afraid it will be difficult to counterattack." Ju Su said in a deep voice.
Yuan Shao launched attacks on Tian Ze many times but made no progress. He was well aware of Tian Ze's defensive capabilities.
Do they really have the ability to fight back when they can't even defeat Tian Ze's passive counterattack?
Tian Ze's territory was connected, and the only three states they could attack were Jizhou, Sili and Liangzhou.
From the perspective of terrain, the most suitable place for attack seems to be Jizhou, which is flat and rich.
But the one stationed in Jizhou now is Xu Rong!
Although he seldom took action, they had heard of him as Tian Ze's top defensive general.
Moreover, the four major legions of Guan Yu, Xu Huang, Gan Ning and Zang Ba were stationed near Jizhou. Just dealing with them was enough to be a headache, so there was no energy left to fight back.
Not to mention the Sili area, they had already experienced the difficulty of the surrounding checkpoints when they were fighting against Dong Zhuo.
When Tian Ze moved the capital to Chang'an, he must have stationed a large number of troops in Sili, and with the famous general Xu Huang stationed there, the city was as strong as a rock.
As for Xiliang, we are back to the same deadlock again. Do they have so many cavalry?
"The only direction we can attack is Xiliang." Pang Tong said in a deep voice.
Cao Cao frowned and spoke slowly: "Shi Yuan, Xiliang is a vast land with few people and flat land. It is a place where cavalry can run rampant. If we don't have a large number of cavalry to fight against them, we will be courting death. But now we don't have enough cavalry."
"Moreover, the only way to avoid Sili's attack on Xiliang is through Hanzhong."
Cao Cao glanced at Liu Bei and Liu Fan seemingly unintentionally and said no more.
Cavalry combat is not Liu Bei's forte, nor is it the forte of the Jingzhou soldiers.
And Liu Fan can only be regarded as a bonus.
Pang Tong nodded slightly, his eyes revealing a firm look, and said: "Mr. Meng De is right. The insufficient number of cavalry is indeed the biggest obstacle to our attack on Xiliang."
"But Tong believes that there is a solution. Moreover, only by taking over Xiliang can we have a place to produce horses and compete with Tianze."
Looking back now, it was indeed a failure that we watched Xiliang being lost in the past.
But they had no choice at that time.
Gongsun Zan and Tian Ze were obviously in cahoots with each other. The battle of Xiliang was just a formality and they had no say in it.
If we really send out troops, the possibility of being beaten by the two of them together is probably higher.
Moreover, Tian Ze's military strength in Jizhou was relatively stretched at that time, so attacking Jizhou was the best option.
Moreover, Xiliang produces horses, but Jizhou has more money and grain.
By conquering Jizhou, the resource shortage problems of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would be solved, and the battle line between them and Tian Ze would become longer, providing more opportunities to take advantage of.
Even though they are now united, the southern princes still provide them with both troops and food.
But in essence, they still depended on others. The initiative had shifted from Yuan Shao and Cao Cao to Liu Bei and others.
The former leader of the alliance had to abdicate due to the situation, and only Yuan Shao himself knew how he felt.
As Pang Tong said, the one who would benefit the most from attacking Xiliang would be Liu Bei, not them.
However, the overall situation is more important!
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao secretly coerced the southern princes to provide assistance by using the overall situation. Liu Bei also secretly coerced Yuan Shao and Cao Cao to support his attack on Xiliang by using the overall situation.
(End of this chapter)
