Chapter 453 The dangerous move of the army
Liu Fan guarded the Jinniu Road and Liu Bei guarded the Micang Road. This undoubtedly doubled the pressure of attack for Zhang He's army.
And it has more than doubled.
After all, the combat effectiveness of Liu Bei's army is not comparable to that of Liu Fan's army.
"Whether it is attacking Jinniu Road or Micang Road, it is not easy." Guo Jia said in a deep voice.
"The Jinniu Road is full of high mountains and deep valleys, especially in the Jianmen Pass area, where there is only a narrow passage in the middle. 'One man guarding the pass is impossible for ten thousand men to open it.' It is difficult for the army to launch large-scale operations here."
"Even if we mobilize a large number of troops, they will not be able to play a role. Liu Fan can just send a small number of troops to defend the dangerous place."
Although he still had a trump card in his hand, Guo Jia was not sure he could win a quick victory in a terrain like Jinniu Road.
If the war drags on, the situation will become worse.
The only way to capture Yizhou was to fight quickly. Otherwise, if Liu Fan used the terrain advantage to delay them, it would make them extremely uncomfortable and would easily give Liu Bei an opportunity to take advantage.
"Although Micang Road is better, Liu Bei is much more difficult to deal with than Liu Fan. If we are not careful, he will counterattack us."
"The most important thing is that no matter which side we attack, the other side will definitely not stand idly by and will definitely send troops to Hanzhong to force our army to retreat."
"Moreover, if the situation is urgent, I am afraid that Liu Fan will completely welcome Liu Bei into Shu!"
The difficulty of attacking Yizhou where Liu Fan is stationed and attacking Yizhou where Liu Fan and Liu Bei are jointly stationed are not on the same level.
Tian Ze felt that the difficulty of the latter was extremely great. After all, Boss Cao in history had failed here, and it was not because of climate, epidemics, naval battles, etc., but purely because of the huge disadvantages in terrain and logistical support.
The former are easy to deal with, but the terrain and logistical problems are something that even Tian Ze cannot solve.
Therefore, Tian Ze’s goal against Zhang He was to capture Yizhou where Liu Fan was stationed before Liu Bei could react.
The road to Shu is difficult not only compared to Tian Ze, but also for Liu Bei and Liu Fan. It is just relatively much better, but the logistical pressure is also great.
This is no longer a question of how much food there is; the key is that transporting food is difficult and requires a lot of manpower.
Just like the Battle of Hanzhong in history, Liu Bei's side directly shouted the slogan "Men should fight, women should transport troops."
The number of troops Liu Bei stationed at Micang Road must have been considerable, but it could not have exceeded 50,000, otherwise the logistics could not be guaranteed.
Because Liu Bei didn't know when Tian Ze would invade Yizhou. Even if he left behind 100,000 troops, once Tian Ze sent troops in the autumn or the following year, Liu Bei would not be able to bear the losses.
This number of troops, even if they were elite, could easily block the Micang Road and threaten Hanzhong, but they were unable to defend Yizhou together with Liu Fan.
Liu Bei's goal was only to temporarily stop Tian Ze from moving south to Yizhou and buy some time to transfer troops from Jingzhou.
This time, Tian Ze sent his troops secretly, and Zhang He's army moved quickly. No matter whether the news came from Chang'an or Hanzhong, it would take at least half a month for the news to reach Jingzhou.
It would take at least two months for Liu Bei to reorganize his army and prepare for the battle.
These two months are Zhang He's lifeline.
If Chengdu cannot be taken within two months, the Yizhou chess game will be over.
Zhang He could only retreat to Hanzhong, and at most break through one of the Jinniu Road or Micang Road, which would be difficult to withstand, and he would most likely be involved in a long tug-of-war with Liu Bei again.
"Liu Bei's main army will enter Shu in two months at the fastest and three months at the slowest." Guo Jia said in a deep voice.
"Although the Yizhou soldiers are weak, they are numerous, estimated to be nearly 300,000. There are at least 50,000 soldiers around Jinniu Road, and at least 100,000 soldiers guarding Chengdu. If the enemy insists on holding on, how long will it take you to take it?"
Zhang He frowned when he heard this, and after careful consideration, he said, "If Liu Fan doesn't have any good generals..."
"Liu Fan has good generals under his command, and they are good at defense." Guo Jia interrupted directly. Tian Ze naturally knew the abilities of Yan Yan, Zhang Ren, and Wu Yi, and Jia Xu also found out a lot of their strengths and weaknesses, so he would not underestimate the enemy's strength.
Zhang He was silent.
"Two months is definitely not enough time to cross the Jinniu Road and capture Jiange and Chengdu." Guo Jia said without surprise.
It’s not that Zhang He is incapable, but that the road to Shu is too difficult.
You know, in history, it took Liu Bei nearly two years to attack Yizhou when Liu Zhang himself let the wolf into the house.
It will be the same no matter who takes over, unless there are many people within Liu Fan's group who lead him to surrender, or even if Liu Fan himself surrenders.
But with Liu Bei by his side, the chance of Liu Fan surrendering to his side was very low.
After all, they are descendants of the Han Dynasty, and they are still full of passion. How could they surrender to the enemy with their own blood by their side?
but!
Under certain conditions, surrender may be inevitable.
"So, military advisor, you want to take a risky move?" Zhang He asked.
Guo Jia nodded without hesitation: "This is the only feasible solution we have discussed for a long time."
"Pang De will lead an army of 80,000 troops to quickly march south from Jinniu Road and attack Jiange fiercely, pretending to be the main force to attract the attention of the Shu army. If we can capture Jiange, that would be the best. If we can't, we can also tie down the defenders of Jiange."
"Tian Ning and Guan Hai led the main force to stay in Hanzhong to ensure logistics and local stability, block the Micang Road, and guard against Liu Bei's sneak attack."
"You and I will lead 30,000 elite troops to sneak across Yinping and head straight for Fucheng. As long as Fucheng can be captured, the matter will be settled!"
Zhang He's mind suddenly became clear after hearing this, and he immediately said: "Once Fucheng is occupied by us, we can attack Chengdu or attack Jiange from both sides."
"Liu Fan never thought that our army would take this route, so he must be completely unprepared. If he sends troops to support Jiange, we can go straight to Chengdu. If he does not react at all, we can attack from both sides and take Jiange."
Guo Jia nodded: "Jun Yi is indeed a wise general, his reaction is so quick."
“No, no, I’m not even a fraction as good as the military advisor.” Zhang He said.
"Your Majesty has already blessed you with talent. We have also secretly sent spies pretending to be hunters to explore the Yinping Trail several times before."
"Moreover, His Majesty has specially approved you to have 10,000 engineers. These are the treasure of the entire army. This strategy should be a sure thing." Guo Jia said.
Compared with Deng Ai's impromptu plan to sneak across Yinping in history, their plan was much less difficult.
Deng Ai's sneak crossing of Yinping was too risky, and luck played a big part in it.
As I said, the road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the sky.
Due to insufficient understanding of the terrain and inadequate preparation, Deng Ai's army was already exhausted when it arrived at Fucheng.
They had no supplies, were exhausted, had no food in their stomachs, and had only a few thousand soldiers.
In this state, Deng Ai's army had no combat effectiveness at all.
If the defenders of Fucheng put up a little resistance, Deng Ai would be finished.
Coincidentally, the defender of Fucheng surrendered!
(End of this chapter)
