novelAbuy Chapter 122 Battle of Hanzhong
Chapter 122 Battle of Hanzhong
Chapter 122 The Battle of Hanzhong (Seventh update, please vote with monthly tickets)
Deng Ai's plan shocked Zhuge Xu.
After a moment of stunned silence, he quickly stood up and looked at the map that Deng Ai had hung on the screen, his gaze falling on Yinping Road.
He had also heard of this ancient road.
There's a story behind it.
The ancient kingdoms of Ba and Shu still existed. The Qin state wanted to annex Shu, but found the roads too difficult to traverse. So they deceived the King of Shu, claiming they possessed a stone ox that could pull out gold. The King of Shu believed them and dispatched elite troops to open the Golden Ox Road to welcome the stone ox into Shu.
Later, the Qin state used this Golden Ox Road to conquer and destroy the Shu state.
Before Jinniu Road, there is Yinping Ancient Road.
If he had been able to travel the Yinping Ancient Road with Deng Ai all the way to Chengdu, he could have indeed achieved great merit. His failure to stop Jiang Wei's mistake is, of course, just a laughing matter.
but...
Thinking of this, Zhuge Xu's excited mood calmed down, and his gaze returned to calm.
The ancient Yinping Road has been abandoned for many years, so whether it's even passable is a question. If it's impassable, and we get stuck halfway and can't get back...
So what if he led tens of thousands of troops to commit suicide? If they succeeded and died, that would be fine. But if the entire army perished and the generals escaped, Sima Zhao would settle scores later, and their entire families might suffer.
Together with Deng Ai, they commanded a total army of 70,000. The elite troops of Yong and Liang were all under their control.
With Yong and Liang provinces vulnerable, Jiang Wei will have an opportunity to seize them. It's possible that Guanzhong and Liangzhou will be handed over to the enemy.
This is such a huge responsibility.
Even if they manage to reach Sichuan by chance, can we guarantee that the garrison commander of Jiangyou Pass will surrender, and that all the officials and soldiers in Fucheng and Mianzhu will flee?
Even if they reach Chengdu, will Liu Shan definitely surrender?
There's too much uncertainty.
What a wise person would not do, only a person with the courage of a common man could do such a thing.
"Deng Ai is old, yet has rendered great service, and has been granted a fiery title with six thousand households. In the eyes of the world, he has already achieved much in his life, only lacking death. But unexpectedly, he is as fiery as a man in his prime, even more so than a young man. He can take risks, but I cannot." Zhuge Xu calmed down completely, withdrew his gaze, sat back down, and said, "General Deng's plan is truly brilliant, but the General's order is for me to guard the Yinping Bridge. If I lead troops to follow the General westward, it would be disobeying military orders."
"Coward!" Deng Ai, a shrewd and experienced man, could easily see that Zhuge Xu was making excuses and was too afraid to go. He immediately cursed under his breath.
But he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he kindly persuaded me, "Come on, come with me. The glory of destroying a country is right before our eyes."
But Zhuge Xu simply changed the subject.
The two parted on bad terms.
After Deng Ai left, Zhuge Xu picked up his wine cup and sneered, "Deng Ai is as fiery as fire; he'll probably go his own way. He'll die on the Yinping Ancient Road."
His eyes lit up slightly, and he muttered to himself, "After Deng Ai's death, the campaign against Shu failed. At the same time, the country's western front was without a commander. I can replace Deng Ai. It's just that Jiang Wei is too strong."
"But Jiang Wei is too old. How many more years can he live? I just need to do what Sima Yi did with Zhuge Liang: fortify the walls and clear the fields, avoid fighting Jiang Wei, and outlive him to death."
Upon thinking of this, Zhuge Xu was immediately moved.
Who doesn't want to be in power? Deng Ai has been questioning Yong and Liang for many years; it's time for him to step down.
Then he remembered his guilt for letting Jiang Wei escape, and let out a soft sigh.
In the middle of the Baoxie and Tangluo roads.
The Baoxie Road was relatively easy to traverse. Therefore, Zhong Hui divided his army of over 100,000 into two, and led his own force of 10,000 men along the Baoxie Road.
in the afternoon.
On the Baoxie Road.
The Wei army had 70,000 elite soldiers, and an equal number of grain transport laborers lined up in a long, serpentine formation, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The army was simply unable to deploy.
Even if a hundred men were to break out from the side path, they could still inflict a minor defeat on the Wei army.
Even more terrifying is the treacherous mountain path, in some places only wide enough for a few people to pass. In some of the most dangerous sections, a single misstep could send you tumbling down a sheer cliff.
The weather is cold now, and the Qinling Mountains are at a high altitude, so the temperature is not gentle on the Wei soldiers.
Soldiers and laborers either died from illness or fell off cliffs.
The dead are countless.
When the time came, Zhong ordered the camp to be set up, which caused another round of chaos.
The generals of each unit needed to assemble their troops, find a place with a water source to set up camp, and at the same time, open up camps, cut down trees, and so on.
Everything was extremely complicated.
The same applies to Zhong Hui's main force. Today, Zhong Hui is lucky; he has led his 10,000 elite troops to set up camp in a river valley.
Outside the central command tent.
Zhong Hui's confidant Liu Yuan helped Zhong Hui dismount and then entered the central command tent to sit down.
The guards immediately served him food and drinks.
Zhong Hui sat down, supporting his back, and raised his tired face to say to Liu Yuan, "Seeing is believing. I finally understand why Emperor Wu never set foot in Hanzhong again."
Damn! This road is too difficult to travel. One trip here will shorten your lifespan by a year. Moreover, transporting grain is difficult, and the slightest mistake could cause the army to run out of food.
Moreover... Zhong Hui's face showed resentment as he said, "The generals are taking advantage of my youth and disobeying me."
Ultimately, he suffered from a lack of prestige. These arrogant and fierce generals of Cao Wei did not obey Zhong Hui and outwardly complied but inwardly defied him.
Furthermore, because Wei Guan served as the military supervisor, all the generals served him.
This forced Zhong to expend more energy and do more administrative work, which made him very unhappy.
Sitting to the side, Liu Yuan listened to his superior's complaints and also felt that this was not going to work. After pondering for a moment, he bowed to Zhong Hui and said, "My lord, a general cannot stand without authority. Now the generals are bullying you, which shows a lack of dignity. It would be better to kill a general to establish authority."
Zhong Hui's eyes lit up, and he readily agreed, "Brilliant idea." But then he fell into deep thought: Who should he kill?
Zhong Hui's mind was filled with a list of generals, and he couldn't make up his mind for a moment.
Hesitating and hesitating, another day passed by.
The next morning.
Despite his exhaustion, Zhong Hui had to get up early, and with his son's help, he mounted his horse and led his army south.
In the morning, Zhong Hui rode his horse to a newly renovated wooden bridge.
With a "crack," Zhong Hui's remaining warhorse suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground. Zhong Hui also tumbled off the horse, letting out a muffled groan.
The two men on either side were instantly shattered. Zhong Yong reacted swiftly, immediately dismounting and rushing to help Zhong Hui, asking anxiously, "Father, are you injured?"
"Where is the physician?" he called out again.
The guards, servants, and officials around him immediately realized what was happening and hurriedly surrounded him, talking amongst themselves about Zhong Hui's well-being, but in reality, they were all relieved.
Although Chung Hui has fallen from grace, he seems to be doing well.
Zhong Hui was indeed not seriously injured and was about to reassure everyone, but then a thought struck him. He looked at the bridge and said, "This bridge is brand new; it must have been built by the vanguard Xu Yi. As the vanguard, he can't even build a bridge properly and almost killed the commander-in-chief. He should be executed."
After speaking, Zhong Hui stood up and looked at the chief clerk Liu Yuan, saying, "Chief Clerk, you shall lead one hundred elite soldiers to Xu Yi's army and execute Xu Yi to uphold military law. Appoint the military commander in Xu Yi's army to temporarily lead Xu Yi's troops."
"Kill the general to establish authority!" Liu Yuan suddenly remembered the secret conversation from last night, his eyes lit up, and he immediately cupped his hands and replied, "Yes."
Immediately, he hastily mustered a hundred elite soldiers and headed straight for Xu Yi's army.
The guards, officials, and even Xu Yi's son, who were all unaware of the situation, were utterly horrified upon hearing this. Xu Yi was a vanguard general and the son of Xu Chu.
He is a descendant of a meritorious official of Cao Wei.
They just killed him like that?!
Zhong Hui sneered, his brows furrowed with smugness. He then had his son change horses, mounted one, and the army continued its advance.