Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3512: Similarity and Connection

Although you can take the Pengshui River from Jingzhou to Fangling, it is actually not easy to travel, especially going upstream, which is even more difficult.

Therefore, Cao Zhen did not dare to delay. After receiving the news, he immediately led his soldiers over the mountains and hills. The subsequent food and supplies were transported by boat along the Pengshui River.

Along the way, Cao Zhen was very worried, afraid that when he arrived at Fangling after so much hardship, he would see the tricolor flag hanging on the top of Fangling City...

On the map, Fangling is just a small dot, but if you really want to get there on foot, it would be a life-threatening task.

Cao Ren and Cao Zhen did not dare to send other ordinary troops here. After all, Fangling was indeed very important and specific adjustments had to be made based on the actual situation.

If the Cavalry Army attacked Fangling with all their might, it would be a two-pronged attack. In that case, Cao Zhen would need to delay Li Dian's army and buy time for Cao Ren to resist Wuguan on the northern front.

If Li Dian was just bluffing in Fangling, Cao Zhen must have noticed it as soon as possible, and then either launch a sneak attack on Li Dian's flank or turn around to provide support.

Anyway, the war situation is changeable and new situations may occur at any time. If it is just an ordinary general, it is possible that he will lose the initiative while passing information up and down and waiting. Especially on the mountain road from Fangling to Jingzhou, it is simply fatal...

Cao Zhen issued a death order, and everyone should ignore the soldiers who fell behind and run forward.

Therefore, although Cao Zhen bought a lot of time, the number of soldiers who arrived at Fangling was small.

Standing on the top of the mountain, Cao Zhen finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the flags in Fangling were still the Cao army's logo. "May God have mercy on us!"

"General, shall we enter the city now?"

The soldier asked.

Cao Zhen shook his head, "We are not going into the city! We are right here! Let's find a high place on the hill and hang up all the flags we brought with us!"

No one expected that the Shen family of Shangyong was so unreliable!

At least if they can hold on for a month or two, Cao Zhen will feel that Shen is not a waste!

Shangyong City, which Cao Zhen had been to, was larger, taller and more solid than Fangling City. It had been run by the Shen family for many years, and there were Shen family forts in the surrounding area to protect the Shangyong area. How could it be breached so easily?

Could it be that gunpowder was used again?

Eighty percent yes!

Damn!

Damn the General of Cavalry!

Don't talk about martial arts!

Gunpowder is something that will cause disaster sooner or later!

But why didn’t they kill the cavalrymen in the previous attack on Zhongtiao Mountain?

Cao Zhen gritted his teeth and looked at Fangling City in the basin below the mountain.

Now, such a small town has become a key point of contention between Cao's army and the Hussars, making Cao Ren and Cao Zhen very passive...

Fangling was once very famous in history.

This is where Meng Da became famous, and of course, also where he died.

Many people think that Meng Da is incompetent, but in fact Meng Da was also very powerful. However, when he attacked Fangling, he did not take the route of Hanzhong or Hanzhong, but went north from Zigui and passed through the Shennongjia area. This caught the Fangling defenders off guard and they could not have imagined that Meng Da would appear from the south!

The difficulty of this route is not much less than that of Ziwu Valley.

Only after Meng Da took Fangling did Liu Feng capture Shangyong. And he did not completely capture it, but only negotiated surrender terms with the Shen family at that time.

At that time, Liu Bei not only defeated Cao Cao in Hanzhong, but also seized Shangyong area. At the same time, Guan Yu was eyeing Nanyang covetously. The whole world was shocked and he was in the limelight. However, the curse of prosperity and decline fell on Liu Bei's head. Liu Bei was proud at that time. Not only did he build pavilions and towers in Sichuan and Shu without a firm foothold in Hanzhong, wasting money and food, but he even turned a blind eye to the fact that a large number of people were relocated from Hanzhong by Cao Wei. He directly launched a subsequent offensive plan and ordered Guan Yu to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng, trying to march into the Central Plains in one go.

Of course, Liu Bei's order to Guan Yu was to look for an opportunity, not to take action immediately. However, Liu Bei had probably forgotten what Guan Yu looked like at this time. With Guan Yu's personality, seeing how powerful the veteran Huang Zhong was, and Guan Yu himself "doing nothing" in Jingzhou, how could he bear it? So Guan Yu threw Liu Bei's instructions when he entered Sichuan behind his mind, and forgot Liu Bei's earnest words at that time that Guan Yu should guard the rear, and began to mobilize the entire army to attack Xiangfan.

Then there is no more then.

So now that Li Dian has led his troops to occupy Shangyong and is heading straight for Fangling, has he really accumulated enough strength in Hanzhong to attack Jingzhou in one go, or is he just a detachment to pull up Jingzhou's defense line, and the main force of the Cavalry Army is actually in Wuguan and Wancheng?

No one knows.

So Cao Zhen had to come and see it in person.

"Where are the flags?! Why are there only so many?! Go get some more! Hang them up and spread them out more!"

Cao Zhen roared and ordered his men to spread flags all over the mountains and forests.

At a distance, the words on the flags are not very clear, and are obscured by the branches of trees between the mountains and forests, but the colors can still be roughly seen.

Especially the word "Cao". From a distance, it looks like a black mass with a hat on top, while the word "Fei" looks like two forked legs. So even if you can't see the specific gestures clearly, the upper and lower features are still very obvious. In addition, there are still quite a few differences between the tricolor flag and the red and black man flag.

As for being able to clearly see a row of large characters written on a certain flag from miles away, then even a soldier scout can be a clairvoyant...

Cao Zhen didn't need to be able to see anything clearly from a distance, it was better if he couldn't see clearly.

He just needs the other party to see the flag.

Not only the cavalry scouts, but also the Di generals in Fangling.

Cao Zhen was not worried about the cavalry scouts coming to the mountain to investigate, because the terrain here, although only a few miles in a straight line, it might take a whole day to walk there. In addition, there was a Fangling City in the middle. Even if the cavalry scouts had the courage to attack, they would be discovered by Cao's army when they reached the front of the mountain.

With the advantage of being on high ground and as his troops arrived one after another, Cao Zhen gradually gained confidence.

After all, Li Dian’s main force had not arrived yet, and Cao Zhen didn’t take these cavalry squads seriously.

"General, shall we stay here?" the confidant asked Cao Zhen, "Are you sure we won't enter Fangling City?"

It is definitely not as comfortable in the wild and forests as in the city.

Especially in winter.

"Right here!" Cao Zhen turned around and walked down the mountain.

The wind on the top of the mountain made him feel a little cold.

"Go find a shelter and cut more cold-weather wood..." Cao Zhen ordered, "Also make arrangements for the soldiers who will follow... Have someone keep an eye on the river mouth and deliver the baggage ships as soon as they arrive..."

The subordinate responded and hurried to do it.

Fangling City was generally built in the Fangling Basin, surrounded by mountains. A Nanhe River, or Pengshui River, runs through the Fangling Basin and connects everything around it.

The current situation is that the cavalry squad appears on the western hill, while Cao Zhen and his men stay in the east, with Fangling in the middle.

"We just need to let Fangling know we are here, that's all..." Cao Zhen found a dry place sheltered from the wind and sat down, "Go into the city? That's not necessary... Those Di people... hum... If they want something, just send some over first..."

Cao Zhen did not intend to fight to the death with the Cavalry Army in Fangling, because although there was the Nanhe River in Fangling, it was not a place where the Jingzhou navy could be deployed. On the contrary, Danjiangkou, located at the confluence of the Dan River and the Han River, provided a broad stage for the Jingzhou navy.

Moreover, the place where the Han River and Dan Shui meet is also the core point that Cao Ren and Cao Zhen planned to defend against the Hussar Army.

However, it would take some time to deploy the navy to Danjiangkou. At the same time, it would also take time to set traps and strengthen fortifications in Fangling, south of the river. Therefore, Cao's army needed time and could not let Fangling surrender to the Cavalry Army so quickly.

That’s right. Both Cao Zhen and Cao Ren anticipated that Fangling would most likely surrender in the end. So if Cao Zhen entered the city, he might be used by the Di people as a bargaining chip to curry favor with the Cavalry Army.

Cao Zhen deployed decoy troops here to make Li Dian feel that it was not cost-effective to attack Fangling, and then go north to attack Yunguan and meet up with Pang Shanmin and others.

Although the strength of Li Dian, Pang Shanmin and the cavalry of Wuguan Road will increase after they join forces, it is actually a good thing for Jingxiang, because Cao's army only needs to defend one direction. At that time, Cao's army can use the navy to attack. Even if it cannot be stopped, it can use the navy to retreat to Xiangyang and continue to resist.

Moreover, letting the cavalry army attack along the Dan River and the Han River has an additional benefit for Cao's army...

But these are all plans. Although they are possible, plans are always plans. Whether they can be realized in the end depends on the people who execute them. After all, there are only more than a thousand soldiers defending Fangling, and the Di generals are unreliable. If the Di generals are unhappy or too happy and sell Fangling for a little money or power, then Cao's army will be in real trouble.

Fighting on two fronts, if either side collapses, the entire system will collapse.

When Cao Zhen thought of this, he felt a little uneasy. With so many things in mind, it seemed that any possibility would lead to the doom of Cao's army.

When attacking Hanzhong before, although Cao Zhen's attack was blocked, he did not feel that much fear. But now, as Cao Zhen thought about it, his hands couldn't help but tremble, and he even needed to hold on to a branch beside him to stay stable.

The confidant saw Cao Zhen's face turn pale for some reason, and he became nervous, "General?"

"Ah... It's nothing..." Cao Zhen was startled, and after coming to his senses, he said, "I was thinking... Hanzhong to Shangyong, and then Shangyong to Wancheng, which one is farther..."

The confidant did not suspect him, thought for a while and replied, "It seems to be about the same... From Hanzhong to Xicheng, you can take the Han River, but from Xicheng to Shangyong you have to take the mountain road... And from Wancheng to Yunguan, it's a mountain road, and then you can go along the Han River to Xicheng..."

Cao Zhen nodded, and then repeated subconsciously, "Indeed... Yunguan... Danjiangkou..."

……

……

The scouts of the Cavalry Army discovered the traces of Cao Zhen and others, and passed the information to Shangyong through a relay.

In the mountainous area, if you really use two legs or four legs to run, even if you run for three days and three nights, you may not be able to run from Fangling to Shangyong, but light can transmit information back to Shangyong in a short time.

However, the amount of information that this method of transmission can carry is relatively small.

So now Li Dian only knew that Cao's army appeared in Fangling and there were quite a few of them, but for other situations, he would have to wait for three or four days before scouts would retreat from the front line and report in detail.

"Cao's army has appeared in Fangling..." Li Dian looked at the map, "They are so fast... This is a bit troublesome..."

Li Dian went from Hanzhong to Xicheng by taking the Han River, going downstream, bypassing Xicheng, and heading straight for Shangyong. Although there were some risks, Li Dian learned about the current situation of the Shangyong Shen family by collecting information, so he successfully raided Shangyong and killed the Shen family.

Xicheng used to be relatively prosperous and had a large population, but in the previous battle, Cao's army and the Shen family killed almost all of the people there, and countless young and strong people were killed or injured. Even after Cao's army withdrew, a large number of survivors fled Xicheng.

West City is now almost an empty city. The few defenders in West City are just doing their job and will never go out to check. So Li Dian didn't have to put in much effort and slipped away right under the noses of the West City defenders.

But Shangyong was different. Even if Li Dian successfully raided and killed Shen Dan, it did not mean that it would be like in the game, where not only the city but also the surrounding land would change color instantly, and then the amount of resources for the occupying party would increase from the next second...

After he occupied Shangyong, he not only had to clear out the areas surrounding Shangyong, such as the Zhushan area, but also had to stabilize the grain transportation route from Hanzhong to Xicheng and then to Shangyong.

At the same time, the next step of advancement must also be considered.

Li Dian received an order from Guanzhong, asking him to seize the opportunity and march into Jingzhou.

This order was almost the same as the order Guan Yu received in history. Both orders were to "seek opportunity and act" and there was no mandatory time limit. However, Li Dian felt that this was the best time to attack Shangyong. It was also beyond the expectations of Shen and others. If they waited until next spring or summer, not only would the mountain roads be filled with miasma, but it would also give Shen time to recover.

Facts have proved that Li Dian's decision was correct.

However, conquering Shangyong was only half the battle.

This is true whether we look at it from a battle perspective or from a distance perspective.

It is a thousand miles from Nanzheng to Xicheng and then to Shangyong.

From Shangyong to Wancheng, it is almost a thousand miles.

It is not difficult to go downstream to Xicheng, but it is not easy to go through Xicheng to Shangyong.

The Shangyong area is a typical place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, with mountains all around and water running through it.

If you don't take the water route and have to take the mountain route, the rugged and winding route up and down the mountain is not only laborious but also time-consuming.

Even Li Dian himself felt tired after conquering Shangyong and needed to rest, so Li Dian sent out a large number of scouts, scattered around Shangyong and extending to the Fangling area, as tentacles to collect information and provide early warning.

It's also creating confusion.

After all, Li Dian was only stationed in Hanzhong, and the number of his soldiers was not as many as those defeated soldiers said. In addition, he left some troops to focus on the key points and preserve the food routes, so the main force that Li Dian could actually use to attack Fangling was only two or three thousand.

In large-scale military operations, with the forces thousands of miles apart, coordination is always a difficult problem no matter when.

Now Li Dian is also faced with a difficult choice: should he continue to go through Fangling and attack the flank of Jingxiang, or go around to the north along the Han River, open up Yunguan, and meet up with Pang Shanmin, Liao Hua and others?

Both routes obviously have their pros and cons.

Li Dian thought for a long time and decided to wait for the latest information and make a decision after understanding the details...

……

……

There was great excitement in Fangling City.

The Di general guarding the city saw Cao Zhen's flag and received the news that Cao Zhen had arrived with his soldiers. He immediately felt a little confident and ordered the whole city to be informed that reinforcements had arrived. In order to enhance persuasiveness and rally morale, he even boasted that he had agreed with Cao Zhen long ago and that the troops coming were Cao's elite troops!

When the defenders of Fangling saw more and more flags appearing on the mountain, although they could not see clearly how many soldiers there were in the mountain, but based on the calculation that there were fifty people for each flag, there should be at least two to three thousand people, and they immediately felt relieved.

Especially when the Di general saw that when the Cao army’s flags appeared, those cavalry teams gradually disappeared into the mountains and forests and no longer approached Fangling, he became more convinced that his choice of waiting and not surrendering immediately was correct.

Cao Zhen is more or less a great general in Jingxiang. If Cao Zhen comes to rescue in person, he will definitely lead the elite main force of Cao's army.

At the same time, if Cao's army really came, it would also show the importance of this place. Then no matter which party he negotiated the price with later, he would be able to negotiate a higher price than the original one.

This is more important to him.

Therefore, the Di people emphasized seriously and asked their men to speed up the reorganization of the defense line.

However, some people also pointed out that Cao's army only raised the flag on the top of the mountain, and no soldiers were seen. The Di people scolded the little leader for talking nonsense on the surface, but they couldn't help but have some doubts in their hearts.

But soon, the food and equipment sent by Cao Zhen dispelled the Di people's doubts.

The Di people who got the things were obviously very excited.

He picked out the best piece of armor and put it on, then showed it off to his men, "Look! These are all good stuff! If we weren't guarding here, how could those guys be willing to give us these good stuff? ! "

He walked with his head held high, in high spirits, all the dejection he had felt not long ago gone.

Whatever the Di people get from their limited brain capacity will naturally be theirs.

It doesn’t matter whether Cao’s soldiers come or not, as long as these valuable things are delivered!

What's more, if Cao Zhen really arrived in Fangling, wouldn't he have to hand over the power of Fangling?

It would be better if it were like this now, where he has the final say in Fangling.

The Di general did not intend to fight a life-and-death battle with the Hussars, but he hoped to get as much as possible.

So how can you get these good things?

Of course, the purpose is to make Cao's army think that they can resist the cavalry here, so they will send supplies continuously.

The Di general summoned his confidants and said, "Send someone to tell General Cao that I will live and die with Fangling! But! We have no weapons or food now! So... ask them to send more!"