Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1462 Choice
Xiahou Shang in Hanzhong stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the defeated Cao soldiers outside the city, covered in mud, retreating into the city in a mess, and thought that this time something really bad might happen.

These days, the offensive of the Jin army became more and more fierce. Xiahou Shang tried his best to formulate tactics using the terrain. Most of the generals and soldiers under him had followed him for many years and were already the most loyal and elite forces in Cao's army. But even so, due to the gap in strength between the two sides, they were defeated by the Jin army's reckless attack.

Now Zhuge Liang is on the north route and Lu Xun is on the east route. The cooperation between the two sides makes it impossible for the Wei army to target one route alone. The battle has only been going on for more than a month, and the Wei army has suffered more than half of its casualties. If this continues, the loss of Hanzhong is only a matter of time.

Xiahou Shang returned to the city and summoned his staff and generals. After a discussion with the map in hand, they came to the conclusion that in ten days at most, the two armies of the Jin army would simultaneously break through the last line of defense outside Hanzhong City.

Xiahou Shang said, "Can you hold out until the rainy season ends, so that we can use the fire starters we have in stock to burn Hanzhong and the surrounding forests to stop and kill Cao's army?"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Finally, a marching officer who had some knowledge of astronomy said, "I'm afraid this rain won't stop within a month."

Xiahou Shang was furious. He had been preparing the fire starters for three years, but in the end they were useless. He couldn't even take them with him. Was he going to leave them to the Jin army?
If the Jin army got these things, wouldn't they use them to burn Chengdu?

Thinking of this, he became even more annoyed, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "No, these things cannot be left to the Jin army!"

"We will resist for another five days, and then we will be ready to withdraw from Hanzhong. Before that, we need to find a way to get rid of these things!"

When Zhuge Liang learned that the Jin army was dumping kerosene, dry firewood and straw upstream of the Han River, he said to Zhao Yun: "The Wei army can no longer be stopped. They are preparing to flee."

"Now we will divide our forces into two groups and send them to Gudao and Baoxiadao to block the enemy's route and force them to abandon Hanzhong."

Zhao Yun immediately summoned the other generals and said, "Wei Yan did not participate in the battle from the beginning. Instead, he went to the Qishan Road to cut off Hanzhong's retreat. There has been no news so far. I don't know if he succeeded."

"The mountains around Hanzhong are extremely dangerous. If he hadn't been able to bypass them, I'm afraid most of the Wei army would have fled."

Zhuge Liang said, "He has been exploring the mountains from Wuzhangyuan to Hanzhong for the past three years. Now we can still trust his ability. If he can't do it, no one else can do it."

"Let's send a message to Governor Lu first and ask him to cooperate in the attack."

Two days later, Lu Xun received a message from Zhuge Liang. He immediately issued an order, asking the three armies to break through the Wei army's defense line and launch a full-scale attack in the direction of Hanzhong.

Along the way along the Han River, the Wei army had actually completely collapsed. The reason for the slow progress was that it was too difficult to travel.

The Han River flows straight down, and the terrain difference is extremely large. Even steamships find it very difficult to move forward. Most ships can only grope their way forward in the steep mountains on both sides of the Han River, so the journey is extremely difficult.

Fortunately, the soldiers led by Lu Xun were mainly Danyang soldiers and Shanyue soldiers. These people had lived in the mountains since childhood, were extremely agile, and were good at using hillsides and woods. Compared with most of the Wei troops who came from Guanzhong, Jing and Yi, they were better at fighting in the mountains.

Moreover, after two years of preparation, when Lu Xun set out, he was equipped with enough hemp ropes and hooks for use in the mountains and forests, allowing the soldiers to advance steadily and quickly. With the support of equipment on the warships in the Han River, the Wei army showed signs of defeat when the battle started, and was beaten back again and again.

Coupled with the heavy rain, the Wei army was eventually defeated and retreated to the vicinity of Hanzhong. As the front line shrank, the difficulty of Lu Xun's advancement increased greatly.

He had been waiting for Zhuge Liang to launch the attack together. Now that he received the signal, he immediately ordered Wen Pin and three other generals to launch a fierce attack from both sides of the Han River in order to eliminate the last stubborn stronghold of the Wei army. Within three days, they had reached within 20 miles outside of Hanzhong City and were about to meet up with Zhuge Liang's army.

Now Xiahou Shang in the city received the news and knew that if he could resist for a few more days, it would be time to abandon the city. Otherwise, the enemy would completely surround Hanzhong and cut off his retreat, and he would not be able to leave. So he immediately sent soldiers to explore the Jinniu Road and Mi Cang Road south of Hanzhong in advance to avoid being outflanked by the Jin army.

Both roads are extremely steep and dangerous. Jinniu Road leads to Jiameng Pass, which is a pass that can be blocked by one man and ten thousand men cannot break through. Mi Cang Road has steep cliffs and wild beasts along the way. Both are extremely difficult and dangerous roads to walk on. Because of this, Xiahou Shang expected that he could retreat if he wanted to.

However, the news that came later caused great chaos in the Wei army.

The Jinniu Road, which is connected to the Qishan Road and leads directly to Chengdu in the west of Hanzhong, was cut off by the Jin army that came over the mountains!

Moreover, the enemy did not attack the pass, but used the equipment they brought to destroy the road surface and burn the plank road, obviously wanting to prevent the Wei army from retreating. Now Xiahou Shang had only two choices, one was to send troops to defeat the Wei army on the Jinniu Road, and the other was to quickly retreat from the Micang Road and then find a way to Chengdu from Bazhong.

In this way, no matter which option is chosen, the defense line from Hanzhong to Chengdu will have a huge loophole. If they retreat in a hurry, there may be a situation where the Jin army will directly attack Chengdu, just like Xiahou Yuan's attack on Yizhou before!
While Xiahou Shang cursed the Jin army in his heart for being difficult to deal with, he gradually confirmed a guess. When Xiahou Yuan entered Yizhou, Sima Yi, as the military advisor, was responsible for road surveys and must have known about many hidden dangers, but when he left, he did not remind himself at all!

And why did the Jin army launch a full-scale attack as soon as he left? Isn't this too much of a coincidence?
Thinking of this, Xiahou Shang was horrified. There was definitely something wrong with Sima Yi. He had to rush back to Chengdu!
But if he retreated without resistance now, Hanzhong would be easily captured by the Jin army, which would only make the situation worse. Moreover, Xiahou Shang was leaving troops to garrison, and it would not work if he left first. Not only would it lead to low morale, but judging by the moral character of the local gentry officials in Yizhou, there was an 80% chance that they would surrender the city as soon as he left!
After much deliberation, Xiahou Shang had no choice but to write an urgent letter to Cao Pi in Chengdu, reminding him to be wary of Sima Yi. Then he sent part of his troops to clear the Migang Road, preparing to retreat to Bazhong via the Migang Road after a fierce battle with the Jin army in Hanzhong.

This was tantamount to completely giving up the Jinniu Road, and Xiahou Shang had no other choice. With his current military strength, he could no longer do everything.

The Jin army soon discovered the movements of the Wei army. Lu Xun marched all the way to Mi Cang Road in an attempt to cut off the only retreat route of the Wei army. Zhuge Liang also reached the north of Hanzhong and launched an siege on Hanzhong.

After hearing this, Xiahou Shang sighed and knew that he might not be able to leave this time.

At the same time, Sima Yi had returned to Chengdu, and Cao Pi immediately summoned him.

After hearing Sima Yi's solemn assurance that Hanzhong could hold out for at least half a year, Cao Pi was relieved. He said, "If that's the case, Wei still has some extra troops available."

"I want you to lead the troops to pacify Nanzhong, open up the Shu-Shendu Road, and leave a retreat for our Great Wei. Are you willing?"

Sima Yi concealed the ecstasy on his face, bowed and said: "I am willing!"

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He thought to himself that he had finally waited for this day. Now the Wei State was being suffocated in Yizhou, and he did not want to be buried with it. Cao Pi sent Sima Yi to Nanzhong, which was equivalent to giving him the initiative to escape.

And Cao Pi would not know that his idea of ​​opening up the Shu-Shendu Road did not come out of his head out of thin air, but was influenced by the officials of Sima Yi's faction who kept hinting and submitting reports over the years.

Sima Yi took the seal and military token, and when he retreated, he sat in the carriage and fell into deep thought, thinking that although this was the first step, the biggest hidden danger still lay with Xiahou Shang.

According to Sima Yi's speculation, the offensive of the Jin army this year was by no means ordinary, and Xiahou Shang might not be able to hold out until the summer. If he came to his senses and fled back to Chengdu, there would inevitably be remarks that were unfavorable to him.

Although he was already in Nanzhong by then, if he was impeached too many times, Cao Pi would most likely issue an edict to order him to go back and be punished, or because Chengdu was in danger, he would order him to lead his troops back to defend Chengdu.

None of this is what he wants. The several situations Sima Yi envisioned can only be realized without the obstruction of Cao Pi!
One of his ideas was to go all the way south from Nanzhong, open up the Shu-Shendu Road, and then go to India to establish himself as king. The natives there had very poor fighting ability, and Sima Yi was confident that he could create a career on his own and no longer be controlled by the Wei Kingdom.

Besides, by that time, the Wei State might have been destroyed and the Jin State had taken over Yizhou. They wouldn't travel thousands of miles to make things difficult for me just to destroy me, right?

Another idea was to pretend to go south first, and then suddenly turn back to directly seize the Wei regime. Then, he could decide whether to go to India or negotiate surrender with the Jin army in Chengdu, and then get a leisurely title and live out his life there.

Sima Yi thought that he had no ambition. He was forced to fight everywhere over the years and had no choice but to do so. He was tired of this kind of life. So what if Cao Pi appreciated him? In his eyes, he was just a tool to deal with the State of Jin!

Sima Yi didn't want to fight anymore. In his opinion, Wei's struggle was meaningless. But Cao Pi was still quite stubborn. He was afraid that he wanted to perish together with him. Sima Yi didn't want to be buried with him!

He thought about these two options. The former was too passive. If the Jin State continued to fight to the death, he could not continue to escape to the ends of the earth. The latter was too risky. This was already a rebellion. If he captured or killed Cao Pi, even if he could take the throne, would the people of Wei State obey him?
Just as Sima Yi was planning his retreat, Xiahou Shang had been completely surrounded in Hanzhong. Looking at the dark masses of siege weapons and the heads of Jin soldiers outside the city, he knew that he had no way out.

The Jinniu Road had been completely destroyed by Wei Yan's army, and Lu Xun's army had also blocked the Micang Road. Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun had already attacked the city and sent someone to deliver a document of surrender.

Xiahou Shang took a look at the document and became more and more annoyed, because the letter said that he was betrayed by Sima Yi.

(End of this chapter)