Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

In the battle of Puban Pass, the battle of Weishui, and even the battle of Chang'an, Zhang He did not have any outstanding performance. He was so anxious to make a contribution.

As for Ma Su, it had been a long time since he defeated the Huns with the Fire Bull Formation. Although he made many suggestions in the meantime, he did not perform particularly well.

As the first top scholar in the imperial examination, this great man was naturally full of energy and couldn't wait to make new achievements.

Moreover, when he led the army to seize Jieting, he would not only be a strategist, but also accumulate military merits as a military general.

Ma Su had great ambitions and was obviously not satisfied with being just a strategist.

The two of them were vying to make achievements, and of course the others were not willing to lag behind, so they all stepped forward to volunteer.

Looking at the generals who were vying to fight, Liu Bei was unable to make a decision for a moment.

"Prime Minister, who do you think is the most suitable person to be sent to seize Jieting?"

Liu Bei had no choice but to turn and look at Xiao Fang.

"I think it would be most appropriate to appoint Zhang He as the main general and Ma Su as the deputy general to seize Jieting."

Xiao Fang gently waved his feather fan and gave his suggestion without hesitation.

In history, it was Zhang He who led the army to capture Jieting. With such a successful precedent, it was naturally most appropriate for Zhang He to attack Jieting.

As for Ma Su.

Historically, the brother-in-law appointed Ma Su to guard Jieting, but this guy was not ambitious enough and disobeyed Zhuge Liang's order. He did not set up camp on the road to defend Jieting City, and was eventually defeated by Zhang He.

Xiao Fang ordered Ma Su to be the deputy general to capture Jieting. On the one hand, he wanted Ma Su to accumulate experience in leading a army. On the other hand, he wanted him to rethink how to defend Jieting from the perspective of an attacker, which could be regarded as a kind of experience.

Zhang He and Ma Su, this is a perfect combination!

"Since the Prime Minister has said so, and they were the first to volunteer, let's do as the Prime Minister says."

Liu Bei didn't think much about it, and shouted:
"Zhang He, Ma Su, listen to my orders!"

"I will give you two 30,000 elite soldiers. Lead your troops westward along the Wei River as soon as possible to seize Jieting for me and open up the gap in Longshan!"

The two generals were overjoyed and accepted the order with great enthusiasm.

At dawn the next day, Zhang He and Ma Su led 30,000 elite infantry and cavalry and headed westward along the Wei River towards Jieting.

Liu Bei led the main force to continue resting in Chang'an City. At the same time, he issued an edict to recruit the counties and prefectures in Guanzhong to surrender, and stationed troops in various key locations.

...

Chencang City.

Thousands of defeated Qin soldiers came from the east one after another and rushed to Chencang to meet up.

In addition to Cao Cao's 50,000 main Qin troops, the Beidi County resisted Zhang Fei's Qin army, and the Wugu Pass's garrison troops led by Cao Xiu and Wu Yi, after hearing that Chang'an had fallen, all abandoned the pass and fled westward day and night.

The number of Qin troops barely recovered to about 70,000, and the military momentum improved slightly.

However, Cao Cao did not dare to linger. He ignored the intermittent headaches and the injuries on his hands, and led his troops to continue marching westward along the Long Mountains.

a few days later.

More than 70,000 Qin troops crossed the Long Mountains and finally entered the Longxi area.

At dusk, the army set up camp in Jieting City.

The Qin soldiers who had been fleeing for days finally calmed down and were able to have a full meal in peace.

Inside the royal tent.

The wine is ready, the aroma of meat is in the air, and a banquet to calm the nerves is set.

However, all the ministers of Qin State were dejected, had no appetite, and many of them were sighing.

Chang'an fell, Guanzhong was lost, countless soldiers were killed and numerous family members were separated... coupled with the hardships of fleeing for days, the morale of these Qin ministers was severely damaged. Even though they had entered Longxi and were far away from the danger of Guanzhong, everyone's spirit was still low.

Cao Cao looked at the depressed and listless faces and knew that this was not a solution. He had to find a way to boost confidence.

Guanzhong has been lost. If we lose confidence as well, how can we resist Liu Bei’s next attack?
Cao Cao covered his aching head, gritted his teeth, and his thoughts raced.

Suddenly, the severe pain in my head disappeared like a thread being pulled out.

The headache is gone!

When Cao Cao let out a long breath, his eyes rolled and he had an idea in his mind.

"Hahaha~~"

Suddenly, Cao Cao's loud laughter was heard in the imperial tent.

All the ministers raised their heads and looked at their emperor in blank stare, each with a confused look on their face.

The Qin Dynasty has been defeated to such an extent, and you, Cao Cao, even had two of your fingers cut off by Ma Chao. How can you still have the mood to laugh?

The laughter gradually died down, and Cao Cao's face was replaced by a hint of pride:
"Victory and defeat are common in the military. When I was defeated at Guandu, the entire Central Plains was taken by Yuan Shao. I only led a few tens of thousands of you to Guanzhong. Wasn't the situation a thousand times more dangerous than it is now?"

"But later on, I was able to overcome the difficulties with you and lay the foundation for our Great Qin!"

"Although I have lost Guanzhong, I still have Liangzhou and Yizhou in my hands. With the danger of Qinling Mountains in the south and the solidity of Longshan Mountains in the east, I can still use the geographical advantages to offset the advantage of the big-eared bandits in terms of military strength."

"My Great Qin will not perish, and your wealth and splendor will not be lost. Why are you so depressed?"

Cao Cao's heroic words echoed in the tent, and the spirits of the ministers gradually lifted.

"Your Majesty is right. Our Great Qin is not at the end of its rope yet!"

"We have withdrawn at least 80,000 troops from Chang'an, Wuguan, and other strategic passes in the north. Although there is little hope of recovering the lost territory, it is no problem to hold the Longshan defense line."

"What's more, Yizhou still has a million people, who can continuously replenish our troops and help Your Majesty restore the military might!"

"Everyone, His Majesty is right. There is no need for us to be discouraged. We must cheer up, follow His Majesty, and fight the big-eared thief again!"

As a die-hard fan of Cao Cao, the head of the Qin military officers and the head of the royal family generals, Xiahou Dun was naturally the first to jump out and respond to Cao Cao's inspiration.

The ministers felt as if they had been injected with a shot of adrenaline. Their depressed mood was lifted and a bit of confidence rekindled on their faces.

For a time, all the ministers expressed their willingness to do their utmost to follow Cao Cao and defend Longxi to the death.

Cao Cao's mouth curled up into a satisfied smile, and then he waved his hand to the ministers:
"We must have confidence, but we can no longer underestimate the big-eared thief. If you have any strategies to defend against the enemy, please feel free to speak up."

The words have not yet fallen.

Zhang Song jumped up and said,

"Your Majesty, if the big-eared thief wants to invade our Liang Province, he must first take Longxi. And if he wants to take Longxi, he must first cross the Long Mountains."

"Among all the roads in Longshan, the Longshui Road that we took to retreat westward is the most convenient and flat. I believe that Liu Bei will definitely take this road in the future to attack Longxi."

"And the key to controlling this road is the city of Jieting where we are."

Zhang Song pointed to his feet and continued:

"But I have seen this city, the walls are short and old, it is obviously not a strong city, it is not conducive to our army to defend it."

"So I think Your Majesty can leave 7,000 soldiers in Jieting and recruit local civilians to re-fortify and rebuild the city."

"Liu Bei has just taken Chang'an and Guanzhong. He will definitely spend several months resting his soldiers and pacifying the counties in Guanzhong. He will then lead his army to attack after the rear is stabilized."

"These few months are enough for us to turn Jieting City into an impregnable stronghold!"

"Even if Liu Bei has a million troops to attack us, what do we have to fear?" (End of this chapter)