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

Upon hearing this, Yan Pu frowned deeply and remained silent for a long time.

There was a dead silence in the hall, only the occasional sighs from the generals broke the depressing silence.

After a long time.

A helpless sigh slowly escaped from Yan Pu's mouth, carrying with it endless despair.

"Once the General of the Cavalry dies, the armies of the Qin army in Hanzhong will become a mess. This is a taboo in military strategy, and the soldiers in the army will inevitably be in panic."

Yan Pu spoke slowly, his voice low and hoarse:

"With the limited military strength we have left, it is undoubtedly a pipe dream to divide our forces to retake Dingjun Mountain."

"So, the only thing we can do now is to watch the Han army either threaten Nanzheng or cut off our food supply."

Upon hearing this, all the generals looked stern.

Yan Pu paused for a moment, a trace of sadness flashing in his eyes:
"In my opinion, whether it's Yangping Pass or Hanzhong, it's impossible to defend it no matter what."

"Right now, the wisest choice is to abandon Hanzhong and retreat to Jiange!"

When generals like Lei Tong and Wu Lan heard the words "abandon Hanzhong", their faces changed.

They naturally knew how important Hanzhong was.

Abandoning Hanzhong means that Yizhou loses its barrier, and Liu Bei's army will easily reach Jiange.

If we can take Jiange Pass, we will have a smooth journey to Chengdu.

This is a danger of national destruction!
Who will take responsibility?

Yan Pu took a deep breath and continued:
"Only in this way can we preserve this precious force for Your Majesty, so that we can counterattack and take back Hanzhong in the future!"

Every word Yan Pu said was like a hammer, hitting everyone's heart hard.

Wu Lan and other generals fell into silence.

Everyone looked at each other, their eyes revealing a hint of hesitation and struggle, and a fierce battle was going on in their hearts.

In fact, from the looks in the eyes of the generals, they could all see that they all obviously agreed in their hearts to abandon Yangping Pass and Hanzhong.

After all, Xiahou Yuan is dead, and the Hanzhong army has lost its morale. How can they defend the city?
"We must not abandon Yangping Pass, and we must not abandon Hanzhong!"

At this moment, a loud shout like thunder broke the silence.

Everyone was startled and looked over.

The old general Yan Yan’s face turned red and his eyes were wide open with anger.

He glared at the generals and said sternly:

"Although the general died in battle, how can we abandon Yangping Pass without your Majesty's order?"

"If that is the case, we would be disloyal to His Majesty!"

"In our Great Qin, there are only generals who fight to the death, not generals who abandon the city."

Yan Yan's voice and expression were stern, and his grief-stricken and indignant words shocked everyone and made them tremble with fear.

There was awe and a hint of guilt in their eyes when they looked at Yan Yan.

There is no way, Yan Yan’s prestige among the Shu generals is too high.

This veteran is usually taciturn and rarely expresses his opinions.

He even felt a little dissatisfied with Xiahou Yuan.

Therefore, since he took charge of Yangping Pass, no matter what decision Xiahou Yuan made, he remained silent and did not express his opinion.

but now.

When Xiahou Yuan died and the generals decided to abandon Yangping Pass, he stood up and suddenly made a generous statement, opposing the abandonment of the pass.

They also brought up the accusation of being disloyal to Cao Cao and the bad reputation of the Shu generals.

The generals dared not say a word.

"General Yan is right!" Lei Tong swallowed his saliva, his voice trembling slightly:

"If we abandon Yangping Pass or even Hanzhong without permission, and His Majesty really blames us, who can bear this heinous crime?"

As he spoke, he rubbed his hands nervously, his eyes full of fear.

Obviously, he was afraid to take the serious consequences that might result.

Yan Pu frowned, shook his head slightly and said:

"There is no need to guess what the Han army will do next. They will definitely mobilize all their forces to attack our Yangping Pass from both sides!"

"The situation in Guancheng could take a turn for the worse at any time. We don't have enough time to ask His Majesty for orders!"

"Once Yangping Pass is breached by the Han army, we will engage in close combat with the Han army. It will be extremely difficult for us to abandon the pass and escape!"

There was a deep sense of urgency in Yan Pu's words, and his eyes were directed at Yan Yan.

Yan Yan just snorted coldly with a look of disdain.

"Anyway, the Emperor's decree orders us to defend Yangguan. Regardless of whether General Xiahou is here or not, without His Majesty's decree, I, Yan Yan, will never abandon the pass and flee!"

As Yan Yan spoke, he suddenly drew out the sword from his waist.

A flash of cold light illuminated his resolute face.

Yan Yan held his sword horizontally and said sternly:
"If Liu Bei, the big-eared thief, dares to take advantage of the situation and attack my Yangping Pass, I, Yan Yan, will fight to the death to avenge the emperor!"

Yan Yan's voice and expression were stern, his eyes were burning with fighting spirit, and he looked ready to die.

Lei Tong, Wu Lan and other generals were really shocked by Yan Yan's momentum at this moment. They looked at each other for a while and dared not object.

Moreover, they really did not dare to take the responsibility of abandoning Yangping Pass without authorization.

If Cao Cao blames us, who will take the blame?
In desperation, the generals had to remain silent again, lowering their heads and saying nothing.

Yan Pu was anxious.

He originally thought that all the generals would put their lives first and rise up against Yan Yan, insisting on abandoning the pass and fleeing south.

Unexpectedly, so many people were intimidated and subdued by Yan Yan, and no one dared to say a word.

All the generals refused to express their opinions. How could he, a counselor, make the decision?

Seeing this, Yan Pu could only sigh helplessly:

"In that case, let's hold on to the city gates while sending people south to Chengdu to ask for an imperial decree from His Majesty."

"Your Majesty is wise. I believe that Your Majesty will definitely make a wise decision and let us abandon Hanzhong and preserve these precious tens of thousands of troops."

Only then did Yan Yan put away his sword and stopped objecting.

At that moment, Yan Pu wrote two letters, one of which was sent to Nanzheng to ask Cao Zhen for instructions.

The other letter was sent by Pegasus southward to Chengdu.

At dusk, Yan Pu stood on the city wall and watched the two riders leave until they disappeared from his sight.

"I hope we can make it in time. I hope Your Majesty can make a wise choice. Otherwise, I'm afraid that our only remaining 20,000 soldiers will all die in this city..."

"The Qin army is already short of manpower. If we lose another 20,000 soldiers, I'm afraid we won't be able to defend Jiange, not to mention Yangping Pass..."

Yan Pu sighed, looked towards Chengdu, and prayed silently in his heart.

Within a few days, the news of Xiahou Yuan's death and the Qin army's defeat at Dingjun Mountain spread like a gust of wind, quickly sweeping across Yangping Pass and the cities of Hanzhong and Nanzheng.

The whole Hanzhong was shocked.

Inside the city walls, the Qin army was in a state of panic and shock.

From day to night, the city was filled with the soldiers' whispers and terrified discussions.

The morale and fighting spirit of the Qin army had fallen to the bottom in the blink of an eye.

Before the Han army attacked, the entire Yangping Pass was already shrouded in a shadow of despair. (End of this chapter)