The Three Kingdoms Fight for the Deer

Chapter 534 Retreat route
Zhuge Liang was sitting in the central army. He knew something was wrong when he saw the soldiers and horses in front retreating. He immediately asked the herald to inquire about the news. After a while, the herald came back and said: "The military division is not good. General Zhang said that the enemy has already As prepared, there are soldiers and horses ambushing in the city, and many archers are also ambushing on the city, if we continue to attack our army will suffer heavy losses, so we are ordered to retreat back to Chengdu."

Zhuge Liang frowned and said: "Don't be anxious, let the army return to the camp to garrison. Although Zhang Lu is already on guard, I think he dare not go out of the city to fight our army. He only dares to hide in the city. You will let Zhang Lu come back later. The general came to see me." Zhuge Liang was very calm, although he fell into the enemy's trick, he did not panic in the face of danger, and did not let the army rush back to Chengdu, but first garrisoned in the camp, because he predicted that Zhang Lu would never dare to send people to attack .

Zhuge Liang led the soldiers back to the camp to garrison, and sent scouts out for twelve hours without interruption to inquire about the news, so as not to be attacked by the enemy.After returning to the camp, Zhang Fei immediately went to the camp of the Chinese army to meet Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang saw Zhang Fei coming in. Although he failed, he didn't blame Zhang Fei, but comforted him: "Yide has worked hard, is there any injury?"

Zhang Fei shook his head, and said with some fear: "I was not injured, but it was extremely thrilling. I led a thousand soldiers to control the city gate, but the sudden appearance of 2000 archers on the city really shocked me. I broke through the enemy's defense, but after entering the city, I found that there were many archers ambushed in the city, and I was obviously prepared, so I retreated immediately. Fortunately, I ran fast, otherwise I would be trapped in the city by the enemy. "

"Yide is very skilled in martial arts, even if the enemy has an ambush, they can't do anything to you. If it were someone else, I'm afraid he would have died under the enemy's hands. When did Zhang Lu become so smart? Not only did he see through my schemes, but he also used them to ambush me. This shouldn't be his scheme." Based on Zhuge Liang's understanding of Zhang Lu, he felt that it was unlikely that Zhang Lu could see through his scheme.

"Military division, if it wasn't for Zhang Lu, then his advisers should have seen through your scheme." Zhang Fei felt that Zhuge Liang still underestimated people.

"It's also possible, but when I went to Hanzhong to form an alliance that day, I saw all the counselors under Zhang Lu's command. These people are mediocre. Instead, ambushing me, could it be that some capable people have joined Zhang Lu recently?" The more Zhuge Liang thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, as the saying goes, knowing yourself and the enemy can win every battle, and he will not act rashly if he doesn't know the enemy.

Zhang Fei was not interested in knowing who saw through Zhuge Liang's scheme. He said, "Military Master, why don't I lead an army to attack Hanzhong tomorrow? If I can catch Zhang Lu, I will definitely make him look good. He actually ambushed me, Mr. Zhang!"

"No," Zhuge Liang disagreed with Zhang Fei's suggestion. "Our real purpose of this expedition is to attack Hanzhong. If we attack Hanzhong by surprise, we will suffer heavy losses even if we can break through Hanzhong. This is not my original intention, so we cannot do so."

Zhuge Liang knew very well how many troops were available in Yizhou. Every soldier was very precious. It would take a long time to replenish the lost soldiers. Their population was far less "rich" than Cao Cao and Li Yuan. Immediately add back, Li Yuan and Cao Cao can afford it, but they can't afford it, so every step needs to be careful, once they make a wrong move, they will completely lose their qualifications to dominate the world.

"Since we can't attack Hanzhong, let's go back to Chengdu." Although Zhang Fei was upset, he was helpless. Before leaving, Liu Bei told him to obey Zhuge Liang in everything. If Zhuge Liang is not here, he must lead the army to attack Hanzhong.

"Yide, do you know what I am most worried about right now?"

"What is it?" Zhang Fei scratched his head, wondering what Zhuge Liang was thinking.

"What I'm most worried about is that we can't return to Chengdu now, and Zhang Lu will go to inform Li Yuan to send troops from Shangyong to besiege us." Zhuge Liang is actually not Zhang Lu, but Li Yuan who is most worried.

"Why can't we return to Chengdu, and why did Zhang Lu inform Li Yuan?" Zhang Fei couldn't understand the two things Zhuge Liang said, and they returned to Chengdu as they came to Hanzhong.

Zhuge Liang explained: "Yide, do you still remember that when we passed through Yangping Pass, there were suddenly a lot more soldiers and horses at Yangping Pass?"

"Indeed." Zhang Fei nodded.

"At that time, Yang Ren said that there were so many soldiers at Yangping Pass because he dispatched soldiers and horses to garrison Yangping Pass, but in fact this was a lie. Their real intention was to cut off our way back to Chengdu. The number of soldiers and horses is around [-], which doesn't look like much, but Yangping Pass is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We can't defeat it with our current strength. If we can't attack for a long time, the food and grass will soon be exhausted. It will be self-defeating." Only now did Zhuge Liang realize that he was deceived by Yang Ren.

"We can't attack Hanzhong, nor can we attack Yangping Pass, so what should we do?"

"What I am most worried about is that Zhang Lu will let Li Yuan come to attack us. Although the possibility is not high, we have to be careful, so we have to retreat, not to Chengdu, but to Chang'an." If he can't reach Chengdu, he will retreat to Chang'an for the second time.

"But Chang'an is Cao Cao's territory, will he take us in?" Zhang Fei expressed doubts.

"Don't worry, he will. We have sent people to Yecheng to form an alliance with Cao Cao more than a month ago, and there will be a reply soon. With Cao Cao's intelligence, he certainly knows the benefits of forming an alliance with us. He will not refuse, and We have no other way out except Chang'an, so we have to go." Zhuge Liang had already made up his mind.

Although Zhang Fei felt that going to Chang'an was not a good choice, he could only follow Zhuge Liang's words.That night, Zhuge Liang arranged for the evacuation of the army, leaving an empty battalion for Zhang Lu.

After three days in a row, Yan Pu saw that Zhuge Liang had neither attacked nor retreated, so he faintly felt that something was wrong, so he sent soldiers out of the city to check.

Yan Pu ran to see Zhang Lu immediately after learning about it, and said, "My lord, I think Zhuge Liang must be heading towards Yangping Pass. He knows that there is no hope of attacking Hanzhong, so he wants to return to Chengdu. Please send an army to pursue them immediately, my lord." .”

"Okay, Yan Pu, I will give you ten thousand horses to chase after Zhuge Liang, be careful in everything and don't act rashly." Zhang Lu warned.

(End of this chapter)