Liu Bei noticed the figure outside the military tent, and he could guess who was coming just by footsteps. For such a loyal minister, Liu Bei's character should have been smiling and calling, but he did not do so at this time. The man outside the tent did not continue to come in, letting the cold wind blow, making the sleeves swell. For a moment, the atmosphere was a little strange.
After a while, the person outside the tent turned around and retreated quietly.
Liu Bei sighed.
The command to travel in the night in the army usually uses some majestic words. The word "生诗" is too strange. In fact, after he said these two words in a strange way, he was also a little confused for a moment.
It was not until Pang Tong left that Liu Bei recalled that he had eaten a lot of food today.
When he personally mentioned that the front of the army entered Lantian, it was December of winter. Heavy snow fell deep in the Qinling Mountains, covering the roads, causing great obstacles to logistics. For more than a month, the amount of grain stored in the army continued to decline and was almost on the verge of danger.
Liu Bei tried his best to provide comfort to his soldiers and share the joys and sorrows with them. Like ordinary soldiers for several consecutive days, he only ate wheat cakes and bean soup. It is not easy to start a house on the front line, so wheat cakes were steamed once every three days in the Central Army camp and sent directly to the front. They were collected by various troops and heated each when they were eaten.
Because the cake is often mixed with bran or even gravel, it is really not delicious. After all, Liu Bei is old and often cannot digest it. Therefore, his entourage will add an extra dish or two to him, and he may not have to eat wheat cakes.
For example, at noon today, I ate a chicken. However, the chicken was very thin, and it was covered in bones, making Liu Bei's teeth hurt.
But Liu Bei did not use the word "sheep" as a command because of the influence of this lunch. In the past half month, he often thought that the battle in Guanzhong has come too hasty. So far, his gains in Guanzhong are really tasteless, and it is a pity to abandon it.
Since the Battle of Chibi in the 13th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei's power has entered a rapid expansion process. In the 15th year of Jian'an, he occupied Shu in the 16th year of Jian'an, and settled Hanzhong in the 17th year of Jian'an, and achieved rich results immediately. The rest of Jian'an's eighteen to twenty years of rest and recuperation, and the chaos in the Central Plains itself made many subordinates eager to try.
For example, this attack in Guanzhong was promoted by Peng Yi, and Pang Tong carried out it with one hand. Countless civil and military officials were cheering up and encouraged, and all preparations were made. Finally, Liu Bei himself also felt that Chang'an was the imperial capital, and once seized, it would give him an incomparable political influence; leaving Guanzhong from Shu was also in line with the plan made by Kong Ming in Longzhong back then. Therefore, this battle must be fought and worth fighting.
But after rushing into Guanzhong and having a personal experience, I realized that the actual situation is different from talking about it on paper. If I can't take Chang'an, all the good expectations are fantasies. The cities of Meixian County, Wugong, Meiyang, Huaili and other cities do not have sufficient household registration, and it is actually impossible to serve as bases for the army to stay. Once the army returns, these cities will not be able to persist for a long time and will inevitably fall.
The war, which mobilized tens of thousands of troops and had already paid thousands of casualties, was inevitably found nothing in the end.
What a pity.
I still have to find a way to retreat and I can't continue to fight.
Decades of military career gave Liu Bei a keen sense of battlefield. He could feel that although he and Ma Chao were leading powerful soldiers and fighting with Cao's army in a roundabout way, it seemed like a draw. However, the successors of Cao's family gathered in Yecheng, Xudu, and Luoyang, and could continue to invest. Once this investment reaches a certain limit, his own collapse will become inevitable.
To a certain extent, Guanzhong has become a cage; the city of Guanzhong and even Chang'an City are all bait in the cage. Liu Bei, or Ma Chao, are just prey attracted by the bait, but Cao Cao has become a hunter!
In recent years, Liu Bei has rarely felt such a dilemma and rarely felt such a terrible threat.
Liu Bei couldn't help but wonder, how did the smooth situation where everything was put in his hands turn into this?
Isn’t this Northern Expedition the result of our own strengths and the planners discussing together?
Before sending troops, weren’t many people instructed and scolded each of their strengths and weaknesses clearly and came up with solutions to deal with them?
Why didn't they expect that Yan Xing was so resistant to war and tough, and Chang'an City was so strong?
Why didn't they expect that Ma Chao became more cunning?
Kong Ming, Shi Yuan and Xiao Zhi are all the most wise and scheming people. I, Liu Bei, may have been negligent and reckless for a while, how could they?
Liu Bei is a person with great experience in political struggle. If you think about it carefully, the answer will be clear.
In fact, the answer has been clear for a long time, but Liu Bei has deliberately ignored it in the past two years.
Before and after the Red Cliff, Liu Bei trusted Zhuge Liang so deeply and entrusted him far away from others, so he was able to compete with others. But later, Liu Bei's power expanded, and the heroes of Jingchu and Yizhou returned to the sea like a river. With the arrival of Pang Tong and Fa Zheng, Zhuge Liang was still the only one, but his power and status were always shrinking relatively.
Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang were both military advisors and generals who took charge of military and national affairs. Their status and authority were exactly the same. Their division of labor and coordination was roughly Pang Tong's management of the army, while Zhuge Liang was in charge of the government. In the troubled times, military affairs were the first, and Pang Tong's influence was thus raised.
After Liu Bei promoted to King of Hanzhong, he used Fa Zheng as the Minister of State, and Fa Zheng directly handled the memorials sent to King of Hanzhong, diluting the authority of the military advisor.
Zhuge Liang was always humble and never deliberately fought for power. The influence of Pang Tong and Fa Zheng continued to expand. Since last year, Peng Yi, who was elected by the two, took office as the governor of Yizhou and actually handled government affairs in Yizhou. Therefore, in several military discussions since then, Pang Tong, Fa Zheng and Peng Yi were almost able to decide the direction of the military discussion.
Liu Bei had a grand ambition and didn't mind these things.
He also really likes Pang Tong, Fa Zheng, Peng Yi and others. These people are not as cautious, restrained, and selfless as Zhuge Liang. They each have their own problems, but their own problems actually highlight their personalities, making Liu Bei feel that they are easy to get close to and control.
As a result, these people work together to exert their influence and seek greater influence.
On the day when Liu Bei was determined to march into Guanzhong, Zhuge Liang asked for a private interview and proposed that the left general Lei Yuan should be prepared to return to Jiaozhou at any time and then participate in the defense of Jingzhou's eastern front. In addition, he also suggested that Liu Bei pay attention to the internal and external cross-link between Peng Yi and Kou Feng.
Liu Bei agreed. But now when he recalled the situation before sending troops, he could not help but remember that during the previous discussions on the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Liang's opinions were not taken seriously. Pang Tong went to Hanzhong and should have assisted Zhang Fei, but Liu Bei was dragged away by Pang Tong, who was in Hanzhong, and Peng Li was fueling the fire.
Pang Tong was always full of confidence and felt that he could seize Guanzhong by just using the main force to fight to defeat Cao's army. Therefore, he promoted the war in Guanzhong and threw a total of 60,000 troops into Guanzhong, thus continuously enhancing his voice in the northern war situation.
Peng Xian took advantage of the excuse of Guanzhong to reorganize the defense of Jingzhou's eastern front and provide timely assistance to the enemy. In this way, he intervened in the appointment of military generals on the eastern front of Jingzhou as the governor of Yizhou, making the connection between his small group increasingly close.
As for Fa Zheng, he seemed to have done nothing, but he was sitting and watching Pang Tong and Peng Ye advance their plans without saying anything, and his tendency was very obvious.
When the power was in a difficult situation, everyone tried their best to plan, just to gain a little advantage when competing with the outside world and seek a way out, and often fail. Now that the power is strong, the internal people are making private plans for their own affairs, which has affected major policies. How sad is this?
This attitude is simply...it is like Yuan Benchu ​​at that time. Although he is full of talents, he is fighting fiercely with each other, and is simply laughed at by Xun Yu.
Thinking of this, Liu Bei was startled and shook his head repeatedly.
Not to.
Shi Yuan is a smart man. He was just standing in front of the camp and was obviously already understanding the meaning of "small ribs", so he could guess my feelings. It would be better for him to reflect on for two days. Next, he had to find an opportunity to talk to him in depth and he would be able to stop this trend.
The most important thing at the moment is to withdraw troops. With so many soldiers and horses here, Ziwu Valley cannot leave. It is better to let Zilong return first, set up more solid camps along Ji Valley, and then transfer Wu Yi and Zhang Ren to arrange an array along the Wei River, and then...
Chapter completed!